Friday, November 5, 2010 3:10 - 4:00 PM This session will highlight 3 different reorganizational strategies at 3 UC campuses’ Technical Services Departments. The Departments range in size from small to large. The impetus, priorities and goals differed at each campus and therefore the solutions were unique but effective for each campus. Handouts will be provided for developing a successful plan to accomplish an effective reorganization. These organizational changes, plus automating more processes and determining which tasks to eliminate have resulted in developing additional relevant, high level responsibilities with very little additional staffing while absorbing staffing cuts. There will also be brief discussion on laying the ground work for patron driven acquisitions, shelf ready and cat-on-receipt workflows.

1. An Adventure in Technical Services Bound for Reorganization at UCLA
Germaine Wadeborn
Head, Print Acquisitions
Charleston Acquisitions Conference
November 5, 2010

2. Reorganizations and Mergers
 1998: Young Research Library (YRL)
Serials and Monograph Acquisitions
Departments merge (31 FTE)
 2003: College and Arts Libraries
Acquisitions merged with YRL (37
FTE)
 2006 (March): Acquisitions split into
Print and Digital separate
departments
 2006 (July): Print Acquisitions merges
with Sciences Acquisitions (44 FTE)
 September 2007: Library mail room
functions transferred to Print
Acquisitions
 2008: Management Library
Acquisitions merges (44 FTE)

3. UCLA Young
Research Library
Critical need for space to support the
library’s complex operational needs:
- acquisitions
- cataloging
- library mail room
operaitons
Approximate main campus locations
total 25,000 sq. ft.

4. Relocation
April 2006-2007
• New location assigned to the Library
to provide appropriate and sufficient
space for acquisitions, cataloging,
and other non-public services and to
enhance effectiveness.
• 20,000 sq. feet available

5. The Teams
Work Begins in April 2006
• Kinross Steering
• Acquisitions
• Library Business Services
• Cataloging-Acquisitions-
Collection Development
• Client Unit
• Space Planning
• Library Information Technology
• All teams expected to
submit final reports
and recommendations
to the University
Librarian by January
2007

6. Guiding Principles
• Respond to the needs of various stakeholders (selectors, cataloging, vendors, users, public services, business services, IT)
• Define formal and informal lines of communication
• Commit necessary resources to end workarounds
• Take advantage of existing strengths
• Bring everyone up to the same level of understanding of processes (e.g. technology, new developments in publishing, distribution,
local procedures, etc.)
• Bring old procedures up to date vis-à-vis current technology
• Provide for minimum level of staffing to ensure all work goes on in spite of leave, vacant positions, emergencies, etc. – cross-train
for backup
• Adequate time and staffing dedicated to problem solving
• Provide opportunities for staff to grow, learn and expand their knowledge and experience
• Eliminate unnecessary steps & handoffs in workflows
• Define goals for optimal throughput times for processes
• Define REALISTIC priorities for transition & for long term
• Communicate priorities to stakeholders and re-negotiate as things change
• Review and re-define statistic gathering/reporting
• Can’t we all get along?
• Ensure that all staff have proper equipment and space to do their jobs
• Establish trust within and outside the department

7. Acquisitions Workflow Team begins work to normalize
processes and procedures
• Differences in Social Sciences Humanities and
Arts workflows must be normalized and
standardized with those in the Sciences
• Best practices guide efficiencies in processing
• What functions will be transferred to other
departments:
- shelving of unbound issues
- pulling of binding issues
- updating of item records for shelf
ready items transferred to Access
Services
• Address Changes
- service problems
duplicates
missing issues
standardization with the
publisher
When to implement the address change
– want the pain now or later!

8. Logistics and Timing
Challenges
• Campus mail system issue: re-routing of mail codes for
one year to allow Acquisitions to submit serial
subscription address changes
• Serial subscription address changes – location and format
• When to give monograph approval and firm order
vendors the new address
• Backlogs?
• When to stop ordering, receiving, checking in, binding,
and sending materials to cataloging?
• How soon can these operations resume when in new
location?
• What impact will there be on service?
• What will the staff do on moving days?
• Where will staff park, how will parking permits be
distributed?
• Facilities issues – no toilet paper!
New organization and workflows could
not be implemented until the move
Space allocation was based upon projected
workflows – will it work as expected?

9. Statistics
June 2007
• Serial issues checked in: 118,725
• New serial subscriptions placed:
452
• Serial subscriptions cancelled: 92
• Monograph orders placed: 13,057
• Monographs received: 56,780
• Monograph gifts received:
141,661
June 2010
• Serial issues checked in: 200,000
• New serial subscriptions placed:
63
• Serial subscriptions cancelled: 2244
• Monograph orders placed: 11,199
• Monograph received: 37,000
• Monograph gifts received: 6720

10. Now that We’re Reorganized …
• Status quo not an option
• Operational workforce vs.
unit function – does
location really matter?
• Maximizing library
resources with vendor and
ILS capabilities

11. 2008-2010: changes for continued process
improvement
Automation
• Implemented EDI invoicing where
possible for both monograph and
serial processing
• Shelf ready for main approval
vendor
• Electronic selection and ordering
• Patron Driven Acquisitions – Print
• Cataloging on Receipt
• Barcoding on receipt – allows for
automated statistics gathering
Materials Budget and Staffing
• Budget for purchase of
books and serials gradually
decreasing
• Over 2000 print serial
subscriptions cancelled
• Staff retirements,
reassignments and
resignations.

12. What we look like now – One acquisitions department with
staff cross-trained to do both monograph and serials
processing
• Total of 25 fulltime staff members
• Cross-trained
• More efficient workflows in place
• Doing more with less staff and other resources
• Staff performing at higher levels – some reclassifications
upward were possible

13. Whatever the future brings always keep things in
perspective – “Anything Goes”!
How can technical services move with
agility to meet evolving changes and
challenges?
What will technical services and
acquisitions look like in the next 5 years?

14. Contact
Germaine Wadeborn
gwadebor@library.ucla.edu