SPEC Kit 331: Changing Role of Senior Administrators (October 2012)

Abstract

Committed to assisting research and academic libraries in the continuous improvement of management systems, ARL has worked since 1970 to gather and disseminate the best practices for library needs. As part of its commitment, ARL maintains an active publications program best known for its SPEC Kits. Through the Collaborative Research/Writing Program, librarians work with ARL staff to design SPEC surveys and write publications. Originally established as an information source for ARL member libraries, the SPEC Kit series has grown to serve the needs of the library community worldwide. What are SPEC Kits?Published six times per year, SPEC Kits contain the most valuable, up-to-date information on the latest issues of concern to libraries and librarians today. They are the result of a systematic survey of ARL member libraries on a particular topic related to current practice in the field. Each SPEC Kit contains an executive summary of the survey results; survey questions with tallies and selected comments; the best representative documents from survey participants, such as policies, procedures, handbooks, guidelines, Web sites, records, brochures, and statements; and a selected reading list-both print and online sources-containing the most current literature available on the topic for further study. Subscribe to SPEC KitsSubscribers tell us that the information contained in SPEC Kits is valuable to a variety of users, both inside and outside the library. SPEC Kit purchasers use the documentation found in SPEC Kits as a point of departure for research and problem solving because they lend immediate authority to proposals and set standards for designing programs or writing procedure statements. SPEC Kits also function as an important reference tool for library administrators, staff, students, and professionals in allied disciplines who may not have access to this kind of information.SPEC Kits are available in print and online. For more information visit: http://www.arl.org/resources/pubs/. The executive summary for each kit after December 1993 can be accessed free of charge at http://www.arl.org/ resources/pubs/spec/complete.shtml. SPEC Kit 331

A Comprehensive Survey of Research Library Organizational Structure

“…6 Almost 30 years later, these numbers remained consistent in a 2012 ARL SPEC Kit that showed the mean number of directors' direct reports was 6.48 and had changed little since a previous study in 2007. 7 There are several studies that have surveyed the landscape of organizational structures, but most have taken a different approach than the current study. One approach is to interview library directors, as in the example of a 2016 Ithaka S+R report.…”

“…The study indicates that senior leaders in research libraries had titles "moving away from head and assistant titles to associate and director titles" and that titles begin to include "descriptive language such as digital content, collections, learning, instruction, and user services, rather than the more generic 'public services' or 'technical services' that were used more frequently as recently as five years ago." 22 Because the defining feature of organizational models in research libraries is often the role of the senior leadership level directly supporting the director, this group is the focus of the first half of the current study.…”

“…Among these departments who are named for this function, 18 have multiple positions dedicated to scholarly communications activities, 11 have only one individual within the department, five have additional members of the department, but these other members are not focused on scholarly communications, and for three the composition of the department was not determined. As for the other positions in the department with the scholarly communications position, the two most common words in position titles are "digital" (22) and "data" (20). The positions within these departments were coded for a more precise assessment of the kind of work being done (see Appendix 2 for sample of coding scheme).…”

Feminists at Work: Organizational Leadership in Academic Libraries

“…Academic libraries' organizational structures tend to be very hierarchical, mirroring the structures of their parent institutions (DeLong, Garrison, & Ryan, 2012;Kaarst-Brown, Nicholson, von Dran, & Stanton, 2004). These organizational structures include top-down, centralized decision making, where senior administrators are primarily concerned with strategic direction and coordination and allocation of resources (Alfred & Rosevear, 2000).…”

The Future of Academic Libraries: Conversations with Today’s Leaders about Tomorrow

“…6 Study of organizational structures of ARL libraries shows little change other than position titles with most library organizations remaining centralized hierarchies. 7 A traditional hierarchy does not respond quickly to change nor encourage participation in decision-making by all staff. 8 Change in academic libraries has traditionally involved incremental steps, much in the same way as the university itself.…”