New vacancy listings are posted weekly on Wednesday at approximately 12 noon Central Time. They appear under New This Week and under the appropriate regional listing. Postings remain on the LITA Job Site for a minimum of four weeks.

New This Week

Yale University, Electronic Resources Metadata Management Librarian, New Haven, CT

Bucknell University, Executive Director, Research Services & Digital Scholarship (RS-DS), Lewisburg, PA

Lebanon Public Libraries, System Librarian, Lebanon, NH

St. Lawrence University, Academic Library Fellowship, Canton, NY

St. Lawrence University, Database Administrator I, Canton, NY

Cornell University Library, Teaching and Learning Librarian, Ithaca, NY

Duke University, Digital Repository Content Analyst, Durham, NC

Wisconsin Historical Society, Collections Preservation Supervisor, Madison, WI

Visit the LITA Job Site for more available jobs and for information on submitting a job posting.

ALA’s Emerging Leaders program enables newer library workers to participate in problem-solving work groups, network with peers, gain an inside look into ALA structure, and have an opportunity to serve the profession in a leadership capacity. Our 2019 ELs are:

Kathryn Greer, Systems and Digital Content Librarian at Georgia Gwinnett College in Lawrenceville, Georgia

Kathryn serves as an administrator of the library’s software and systems and as a library liaison to campus and consortial IT groups. She recently led her library’s transition to a new ILS as part of the University System of Georgia’s migration from Ex Libris Voyager to Alma, and in the spring will manage another consortial-led project for her institution, the implementation of the identity and access management service OpenAthens. She graduated from the Master of Library and Information Science program at Valdosta State University in December 2013. Kathryn recently enrolled in the Master of Science in Information Technology program at Kennesaw State University, where she hopes to expand her technical knowledge and further develop into a career as an IT professional who supports, plans, and implements technology specifically for libraries.

Rachel Murdock, Innovative Librarian at Hedberg Public Library in Janesville, Wisconsin

Rachel handles emerging technologies and maker activities, and is particularly interested in how technology can intersect with diversity, equity, and inclusion. She graduated from Louisiana State University with her MLIS in 2016, and has worked in public libraries, art museums, and archives.

Kathryn and Rachel will be working on a team project called LITA Close to Home: Developing Local Support Networks to develop a plan for creating local LITA chapters. Both are already leaders in the library technology field, and we’re excited to be sponsoring their participation in the program.

LITA is sponsoring two Emerging Leaders for 2019 thanks to donations from LITA members and supporters.

Authors’ notes: This post is co-authored by Kelly Sattler, Head of Web Services, Michigan State University. It is part two of a two-part series on IT centralization and academic libraries.This post talks about how to respond to centralization and what to expect in the longer term.  Part one discusses what to expect when a centralization initiative begins.   Image source: creative commons licensed (BY-ND 2.0) Flickr photo by Andrea NIgels: https://flic.kr/p/6KsA7U. 

How to respond to centralization

As we said in part 1 of this two-part series on IT centralization, change is hard. Change that makes people fear for their jobs and threatens their professional identities is really hard. We have some advice based on our experiences that may help you cope if IT centralization comes to your campus.

Before centralization

The best thing you can do to prepare for centralization is something that is good to do for other reasons as well: make sure job titles, classifications, and position descriptions are up-to-date so they accurately reflect an employee’s current role and duties. Be sure position descriptions reflect library-specific responsibilities clearly and completely. For example, a staff member could have a generic IT title or classification (e.g. Systems Support Analyst) but actually manage a service that is unique to the library and that central IT may be unprepared to support.

Often employees are initially targeted for centralization based on job titles, classifications, and/or position descriptions. You don’t want to lose someone based on outdated or incomplete information.

Another important step is to build and maintain a positive relationship with campus IT administration and staff. Treat IT as another liaison area. It will prove quite valuable to already have formed good relationships prior to any massive change, like a full centralization.We say more about this in the next section.

