Liaison librarian tiers: levels of service

Abstract

The University of Florida's Health Science Center Libraries (HSCL) serve more than 12,000 faculty, students, staff, and administrators distributed among 6 colleges (dentistry, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, public health and health professions, and veterinary medicine) as well as associated centers and institutes (i.e., the Institute on Aging and the University of Florida Shands Cancer Center). Clients from other campus colleges such as liberal arts and sciences and agricultural and life sciences are patrons as well. The original library liaison program began at the Gainesville campus in the spring of 1999 as an outcome of strategic planning. Developed by a work group appointed in January 1998, this program was based on fifty-two potential liaison activities in seven focal areas and aimed to increase communication with clients and to customize services [1]. To increase their effectiveness, liaison librarians would focus on the subject matter of a limited number of disciplines, and clients would have one contact person with whom they could form a more personalized relationship [2]. Liaison librarians volunteered for, or were assigned to, specific colleges or departments based on their knowledge, skills, and interests. Each served as a “personal” librarian to local and distance education clients with activities tied to the seven focal areas. Individual librarians were assigned to the smaller University of Florida Health Science Center (HSC) Colleges of Nursing, Dentistry, Pharmacy, and Veterinary Medicine. The other librarians served departments in the two larger or more diverse colleges: medicine and public health and health professions. Ongoing program evaluations to address issues and challenges were planned. By 2001, 9 liaison librarian positions were funded by the HSCL and 2 were financed by other HSC units (the college of nursing and the Genetics Institute). The 9 library-funded individuals served as liaison librarians at least part-time. While the 2 unit-funded liaison librarians performed the same liaison duties as the other librarians, they provided additional services requested by their units. In 2003/04, a formal evaluation of the HSCL liaison librarian program was undertaken with 2 surveys, one for patrons and the other for liaison librarians, which provided information on the use and perceptions of the program's services and related issues. Further information was solicited from liaison librarians in 2 follow-up emails. Of the total 323 faculty and students who participated, 85.4% supported continuing the liaison librarian program [3]. However, the liaison librarian survey revealed some perceived barriers to the effective execution of liaison activities. In particular, the librarians expressed a need for a more structured approach to the program, more clearly defined expectations for their performance, and a formalized plan for training [4,5]. Additional challenges arose to compound these issues. In the following months, two librarians retired, another took a year-long sabbatical, one left for a six-month maternity leave sooner than planned and eventually took a position elsewhere, and a fifth librarian took an unexpected, extended medical leave. As a result, in October of 2005, liaison librarians met to discuss the evolution of the liaison librarian program, reassignment of liaison librarians to departments and colleges as staffing changes occurred, and issues that were identified in the evaluations of the liaison librarian program. This meeting resulted in the codified, levels-of-service document shown in Table 1. Table 1 Liaison librarian levels of service The document categorizes possible services into a graduated list of those duties that liaison librarians are expected to perform: basic services that can be offered based on patrons' needs and willingness to participate, elective services based on client requirements and librarians' time constraints, and an outline of possible activities that may be performed only by unit-funded liaison librarians. It can serve a number of purposes including aiding liaison librarians when they set priorities, affording official sanction when deciding to accept or decline a client request, reminding library administrators that they should consult with liaison librarians before embracing new client initiatives, and assisting in the planning process when services need to be suspended during staffing or budgeting fluctuations. During the creation process, some liaison librarians expressed concern about inequality in the services provided to some academic units covered by library-funded liaison librarians. All liaison librarians finally agreed that use of the tiers document would address this issue.