Results of digital services questions. THANKS!

[Sara Tompson]

Dear colleagues:

Below is an analysis of the responses my colleague Elizabeth Eastwood
and I received in response to our queries about how digital services
are impacting the provision of other services, and general operations.

THANK YOU for all of your thoughtful responses!

**Please note that this data in being incorporated in part
(anonymously, no respondents quoted directly) into our "Digital
Libraries" chapter, contracted for the 8th edition of the ASLIB
_Handbook of Special Librarianship and Information Work_, so it should
not be extracted without our permission, and preferably not until we
can give you a citation.

Thank you!!

Sara
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Employer information listed for identification only.
My views are my own.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sara Tompson, M.S.
Library Administrator
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
PO Box 500, MS 109
Batavia, IL 60510 USA
630/840-6014    sarat at fnal.gov
http://www-lib.fnal.gov/library/sara.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Impact of Digital Library Services on Other Services: Results of
an Informal Survey
by Elizabeth J. Eastwood and Sara R. Tompson

There is not much in the literature about how implementing digital
library services, to any degree, affects other areas of library
service (as validated by several respondents).  Accordingly, we
queried colleagues on this topic via a set of questions posted to six
(6) e-mail discussion lists:
* DigLibn
* e-collections
* lis-elib
* lis-medical
* MEDLIB-l
* SLA-Illinois
* Web4Lib
The lists were chosen for both their diverse originations (some are
UK-based, some USA-based; all have participants from all over the
globe) and for the likelihood that the list members worked in special
libraries with a hybrid of print and digital resources.

A total of 89 responses were received. Note that not all respondents
answered all questions, and many chose more than one answer,
especially for the areas question, where this was expected.

Did the acquisition and provision of digital resources affect
acquisition and provision of your other resources and services?
_Yes, a great deal. – 29 responses
_Yes, somewhat. -- 52
_No, not at all. -- 7
General comments:

In what areas (check all that are relevant) did the acquisition and
provision of digital resources affect your library operation?
_Funding/Budgeting -- 79
_Staff time available -- 67
_Staff training focus -- 76
_User contact time -- 60
_Other Please note: – 28 – folded in to comments

Any additional comments? – discussed below

The majority of the respondents (~58% ) found that acquisition and
provision of digital resources within their libraries or information
centres had somewhat of an impact on their acquisition and provision
of traditional, print resources.  The greatest impact was felt in the
area of funding and budgeting (~88%), followed closely by staff
training focus (~85%).  Respondents interpreted this point in one of
two ways, or sometimes both:  training required for staff to be able
to use, and to help others to use, digital resources, and/or the
larger training responsibility required of library staff with the
implementation of digital resources.

About 75% of the respondents reported that staff time available had
changed with the addition of digital resources.  Most often the
comments indicated that staff responsibilities have changed and/or
been increased.

About 67% of the respondents noted that user contact time had changed
with the addition of digital resources.  Most often, as indicated in
the comments, staff was spending MORE time with users than before.

The complete set of comments to the survey is available by request to
the authors.  Following is an analysis of the comments.  The majority
of the comments did not shed any new light on the ways in which
acquisition and delivery of digital library services is affecting
traditional, print resources, but the responses did further support
all of the issues covered in recent literature, from pricing to
changing staff responsibilities to the greater-than-ever need for
human facilitators in special libraries and information centres.

For many of the respondents, digital resources were replacing print
resources -- either electronic counterparts, or similar resources,
were being purchased online (mostly) or on CD-ROM (a trend that seems
to be fading) and the print version was being dropped.  This was most
often due to budget constraints; some respondents explicitly noted
they would like to keep both print and electronic, but could not
afford to do so.

New sources of funding are being used, or sought, by many librarians
providing both print and electronic resources.  Some of the large
digital library initiatives on both sides of the Atlantic have
afforded libraries access to more digital resources than they could
normally have purchased with their budgets – most initiatives include
special pricing and/or outright grants.

Many respondents noted that their parent organisations are not
funding, or able to fund, all the digital resources they and their
users would like.  So they are turning toward initiatives, grants, and
alternative funding resources, often successfully.  However there is
concern that the organisations must recognize and properly fund this
need if hybrid, let alone digital, libraries are to thrive.

Most of the respondents who added comments noted the cost of digital
resources as being much more per item than most print resources.  Some
also noted that two hallmarks of digital resources, the quick
turnaround, and direct end-user access, were so appreciated by users
that the costs were worth it.

Many of those who commented noted that the acquisition of print
resources had slowed (to the dismay of some) with the acquisition of
digital resources.  Many libraries are cutting book budgets in
particular to pay for digital resources.  Some saw this as an
inevitable and acceptable trend, some were unhappy about it.

Several noted that circulation of print materials was declining.  (The
authors have found this to be true in their libraries as well.)

A number of respondents noted that they and/or their staff are now
training users more than ever.  As many authors in the information
science literature have noted, trainer is a new niche for special
librarians, expanded by the use of digital resources.  Training users
requires training of staff, first.  Some respondents explicitly noted
that staff seems to enjoy this role.

Another changing role for special librarians and information
professionals with the addition of digital resources is that of
detailed research.  Digital resources often provide direct access to
end-users, so they are doing much of their initial research
themselves.  However, they come to library staff with very difficult
research questions, that take more time to answer.  This can be an
enjoyable challenge, as some noted, but it does require deeper
training of staff.  Also, in-depth knowledge of the topic matter can
be a big plus; acquiring this could involve extra coursework.

A number of those who commented noted that digital resources have
created totally new roles in libraries and information centres, the
two most mentioned being web master and electronic licensor.

Many respondents noted that they and their staff spend a great deal of
time troubleshooting equipment problems – especially problems with
printers, but also workstation and network issues.  This hardware
focus is rather new for the library profession.

Librarians commented that they are pleased to be able to offer
resources to users’ desktops, and especially to remote users in other
parts of the organisation, and even the world.  This service is
welcomed by users.  It does however create challenges for library
staff, helping people that they do not see face to face.  This is an
area where training and promotional materials are consequently very
important, as several noted.

Most commentors noted that their users delight in digital resources,
especially the desktop access and the fast turnaround, true both when
they and when library staff are using the digital resource.  One
person did note that perhaps librarians are more enamored of digital
resources than users are, but this was definitely a minority opinion.

One interesting trend noted in two comments was that users were
requesting more interlibrary loans than ever before, as they were
aware of other organisation’s holdings thanks to some digital
resources and catalogues.

Several respondents noted the plus of space saving, shelf room gained
by utilizing digital resources rather than print.

Some of the trends less mentioned in the literature, but noted by our
respondents, are listed below.  These relate to newer trends in
digital resources.
* Privatisation of library funding and/or services, even when the
library is part of a public institution
* New ways of doing business – new models for provision of service,
especially collaborative approaches with other organisations
* The advent of one huge digital library for the planet (a concept
that was more frequently mentioned in digital library literature
earlier in the 1990’s).
* Librarians not being the sole decision-makers about library
resources – other departments are funding and have input, other
organisations are often involved, especially in consortia, and users
themselves, especially faculty in higher education settings.