Microsoft Word - ART_McKnight.doc
Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 2007, 2:4
22
Evidence Based Library and Information Practice
Article
Acquisition and Cataloguing Processes: Changes as a Result of Customer Value
Discovery Research
Sue McKnight
Director of Libraries and Knowledge Resources
Boots Library, Nottingham Trent University
Nottingham, United Kingdom
E‐mail: sue.mcknight@ntu.ac.uk
Received: 29 July 2007 Accepted: 05 November 2007
© 2007 McKnight. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use,
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Objective ‐ This study seeks to highlight the profound effect of Customer Value Discovery
research on the internal business processes of two university libraries in the areas of
cataloguing and acquisitions.
Methods ‐ In this project, “Customer Discovery Workshops” with academic staff, students,
and university stakeholders provided library managers and staff with information on what
services and resources were of value to customers. The workshops also aimed to discover
what features of existing library services and resources irritated the students, staff, and
faculty. A student satisfaction survey assessed longer‐term impact of library changes to
students in one university.
Results ‐ The findings resulted in significant changes to collection development,
acquisitions, and cataloguing processes. A number of value added services were introduced
for the customer. The project also resulted in greater speed and efficiency in dealing with
collection development, acquisitions, and cataloguing by the introduction of more
technology‐enhanced services. Overall customer satisfaction was improved during the
project period.
Conclusion ‐ The changes to services introduced as a result of customer feedback also
improved relationships between librarians and their university community, through the
introduction of a more proactive and supportive service.
mailto:mcknight@ntu.ac.uk
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0
Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 2007, 2:4
23
Introduction
The role of a library director is to establish a
vision, based on knowing where a service
ought to be heading, and then to allow staff
to make the vision become a reality. This is
easily said, but quite a bit harder to
implement. What should our vision be?
This paper describes how customer
feedback has been collected and used as the
basis for establishing a vision of excellence
for the library.
This paper describes a case study where
customer feedback was used to effect
changes in acquisitions and cataloguing
processes in academic libraries. The case
study draws on the results and changes
made over a number of years following
Customer Value Discovery research
undertaken in two universities (Deakin
University Library, Australia and
Nottingham Trent University, UK). The
paper builds on a presentation to the
‘Exploring Acquisitions Conference’ held in
Cambridge in April 2007, and it focuses on
those actions that resulted from the research
that impacted on acquisitions and
cataloguing.
Enzyme International
()
served as an external facilitator and
provided analysis of data gathered from the
Customer Value Discovery (CVD) research
used to drive change at both universities.
Objectives
The aim of the research was to gather data
that would be used by library management
to ensure that service and resource delivery
within the organisation are aligned to the
actual needs of the customer. Evidence from
the research regarding perceptions of
current value delivered, when compared to
what customers desire, provides a gap
analysis.
By ascertaining hierarchies of ‘value’ and
‘irritation,’ priorities for action can then be
developed to inform operational planning,
service standards, key performance
indicators, and individual work objectives.
Over time, after implementing changes
based on results of the Customer Value
Discovery research, it will be possible to re‐
test to determine whether the service is
increasing customer value, reducing
customer irritation, and closing the gap
between actual and desired performance
against the original datasets.
Methods
The Customer Value Discovery Process
Researchers used Customer Value
Discovery (CVD) methods to gather data on
customer needs. CVD is based on a model
known as the Hierarchy of Value (Albrecht,
2000). Its continuum describes the potential
experiences of interactions between
customers and service providers.
In a service industry, such as a library, all
interactions, either with a staff member, a
resource (e.g., book), or a service (e.g., Web
page) can both satisfy and irritate a
customer at the same time. The aim is to
consistently deliver on the basic and expected
services, and to deliver desired and unexpected
services (but not at the expense of neglecting
the basic/expected services) and doing these
without causing irritation to the customer.
While simple to explain, it is not so easy to
implement on a consistent basis, for all
services, at all campuses.
http://www.enzymeinternational.com.au
http://www.enzymeinternational.com.au
Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 2007, 2:4
24
Hierarchy of Value
Unanticipated
Desired
Expected
Basic
Frustrated
Irritated
Angry
Figure 1. Hierarchy of Value ©: Enzyme International (Aust.)
