Reinventing librarians: Part 2 - Use knowledge of resources and use to enhance the procurement process
Jinfo Blog

By Marlene Gebauer

Abstract

By their very nature, librarians are good at knowing what their users need. They listen, they understand the organisation, they monitor usage of current resources, and they hear about and evaluate new resources, which puts them in an ideal position to provide valuable input to the procurement process. In Part 2 of the series on reinventing librarians, Marlene Gebauer shows how this is another way for librarians to add value.

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All accounts seem to say that law firms are in for some considerable changes in the coming years. Business models, along with workflow and necessary staffing, will change in order to remain viable. In this new legal environment, librarians need to stay ahead of the curve to remain relevant. In this series, we will explore ways in which law firm librarians can alter their responsibilities and those of their departments to adapt in a changing market. Many of the ideas presented here can be adapted to other special library settings.

View Part 1 »

In Part 1 of the series, I explored the idea of librarians as embedded research specialists in practice groups. In Part 2, I discuss the idea of librarians as procurement specialists.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of legal and business resources available to users to aid them in their practice. While all of these online research services offer some component of value and have their staunch supporters, subtle variations in content and functionality often make it confusing to sort out what is really needed to satisfy the information needs of an organisation. Deciding which resources to support can pose a challenge to organisations which need to manage expense. Librarians, who by nature of education and job function, understand the nuances between resources and have the institutional knowledge of how they are used, are in an optimal position to impact procurement decisions. Here are a few ways librarians can and do enhance and improve the procurement process.

Monitoring use of resources

The library is often responsible for monitoring use of online research resources and monitoring metrics are a critical tool in managing licences. Products on the market allow the library to obtain the majority of their information from internal monitoring. Reports from these monitoring products record things like site accessed and time spent within a site. Some of the more sophisticated monitoring products can even get to the granular level of recording number of searches, search terms and where users go within a resource. Having these metrics allows librarians to have meaningful conversations with decision-makers regarding need for renewal, changes in access and user education.

Use of cost ceilings, alerts or dingers

The use of cost ceilings, alerts or dingers allows the librarian to manage cost and user education in a timely fashion, which can ultimately impact renewal and access decisions. Librarians have administrative rights with certain products to create a cost ceiling that will prohibit users from spending over a predetermined amount. Once a user hits this amount, librarians can review use to determine if education is needed. Similarly, use of alerts and dingers, either set up in monitoring products or as part of a firm’s cost management system, can be used to apprise the librarian if a user has hit a cost benchmark. Using these tools, the librarian can quickly perform outreach and impact users’ future online choices. Such intervention, done regularly, can have a significant impact on use, and consequently future pricing of products.

Regular evaluation of existing and potential subscriptions

It is a never ending challenge to keep up with new and enhanced online legal and business research resources, but it is a necessity, particularly now, when the power of vendors in the industry seems to be changing daily. Librarians regularly monitor and receive media regarding vendor business intelligence, and new and improved research products. They attend conferences and presentations which highlight the value of products and they conduct trials of products within their organisation for evaluation. They are the first stop for comprehensive understanding of research and information management resources and are excellent gatekeepers for product promotion and evaluation in the organisation. Any interest in research solutions should be directed to the library for further review and discourse. Librarians responsible for a regular and comprehensive evaluation process can harness organisational interest in research on information management products to produce a rich evaluation and highlight pros and cons, to users and decision-makers. This allows for more informed and smarter purchasing decisions for the organisation. This sort of evaluation can also be applied in a comparison of print with online purchasing or in any scenario where a choice between resources is being considered.

Maintain a knowledge bank of resources

As metrics and evaluations are crucial to have a informed discussion regarding price, purchase, access and renewal decisions, maintaining a knowledge bank of pricing and use history, vendor representations, contracts and product evaluations is a necessity. Simple Excel sheets or more sophisticated electronic resource management solutions can be considered based on the volume and complexity of the data stored. Having a bank of information on pricing and purchasing of print resources is also worthwhile, particularly as it compares to online use of the same products or as it compares to an eBook solution. Librarians, holding the necessary metrics and operating as natural vendor gatekeepers, are in a unique position to negotiate licensing agreements or to assist in negotiation, by offering analysis and opinion regarding what resources are needed, who is using them and how, and what aspects of resources are useful or less useful in terms of a law firm's practices. Their institutional and industry knowledge can be used in different negotiation models such as solo negotiator, working in conjunction with a partner such as a procurement director or CIO, as a member of a negotiating team, or simply in a supporting analysis role.

Conclusion

Taking advantage of librarian knowledge can lead to an improved electronic research resource purchasing process. For those interested in more information regarding management of electronic licensing and contract negotiation, speak to your peers to find out what they are doing, attend classes (for example http://www.uksg.org/event/Licensing091209 ), review other materials, such as those from David Whelan (http://bit.ly/pDlwne), and those on the art of contract negotiations (www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eqm0114.pdf).

Reinventing librarians: Part 3

In the third and final instalment of this series, I will focus on the librarian’s role in establishing guided research principles in an organisation.

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