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Open Access Publications from the University of California

Scholarly Works (3 results)

  • Article
LAUC-B and Library Staff Research (2017)

Which strategic planning approaches can motivate academic library staff to adopt new organizational structures and adapt to emerging library paradigms? Over the past 10 years, the library at a major research university has undertaken three separate strategic planning initiatives employing significantly different approaches. Each approach has shaped the library and its relationship to the campus community in positive ways. This poster will show that academic libraries have several options for engaging in strategic planning including inclusive, participatory, and research-driven options that can suit different institutional time and resource constraints.

In our first strategic planning initiative, we conducted a lengthy and highly inclusive process to educate library staff about emerging issues and inspire them to generate creative ideas from which library administration prioritized and implemented strategic directions. Our next planning initiative facilitated an expeditious self-study in which two core teams completed environmental scans and developed ideas for new service models and librarian roles. In our most recent planning initiative, liaison librarians conducted research-driven assessments of academic departments’ internal reviews to identify new services that addressed emerging faculty and student needs. Common threads among these approaches were their inclusiveness, the participation of diverse library staff to build internal expertise, and a systematic examination of the data on local contexts in order to promote the successful implementation of new initiatives.

However, these approaches varied dramatically. Our comparison of these three strategic planning initiatives based on factors of participatory and inclusive information gathering techniques, research-driven methods, plan validation and implementation, time and resource constraints, outcomes, and challenges will show how these factors can be adapted in different institutional contexts.

Important principles learned from the three strategic planning initiatives include:

- staff participation, input, and buy-in are essential for successful implementation of new ideas, and there are a range of ways in which these can be achieved;

- success depends on the time and resources committed to socializing and implementing identified priorities;

- communication about strategic plans is a critical success factor - it needs to be early and frequent, coherent and two-way, evidence-based, and widespread through multiple channels

- idea generation can be framed as research exercises to foster an open approach; this may be achieved through brainstorming, literature reviews, surveys, focus groups, or environmental scans;

- strategic planning should be iterative, inclusive, and systematic, building upon priorities identified in one’s past strategic plans as well as those of peer institutions; and

-early and intentional consultation with faculty is crucial for significant changes.

    Cover page: Inclusive, Participatory, and Research-Driven Approaches to Strategic Planning in Academic Libraries
    • Article
    • Peer Reviewed
    LAUC-B and Library Staff Research (2019)
    This article explores how librarians and lecturers at the University of California, Berkeley, worked together to make their union more participatory in a context of increasing corporatization in public higher education. Written as a case study, we examine this ongoing revitalization process initiated by lecturers in the summer of 2016 and how it transformed librarian activism and bargaining strategy. For context, we also examine the history and unique nature of the University Council–American Federation of Teachers, the union representing both librarians and lecturers. We discuss why librarians had become ambivalent about their union and how an active group of librarians changed the culture in the organization and worked to bring members' voices into the 2018/2019 librarian contract negotiations. Engaging membership and encouraging participation required a group of committed organizers, with the support of paid union staff, to actively seek feedback from members, to communicate regularly, and to organize solidarity events. Throughout this process, the local worked to build coalitions with other campus unions, and members became increasingly aware of the important role unions play in protecting and advancing the mission of a public university and as a site for social justice activism.
      Cover page: Democratizing the Union at UC Berkeley: Lecturers and Librarians in Solidarity
      • Article
      • Peer Reviewed
      LAUC-B and Library Staff Research (2016)
      University of California, Berkeley librarians have incorporated the flipped instruction model into information literacy training by focusing on two primary elements: assigning pre-class assignments and increasing active learning techniques. We explore these two elements across five diverse instructional cases, which include one-shot and semester-long classes that were conducted through online or in-person delivery for both graduate and undergraduate students across a range of subject areas (sciences, social sciences, and humanities). We examine the enabling factors and the perceived outcomes of this instructional paradigm. Because students came to class with enhanced library understanding and experience from the pre-class assignment, they were better prepared to engage with the material and articulate additional learning needs. We note students' increased engagement during class and more time available for higher-order learning exercises and discussions. As a result, flipped instruction appears to enable more learning opportunities without increasing classroom time. The challenges of this model are the requisite commitment of time and effort, the need to foster class participation, and the facilitation of active communication within the class. We propose a framework of catalysts, building blocks, and instructional outcomes to help library instructors incorporate flipped instruction elements into their instructional design.
        Cover page: Flipped Instruction for Information Literacy: Five Instructional Cases of Academic Librarians
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