Customer Discovery Workshops
The process of customer value discovery
research involves holding ‘customer
discovery’ workshops with
customer/market segments (e.g.
undergraduate on‐campus students, post‐
graduate researchers, distance learners,
mature students, or academic staff). The
goal of the workshops is first to ascertain
what irritates these customer groups about
existing services and resources and, second,
to determine how they would define an
excellent service. The participants in the
workshops are then asked to rate their
perceptions of the current services against
the ideal service levels.
Analysis and Consolidation
Following the customer discovery workshop,
which is held in the morning, a facilitated
Analysis workshop is held in the afternoon
to thematically arrange the irritants that
were identified at the customer value
discovery workshop. Once all customer
value discovery workshops have been held,
a Consolidation workshop is conducted
with all the staff who observed the
workshops, plus library managers. At both
the Analysis and Consolidation workshops,
staff delve into the individual customer
comments that have been thematically
arranged and assigned a topic classification.
This process allows everyone to be clear of
the meanings and intentions, even if they
did not personally attend a particular
workshop.
Interactive Value Modelling
Through a process called Interactive Value
Modelling, all the staff observers and
manager participants use mathematical
modelling software to model how value (or
satisfaction) is improved and irritations
reduced if certain actions are taken. By
using the Interactive Value Modelling
technique, priorities for further action can be
established, based on top‐level assumptions
about how to respond to customer feedback.
McKnight describes further details about
Interactive Value Modelling.
Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 2007, 2:4
25
Customer Value Discovery
Preparation
Segmentation
&
Study Design
Customer
Discovery
Workshops
Per Segment
Analysis
Workshops
Build
Value
Model
Consolidation
Interactive
Value
Modelling
& Action
Planning
“Customer” refers to a target group
Quick Wins
Ongoing
Measurement
Figure 2. Customer Value Discovery Process (Enzyme International)
This research was conducted between 1996
and 2003 at Deakin University, a multi‐
campus higher education institution with
libraries in Melbourne, Geelong and
Warrnambool, Australia with a number of
different customer segments. It was
repeated in 2005 at Nottingham Trent
University (NTU) in the U.K. with
undergraduate on‐campus students and
academic staff. Over 70 students and 50
academic staff participated in the
workshops held on NTU’s three campuses.
One‐on‐one interviews with academic staff
were conducted at the smallest campus,
using the same workshop methodology and
workbook.
Longer‐term impact was assessed at NTU
using a student satisfaction survey. In 2005
3,492 students completed the survey; and
another group of 5,611 students completed
the survey in 2007. These surveys, the first
held two months after the Customer Value
Discovery research was undertaken, enabled
comparison of the data from the CVD
process with the formal survey. There was
close alignment in results between the two
groups; however, the CVD process provided
more detailed data on which to act. The
NTU student satisfaction surveys also
enabled a longitudinal study to ascertain
whether satisfaction had improved as a
result of initiatives introduced after the CVD.
Results
Results of the workshops held at both
universities are combined in the following
tables in order to illustrate the type of
evidence obtained and how it was used.
Values and Irritations
The Customer Value Discovery research
process provides hierarchies of students’
Values and Irritations to help with decision
making. Below are examples, however, the
identification of the particular library is not
given.
The highest value or irritation is given a
value of 100%, and the others are expressed
as percentages of the highest ranked item.
Graphical examples of the Hierarchy of
Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 2007, 2:4
26
Figure 3. Hierarchy of Irritants, Students
Figure 4. Hierarchy of Irritants, Students, Gaps
Hierarchy of Irritants - Students
LOW Relative Importance HIGH
0 % 50 % 100 %
Poor staff service
Poor physical environment
Unsatisfactory loan rules
Poor communication and feedback
Inadequate library skills training
Difficulties with printing and photocopying
Problems with the catalogue
Service delays
Limited hours of access
Difficulties with technology and electronic access
Collection inadequacies
Materials not where they're supposed to be
Hierarchy of Irritants - Students - Gaps
Poor staff service
Poor physical environment
Unsatisfactory loan rules
Poor communication and feedback
Inadequate library skills training
Difficulties with printing and photocopying
Problems with the catalogue
Service delays
Limited hours of access
Difficulties with technology and electronic access
Collection inadequacies
Materials not where they're supposed to be
LOW Relative Importance HIGH
0 % 50 % 100 %
Observers
Students
Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 2007, 2:4
27
Values Irritations
Easy access to materials where and when I
need them.
