INF 1230 Management of Information Organizations

Resource Workbook

Siobhan Stevenson !" Chun Wei Choo

2006

Faculty of Information

INF 1230 MANAGEMENT OF INFORMATION ORGANIZATIONS

RESOURCE WORKBOOK

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STRATEGIC PLANNING: GOALS AND GOAL SETTING ............... 3

ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN……………………………………………… 7

MOTIVATION ........................................................................... 10

TEAMS...................................................................................... 16

SUPERVISION & DELEGATION.................................................. 22

LEADERSHIP.............................................................................. 41

HUMAN RESOURCES................................................................ 57

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STRATEGIC PLANNING:

GOALS AND GOAL SETTING

Strategic planning: writing goals and objectives

THE SITUATION

You are members of a management-consulting firm that has been hired by the Faculty of Information to assist in the development a new 5-year strategic plan for their Inforum. The Faculty has asked to you develop a series of goals and objectives for the service.

THE SETTING: The Inforum

As per the Inforum’s website (http://www.ischool.utoronto.ca/inforum-technology):

The Faculty of Information’s Inforum is home to one of the major Information Studies libraries in North America. With its spacious well-equipped facilities, top-notch staff and extensive collection of information resources in many formats from print to electronic, the Inforum supports the studies and research of graduate students and faculty members at FI. Services include: circulation, reference, an instructional laboratory, student workstations with Internet access, individual and group study spaces (carrels and meeting rooms), access to U of T library catalogue terminals, and photocopy machines and printers.

The Inforum employs 4 librarians, 3 library technicians, and a number of student assistants.

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THE EXERCISE Part A: strategic initiative and goals (1) Identify one strategic initiative for which you would like to develop goals and objectives. (2) Draft 3 goals under your strategic initiative. Note:

• Goal statements should begin with an action verb. • Goal statements answer the question “what?” As in, “what things (activities) will you have to do in order to realize your strategic initiative?” • Make sure that each goal is distinct.

Strategic Initiative#1______________________________________________________________

Goal1.1_________________________________________________________________

Goal1.2_________________________________________________________________

Goal1.3_________________________________________________________________

Part B: objectives (1) Select one goal that you would like to develop further. (2) Draft 5 objectives for that goal. Note:

• Each objective expresses how you are going to achieve your goal (it must clearly answer the question “how?”) • Each objective expresses one idea/action to be undertaken. • Each objective should suggest a measurement (it is measurable). • Objectives can be one year, two year or three years in duration. They can be incremental, that is, building one on the other over the course of the plan. • Objectives are about: (i) developing new services/opportunities (ii) maintaining or improving existing services/operations, (iii) eliminating or minimizing an existing service/operation.

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Strategic Initiative#1______________________________________________________________

Goal1.1_________________________________________________________________

Objective 1.1.1____________________________________________________________

Objective 1.1.2____________________________________________________________

Objective 1.1.3____________________________________________________________

Objective 1.1.4____________________________________________________________

Objective 1.1.5____________________________________________________________

Part C: Resource implications

Think about how much your initiative might cost in year one of the new strategic plan. Consider cost centres such as staff (what level? how many?), facilities (are renovations to existing structures required?), and technology (are new technologies required? Do present systems need to be undated or expanded?).

Although this is not a budgeting exercise, how might you prioritize your goals? Objectives?

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ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN

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Organizational Design

Exercise

You are a team of professionals who have been asked to consider the optimal

organizational design for an information centre. The deliverable will be an

organizational chart. Be prepared to draw and describe your chart.

Decision points

• Is your organization a functional organization or a divisional?

• Do you require a mechanistic structure (hierarchy), a matrix or network, or

some combination thereof?

• Will you have special project teams that cross departments/divisions?

• What kinds of lateral relations do you want to exist and why?

• What assumptions do you need to make to complete the chart?

Steps

(1) Select a type of library from the library and information centres profiled on

the following page,

(2) Identify who your customers are,

(3) Identify your major functions (what products and/or services do you

produce and how are these organized?),

(4) Identify the tasks associated with each function

(5) Develop an organizational chart based on the above. Consider:

a. How many people

b. At what level

c. Control and command (who reports to who?)

d. Have you given any thought to career paths?

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Settings

Public (1 main, 3 branches) “The mission of the Richmond Public Library is to provide access to informational, educational, cultural and recreational library materials and services in a variety of formats and technologies; to respond to the public library needs of the community; and to uphold the public’s freedom of access to information” (http://www.yourlibrary.ca/aboutus_sub.cfm?lev1=3&lev2=1)

Academic (1 main location, 3 smaller subject specific locations—business,

engineering and social work). “X Academic Libraries is committed to excellence: meeting information and service needs related to the University's goals for research and scholarship, teaching and learning, and management of the institution's records; anticipating new needs, developing new services, and continuously seeking to exceed the expectations of diverse user groups” (uwo.ca).

Special—Hospital Library (1 location)

“The mission of the Frank J. D'Agostino, MD Medical Library is to provide high

quality information resources and services for evidence-based decision-making

at Easton Hospital. Guided by the strategic initiatives of the hospital as well as

professional library standards, the Library supports the patient care, educational

and research needs of the hospital community”

(http://www.eastonmedicallibrary.com/.).

Corporate (KM) Software Company. (1 central site serving an organization

that has 12 locations across North America)

“KM [Department] seeks to maximize employee efficiency and avoid re-work and

the dreaded "re-inventing the wheel" syndrome. KM is a long-term, persistent

business strategy, which should involve all members of the organization. It seeks

to identify, capture, document, share, update, and improve business processes”

(From Beasly, Ed., 2002, “The Essentials of Knowledge Management: What it!s

all about and why you should care!” USDLA Journal. Viewed at

http://www.usdla.org/html/journal/OCT02_Issue/article09.html).

