Public Libraries: Outsourcing Technical Services
by Barbara Appleby
SLIS 5320.001
Spring 2000
Outsourcing has become a
frequently misused and misunderstood term, and much of the apparent disagreement over the merits and risks of outsourcing can be traced to differing
definitions. Outsourcing is
essentially a "how" rather than a "what" term; it describes
how services are obtained. For the
purpose of this paper, the accepted representation of outsourcing is that of an
organization contracting with an external source to supply a product or service
which was previously supplied from within the organization. Although the term and its practice have been more prevalent
in the business arena, the outsourcing of various library services has recently
become a persistent and controversial topic among librarians.
Academic and special libraries already outsource many of their
operations, and public libraries, due to changes in economics and in information
access, are now considering outsourcing as a way to cut costs and to reallocate
skilled personnel.
For public libraries, an
external source for services may be an agency, a commercial vendor, a
bibliographic utility, or an individual working under contract. And the actual contracted services may range from upkeep of
the library to providing complete technical services for the library's current
materials.1
The focus of this paper is the
outsourcing of technical service operations in public libraries, consisting
primarily of the acquisition, cataloging, authority control, and physical
processing of materials. Among the
most important issues to be explored are the types of activities that may be
outsourced, reasons to consider outsourcing, expectations for outsourcing, the
process of employing a contractor, and the many and varied effects of
outsourcing on libraries and the communities that they serve.
Background
of Selective Outsourcing
Modern public libraries have
always outsourced certain services that supplemented or contributed to in-house
activities, although it has usually been referred to as "hiring out"
or "contracting out." Depending
upon the library and the community, outsourced services have probably included
the cleaning and maintenance of the library facility and the transportation of
interlibrary loan materials. Before
the days of online catalogs, public libraries bought catalog card sets from the
Library of Congress; now they purchase and copy records from databases at OCLC
or other bibliographic utilities for the majority of new materials.
A growing number of public libraries choose to receive new materials on
firm order or approval plans that are based on profiles.
When replacing card catalogs with online catalogs, libraries have hired
contractors to convert their records to digital formats.
Vendors of automation services are contracted to provide online access to
library collections. To enhance
services, public libraries have contracted, at least occasionally, with authors,
storytellers, and puppeteers, as well as educators, speakers, and trainers from
a variety of fields.
Outsourcing technical
services, however, is a relatively new and, in some ways, a threatening
proposition. Libraries' technical
service functions have traditionally been viewed as essential to librarianship.
The act of creating and developing collections by selecting and acquiring
specific materials has ensured that libraries will preserve and make available
those materials that are appropriate for their users.
Providing catalogs for their collections ensures that the materials will
be organized for the retrieval of information or individual items as they are
needed. In the past, these
activities have been accomplished by highly trained and highly skilled
professional librarians.2
Today, those functions are no
longer inviolable and are being viewed by many as noncore services.
Librarians, library directors, boards and even patrons are divided in
their opinions about which activities and services are "core" or
central to the library's mission. While
the catalog itself remains the primary tool for facilitating users' access to
information in the library, not everyone agrees that the production of the
catalog is a core function. In
fact, there are many who doubt that classification is as meaningful as it once
was or that catalogs make libraries work as they once did.
The subject headings and controlled vocabulary that have been utilized by
librarians to retrieve information have never been well understood by typical
library patrons. Now, with exposure
through the Internet to keyword and natural language searching techniques, such
restrictive access to information is being challenged in public libraries, and
may actually be viewed as a barrier to access by patrons.3
Making
Decisions About Outsourcing
As with any long-range
planning process, there are many aspects to be considered before making major
changes. The first step is to find
out exactly what is currently happening in the library and especially in the
technical services department. Re-examine
the library's mission and the goals that have been set for technical service
activities. Look at the cost of
these processes; identify unique procedures; review long time practices.4
Consider whether or not objectives are being met efficiently, and if not,
what obstacles exist.
CONSIDERATIONS
There are several contentious
issues that are common to traditional technical services departments.
The presence of some or all of these factors may indicate the need to
consider outsourcing operations.5
§
High costs -- Professional catalogers and
acquisitions librarians usually rank at the top of the pay scale in public
libraries. The technical services
department may be perceived as a drain on the library's budget.
§
Low productivity -- Selection and ordering are time
consuming and often complicated processes.
Cataloging departments are also slow and frequently have backlogs of
materials that need to be cataloged. This
backlog could be a few items or many, but they are sitting on a shelf in a back
room of the library rather than circulating among patrons.
Cataloging often delays other operations and it may be weeks, months, or
even years before some materials are truly available to the public.
