Library Liaison Responsibilities

• 1. Liaison responsibilities in collection management Sarah Jeong, Wake Forest University Elisabeth Leonard, UNC Chapel Hill Peggy Ridlen, Fontbonne University

2. Agenda

• Introduction tothesurvey

• Survey results

• Practical applications

• Discussion

3. Demographics:W hat department do you work in? Response % Response count (n) Department 2% 13 Reserves 24% 175 Other 58% 430 Reference/research services 3% 23 Interlibrary loan 19% 138 Collection development 3% 24 Circulation 7% 52 Cataloging/metadata services 10% 77 Administration 7% 55 Acquisitions 4. Demographics: Type of institution Answered question:736 32.9% 242 Private 67.4% 496 Public Percentage of responses Numberof responses Type of institution 5. Demographics: Approximate full time student enrollment (FTE) Percentage of responses Number of responses FTE Answered question:73249.5% 362 10,000 and over 20.5% 150 5,000 to 9,999 23.4% 171 1,500 to 4,999 7% 51 Fewer than 1,500 6. Demographics: Carnegie classification 4% 27 Other 2% 12 Medical schools and medical centers0.4% 3 Theological seminaries and other specialized faith-based institutions8% 59 Associate's college12% 91 Baccalaureate college I and II30% 218 Masters and Universities I & II 47% 343 Doctoral/Research I & II Percent Response Carnegie classification 7. Which of these are part of your liaison responsibilities? 80 11% Other 277 37% Attending panels, conferences, meetings, etc. in user group area 65 9% Publishing in user group area (rather than librarianship) 550 74% Enables the librarys clientele to communicate their library needs and preferences to the library staff and governing body 608 82% Communicate the librarys collection policies, services, and needs to your user group 586 79% Subject-specific library instruction 702 94% Identify user needs, evaluate existing collections, remove extraneous materials, and locate resources that will enhance collections 557 75% Involve the librarys clientele in the assessment and satisfaction of collection needs Response count (n) Response percent Liaison Responsibilities 8. Which of these are part of your liaison responsibilities? 10.8% 10.9% 9.9% Other 37.2% 37.2% 37.2% Attending panels, conferences, meetings, etc. in user group area 8.7% 10.3% 5.0% Publishing in user group area (rather than librarianship) 73.9% 75.0% 71.9% Enables the librarys clientele to communicate their library needs and preferences to the library staff and governing body 81.7% 82.2% 80.6% Communicate the librarys collection policies, services, and needs to your user group 78.8% 78.8% 79.3% Subject-specific library instruction 94.4% 93.9% 95.5% Identify user needs, evaluate existing collections, remove extraneous materials, and locate resources that will enhance collections 74.9% 75.0% 75.2% Involve the librarys clientele in the assessment and satisfaction of collection needs Response Percent Response Percent Response Percent Liaison Responsibilities Total (n=744) Public Universities (n=495) Private Universities (n=242) 9. Subject specific instruction, by department 85% 11 Reserves 89% 383 Reference/research services 70% 16 Interlibrary Loan 75% 104 Collection development 63% 15 Circulation 67% 35 Cataloging/metadata services 66% 50 Administration 56% 31 Acquisitions Percent n Department 10. What percentage of your time involves liaison work? 9 1% N/A 57 7% 61-100 44 6% 51-60 47 6% 41-50 80 11% 31-40 204 27% 21-30 189 25% 11-20 119 16% 0-10 Response count (n) Response percent Percentage of time 11. What percentage of your time involves liaison work? 6% 0% 0 5% 3% 6% 7% 51-60 7% 16% 0 2% 6% 5% 11% 61-100 6% 8% 0 2% 3% 6% 8% 41-50 11% 25% 0 3% 12% 10% 13% 31-40 27% 8% 33% 39% 26% 28% 26% 21-30 25% 17% 33% 31% 30% 28% 23% 11-20 16% 25% 33% 17% 19% 19% 13% 0-10 Mean for survey (n=741) Medical schools and centers(n=12) Theological seminaries (n=3) Assoc. college(n=59) Baccalaureatecollege I and II (n=91) Master's colleges and univ. I and II(n=218) Doctoral/ research I and II (n=342) % time spent 12. What percentage of your time involves liaison work? 7% 6% 0 10% 8% 11% 4% 4% 2% 8% 61-100 6% 6% 8% 6% 0 11% 4% 6% 0 2% 51-60 6% 5% 0 8% 0 8% 0% 6% 4% 0 41-50 11% 9% 0 14% 4% 6% 4% 10% 7% 4% 31-40 27% 24% 15% 29% 22% 23% 21% 21% 29% 26% 21-30 25% 31% 39% 22% 39% 27% 38% 33% 21% 46% 11-20 16% 20% 39% 12% 26% 12% 29% 21% 30% 16% 0-10 Ave. for survey Other Reserves Ref/ research ILL Coll. Dev. Circ . Catalog Admin . Acquis. % time spent 13. Administration value your liaison work 39% n=289 43% n=321 12% n=92 4% n=32 1% n=7 Response % Response count Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree 14. Administration values your liaison work, reported byCarnegie Classification Agree Strongly 82% 69% 67 % 78 % 85% 81% 82 % Agree 12 % 33 % 0 % 19 % 10 % 14 % 12 % Neutral Dis a gree 5% 0 % 33 . 3 % 3% 6% 5 % 6% Disagree Strongly Totalfor entire survey (n=741) Medical schools and centers(n=12) Theological seminaries(n=3) Associate's college(n=59) Baccalaureate college I and II(n=91) Master's colleges and univ. I and II(n=217) Doctoral/research I and II(n=341) 15. Administration values your liaison work, reported by subject 84% 11% 13% Sciences 83% 11% 7% Social sciences 86% 10% 3% Medicine 85% 10% 6% Humanities 83% 14% 4% Engineering 81% 15% 3% Business 88% 8% 4% Arts Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree Department 16. Faculty value your liaison work 23% n=167 53% n=392 21% n=154 4% n=27 0.8% n=6 Response % Response count Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree 17. Faculty value your liaison work, reported by department 54% 31% 16% Reserves 76% 13% 6% Reference 57% 35% 8% Interlibrary Loan 80% 18% 2% Collection development37% 50% 12% Circulation 73% 25% 2% Cataloging 78% 22% 0 Administration 71% 25% 4% Acquisitions Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree Department 18. Faculty value your liaison work, reported by subject 74% 23% 3% Sciences 56% 22% 4% Social sciences 86% 10% 3% Medicine 80% 19% 3% Humanities 80% 28% 3% Engineering 69% 23% 2% Business 74% 16% 4% Arts Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree Department 19. What professional development opportunities would you like to see offered?

