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ERIC Number: EJ918540
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Nov
Pages: 6
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1553-7544
EISSN: N/A
Library/IT Relations: Down the Hatch
Schaffhauser, Dian
Campus Technology, v24 n3 p24-29 Nov 2010
Small and midsize institutions have proven the success of a blended library/IT organization, a hybrid model in which both librarians and IT professionals report to the same senior leader. What hasn't been proven is how well such a blend works for larger universities. There the challenge has become part of the larger institutional budget debate: Who is best positioned to deliver the services needed? Should a library--or any department for that matter--maintain its own technology staff? Or is it possible for library technology needs to be addressed by a larger IT division on campus in the hopes of reaping operational savings and efficiencies? Campus reorganizations are part and parcel of this era when every department is trying to wring out savings. That includes IT, which often finds itself in the unenviable position of defending changes to reporting lines in order to help preserve jobs: An IT person is brought over from enrollment management in order to handle the work formerly done in the data center by somebody who was lost to retirement. With each adjustment, IT has to step into somebody else's fiefdom and tell the folks living there how computing work will be done in the future. But there's something about IT stepping into library business specifically that brings into focus the cultural differences that can exist between information organizations working in the same institution. Those differences make it tougher for the two groups to work together in formulating an IT/library strategy that can adapt to constant change and economic strain.
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A