During centralization Don’t panic

Centralization initiatives are often rolled out quickly, sometimes in response to a budget crisis, as happened, and details may not seem clear or well-thought-out. Take a deep breath before reacting. Ask questions in a calm, professional way. Understand that not all details may be clear at the beginning. Also, many of the people recruited to share the message may not have been given the whole story or have been restricted in what they can share.

Communicate frequently and appropriately

If you supervise affected employees, communicate clearly, frequently, and honestly. Share what you know, be honest about what you don’t know, and assure employees that you will share information as you get it. Your staff need to be able to trust you. In some cases, your staff may actually have more information than you do. Be sure to provide a way for communication to flow in both directions. Avoid editorializing excessively. Your tone and approach will help shape your employees’ responses, and you don’t want to make the process harder for them. Vent your frustrations elsewhere (Janet’s husband got an earful during NAU’s centralization initiative). Share staff questions and concerns with appropriate people. Be an advocate for your staff but in a reasonable, professional way.

Ask for information. Librarians may not be recognized as doing IT work or supervising people who do, so, central IT may not communicate with you (initially). Kelly’s first official communication from central IT was 7 days after they had contacted the 3 people who she supervised that were to be centralized. Communication also may be poor or limited, especially initially. Ask to be included in email distribution lists related to centralization. Work with your supervisor to get included in meetings.

This one is hard to do: Ignore the rumor mill as much as you can. As soon as someone gets wind of centralization, rumors will start flying, and the Chicken Littles of your organization will assure you that the sky is indeed falling. Unfortunately, in organizations that don’t communicate about the process effectively, rumors may be the only communication you get for awhile. Still, use judgment about what you believe and, especially, what you share. Make sure your communication is based on factual information from reliable sources.

Be kind–to yourself and your staff

The process will almost certainly be stressful for affected staff as well as other staff in the library. People may be afraid of losing their jobs (and sometimes that happens) or losing pay or status. People’s identities may feel threatened. Who am I if I’m not insert title here. People may be afraid that they’ll have to work 60 hours a week to cover responsibilities of people lost because of centralization. People at all levels may be afraid that the library won’t be able to deliver the same quality of service to its users as it did before centralization. If you supervise affected staff, be kind and understanding. Recognize that their attitudes and productivity may suffer in the short term. Recognize that they may be anxious and afraid. Do the same for yourself. Take care of yourself. No job is worth damaging your health. Also, remember to “put the oxygen mask over your own mouth first” so you can help others. These kinds of changes are hard, and it’s OK to not be OK.

Maintain a strong relationship with central IT

No matter how you feel about centralization, you’re about to become a whole lot more dependent on central IT to operate the library and meet the needs of your users. So it’s in the best interests of the library to collaborate effectively with central IT, no matter how frustrated you are. Avoid an “us vs them” mentality. Kelly reminded her team that after the centralization, some of “us” would be “them” as well as pointing to many of the good people who already were a part of central IT. If you supervise, talk with your staff about the importance of building and maintaining strong relationships with central IT, which, hopefully, you have already done prior to the announcement of a centralization. Also, remember that many of the people who are implementing the process are just doing their jobs as instructed. In the case of NAU, campus IT did not initiate centralization. The initiative was mandated by the university president and was as challenging for central IT as it was for units having their IT staff centralized. Our central IT staff were stressed out and working long hours to make centralization work. They deserved our support, not our anger.

Keep an open mind

When a centralization initiative is first proposed, it can feel catastrophic. But sometimes these initiatives are undertaken for good reasons, and after you get through the pain, processes and services may be better than they were before centralization. Be willing to see potential positive outcomes.  

After centralization–where do we go from here?

So you survived centralization–or at least the initial round. Now what?

Expect more change

“More change” is almost certainly the last thing you want to hear at the end of an IT centralization initiative, but it’s also almost certainly what will happen. Central IT will need to adjust to its new responsibilities and staff, some staff will leave, and new funding models will be implemented and adjusted. Expect an IT reorganization–or several. (MSU is up to 5 reorganizations since their centralization effort has started less than a year ago, and NAU has also been through a few.) Expect processes to start out bumpy and–hopefully–get smoother.

