Hard Times in Technical Services: How Do Academic Libraries Manage? A Survey

Abstract

ABSTRACT The new century has seen particularly difficult economic circumstances for many libraries. While academic libraries in public colleges and universities may not be cut directly by government funding agencies, they are still vulnerable to budget shortfalls affecting their parent institutions. Due to the need to keep public services areas fully staffed, technical services departments may be especially hard hit by financial constraints as positions go unfilled or are shifted to other areas. A survey was sent to technical services managers at selected public universities in the Southeast to determine the impact of hard times on their staffing and operations. Over 60 percent of the respondents had lost technical services positions, with cataloging being particularly affected. Departmental reorganization and shifting of work from professional to paraprofessional positions were the predominant ways of dealing with the losses.