College and Research Libraries


l 

r RICHARD M. DOUGHERTY 

The Impact of Networking on 

Library Management 

The provision of library services through networks will impact the way li-
braries are managed. Changes in collection development, cataloging, inter-
library loan, reference work, and document delivery are cited as activities 
already affected. Several specific management problems, including resource 
reallocation, personnel, and resource imbalance, are discussed. It is con-
cluded that library managers wo.uld be well advised to review how networks 
might impact their operations so that appropriate solutions can be formu-
lated as soon as possible. 

As SOCIETY s PROBLEMS become more 
complex, decision makers will become more 
dependent upon the availability of accurate 
information in order to solve problems. The 
rerognition of this dependency has caused 
some governmental decision makers as well 
as information professionals to seek ways in 
which to overhaul the nation's information-
handling systems. Many of the contempo-
rary issues were addressed in the recent re-
port issued by the National Commission on 
Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS). 
In it the commission recommended the de-
velopment of a national network that would 
increase bibliographical and physical access 
to library materials to all citizens. 1 

While NCLIS may set the tone for future 
planning and developmental activities, in 
fact, . many libraries are already deeply in-
volved with networking. Recently, Susan 
Martin, in her state-of-the-art report on 
network development, listed those organiza-
tions that could be defined as networks. The 
list reflects the impressive progress that has 
been made in various parts of the country. 2 

In March 1977 the Librarian of Congress 
<illlnounced the formation of a committee 
consisting of representatives of organizations 
now engaged in network development to 
advise the librarian of short- and long-range 

Richard M. Dougherty is university librarian, 
University of California, Berkeley. , 

programs related to (1) the definition of ob-
jectives and functions of the national library 
and information service network; (2) the 
components of the network; (3) the roles of 
the components, including the Library of 
Congress; and (4) technical bibliographic 
policy considerations and tasks to be per-
formed for building of the network. Al-
though many years will pass before the lofty 
goals set forth in the commission's report 
are achieved, nonetheless, the first steps 
have been taken. 

Networks will deliver bibliographic in-
formation to libraries in a variety of formats. 
Up to now these data have been used 
primarily to support local cataloging opera-
tions. Location data are also being added to 
the bibliographic data bases so that these de 
facto union catalogs will gradually become 
valuable finding tools. 

But cataloging data are not the only form 
of bibliographic information that libraries 
are utilizing. Computerized information 
services that supply bibliographic citations, 
supplemented by key words and/or abstracts 
(e.g., System Development Corporation, 
Lockheed Corporation, and the New York 
Times), are becoming regular components of 
library reference operations. These systems 
represent only the first generation; research 
and development engineers are already 
predicting that new technologies will make 
it economically viable for systems to store 

I 15 



16 I College & Research Libraries • January 1978 

not only citations and abstracts but to ac-
commodate as well entire texts in the not 
too distant future. 

Although this paper is focused on man-
agerial implications, the availability of 
computer-produced products has already 
generated a plethora of practical and 
philosophical issues. Should libraries charge 
for these new services? If so, who should be 
charged? How much? Should certain groups 
be partially or totally subsidized? There is 
every reason to believe that today' s genera-
tion of computer-based services is only the 
harbinger of greater changes to come. 

Most library managers need not be as 
concerned about the actual structure of the 
network as they must be about the products 
it delivers or the impact these products will 
have on library policies, activities, and serv-
ices. Experience to date suggests that sig-
nificant changes are in the offing. Fortu-
nately, enough is known about what is likely 
to occur to enable managers to prepare for 
future eventualities. 

The pur.pose of this paper is to heighten 
awareness of several significant trends. The 
paper examines five areas in which change 
is already evident and describes some of the 
problems associated with these changes. 

AREAS OF CHANGE 

Collection Development 

The ability of libraries to share on-order 
information will facilitate coordinated, in-
terinstitutional collection development. For 
the first time, book selectors on one campus 
will have immediate access to the selection 
decisions of colleagues who are responsible 
for book selection in comparable subjects or 
languages at other institutions. 

It may become easier to persuade users, 
who now insist that all books and journals 
must be located near at hand on campus, 
that libraries can share resources with 
neighboring institutions without degrading 
the quality of campus educational programs. 
This realization could pave the way for 
other decisions that could change thinking 
about book collections, their size and hous-
ing. For example, off-campus shelving 
facilities might become a more acceptable 
alternative to house selected categories of 
materials now shelved in campus library 
facilities. 