Archive (1 site) “The Archives of Women in Science and Engineering seeks to preserve the historical heritage of American women in science and engineering. To do this, the Archives solicits, collects, arranges, and describes the personal papers of women scientists and engineers as well as the records of national and regional women’s organizations in these fields. The Archives will also serve as a local, regional, national, and international resource for information on women in science and engineering, with a particular emphasis on K-12 and college level students” (http://www.lib.iastate.edu/spcl/wise/miss.html).

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MOTIVATION

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Case Study Analysis

Case studies are written with a purpose in mind. They are usually reasonably short and to the point. In other words, a good case study will have a focus or central issue, although it will probably include several explicit or implicit secondary issues. Secondary issues may be thought of as ‘symptoms’. For example, if an incompetent manager loses the respect of her staff, replacing staff will not resolve the issue for the new staff and the new staff will presumably become in their turn disrespectful.

Your challenge in facing a new case study, therefore, is TO IDENTIFY THE BASIC OR PRIMARY PROBLEM. This is the first step.

Having isolated the primary problem and briefly justified your choice, your

second step is TO IDENTIFY ANY SECONDARY PROBLEMS OR SYMPTOMS. These symptoms will presumably clear up of their own accord when the primary problem is resolved; but it is your responsibility as an analyst to identify the secondary problems and later show how they will indeed be resolved.

Because no case study can present the entire context of a problem, you may well

find that you must make certain assumptions in both identifying and resolving primary and secondary issues. The third step in case analysis is TO STATE ANY ASSUMPTIONS UNDERLYING THE ANALYSIS. Assumptions must be made explicit or they can and should be discounted by the assessor. On the other hand, the only assumptions necessary to a case study analysis are those that will be used in the analysis. It may, for example, be reasonable to assume in a given case that the weather on a certain day was inclement; but if the weather does not then enter into either the identification or the resolution of the problem(s), then the assessor can and should penalize the analyst for ‘wasting time’ on an extraneous assumption.

It is not enough, however, to state the assumptions on which an analysis is based.

The fourth step in such an analysis must be TO MAKE EXPLICIT THE OJECTIVES WHICH YOUR SOLUTION IS INTENDED TO MEET. Clearly, two analysts, faced with the same situation, may identify different facets of a problem and arrive at different but equally logical solutions if their objectives differ. It is true that the ‘bottom line’ should always be organizational effectiveness; but it is important to specify just how this overall goal translates into an objective or objectives in the analysis of a given case study.

Having identified the primary (and secondary) problem(s); and having stated the

objective(s) you intend to meet, the next logical step is to decide all the various ways there are to get from “here” to “there” (including always the option of doing nothing!). Therefore, the fifth step in the analysis is TO GENERATE AS MANY ALTERNATIVE, REASONABLE SOLUTIONS AS POSSIBLE.

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The sixth step is TO EVALUATE EACH OF THE ALTERNATIVES YOU HAVE IDENTIFIED in terms of their ability to provide both short term (symptomatic) and long-term solutions.

The seventh and penultimate step in the case study analysis is TO STATE YOUR

CHOICE OF THE BEST SOLUTION based upon step #6, making certain that the solution chosen does indeed resolve the primary problem. It is surprising how many analysts, having identified one basic problem, provide a solution to another, otherwise unidentified problem.

The final step in your analysis should be, as it would be in a real life situation, to

comment upon any implications your choice of a solution may have for other groups, agencies, or departments not directly involved in the case at hand. In this concluding section of your analysis you may also note any major or generalizable administrative principles epitomized in your solution.

Review of steps 1. Identify the basic or primary problem. 2. Identify any secondary problems or symptoms. 3. State any assumptions underlying the analysis. 4. Make explicit the objectives which your solution is intended to meet. 5. Generate as many alternative, reasonable solutions as possible. 6. Evaluate each of the alternatives you have identified. 7. State your choice of the best solution.

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“Motivation theory helps us understand not only what motivates workers and to what

extent but how to increase motivation” (Gordon, 1999, 88).

Case Study: “Jonelle”

Organizational Setting

The following case study unfolds within the Aplin Public Library System’s Department of Corporate Communications. The APLS is one of the largest public library systems in North America. It serves a population of over 2 million of which 894,000 are active cardholders. It has 98 library branches and employs 1,815 FTEs (full time equivalents). As a large urban library it provides a wide array of services and is closely connected to the various and diverse communities it serves. APLS’s Department of Communication (DoC) was established in the mid-1990s in response to a variety of pressures, both internal and external. Externally these included cuts in government funding at both the provincial and local levels, and a corresponding increase in competition among municipal services for scarce tax dollars. The library board and CEO recognized that in order to maintain stable funding levels, the organization would need to develop an ongoing system of marketing and promotion. Such campaigns would be designed to raise the profile of the library’s various services within the community while at the same time promote the cost benefits of the public library to the city as well as municipal taxpayers. The department would also play a crucial role in pursuing corporate sponsorships and other sources of sustainable funding. Internally, the department is responsible for all staff communications. Given the instability associated with managing a public service organization within a constantly changing environment, regular and consistent communications between management and staff is essential for employee morale. The Department plays an important role in this regard.