Cannot find materials I need.
Problems with the catalogue.
Resources are comprehensive, available, and
relevant.
Inadequacy of the collection and its
management.
Academic staff and librarians have a
proactive partnership.
Inadequate academic liaison and
communication.
Lack of training and support when I need it.
Reliable up‐to‐date technology and facilities
are available.
Unreliable, limited information technology
facilities.
Library hours of operation meet user needs
(physical access and availability of electronic
services).
Library operating hours are inadequate.
User friendly loans policies and procedures. Restrictive and difficult loan policies and
practices.
Table 1. Consolidated Values and Irritations
Irritations and the Hierarchy of Irritation –
Gaps are presented in Figures 3 and 4.
Figure 3 shows that the lowest rated
irritation for students was poor staff service,
and the highest rated irritation resulted
from materials not being where they were
supposed to be. The Gaps charts show the
differences between how customers voted
and how the staff assumed the customers
would vote.
Figure 4 illustrates that the views of the
librarian observers differed from the views
of the students in a majority of areas. For
example, library staff believed that poor
staff service and difficulties with printing,
photocopying, and electronic access would
be more irritating than students actually
perceived them to be. In contrast, students
were most irritated by materials not being
where they were supposed to be.
Changing Acquisitions and Related
Processes
With regard to the changing acquisition and
cataloguing processes from the two
university libraries, Table 1 contains the
consolidated list of relevant Values and
Irritations
Values and irritations related to loan
policies and physical library opening hours
are related to acquisitions and cataloguing
issues. This is because restrictive loans of
short loan and reserve collection items and
decisions about whether to acquire multiple
copies of in‐demand books, or whether to
provide digital access to resources are
determined by acquisitions and cataloguing
policies and practices.
Basic Transactions
The responses to this customer feedback are
also a combination of actions undertaken (or
Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 2007, 2:4
28
planned) as a result of the research. Not
every action mentioned can be attributed to
both libraries.
Referring to the diagram of Hierarchy of
Value (Figure 1), staff identified the need to
provide a consistent level of service for all
customers on all campuses. It was evident
that some inconsistency in service was due
to the availability of staff on a particular
campus. Irritations were tied to problems of
maintaining workflows at busy times, and
failure to do so resulted in backlogs (e.g.
orders not processed; reading lists not
checked) or failure to deliver services (e.g.
alerts for new books in a given discipline). It
was decided to automate certain basic
transactions that would provide valuable
staff time to undertake planning and
delivery of value‐added services.
Automating certain transactions also helped
to reduce identified irritations.
Automation of Basic Transactions
Table 2 summarizes the automated services
implemented following the CVD process. It
was estimated at one of the libraries that the
new services replaced 70%‐80% of the work
in a traditional library ‘technical services’
department.
By changing the way these transactions and
services were delivered, the library service
was able to deliver a consistent level of
Initiative Outcome
Online selection basket for
collection development
This enabled academic staff to use online selection
services and to easily identify items for purchase
consideration. The request lists were automatically sent
to Acquisitions, saving time and providing accurate
machine‐readable records for creation of orders.
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
for ordering, invoicing, and
payments
The introduction of EDI enabled significant efficiency
gains. The elimination of: paper records, postage and
handling costs, time delays, and manual payments of
orders benefited the library, the finance department,
and the vendor. It also sped up the acquisitions process,
reducing the time from order to shelf.
Copy Cataloguing Accepting copy cataloguing records with book items
reduced time in the cataloguing department, sped up
delivery of new items to the shelves, and freed
cataloguers’ time for other work. Cataloguers were able
to use the extra time to focus on cataloguing grey
literature, thus making more items accessible to
customers.
Shelf‐Ready Books Transferring this end‐processing activity to the supplier
eliminated a basic, but non‐value added activity from
the technical services operations.
Exception claiming rather than
manually checking everything
With a highly automated acquisitions system, it is
possible to let the system do the order checking. This
Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 2007, 2:4
29
required a modicum of cultural change, as the past
practices of checking were entrenched, and staff had to
learn to ‘let go.’ However, the standard of service did
not slip.
System reporting and statistics Cessation of maintaining manual spreadsheets freed up
time. System generated reports and graphs were
regarded as trusted.
Vendor records used as order slips Academic staff did not have to complete order forms;
the order slips had the needed information; and
acquisitions staff no longer had to decipher difficult
handwriting.
