It's really helpful to do this, Buddy. We have students in our mailroom who basically have to be there for deliveries, etc. While not busy they work with lists of serial links in our catalog and check for holdings accuracy and actual access. Certainly worthwhile. Link checkers can spot broken links, but not whether we actually have access. Good luck! Alice Gormley Serials Librarian Marquette University Raynor Memorial Libraries 414/288-7252 alice.gormley@marquette.edu -----Original Message----- From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum [mailto:SERIALST@list.uvm.edu] On Behalf Of Pennington, Buddy D. Sent: Thursday, January 21, 2010 1:03 PM To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU Subject: Re: [SERIALST] changing job descriptions - new responsibilities in the absence of check-in/claiming One of the new tasks we are looking at implementing this year is having students check access to the electronic journals that we subscribe to. We are planning on doing this once per year in the late spring/early summer when the grace periods have expired. Currently we don't know something has lapsed until someone is denied access to an article they are trying to get to. Buddy Pennington Electronic Resources & Serials Librarian University of Missouri - Kansas City 800 East 51st Street Kansas City, MO 64110 Phone: 816-235-1548 Fax: 816-333-5584 Email: penningtonb@umkc.edu UMKC University Libraries: Discovery. Knowledge. Empowerment. -----Original Message----- From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum [mailto:SERIALST@list.uvm.edu] On Behalf Of Graves, Tonia L. Sent: Thursday, January 21, 2010 11:58 AM To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU Subject: Re: [SERIALST] changing job descriptions - new responsibilities in the absence of check-in/claiming For those who have ceased check-in and/or claiming, what types of proactive processes are staff now doing to manage the electronic resources? Will you please describe any of the new duties/responsibilities and the frequency with which these duties occur, that have replaced old duties performed during check-in and claiming? Tonia Graves Electronic Resources & Serials Services Librarian Old Dominion University Libraries Norfolk, Va 23529-0256 (757) 683-4188 Phone; (757) 683-5954 Fax tgraves@odu.edu -----Original Message----- From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum [mailto:SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU] On Behalf Of Colleen Valente Sent: Wednesday, January 20, 2010 10:23 PM To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU Subject: Re: [SERIALST] changing job descriptions In addition to the excellent points Rick has made, I want to add one that I could never have come up with on my own. It took a long time, valuable staff member to make me understand what was behind a lot of the resistance to a very big organizational change that the library I worked at then was undergoing. I had spent a lot of time listening, talking, etc but still could not understand exactly, the level of resistance. This wonderful staffer finally looked me in the eye and said, "We are not afraid of new jobs. We are afraid of failing at new jobs". Maybe everyone else understands that aspect. I had not understood it and once I was enlightened, I was able to offer the kinds of reassurances about training and retraining that were badly needed. This might very well underlie the reluctance of Mike's staff to move into the electronic environment. They know they are competent at their current jobs. What if they fail at the new ones? Reassurance, promises of training/retraining, and, above all, assurance that they will be given the time they need to learn might just do the trick. Colleen Valente Head of Technical Services Library Auburn University at Montgomery Montgomery, AL Ph: 334-244-3684 cvalente@aum.edu ________________________________________ Date: Wed, 20 Jan 2010 08:45:39 -0700 From: Rick Anderson <rick.anderson@UTAH.EDU> Subject: Changing job descriptions (Re: [SERIALST] Cease claiming, checking in, binding) One barrier for many of us in making these changes is an unwillingness to tell people that their jobs are going to have to change, sometimes in dramatic ways. Those conversations can be very, very difficult. In my experience, though, if you talk to people both publicly and privately about the reasons for the changes ahead of time, and if you listen carefully and respectfully when they raise concerns and demonstrate that you've taken those concerns into account (whether or not you do exactly what the person wanted), the results are much better than if you either a) try to make everyone happy or b) simply railroad your decision through without getting good input and listening to it. (When I had to reorganize again because of budget cuts and layoffs, the process was much less satisfactory because it had to be carried out without all that good input from managers and staff.) Rick Anderson Assoc. Dir. for Scholarly Resources & Collections Marriott Library Univ. of Utah rick.anderson@utah.edu (801) 721-1687 ------------------------------
