Good planning is vitally important to the life of an organization. What model of planning would help theological libraries? We are embedded in the field of theological education, which is experiencing a great amount of change. Our greatest commodity, information, is growing exponentially as technology and access develop at a rapid pace. Strategic planning processes, while extremely popular, yield static plans that stay in place for a specified time period. With this model of planning, there is a risk that it becomes outdated and obsolete before its expiration date. Is there a better way?
Integrated library planning begins with a strategic planning process; but once set in motion, it becomes a dynamic, living plan. The planning model presented in this session is an adaptation of integrated business planning models that have surfaced in corporate industries over the past decade. First implemented in a small theological library, this model is adaptable and scalable for theological and academic libraries of any size. The presentation will include suggestions for implementation and examples from its use at Schaff Library, Lancaster Theological Seminary.
When the Franciscan School of Theology (FST) relocated the school to Oceanside, CA, the American Academy of Franciscan History (AAFH) and two containers of books that belonged to the organization relocated as well. Over the next two summers the librarian organized and managed an inventory project to weed these 13,000 books. The goal was to catalog and integrate retainable material into the new FST Library. During the inventorying we came across several boxes of extremely rare ephemeral material from South America, originally collected and bound by Antonine Tibesar, long-time director of the AAFH. Ultimately, the librarian and the AAFH agreed that these roughly 600 objects should be preserved digitally and made available to potential users.
This presentation will discuss this digitization project from inventory to access. It will cover the finer points of the inventory process and procedure, the history and condition of the material that was recovered from the containers, how and why we digitized it, how we acquired grant funding for the project, and how we plan to make the digitized collection accessible.
This session will demonstrate how Research Services is different from traditional reference services and the benefits that this change has brought. The change is in its first year of existence and the findings are fresh and "hot off of the press." Attendees will learn the benefits of having at least two professional research librarians and of having limited, yet dedicated, scheduled hours for patron interaction as well as small scheduled workshops
