Tracey Stanley Cardiff University Library Case Studies and Feedback from Sites

Reasons for undertaking efficiency reviews  Manage customer expectations  Improve services  Increase efficiency and effectiveness, consistency etc.  Save staff time, cope with staffing reductions  Reduce turn-around times

Process areas reviewed  Core processes:  Shelving  Acquisitions  Cataloguing and classification  Subscriptions and purchasing management  Reading list management  Fines  Circulation  Enquiry services

Restructuring and remodelling  Staffing restructures to accommodate demand for new services – eg: e-learning, digital literacy, research support.  Building re-modelling to accommodate new types of use – eg: group study, self-service, reduced front-line staffing, consolidated service points.

Some innovative examples  Dynamic loan periods (Sheffield):  Better management of demand on heavily used items  Reduced staff overhead on chasing over-dues, invoicing etc.  No loan periods – keep an item until you want to return it or until it is recalled for another user.  Backed up with speedy turn-around of ordering items through shelf-ready books service, and patron-driven acquisitions.

Examples  Patron-driven acquisition (Newcastle)  Over 15,000 items accessed in 1 st year.  Reduced staff time in acquiring these items.  BUT increased staff time in mediating requests and explaining the service to students.  Increased use of e-books, declining use of physical material.  May realise longer-term staff savings.

Examples  Use of student-only posts (Glasgow)  Meets University employability mission  Provides flexibility for library service at peak hours (key times)

Examples  Shelf ready books (Imperial):  Switched classification scheme from UDC to Dewey for new material.  Subject librarians directly enter their own orders into Dawsons system (eliminated paper processes and duplication of effort).

Examples  Cataloguing (Imperial, Cardiff):  Eliminated duplication of effort in managing e-journal records in SFX and the OPAC through using the Ex Libris MARCit service.

Examples  Subscriptions management (Imperial):  Stopped claiming and checking in new journals.  Stopped the majority of print titles received as gifts.  Merger of print and e-resource teams (Leeds)