The Challenge of Quality in an Academic Library:
Synergy in the Information Future
November, 1997
By Jerry Seay
Robert Scott Small Library
College of Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina, USA

On November 19 Jerry Seay delivered a paper in Goteborg, Sweden at the Swedish Institute of Quality's Quality 97 Conference . The following day he spoke in Stockholm at the Royal Library of Sweden. A link to his paper as well as an abstract and sources for his lecture follow:

Brief Biography

Jerry Seay was born in South Carolina a while back. Sources refuse to corroborate an exact date. Being a military brat (his father was in the U.S. Navy), his family moved around quite a bit when he was younger. He received his undergraduate degree in Media and Liberal Arts from Illinois State University in 1985. After various jobs in media (and appliance repair) he received his Masters in Library Science at the University of South Carolina in 1991. He has been gainfully employed at the College of Charleston Library since 1989 where he is privileged to work with the greatest bunch of people in the world. He is a reference librarian currently in charge of producing instructional aids and publications at his library. He teaches basic and advanced library instruction classes, introduction to the Internet classes, HTML instruction, and classes to faculty on using multimedia and presentation software. He is fond of flashing lights and thinks mood music is a good idea to start a class.

Jerry does not consider himself to be an expert in Total Quality Management or even on quality in general. He is, however, a fanatical librarian looking for ways to improve service to the patrons of his library. While investigating such an endeavor he has noticed the trend of libraries and other campus knowledge organizations (computer departments, instructional technology departments, audio-visual departments) to begin to merge their similar resources and talents to serve their same patron base with more efficiency. He has found the philosophy of TQM, with its emphasis on the customer, cooperation, breaking down barriers, and continuous improvement, to be the inherent ingredient in this merging of minds.

Abstract of Paper

Total Quality Management theories, models, and tools have only recently been translated from the world of business to academic institutions. The translation has not always been a literal one in all areas because there are significant differences in the goals of these two fields primarily due to the unique customer/service provider relationship that exists in an educational environment. Also, there are two major trends that have developed related to the quality movement that involve backlash and synergy. These are the backlash against the quality movement in academia and the increasing movement toward synergy among university campus knowledge organizations. This lecture will examine these trends and how they are affecting the role of academic libraries as they attempt to serve the information needs of the "new patron" and compete in the information age.

Works Cited

Baker, S. L., & Lancaster, F. W. (1991). The measurement and evaluation of library services. (2d ed.). Arlington, VA: Information Resources Press.

Barone, Carole A.. (1993). New Interpretations of Old Rules, or If the Ocean Is on the Right, You Are Headed North. CAUSE/EFFECT. 16(1). http://www.cause.org/information-resources/ir-library/abstracts/cem9313.html

Bernbom, Gerald. (1996). CAUSE/EFFECT, 19(3). http://www.cause.org/information-resources/ir-library/abstracts/cem9632.html

Boelke, J. H. (1995). Quality improvement in libraries: total quality management & related approaches. In Advances in librarianship (I. Godden, ed.), 19, pp. 43-83.

Bunker, G. (1994). Customer-centered collaboration: libraries and IT. In Proceedings of the 1994 CAUSE Annual Conference. http://www.cause.org/information-resources/ir-library/abstracts/cnc9409.html.

Butcher, K. S. (1993). Total quality management: The Oregon State University Library's experience. Journal of Library Administration 18(1/2), 45-56.

Fitch, D.K., Thomason, J. and Wells, E.C. (1993). Turning the library upside down: Reorganization using total quality management principles. Journal of Academic Librarianship 19, 294-299.

Gilder, G. (1989). Microcosm: The quantum revolution in economics and technology. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Hendricks, K.B., and Singhal, V.R. (1997). Does Implementing an effective TQM program actually improve operating performance: Empirical evidence from firms that have won quality awards. Management Science 43(9), 1258-1274.

Heterick, Robert C.. (1990). Less is more. CAUSE/EFFECT, 13(3). http://www.cause.org/information-resources/ir-library/abstracts/cem9030.html

Hughes, C.A..(1992). A comparison of campus priorities: the "logical" library in an organized anarchy. Journal of Academic Librarianship 18(7), 139-145.

Jurow. S., and Barnard, S. (1993). Introduction: TQM fundamentals and overview of contents. Journal of Library Administration 18(1/2), 1-3.

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Lancaster, F. W. (1993). If you want to evaluate your library... (2d ed.). Urbana-Champaign, IL: University of Illinios, Graduate School of Librtary and Information Science.

Lee, S. (1993). Organizational change in the Harvard College Library: A continued struggle for redefinition and renewal. Journal of American Librarianship 19, 225-230.

Martin, D. (1993). Academic libraries. In Total quality management: The information business: key issue 92. (pp. 38-45). Hertfordshire: University of Hertfordshire Press.

Neisser, U. (1997). Rising scores on Intelligence tests. American Scientist 85(5), 440-447.

Norton, M., Seaman, S., and Sprankle, M. (1996). Measuring book availability: A monthly sampling method. College & Undergraduate Libraries 3(1), 101-115.

Pritchard, S.M. (1996). Determining quality in academic libraries. Library Trends 44 (3), 572-594.

Riggs, Donald, E.. (1994). Strategic quality management in libraries. In Rosanna M. O'Neil (Ed.), Total quality management in libraries (pp. 88-99). Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited.

Rollin, R. (1989). There's no business like education. Academe 15 (Jan-Feb), 14-17.

Seay, T, Seaman, S, Cohen, D. (1996). Measuring and Improving the Quality of Public Services: A hyprid approach. Library Trends 44 (3), 464-490.

