Learning Our Limits: The Science Libraries at Duke University Retreat to Respond to Our Changing Environment

Theme: Staffing Issues in Sci-Tech Libraries

Abstract

In times of rapid change, we must periodically reinvent ourselves. In general, technological advances and the changing needs and skills of our users are affecting our libraries. The Heads of the Science Libraries (Biological and Environmental Sciences; Chemistry, Engineering and Math-Physics) at Duke University spent a day examining our operations, defining our goals and exploring options to help us achieve these goals in a dynamic work environment. A mixture of cost/impact analysis and decision matrix models were used by each librarian to analyze his/her activities on the basis of their direct impact on his/her users. Recognizing that additional staff is rarely an option, the cost/impact model enabled us to prioritize our functions and to better deploy our limited resources to those areas that best serve our users. Our paper will explain this process and the results of our retreat.