View of Organizational Structure Around Web-Scale Discovery Services
Article Abstract
This study analyzed how Canadian post-secondary libraries manage and administer their web-scale discovery service. Through a combination of survey responses and semi-structured interviews, the author investigated how Canadian academic libraries support their web-scale discovery service from an organizational structure perspective. Academic libraries can manage their discovery service from a technical services unit, a library systems or a web services department, or by a committee. However, there is consensus that a discovery service requires collaboration among many functional areas. Discovery service leaders often have organizational awareness to break down the silos between traditional library functions to perform the various duties related to managing and administering their web-scale discovery service. Individuals responsible for their discovery service work collaboratively with staff in many different areas and often have a strong user-centred focus.
Research Questions
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how Canadian academic libraries manage and maintain their chosen web-scale discovery service. Research questions include:
- When an academic library adopts a web-scale discovery service, which functional unit in the library is primarily responsible for the discovery service?
- Are the responsibilities related to managing the discovery service centralized or distributed?
- Do Canadian academic libraries assign a single person to provide oversight to the discovery service or is the service managed by a team or a formal committee?
- What are the common skills and competencies of the library staff that maintain and support the web-scale discovery service and its associated life cycle?
From the Article's Conclusion
As evidenced by the interviews and the survey results, library organizational structures around web-scale discovery services are varied in the survey and interview participant institutions. Academic libraries can manage their discovery service from a technical services unit, a library systems or a web services department, or a committee. However, there is consensus that a discovery service requires collaboration and cooperation among many functional areas. Discovery service leaders need to have organizational awareness to break down the silos between traditional library functions to perform the various duties related to managing and administering their web-scale discovery service. These discovery service leaders work collaboratively both within their functional home areas as well as across their library. A strong user-centred focus was a recurring theme even though none of the interview participants identified public services as a functional home department.