System alerts for new publications Academic staff and liaison librarians were pushed
information on new items, thus removing their need to
schedule dedicated time for checking.
Filters used to create individual
staff profiles
Academic staff and liaison librarians were pushed
information on new items, thus removing their need to
schedule dedicated time for checking.
Approval Plans; Blanket Orders;
Standing Orders
These provide quick ways to ensure ordering of
important new works. They eliminate the chance of
missing a ‘must have’ publication that matches the
library’s profile, and they save significant selection time
when the library collects ‘everything’ in a specific
discipline/genre/category.
Ability to track orders online Academic staff and liaison librarians can check the
status of their orders without requiring acquisitions
staff intervention.
New order lists/books just received
lists
Academic staff and liaison librarians can be advised of
new receipts without requiring acquisitions staff
intervention.
Table 2. Initiatives implemented following the CVD process
service, with reduced timeframes, without
requiring additional staffing resources.
Many of the irritations that had been
identified were eliminated, thus improving
customer satisfaction. Some innovations,
such as Electronic Data Interchange (used
for processing digital orders, invoices, and
payments), revolutionised the handling of
what had previously been manual and time‐
consuming transactions. However, a
number of changes had to be negotiated
with other parts of the organisation (e.g., in
the case of EDI, the library had to work with
the University Finance Department and the
Internal Auditor, to ensure appropriate
checks and balances and an audit trail
Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 2007, 2:4
30
would be maintained) and with library staff.
Cataloguers, in particular, were involved in
decision‐making regarding copy
cataloguing, and liaison and acquisition
librarians were involved with changes to
blanket orders and approval plans.
Value Adding ‘Wow’ Services
Implementing many automated backroom
processes freed professional time both for
technical services staff and for academic
liaison. As a result, value added services
were implemented without requiring
additional resources.
New value added services resulted in the
implementation of a more proactive
collection development programme. Vendor
lists were utilized to aid recommendations
for new orders, and vendor alert messages
helped staff learn about new publications.
This reduced an irritant of ‘not having time
to search for new items’ and also made
collection development more efficient.
Filters that delivered advice on new
publications in identified disciplines,
combined with greater use of approval
plans and blanket orders, meant that the
collection was enhanced with little
additional effort for the academic staff or
liaison librarians.
A major thrust in both libraries concerned
changes in handling short‐term loan items
and recommended reading lists. Resulting
innovations focused on digitising short loan
items (while conforming to relevant
copyright laws), thus making these items
available 24/7 to students and removing
their need to visit the library in person. The
students were delighted with the improved
service, with links imbedded from the
Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) as well
as from the library catalogue and reading
list module. The changes also provided
liaison librarians with more time in their
working days, and enabled them to conceive
and implement projects relating to
improving access to reading list material. In
addition, the physical space of the short loan
collection was significantly reduced, freeing
space for other purposes. The labour
requirement for managing the reserve items
was significantly reduced, freeing staff
resources for other value added endeavours.
Students, in particular, were demanding
more digital resources in response to
making information resources available
‘when and from wherever I need them.’
Undergraduate students identified the need
for more full‐text journal articles, rather than
additional digital bibliographic citation
services. They also wanted to make the
searching of the libraries’ myriad e‐journal
collections more user‐friendly. The result
was not only more full‐text e‐journals, but
also the implementation of federated
searching solutions that enabled the
majority of digital resources to be cross‐
searched with a single search strategy.
Further, linking the full‐text search results
with licensed resources provided by the
library significantly increased access to
valued information, thus adding value for
customers (and reducing irritation). Adding
links to full‐text resources also maximized
asset utilization, in accounting terms, by
increasing the use of resources already
available to library customers.
The implementation of e‐book platforms
and services has also resulted in a value
added service, in that books, as well as
journal articles, can be available 24/7. NTU
is participating in a trial (UK National e‐
books observatory project) that provides a
number of online textbooks to the UK
higher education community and provides
significantly improved access to the chosen
textbook resources in four nominated
disciplines for the duration of the trial (JISC).
Another value added service introduced
several years ago was the introduction of
enhanced cataloguing records with table of
Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 2007, 2:4
31
contents information and thumbnail images
of book dust jackets. This innovation
resulted in contents of books and conference
proceedings, in particular, being more
accessible to customers, because catalogue
access had been expanded to include
chapter headings and chapter authors.
