Status Updates From Collection Management Basic...

"(Respondents often
attempt to please or not give a negative impression of themselves. Thus,
they provide responses they think will give the questioner what is wanted
rather than the truth.)"

"According to the law of least effort, people and organizations expend as
few resources as possible (time, money, or effort) to secure information."

"Wants...are things that the group or person is
willing to expend time, effort, or money to acquire; it does not
necessarily follow that the want is good for those wanting it."

"Asking a person, “Tell me about your information needs” will more often
than not cause the person to stare blankly while attempting to understand
just what you are asking."

"Asking a person, “Tell me about your information needs” will more often
than not cause the person to stare blankly while attempting to understand
just what you are asking."

"Conflict, in and of itself, is not a problem. It can be beneficial when it is
cognitive rather than emotional in character. The challenge is to achieve the highest possible cognitive level and the lowest level of emotional conflict. One way to help achieve this is to carefully frame the decision goals for the group. Another technique is to monitor the group and call for a timeout when emotions are running high."

"Conflict is where
the concept of fight, flight, and flow often comes into play...some people will fight very hard for their position(s) on matters, while others, in the face of conflict, simply give up (flight) and refuse to discuss the issue further...What you need to be (or hope there are a few other such people inthe group) is willing to keep things moving (flow) and actively seek the
middle ground."

"The vast majority of decisions develop over time. Yes, there is the moment of choice, but generally there is an elapse of time between knowing a decision is necessary and the decision point. Even quick gut decisions usually draw upon some prior knowledge related to the circumstances calling for a decision."

"effective decision making is about making a choice from a number of possible options when several good possibilities often exist. As the number of options increases, it appears as if the choice is harder and harder to make. That is somewhat true; however, the more options you consider, the more likely the final selection will be the best, or one of the best.”

"'I’m the big fish in this pond' with an implied threat of 'I will take my marbles and go home if I don’t get my way.' It takes more than a meeting or two to work through such issues, and time together is the best way to reduce such problems. To have a successful partnership there must be trust and compromise as well as true teamwork."

"Change, especially in the workplace, is not something some people accept willingly. Just one member having problems getting the service up and running can cause others to question the value of that member, the service, or both. Such doubts can erode the trust necessary for successful consortial operations."

"The more people get to know and trust one another, the more effective they become at working together."

"[Interlibrary loan] is a prime example of cooperation—no bylaws, no officers, and no membership fees —just a sharing of collections between libraries on a voluntary basis."

"The notion that libraries represent a 'public good' may be widely held by society; however, how much support that 'good' is worth is limited. Only through libraries working together are they able to offer the quality and range of services that exist today."

"Although the name may conjure the image of some sort of 'bewitched' collection levitating through a library, or one housed on a cruise ship, the reality is floating collections represent a type of patron-driven collection management where patron requests drive the location and subsequent return and housing of a title."

"client input; the question is how much there should be. The best answer is, as much as the organization can handle and still carry out its basic functions, and as much as the community is willing to provide."

"the idea of proprietary information. How an organization
goes about generating profit, what areas are deemed to be of interest, are no one’s business but that of the organization. There is a field called 'competitive intelligence' that is often of interest to professional staff in the
for-profit libraries." (82-3).

"school libraries are often categorized as one of the 'nice,' but not essential, elements of elementary and secondary education (along with school nurses, counselors, art, and music instruction)."

"Benjamin Franklin’s library still exists today as the Library
Company of Philadelphia, focusing on society and culture from the 17th
through the 19th centuries. See http://www.librarycompany.org/."

"Benjamin Franklin organized what he called a subscription (social) library—individuals had to pay a fee to have access. Franklin’s idea was that people would greatly benefit from pooling their money and could purchase a greater quantity and variety of material than they could on their own...it was this idea that college students drew upon when they started their literary/debating libraries."

"until the early 19th century students were only expected to master prescribed texts—there was really no need for student access to collections. At that point, it was common for highly trusted faculty members to have the authority to decide what books should be in the library collection as well as who might read them."

"The assumption was that if there was a new facility, that would equate to all new books, not retaining the existing—although presumably useful—collection.)"

"Historically libraries have been viewed as a public good (rather like
motherhood and apple pie). Most people probably still hold that view (at
least in the abstract). However, when the financial reality hits and monies
are scarce, practicality displaces most theoretical values."

"No library, no matter how big, has the resources to
meet all information needs of all individuals. Libraries must prioritize their
efforts and define their 'primary service population.' Most libraries would
like to do more; however, reality checks this desire."

"Although for many people the notion of 24/7 access to information is a
reality, the amount that is available is a small percentage of the information
universe. Further, who has access to what varies," (28).

"Not everyone agrees universal accessibility is desirable" (25).