§
Poor management -- Every library define
professional cataloging and selection services differently, and technical
services departments are staffed by professionals and nonprofessionals with a
variety of experiences. Because a
library's collection and its catalog are dynamic resources, inconsistencies in
workloads and quality control procedures can affect services throughout the
organization.
§
Lack of communication -- Catalogers understand
their work, but others find it confusing and often refuse to acknowledge the
value of their specialized skills. Professional
catalogers, acquisition librarians and subject specialists seldom interact with
the public or with other departments and are sometimes perceived as not
contributing to the real work of the library.
ADVANTAGES
Outsourcing has the potential
to bring lower overall costs and equal or improved quality of services and
products.
§
Outsourcing can improve production by eliminating
backlogs, cataloging current material as it is received, and balancing the
technical services workload through periods of high and low productivity.
§
Significant, long-term cost reductions may result
from savings of expensive staff time and energy, as well as space, utilities,
materials, licensing fees, and equipment, making funds available for other
activities.6
§
Acquisition plans offer financial savings on
materials and selection time while getting books to the library faster.7
§
Outsourcing may offer an opportunity to benefit
from expertise that is not available in-house.
Many library vendors are able to produce high quality records to fulfill
carefully delineated contractual requirements.
§
Library management can concentrate more attention
and resources, especially human resources, on public service activities tied
directly to the mission of the library.
§
Outsourcing may bring order to technical services
operations that have become non-productive, mismanaged, or out of control.8
DISADVANTAGES
The outsourcing of technical
services is not appropriate for every library or for every situation.
§
Outsourcing does not automatically result in lower
costs. Depending upon an individual
library's needs, terms of the contract, and reorganization of technical services
staff, there may be little or no real savings.
§
Vendors are likely to do business with mainstream
publishing houses and may reject alternative press materials, often local
materials and local publishers. Alternative
funding may be needed to purchase local resources, to fill gaps in the
collection, and to meet specific needs of special user groups.9
§
Bibliographic utilities are cooperative enterprises
that depend upon their members to contribute as well as take records.
Libraries that eliminate catalog librarians are failing to do their part
in building the nation's bibliographic database.
§
When technical services have been outsourced,
records often need to be adjusted in-house to meet the needs of the local users
or to fit appropriately in the collection.
§
Vendors offering the latest technology today may be
using outdated automation in two years. When
clients are locked into contracts, commercial vendors may be less motivated to
upgrade, make changes, identify problem areas, or develop improvements in their
systems.
§
It is difficult to precisely define quality in
workmanship. When the
responsibility for cataloging current acquisitions is given over to commercial
firms the resulting records could contain errors and inconsistencies that may
never be remedied. Managing
acquisitions and cataloging in-house gives the library more control over the
quality of the records and the materials, affecting how services are provided.10
§
Outsourcing may lead to a loss of experienced staff
and/or the occurrence of human resource problems.
In extreme cases, staff may be layed off, dismissed, or reassigned to
other areas of the library, where negative attitudes can contribute to stress,
low morale, distrust, poor customer service, and even sabotage.
§
Total outsourcing is a drastic move.
Libraries may quickly become dependent on their vendors.
Startup costs make it expensive to change vendors and nearly impossible
to return to traditional technical services operations.11
OTHER OPTIONS
Public libraries are
constantly making difficult choices when allocating scarce resources, and it is
important to recognize that total outsourcing may be only one of several options
for handling inefficiencies and backlogs in technical services.
Other options may be just as cost-effective, yet allow libraries to
retain local control and meet their objectives.12
§
Reassess the goals of the technical services
department. Determine that the
quality of work meets expectations and that turnaround times for services and
products are realistic.
§
Reexamine technical service processes.
Some practices that have been in place for many years may no longer be
needed, or may be accomplished more efficiently.
§
Redefine the required level of cataloging.
Public libraries have many types of materials and many user groups.
Items may require different levels of analysis and description; records
may require different levels of customization.
§
Redesign schedules and/or workloads. Some items are
more expensive and more time consuming to analyze, catalog, and physically
process, such as audio and visual materials and computer files.
Those items may be handled in a way that does not delay work on other
types of materials.
§
Train lower level staff to handle more routine
work. Well-trained assistants can
perform many technical service functions that do not require special
bibliographic knowledge.
§
Share catalog librarians with other libraries.
Professional catalogers may divide their time among libraries that
occasionally need their subject expertise or specialized skills, such as
cataloging music or foreign language materials.
§
Hire a private contractor to catalog a specific
project, such as a large donation, or to work for a limited period of time.
Outsourcing of this type might even be accomplished in-house.