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Department of Corporate Communications Four full-time permanent employees work in the Department of Communications. Sandra Oh has just been hired as the new manager of the department. She has a MLIS and several years experience in the public library sector. The remaining three staff are all communication specialists. Mohammad, Jonelle and Rick share the same job description and all have college diplomas in graphic arts design. The key difference between the three is their length of service. Jonelle has been with the library since she was a teenager, having started working at the library in 1978 as a page. Upon graduating from high school, she landed a full time clerical position in the library system. Finally, in 1990 she commenced her college program part-time and after receiving her diploma in graphic arts was promoted to communication specialist in the newly formed Department of Communications. Since joining the department, Jonelle has continued to upgrade her skills and taken continuing education courses in marketing and design. Jonelle is a high achiever but does require constant positive feedback and acknowledgement. In April 2004, Jonelle took a year’s maternity leave. She returned in April 2006. Before her maternity leave, the then manager of the department, Mary Beth, and long time friend of Jonelle’s, discussed with her the possibility of a promotion following her return from maternity leave. Unfortunately, Mary Beth left the system suddenly during Jonelle’s maternity and without leaving any documentation regarding a promotion for Jonelle. After years of contract work in the private sector, Rick was hired in 1992 by the APLS as a communication specialist in the Department. During the first year of his employment, Jonelle played a key role in Rick’s training as well as acclimatizing Rick to work in the public library sector. Mohammad is the most recent hire in the department. He graduated from Seneca College in June 2003. He was originally hired into a contract position designed to cover Jonelle’s maternity leave. Within the first few months of joining the department it became clear to the manager and senior manager that Mohammad was a terrific asset to the department. In addition to his being an excellent writer and adept editor, he was an excellent team member, consistently offering innovative and creative solutions for challenging corporate communications, i.e., finding positive ways of keeping staff informed about funding cuts and organizational restructuring. For all of these reasons plus the fact that the department has grown in importance within the organization (due in part to Mohammad’s presence), the manager received permission to create a third full time communication specialist position and in due course Mohammad moves into this permanent position when Jonelle returns from her maternity leave. The motivational challenge

Problems arise within the department a few short weeks after Jonelle returns from maternity leave. These include: absenteeism, a lack of collegiality, obstructionist and negative behaviour in weekly team meetings and, at times, what appears as efforts to sabotage the other team members’ work. Essentially, while Jonelle is exceptionally talented and the quality of her work remains high, since returning from maternity leave,

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her productivity decreased. Where once she used to be able to get through a significant amount of work in a short period of time, she now requires more time. That being said, the final products always come in just under the wire. Relations between Jonelle and the other two communications specialists appear strained. As a result Mohammad and Rick continue to collaborate, share ideas and often work together as an informal team. They have also begun coming in early and staying later to get ahead with their projects, and they are always eager to take on more. By comparison, Jonelle is the least productive on the team and her new attitude is beginning to have a chilling effect on the department. Sandra Oh has tried on two different occasions to talk to Jonelle about the issue of her bahaviour and its impact on team morale and productivity. Jonelle always refuses to acknowledge that any problem exists, but her behaviour will improve for a number of days before she reverts back to her old ways. Once Sandra tried assigning her more work in the hope that this might serve to jump-start her productivity but Jonelle complained loudly that this was unfair and the work was reduced. The department is growing increasingly more polarized: Jonelle on the one side and Rick and Mohammad on the other. After considering all the information, Sandra decides that for the sake of departmental morale, Jonelle must be either motivated to improve her performance, transferred to another department in a lateral move, or have her services terminated. The last two would be extremely difficult to achieve.

Using the case study analysis provided and your knowledge of motivating and rewarding employees (Gordon, Chapter 4) discuss the various ways in which you might solve this problem.

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TEAMS

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Working and managing in teams

Architecture Project1 Instructions Using only the materials provided, your task (should you accept) is to construct a freestanding paper tower. Your performance will be judged on the following: • Height of your tower • Quality of your design The role of the observer is allocated to one member in each team. The observer will fill in the observer sheet (next page) and at the end of the exercise, provide feedback to the team their observations. Once the towers are completed, a winning team will be declared based upon the height and quality of the tower. There will be a modest prize… awarded to the winners. The exercise has three parts: (1) Planning. You have 15 minutes to plan the construction of your tower. You

may try out elements of your design but please remember that no additional resources (construction materials) are available.

You are not allowed to reconstruct any elements of your tower. In other words, you must construct the tower as it has been conceived on paper during the planning process.

(2) Construction. You have 15 minutes to construct your tower. It must be freestanding after the construction period.

(3) Evaluation. Each team considers the towers of all other teams in terms of

quality, height and resemblance to original design. The team then agrees

1 Fletcher, A. (2002). FireStarter Youth Power Curriculum: Participant Guidebook.

Olympia, WA: Freechild Project.

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upon one team and writes that team’s name down on a piece of paper to be handed in to the instructor. The instructor will tally the results and announce a winner. In the case of a tie—there will be two winners.

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Architecture Project

Observer Sheet Use the following table to keep track of your observations regarding team roles. These roles were created by Dr. Meredith Belbin and form the basis for his Team-Role Theory2. (Note: one person might play multiple roles depending on the conditions (attend to clues in both verbal and non-verbal behaviour).

Role Observed?

(Y/N) Who? Under what conditions/ within what

context did this role appear? Be specific

Plant

Resource Investigator

Coordinator

Shaper

Monitor/Evaluator

Team worker

Implementer

Completer

Specialist

Other things to consider: • How did the team manage its time?

• How were tasks identified and allocated (by

• What evidence of compromise did you see? • How were decisions made?

