This presentation was made at the SAOIM held on 06 June 2012 which addresses the factors affecting change, limitations to change, sources of opportunity for innovation, conditions for successful innovation and its implications for academic libraries in South Africa.

1. Ujala Satgoor
SAOIM, Johannesburg
06 June 2012
*

2. * Definitions
* Factors affecting change in academic libraries
* Limits
* Peter Drucker’s seven sources of opportunity for
innovation
* Conditions for successful innovation
* What does this mean for academic libraries
* Most of all….

3. *
* Change
* To become different or undergo
alteration
* To undergo transformation or
transition
* To alter one’s approach or
attitude
* An act or process through which
something becomes different
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/change
* Tony Robbins
“By changing
nothing, nothing
changes.”

4. *
* Innovation
* The act of starting
something for the first
time
* Introducing something
new
* A creation (a new device
or process) resulting
from study and
experimentation
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/
innovation
* Peter Drucker:
“Change that creates a
new dimension of
performance.”
* Jose Campos
“The ability to deliver
new value to a
customer”

6. * Higher Education Landscape
* Teaching & Learning
* Research
* Electronic learning environment
* User profile & needs
* Distance learners, mature students, part-time students,
international students
* Learning styles
* Collaborative vs individual learning; group & project work
* Expectations of value for money, effectiveness and efficiency

7. * Economics
* Reduction in library funding
* Increase in price of all library materials
* Large rise in volume of new books & journals
* Space costs
* Staffing costs
* Organisation
* Ability to manage change
* Structure
* Culture
* Leadership vs Managerial style

8. * Technology
* Access
* Collection development
* Print vs electronic
* User needs & expectations
* Greater awareness of facilities & services
* Mobile technologies
* Social media
* Changing roles, responsibilities & competencies of staff
* Library as space

9. *

10. Attitude Complacency
about services
Ignoring the
information seeking
behaviour of users
Slow uptake of
Technology
Staff development
Slow redefinition of roles
Organisational
Culture Assumptions about the
Internet
Leadership
Managerialism
Budgets
Lack of CPD
Ph y s i c al e nv i r o nm e nt s
Vision

11. *

12. 1. The unexpected success or failure of the organisation or
competition
* What is in greater or lesser demand?
* What is working well?
* How can failures be converted to opportunities?
2. The incongruities in process or customer behaviour - the difference
between reality as it actually is and/ or as it “ought to be.”
* User experience in and of the Library
3. Process needs
* Task focused
* Perfecting, redesigning or replacing

13. 4. Industry & market structure change
* From analog to digital
* Organisational restructuring
5. Demographic changes
* User profiles
6. Changes in perception & meaning
* Perceptions of librarians
* Their role in the research endeavor
* Experimental
7. New knowledge
* Lifelong learning
* Keeping abreast with current trends

14. *

15. * Simplicity
* Start small…
* Focus on a specific need
* Innovate for the present – impact may be long term!
* Innovation is work!
* Requires – knowledge, creativity, diligence, perseverance &
commitment
* Builds on strengths
* Which opportunity fits the organisation & its strategy
* Change in behaviour and processes
* Inculcate a culture of innovation

16. *

17. * Demonstrate value to University management
* Increased support
* Pre-empt new needs
* Partnership vs support
* Take the lead
* Be strategic
* One organisation, many leaders
* Project mindset
* Best practices
* Explore the future of libraries

18. * Library as Space
* Social, collaborative
* Exceptional user experience
* Technology as an enabler
* New skills/ New areas of development/ Access
* Improved services to meet changing user needs
* Redefine roles
* Embedded librarianship
* Collaboration

19. But most of all…shift in
consciousness regarding
human capital!

21. Librarians are very well-placed to make a difference
and secure an enviable reputation for our profession
if we continue to watch, listen, think, analyse,
collaborate, share, test and try and if we deploy real
leadership skills, displaying a genuine willingness to
keep reinventing ourselves and our old skills to match
the changing environment we find ourselves in at any
stage.
Jean Sykes
Chief Librarian and Information Services Director
London School of Economics

22. Let’s ensure it’s not business as
usual – push the limit of your own
thinking!