This paper focuses on administrative issues centered on the adoption, design, implementation and operation of Web based services. Using the WWW implementation at the University of Waterloo Library as a concrete example the paper will explore issues concerning the adoption and use of Web technology within the Library's organizational and administrative structure.
The paper will provide a case study analysis of the University of Waterloo Library's implementation with a view to identify key issues that academic libraries must address in adopting the World Wide Web.
The fundamental link between technological change and organizational change was illustrated by Shoshana Zuboff in her study of work, power and automation, In the Age of the Smart Machine: "Technological developments, in the absence of organizational innovation, will be assimilated into the status quo" (Zuboff, p. 393).
This paper will use the World Wide Web as a lens with which to view the organizational issues surrounding electronic services. Powerful technologies have profound effects; libraries must undertake organizational changes in consort with the technological opportunities offered by the new information tools and exploit these technologies in ways which address the needs of our clients.
The traditional roles of the academic library as a virtual library remain unchanged. However, the essential tasks (identify user needs, relate needs to information resources, provide user access and facilitate use) are now mediated through a rich convergence of technologies and applications typified by the Web. Computing, global networks, distributed systems, personal publishing, hypermedia, desktop workstations and personal information systems converge in the Web and offer two key advantages to libraries:
Computer mediated communications systems (CMC) upon which virtual communities are constructed have evolved in ways significant to the design of library services as Rheingold observers:
"...big institutions often think of CMC as a kind of database, a way of broadcasting information on screen to large populations who spend their time interacting with information, but populations of citizens almost always use CMC to communicate with each other in new ways unforseen by the system's original designer" (Rheingold, p. 220).
Michael Schrage, the author of Shared Minds an excellent book on collaboration, challenged librarians at the 1992 Library and Information Technology Association conference to seek out a new role by providing the "care and feeding of virtual communities". He also suggested an important benchmark for library planning: "... designing for community is not equal to design for information management" (Schrage).
If libraries narrowly define themselves in terms of information management and refuse the challenge of community building and support then they will have lost the great opportunity before them. Barbara Moran, in her study of academic libraries and change, warned of the "dangerously passive manner" of librarians in their view of the need to change (Moran, p. 79).
The central organizational impediment for libraries to accept the community model and exploit the integrative technologies like the Web is the structure of libraries as a fragmented series of functions. The warehouse model onto which a service perspective has been grafted has caused libraries to evolve as a set of narrow specialties isolating colleagues and processes. Integrative technologies could lead to integrative organizations with staff working towards shared goals with shared objectives (Jennings).
These challenges and opportunities suggest the emergence of a new library organization; one which maintains its philosophical commitment and focus but forms itself to suit current problems and issues. An organization which is able to learn, innovate, rapidly remodel, and recreate itself with technological opportunities guided by tradition and client needs. The new library, responding to new information tools like Web, will be different.
UWIRC was envisioned as a broadly based group (public services, technical services and systems staff) and given a minimally defined mandate. The Library's executive group wanted to encourage innovation, adoption, exploration and yet provide a client service. This was viewed not as a research project nor as an isolated learning experience but as the development of a production system.
During the course of their work this group developed methods, philosophies, attitudes and actions which suited the problem and resolved organizational issues. As an innovative team working within a traditional organization they faced problems and tensions which highlighted changes, questioned attitudes, and raised issues. In fulfilling their goal (an effective electronic resource) UWIRC also lead an implicit reconsideration of library structure, culture and process.
Lessons from the UWIRC experience can be distilled around three themes for library organization:
Learning is not just an operating principle it must also be an organizational principle. The structure and culture of the library must be one which facilitates learning. In this sense a learning organization is not simply one in which librarians are eligible for study leaves but also one in which learning (and teaching) are the most important responsibilities of all staff members:
"While traditional organizations require management systems that control people's behavior, learning organizations invest in improving the quality of thinking, the capacity for reflection and team learning, and the ability to develop shared visions and shared understandings of complex business issues" (Senge, p. 289).
A holistic view of the library, articulated in a shared vision, provides the fundamental basis for common understanding and action. From this organizational framework comes the innovation and creative adaptation which will permit libraries to recognize opportunity and to make improvements. All staff must be part of this learning paradigm. From this perspective the new role of leadership is in "designing the learning processes whereby people throughout the organization can deal productively with the critical issues they face, and develop their mastery in the learning disciplines" (Senge, p. 345).
The constant challenge is to have non-technical staff learn more technical details. The goal is not to have them become system experts but to enable them to be creative and innovative with the technology within the information needs context. The need to concentrate on technical issues was resisted by many participants. The need to build technical expertise was accepted over time as the untapped potential of the application became clearer. The presence of technical leadership within the group helped provide peer support and expertise.
