Abstract
The future of technical services presents a dizzying array of challenges and opportunities. From shared print initiatives and inter-institutional cooperative cataloging to rapidly evolving technologies and the changing face of technical services professionals and staff, leadership in technical services increasingly requires an ability to perform a multitude of balancing acts. Successful management must involve an in-depth understanding of the needs of patrons, the flexibility to recognize when traditional technical services functions have outlived their usefulness, and a willingness to try new things that may fail. This article draws on experiences, both successful and not, from a large academic research library to provide useful insight for leaders at other institutions.
Highlights
Ongoing budget constraints, evolving public services, rapidly changing technologies and high user expectations all have a significant impact on technical services in libraries
In order to succeed in the face of a multitude of simultaneous challenges it is more important than ever for technical services to have true leaders who are forward-thinking and able to move beyond managing the day to day to creating a vision of the future
Whether an institution is investigating consortial collection development, outsourcing of cataloging, implementing a new discovery or integrated library system, or re-envisioning existing services, many of the characteristics and skills needed for successful leadership remain the same
Summary
Ongoing budget constraints, evolving public services, rapidly changing technologies and high user expectations all have a significant impact on technical services in libraries. Whether an institution is investigating consortial collection development, outsourcing of cataloging, implementing a new discovery or integrated library system, or re-envisioning existing services, many of the characteristics and skills needed for successful leadership remain the same. Instead there is perhaps a new, greater understanding developing that all aspects of library work require excellent communication and personal skills, intellectual curiosity and a willingness to help inform the profession, and the ability to be flexible in pursuit of changing goals. Far from the clichéd back room operation where rows of catalogers employed clerical skills to update the card catalog, operations that in truth were probably never as siloed as perceived, technical services operations today rely on leaders who can articulate an in-depth understanding of technical services as core to the success of all library endeavors, both to the administration and all levels of staff
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