• What was the team’s energy level? How did it

2 Management Teams: Why They Succeed or Fail, 2

nd ed. (2003). Butterworth Heinemann

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who to who?)

• What evidence did you see of conflict/ tension/ ruffled feathers?

change throughout the exercise? • What percentage of the team showed concern

for task completion/ concern for people?

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Team Discussion Points Observer feedback and team discussion

(1) Which roles did you, as an observer, see represented in your group?

(2) Review the role preferences of each person in the group.

(3) As a group what were your areas of strengths and weaknesses?

(4) Beyond this task, what types of tasks would your team perform well and what types of tasks might present more of a challenge?

(5) If asked to undertake the same or a similar project tomorrow what would you do differently in order to be more effective? Individually and collectively.

(6) How would you describe the roles played by individual team members with regard to the Managerial Grid3?

(7) Which environment most describes your team’s experience?

• Impoverished? • Country club? • Task oriented? • Team oriented?

(8) Describe the pros and cons of the environment you have created.

3 Robert Blake and Jane Srgley Mouton, 1964

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SUPERVISION & DELEGATION

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Supervision and Delegation

In-Basket Exercise

Objectives 1. To demonstrate the variety of problems facing a middle manager at a particular point

in time. 2. To establish priorities in the use of the manager’s time. 3. To gain experience in responding to various forms and contents of communications. Purpose These in-basket exercises give you additional practice in decision-making, planning and communicating in an operational and supervisory context.

Your task is four-fold: 1. To review the communications.

2. To decide the sequence in which action should be taken.

3. To decide the form and manner in which the decision or action may be carried

out.

4. To indicate why you chose the particular solution you did. Instructions 1. Read “The Situation” section and study the organization chart. This will help you get

a feeling for the problem. 2. Read all communications straight through at least once without attempting to respond

to any one.

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3. Go back and read “The Situation” section, review the organizational chart and study

the calendar. 4. Label the communications “Communication A”, “Communication B”, etc., so that

you can manipulate them individually. 5. Rearrange the communications in the order in which you think you will handle them.

It would probably be wise NOT to number them consecutively yet in case you change your mind about priorities.

6. Remember that, for you as the supervisor, time is of the essence, so you should give

preference to actions which will solve the problem rather than merely postpone it. 7. Act on each of the communications. Your actions may be in the form of memos

(digital and/or paper), phone calls, emails, draft formal letters, teleconferences, etc. Be specific. For example, if you were to decide that you would deal with a particular problem tomorrow afternoon after consulting a file pertinent to the question, you might describe your action thus.

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PARTIAL ORGANIZATIONAL CHART FOR MPL

Library Board

CEO Li Ming Chow

Secretary Magda Moore

Manager, Reference Adriana Sanchez

Jr. Ref. Librarian Arvin Amer

Clerk George Costanza

Jr. Ref. Librarian Isobel Rotman

Sr. Ref. Librarian Jalileh Safeed

Sr. Ref. Librarian David Booth

Clerk Shirley Strut

Library tech Nadine Fontaine

Clerk Lilly Lee

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METROPOLIS PUBLIC LIBRARY—REFERENCE DEPARTMENT

The Situation You are Adriana Sanchez, Head of the Reference Department. The professional staff in your department includes two senior reference librarians: David Booth and Jalileh Safeed, and two junior reference

librarians: Arvin Amer, who is a graduate of FIS and Isobel Rotman, a FIMS (Western) graduate of the same year. Arvin is shy, but has a real talent for reference work. Isobel is popular with the younger users of the department. Her ready smile and relaxed deportment are inviting but she tends to be less than thorough in handling difficult queries. In addition, you have on staff Nadine Fontaine, a mature library technician in charge of inter-library loans and three clerks: Lily Lee is competent and serious, works directly under your supervision and acts as your secretary whenever you need assistance; Shirley Strut is just out of high school and George

Costanza lives with a disability and is a father of four. The director Li

Ming Cho is a very capable and experienced administrator who has been a librarian for twenty-five years, ten as director of the Metropolis Public Library.

It is Wednesday, February 7. The staff will not arrive for another

hour. You have just returned to the library after being away since last Tuesday due to a family illness. Jalileh acted for you in your absence. Lily has carefully gathered the various memos and other messages which arrived while you were away. You find them all neatly piled on your desk.

In dealing with them, remember that you are the head of the reference department, so tailor your reactions to fit an actual public library environment.

Calendar

February

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28

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Communication A: Post-it-note affixed to Adriana’s keyboard

Adriana, Welcome back! I did the best I could to keep things moving during your absence. It was relatively easy, you are so well organized. Lily has the things that I thought would be better dealt with by you. I enjoyed being Head for a few days but I am glad you are back. Tomorrow is my day off.

Jalileh

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Communication B: – Email

To: Adriana@metropolis From: Lily@metroplis Re: dental appointment I’ll be late Wednesday, I have a dentist appointment at 9:30 a.m.

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Communication C: Email To: Adriana@metropolis From: David@metropolis Re: Request for an appointment Date: Monday February 1 I would like an appointment with you Wednesday afternoon to discuss Isobel Rotman’s 6-month performance evaluation. Thanks David

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Communication D: Memo

Metropolis Public Library

Memorandum

To: Adriana Sanchez From: Li Ming Chow Re: Attached letter from Mrs. Watson Date: February 2

Please talk to me about the attached letter as soon as you can. What do you think is our best response? LM

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January 25 Chief Librarian Metropolis Public Library Metropolis, Ontario M5W 1E6 Dear Sir or Madam, I have been a taxpayer and user of the Metropolis Public Library for over twenty-five years. I had always thought it was a fine library. All my children used it for their school assignments. Yesterday however, I phoned the library for some research about an artist and was most rudely treated by the librarian. Not only did I not get an answer to my research question, but she said I could come in and look it up myself. When I explained that I had no time she replied, “Well neither do I,” and hung up on me. I think you should know that treatment like this will damage the fine support that the library has enjoyed in this community.