Cataloging 

The library community is already aware of 
the dramatic impact the Ohio College Li-
brary Center (OCLC) has had on traditional 
cataloging procedures. OCLC' s growth has 
been phenomenal; it now serves the daily 
needs of more than 1,000 libraries. It is al-
ready clear that the staffing patterns of the 
typical catalog department of 1978 are quite 
different from departments of the 1950s and 
196()s. 

One particularly significant side benefit of 
the enormous OCLC data base has been its 
use to aid libraries to eliminate long-
standing backlogs of uncataloged materials. 
Recently the University of California at San 
Diego began to utilize OCLC' s data base 
with the expressed purpose of reducing its 
300,000-volume arrearage of uncataloged 
materials. 

Interlibrary Loan 

Quicker access to bibliographic data 
through networks will produce a gradual 
shift in the traditional interlibrary lending 
patterns among institutions. Those who de-
sire materials will be able to discover more 
easily which libraries own a particular title; 
they will also be able to address a request 
to the nearest library, instead of the present 
tendency of routing automatically a request 
to the nearest large research library. The 
long-term effect should be to lighten the 
lending burden shouldered by the research 
libraries. Other libraries, however, may be 
required to increase the budgets of their 
interlibrary loan units to accommodate in-
creased work loads. 

Reference Work 

The advent of computerized information 
data ~ases has already added an exciting 
new dimension to library information serv-
ices. These data bases have already demon-
strated their worth as effective, convenient 
tools to researchers. Many libraries now 
'provide these services on a regular basis. 
But a corollary development has been the 
discovery of how much work is involved in 
training staff to write profiles, the extra 
work loads caused by the need for ~taff to 
provide instruction to library users, and the 
operational complexities of interfacing with 
the system. 



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Document Delivery 

Today very few academic libraries. pro~ide 
document delivery service to theu chen-
teles. As the profession improves its acces-
sibility to machine-readable bibliographic 
data bases, demands will be generated for 
improved document delivery systems. 

PROSPECTIVE PROBLEMS 

As more library activities are impacted by 
network services, a chain of events will be 
set into motion that will create a new gen-
eration of problems for library managers. It 
will become increasingly apparent that there 
are imbalances in the distribution of dollars 
among library activities. As functions such 
as cataloging and acquisitions are changed, 
reduced, or phased out, it will be necessary 
to retrain staff to perform new functions. 
The improved accessibility to bibliographic 
availability will burden further the an-
tiquated and inefficient document delivery 
systems. 

Although these problems-(!) resource 
reallocation, (2) personnel problems, and (3) 
resource imbalances-are only three of the 
many problems that will confront tomor-
row's library manager, all are central and 
merit careful examination. 

Resource Reallocation 

Resource reallocation is one of the most 
talked about but least understood of today' s 
current managerial problems. The term, 
"reallocation," is used to designate a change 
in the distribution pattern of funds among a 
group of activities. The concept is not 
difficult to grasp, but the factors that must 
be taken into consideration can be complex, 
often subtle. A plan to reallocate· resources 
requires careful planning and preparation. 
Librarians seem to be aware of the need to 
reallocate, but as yet there seems to be lit-
tle evidence in the literature that formal 
plans for reallocation are commonplace. 

It is relatively easy to illustrate how com-
plex this process can be. For example, a li-
brary decides to subscribe to the services of 
OCLC; consequently, it no longer requires 
the same number of staff to perform some 
functions related to cataloging. As funds are 
generated through savings in labor costs, 
some of the savings may have to be used to 
defray the monthly OCLC computer bill. At 

Library Management I 17 

the same time, staff who have been released 
from their former duties may have to be re-
trained and provisions made to incorporate 
them into different library units. This real-
location process is likely to impact the li-
brary's future budget requests, not only for 
the units directly affected by OCLC, but 
also public service units, particularly if the 
library has transferred staff from technical 
services to public services. 

Libraries that introduce automated serv-
ices, unless totally supported by special 
budgetary augmentations, will have to fund 
the automated activities from existing 
budgeted funds. Most libraries will defray 
these costs by reallocating furids from exist-
ing personnel budgets into computer sup-
port budgets. But as the utilization of 
computer-based network services grows, li-
brary managers may have to readjust fund 
distribution patterns in order to meet shift-
ing ·service, organizational, and operational 
needs. 

