The Benefits of Cross-

Institutional Collaboration Maria Rogers, DBS and Keith Brittle, NCI

DBS Annual Library Seminar

13 June 2014

Collaboration

Coordination

Cooperation

What is

Collaboration?

(Gadja, 2004 cited in Kaufman, 2012; Shepard, 2004)

A collaborative relationship…

shared commitment

clearly articulated goals, roles & responsibilities

workload balance

leadership – fair & equitably distributed

accountability

shared “resources and rewards”

open communication

(Shepard, 2004)

Selection & Benefits of Collaborations

Networking is the first step

building relationships

identifying common goals / specific areas of expertise

Meaningful collaborations take “time and energy, and money to establish

and sustain…” (Kaufman, 2012, p. 57).

Why bother?

“Benefits are not only economic; they are also related to the

information, education, cultural and social needs of the clientele.”

(Shepard, 2004) – University of Waterloo, Canada

“To make big improvements in productivity and customer service,

people in an organization must collaborate across corporate hierarchies,

functions, companies, and geographies” (Power, 2011).

Collaboration in

Higher Education

“Academic development has a history of meaningful, intentional collaboration and partnerships that reflect the values of the academic community.”

(O‟Farrell, 2014, pp. 244-245)

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International and National Networks & Projects

International ◦ International Consortium for Education Development (IECD)

◦ European Consortium of Innovative Universities (ECIU)

Ireland ◦ HEA 2013 Report on „system reconfiguration, inter-institutional

collaboration and system governance’

◦ All Ireland Society for Higher Education (AISHE) - society member

of IECD

◦ Educational Developers in Ireland Network (EDIN)

◦ National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning

◦ TCD-UCD Innovation Alliance

◦ RIAN

Collaboration in Academic Libraries

Long tradition ◦ ILLs

◦ shared catalogues / catalogue records

◦ “consortia to leverage negotiating power”

◦ shared storage

◦ active participants and proponents of the open-access movement

◦ advocacy

◦ training and CPD

Dedicated Journal: Collaborative Librarianship http://www.collaborativelibrarianship.org/

“…the ways in which libraries work together must deepen, and the partners with whom they choose to work must broaden. Libraries and their partners must get cozier than they have ever been before.”

(Kaufman, 2012, p. 54)

Collaborative Initiatives & Networks

Copac

Collaboration in the Private College

Sector: from competitors to collaborators

Perceived Barriers to Collaboration

◦ Smaller scale

◦ No access to public funding

◦ Traditionally seen as competitors

Changes within in HE / Private Colleges

• Primarily QQI Accredited Programmes

• Private colleges now have access to public funds via Springboard and Momentum programmes

“Nearly 40% of Springboard provision and 25% of ICT conversion places are in private colleges.” (HEA, 2014, p. 85)

“The potential for developing the role of private providers, both through the allocation of public funding to private and public institutions alike and through their increasing competitiveness as student contributions in public institutions increase” – in maintaining and advancing diversity in the HE sector in Ireland. (HEA, 2014, p. 80)

Higher Education Colleges

Association Ireland (HECA)

◦ Formed in 1991.

◦ HECA members must currently deliver a Level 7 (upwards)

degree suitably aligned with the Irish National Framework of

Qualifications.

◦ Central voice for Private Colleges on a national level.

◦ Members include:

DBS

Griffith College

Hibernia College

IBAT

Institute of Physical Therapy & Applied Sciences

New Opportunities for DBS Library

Networking

◦ HECA, LAI, CILIP, NPD, etc.

„Open Source‟ software implementation

◦ Loughborough University: LORLS

Staff Exchange / Site Visits

◦ NCI

Annual DBS Library Seminar

Research & publishing opportunities?

DBS Library – innovations & aspirations Lone Rangers

RFID

Koha

Institutional Repository

Embedding IL

Collaborations

Reading List software

eSubmissions?

Staff Development / CPD?

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Alone we can do so little;

together we can do so much. - Helen Keller

http://www.therural.co.nz/country-living/win-the-original-lone-ranger-seasons-1-2

Why DBS & NCI?

Similarities

- student population numbers

- wide demographic of learners

- course delivery, holdings

- evolution

- programme development

- location

- subject areas

Beginnings & Staff Exchanges

Original contact – RFID Project

Since then….

Ongoing informal contact

Reciprocal staff visits – January 2014

Equivalent staff liaison

Ongoing contact – remote and on-site

Common Areas of Interest

The institutional repositories (principally

the issue of e-submissions)

The sharing and comparing of our

information literacy programmes

Library Management Systems (Koha in

DBS)

The sharing and comparing of our

respective desk & stock procedures

Institutional Repository (e-

submissions)

Tim Lawless (NCI) / Alex Kouker (DBS)

Objective – Establishment of a protocol for

self-submission to the repositories

- study of existing practice (WIT, NUIM, UCC)

- on site visit to UCC (June 2014)

Tagline - FINDING SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS THAT

COLLEAGUES FROM OTHER LIBRARIES ALSO EXPERIENCE

Information Literacy - Integration

Keith Brittle(NCI) / Maria Rogers(DBS)

