Technical Services constructed a strategic plan for what it should look like in a year, and with that as the target we have developed a staff plan which will start on September 1, 1996 for those areas where the changes are most known. In 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after September 1 we will make changes to other units of Technical Services as Unicorn continues to meet its promise, as we more fully incorporate vendor services, and as we fine tune internal process changes.
Our plan for 9/1 has no layoffs, thanks in large part to the people who opted for the benefits of voluntary layoff and to those who chose to take other positions in SUL and beyond. They allowed us flexibility that traditional attrition rates might not have covered.
A detailed description of process and organization changes will appear shortly on the Technical Services Redesign home page.
Areas for dramatic change by 9/1/96
Areas where dramatic changes are targeted after 9/1/96
In large part we tried to staff the 9/1/96 plan at levels that would allow for adjustment of work but would not require dramatic staff reductions as we assess the next units in January, March, June, and Sept. 1997.
--Catherine Tierney, Asst. Univ. Librarian, Technical Services
Ken Dowlin, San Francisco City Librarian and the man behind the new Main Library, will speak on Wednesday, June 26th, at 3:15, in theMeyer Forum Room on the subject of "The Future of the Library as the Community Institution". Take a break, leave your keyboards, and enjoy thinking about something other than what has to be done by 9/1!
--Jennie Nicolayev, SLSA Program Committee
The University has decided where to put the Technical Services building. The facility will be at current SAL site, 765 Pampas Lane. Included in the facility are all of Technical Services, the SUL/AIR servers (called the "server garden"), and the Fine Press program.
We have an OK to go ahead with the "program planning" which will take 4-5 months and at the end of which we'll have a description on which architects' bids will be made. Design work should start in early 1997 with a projected completion date no later than December 1997. Connie Brooks, Head of Preservation Department, will coordinate the input of Technical Services program and staff needs into the design.
--Catherine Tierney, Asst. Univ. Librarian, Technical Services
The Executive Council of the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC) has informed us that at ALA in New York Willy Cromwell- Kessler, Head of SUL's Cataloging Development Group, will be awarded the Certificate of Distinguished Service for her exemplary achievements on behalf of national level cooperative cataloging. This award recognizes Willy for the outstanding contributions she has realized as a result of her activities as chair of the Standing Committee on Standards. Her performance in this role reflects her wise leadership ability as well as dedication to duty in advancing a most important component of the PCC program. The Executive Council tells us it "could not be more satisfied with the exceptional results [she has] produced and is deeply grateful for [her] assistance to the Program." We are very proud of Willy; efforts at the national level have a direct impact on our ability to redesign our cataloging enterprise. Those who have ever tried to make intelligent changes at the level of national standards appreciate the significance of Willy's feat.
--Catherine Tierney, Asst. Univ. Librarian, Technical Services
Over the next few months SUL News Notes will have articles related to SUL's staff investment in emerging national cataloging trends. This first piece is background on the PCC, through which many of these changes are being coordinated.
The Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC), a self-governing, multi-library group that includes the Library of Congress, the National Library of Canada, the British Library and many American academic and public libraries. The goal of the PCC is to increase the availability of cataloging copy of uniformly acceptable quality in as cost-effective a fashion as possible. During the past three years the PCC committees and task groups have attempted to "redesign" the cooperative cataloging environment in areas as diverse as cataloging standards, and cataloger's workstation technology; its aims are in general to simplify and rationalize the effort involved in national level cataloging so more cataloging of acceptable quality is available to all. And it has a home page for more information:
--C.Tierney and W. Cromwell-Kessler
As part of the migration of Folio files to Z39.50 servers, a new version of ABI Inform has been installed, with coverage back to 1971. Aside from the expanded coverage, the file does not differ substantially from the old ABI. The most significant differences are summarized in a "Help New ABI" screen on Folio.
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions about ABI Inform, please contact Bryan McCann in the Jackson Library (smccann@peso; 3-8747)
--Bryan McCann, Jackson Library
The Poster Session Committee for CARL's 1996 Annual Conference (October 25 & 26, 1996, at San Diego's Bahia Hotel) invites abstracts on the theme of
Anyone who actively fosters information competence and patron self-sufficiency is encouraged to apply--whether that experience comesfrom the realm of technical services, document delivery, reference,or bibliographic instruction. The Poster Session Committee seeks to represent a wide range of dynamic viewpoints at the conference.
August 2, 1996, is the deadline for submitting abstracts for consideration. (Submissions must be received by this date, preferably via electronic mail.) Detailed instructions for prospective poster presenters are available through the 1996 CARL Conference homepage
or you may request them from the Poster Session Committee Chair (again, preferably via electronic mail):
Julie Sih, Corporate Programs Librarian jsih@ucsd.edu UC San Diego Libraries VOX: 619/534-4431 9500 Gilman Drive, Dept. 0175V FAX: 619/534-0746 La Jolla, CA 92093-0175
The goal of our poster session is to promote lively interaction between the conference participants and their colleagues who have developed innovative programs relating to the conference theme.We look forward to considering how your poster might contribute to the overall excellence of CARL's 1996 Annual Conference.
Sincerely,
Deborah Schaeffer
1996 CARL Conference Chair
dschaef@calstatela.edu
--Deborah Schaeffer, 1996 CARL Conference Chair