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Article
Publication date: 5 October 2015

Mousa Yaminfirooz, Fatemeh Nooshinfard and Hasan Siamian

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the status of organizational climate of Iranian academic libraries and map its structural equation model. Organizational climate is one of…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the status of organizational climate of Iranian academic libraries and map its structural equation model. Organizational climate is one of the main indicators of organizational health and dynamic.

Design/methodology/approach

This research was an applied survey. The statistical population of the research included all staff working in 96 central libraries of Iranian governmental universities (N = 520). A self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Some descriptive and inferential statistical methods applied for data analysis in SPSS and factor analysis in LISREL software were used for modelling organizational climates in the libraries.

Findings

The t values of factor analysis pass showed that the effect of all indicators of ClimateQUAL on organizational climate was significant. The factor loading of the pass model showed that among the nine indicators, climate for psychological safety with 5.24, climate for innovation with 5.06 and climate for leadership with 4.93 had a higher effect on organizational climate of the libraries. Considering the values of goodness-of-fit indicators, the path model has an optimal status in all indicators, but that of RMSEA in which the status is relatively acceptable. The observed data relatively matched the theoretical model.

Originality/value

The t values of factor analysis pass showed that the effect of all indicators of ClimateQUAL on organizational climate was significant. The factor loading of the pass model showed that among the nine indicators, climate for psychological security with 5.24, climate for innovation with 5.06 and climate for leadership with 4.93 had a higher effect on organizational climate of the libraries. Considering the values of goodness-of-fit indicators, the path model has an optimal status in all indicators, except the RMSEA in which the status is relatively acceptable. The observed data relatively matched the theoretical model.

Details

The Electronic Library, vol. 33 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-0473

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 November 2015

J. Stephen Town

– The purpose of this paper is to present a case study of the use of people surveys to enact change in human capital organization and practices in a University library.

2110

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a case study of the use of people surveys to enact change in human capital organization and practices in a University library.

Design/methodology/approach

The study covers seven years of people surveys and the consequent interventions applied based on this and other data and evidence at the University of York, UK. The case describes measurement of staff’s lived experience, leading to innovation and intervention in management strategies, structures and policies. The research employs a mixed methodology; the paper draws on quantitative evidence from surveys, qualitative evidence from focus groups and desk research on human capital measurement and emotion in the workplace.

Findings

The paper describes the findings of investigations across seven years, discusses the available methods for people assessment, and the different theoretical foundations of the engagement, climate and excellence surveys used across the period. Strategic and structural interventions are described and their effectiveness discussed.

Research limitations/implications

The limitations of research in the field of human capital are discussed, including the participant observation of the library director, together with the potential confounding factors affecting data collected during the period of research.

Social implications

The paper reflects on advances in the understanding and practice of people evaluation in libraries. The development of a people strategy based on evidence, and repetition of surveys to gauge the effectiveness of interventions, with consequent refinement of solutions, appear to have had a real effect on the lived experience, culture and service provided by the case library.

Originality/value

The originality and value of the paper is that it provides a unique long-term case study of people surveys, strategy and structure in an academic research library.

Details

Library Management, vol. 36 no. 8/9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-5124

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 July 2014

Stephen Town

The purpose of this paper is to reflect on advances in the understanding and practice of people evaluation in libraries. The paper is conceptual and offers a framework for human…

1251

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to reflect on advances in the understanding and practice of people evaluation in libraries. The paper is conceptual and offers a framework for human capital evaluation.

Design/methodology/approach

The research approach has been to employ a mixed method research strategy (multi-methodology), combining desk research exploring quantitative capital assessment methods from other industries, sectors and libraries; phenomenological observation of existing data collection and development concepts; and survey data from staff in case studies of the author's own and other organizations.

Findings

The synthesis suggests the measures required to populate the library capital dimension of the value scorecard, thereby providing an estimation of the value of a library's human capital.

Originality/value

The paper fills a gap through a broad survey of advances in people assessment in libraries, and provides a unique framework for human capital measurement in libraries.

Details

Performance Measurement and Metrics, vol. 15 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-8047

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 17 August 2020

Jade Alburo, Agnes K. Bradshaw, Ariana E. Santiago, Bonnie Smith and Jennifer Vinopal

Academic and research libraries have made many efforts to diversify their workforces; however, today the profession remains largely homogenous. We recognize that diversification…

Abstract

Academic and research libraries have made many efforts to diversify their workforces; however, today the profession remains largely homogenous. We recognize that diversification cannot be achieved without creating inclusive and more equitable workspaces and workplaces. This requires rethinking our assumptions and behaviors as individuals and as a profession, questioning entrenched structures that maintain the status quo, and developing practices that keep these critical questions in the forefront as we do the difficult work of redefining our infrastructure in order to create equitable and socially just workplaces. To inspire a different type of dialogue, we offer actionable information and tools – strategies, ideas, and concepts from outside our profession. In this chapter, the authors present strategies used by corporations, industries, organizations, or fields outside of academia that have contributed to substantially diversifying their workforces and discuss how they could be integrated into our own workplaces. While these efforts are imperfect, incomplete, or have mixed results, we focus on strategies that demonstrate outside-the-box thinking for our profession, practices that will require academic and research libraries to rethink their operations, the behaviors and structures that support them, and thus the way library management and leadership are practiced. We are hoping that providing strategies outside our profession, as well as guidance on applying these strategies, will create reflection, dialogue, and innovative ideas for our own institutions.