On site visits -

- shadowing classes

- comparison of information skills tuition & guides

Benefits –

- class delivery, induction process

- shared experiences, diminished isolation

- key areas of future focus: online materials (creative

commons) & student engagement in induction

- greater collaboration in the future

LMS, Desk & Stock Procedures,

Copyright & Staffing Hierarchy

Maeve Byrne(NCI) / Peter Fleming(NCI) / David Hughes(DBS)

- transition process to a new LMS (Koha, in DBS)

- very informative & helpful

Maeve Byrne(NCI) / Colin O‟Keeffe(DBS)

- desk & stock procedures, rotas, staffing

- views & current practice, very helpful

Mary Buckley(NCI) / Tim Lawless(NCI) / Marie O‟Neill(DBS) / Jane Buggle(DBS)

- copyright, staffing hierarchy

Staff Exchange - Inspiration

Our inspiration

- Library Ireland Week, November 2012

- Swap jobs for a day

- Six library staff from NUI Maynooth

participated

- Bernie Gardiner visited the medical

library at Tallaght Hospital

Staff Exchange

International Staff Exchanges

International Library Staff Exchange Week 2-6 June 2014

- UK universities, staff exchanges since 1990s (Ayoubi and Al-Habaibeh, 2006)

- motivation and performance of staff improves, good for staff development (Kidd 1995)

- Why participate? “the need to avoid stagnation, the need to climb out of a professional rut” (p.9)

- Hannon (1997) - broadens experience & benefits career development

CILIP‟s International Job Exchange,

LIBEX Exchange jobs with library and information staff

around the world

Benefits

- staff development

- renewed enthusiasm

- fresh look at policies & procedures

LIBEX Exchange Reports

Katie Swann, Assistant Curator, National Art

Library, UK – “Do I consider the whole

experience worthwhile…? Yes, absolutely…..it is

the differences that…make the whole experience

more rewarding and challenging.”

LIBEX Exchange Reports

Cindy May, Head of Cataloguing, University of

Wisconsin – “I returned home with renewed

enthusiasm for my job and my library, and that‟s

got to benefit the library as well as me. I sincerely

hope that our two libraries will be able to

continue these short-term exchanges in the

future, and heartily recommend them to other

institutions.”

The Benefits of Staff Exchanges

See how others carry out their work

Helps to reflect on how and why you do things

the way you do

Can stimulate thinking about how to do tasks

differently

Reassurance

Networking

Collaboration

Coordination

Cooperation

Where are we now?

Opportunities for Future

Collaboration

Calling on each other for help and advice

Institutional repository e-submission

protocol

Sharing training and development costs

Possible future cross-institutional

publications

Sharing of information literacy initiatives &

resources

References (1) Ayoubi, R.M. & Al-Habaibeh, A. (2006),„An investigation into international business

collaboration in higher education organisations‟, International Journal of Educational

Management, 20,(5,): pp. 380-396. [Online] Available from:

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1558962 [Accessed 11 June 2014]

CILIP (2013) „International Job Exchange, LIBEX‟ CILIP [Online] Available from:

http://www.cilip.org.uk/cilip/membership/membership-benefits/libex-international-job-

exchange

Gardiner, B. (2013) „Library Ireland Week Staff Exchange Scheme: Diary of an Exchange‟.

An Leabharlann. The Irish Library, 22 (1). pp. 23-24

Hannon, M.(1997) „Staff exchanges - new directions for academic libraries?‟, Librarian

Career Development, 5(4): pp.124 – 127

HEA (2013) „Report to the Minister for Education and Skills on system reconfiguration,

inter-institutional collaboration and system governance in Irish higher education.‟

Available at: http://www.hea.ie/sites/default/files/report_to_minister_-

_system_configuration_2_0.pdf (Accessed: 6 June 2014).

HEA (2014) „Higher Education System Performance First report 2014 -2016 First report

2014 -2016. Report of The Higher Education Authority to the Minister for Education

and Skills.‟ Available at: http://www.education.ie/en/Press-Events/Press-Releases/2014-

Press-Releases/Higher-Education-System-Performance-First-report-2014-2016.pdf

(Accessed: 11 June 2014).

References (2) Kaufman, P. (2012) 'Let's Get Cozy: Evolving Collaborations in the 21st Century', Journal

Of Library Administration, 52(1), pp. 53-69, Library & Information Science Source,

EBSCOhost. (Accessed: 8 May 2014).

Kidd, T. (1995) „International library staff exchanges: how do you organize them, and do

they do you any good?‟ Librarian Career Development, (3)1: pp.9 – 13

O‟Farrell, C. (2014) „ Challenges and opportunities for teaching and learning in Irish

Higher Education‟, in Loxley, A., Seery, A. and Walsh, J. (eds). Higher education in Ireland.

Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 233-247.

Power, B. (2011) „New Ways to Collaborate for Process Improvement‟, Harvard Business

Review Blog Network. Available at: http://blogs.hbr.org/2011/05/new-ways-to-collaborate-

for-pr/ (Accessed: 8 May 2014).

Shepard, M. (2004) Library collaboration: What makes it work? Proceedings of the 25th

IATUL Conference. Available at:

http://www.iatul.org/doclibrary/public/conf_proceedings/2004/murray20sheperd.pdf

(Accessed: 7 May 2014).

Thanks & Questions