ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 4 9 2 /C & RL News ULS a t N YC: Id e n tify in g o u rs e lv e s a s le a d e r s M essage from the chair In New York the University Libraries Section (ULS) o f ACRL sp o n so red program s an d dis­ cussions that challenged academ ic librarians to take charge o f their futures. T he m ain ULS program focused o n the individual librarian’s career o f the future. More than 300 p eo p le from all types o f libraries atten d ed this p ro ­ g ram (s e e re p o rt b e lo w ). ULS d is c u ssio n groups addressed w ays to provide leadership at o u r institutions. The m eetings o f the ULS com m ittees an d discussion groups w ere very productive, re­ sulting in a goo d n u m b er o f ideas an d rec­ om m en d atio n s. T he rep resen tativ es o f the 6,000-plus m em bers o f ULS w ere articulate, inform ed, an d willing to m ove ahead. ACRL conducted special orien tatio n /lead ­ ership sessions for the chairs o f the sections. A m ong the issues discussed w as the im ple­ m entation o f ACRL’s Strategic Plan. As a re­ sult, w e ’ve ask ed th e ULS Policy an d Plan­ ning C omm ittee to focus o n ways that ULS can strategically support an d move ah ead w ith the elem ents o f th e plan. T he com m ittee will explore issues o f leadership as well as a sense of identity for ULS. W e’ll also look at w ays to build positive bridges w ith th e College Librar­ ies Section. T he ULS Program Planning Com m ittee is developing a n exciting program for the 1997 conference tentatively titled “T he New G en­ eration o f Scholars: D o They Need Us? (Maybe, M aybe N ot).” H ow relevant are academ ic li­ braries, as scholars a n d students w ork in in­ c re a s in g ly d ig ital, c o lla b o ra tiv e e n v ir o n ­ ments?— D on Frank, Chair, University Libraries Section, Georgia Institute o f Technology That’s not w h a t I w a s hired to do “Are you doing the w o rk today you thought y o u ’d b e do in g w h en you w ere in library school?” So asked D eanna Marcum (president o f the Council on Library R esources) as she led off the timely an d thought-provoking ULS program entitled “T hat’s Not W hat I Was Hired to Do: T he Future o f Y our C areer an d Your C areer in th e Future.” A ppealing to veteran professionals an d recent graduates alike, this New York conference session furthered the ALA M idwinter discussions on facing change. While M idwinter focused on th e organization, this co n fe re n c e ch a lle n g e d th e individual. “T hat’s not w hat I w as hired to d o ” brought t o g e t h e r s p e a k e r s M a rc u m a n d T o m Shaughnessy (University o f M innesota-Twin Cities) an d m oderator M aureen Sullivan (As­ sociation o f Research Libraries), w h o began public consideration o f w h at is an d w h at will b e professional co m p eten ce, a n d the skills a n d know ledge necessary to achieve it. Shaughnessy an d M arcum analyzed the n ew environm ent in w hich w e find ourselves, an d having to d o things w e w ere not trained to do— from m anaging and building custom er relations to m anaging v endor relations, from w orking in team s to doing process redesign an d gro u p facilitation, from m easuring and evaluating library outcom es (n o t sim ply in­ puts an d transactions) to creating electronic texts. Taking a theoretical approach, Marcum d e ­ scribed a continuum o f professional orienta­ tion: m oving from w here w e o n ce w ere as “technical d o ers” (defined by “here is w hat I have, u se it”) to b ecom ing service providers, th en resource m anagers, th en overseers o f in­ tegrated resources. While n o n e o f these is a discreet state, th e roles are som ew hat tele­ scoping, w h ere it is necessary to und erstan d th e requirem ents o f o n e in o rd er to function effectively in the su b seq u en t ones. T he ser­ vice provider focuses o n services an d m ust have an orientation to systems thinking. Ser­ vice providers u n derstand they do not have to be experts in fields they are responsible for, b ut they d o have to k n o w the key issues. Resource m anagers, expanding beyond the service provider, have significant m anagerial responsibility w ith people, technology, and information assets, and m ust m ove aw ay from com partm entalization tow ard integrated func­ tions. They understand their role is not about technology o r inform ation but rather about su p p o rt o f users an d how , through planning, m anaging o f the budget, an d pursuit o f insti­ tutional goals, this can b e done. T he over­ seers o f integrated resources are b oundary Septem ber 1 9 9 6 / 4 9 3 sp an n ers w h o have the ability to think dis­ continuously. T hey un d erstan d institutional goals (b ey o n d th e library) an d participate in defining them , th en sh a p e th e b u d g et and reen g in eer th e processes to m eet these. M arcum su g g