Libraries embarked on a comprehensive project to document and review the Libraries' serials and electronic resources workflow with the goals of introducing greater efficiency, clarity, and simplicity into processes across the serials unit and of increasing training opportunities for department-wide understanding of the serials lifecycle. This paper examines the method used to observe and collect information about serials and electronic resources work, the process of synthesizing that information into a graphical representation of the serials lifecycle, and the workflow analysis undertaken to introduce improved serials processes. The value of the project is demonstrated through a discussion of efforts for workflow education, analysis, and improvement at the NCSU Libraries directly instigated by review of the process documentation by technical services staff members. Serials Review 2009; 35:242-252.While there are many definitions of workflow, Wikipedia offers one of the simplest, most useful, and, at the same time, most challenging definitions as it relates to the processing of serials and electronic resources. Wikipedia defines workflow as "a model to represent real work for further assessment, e.g., for describing a reliably repeatable sequence of operations." 1 As those who manage serials and electronic resources know well, the difficulty in defining that type of workflow rests precisely with the two words reliably repeatable. While many functions indeed fall into predictable patterns and processes, picking those patterns out of the mess of troubleshooting, problem solving, and crisis management that is the hallmark of serials work can be a challenge.In an effort to gain a handle on the elements that make up core serials workflow and to understand how staffing resources are appropriately and efficiently allocated amongst those elements, the Metadata & Cataloging Department at the North Carolina State University (NCSU) Libraries has endeavored to define the reliably repeatable processes that make up its serials and electronic resources workflow by engaging in an intensive three-stage process designed to discover and evaluate how work really gets done. The project included a staff shadowing process to gather onthe-job data about how serials and electronic processes are completed, a workflow mapping phase to create easy-to-understand graphical representations of these processes, and a workflow analysis phase to review and revise the processes for greater efficiency and clarity. The direct observation of the shadowing process and the visual nature of the workflow maps facilitated the goal of conducting a close examination of NCSU's serials and electronic resources processes with an eye towards identifying unnecessary handoff points, eliminating duplication of effort, and correcting tasks performed erroneously or not at all.

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Staff members at North Carolina State University (NCSU) Libraries have identified the need for name authority control within E-Matrix, a locally developed electronic resources management (ERM) system, to support collection intelligence, the process of collecting, collocating, and analyzing data associated with a collection to gain a sophisticated understanding of its qualities for strategic planning and decision making. This paper examines the value of establishing authority control over organization names within an ERM system in addition to describing NCSU's design for conducting name authority work in E-Matrix. A discussion of the creation of a name authority tool within E-Matrix is provided along with illustrations and examples of workflow design and implementation for the assignment of authoritative headings. Current practices related to authority control and ERM systems in academic libraries and within organizations such as the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) are also investigated and summarized to provide context for this project. Future possibilities for the use of this type of authority control on the part of librarians, vendors, and standards bodies are explored. A s electronic resources management (ERM) systems become more advanced and their use more widespread, libraries have begun to consider the potential of these systems to aid in collections decisions by performing advanced data analysis functions. Name authority control is of critical importance if ERM systems are to be put to this use because information drawn into a system from different sources must be collocated to produce accurate and useful analyses and reports. Throughout the development of E-Matrix, a homegrown ERM system, North Carolina State University (NCSU) Libraries has focused on the application's potential to facilitate effective collection intelligence, the process of collecting, collocating, and analyzing data associated with a collection to gain a sophisticated understanding of its qualities in order to strategically plan and make decisions. E-Matrix centralizes information from the library's catalog, link resolver, and assorted flat files within a single database and can perform analysis functions that include data from all of these sources. A challenge presented by this process is the identification and collocation of data elements imported to E-Matrix in a multiplicity of uncontrolled formats. Data about organizations, such as the names of publishers, vendors, providers , and licensors of serials and electronic resources, has been the most difficult element to normalize within E-Matrix. Because organization names are imported from unformatted fields created for outside applications, the data in E-Matrix naturally lacks consistency. The names of organizations appear in dozens of variant and erroneous forms, with neither any indication of connections between entities that indicate business relationships nor authorized forms of names. In aiming to use E-matrix as a sophisticated reporting and collection intelligence tool, ...