Copy cataloguing originally reduced work
for librarians, but additional value added
services have since been identified that use
librarians’ new‐found time. Instead of
focusing expertise on AACRII cataloguing
rules, librarians’ skills were broadened to
incorporate the application of metadata
standards for digital object repositories, a
new value added service that fulfills an
unmet demand of academic staff customers,
in particular. In addition, as mentioned in
the table of basic services, leveraging
original cataloguing expertise to make
special collection resources and grey
literature accessible provided a value added
service that previously could not be readily
afforded. Not only did customers gain
access to valuable resources via institutional
digital repositories and special collections,
the institution increased its reputation
through its scholarly, unique, and research‐
based collections.
A final value added service related to the
impact of actions resulting from the
customer value discovery research, has been
in the area of knowledge and information
management. From the experience of
listening to customers’ desires and needs,
and providing space for, and encouraging,
strategic thinking, the role of the librarian in
facilitating debate and action on
institutional practices regarding knowledge
and information management was an added
bonus. In many ways, identifying the need
to provide digital object repositories for a
variety of content types fuelled thinking
about overall knowledge management.
Information links were easily identified:
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
needs of the institution and the relationship
with virtual library reference services; help
desk services, CRMs and library inquiry
services and virtual reference services;
protecting institutional intellectual property
and the link to library managed copyright
compliance systems. All these are examples
of the inter‐connectedness of library services
and expertise with wider institutional issues
and contexts.
Longer term impact and follow‐up
All these changes did not happen
immediately, but there were several quick
successes. However, the sustained cultural
change that resulted from listening to
customers meant that innovation flourished
and customer satisfaction improved.
Table 3 uses results from Nottingham Trent
University’s student satisfaction survey,
conducted in 2007 to demonstrate that the
library’s satisfaction rating shows a marked
increase in satisfaction levels. This can be
attributed to the initiatives undertaken as a
result of the detailed 2005 research.
Discussion
Value/Uniqueness of the CVD Process
There are four major aspects to the
Customer Value Discovery research that set
it apart from other quality and customer
satisfaction surveys. First, library staff
participate in the workshops as silent
observers, but they vote as they assume the
customers will vote regarding irritations,
frequency of irritations, values, and current
performance.
Hearing customers’ comments directly and
listening to their interactions with the
facilitator, can be a powerful experience for
library staff. This is an intensely personal,
and at times emotional, experience,
especially when staff members are
confronted by adverse comments on
Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 2007, 2:4
32
Library Services/Resources 2005
% actively
satisfied
2007
% actively
satisfied
Change
Library website 73% 81% +8%
Opening hours 70% 76% +6%
Helpful and accessible staff 67% 74% +7%
Access to printers/ photocopiers 55% 73% +18%
Availability of study places 64% 73% +9%
Availability of e‐journals and
databases
66% 70% +4%
Range of e‐journals and databases 61% 69% +8%
Range of books 61% 65% +4%
Range of printed journals 61% 64% +3%
Availability of PCs in libraries 48% 63% +15%
Noise levels 52% 62% +10%
Training and support for students in
using library facilities
57% 61% +4%
Range of audio and visual materials 61% 59% ‐2%
Availability of books and materials
from reading lists
47% 53% +6%
Loan periods 52% 57% +5%
Table 3. 2005‐2007 Nottingham Trent University Library Student Satisfaction Survey Comparison
services for which they are responsible.
Compare this to receiving results from the
university‐wide student satisfaction surveys.
Although such surveys provide feedback on
specific library services, the data is devoid
of any immediate, personal impact upon
library staff. It is far removed from their
experience of actually hearing what students
were thinking when they commented in the
Customer Value Discovery workshop.
A second unique aspect of the CVD process
is that feedback is generated in terms used
by customers, because the facilitator starts
with a blank piece of paper. The process
involves completing workbook exercises
that use open‐ended questions, visioning a
future that is successful, and then
prioritising the major values and irritants
into thematic sets. This allows customers to
decide which services, resources, values,
and irritants they want to consider; they are
not influenced by librarians’ assumptions
about which library services they consider
important.
Third, by using workbooks, every
participant in the customer value discovery
workshops has an equal voice. The
participants work in silence in their
workbooks and prioritize their own
comments, which are then transferred to
sticky notes and used to create thematic sets
of issues. This way, no one individual is able
to dominate the process and discussions, as
sometimes happens in focus groups and
other discussion forums.