Planning
For the Effects of Outsourcing
When an individual library
determines that outsourcing technical services is the best way to accomplish its
goals, attention to three major factors can help to ensure an appropriate
contract and a favorable outcome.
The VENDOR
Librarians have generally had
little experience negotiating contracts, but fortunately, most are skilled at
performing the in-depth research necessary for the selection of a suitable
vendor. By investigating vendors
and their customer references, a library director may become aware of a vendor's
size and reputation, the level and scope of service, the quality of work, the
technology being used, and the degree of flexibility and cooperation with
clients.13
The SERVICE
The successful contract
specifies which operations are to be outsourced and the appropriate levels of
service, as well as all responsibilities of both the vendor and the library.
Unlike public libraries, contractors and vendors are in business to make
money. Vendors earn profits when
they achieve "economies of scale" by selling the same product or
service to different customers, by frequent contact and rapport with major
publishing houses, and by using production line techniques.
A vendor that catalogs a
single item and sells the record to many libraries can afford to charge a lower
per-item fee and still make a profit. This
happens most often with general print items that are popular and widely acquired
by libraries. Unfortunately, the
bulk of the backlog in technical services departments are items that are
difficult to catalog -- if the records were readily available the items would
probably have already been cataloged. Items
that usually require original cataloging or a high level of customization of
records include foreign language materials, archival materials, nonprint
formats, local resources, and special collections.
Materials such as these are charged at higher rates and can quickly
increase the overall cost of the outsourcing contract.
Before signing any contract with a vendor, the library's director should
know what types of items are backlogged and what percentage of the library's
materials requires customized records. Vendors
should also be able to clearly demonstrate the economies of scale that enable
them to fulfill their contractual agreements.14
Additional costs are
associated with the management of the outsourced materials and liaison with the
outsourcer. In-house
responsibilities include inventory control, the preparation of materials to be
shipped to the outsourcer, the receipt of processed materials from the
outsourcer, the evaluation of outsourced services, the review of materials for
errors, and the return of unacceptable items.15
In cases in which acquisition services are outsourced, there is a need
for library staff to create and maintain comprehensive profiles for vendors
selecting materials. Carefully
crafted profiles, including detailed guidelines for subjects and publishers and
even demographic and patron information, can lower the rate of rejections or
returns.16
Finally, quality is a
term that is difficult to define, but librarians recognize local quality needs.
Quality records are accurate, complete, and adhere to applicable formats
and standards. Quality service is
reliable, delivered in a timely manner, offers staff support and a reasonably
low error rate. Quality costs are
visible charges for all services, including special formats, original
cataloging, customization of records, and rush orders.
As part of a successful contract, quality is measurable and both the
library and the vendor monitor quality control.
The STAKEHOLDERS
It is essential that the
library's stakeholders (staff, administration, and board members) understand the
purpose of the outsourcing decision and when the changes will occur.
Even the most precisely worded contract cannot ensure a successful
transition to outsourced services if those who are being affected by the change
are not committed to it. Catalogers and acquisitions librarians who do not adopt the
idea of outsourcing their departments may become defiant and resentful, may
negatively affect the library's services and level of production, and may
ultimately jeopardize the potential success of the contract.17
Anticipating the reaction of the staff, library directors would be wise
to involve them in the evaluative process, the determination of standards for
quality service, the preparation of a request for proposals, and the selection
of contractors.
Rather than becoming
disgruntled employees, displaced staff can and should be effectively used in
other areas of the library. Because
of their familiarity with the library's materials, acquisition librarians may
also be productive reference and public service librarians. Catalogers, because of their expertise with the patterns and
structures of bibliographic control, may be adept at bibliographic instruction
and the development of tools and guides to assist users.
Most catalogers are also ideally suited for classifying and indexing
electronic resources.18
Evaluating
the Results of Outsourcing
Those who oppose the
outsourcing of library technical services generally believe that the quality of
future library services may be sacrificed for short-term cost savings.
Proponents believe that a successful outsourcing program offers the
potential for expanded services with few or no negative effects for the
library's users. Following are
examples of negative and positive outsourcing experiences -- they re-emphasize
the importance of thorough research and responsible contract negotiation.
HAWAII
The experience of Hawaii's
public libraries has become the classic example of all that can go wrong with
outsourcing technical services. According
to a hurriedly written 1996 contract with Baker and Taylor, the Hawaii State
Public Library System agreed to pay a set amount per item for the selection,
cataloging, processing, and distribution of materials to all of the state's
public libraries. The contract did
not define the quality of workmanship; it did not distinguish acceptable and
unacceptable materials; it did not establish service requirements.
Because the materials arrived at each library completely processed, they
were not returnable and libraries across the state encountered numerous
problems.19