Fund reallocations may be particularly 
difficult for libraries that are bound by the 
provisions of existing labor agreements ~r 
by state fiscal regulations. Since so few h-
braries operate under rigid collective bar-
gaining agreements, this should not prove 
too troublesome; but ov.erly restrictive fiscal 
regulations present a much more formidable 
challenge, as many state universities and 
colleges are prohibited from taking actions 
that private industry would view as sound, 
prudent management practices. 

Many traditional restrictions were estab-
lished to increase budgetary control, but, as 
is generally recognized, such restrictive 
fiscal policies tend to contribute to the was-
tage so common with public agency funds. 
In the near future, pressures to reallocate 
existing resources in order to integrate new 
technologies may encourage, hopefully, 
state agency officials to grant greater budget 
flexibility. There is need to educate and 
persuade officials of funding agencies that 
greater budgetary discretion would contrib-
ute to greater operational effectiveness. 

Personnel Problems 

The most sensitive issues facing library 
managers will continue to be those relat~d 
to personnel. Confrontations seem unavm~­
able since technological developments Will 



18 I CoUege & Research Libraries • January 1978 

probably displace some library staff. These 
positions will represent jobs that no longer 
need to be performed manually, and the 
funds released will be needed to pay for the 
new technologies. 

Ironically, more not fewer ·librarians will 
be needed if the profession is to take full 
advantage of the new tools made available 
through technological advances. For exam-
ple, more reference librarians will be re-
quired to instruct and/or mediate 
computer-based reference systems for users. 

· Fortunately, a sizable proportion of the 
cutbacks can be accomplished through the 
process of natural attrition, but in some li-
braries, staff layoffs may become necessary. 
The specter of layoffs or even the prospect 
of job reassignments will sooner or later 
spur some staff to oppose cutbacks they 
view as threats to their careers or job secu-
ritY. Management may be -able to convince 
staff that delaying tactics in the long run 
will work to their disadvantage. 

Anyone familiar with the unhappy cir-
cumstance that recently beset the printing 
industry may understand more clearly the 
consequences of prolonged, obstinate oppo-
sition to change. Compositors actively op-
posed managements that began to convert 
composition operations from hot-type 
machines to faster, cheaper, cold-type 
machines. The union objected; under-
standably, they were attempting to protect 
the jobs of members, but by doing so, both 
companies and union members were im-
pacted by technology, and both companies 
and workers suffered as former markets 
were diminished. Companies went bank-
rupt, and the jobs of union members 
vanished. 

Personnel problems related to technologi-
cal displacement will persist only for a rela-
tively short period of time. During this pe-
riod, however, some library managers can 
anticipate heightened friction, tension, and 
occasional conflict between staff and man-
agement. One network planner has pre-
dicted, "The personnel turbulence which 
will result from more effective library net-
works and their impacts on the library will 
provide, perhaps, the greatest challenge to 
the network librarian that he has ever 
faced." 3 

Circumstances will vary from library to 

library, but managers would be wise to look 
ahead and identify what options are avail-
able, how many staff are .scheduled to re-
tire, what is the normal turnover rate, who 
are the most trainable staff, and if the li-

. br~ or campus offers the necessary train-
ing courses. Library schools and professional 
associations along with other . professionally 
oriented groups, such as the Continuing Li-
brary Education Network and Exchange 
(CLENE), will offer assistance, but the 
principal burden for retraining current staff 
will remain the responsibility of local librar-
ies. 

There is no shortage of work to be per-
formed in libraries; there is only the 'need 
to decide which activities should receive 
highest priority. Staff are more versatile and 
flexible than most might suspect; catalogers 
can and are trained often to function as ref-
erence librarians, and reference librarians 
given adequate training can learn to provide 
services in a multi-institutional network en-
vironment. The crucial element is that man-
agement should begin to plan in order to 
anticipate problems rather than simply react 
to them as they occur. 

Resource Imbalance 

As libraries utilize the services offered 
through networks, imbalances in the current 
pattern of resource allocations among library 
activities will become more apparent. The 
current distribution of resources between 
activities associated with acquisition and 
cataloging and activities associated with pro-
viding user access to resources is one prac-
tical example. As user accessibility to bib-
liographic data via networks is improved, 
the demand for materials will grow because 
location information will be more quickly 
and easily accessible, but the movement of 
documents must still be accommodated by 
the already overburdened delivery systems. 
There is a strong possibility that libraries 
will be mandated to streamline their deliv-
ery systems. 

