From: "Elizabeth E. Kirk" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2012 18:42:54 +0000
FYI.
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From: Kathlin Smith [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2012 2:19 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Developing Business Cases for New Services: Report Offers
Recommendations for Research Libraries
Washington, DC, Oct. 18, 2012-Libraries developing digital scholarship
services should adopt structured, disciplined approaches to planning
for their success, according to a new report, "Fit for Purpose:
Developing Business Cases for New Services in Research Libraries."
Sponsored by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR)
and the Digital Library Federation (DLF) program, Fit for Purpose
presents a set of recommendations that libraries can adopt when
developing any new service. The report attends closely to
entrepreneurial activities such as library-based publishing and data
stewardship because of the uncertainty and complexity of those
services.
"Today's networked environment has changed scholarship and challenges
our perceptions of what is a 'library' service," said DLF Director
Rachel Frick. "This report can help libraries identify, start, and
scale successful new services that are within their capacity and best
fit their communities' needs. The DLF program supports this research
effort, as 'digital libraries' are not a single service silo, but a
mode of service that cuts across all aspects of today's research
libraries."
Fit for Purpose provides a decision-making toolbox created from
elements of social entrepreneurship and project management that are
consistent with research library environments and values. It addresses
organizational readiness and risk tolerance, business case
development, piloting new services, and monitoring sustainability
through the business planning lifecycle. The team is also conducting
several case studies to explore how libraries have conducted business
planning to support their new ventures. These will be published at a
future date, followed by a concluding report that reassesses the
initial recommendations.
Fit for Purpose is published by MediaCommons Press using the
CommentPress platform. Readers are encouraged to engage in a dialogue
with the authors and their colleagues about the recommendations and
their related experiences. The report can be read at
http://mediacommons.futureofthebook.org/mcpress/businesscases/.
The report was developed by a team that includes Mike Furlough (Penn
State), Ted Fons, (OCLC), Elizabeth Kirk (Dartmouth), Michele Reid
(North Dakota State), and Carol Hunter (University of North Carolina).
Noted consultant Judy Luther serves as an advisor to the project.
"Rigor and risk are not antithetical," notes Kirk. "We wanted to
provide a structure that would help librarians and administrators more
easily step through the elements of robust planning. The process can
be tailored to the scale and scope of activity the library is
discussing." While the principles outlined in the report could be
applied to many different types of library services, the research and
case studies focus on publishing and data curation programs because
libraries often frame these activities as "experiments" that they hope
will lead to sustainable programs. "Experimentation is exhilarating
and necessary. But we don't provide good service if we haven't thought
through how we will move from experiments on ongoing support for the
researchers we work with," said Furlough.
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