Managing Information Services: A Sustainable Approach

Citation

Campbell, P. (2012), "Managing Information Services: A Sustainable Approach", Library Management, Vol. 33 No. 1/2, pp. 123-125. https://doi.org/10.1108/01435121211203879

Not having read earlier editions of Jo Bryson's book, I found this a comprehensive approach to managing information services in an era of great financial volatility and workplace uncertainty.

This book gives a strong foundation for not only being future ready and adaptable for changes, but also enables one to make initiatives, to manage customer relationships more effectively and engage with new technologies to provide customer‐centric services that meet customer expectations. This book addresses the human sustainability area of being a sustainable organisation as identified in Sustainability: The Corporate Challenge of the Twenty‐first Century edited by Dexter Dunphy, Jodie Benveniste, Andrew Griffiths and Philip Sutton, Allen & Unwin, 2000, concentrating on the ability to “extend the productive life of organisations and maintain high levels of corporate performance” (p. 6). Environmental sustainability is not within the purview of this book.

Though the publisher's blurb states it is for information students it is a good text for current managers to reground their thinking on how to make an information services sustainable. The information in this book is of greatest use to managers and policy makers. It does not specify what an information services should be. Information services here are not seen as stand alone enterprises but within a parent organisation, whether it is government, private sector, academic, research and though not stated the principles can be adopted into the not‐for‐profit organisations. The ideas and concepts are scalable, even sole librarians can adapt the concepts written in this book. It is very much a practical book that can help an information manager to meet the requirements of an ever‐changing work environment. Bryson writes with a passion and energy that enthuses the reader to rethink their surroundings and work out what they can do.

The book is divided into four parts; Management influence, Strategy and planning, Leadership, Governance and sustainability. Bryson draws on both information management and business resources to provide a framework to understand and enable actions to be taken to develop and maintain a sustainable Information Service. Tools and processes to assist in analysis and assessment of the work environment are covered, with pertinent details to assist the reader to identify which tools are the best to use in their work situation. Significant attention is give to costing of services and the various methods involved in costing these services accurately.

Governance, change management, politics, and leadership. Building workforce capability, developing values driven work culture, communication, networking and creating an innovative work environment are also addressed. Performance measures, outcomes, risk evaluation are touched on. Good use of illustrations explain and reinforce to the reader the concepts and tools for a sustainable information service.

Bryson does not go into the detail of the processes of running an information service. Best practice, using ISO 9000 family of standards for quality management systems to build a service, different project management techniques are not in this book. This though does not diminish from the quality or comprehensiveness of the information in this book. Bryson does not get immersed in detailed content. For example when she deals with strategic technology she briefly mentions both ITIL comprehensive documentation for best practice in information technology and COBIT an IT governance framework. This actually lends to the readability and comprehensibility of the material.

The book gives a well‐rounded overview of how to manage a sustainable information service. It takes away the hard work of trying to assess the current trends and management ideas giving managers robust tools and techniques. At the end of most chapters there are references and citations for further reading. It is a type of book that not only acts as a checklist on what possible steps to take but also gives ideas on how to be agile, creative, innovative and successful in today's work environment “the capacity to endure while increasing value” (p. 4, GRC: A framework for Organizational Sustainability). Available at: www.laserfiche.com/docs/white_papers/GRC_OrganizationalSustainabilityFramework.pdf