Competency 8: Administration & Management
INFO 5200: SWOT, Spring 2022
This project involved selecting a hypothetical scenario and completing a SWOT analysis on it.
Competency 8C deals with "concepts behind, and methods for, assessment and evaluation of library services and their outcomes". I had an opportunity to complete an assessment using the SWOT method where I identified strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to a hypothetical library. In this scenario, I considered a library with materials on wine in a small community in Texas. In order to determine best practices for this library, I had to perform a critical evaluation of what I was able to read about the library and its community. In my analysis I determined from several factors that due to the weaknesses of the collection such as being in an area with a very small population, the library was in danger of losing staff to more highly populated areas. Strengths such as its having a unique collection of materials could be an opportunity to set itself apart from other information resources of similar subject matter. For this scenario, I had to act as though I was in an administrative position and determine best courses of action for the future of the institution. This illustrates my understanding of Competency 8D, or "concepts behind, and methods for, developing partnerships, collaborations, networks, and other structures with all stakeholders and within communities served" by analyzing a
INFO 5450: Evaluating a Book and an Institution, Fall 2021
This project was a two-part project in which we visited an archive and did an evaluation both of a particular object and the institution it is housed in.
For this assignment we were asked to consider all aspects of visiting an archive or special collections facility in person or online and reflect on the experience as a whole. While not in an administrative position at the institution I visited, my reflection on the experience allowed me to consider aspects of visiting that I had not considered before. We were asked to consider things such as COVID-19 precautions as well as the presence or absence of certain procedures for booking an appointment or viewing an object in person. I made connections between my experience visiting the collection in person to best practices as outlined by the ALA as well as operations at other special collections in other parts of the world. Competency 8C states that individuals should understand "(t)he concepts behind, and methods for, assessment and evaluation of library services and their outcomes". As a participant and observer, with specific questions in mind related to institutional functions, I was able to assess and evaluate the archive.