Sincerely yours,

Jane Watson Jane Watson 121 Oakdale Ave.

Metropolis, Ontario

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Communication E: Email

To: Adriana Sanchez@metropolis From: JBHopkins@metropolishigh Date: February 2 Re: Annual class visit Dear Adriana We are ready to begin the unit on Ontario History, Thursday, February 8. I’ll bring my 10th grade class of 28, at 9:30 a.m. for your usual lecture on Ontario materials available at the Metropolis Public Library. Did the library ever purchase those two Ontario DVDs we previewed last year? I’ll check with you Wednesday during our lunch break. Yours, J.B. Hopkins

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Communication F: Telephone message

MESSAGE FOR

Adriana…....................... WHILE YOU WERE OUT

Tom Moff, Media Centre...... OF Highland Park H.S.

TELEPHONED ! RET. CALL

CALLED TO SEE YOU PLEASE CALL

WANTS TO SEE YOU WILL CALL AGAIN

MESSAGE: He said that the representative from Hewlett Packard will be there on Wednesday 7th at 2 p.m. to demonstrate some new adaptive technologies. He said that you had asked him to tell you about the visit. Voila! DATE: _________TIME:__________

RECEIVED BY: Lily

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Communication G: Telephone message

MESSAGE FOR

Adriana…....................... WHILE YOU WERE OUT

Norma Cheng................. OF Danson PL..................

TELEPHONED ! RET. CALL

CALLED TO SEE YOU PLEASE CALL

WANTS TO SEE YOU WILL CALL AGAIN

MESSAGE: Emergency meeting of The Ontario Library Assosication’s Intellectual Freedom Committee at 1 p.m. at their office. The meetings is about“Heather has two mommies” and “Daddy’s roomate”... again! DATE: 2/6_________TIME:_4:30_________

RECEIVED BY: Lily

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Communication H: Memo

Metropolis Public Library

Memorandum

To: All Department Heads From: Li Ming Chow Re: February 2 Date: Budget Meeting

Paul Kennedy, Chair of the Finance Committee of the Library Board will meet with us in my office Wednesday, February 7 at 2:00 p.m. The meeting will be about next year’s budget. LM

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Communication I: written note

Adriana

I heard that the Reference Department wants to es tabl ish

some sort o f service to bus iness and labour. I wou ld l ike

to be put in charge o f th is. I took gov. docs and bus iness

l i t. at FIMS (Facu lty o f Information and Media

Studies, UWO) and I am sure that Professor Dewey

would give me a good recommendation.

Isobe l

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Communication J: Memo

Metropolis Public Library

Memorandum

To: Adriana From: Li Ming Re: Attached letter from Professors McCaul and Tabige Date: January 29

I want to respond to the letter by February 9. Could you use some FIS students? What would you have them do? Might they be more trouble than it’s worth? LM

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January 16, 2019

Ms. Li Ming Chow Director, Melonville Public Library Melonville, Ontario

Dear Ms. Chow

This is to solicit your participation in course 2019 Directed Field Work. The course takes place during three consecutive weeks starting near the end of April each year. A student who elects the course spends that time either in the library or in its community on a project developed in the library by the librarians in consultation with one or the other of us.

Directed Field Work in community practice, i.e., outside the library but for the library, has been offered for some years under Professor John M. McCaul. It was just last year that Professor Froylon Tabige initiated Directed Field Work in public administration. Both types have been successful. They have provided students with first-hand knowledge of some aspect of library service and the libraries with an opportunity to make a valuable contribution to the education of librarians-to-be while reaping the benefits of some 100 hours of work devoted to a project of value to them.

Students enrolled in the Directed Field Work course usually have just completed their first year of the two-year MISt program. They bring with them a wide range of experiences and a certain degree of expertise and competence.

As a means to ensure that the projects are of value to your library, we want them to be developed in your library and supervised by your own staff. We are also prepared to train students in techniques useful to bring your projects to a successful conclusion.

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Attached is a list of projects completed last year in the public library administration section of the Directed Field Work. Examples of projects done in the community practice section include:

• Investigating the library/information needs of a given ethnic group • Pilot projects in developing services to non-user groups • Local history projects – developing contacts, identifying resources • Investigating needs of low-income households • Identifying the IT needs of specific demographic groups • Developing information literacy projects

Let us know at your earliest convenience if you think you can develop one or more projects for the middle of April and the beginning of next May. We need as much lead time as possible to identify projects and to match them to the students available. We are looking forward to the pleasure and the professional reward of working closely with our colleagues in the field and of reinforcing the link between the area public libraries and the Faculty of Information Studies.