The fourth significant aspect of CVD
research is that the process of analyzing and
consolidating feedback from all workshops
provides another opportunity to engage
staff in the change process. All librarian
Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 2007, 2:4
33
observers and their managers participate in
the analysis to ensure understanding about
customer perceptions, and to gain buy‐in to
follow‐up actions. It becomes a change
process that is influenced by customers and
led by staff responsible for delivering
services and resources. It is not a
management‐directed approach to change,
but a staff initiated change. As such, it has a
greater chance of success because of the
personal and local commitment to changes
being suggested.
It is the combination of these factors that
constitute the building blocks for delivering
customer value. Change management is
more easily facilitated because staff are
given the opportunity to understand the
needs of their customers, and to realize that
their assumptions about what customers
require or how customers rate the
performance of the library is not always
accurate. Also, library staff can influence
how the library responds to the customer
value discovery research through active
engagement and project work. As a result
of the process, staff members are more likely
to be committed to making changes in their
own work practices to reduce or eliminate
irritants and to implement value added
services and resources.
Cultural and Organisational Change
By automating many basic transactions and
introducing services now possible due to the
power of technology (such as new title
alerts), many irritations were eliminated and,
in some cases, the resultant service was
initially considered novel or ‘wow’. The
problem, if it can be called that, of
consistently delivering value added services,
is that these, over time, are no longer
considered new or exciting and become
expected, basic services. So the bar is
always being lifted on delivering value
added and unexpected service delivery
delights.
The process of engaging staff as observers in
the customer discovery workshops, and
involving an even larger number of staff in
deciding what actions might reduce
irritation and add value as a result of
customer feedback, has the impact of
encouraging ‘change seeking’ (Wilson;
Pieters and Young) behaviour. This effort at
continuous quality improvement requires
staff to be constantly on the lookout for new
or better ways of delivering value to the
customer. This is important because
customer expectations are always changing
in response to the wider environment, and
their expectations of service delivery
increases as they experience other, but
related services. What is value adding today
will be basic and expected service in the
near future.
Had implementation of changes and
efficiencies meant an immediate reduction
in staffing levels, the process would likely
have failed, as there would be too much fear
and distrust to engage in the process of
customer consultation. Therefore, it was
important from the outset to advise staff
about the parameters of the exercise. In both
cases, staff members were reassured that no
redundancies would result, but that, over
time, it was anticipated that staffing levels
would either reduce or that the focus of
staffing would change. When vacancies
arose, these were to be assessed in regard to
the implementation of the overall plan of
action that had been developed in light of
the customer value research. For instance,
efficiencies in technical services meant
savings could be realigned to providing
more value added services in areas dealing
directly with library customers. The
implementation of self‐service technology
enabled the staffing budget to move from
circulation attendants to liaison librarians.
The need to let go of some long‐undertaken
practices, as identified before, was
challenging. However, before decisions
Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 2007, 2:4
34
were finalized, site visits to other libraries
that had changed similar practices reassured
staff that dire outcomes were unlikely, for
instance, if manual checks for outstanding
orders were not undertaken. It was found
that most items were received from the
supplier within a reasonable time and
automatic alerts at, say 60 days overdue,
were sufficient to identify a problem item.
Similarly, different work, and often more
professionally stimulating work,
materialised to fill newly created gaps in the
working day. For example, cataloguers
were professionally challenged with
metadata as well as traditional cataloguing
rules.
Some people are adverse to change and staff
development training was needed,
especially in regard to the psychology of
change management (coping with change),
customer service (ensuring the needs of the
customer are foremost), and team work
(participating fully in project work, often
across organisational boundaries to identify
ways to add value and reduce irritation).
Most staff welcomed the opportunities
provided to gain additional skills.
Breaking down organisational silos was
another outcome of the customer value
discovery research. The staff and students
involved in the customer value discovery
workshops are not aware of the discrete
services of the various providers involved in
the service chain. They do not see academic
staff requesting a book, a liaison librarian
approving the order, an acquisitions
assistant creating the order, the clerk who
receives items delivered by the supplier, the
cataloguer, end‐processors or shelvers in the
value added chain of events needed to place
a new book on the shelves. They simply see
‘the library’ or more likely ‘the university.’
