---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2001 11:36:03 -0400
From: "Esparza, Julia" <JEsparza@ECRI.ORG>
Subject: Re: Outsourcing recommendations (Mary Laskow)

Considering how few Serial positions both at the professional and
paraprofessional level there are available I have a problem helping out with
information on outsourcing.  However, in the past while we were waiting to
fill positions we have used companies to fill positions.  The promise of
qualified personnel led to one college graduate with library experience
unable to photocopy articles for us to send out for Interlibrary Loan.

Training time is the big downside.  Unlike secretarial positions or
accounting positions library positions are quirky.  Each organization has
its own rules for how they acquire information and how they organize it when
it arrives.  This is true even using AACR2 Revised or the latest LC
guidelines.

Unless you can find people who only want to work part-time because they need
to be off part of the week or people who are retired you just won't get
great help without paying a lot.   Now if you decide that a smaller body
count is more important than what you pay then you should go for
outsourcing.  I personally don't think it will save you a dime in the long
run.

I feel that you should at least invest in part-time employees who have a
connection to the organization.  Even then they may always be looking for
the opportunity to get a full time position.  This will mean again training
people for how your organization works.

I will take my one full-time serial assistant who can handle questions,
field issues and handle our payment system and checkin system more than the
headache of having to train new people all the time.  Not that these people
are bad but the training time for a complicated library even at a smaller
off-site library is still difficult.

Of course all of this is my humble opinion.

Julie Esparza

My opinion is my own and does not represent ECRI in any way.

ECRI - a non profit health services research institute
Library
5200 Butler Pike
Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462-1298
610.825.6000 Ext. 5184 Voice
610.834.7366 Fax
http://www.ecri.org

-----Original Message-----
Date: Sat, 31 Mar 2001 12:41:14 EST
From: Mary Laskow <DALaskow@AOL.COM>
Subject: Outsourcing recommendations

We are considering outsourcing several different functions in our library,
including document delivery, serials management, and/or acquisitions. The
scenario would be in-house management of these functions on a multi-site
basis.

We've identified the obvious outsourcing companies - AIC and LSSI. Is anyone
using any other company to provide any of these services?

Also, if you would like to share your experiences with evaluating/utilizing
outsourcing as a solution for your library, I would greatly appreciate
learning from your expertise.

If you could reply to me directly, I would be happy to summarize for the
list.

Thank you in advance,

Mary Laskow
Sr. Information Scientist
Bristol-Myers Squibb
Princeton, NJ

mary.laskow@bms.com

609-252-4800