Yours very sincerely,

J.M. McCaul F. Tabige _____________________________ ______________________________ John M. McCaul Froylon Tabige Associate Professor Professor of Library Science (416) 978-1234 (416) 978-4321

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LIB 2005 Directed Field Work – Public Library Administration

Instructor: F. G, Tabige

Projects Implemented

1. OPAC Survey Ajax Public Library Supervisor: Head of Technical Services 2. Sources for Canadian IT industries Metro Toronto Reference Library Supervisor: Head of Reference 3. Adaptive Technology Hamilton Public Library Supervisor: Systems Supervisor 4. Meeting the Information Needs of New Canadians Markham Public Library Supervisor: Multilingual Librarian 5. Developing Digital Children’s Resources Ottawa Public Library Supervisor: Head of Children’s 6. Study to identify tasks which volunteers could perform, to draw up contracts, job descriptions, standards of performance, etc. Picton Public Library Supervisor: Administration Assistant 7. Investigate the information needs of gay, lesbian and bisexual youth London Public Library Supervisor: YA Librarian

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LEADERSHIP

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Leadership Style Inventory

This questionnaire exercise allows students to identify their primary leadership style according to the Life-Cycle or Situational Model of Leadership developed by Hersey and Blanchard.

Students are to complete activity 8-2 at the end of chapter 8 in Gordon’s Organizational Behaviour textbook by Judith Gordon. During class, students will discuss these questions:

1. What does your leadership style matrix tell you?

2. How balanced are your scores?

3. Do you have a predominant style?

4. Do you have a potential flexibility to use all four leadership behaviours?

5. How well did you do in terms of effectiveness scores?

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FISCAL MANAGEMENT

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Budget Exercise

Objectives

• Provide students with a first-hand experience in some limited aspects of zero-based budgeting.

• Promote a greater appreciation of the value of zero-base budgeting. • Assist students to better understand the zero-base budgeting process. • Provide students with an opportunity to learn through group problem-solving

techniques. • Introduce students to the politics of library management.

Method The budget exercise comprises a number of individual Projects called decision packages in zero-based budget parlance. Each decision package is assigned to a group of students acting as a task force. Each task force selects two members, one to act as a representative on the Budget Allocation Committee, and one to act as a spokesperson and present the task force’s submission to the Committee. Task forces prepare their estimates in the manner prescribed by the forms at the end of this section (pages 55-56). Begin by brainstorming (quickly list all ideas no matter how outrageous and avoid evaluating them). Next, discuss the ideas and select one or two for inclusion in your team’s decision package. When the time for completing the decision packages is finished (about 30 minutes), they are presented to the Budget Allocation Committee. The Budget Allocation Committee meeting is chaired by Melonville’s Deputy Mayor who will invite each task force’s presenter to make the case for their decision package in five minutes or less. The Committee may ask questions for clarification or amplification on any aspect of a Project or its estimates After a task force’s presentation is completed, each member of the Budget Allocation Committee may allocate funding to the Project. The Committee is restricted in the amount of funding available for all the proposed Projects, so members may decide to fund some Projects at levels below that requested by the task forces, or drop some

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Projects altogether. This will especially be the case if the Committee decides to fund some Projects at levels in excess of 100%. Melonville’s Finance Manager has been charged by the City Council to balance the Public Library budget and will automatically adjust each of the Budget Allocation Committee member’s allocations to fulfill her mandate. Once the Finance Manager has finalized the budget, it will be obvious which task forces’ decision packages were most favourably received by the Budget Allocation Committee and which Projects were deemed to be of relatively lower value. The exercise will conclude with a summary of the exercise provided by the Chair.

THE SETTING Melonville Public Library

You are a member of the staff of the Melonville Public Library, a large public library in one of Ontario’s major cities. Six months ago Mayor Selma James announced that the city was changing to a zero-base budget system. Since then the library has been preparing to convert to the new system. You have just completed a workshop on ZBB and are about to begin preparing your Project estimates for presentation at the Budget Allocation Committee meeting. The library is fortunate in that it has a history of progressive and innovative management. Of particular importance was a move made several years ago under director Li Ming Chow. Recognizing the need to become more “proactive” in providing services. Li Ming began a program for developing new services for the library. As part of the program she established what has become a very effective process for designing and monitoring innovative Projects. Under this system individuals and groups are encouraged to design Projects to be instituted by the library. Each new Project is processed through a series of screening procedures until it is given approval by the Management Committee. Once approval is given a task force monitors the Project to assure that it accomplishes its stated goals as effectively and efficiently as possible. This process is seen as especially appropriate for operating under a zero-base budgeting system. You are a member of one of the task forces described above. Your group is charged with presenting next year’s budget for its Project using the new ZBB procedures. These procedures, and accompanying guidelines, are presented below. Procedure 1. Study the descriptions of all the special Projects being considered for next year’s

budget, concentrating particularly upon the Project assigned to your own task force. 2. As a group, prepare the Project analysis and complete the budget request form. The

steps in this process are:

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(A) Write in the name of Project as it appears in your budget description. (B) Describe in the space provided the purpose of the Project. Remember that in

this case the purpose will be translated eventually into fiscal priorities. (C) Describe briefly the advantages of retaining the Project. Your group may

decide that there are too few advantages to make the cost worthwhile. If this is the case, you may recommend eliminating the Project; but you must still develop your recommendation in a ZBB framework.

(D) Describe the consequences of eliminating the Project. (You may decide that conditions favour elimination).

(E) Describe at least two alternatives, different ways of carrying out the Project, e.g., a Project could be carried out by information studies students as a particular course requirement; a Project could be shared between the by Library and a town social agency, etc. Your description should make clear the pros and cons of each alternative. (Even though your group may be leaning towards the elimination of a given Project, you must still go through this procedural step in order to ensure that, even with several alternative approaches considered, the Project isn’t worth saving).