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Shaughnessy, T.W. (1989). The search for quality. Journal of Library Administration 8(1), 5-10.

Stuart, C., and Drake, M.A. (1993). TQM in research libraries. Special Libraries 84, 131-136.

Thomason, J. (1993). Revitalization of library service. New Directions for Institutional Research 78, 49-51.

Turner, Judith. (1997). Publishing Panel. Paper presented at the 17th annual Charleston Conference, Charleston, SC.

Veaner, A. B. (1994). Paradigm Lost, Paradigm Regained: A persistent personnel issue in academic librarianship, II. College & Research Libraries 55(5), 389-402.

Vision 2010: Universities in the 21st Century. (1996). URL: http://www.si.umich.edu/V2010/.

Online Articles

New Interpretations of Old Rules, or If the Ocean Is on the Right, You Are Headed North
ABSTRACT: The equilibrium in organizations is being upset by new conditions imposed by a stunning rate of technological change. Relying on existing management practices in light of these new conditions will produce inappropriate results. Managers must assimilate a new set of core beliefs and assumptions and reverse a dozen common rules and aphorisms about management behavior. This article is based on the author's keynote address at CAUSE92 in Dallas, Texas, December 3, 1992.

Customer-Centered Collaboration: Libraries and Information Technology
ABSTRACT: The need for librarians and information technologists to collaborate arises from convergence of their missions, user demands for coordinated services and competition for resources. Moreover, the pace of technology requires rapid yet flexible responses, not protracted haggling over territories, roles and responsibilities. The authors of this paper propose several strategies to accelerate the collaborative process, strategies adaptable enough to deal with change yet creative enough to foster both internal and external cooperative efforts. They identify the critical components of several management methods which, alone or in combination, can facilitate a rapid and effective move toward synergy. These strategies include teamwork, changes in reporting structures, integration, cross-pollination, management dictates, as well as elements of some popular external-stimulus approaches such as TQM and re-engineering. The success of these strategies depends upon library and computing leaders'

Less is More
ABSTRACT: Over thirty years ago Herbert Grosch observed the driving economic principle of mainframe computing: power tends to increase as the square of the cost. Had we all been as observant, or listened more closely, we would have better understood the paradigm shift from the manure strategy -- spread it around and it doesn't smell so bad -- to the rise of the computer czar. As late as 1980 we were still observing this "square law of mainframe computing." Something happened at the opening of the decade of the 80s and, while firmly anchored in Silicon Valley, it wasn't the "power to the people" vision of garage tinkerers, but rather a shift from economy of scale to the economy of the microcosm. We should be paying close attention, as the signal flags for a new paradigm shift in technology management have been hoisted.

Networked Information Resources: Not Just a Library Challenge
ABSTRACT: The issues surrounding the interrelationship between libraries, networks, and electronic information are often viewed as being "library issues," when in fact they are campus issues. Libraries should not be expected to resolve these issues independently, but should be included in campus efforts to address them.

Trends and Challenges for Academic Libraries and Information Services
ABSTRACT: The author believes that that radical changes will be needed to successfully accommodate coming trends in academic information services. He discusses four general principles he has used to anticipate the future impact of emerging technologies, and the factors he believes will influence these changes.

Library and IT Collaboration Projects: Nine Challenges
ABSTRACT: The University of California/Davis has for a long time sponsored a number of collaborative efforts between the General Libraries and the Information Technology Office. The author of this Viewpoint article presents nine primary challenges to library/IT collaboration.

Library and Computing Merger: Clash of Titans or Golden Opportunity
ABSTRACT: Many universities are merging knowledge organizations, primarily libraries and computing centers. Discussion typically includes the developing organizational structure, the impact of technology on the organization, and funding implications. One major issue facing these units is the merger of cultures that each brings to the new organization. This cultural merger can either be a clash of titans from which neither emerges intact, or it can be a golden opportunity to incorporate the best of each to produce a different organization with a new cultural value system. This paper describes the merger of a university library and campus computing organization with the best values of each.

Information Technology and Libraries -- A Virtual Convergence
ABSTRACT: Traditional roles and responsibilities of libraries and information technology organizations are shifting. Collaborative relationships between these groups can exploit points of convergence in their missions and advance campus agendas.

Related Web Sites

CAUSE: The Association for Managing and Using Resources in Higher Education
CAUSE's mission is to be an indispensable partner in enabling the transformational changes occurring in higher education through the effective management and use of information resources -- technology, services, and information.

Coalition for Networked Information
The Coalition for Networked Information was founded in March 1990 with a mission to help realize the promise of high performance networks and computers for the advancement of scholarship and the enrichment of intellectual productivity. The Coalition is a partnership of the Association of Research Libraries, CAUSE, and EDUCOM.

EDUCOM: Transforming education through information technology
Educom is a nonprofit consortium of higher education institutions that facilitates the introduction, use, and access to and management of information resources in teaching, learning, scholarship, and research. Educom believes that education and information technology (IT) will provide the most significant enhancements for human capability over the coming decade and that IT will have a fundamental impact upon education's ability to fulfill its mission.

TQM and Academic Libraries: A bibliography by Jerry Seay

Related Bibliography

Hubbard D.L. (ed.). (1993) Continuous Quality Improvement: Making the Transition to Education. Prescott: Maryville, MO.

Sims, S.J., and Sims R.R. (eds). (1995). Total Quality Management in Higher Education: Is it Working? Why or Why Not?. Praeger: Westport, CN.