Szewczyk–Kłos, Part 5
The seventh question focused on the issue of setting up task teams. Such teams operated in all libraries but one. Among other aims, they were established to help digitize the collection, to draw out documents regulating the work, to arrange free access to the collection, to develop digital libraries, or to design the Web pages. The most common task appeared to be digitization of the collection, and issues related to this one, such as software testing, selection of documents to be digitized, or analysis of copyright of the items in the digital library.
The last question was “Would your library modify the structure of the main library and the entire library network because of the new Law of Higher Education and because new university and organizational regulations are developed for libraries?” Six libraries answered in the affirmative. In most cases, that effort will be on flattening the organizational structure by integrating department libraries into a single faculty library and incorporating them in the library and information system of the given university.
The libraries also pointed to the changes aimed at merging the divisions for formal and subject cataloguing into a single division for cataloguing printed materials. Work on new organizational regulations led to reorganization of divisions and streamlining processes of cataloguing including subject cataloguing.
The survey presented here was a sort of pilot study that attempted to assess the directions of changes in the organizational structure of academic libraries, and it is expected to contribute to further comprehensive studies into similar structural changes. In the near future, studies may be carried out on the location of specialized libraries in the library system at the university and on the role and functions of specialized librarians, who, when faced with the merging of specialized libraries into multi–task libraries, may shift toward being more like consultants in selecting, processing, providing access to collections and information services for library users.
Summary
The results of the studies conducted allow one to conclude that management methods borrowed from manufacturing companies have started being used by non–profit institutions, including libraries. When facing the new needs of library users, academic libraries cannot afford to continue functioning within the traditional organizational system. The future of libraries lies in adopting matrix structures whose goal is to combine the expert efforts to execute a larger number of tasks that are needed for increased efficiency, as well as task structures that will break the hierarchical structure model and contribute to enhanced performance.
These issues make studies on work quality and users’ needs necessary, they show also that innovations should be introduced and that such structures should be used that support efficient management and contribute to the increased efficiency of library services.