- Title
- Rhodes University Library Services Annual Report 2012 : Library Director's message
- Creator
- Satgoor, Ujala
- Date Issued
- 2013
- Date
- 2013
- Type
- Text
- Identifier
- vital:7945
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011893
- Description
- Library Director's Message: It gives me great pleasure to present the 2012 annual report of the Rhodes University Library Services. Since 2010 the staff have experienced a variety of impactful changes which included a new building, a new organisational structure, a new practice model and a change of leadership. Change refers to altering one’s approach or attitude; a process which enables transformation, becoming different or doing things differently. Peter Drucker defines innovation as “change that creates a new dimension of performance.” Therefore 2012 can be described as a year of engagement, conversations, consultations, reviews, participation, collaboration and redefinition. In addition to ensuring the delivery of professional services to the Rhodes community, strategy development, quality of service, continuing professional development, human resources management and national professional engagement defines this period. Therefore an effective organization must be prepared to grasp the opportunities, alongside the threats, by responding to the challenge of change to continue adding value to its defined audience. An innovative organization focuses on the following four significant areas: • Alignment of internal strategies to corporate/institutional goals and strategies • People, skills and roles • Defined workflows or processes • Cultural engagement and support The process towards crafting a new strategic directions and articulating an organizational culture commenced with a 2-day intervention on June 14-15 2012 which was facilitated by Dr Noel Pearse. This exercise proved to be an invaluable experience for the staff, who by taking ownership of the subsequent development of the strategic focus areas and the organisational culture statement, were able to articulate their thoughts, concerns, aspirations and expectations of their organisation. The four strategies identified will go a long way to strengthening and consolidating the RUL: • Positioning the RUL in the intellectual midst of the University community • Dynamic user services to advance the RU research, teaching and learning endeavours • Staff development • Technology and innovation The LibQual online library quality survey conducted during 13-31 August 2012 was a success, which surpassed our expectations. The comparison between the 2005 and 2012 results show a significant improvement in the perceptions of the RU community towards the quality of service, information resources and the library as place. This affirmed that the new Library building and Faculty Library liaison model are serving to locate the library positively in the academic endeavor. However while we savour these results, concerns have been raised about the lack of awareness and proper use of the wide array of electronic resources available. Therefore we will be focusing on a concerted marketing and training campaign to ensure that the subscription-based electronic resources are optimally used by the RU community, especially the academics. I wish to acknowledge the sterling and creative work of the team that led this project. We also bade farewell to Ms Jeanne Berger, who was the former Deputy Director and Acting Director in April 2012. Together with the former Director, Gwenda Thomas, Jeanne drove the reconstruction and renewal project of the RUL. I acknowledge both Gwenda and Jeanne, the University Management and all those who contributed to the realisation of the vision of a modern 21st century academic library.
- Format
- 17 pages
- Format
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Rhodes University
- Hits: 3565
- Visitors: 3749
- Downloads: 263
Collections
RU Library Services
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCEPDF | 804 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |