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The purpose of this paper is to describe an approach to information technology (IT) strategic planning for libraries and institutions of higher education.

The “why, what, and how” of IT strategic planning for libraries is explained, to show the efficacy and value of long‐term IT planning and budgeting. The organization, design, processes, templates, and methodologies of IT strategic planning practices that have been proven and constantly refined through projects with academic, public, and national libraries are described.

Principles described for IT strategic planning as a team‐based enterprise learning process apply as well to the design and conduct of major IT procurements, where the organization also seeks best value IT outcomes for the long term. The approach is scalable with respect to the human resources and time required (e.g. three months, six months); the design and steps of the process; the methodologies employed; and the number, design, format, components, and contents of internal working documents and the published report(s).

IT strategic planning educates the institution about choices and consequences, decides on technology priorities and investments, makes informed decisions with confidence, and delivers consensus‐based outcomes and stakeholders' buy‐in.

The dynamic environment in which the academic library operates requires explicit links between business strategy and a new management priority including the development of people; this is the focus of human resource development (HRD). It serves the needs of an organization by ensuring that employees’ expertise is state-of-the-art, something that is critical in a period of rapid technological development coinciding with ever-expanding societal needs. HRD can be relied upon to support and shape a wide range of academic library initiatives requiring a competent and engaged workforce by recognizing people as the organization’s most critical asset, one that drives competitive advantage and helps it out-perform the market. Emphasis is placed on developing an organizational context that will attract and develop talented individuals and leaders and keep them engaged. Furthermore, HRD activities must respond to job changes and integrate staff skills sets with the long-term plans and strategies of the organization thus ensuring the efficient and effective use of resources. This chapter explores HRD as a strategic concern of the organization and how it can best serve the organization in the long term. In so doing, it considers how HRD can help the academic library focus resources in those areas where there are strong likelihoods that they can produce substantial improvements in future capacity and performance. This kind of strategic planning helps the organization configure resources within a dynamic competitive environment, thus serving market needs and satisfying stakeholder expectations, helping meet its business purpose and maintain its strategic direction. The case study developed here highlights the need for the effective linkage of HRD and strategic planning for the advancement of the academic library. It suggests the need for developing and implementing both a strategic plan and an HRD plan and developing a culture of strategic human resource development (SHRD) in academic libraries.

The purpose of this paper is to examine academic library director and graduate student perceptions of knowledge management for library strategic planning, including its definition and potential applications and benefits.

A multiple‐choice e‐mail survey was sent to 40 academic library directors and 19 graduate students of information and library science. Respondents were asked to define knowledge management for strategic planning and answer related questions on its potential applications and benefits. Respondents could also specify their own views on the subject.

There are minor differences in how library directors and graduate students define knowledge management. However, there is a disparity in how these two groups view potential applications and benefits of knowledge management for library strategic planning. Less than half of the directors (41.4 per cent) but the majority of students (77.8 per cent) believes that knowledge management is being applied to library strategic planning to create a portal for external information including links to library patron groups, research groups and publications. In addition, the majority of directors (75.8 per cent), but only half of the students (50.0 per cent) believe that knowledge management will improve the sharing of internal and external information.

The number of participants in this e‐mail survey is limited in both size and location. Future research should include more participants from a wider area and examine more concrete issues.

This paper provides a useful overview of the perceptions of knowledge management, including its applications and potential benefits for library strategic planning.

Differing viewpoints between library directors and graduate students reflects the contrast between real‐world experience and academic applications. Acknowledging these differences is the first step toward ensuring that in the future, knowledge management is consistently and effectively applied to library strategic planning.

An analysis of both form and content differences between the plans named “strategic” and those named “long‐range”. Planning theory is checked against the planning reports available on the Web pages of 65 public and university libraries. The goal is to see whether the differences that some theorists observe between strategic and long‐range planning actually exist on plans published with those names.

Strategic plans are developed and executed by businesses in order to chart a course toward an idealized future destination for the organization. Normally, this means aspiring to become an industry leader or niche holder by increasing market share, developing customer loyalty, penetrating new markets or some other defined goal that is ultimately premised on growth in revenue attainment. Because of the competitive nature of business and the environmental changes that have occurred and continue to occur at an increasing rate, marketing has become a key functional area within most enterprises' strategic plans. Today's strategies require the development of plans that embrace customer engagement in an effort to increase revenue. As such, marketing is fast becoming a critical functional area surrounding the development and execution of a strategic plan. Examining marketing's role in strategic planning, as well as the critical thought work conducted by marketing and sales personnel as they influence organizational cultures that are friendly to implementing competitive strategy and planning activities, is useful for libraries if they wish to engage in beneficial and viable strategic planning of their own. Unfortunately, libraries as non‐profit service organizations are rarely in a position to create revenue based strategies. Instead, libraries must focus on strategies that encourage value creation. Additionally, in the absence of a dedicated, full‐fledged marketing group within a library, it becomes vital that such non‐profit service organizations develop replacements or similar organizational analogs for integrating marketing functions while at the same time developing a marketing‐like, patron‐centered orientation and culture required for successful market‐based strategic planning. This paper aims to investigate this issue.

Informed by the two authors' combined extensive experience in both the theoretical and practical applications of sales and marketing, the paper discusses the current trends in market planning, especially those aimed at utilizing the marketing function as a critical element of strategic planning and execution.

