MANAGING LIBRARY TRANSFORMATION TO MEET THE CHALLENCE OF A NEW ERA

Since the 1990 IATUL conference in Finland I addressed various issues regarding organizational development and the transformation of the academic library in papers at IATUL conferences. On several occasions some of my views raised concern with conventional library managers. In February 2004 my career in academic library and information management will come to an end. When leaving the Board of IATUL at the end of 2002, it was suggested that a paper at the Ankara conference could give an indication of how successful the management philosophy and practices advocated, have been indeed implemented.

The paper takes the Balanced Scorecard, which were found to be a very useful management tool, as framework. The extend to which mission and strategies changed to meet the challenges of different era are discussed. It is explained how the strategic focus transformed from managing academic information as a resource to the development of a virtual information service; the support of knowledge management practices and integrating the library and information service with the key work processes of clients.

Vision and strategy drives the four perspectives of the scorecard which prevents over emphasizing some issues while neglecting others. The financial perspective implies that financial success is determined by how the library and information service appears to its shareholders. Issues like partnerships, productivity, return on investment and the business orientation of the service are addressed.

To achieve its vision, the library and information service must know how it appears to its customers. Service units have the continuous challenge of determining the needs and satisfaction of customers and to finalize specifications for new products and services to be delivered. Successes are illustrated by referring to the integration of web pages to curricula, the development of a knowledge portal, as well as implementing service level agreements.

The paper deals in more detail with the next two perspectives of the Scorecard e.g. The internal business or work processes which had to be driven excellently and how learning and growth was addressed to sustain a continuous ability to change and improve. Managing organizational development results in different structures, management approaches, new strategies and different project teams and work groups; the relevance and effectiveness of which at particular points in time will be shared.

The paper maintains a peoples approach in dealing with the four perspectives of the Scorecard. It is emphasized that performance based approach requires the development of new competencies and skills in order to realize a future picture and to reach a preferred future position. Soft issues like organizational culture and climate should be assessed to determine the ability of the library and information service to innovate, while managing diversity is crucial beyond the boundaries of South Africa as a rainbow nation.

A non-hierarchical structure with control through the internalization of a vision and value system is advocated. It is pointed out that the success of the academic library and information service in a networked information environment is influenced by the power of alliance and partnership management, relationship management and the networking capabilities of the information professional.

Finally, lessons learnt will be shared and some thoughts for the future will be conveyed and left with the IATUL and its leaders.

Prof. Egbert Gerryts
Director Academic Information Service
UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA