The purpose of this article is to provide tips on managing successful transition of financial control through thoughtful teaching about existing practices. Budgetary transfer…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to provide tips on managing successful transition of financial control through thoughtful teaching about existing practices. Budgetary transfer during times of transition can be a particularly stressful experience for both seasoned and emerging library leaders.
Design/methodology/approach
Explaining the concept of institutional memory, and providing insight on how personality affects fiscal discernment, this article draws on experiences of the author and the literature to provide timely insight on the practicality of successful financial control transfer.
Findings
Personalities matter in the grooming and selection of good financial stewards. Ignoring personality in favor of an abilities-only approach to budgetary management can result in surprisingly negative results. Screening for both ability and attitude results in a winning combination toward transitional success.
Originality/value
Accounting and financial skill are the default concern of many budget managers. Coupling these skills with the values of hiring for mission, positive attitude and patience will be a welcome addition to literature on the subject of budget control transfer as readers reflect on past experience. This concept may also be a new perspective for many, as they experience the realities of institutional transition’s effects on budget control.
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The purpose of this paper is to expose the multiplicity of landscapes involved with making and communicating strategic financial decisions for libraries.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to expose the multiplicity of landscapes involved with making and communicating strategic financial decisions for libraries.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents a general review.
Findings
Library leaders must always focus on at least two distinct landscapes by which all financial matters may be approached and communicated.
Originality/value
This paper works to bring readers toward the assumption that all financial matters require a minimal two‐pronged approach toward landscapes that are commonly presented to be singular in nature.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore the viewpoint that college students serve the same function as customers purchasing products from corporations.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the viewpoint that college students serve the same function as customers purchasing products from corporations.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper gives comparisons and differences between the process of students learning through higher education and the process of customers buying a consumer good.
Findings
This paper recommends that while similarities exist between students and consumers, a more robust view should be maintained and communicated as a means of preserving the true nature of the academic enterprise above and beyond simple consumer activity.
Originality/value
This paper presents a clear acknowledgment that while all students consume knowledge, they are also all held to the expectation to return new knowledge. This reciprocity is not part of the ordinary consumer interchange.
The purpose of this paper is to reveal particular unique aspects of librarian pay, retention and hiring issues as a means of advocacy for managers searching for new ways to tackle…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to reveal particular unique aspects of librarian pay, retention and hiring issues as a means of advocacy for managers searching for new ways to tackle this function of their work.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper gives specific salary negotiation suggestions, and also provides strategic team building concerns on which future planning may be made.
Findings
It is found that salary information is shared much more often between librarians at other institutions and this sharing leads to many negative and positive effects for future pay structures within organizations.
Originality/value
The paper is original in the sense that it is written for librarians and non‐librarians alike. It presents the issue with candor as a means of sparking fruitful conversation aimed at stabilizing and increasing librarian pay through joint understanding of the issue.
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This paper aims to explain how library managers can better prepare and plan for the future institutional structural costs related to the management of seemingly limitless…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explain how library managers can better prepare and plan for the future institutional structural costs related to the management of seemingly limitless streaming video content.
Design/methodology/approach
Different strategies are provided as antidotes to the problem of information technology (IT) managers being given the default responsibility of managing internet video because of their current management of internet services within organizations.
Findings
The paper finds that the mindset that streaming video is simply another information source to be added to the library's already rich set of offerings is preferred over the assumption that since IT manages internet services it should also manage video being streamed over the web to researchers.
Originality/value
This paper reviews the situation of streaming video as a unique problem because of the popularity of sound and movement over the printed word. It provides four distinct managerial options for cost control and containment in terms of staffing and striving for political clout in this quickly‐growing area of information services.
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Budgetary and activity‐based data examination and analysis are core to planning for all organizations. This paper seeks to explore aspects of budgetary financial data and activity…
Abstract
Purpose
Budgetary and activity‐based data examination and analysis are core to planning for all organizations. This paper seeks to explore aspects of budgetary financial data and activity data focusing on how each is presented separately and in tandem for more productive decision making.