The paper finds that libraries that engage in strategic planning can incrementally improve their chances of success during the execution of that plan if they make an effort to include the marketing process throughout the development and execution of such plans. Additionally, since marketing and its implied customer orientations provide a strong conduit to an organization's understanding of customer needs and perceptions of value, library strategic planning that incorporates traditional marketing elements and tactics like environmental scans, customer value creation and promotion of unique benefits will provide the best foundation for competitive library strategic plans.

The authors rely on their practical and theoretical experience in marketing and planning to convey a more purposeful sense of library strategic planning that includes library marketing as a required element in order to foster strategic planning success.

The paper shares specific ideas regarding the purpose, role and benefits of strategic library marketing that are connected to improving the likelihood of long term strategic planning success, especially when such plans are aimed at increasing perceptions of library value.

This research highlights the scenarios that might serve as a strategic vision to describe a future beyond the current library, one which both guides provosts and creates a map for the transformation of human resources and technology in the university research libraries. The scenarios offer managerial leaders an opportunity to envision new roles for librarians and staff which brings a much needed focus on the development of human resources as well as a thought-stream to understand decisions which effectively and systematically move the organization toward a strategic vision.

These scenarios also outline possible future directions research libraries could take by focusing on perspectives from library directors, provosts, and administrators for human resources. The four case study scenarios introduce potential future roles for librarians and highlight the unsustainability of the current scholarly communications model as well as uncertain factors related to the political, social, technical, and demographic issues facing campuses. Given the changes institutions face, scenarios allow directors to include more uncertainty when developing and articulating a vision. These scenarios may start a discussion, before a strategic planning process, to sharpen the evaluations and measures necessary to monitor achievements that define the value of the library.

The purpose of this original research is to gauge the level of academic libraries' strategic credibility by analyzing whether strategic planning goals align with annual reports.

A modified replication of a study by Jarvenpaa and Ives was used. A random sample of 28 ARL libraries was taken from ARL membership. Library directors were contacted for a copy of both a strategic plan and an annual report. A two‐way comparison was conducted between three groups using content analysis.

Analysis of strategic plans and annual reports revealed that the majority of the libraries in the study produced strategic plans. However, most libraries no longer produce annual reports. Canadian strategic plans were user‐centered, whereas US plans focused on “hot topics”. Themes emerged from the analysis of strategic plans including space planning, offsite storage, assessment, development, and personnel.

Determining the level to which ARL libraries have strategic credibility is difficult to surmise, since the anticipated number of annual reports did not materialize. Further research is needed to compare what impact strategic plans and marketing strategies have on fundraising.

Several tactical methods libraries can implement in order to get the attention of potential donors and funding agencies to support projects and programs include the hiring of a library development officer, contracting with a marketing firm, and greatly improving the quality of communication to clientele.

The paper presents original research and is of value to academic library leaders who want to know about current trends in communicating strategic goals and objectives to their clientele.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the impact of strategic plans in the planning of information services and systems in the University of Malawi libraries.

A case study approach was used as the research design. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected. Quantitative data were collected from the budget estimates from 2004/2005 to 2009/2010 the financial years. Quantitative data were collected from the UNIMA Strategic Plans (2004/2005‐2009/2010) and (2012/2013‐2016/2017). Other views were collected from a forum group discussion of librarians in UNIMA on what they knew about the two strategic plans. Both qualitative and qualitative data are presented in the form of tables. Quantitative data were analysed by calculating percentage increase/decreases in the figures from the previous year. Qualitative data were analysed thematically

The strategic plans have guided the planning, budgeting and financing of UNIMA, including the planning of library services and systems. However, despite the formulation of the strategic plans, political, economic, social, internal and external forces have negatively impacted the implementation of the plans. The strategic plans have also failed to represent the wishes of the libraries as an appropriate environmental scan for the UNIMA libraries was not taken into account.

Although planning has been a popular topic in business circles, little is known about the planning that occurs in libraries in developing countries. This study seeks to bridge the information gap on the planning for information resources in the University of Malawi libraries.

This paper reports on the findings of the HEFCE‐funded outcomes project which aimed to investigate strategic planning in UK academic libraries.

The research consisted of a literature and documentation review, followed by interviews with academic library directors and senior institutional managers. There was also a survey of all UK HE libraries.

The key issues which need to be addressed by academic libraries in terms of strategic planning are: the involvement of library staff; communication of library aims and plans externally; level of active involvement in institutional and departmental planning; evaluation and target setting; and involvement in more “difficult” institutional aims such as income generation and widening participation.

The response to the various activities of this research project indicate the lack of interest in outcomes assessment within the academic library sector. There is little rigorous evidence in this area to inform library professionals.

The lack of interest in outcomes assessment with the sector is worrying; there is a general view of libraries as essential part of higher education and do not need to demonstrate how they contribute to institutional aims. This may leave libraries in a vulnerable position.

The paper reports on an issue which should be of great concern to the academic library sector, especially in the light of the proposal to axe professional posts at the University of Wales, Bangor library.

This paper aims to describe the development of reliable assessment data to support strategic planning among Purdue University Libraries.

A LibQUAL+® survey was designed to enable the data gathered to be drilled down into by subgroup. Radar charts demonstrated both consistent themes as well as differences in use patterns between the different colleges, and between undergraduates, graduates and faculty. Detailed analysis of the resultant data was then used to support the strategic planning process.

Subsequent enquiry among the Strategic Planning Group showed that the survey had had a major impact on the process, which led to scrapping of the first draft of the plan, and greatly informed the second draft.

This paper shows the practical applicability of LibQUAL+® data to support strategic planning, replacing hunches and intuitive knowledge about patron opinion with hard facts.