• Best practices for engaging faculty in the collection development process

• Online courses with guidelines and suggestions for liaison work in specific subject areas.

• Liaison 101 for beginners

• Some ideas for how to do liaison work w ithinterdisciplinary areas

• Collection Analysis and Collection Assessment

• How to present budget limitations to liaison groups. How to get feedback on journal/serial cancellations

• Collection assessment tools/rubrics for national accreditation purposes

20. Summary of findings

• Liaison work is spread throughout the library

• Liaisons would like more training

• There is no clear standard for what liaison responsibilities should be

21. Why is a liaison program needed?

• Awareness

• Perception

• Development

• Communication

22. Practical advice

• Make the first step

• Build the relationship

• Be open minded in approach

23. More practical advice

• Utilize several avenues of communication

• Learn to handle requests and feedback

• Take cues from peers

24. What faculty want in a librarian.

• Tempered with a sense of when to back off

• Clear communication

• Directness over grudging acquiescence

• Inform and keep informing

• Remind me again and again

• Subject mastery is not required, but a basicunderstanding is important

• From Macaluso, Stephan J. and Barbara Whitney Petruzzelli. The Library Liaison Toolkit:Learning to Bridge the Communication Gap.The Reference LibrarianNo. 89/90, 2005, 163-177. (Chart based on Stahl, 1997)

25.

• Selection and weeding of materials

• Becoming knowledgeable about departments

• Identifying disciplinary resources

• Conducting library instruction

• Acting as a contact for library services

• Referring faculty questions to others as appropriate

Communicate with faculty 26.

• Ultimately, liaison activities reinforce

• • • • • team building

• • • • • open discussion

• • • • • camaraderie

• • • • • life-long relationships.

27.

• Liaison work is vital for the library .

28. Questions?