Uncharted territory populated by strange technical issues is an intimidating environment for any group. Virtually the entire UWIRC group confessed that at the beginning of the process they knew very little about the application environment or the service to be created. They learned by doing and exploring. Preferring to think of themselves as explorers rather than experts, the group used weekly meetings, regular contact with and links to community expertise to facilitate the learning process.
UWIRC initially began their work with shared workstations, poor software environments and few software tools. The decision to upgrade and provide a superior work environment marked a significant change in their productivity, creativity and design efforts. The technology stopped being a barrier and became a conduit for their efforts. It is indicative of the problem that libraries tend to provide computing environments typical of office automation needs rather than the high performance workstations more suited to the intensive information work in which libraries are engaged.
UWIRC continues to be frustrated by the lack of evaluation tools or methods available in the networked environment and in the Web applications in particular. Web technology was designed to enable access and distribution, but little attention has been yet devoted to evaluation and assessment. Quality issues were left to individual maintainers; users are given little in the way of quality assessment tools.
The logs maintained by the servers are inadequate for evaluation since they provide only server activity, not client activity. Building in evaluation techniques or processes is an important consideration and one which should be central to future enhancements or developments in networked information tools.
The UWIRC group perceived themselves in this role and behaved accordingly. As early adopters of the technology they recognized that they must provide the learning opportunities for others. They saw themselves as a bridge between new technology and the library staff. The rapid and widespread adoption of the Web in the Library is directly traceable to their leadership role and their status as early adopters and as change agents.
UWIRC allowed the library to witness an emerging team approach based on the process model. The group began as a typical task force or committee but evolved given guidance to adopt a team approach and to learn team building techniques. The UWIRC experience has contributed to the establishment of a pilot team to further explore this approach within the Library.
The integrative nature of the World Wide Web suggested initially that the group would provide the entire service with decentralized assistance from the liaison librarians who have discipline specific responsibilities. The deliberations of UWIRC have lead to an investigation of other models for these processes. Other staff members were drawn into the sphere of the service and have become involved in development and problem-solving tasks. Creating alternative teams which involve different staff groupings seems inevitable. Linking designers, innovators and maintainers (librarians, systems and enablers) in a fluid team structure would facilitate the demands of maintaining a complex system while supporting the creativity necessary for innovation.
Another result of this approach is that policy for electronic information systems was derived from experience. UWIRC didn't burden themselves with rules but rather focused on the deliverables, on the tangible expressions of a service philosophy.
This expression of confidence in the group, the process and the service enabled UWIRC to take additional risks and to set their own development paths. They become more accountable to each other and to the client community and thereby began to take on the characteristics of teams. This will be crucial in future developments within the Library.
The single most important philosophy and action the Library has adopted throughout this process is to focus on the client. While the expression of this approach is reflected in many aspects of the Library's operation UWIRC encountered two specific aspects which touch on challenges to the way the Library implements information services.
The rise of personal information systems based on client/server technology and accepted standards points to the library as more multi-dimensional than ever before. This highlights the most important impact of the new tools for libraries: the transition from corporate information systems to personal information systems. The flexibility and power of current and emerging information technologies typified by the Web will permit users to create personal reflections of their information needs. Users will exploit client software and create information dimensions of their own based on individual needs, tastes, and priorities. Library resources become server-based at the same time that library services are focused on the individual rather than the group; a move to the personal from the corporate.
UWIRC's work with the World Wide Web has offered a concrete means to break that paradigm and allow staff (and users) to see new possibilities. Modeling information systems which support personal information systems rather than a corporate, library controlled view of the world is a significant change. UWIRC has been leading the review of this traditional library perspective.
Getting ahead of the user group was a major concern for UWIRC. The Library is extremely fortunate because of the significant investment in computing and telecommunications in all parts of the University. Nearly all of the Faculties provide extensive student computing. The Library can assume high levels of access, sophisticated workstations and knowledgeable users. However, in the largest faculty, the Faculty of Arts, the computing infrastructure is less sophisticated and extensive. Not coincidentally it is in this Faculty that is most concerned about the balance between electronic resources and traditional print resources.
It is important to develop in conjunction with the client community. UWIRC has worked with groups throughout the University to help the community adopt new tools and applications. This has lead directly to increased collaboration opportunities within research projects and teaching initiatives at Waterloo.
"The future belongs to neither the conduit or content players, but those who control the filtering, searching, and sense-making tools we will rely on to navigate through the expanses of cyberspace" (Saffo, pp. 74-75).
With the adoption and implementation of World Wide Web services the University of Waterloo Library has taken up Saffo's challenge. However, the process has been more than the development of an electronic service. The longer term implications of this initiative has been the modeling of the future of the library.
What has changed at Waterloo because of the University of Waterloo Library Internet Resource Committee and its use of the Web? Key outcomes of this innovation are:
Sproull and Kiesler have synthesized four rules for working in the networked organization (Sproull and Kiesler, p. 14-15):
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