SCONUL and staffing in Higher Education libraries and information services

Margaret M Coutts, Librarian, University of Kent at Canterbury (email: m.m.coutts@ukc.ac.uk)

This article was published in SCONUL newletter no. 14, Summer/Autumn 1998. It is an updated version of one which was first published in Librarian Career Development (vol.5, no.4, 1997),.

SCONUL has several Advisory Committees to monitor and advance work in key areas of professional concern. The Advisory Committee on Staffing (ACoS) provides the forum for matters relating to staff management, training and development at all levels in university and national libraries. It is a wide remit. It covers advising on and promoting good practice and innovation in the management, training and development of staff; monitoring all staff policy matters, including staffing structures and recruitment, reward, appraisal and development schemes; and collaborating with national bodies involved in staff management and development.

Recently in ACoS we have concentrated much of our effort on contributing directly to the training and development of staff at different levels and stages of their careers. Our aim is to facilitate progress in relation to current needs and changes in our sector. Convergence of library, computing and related services; the need for up-to-date management skills; the reskilling of staff in their existing posts; and the ever-increasing demands of electronic information provision have all influenced our recent programmes.

Management skills

In recent years there has been much emphasis in the profession on training for management roles. Numerous events have been organised by established organisations, consortia and special interest groups. They have both introduced participants to the skills required to run our services, and explored ways of ensuring ongoing training for existing and new practitioners.

As longer-term needs have emerged from this, SCONUL, through ACoS, has become increasingly involved in planning and supporting further activity. One major result of this is the programme Managing for Success, a customised course in strategic management for senior managers in library and information services. It was first devised and monitored by representatives of ACoS, UCoSDA and the Aston Business School, whose staff delivered the teaching. Over ten days, the fifteen to twenty participants were taken through an intensive introduction to the processes of strategic management and the senior manager's role. The teaching was firmly based on independent management theory and practice, with the content and detail tailored to the context of higher education library and information services.

The course has been held twice and feedback from participants has been very positive and constructive. It is clear that the need for good quality training in this area is not diminishing. ACoS are committed to promoting timely delivery for existing and future top-level managers. The course has now been fully reviewed by ACoS to refine it and ensure that it continues to be well focused and relevant to current needs. UCISA have also been consulted, and we intend to make the course part of a suite of management programmes promoted jointly by SCONUL and UCISA. Plans are now in hand to run Managing for Success in 1999, possibly under a new title. It will consist of two blocks of four and three days respectively. This is a direct response to the evaluations from the previous courses, and also allows the costs to be kept down. While the content will draw on that of the previous events, there will be a closer focus still on higher education and on specific library and computing issues. In revising the course, our aim is to offer a positive and constructive response to the calls in the Dearing Report for up-to-date management training (National Committee of Enquiry into Higher Education, 1997). However, the course can run only if the required number of participants is achieved. It is important, therefore, that the membership's declared support for the programme is translated into active participation. Publicity for the course will be circulated in the coming weeks.

Another course, which is run twice a year, is Introduction to Management for Staff in Computing, Library and Information Service Departments. This is a three-day event organised by UCoSDA, ACoS, and UCISA. It is intended to give training in the fundamental skills required when moving into management from other posts. It addresses in particular the demands of converged services and it has been welcomed by staff in those areas as they adjust to their changed roles in the new services. It covers the first principles of staff management in particular, from the legal aspects of employment practice through to the handling of staff in groups and as individuals. Evaluations have been very positive, and the course is expected to be run regularly for some time.

The latest addition to the Committee's management training is Making Management Work. This course is intended as an intermediate stage, allowing practising middle managers to consolidate their existing skills and extend their training to management techniques which may not yet have arisen in their current posts. Content includes analysis of the institutional context; management styles; management of change; project management; working with budgets; negotiation skills; and strategic management. This course is also being run by UCoSDA in association with SCONUL and UCISA, and is being held in two blocks over the Summer of 1998, with evaluation and review to inform future planning.

Role of the Deputies

As new heads of service explored their responsibilities some years ago, it was widely recognised that the crucial role of the deputies also brought its own demands and development needs. Events were required which focused specifically on the context, functions and responsibilities of these posts. As a result, two groups of deputies have met annually since the early nineties. One works with a structured conference-style programme, where papers and presentations by external speakers, including service heads, examine issues relating to current policies or skills development. The other emphasises exchange of experience through detailed discussion sessions, triggered by brief introductions from one or two participants on topics of current concern. Both groups have received strong support from those taking part, who have found them a valuable means of developing their management skills and their wider understanding of policy issues. The meetings have also created strong networks for sharing ideas and experience throughout the working year.