Design/methodology/approach
Correlations between how data are typically presented versus how they may possibly be presented serve as the basis for a discussion on advantages to a more journalistic and visual approach to looking at numerical analysis.
Findings
Using numbers to tell a story is the preferred method to inspire positive action when both presenting and beginning any and all discussions about budgetary and activity data. Library leaders wishing positive outcomes to stem from their data are advised to spend more time making data appealing in form for presentation to a variety of audiences.
Originality/value
Financial and outcomes measures data analysis is growing in popularity as a means for making data‐driven decisions. Many leaders, however, continue to show numbers in standardized tabular form to all of their stakeholders. This method of presentation attempting to encourage others to enjoy and respect data analysis is not preferred to a more dynamic and visual adoption of data styling. It is argued that attractive presentation of data makes data analysis more attractive, and therefore, more likely to occur.
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The purpose of this paper is to clarify employee financial prowess at every level as a key to good library management beyond the responsibilities of directors.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to clarify employee financial prowess at every level as a key to good library management beyond the responsibilities of directors.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents a general review.
Findings
The paper finds that all employees of a library must possess and exemplify a general sense of fiscal savvy.
Research limitations/implications
This paper has implications for non‐library directors thinking about their role involving their library's finances.
Practical implications
Library leaders are looking for motivational strategies to expand beyond their own financial networking prowess.
Originality/value
The paper goes against the prototypical assumption that library managers are the only staff members who need to possess financial strategic skill.
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The purpose of this paper is to describe a case at the University of St Francis (USF), where common fears and, in some cases, harsh realities of library budget reductions can be…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe a case at the University of St Francis (USF), where common fears and, in some cases, harsh realities of library budget reductions can be strategically allayed or altogether avoided through creativity, changes in motivation and implementation of redesigns in organizational work flows and tasks.
Design/methodology/approach
The USF Library shifted focus away from a reactionary stance against pending budget cuts toward a proactive strategy in order to circumvent anticipated reductions in funding for library operations and staff.
Findings
Changes in attitudinal and service posturing created an environment that allowed the USF to show itself as a more essential function of its university as a whole. The changes suggested in this paper add more workload to USF existing library functions, but also add more interested stakeholders.
Originality/value
This paper offers insight and direction to practitioners looking to investigate the feasibility of selectively increasing workload in order to increase overall value to their institutions, resulting in budget security during harsh economic times.
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This paper seeks to challenge library leaders to consider different ways of facilitating the interviewing and questioning of candidates during hiring searches with an overall…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to challenge library leaders to consider different ways of facilitating the interviewing and questioning of candidates during hiring searches with an overall focus on containing the costs related to time and staff effort.
Design/methodology/approach
Various aspects of current hiring and interviewing facilitation methodologies are reviewed and critiqued as a way of generating critical thinking about the standard view of best practices in this arena.
Findings
Contrarian positions to prevailing practice in the writing of questions and interview facilitation are shown to have significant time and cost savings, if political costs can be mediated effectively through the hiring of consistently top‐performing candidates.
Originality/value
The paper examines common assumptions regarding who should organize and lead the interview process, and how the process impacts candidates. It encourages library leaders to self‐examine their own role within the process while also searching for ways to enable others to take ownership as a means of good delegation and professional growth.
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The purpose of this paper is to explicate the universal theme of teamwork within organizations as a performance factor toward effective and efficient library cost savings and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explicate the universal theme of teamwork within organizations as a performance factor toward effective and efficient library cost savings and long‐term group success.
Design/methodology/approach
Focusing on lessons from the past, along with current research and experience, library managers can gain insight into tried and true actions increasing the potential for team success essential for smooth operations.
Findings
A multitude of elements contribute to effective team management. The cultivation of creativity, the resolution and anticipation of conflict, the blending of physical and virtual interaction and a focus on external environments are key.
Originality/value
This paper provides a comparison of current team dynamics with those of the past to show that merely the context of good team management has changed while the core goal of library team management has remained.