ests th a t library ed u c a tio n m ust b e reconstructed in light o f these roles an d that lifelong learning will b e essential. Library professionals m ust have the skills to function in a m ultim edia e n v iro n m en t an d m ust m ove from being catalogers to being architects of system s an d assessors o f infor­ m ation. O u r skills m ust ran g e from u n d e r­ standing scholarly com m unication in various disciplines, to undertaking cost an d benefit analyses. While w e m ust have en o u g h know l­ e d g e o f intellectual property considerations an d co m p u ter system s to m ake sound m an a­ gerial decisions, w e m ust b e able to foster th e capabilities o f o u r library staff, since tech ­ nology is not a substitute for people. Shaughnessy’s analysis ex p a n d e d o n the im portance o f th e individual; he asked w h ere d o th e obligation and capacity for effecting individual change lie: w ith the individual? with th e organization? and in w hat degree? H e sug­ gests that adapting to n ew conditions it is not sim ply a m atter o f learning new things but also a necessity o f giving u p w h at w as, of changing h o w individuals see them selves. The issues to b e faced in this regard are th e inter­ relatedness o f personal with professional iden­ tity; o f how , in a changing environm ent, indi­ v id u al e x p e rtis e a p p e a rs to b e d e v a lu e d , w hich leads to a loss of self-esteem and a sense o f being betrayed by th e organization. Libraries n eed to grow their o w n expertise (since putting p o o r perform ers aside o r hir­ ing rep lacem en t staff are seldom o p tio n s to ­ day). In o rd er to grow expertise, organiza­ t i o n s h a v e to b e c o m e tr u e l e a r n i n g environm ents in w hich staff d evelop m ent is a daily event. D eveloping leadership w h er­ ever it can b e found an d m ore m entoring of existing staff are im portant. (T hink o f recruit­ ing m entors outside th e library). Creating an environm ent w h ere individuals can take risks w ithout dire co n seq u en ces an d giving staff incentives to change are part o f the challenge. Shaughnessy’s concluding observation, a po in t ec h o e d and ex p a n d e d o n by m o d era­ to r Sullivan, w as that w hile the organization m ay be responsible for an individual's career developm ent, individuals are responsible for their ow n w ell being, part o f w hich is profes­ sional. The individual is responsible for b e ­ ing a p erpetual learner a n d for a d o p tin g a positive attitude tow ard learning. T he indi­ vidual m ust take responsibility for accepting change an d for adapting to surprises. For a review o f the ov erh ead slides used in this session, see the ULS program W eb page: h ttp ://w w w .sc .e d u /lib ra ry /a la /in d e x .h tm l.— D eborah B. D ancik, University o f Alberta O ther conference new s “Giving Away the Farm: Academic Material on a Commercial Internet” w as the topic of the ULS Librarians in Higher Education an d Cam­ pus Administration Discussion G roup led by Jerry D. Campbell (University o f Southern Cali­ fornia). From the 19th-century view o f a shared mission b e tw e e n publishers an d academ ics to dissem inate scholarly inform ation, w e have m oved to a n environm ent in w hich publish­ ers an d academ ics n o lo n g er share this vi­ sion. C am pbell thinks academ ics m ust retain rights to th e research m aterial they create and should institute a not-for-profit consortium for the exchange o f scholarly information. A lively discussion ensued, touching o n issues o f copy­ right, electronic scholarly publishing, an d im­ plications for academ ic libraries. In th e Discussion G roup for Public Ser­ vice Directors o f Large University Libraries p ro ­ gram , “T he Blurring o f Lines b e tw e e n Public Services, T echnical Services, an d Collection D evelopm ent,” m em bers discussed: collabo­ ration am idst com plexity; w orking across the structure w hile m aintaining expertise; cus­ tom er-driven libraries leading to m ore cross­ functional services; frontline staff connected to experts th ro u g h o u t th e library as a m odel for th e b est custom er service. The seco n d agenda topic w as “Electronic Text Access a n d Printing.” Various institutions rep o rted that they are investigating m ethods an d softw are to m ount full-text reserves on the W eb and to set u p print servers. T he round robin question for th e m eeting ask ed every­ one for their to p tw o issues or concerns, yield­ ing this list: custom er service training; elec­ tronic text delivery and printing; alternate ways o f providing reference; interface design; co n ­ solidation o f service points; dow nsizing and restructuring staff; offsite storage and onsite com pact storage.— P aula Walker, University o f W ashington, Seattle http://www.sc.edu/library/ala/index.html.%e2%80%94