(F) Choose one (i.e., the ‘best’) alternative way of achieving your group’s Project and set up budgets for it under three different conditions: (a) a 20% cut in last year’s budget; (b) the same budget as last year; (c) a 20% increase over last year’s budget. Describe these three budgets in tabular form on the second page of your decision package.

(G) Indicate on the budget summary sheet your choice of funding level and justify your choice in specific terms.

(H) Select someone from your task force to represent the group at the Budget Allocation Committee meeting. Remember that the strength of your case will depend about equally on the strength of the logic and documentation which your group can provide, and on the speaking ability of your presenter.

3. Budget Allocation Committee Meeting

You must attend the Budget Allocation Committee meeting either as the representative of your task force or as an observer. The chair opens the meeting and invites each representative to speak to the estimates of their Project. Presentations are limited to five minutes. Presenters may use handouts, transparencies, video clips, power point, etc. in an effort to “sell” their Project while remaining within the time restraints. You may not invent measures of success for your Project nor can you call upon extraordinary happenings to enhance your presentation or the quality of the Project. Use of statistics and testimonials found in the literature is acceptable. The participation of one member from each task force on the Budget Allocation Committee should ensure at least some support for each decision package. The final budget however, will be based on the inputs of all the Committee members and the funding restrictions imposed by City Council.

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A substantial difference between budget request and availability of funds may result in the loss of some Projects. Do everything possible to ensure that your Project achieves a high rank. N.B. Assume that positions and fractions of positions indicate the status of each person, e.g. if in your Project you have a clerk (1/2 time), assume that the clerk works in the library half-time. This is important should you wish to increase or decrease the time status of any position. Disregard cost of living increases, merit pay, etc., assume that senior management will compensate for these.

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Information Literacy Project Melonville Public Library has been providing Information Literacy Programming for the past two years. The program has experimented with a variety of formats and delivery vehicles for teaching current and prospective users how to use both the library’s own collections, as well as the wealth of information available via the Internet. Information Literacy programs have been targeted at children, students, adults and seniors. Specific programs include a series of six-week lab sessions, online tutorials, and self-instruction kits. Sessions have also been conducted at the local primary and secondary schools in conjunction with school staff. According the ALA Presidential Committee on Information Literacy: Final Report (1989):

Information literacy is a survival skill in the Information Age. Instead of drowning in the abundance of information that floods their lives, information literate people know how to find, evaluate, and use information effectively to solve a particular problem or make a decision---whether the information they select comes from a computer, a book, a government agency, a film, or any number of other possible resources. Libraries, which provide a significant public access point to such information and usually at no cost, must play a key role in preparing people for the demands of today's information society.

Present Budget

Cost Centre Cost

Supplies $1,000

Instructional Materials (hand-outs, self-instruction kits, CDs)

$3,500

IT (hardware, software, connectivity) $2,000

Personnel Librarian II (full-time) Librarian I (full-time) Librarian I (part-time) Clerk (full-time)

$68,000 $45,000 $22,500 $32,000

Total $174,000.00

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Collection Development Project The collection development project has just been established with the purpose of conducting an extensive and thorough evaluation of the collections and devising a plan for a more systematic development of the library’s print, non-print, and digital resources. The project is something which most staff support as essential and desirable. However, there is some concern as to whether this is, in fact, the best time to begin the project.

Present Budget

Cost Centre Cost

Supplies $1,500

Training and consultation $5,000

IT (hardware, software, connectivity) $750

Personnel Librarian I (full-time) Librarian I (1/4-time) Clerk (1/2-time)

$45,000 $11,250 $16,000

Total $79,500.00

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Cataloguing Project Three years ago the Cataloguing Department established a special unit to eliminate the backlog of special material that had accumulated through gifts and donations. Much of the material consists of the private library of a local media mogul who founded a national paper (now defunct) in the early 1900s. Many of the items are considered to be valuable as local history, but difficult to catalogue. It is also expected that some items might be rare and of substantial value. The project has not received much financial support and has had to rely on part-time employees. For this reason, and because the job was more difficult than originally anticipated, the project is only half complete. Interestingly enough, several valuable items have been discovered. Just this last month a monograph worth $5,000.00 and a set of prints valued at $4,000 were identified.

Present Budget

Cost Centre Cost

Supplies $1,500

IT (hardware, software, connectivity) $750

Personnel Librarian I (half-time) Clerk (part-time)

$22,500 16,000

Total $40,750.00$40,750.00

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Multilingual Library Service The ethnic composition of Melonville is changing. The library has recognized this fact for some time and has strived to respond to the needs of its non-English users. To this end, adults’ and childrens’ collections of books, CDs, DVDs, and videos have been established in Mandarin, Cantonese, and Arabic. Some efforts have been made to publicize the existence of these collections through bookmarks, booklists, articles in newspapers, and central coverage on the library’s website. Recently there has been a growing demand for materials in Spanish. So far the demand has been low key but there is evidence that more direct pressure is about to be applied.

Present Budget

Cost Centre Cost

Collections $25,000

Supplies (including promotional materials) $5,000

IT (hardware, software, connectivity) $1,500

Tuition fees (language courses for staff) $2,500

Personnel Librarian I (2, 1/4-time each) Clerk (half-time)

$22,500 $16,000

Total $72,500.00

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Early Childhood Project Melonville Public Library offers an Early Childhood Project designed to provide early learning experiences using a wide assortment of media. The Project also encourages substantial parent-child interaction and involvement with the media as a means of developing positive and enduring attitudes towards learning. The project has been quite successful and has received considerable attention in the region and throughout Ontario. Funding has been adequate, but some members of the library staff believe that more could be done if more funds were available.

