Quality assessment within a special activity area of a

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• Quality assessment within a special activity area
  of a
• university library service
• Paul Mayes, Assistant Director, Library
  Information Services,
• University of Teesside
• Middlesbrough TS1 3BA England
• E-mail paul.mayes_at_tees.ac.uk

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• In 1999 the University of Teesside Library
  Information Services department (LIS) formally
  took over the management of the former ICI
  Library at the Wilton Centre. This was seen by
  the University as part of its commitment to
  support the sub-regional economy and to help
  promote the Wilton Centre as a centre of
  excellence.
• It was a time of great change and challenge for
  many of the small, medium and large companies
  that were sold by ICI or became changed ICI
  divisions. Despite this, LIS was able to
  convince a number of companies to continue
  subscribing to a library underpinned by
  considerable organisational and resource support
  from LIS. The number of subscribing companies
  has increased each subsequent year and in 2002
  Scudder Threadneedle (the owners of the Wilton
  Centre) backed the role a modern library can play
  in supporting entrepreneurship and innovation at
  the Centre by funding a move to a new
  purpose-fitted location. The move (and the
  greatly changed scope of the services of the
  library) was marked by a change of name to the
  Information Resource Centre (IRC).

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• During 2003 the IRC received two-year ERDF
  funding to support the development of SMEs on the
  Wilton Site and within the Tees Valley (in
  collaboration with the EPICC programme).
• Subsequent take-up by EPICC Associate SMEs in the
  Tees Valley has been encouraging, as has
  increased usage by SMEs already at the Wilton
  Centre.
• The willingness of our subscribing companies to
  commit real funding is very simple and stark
  performance measure of the quality and relevance
  of IRC services.
• Below are the 6 service advocacy headline
  indicators of the development of the services, as
  used in our subscription proposal document for
  2005

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Subscribing ERDF-supported businesses
5
Turnover
6
IRC Opening Hours per Year
7
Enquiries
8
Athens online access via the University of
Teesside
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British Library Requests
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• However, to take the IRC services forward there
  has always been the need to
• ensure that quality systems are in place that
  commercial customers can relate to
• ensure that best practice is continually sought
  out and implemented
• ensure that understandable evaluation methods and
  metrics are part of the quality system
• In addition the work put into quality processes
  also has the benefits of
• serving as a starting point for structured
  debate with companies at the beginning of each
  annual IRC Business Plan cycle demonstrating
  value for money to other present / future funding
  routes such as ERDF
• The IRC is neither a conventional higher
  education business library nor a conventional
  company library / information service. It
  provides customer-specific services but also
  general services across all the Centres
  companies and it underpins University learning
  and teaching for the companies (e.g. the
  Foundation Degree in Chemical Technology).
  Therefore, although the existing quality systems
  and evaluation procedures at the University and
  within LIS have relevance, usable processes need
  to be looked for from a range of wider
  environments.
• When LIS staff met with business representatives
  in October 1999, the existing LIS quality and
  evaluation policies and procedures were
  discussed. LIS had a lot of familiarity with TQM
  methods in libraries and a framework based on the
  emerging results of the British Library Research
  and Innovation-funded LISIM project (Kinnell,
  1999) was used as a starting point for a
  justification to the businesses of why they could
  safely subscribe to the new IRC.

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• The cut-down LISIM self-assessment indicators
  used at the third of the October 1999 planning
  meetings were
• 1 Leadership
• How do senior managers create a culture for
  quality??
• Policy and strategy
• 2a) How policy and strategy are planned and
  informed
• 2b) How policy and strategy are communicated
• Customer focus
• 3a) How customer services are planned
• 3b) How customer services are managed
• 3c) How customer services are communicated
• 4 Employee management
• 4a) How are human resources managed?
• 4b) How are employees developed?
• Resource management
• 5a) How are financial resources acquired and
  managed?
• 5b) How is information managed?
• 5c) How is technology managed?
• Customer satisfaction
• 7a) How is customer satisfaction measured?

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• Fourteen areas for Improvement were recorded and
  served as a checklist during the next two
  financially and organisationally challenging
  years.
• By 2001 stable financing (and the earlier
  mentioned move to a new purpose-designed
  location) led to a consideration of a longer-term
  quality approach. This was structured around an
  evolving quality journey. We drew on a lot of
  best practice during staff development sessions.
  An example that we evaluated especially highly is
  that from the University of Wollongong (Anon,
  2004). Below is a diagram of their journey

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UOW Library Quality Journey First Decade
1995 Year of the Client Client Services Committee
formed Major Client Survey Values
developed Quality Steering Committee formed 2nd
vision document Prospect 2005 QITs - Client
Service, - Serials, Space - Exploration,
- Ready Reserves
Pre 1994 Strategic planning Staff development
Performance management Job enrichment Team
Building Prospect 2001
1994 Quality and Service Excellence program
launched Deputy University Librarian assumes
responsibility for program First QITs formed
Shelvetrek, Library Resources TQM facilitator
training Focus groups with clients
1996 Organisation self assessment CSFs KPIs
developed Achievement in Business Excellence Quali
ty Coordinator appointed QIT - Communication
2000 Knowledge Management Policy QIT Client
Feedback Client Perception of Value -
collaborative project. Benchmarking Wollongoing
City Council Inter-team communication review
Client Survey Application for Australian
Business Excellence Award AQC Study Tour
1999 Review of planning framework Benchmarking Int
ernal Communication, Strategic Planning, Staff
training development, Employee Satisfaction AQC
Study Tour E-Team Innovation policy Review of
vision, mission, goals, CSFs and KPIs new
planning framework Organisational self
assessment Vision documents reviewed and new
scenarios developed Awarded Investors in People
standard
1998 Organisational self assessment Review of
values and the Ideal Culture Benchmarking
Leading Managing Improvement Strategic
Realignment Project Finalist Australian Quality
Awards for Business Excellence
1997 AQC feedback plan implemented Financial
indicators of performance Benchmarking projects
commenced Strategic planning process
reviewed QITs Information Access, E-Team
2001 Future Sustainability Continued Business
Improvement Innovation through ABEF,
competitive and cross-industry benchmarking Positi
oning for global course delivery support Resource
optimisation ICSS Self Assessment Australian
Business Excellence Award Winner
2002 Scenario planning 2010 Organisational
realignment to optimise resources and
expertise Review of performance indicators and
executive information requirements Client
satisfaction survey Rodski Investors in People
reaccreditation BIT Review of Staff Perceptions
Survey Benchmarking projects Costing of services
within ABC models Client Service Charter
2003 Review of Values and Ideal Culture Review of
core training Investors in People award Staff
Perceptions Survey Materials Availability
Survey Closed Reserve Client Survey BITSs
- Portal Evaluation Webserver - Client
Fedback
2004 Offshore library services review Organisation
al self assessment International Customer Service
Standard Communication of plans and policies
review Mystery Shopper Client Satisfaction Survey
Rodski Client feedback database launched AUQA
preparations
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• We see our recent and forthcoming journey as
• 2004
• Completion of a full Business Plan for the IRC.
  Presentations to subscribing companies in
  previous years have necessarily focussed on
  annual subscription renewal letters that both
  described recent improvements to services and
  described proposed improvements in the following
  year
• Production of first major sequence of 5 year
  performance statistics
• Decision to pursue Baldrige quality prize
  application form for self-assessment of the
  policies and procedures at the IRC. The
  University of Teesside has existing
  well-evaluated policies and procedures but the
  IRC is special in being much more than a higher
  education library. The greater experience of
  libraries and universities with Baldrige offered
  us, at the time, a more immediately usable
  approach. Also several Wilton-based companies are
  familiar with Baldrige through their American
  parent companies or supply chain partners. Author
  visits Baldrige applicant libraries in USA
• 2005
• A new Mission and Aims statement for the IRC
  arising from the projected 2006 Business Plan
• Formalisation of Quality planning day for
  September
• A survey of continuing subscribing companies and
  ERDF-supported SMEs that would generate a new
  agreed set of customer satisfaction data and new
  areas of service. There is a very close working
  relationship between the IRC staff and the
  relatively small number of subscribing companies.
  This has made formal surveys seem unnecessary.
  However, the recent success (and financial
  stability) of the IRC plus its role supporting
  new regional initiatives is leading to new
  service developments, with the need to have some
  formal benchmarking indicators
• Further development of quality self-assessment to
  demonstrate the IRCs suitability for grant
  support to that currently received from ERDF
• Peer self-assessment with Baldrige applicants
• 2006
• Scoping of implications (including cost) of
  quality self-assessment through the EFQM process,
  especially if University of Teesside feels that
  full institutional use of EFQM is not applicable.
  This anticipates the spread of the EFQM-based
  Excellence model to higher education, the service
  sector and new Wilton-linked companies. ). A
  consortium of 6 British universities is currently
  testing the use of EFQM (Hides, 2004) although
  library / information aspects are not heavily
  featured in this study.
• The authors opportunity for face-to-face contact
  with US institutions has been further developed
  by generous subsequent advice to the author from
  other Baldrige winners and finalists such as the
  University of Wisconsin Stout, Northwest
  Missouri State University and St Marys Hospital
  Medical Center. An example of a specific
  library-related metrics display from a 2003
  Baldrige application is shown below

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• The authors opportunity for face-to-face contact
  with US institutions has been further developed
  by generous subsequent advice to the author from
  other Baldrige winners and finalists such as the
  University of Wisconsin Stout, Northwest
  Missouri State University and St Marys Hospital
  Medical Center. An example of a specific
  library-related metrics display from a 2003
  Baldrige application is shown below
• Below are the library mentions in the 2004
  Baldrige winning application from Kenneth W.
  Monfort College of Business

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• However the quote below kindly supplied by Leslie
  Christensen of St Marys Hospital Medical Centre
  emphasises that library service KQIs are often
  only a small part of the whole institutional
  document.
• As a member of SSM Health Care, a system based
  out of St. Louis, Missouri, St. Mary's Hospital
  Medical Center has been an integral part of our
  system's application for the Malcolm Baldrige
  National Quality Award since our first attempt in
  1999. We applied three more times, each time
  using the Baldrige criteria to improve the
  quality of our health care services to patients.
  In 1999, we were the first health care applicant
  in the country to receive a Baldrige visit. In
  2002, there were 17 health care applicants and 4
  received site visits. In November 2002, our
  President and CEO, Sr. Mary Jean Ryan, was
  notified that SSM Health Care would be the first
  health care organization in the country to
  receive the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality
  Award.
• In previous site visits, the Medical Library was
  not visited by the MBNQA examiners. In 2002,
  however, one of the examiners toured the library
  and interviewed me about our role in providing
  care to our patients. In particular, the
  examiners wanted to see and hear for themselves
  that our entity and system goals are supported
  throughout each department and in each hospital
  in our system. Many of the questions that the
  examiner asked of me had less to do with specific
  aspects of our library services and more to do
  with how do I know that we are doing what we say
  we are doing. Being able to show the examiner how
  the library collaborates with our physicians,
  nurses and other hospital staff to provide
  exceptional health care services was a unique and
  valuable opportunity.

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• Some of our Baldrige contacts have provided us
  with voluntary peer critiqueing. Also, some
  libraries have kindly provided KQIs and lists of
  dashboard statistics for us to compare with our
  procedures. The examples below supplied to us
  from the Owens Library at NW Missouri State will
  form the basis for our Quality Day on 1st
  September 2005.

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• Dashboard statistics
• Books per student.
• Serial titles per student. (This was based on
  paper subscription but is now obsolete. We know
  the number of serial titles we have in aggregator
  databases, but have no comparative data since
  other libraries in this country are not yet
  reporting that information.)
• Hours of operation.
• Number of web pages managed. (Again, there is no
  comparative data.)
• Number of bibliographic instruction classes per
  year. (These are instruction sessions given by a
  librarian within the classes of instructors)
• Students per electronic subscription database.
  (Using comparison family libraries web sites to
  count the subscription databases they offer in
  order to obtain comparative data.)
• Scholarship per public service librarian (journal
  articles, presentations at professional meetings,
  etc.)
• Number of visits to the library per student
  (based on electronic doorcount)
• Periodical use per student (based on reshelving
  of paper periodicals and bound volumes)
• Book circulations per student
• Hits on the library web pages per student

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• Student survey data as to the degree to which our
  service is Fair/Honest/Respectful.
• Student survey data as to the competence and
  accuracy of our work.
• Student survey data concerning satisfaction with
  our bibliographic instruction.
• General campus survey results as to the quality
  of both the library and audio/visual services.
• Number of students per librarian.
• Number of students per library staff member.
• Degree of success in borrowing from other
  libraries.

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• We will use Sorenson, Furst-Bowe and Moens
  (Sorenson, 2005) 8 lessons learned as
  continuing performance benchmarks for 2006. In a
  presentation to local SMEs in April 2005 these
  lessons were re-phrased for local use as
• leadership commitment
• identification and elimination of organizational
  empires
• clarity on our stakeholders and what they want
• ability to change in meeting emerging needs
• using outside practices or data for benchmarking
• willingness to take part in ongoing
  self-assessment
• recognising existing strengths and belief that it
  is possible to be even better
• ability to explain the benefits to organisational
  and personal learning from self-assessment (to
  balance any concerns about the hard work that
  will be needed)
• A simple Lickert exercise that scores perceptions
  on the 8 lessons proved a valuable icebreaker.
• With lessons 5 and 6 in mind, we seek other
  smaller or specialist libraries / information
  services that would be interested in taking part
  in peer assessment with us.