The Quality Infrastructure: Measuring, Analyzing and Improving Library Services

Murphy, Sarah Anne.  The Quality Infrastructure: Measuring, Analyzing and Improving Library Services. Chicago: ALA, 2014. 025.587 Quali    ISBN 978-0-8389-1173-0

A library's infrastructure of programs and personnel is its most valuable asset, providing the foundation for everything it does and aspires to do, which is why assessment is so vitally important. In this collection of case studies, Murphy and her team of contributors describe how quality assessment programs have been implemented and how they are used to continuously improve service at a complete cross-section of institutions. This volume looks at how a program was established within a library organization, the individual roles for staff participating in the program, and singles out which activities and projects were most successful. Describes programs such as the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence, Lean Six Sigma, and ISO 9001:2000 Examines contexts ranging from a liberal-arts college library to key federal government libraries, to libraries that serve major research universities in the United States and Canada. Summarizing specific tools for measuring service quality alongside tips for using these tools most effectively, this book helps libraries of all kinds take a programmatic approach to measuring, analyzing, and improving library services.

The Librarian's Guide to Negotiation

Ashmore, Beth, Jill E. Grogg, and Jeff Weddle. The Librarian's Guide to Negotiation: Winning Strategies for the Digital Age. Medford, NJ: Information Today, 2012. ISBN: 978-1-57387-428-1

Publisher's Description

Librarians negotiate every day with vendors, funding agencies, administrators, employees, co-workers, and patrons—yet the art of negotiation receives little attention in library education and training. This practical guide by three experienced librarian-negotiators will help you develop the mindset, skills, and confidence you need to negotiate effectively in any situation.

The authors provide an in-depth look at negotiation in theory and practice, share tactics and strategies of top negotiators, offer techniques for overcoming emotional responses to conflict, recall successful outcomes and deals gone awry, and demonstrate the importance of negotiating expertise to libraries and library careers. The result is an eye-opening survey into the true nature of negotiation—both as a form of communication and as a tool you can use to create sustainable collections and improve library service in the digital age.

The New Digital Scholar

McClure, Randall, and James P. Purdy, eds. The New Digital Scholar: Exploring and Enriching the Research and Writing Practices of NextGen Students. Medford, NJ: Information Today, 2013. ISBN: 978-1-57387-475-5

Publisher's Description

[This book] presents innovative thinking and groundbreaking research on the challenges NextGen students face with research-writing projects. Reminding readers of the history of the academic research paper and the scope of the recent information explosion, editors McClure and Purdy open a discussion long silent in academic circles—that the teaching of research-writing is mired in practices poorly suited for digital natives. Through the experiences and analyses of more than 20 writing teachers, library science professionals, and higher education administrators, the book examines research-writing in practice, revealing what has been learned, what works, and what doesn't. Practitioners describe teaching methods and research projects suited for the new digital scholar—concepts not only rooted in traditional academic research values, but designed for the information universe NextGen students inhabit.

School Library Collection Development

Stephens, Claire G., and Patricia Franklin. School Library Collection Development: Just the Basics. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, 2012. ISBN: 978-1-59884-943-1

Publisher's Description

...This practical manual demystifies the process of creating and maintaining a quality school library collection—an invaluable resource for anyone working in a library media center...[This book] is an accessible, practical manual that explains the fundamentals of purchasing, developing, and managing a collection. Containing information useful to anyone from a paraprofessional working under the guidance of a certified school librarian to a newcomer to the field to a certified media specialist, this book covers all of the basics through best practices. The authors provide much-needed advice on how to add to an existing collection, how to weed books no longer needed, and how to process and inventory that collection. This book is a must-have resource for staff members who are new to school libraries and need an easy-to-read guide to help them quickly learn the job.

Highlights
 • Provides inexperienced library workers with basic instructions for running a library media center effectively
• Includes numerous ready-to-use forms for day-to-day operations as well as ten lists on procedures and rationale for library procedures
• Supplies straightforward advice in the form of frequently asked questions (and answers)

Sample Topics
Budgeting
Collection Analysis
Collection Development
Digital Media
Ethical Considerations for Staff
Identifying and Understanding your School Community
Selection Policies
Updating your Collection

School Library Management

Messner, Patricia A., and Brenda S. Copeland. School Library Management: Just the Basics. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, 2011. ISBN: 978-1-59884-834-2

Publisher's Description

...Written in clear, simple language, this book provides information that will help an aide or paraprofessional manage a school library. Setting up and managing a library media center is a complex task best handled by a certified and experienced librarian, but the fact of the matter is that many school districts have had to cut librarian positions and are attempting to fill the gaps with aides...[This book] describes the step-by-step process of setting up the management processes in a school library and outlines easy management concepts that will guide aides through challenges like setting up activity centers and establishing rules for behavior. With over three decades of experience in librarianship between them, the authors cover topics such as student incentives and rewards; scheduling and supervising computer usage; circulation procedures; training materials for volunteers; passes, book marks, and other patterns; and privacy issues. This book can also serve as an effective training guide for district librarians responsible for training aides who are running multiple centers.

Features
• Illustrations by the authors
• An index enables easy searching

Highlights
• Serves as an invaluable resource for paraprofessionals or a first-year librarian
• Provides a step-by-step process for setting up the management of a school library and operating it
• Includes reproducibles and resources for many areas of the library operation