Also, different people will have different definitions as to when the centralization is “complete.” Some will see a new org chart and think, “Yay! It’s done.” While others will see the new org chart but acknowledge that nothing else has changed. They may not see the centralization done until all the equipment and responsibilities are full centralized as well. This is where MSU Libraries is. The library staff who were identified to be centralized now report to another person within central IT, but not much else has changed–yet. They are still receiving direction from librarians and still sit in the same space. Depending on their new supervisor, they may or may not have new, extra meetings.

Maintain relationships and communication

If you are still in the library, you are likely more dependent on central IT than you were before. If you got centralized, you may still have responsibilities related to the library. Here are some tips for working together:

Communicate, communicate, communicate

Communication should happen at all levels of both organizations. At NAU, the library dean communicates regularly with the CIO, ensuring that the units are working together and addressing issues that arise. IT and library staff at other levels meet regularly around operational issues to ensure that service goals are met, and library users are having good experiences.

Create service-level agreements

One essential communication tool is the service-level agreement. This document lays out expectations for a particular service or suite of services, addressing everything from payment to support hours to who should be called for which issues. A good SLA helps all stakeholders understand what to expect and can reduce misunderstandings. MSU is in the process of creating these with central IT. Initially, we’re operating under a “Memorandum of Understanding,” which will be in place until the SLAs are written. We’re creating separate SLAs for each major area of IT, such as networking, server support, desktop support, etc.

Be open to new ways to work together

Leverage the closer relationship between the library and central IT to find new ways to work together. Two years after the first round of centralization at NAU, we in the library began working with central IT to create a shared technology service point in the library. The IT department’s service point was in a basement at the other end of campus, and they were looking for a more central, accessible place to deliver services to students (at NAU, student IT fees pay for a technology repair service, so students can get their personally-owned laptops, XBoxes, etc., repaired by central IT). Meanwhile, the library operated its own technology service desk for remaining library IT functions like our makerspace, but we often had students ask us for services that only central IT could provide. After several months of planning, we opened a new service desk in the library, jointly staffed by library and central IT staff. Shortly thereafter, the library lost two IT staff to attrition, and central IT offered to manage the desk entirely and support most of our public computing environment. They had funding to replace aging thin clients and were able to resolve some long-standing issues with our Mac lab. Recently they have upgraded technology in study rooms and added some high-end workstations for data visualization and engineering applications, and funded a significant upgrade to our lecture hall. They are also installing a new virtual reality lab in the library, slated to open this semester. We have had to give up some control, but our users are benefitting from upgraded technology, and our remaining library technology staff (half the FTE we had prior to centralization) are able to direct their efforts to more library-centric activities.

We hope this two-part series of posts has helped you understand the impact of IT centralization on academic libraries and, if you’re faced with centralization, will help you cope with it and possibly benefit from it.

    ISBN: 9781478969761
    Author: Patterson, James, 1947-

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    Author: Barton, Fiona

    ISBN: 9781250149435
    Author: Jones, Darynda

(January 22, 2019). DH Consulting Services is proud to announce the launch of its new library data privacy consultancy. The consultancy offers a range of library data privacy services to US libraries and library vendors, including privacy audits, training, policy and procedure analysis, and privacy risk assessment.

(January 22, 2019). Ex Libris announce that the University of Lille has selected the cloud-based Ex Libris Alma library services platform and Primo discovery and delivery solution. The decision to move from SirsiDynix Horizon, Ex Libris Aleph, and EBSCO Discovery Service was prompted by the merger of three universities (Lille 1, 2, and 3), creating the world's largest French-speaking university.