Therefore, the importance of teamwork in
facilitating services that do not irritate and
that add value is a key to the library’s
success. Proactive partnerships developed
across the library’s different departments,
and within the academic community, as
sharing of knowledge, expertise and
understanding increased as a result of
project work that resulted from customer
value discovery research exercises.
An unanticipated result of these exercises
has been the identification of new ways of
working that have meant more
organisational change, as isolated
workflows, when taken as a combined
process map of service delivery, identified
better ways of working. For instance,
separate teams of staff working on books
and journal orders were merged into a
multi‐skilled team in one library.
Conclusions
The examples given in this paper represent
evidence based practice at work. The CVD
process was conducted between 1996 and
2003 at Deakin University with different
customer segments, and in 2005 at NTU
with undergraduate on‐campus students
and academic staff. The paper illustrates
how information was obtained from
customers and how it was used to
implement change in cataloguing and
acquisitions. Other customer service
changes that resulted from the same
research will be the subject of a future paper.
Would these changes have happened
without Customer Value Discovery research?
In some instances, the answer would have to
be ‘Yes.’ However, at what pace would
these changes have been achieved? The
contention in this paper is that the process
of engaging customers and library staff in
focused activities aimed at delivering
customer value considerably speeds the
process of change.
In other instances, the answer is perhaps a
‘Maybe’ or more likely a ‘No.’ The pain of
listening to customers describe a less than
Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 2007, 2:4
35
optimal service, and customers who
describe situations that, when explained
from a customer perspective, make no sense
at all but fall into the category of ‘we have
always done it this way’ are profound
experiences that challenge every practice,
not just the ones critically described. ‘Sacred
cows’ can be challenged.
Success breeds success. In the United
Kingdom National Student (Satisfaction)
Survey, NTU improved its overall ranking
in the library‐related section of the survey
from 47th overall in 2006 to 34th in 2007, with
a score of 83% satisfaction, against the 2007
sector average of 78%. Receiving
significantly improved customer satisfaction
ratings are very powerful tools to encourage
more innovation in service delivery. Staff
who receive tangible and positive feedback
on the impact of their change strategies are
more likely to continue to strive for service
improvement.
The process of measuring customer
satisfaction and gauging customer
perceptions of value and irritation is an
ongoing process. As already stated, what
once were ‘wow’ services become basic
services, so the bar continues to rise as time
goes on. Further research to define the
values and irritations for specific customer
segments (e.g., off‐campus students, part‐
time students, research staff) as opposed to
broad customer groups (e.g., undergraduate
on‐campus students, academic staff) has led
to more detailed information on which to
base decisions regarding future service
improvements.
The techniques of Customer Value
Discovery described are unusual in the
library and service environments, as the
process was initially envisaged for
commercial, profit‐generating organizations
(Austin). The great majority of organisations
using this technique are large financial
institutions and the retail sector. Therefore,
the use of this in a not‐for‐profit and service
organisation has been groundbreaking.
The optimal situation for any library
director, any director in fact, is to have staff
members who actively seek change, not for
the sake of change, but to add value to
customers and to reduce irritations. There
will always be irritations, and as the
environment changes, services have to
respond to changing needs, expectations,
and possibilities. Customer Value Discovery
research can be used as a tool for
transformational leaders, as it enables a
vision of excellence to be articulated, and
engages staff to respond to feedback and
work towards creating the future vision of
excellence.
Works Cited
Albrecht, Karl. Corporate Radar : Tracking
the forces that are shaping your business.
AMACOM, American Management
Association, New York, NY. 2000.
Austin, Kevin. E‐mail. 25 Sept. 2006.
Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC).
“JISC National E‐Books Observatory
Project.” 6 June 2007.
.
McKnight, Susan. “Customer Value
Research.” Management, Marketing and
Promotion of Library Services Based on
Statistics, Analyses and Evaluation. Ed.
Trine Kolderup Flaten. Munich: K.G. Saur,
IFLA Publications 120/121, 2006. 206‐16.
Pieters. Gerald R., and Doyle W. Young. The
Ever‐Changing Organization: Creating the
Capacity for Continuous Change, Learning,
and Improvement. Boca Raton, FL: St. Lucie
Press, 1999.
Wilson, Frankie. E‐mail interview. 7 June
2007.
http://www.jiscebooksproject.org
Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 2007, 2:4
36