Report of the ALCTS role of Professional Librarian In Technical Services Interest Group Meeting. American Library Association Midwinter Meeting, Atlanta, January 2017

摘要

The ALCTS Role of Professional Librarian in Technical Services (RPLTS) Interest Group invited four speakers to the American Library Association 2017 Midwinter Meeting on January 21, 2017 under the broad topic of collaboration in technical services. Mary Konkel, Head of Technical Services, College of DuPage (COD) Library, in "Picking Perfect Partners: Collaborations Within and Outside Technical Services," spoke about the role of collaboration in an environment of decreased staffing. Konkel's unit looked beyond technical services staff and found willing and able partners in other library units, such as collection development, reference, and public services. In this presentation, Konkel introduced how technical services staff members assist bibliographers/selectors with acquisition/vendor system training, call number and subject heading assignment; support collection development by pricing and availability verification, collection statistics and periodical usage data, and weeding. Other than all these "behind the scenes" support, technical services staff members also work "out of the box" by staffing on reference/information desks, working on library booths for campus events, new faculty/student basic orientations, library catalog training, library tours, etc. As she mentioned, catalogers are a great asset during Internet outages, because we can speak in LC call numbers. On top of all the above, COD library technical services staff members also act as the backup help in circulation, technical support. The outcomes of the collaboration and partnering is pretty positive so far because they not only help the library to do "more with less" and successfully assist in managing workload "slams" by using existing resources and technology, but also increase/improve interdepartmental communication and improve job satisfaction and student retention. Most importantly, the collaboration would not sacrifice the quality and productivity of technical services. The takeaway of this presentation is a reminder that technical services handles a variety of materials, and collaboration and partnerships are not only for technical services. Konkel also addressed the importance of setting up collaboration and partnerships rules and enhance cross-training. COD library's approach of interdepartmental collaboration really interested some of the smaller library technical services professionals and they are also impressed by the statement of "cataloging is a public service."