The task of overhauling inter- and intra-
institution delivery systems may prove to be 
much more complicated than some might 
imagine. Systems must be designed to facili-
tate delivery within a campus community or 
between campus communities. All 
modes of transportation will have to be 



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utilized, including the U.S. Postal Service, 
Greyhound Bus, UPS, delivery trucks, 
passenger buses, telefacsimile, and 1WX. 
System planners must be able to discrimi-
nate between materials that are needed 
immediately and those that can be delivered 
in a week or two. 

One of the lessons learned from the ex-
periments with telefacsimile transmission 
systems conducted a few years ago was that 
a sizable percentage of users did not pick up 
materials immediately from the library upon 
notification of receipt. 4 If a system of dif-
ferentiated response could be designed, it 
would prove to be more effective in meet-
ing user needs than is the case with current 
systems. 5 Most likely the system would also 
prove more economical to operate. 

More responsive dcicument delivery sys-
tems will also be needed if librarians are to 
take seriously the objective of coordinated 
interinstitutional collection development. 
Coordinated collection development will 
also stimulate greater demands to move ma-
terials between campuses. Evidence of this 
phenomenon has already been reported by 
participants of the Research Libraries Group 
(RLG) program. Prior to RLG, 200 items 
were requested annually between the four 
members. In its first full year of operation, 
it was reported that RLG members had re-
quested 5,423 items from project partners. 6 

Libraries proposing to participate in 
shared collection development agreements 
must eventually convince their local user 
constituencies that resource sharing will not 
degrade either local services or access to li-
brary resources. Students and particularly 
faculty who have come to expect books to 
be located close at hand may not view 
favoraJ>ly a system that is predicated upon 
rapid delivery of books from a distant li-
brary. In order to overcome the objections 
and skepticisms that they now harbor, more 
dollar resources must surely be allocated to 
upgrade library delivery capabilities. 

We are suggesting that the sequence of 
events just described will be set into mo-
tion, at first almost imperceptibly, as librar-
ies assimilate network services as a regular 
component of their operations. The balance 
between bibliographic and physical accessi-
bility represents only one of many opera-
tional balances that will be disturbed as a 
result of increased network utilization. 

Library Management I 19 

SUMMARY 

'Ibe national bibliographic network, once 
available, will enhance a library's opportu-
nity to serve its clientele. Planning, de-
velopment, and implementation of networks 
represent a long-term, expensive commit-
ment. Evidence of the movement toward a 
national network is clearly evident by or-
ganizations such as OCLC, NELINET, 
SOLINET, the Washington Library Net-
work, and BALLOTS. 'Ibese state and re-
gional networks already provide valuable as-
sistance to libraries by making cataloging 
data easier to obtain. New challenges and 
problems will confront library managers as 
current planning initiatives are transformed 
gradually into operational networks and as 
library organizations and functions begin to 
be impacted. 

It would be prudent for library managers 
to identify as soon as possible those prob-
lems that can be anticipated and then to 
begin to formulate plans to deal with them. 
There seems to be no reason why careful 
planning cannot aid library managers to 
avoid the most serious pitfalls. Steps should 
be taken to insure that the benefits to be 
accrued from the national network will out-
weigh the problems of local transformation 
and accommodation. 

REFERENCES 

1. National Commission on Libraries and Infor-
mation Science, Toward a National Program 
for Library and Information Seroices: Goals 
for Action (Washington, D.C.: The Commis-
sion, 1975). 

2. Susan K. Martin, Library Networks; 1976-77 
(White Plains, N.Y.: Knowledge Industry Pub-
lications, 1976). 

3. Lawrence G. Livingston, "The Near Future of 
Library Networks in the United States," paper 
presented at the 1976 fall EDUCOM meeting 
in Boston, Massachusetts, p. 7. 

4. Nelson Associates, Inc., An Evaluation of the 
New York State Library's Pilot Program in the 
Facsimile Transmission of Library Materials 
(New York: Nelson Associates, 1968), p.42, 51. 

5. University of California, Office of the Univer-
sitywide Planning, The University of Califor-
nia Library; A Plan for Development 
(Berkeley, Calif.: Systemwide Administration, 
1976), p.49. 

6. Research Libraries Group, Annual Report 
1975-1976 (Branford, Conn.: Research Librar-
ies Group, 1976), p. 7.