Book part
Publication date: 1 June 2018

J. Stephen Town

This chapter describes and explores the relationship between formal and semi-formal systems of programme and project management and broader strategic programmes and leadership…

Abstract

Purpose

This chapter describes and explores the relationship between formal and semi-formal systems of programme and project management and broader strategic programmes and leadership approaches in the academic and research library context.

Methodology/approach

The leadership perspective of this chapter allows assessment of the contribution of programme and project management techniques to the strategic development of the library. A case study approach is taken, and the methods used for programme and project management arise mainly from the UK’s Office of Government Commerce.

Findings

The chapter provides insight into how a variety of practical project management techniques can be bound together within strategic programmes, together with appropriate governance structures for monitoring and judging successful outcomes.

Practical limitations

The chapter describes the application of programme and project methods in two research libraries, but the techniques used have been used widely in many organizational settings and so should be transferable to other research library contexts.

Social implications

The cases in the chapter reveal the social world of the academic and research library, illuminating the real-life experience of project work within the library and its broader institutional context.

Originality/value

The chapter presents an original typology for differentiating projects in the research library. The chapter is unique both in describing 30 years of continuous application and development of programme and project methodologies and frameworks, and also in its leadership perspective.

Details

Project Management in the Library Workplace
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78754-837-4

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 July 2016

Sheila Corrall

Stephen Town has been a thought leader and change agent in the academic library world for more than 20 years, who has produced a very large body of work in the areas of quality…

Abstract

Purpose

Stephen Town has been a thought leader and change agent in the academic library world for more than 20 years, who has produced a very large body of work in the areas of quality management and performance measurement that has been disseminated internationally. Town’s retirement from full-time employment at the University of York provides a timely opportunity to review his contribution to the field. The purpose of this paper is to discuss this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

The review outlines Town’s career path and professional interests and then appraises his published output, concentrating on his contributions to thinking and practice in the areas of benchmarking, information literacy, service quality, and measuring the value and impact of academic libraries and information services. The discussion is organized thematically to illustrate the evolution and development of his interests and ideas over the review period and also references-related work by other authors to set his work in context.

Findings

The study found many examples of innovative and creative work that had influenced thinking and practice in the library profession, including the development of models, frameworks, and tools with the potential to improve the effectiveness of service benchmarking, information literacy education, library advocacy, relationship management, staff evaluation, and impact measurement.

Research limitations/implications

The volume of published work necessitated some selectivity in the material covered, but the review provides sufficiently comprehensive coverage of the areas specified to represent the work effectively.

Originality/value

Town has produced a substantial number of publications as a practitioner-researcher that have not previously been reviewed independently as a coherent body of work.

Details

Performance Measurement and Metrics, vol. 17 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-8047

Keywords

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 17 August 2020

Abstract

Details

Critical Librarianship
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83909-485-9

Article
Publication date: 6 July 2010

Agnes Tatarka, Kay Chapa, Xin Li and Jennifer Rutner

The libraries at the University of Chicago, Columbia University, the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and Cornell University have created or re‐defined their…

1482

Abstract

Purpose

The libraries at the University of Chicago, Columbia University, the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and Cornell University have created or re‐defined their assessment plans and programs within the last two years. This paper aims to show the similarities and differences between the approaches of these four institutions.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study approach is taken.

Findings

These case studies underscore how vital assessment has become and illustrate how these assessment programs have evolved to reflect local needs and priorities, their libraries' organizational structure, their institutions' planning cycle, and, the reality of limited resources.

Originality/value

Recognizing that understanding local needs is the key to successful assessment at any institution, it is hoped that these case studies will be useful to libraries that are at various stages of building an assessment program.

Details

Performance Measurement and Metrics, vol. 11 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-8047

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 July 2012

Elizabeth Mengel and Vivian Lewis

While originally designed for the for‐profit sector, the Balanced Scorecard has been adopted by non‐profit and government organizations, including some libraries. This paper aims…

1887

Abstract

Purpose

While originally designed for the for‐profit sector, the Balanced Scorecard has been adopted by non‐profit and government organizations, including some libraries. This paper aims to focus on the continued experiences of two prominent North American research libraries, Johns Hopkins University and McMaster University. These two libraries were part of an Association of Research Libraries (ARL) pilot effort that included a total of four institutions, the two represented by the authors, plus the University of Virginia and the University of Washington.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches. The quantitative aspects of the study are informal and theme‐based. When examining commonalities between Scorecards or overlap between Scorecard measures and the ARL statistics program, matches are made based on broad themes regardless of the specific words used in the formulae.

Findings

The participating libraries identified ten commonly measured “themes.” These themes are defined as key areas of focus present in three out of the four local sites. Using the standardized four‐perspective Scorecard framework, these themes are as follows: the customer – quality of physical space, customer satisfaction, instruction, document delivery, and collection preservation/discovery; financial health – revenue generation; learning and growth – employee satisfaction and diversity; internal processes – library promotion and assessment of services.

Originality/value

The article explores the question; can libraries improve their arsenal of assessment tools by working alongside each other (as opposed to directly with each other) as they implement local organizational performance measurement instruments?

Details

Library Management, vol. 33 no. 6/7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-5124

Keywords

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 1 June 2018

Abstract

Details

Project Management in the Library Workplace
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78754-837-4

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