Present Budget

Cost Centre Cost

Supplies $1,000

Media costs (TVs, DVDs, CDs, etc.) $3,500

IT (hardware, software, connectivity) $1,500

Personnel Librarian I (1/3-time) Librarian I (half-time) Clerk (3/4-time)

$15,000 $22,500 $24,000

Total $67,500.00

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Internship Project The Faculty of Information Studies at the University of Toronto established an internship project two years ago. Melonville Public Library has participated enthusiastically by accepting two second-year students, one for six months, the other for four. These people have been very satisfactory in a variety of positions, and the general feeling among staff is that the project is beneficial to the library and should be continued. This particularly given the current climate of austerity at City Hall precludes the hiring of new staff even though library service has been expanding steadily for the last five years.

Present Budget

Cost Centre Cost

Travel $900

Stipend $30,000

Personnel Librarian I (1/3-time) Library Technician (1/4-time)

$15,000 $8,000

Total $53,900.00

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Connections (Older Adult Club)

"The best age is the age you are." Maggie Kuhn, Gray Panthers Founder (1905-1995)

Two years ago, a few Gray Panthers [social activist group] began agitating for improved community services for older adults. They were successful in their efforts at consciousness raising among some civic leaders. The library, in cooperation with a Community College and the Central Y, created a program of lectures, book discussions, hobbies, dances and games. Not all activities take place at the library, but of the three organizations involved, the Melonville Public Library is clearly the most popular. Some of the staff have questioned the library’s involvement in activities which are largely non-collection oriented.

Present Budget

Cost Centre Cost

Supplies $750

Materials $2,000

Personnel Librarian I (1/4-time) Social Worker (1/4-time) Community members (8 = 1 FT clerk)

$11,250 $10,000 $32,000

Total $56,000.00

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MELONVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY

DECISION PACKAGE

Budget Request Form

Task Force Members: Date:

A. Name of Project/Decision Package:

B. Purpose of Project/Decision Package:

C. Advantages of Retaining Project/Decision Package:

D. Consequences of Eliminating Project/Decision Package

E. Alternatives (Different ways of Performing the Project/Decision Package):

(OVER)

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F. Alternatives (Different Levels of Effort) and Costs

Level of

Funding

Description Cost Your

Priority

1,2,3

80%

100%

120%

G. Justification of your priority #1:

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HUMAN RESOURCES

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Human Resources and Staffing

Job Interviews

Instructions Using the following job description as a guide, students are asked to engage in a role-playing exercise.

1. Class is divided in half 2. One half of the class will be interviewers, and the other half, will be

interviewees. 3. Based on the information provided (job description), interviewers will

develop a set of questions to ask the interviewee. Special attention should be paid to the types of questions you can and cannot ask.

4. Based on the information provided, interviewees consider how they might prepare themselves for such an interview.

5. The group will have 15 minutes to think through their scenario after which the class will reconvene for some role-playing.

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TRILLIUM REGIONAL LIBRARY DRAFT

JOB DESCRIPTION4 JOB TITLE: Information Services General – [Adult] JOB CLASSIFICATION: 7 FUNCTION:

Under the general direction of the Library Manager or their delegate, the Information Services Librarian – General is responsible for the planning, organization and delivery of reference and readers’ advisory services, children’s, youth and adult programming, staff training, and collection development. WORK PERFORMED:

1. Provides reference and reader’s advisory services to children, youth and adults using a variety of electronic and print information sources.

2. Promotes the library through community liaison, displays, tours, group

presentations, and children’s, youth and adult programming. Develops promotional and resource materials.

3. Provides leadership and guidance to staff through orientation, training, staff

development and shift supervision. Communicates and interprets FVRL policies, procedures and information to staff and the public.

4. Assists in the selection, collection maintenance, and weeding and discarding of

library materials.

5. Trains and assists the public in the use of electronic and print resources.

6. Performs administrative duties including statistical reports, scheduling and writing reports. Monitors and reconciles specific budgets. Participates in the planning and administration of special projects.

7. Assists in the planning, implementation, monitoring and assessment of services and

programs to ensure achievement of Library goals and objectives.

8. Advises on services and programs for the system through participation in committees that recommend policies to the Director, Client Services.

9. Performs circulation duties, responds to public and staff queries and resolves

problems.

10. Performs basic equipment maintenance and resolves routine hardware and software problems.

11. Performs other related duties as assigned.

4 Based on the job description for a general librarian posted on the Fraser Valley Regional Library System’s website. Viewed at http://www.fvrl.bc.ca/lib_jobs_descriptions.asp

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RELATIONSHIPS:

1 Information Services Supervisor

Information Services Librarian – Adult

Information Services Librarian – Children’s

Direct

Community Librarian

Supervisor

Advisory Circulation Supervisor

2. Direct N/A

Staff Supervised

Advisory Information Assistant

3. Other Frequent contact with TRL staff, the public and community organizations

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES: 1. Demonstrated knowledge of and proficiency in information services, readers’ advisory, reference search strategy/interview techniques and programming. 2. Knowledge of public library resources and services. 3. Knowledge of automated library systems. 4. Ability to work effectively as part of a team committed to providing quality library service to the public. 5. Strong interpersonal, oral and written communications skills. 6. Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with staff and public. 7. Ability to carry out job functions with flexibility, creativity and initiative. 8. Strong organizational skills. EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS, TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE:

1. Master's Degree in Library Science from an ALA accredited library school or, equivalent library degree. 2. Combination of one (1) month work related and on the job experience. 3. Valid Driver's Licence.