Who ’ s in Charge? Report of the Task Force on Qualifications for Interlibrary Loan Operations Management Susan P. Lieberthal (Chair) Sue Kaler David Larsen Suzanne Turner ALA Midwinter January 12, 2008

Agenda Introduce the Task Force Describe the charges for the Task Force Overview of Task Force activity Qualifications identified and ranked by Task Force and survey respondents Demographics of respondents from our survey Results of the survey Group discussion Wrap up

The Task Force Susan Lieberthal, Sue Kaler, David Larsen, Suzanne Turner (Kay Ikuta, Helen Sullivan) S.K. S.T. D.L. K.I.S.L. H.S. S.K. S.T. D.L. K.I.S.L. H.S.

The Process Committee convened by Tanner Wray and the STARS Executive Committee (2005) Task Force communicates via and conference call and at ALA meetings - ALA Midwinter 2006, ALA 2007 Devises qualifications list and survey Will propose RUSA guidelines

What is the Charge? Determine qualifications needed to be a manager of an ILL department Produce guidelines for hiring and training the manager and how to maintain ILL skills Assess importance of MLS for the manager of an ILL department

Task Force List of Qualifications 1.Task force produces a list of qualifications 2.We vote on importance of each qualification 3.A modified list is used for our survey

Qualifications - Skills Management Interpersonal Technical ILL-specific Professional qualifications/background

Management Qualifications Manage and coordinate different processes Staff management/leadership Project management skills Budgetary management Ability to establish direction for the department Develop services based upon statistical trends

Interpersonal Skills Ability to foster positive relationships Work with other library departments Work with departments outside the library Work with other libraries

Technical Skills  Knowledge of technology OCLC, MS Word, CLIO, ILLiad, Scanning, Ariel, Adobe, copyright, etc.

ILL Specific Knowledge of ILL trends Previous ILL experience Bibliographic searching skills Ability to conduct reference interview

MLS? Which category does this fit into? Is it really necessary?

The Survey 2,499 addresses from U. Chicago’s ILLiad database + 46 additional addresses from Wellesley Free Library and Inglewood Public Library (2,545 invitations) 599 responses (approx. 24% response rate)

Our U.S. Respondents Alaska: 1 Hawaii: 4

Our International Respondents

Analysis by Library Type Library TypeTotal% of Total University Library15326% Public Library12321% Medical Library11820% College Library9215% Special Library7012% Law Library295% School Library112% State Library31% Total:599

Analysis by Size Annual RequestsBorrowingLendingDoc. Delivery 041%173%17629% 1 to 1, %27646%27947% 1,000 to 5, %15125%9416% 10,001 to 20,000447%6010%132% 20,001 to 40,000356%203%51% 5,001 to 10, %6110%285% Over 40,00061%142%41%

MLS or no MLS? Survey Results

Does the person most responsible for your interlibrary loan/document delivery operations currently have a master's degree in library or information science?

Does the current Head of ILL have MLS?Total % of Total No % Yes % Don't Know20.3% Total responses:596

Library Type Don't Know No MLS % with MLS School Library 3873% University Library % Law Library % Medical Library % College Library % Special Library % State Library 2133% Public Library %

Importance of MLS as Job Qualification Required139 23% Highly Preferred67 11% Preferred102 17% Unimportant222 37% Not Applicable68 11% Total: 598

Importance of MLS as Job Qualification Required % 52% Highly Preferred 67 11% Preferred % Unimportant % 48% Not Applicable 68 11% Total: 598

If the current head of the interlibrary loan / document delivery operation were to leave and you were responsible for selecting a replacement, would you try to find a replacement with a master's degree in library or information science?

Would Hire MLS Would Not Hire MLS Don’t KnowTotal Current Head Has MLS72%6%22% Current Head Without MLS8%67%26%

Reasons for Not Hiring MLS Necessary skills can be obtained without having degree; or, MLS skills not needed to do work15472% Budgetary considerations do not allow MLS or salary range unattractive to MLS5425% Small size of library makes MLS unnecessary/impractical4923% ILL staff can turn to supervisor or other library staff when MLS skills needed3416% Unclassifiable response21% Total Responses (some giving multiple reasons):214

Reasons for Hiring MLS MLS ensures broad understanding of libraries, issues, trends7945% Position includes responsibility for other areas besides ILL, often due to small library size5330% MLS ensures bibliographic / searching skills3520% MLS required (no other justification given)2213% MLS ensures commitment to profession / participation in professional organizations / networking w/ colleagues127% MLS can be entrusted with greater responsibility / acts professionally106% MLS commands respect of administration / users95% Management responsibilities justify MLS85% MLS not really necessary (but just desirable)21% Large size of ILL operation justifies MLS11% Total Responses (some giving multiple reasons):176

Does Size Matter? 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% Borrowing 41% of 25837% of 17949% of 7150% of 4468% of 3433% of 6 Lending 39% of 27537% of 15057% of 6142% of 6075% of 2054% of 13 Document Delivery 44% of 27939% of 9357% of 2846% of 1340% of 5 1 to 1,0001,000 to 5,0005,001 to 10,00010,001 to 20,00020,001 to 40,000Over 40,000 Percent run by someone with MLS compared to annual request volume

Staffing Analyzed highest ranking staff member reported as part of ILL/Document Delivery staff.

Hidden Librarians?

ILL Heads without MLS

What does it mean? ILL Heads without an MLS may have a librarian reporting to them. Respondents may have counted librarians who supervise the ILL Head as part of the ILL staff. Respondents may have misread the question and reported staffing for entire library. Respondents may have considered ILL Heads without an MLS to be “librarians.” Department may be run by someone with an MLS after all.

Questions and Feedback

Breakout Discussion Instructions 1.Divide into groups by Academic, College, Public and Special/Other Libraries 2.Devise a list of your top 5 qualifications (Handout provided to assist you) 3.MLS or no MLS? Vote and tell us why

Who ’ s in Charge? Report of the Task Force on Qualifications for Interlibrary Loan Operations Management Susan P. Lieberthal (Chair) Sue Kaler David Larsen Suzanne Turner ALA Midwinter January 12, 2008