Assessing staff alignment in technical services

Abstract

Technical services units have routinely kept detailed monthly and annual statistics to assess productivity and efficiency, especially regarding functions that are easily measured. However, with the evolution of library user behavior, libraries' strategic directions, and technical services' practices, these numbers have become less and less useful in revealing the value of this work. In this paper, the authors introduce a methodology and draft model with which technical services managers can better assess not only their unit's productivity and efficiency, but the extent to which its activities align with a library's strategic values and the behavior of its users.