(January 22, 2019). Following feedback on ways we could make your Talis Aspire experience more efficient, we have developed an integration with Askews & Holts, which allows deeper integration with their book supplier information. This integration will enable library practitioners to make acquisitions decisions quickly, accurately and efficiently by providing price and availability information from Askews & Holts directly in Talis Aspire Reviews. There is no need to leave Talis Aspire to check current ebook holdings and pricing for all formats, and the link allows the university to directly add the item to your order, saving time with a more streamlined workflow.

(January 22, 2019). OCLC, along with the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), has named five librarians selected to participate in the Jay Jordan IFLA/OCLC Early Career Development Fellowship Program for 2019. The program supports library and information science professionals from countries with developing economies.

(January 22, 2019). ByWater Solutions announced the promotion of Joy Nelson to President, Koha Division. Joy started with ByWater Solutions in July 2011 as a Migration Specialist, managing our migration process from start to finish. In February of 2013 she was promoted to the Director of Migrations where she designed a complete process for the migration team ensuring a smooth migration for all partners. In September of 2017 Joy was promoted to Vice President of Implementations where she utilized her leadership skills to unify the migration and education teams to become strong unit.

ITAL’s look back at the last 50 years is complete, and we’re taking the opportunity to start something new in 2019. There will be a regular, quarterly, column in Information Technology and Libraries (ITAL), the open-access LITA journal titled “Public Libraries Leading the Way” that will highlight technology-based innovation from a public library perspective.

Submit your idea proposal now!

Topics we’re interested in include the following, but proposals on any other technology topic are also welcome:

• Virtual and augmented reality
• Artificial intelligence
• Big data
• Internet of things
• 3-D printing and makerspaces
• Robotics
• Drones
• Geographic information systems and mapping
• Diversity, equity, and inclusion and technology
• Privacy and cyber-security
• Library analytics and data-driven services
• Anything else related to public libraries and innovations in technology

Columns are in the 1,000-1,500 word range and may include illustrations. These will not be research articles, but are meant to share practical experience with technology development or uses within the library. If you are interested in contributing a column, please submit a brief summary of your idea.

Questions or Comments?

If you have ITAL questions, please contact Ken Varnum, Editor of Information Technology and Libraries, at varnum@umich.edu.

For all other questions or comments related to LITA publications, contact us at (312) 280-4268 or lita@ala.org.

(January 18, 2019). Third Chapter Partners announced today that it has entered into an agreement for services with Arlington Heights Memorial Library (Arlington Heights, IL). Under the agreement, the Library will utilize the company's patron relationship management system.

Join us Friday, January 25, 12:00-1:00pm CDT, on Twitter to hear about, discuss, ask questions on several technology-related projects happening in the field. This month we ‘ll cover another digital collection project, and a novel project utilizing a Raspberry Pi for barcode duplication!

Our panel will include:

• Chris Day, @ChrisDayDigLib, Digital Services Librarian at the School of t he Art Institute of Chicago’s Flaxman Library.
• Mark Sandford, @LibGeekMS, Systems Librarian at Colgate University.

To participate, launch your favorite Twitter app or web browser, search for the #LITAchat hashtag, and select “Latest” to participate and ask questions. Be sure to include the hashtag #litachat.

View more information, as well as past LITAchats.

For all other questions or comments related to LITA events, contact us at (312) 280-4268 or lita@ala.org

(January 18, 2019). Follett, a longtime leader in the K-12 library space, has unveiled Follett Genre Solutions to help simplify genrefication for librarians and media specialists seeking to make the transition from the Dewey Decimal System to a more bookstore-like layout based on genres.

(January 18, 2019). The North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, housed in the University Libraries at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has selected the TIND Digital Archive (TIND DA). NCDHC is migrating over 1 million images from CONTENTdm.

(January 25, 2019). t the American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter meeting The Freckle Project is announcing a new research program which will be a study which seeks to understand how users regard and use their libraries.

(January 17, 2019). Infor, a global leader in business cloud software specialized by industry, announced an agreement to receive a $1.5 billion investment from shareholders Koch Equity Development, LLC and Golden Gate Capital.

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    Author: Stewart, Martha

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    Author: Oliver, Jamie, 1975-