Conference program from the Living the Future Conference, May 1-4, 1996, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ.

Conference proceedings from the Living the Future Conference, April 21-24, 1998, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / Present the experience of one section within the Cataloging Division of the University of Washington Libraries as it moved from a supervisory structure to a self-managed team. This change in structure to a concept. What makes this different from the team concept is that this team of seven members is only one of two sections that are participating in the self-managing structure within the hierarchical structure of the University of Washington Libraries at the time of this proposal. This University of Washington Libraries at the time of this proposal. This presentation will recount the team's experiences with training and how the members had to change their mode of thinking, from working as individuals supervised by one person to a group who share the load of supervisory responsibilities as a team.

Conference proceedings from the Living the Future Conference, April 21-24, 1998, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / For academic libraries to succeed in the new educational and information environment, they have to become more client focused, more efficient and more effective in delivering their services. Libraries have to take responsibility to incorporate into their work environment a culture of ongoing assessment, and the willingness to make decisions based on facts and sound analysis. This session will examine ways to build a culture of assessment into the academic library environment.

Conference proceedings from the Living the Future Conference, April 21-24, 1998, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / At WSU Vancouver, the Library, Computing and Educational Television Departments merged into the cohesive service organization called Vancouver Information Services (VIS), enabling the campus to develop and integrate program in information literacy. This paper will review the trials and triumphs of merging information technology departments and show how VIS is integral to the campus information literacy goals.

Conference program from the Living the Future Conference, April 21-24, 1998, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ.

Conference proceedings from the Living the Future Conference, April 21-24, 1998, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / The "Assessment Plan for Information Literacy" at Indiana University Bloomington asserts the need for the teaching faculty to form partnerships with librarians to ensure an acceptable level of information literacy for all students. Several projects for implementing the plan will be presented, along with a case study on one School.

Conference proceedings from the Living the Future Conference, April 21-24, 1998, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / Learning communities can be used to enhance a student's understanding of a subject discipline, the writing process, and to improve research skills. One such model integrated three courses into a single syllabus called the Political Inquiry and Writing Pride offered to incoming freshmen as part of the Learning Edge Academic Program (LEAP). The LEAP program encourages active and collaborative learning, and the opportunity to integrate library skills into each Pride's curriculum. The pilot program revealed that the concept of a community may be the appropriate model for enhancing the learning and teaching process because it takes the courses, the faculty, and the librarians out of isolation and places them in purposeful juxtaposition to each other. However, if such learning communities are to grow and thrive universities and libraries must improve the teaching skills of both librarians and faculty by developing a greater part of their resources to such efforts. Nevertheless, the possibility for improving information literacy through such a learning community is great.

Conference proceedings from the Living the Future Conference, April 21-24, 1998, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ.

Poster presentation from the Living the Future Conference, April 21-24, 1998, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / Interlibrary Loan staff were suffocating under a heavy burden of an ever increasing workload. Was it possible to change from an environment where the process controlled the staff, to an atmosphere where staff control the process? Interlibrary Loan had to get ready for change. Staff needed time to shift from being apprehensive about change, to embracing it as solution for a better workplace. A Continuous Quality Improvement Team was formed, out of which emerged a new culture and a new structure. The reorganization formed two process teams (Borrowing and Lending) and a management team (Coordinating). Interlibrary Loan had to get set for change. Reorganization into teams removed many familiar routines and structures that apply meaning to one's job. Each team member sought to define his role as he learned to work unsupervised in a team-directed atmosphere. Interlibrary Loan changes. Interlibrary Loan staff members successfully moved from an environment where the process controlled the staff, to an atmosphere were staff control the process. During this transition, staff members gained invaluable experience in teamwork and developed quality service guidelines. Equipped with these new skills, ILL Teams are prepared and empowered to meet the challenges of continuous change. This is Penn State Interlibrary Loan's recipe for incorporating change. This is what worked for us. Instead of trying to make our department fit into a textbook team structure, we took the concept of teams and teamwork and applied them to our office culture, working within the University Libraries' hierarchical structure.

Conference proceedings from the Living the Future Conference, April 21-24, 1998, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / Seeking to understand user's needs, assumptions, and on-line behavior was critical in the design of The University of Arizona's new Information Gateway system. Focus groups helped direct the initial design and then usability studies shaped the prototypes and the end product. We will discuss both the methodology and the results of these studies.