Role of Training Officers

Staff training is probably one of the widest ranging responsibilities in a library or information service. It is all-pervasive, requiring identification of the needs of staff at every level of the organisation, and matching of these needs to the extensive range of methods available to trainers. SCONUL's annual meeting Training Together is a forum for training officers to explore the implications of the latest professional developments, and to share experience about effective delivery of appropriate training. The sixth meeting, held earlier this year, updated participants on skills for the electronic environment. This built on coverage of past meetings, which has included the eLib staff training projects and the value of services offered by specialist training providers. A fuller account of the meeting may be found in Matthew Sparks' article in the last Newsletter (Sparks, 1998)

All the activities described so far focus on areas of continuing concern to our members, and they are repeated as frequently as they are required. They are supplemented by individual events on topical issues as needs are identified. These can touch on any aspect of staffing or training needs. When the Follett and Fielden Reports came out (Joint Funding Councils Libraries Review Group, 1993 and John Fielden Consultancy, 1993), a number of briefing meetings and workshops were organised to examine their proposals and inform consequent action and decisions. New approaches to staff structures were explored thoroughly in an intensive two-day meeting in 1996, and earlier this year the implications of trends towards service level agreements and devolved budgeting were examined in a one day seminar. Future events may include fuller discussion of course costing and related matters. ACoS is constantly monitoring wider developments and suggestions from SCONUL members, and keeps the programme of events sufficiently flexible to permit timely incorporation of new topics.

SCONUL Award

This annual award allows SCONUL to offer direct financial support to practising professionals. Up to five hundred pounds is available, on a competitive basis, to support a project which will contribute to an individual's career development and benefit university librarianship through the promotion of good practice and innovative thinking. SCONUL is keen to receive applications, encouraged by the breadth of ideas presented in previous submissions and by the potential of the current climate for initiative and innovation. Recent awards illustrate the variety possible. Projects have included induction and early training of new library assistants and shelvers; testing the applicability of SCONUL performance indicators in a Hungarian college library; creating training materials for use of electronic networking by law librarians and information workers; the requirements for collections on teaching practice collections in the UK; and the needs of distance learners. On completion, reports are submitted to the Committee, for publication in the SCONUL Newsletter.

External liaison

ACoS is one of several groups influencing staff training and development in our sector, and our resources are best used by collaborating with other organisations to maximise everyone's investment. As has been indicated already, we have worked closely with UCoSDA, UCISA and the Aston Business School to deliver many recent programmes. We also have active links with the British Library, the Library Association, the Fulbright Foundation, BAILER, JISC, HCLRG, the ILS-Lead Body, CURL, SEDA, LISTEN, Netskills, COLRIC and others. Opportunities are regularly explored to share our work and draw in the huge expertise represented by this network, both to deliver training and to consult on policy matters of concern to information professionals in higher education.

Policy matters

Whilst concentrating on training and development opportunities for our members, ACoS also monitors sectoral policy developments as they affect staffing matters. For example, we have discussed with BAILER our ideas on the educational requirements for new information professionals in higher education, and our concerns about reductions in the number of state bursaries available for students in LIS departments. Not surprisingly, the implications of the Dearing Report have occupied much of our thinking this year. In particular, we have considered the level and type of involvement for librarians and information specialists in the teaching courses to be accredited by ILTHE. First lobbying of the Institute by SCONUL has been productive, and has contributed to the Institute's acceptance of the need to train a wide range of university staff beyond the lecturers themselves. We must now encourage ILTHE to include in their policy the inclusion of library and information staff as both participants and trainers in their accredited courses. Recent surveys of the membership about current experience of such courses will inform further discussions and input, as will our now well established and constructive liaison with SEDA.

Publications

As well as publishing news and articles in the SCONUL Newsletter, the Committee also generates occasional publications, the most recent being a set of Working Papers on staffing structures (SCONUL, 1996). Copies are available from the SCONUL Office in London.

Representing the members

Prior to the merger of COPOL and the 'old' SCONUL, both organisations had longstanding and active staff training committees. ACoS is their successor and has inherited an honourable and respected track record of instigating practical measures to develop professionals who can perform their duties to the highest standard. The current Committee is very aware of their responsibility to serve SCONUL members by supporting their training and developments needs and by representing their views on staffing matters both within SCONUL and in the wider professional field. Direct input and feedback from SCONUL members is encouraged as essential to ensure the right initiatives at the right time.

References

John Fielden Consultancy (1993) Supporting expansion: a report on human resource management in academic libraries for the Joint Funding Councils' Libraries Review Group. [Bristol]: [HEFCE]

Joint Funding Councils' Libraries Review group (1993) Report, (Follett Report). [Bristol]: [HEFCE]

National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education (1997). Higher Education in the learning society: report of the National Committee, (Dearing Report). [London]:[HMSO]

SCONUL (1996) Staffing structures. (SCONUL Working Papers). [London], SCONUL

SCONUL Newsletter. London: SCONUL (Published three times per year)

Sparks, M. (1998) "Skills for a digital future", SCONUL Newsletter, No. 13, pp 34-35

Glossary

BAILER: British Association for Information and Library Education and Research

COLRIC: Council of Learning Resources in Colleges

COPOL: Council of Polytechnic Librarians

CURL: Consortium of University and Research Libraries

HCLRG: HEFC Colleges Learning Resources Group

ILTHE: Institute for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

JISC: Joint Information Services Committee

LIS: Library and Information Studies

LISTEN: Library and Information Studies Training and Education Network

SEDA: Staff and Educational Development Association

UCISA: Universities and Colleges Information Systems Association

UCoSDA: Universities and Colleges' Staff Development Agency