Kekal Abadi 23 (1) 2004

ACCOUNTABILITY IN LIBRARY MANAGEMENT:ISSUES AND STRATEGIES FOR THE 21st CENTURy1

Dato' Dr. Zaiton Osman,Consultant Librarian, OUM

&Sharipah Hanon Bidin, Chief Librarian,

Tan Sri Dr. Abdullah Sanusi Digital Library, OUM

Abstract:

The issue that has been plaguing library managers is one of lack of credibility --- of not beingable to demonstrate their relevance to their organisations, of not being able to convince theirorganisations that their libraries are integral to the achievement of organisational goals. Playing aperipheral role has relegated librarians to being second-class citizens in their own organisations.Against such odds, how do librarians cope with the changes and challenges, brought by the 2151

century - changes and challenges in the form of ICT, globalisation, lifelong education, knowledgemanagement, etc.

The authors are of the opinion that in order to cope with the changes and challenges posed bythe 2151 century, the onus is on library managers to devise strategies that would provide librarieswith the competitive edge in the information delivery business despite the competition posed bycomputer companies, knowledge management companies and other professionals who havetaken advantage of the opportunities provided by ICT and the world-wide demand for knowledgeworkers. Library managers must be held accountable for their libraries' performance just as theymust be held accountable for the non-performance or non-delivery of their libraries.

In order to be accountable library managers would have to strategise by having in place well-designed strategic plans, efficient organisation, capable leadership and effective controlmeasures. Accountability therefore should be the cornerstone of library management in the 2151

century.

Abstrak:

Isu yang melanda pengurus perpustakaan ialah kurangnya kredibiliti --- tidak dapat menunjukkanbetapa relevan peranan mereka di dalam organisasi dan tidak mampu meyakinkan organisasimereka bahawa perpustakaan memainkan peranan yang amat penting dalam mencapaimatlamat organisasi. Peranan kecil yang dimainkan oleh pustakawan telah merendahkankedudukan mereka di dalam organisasi sendiri. Dengan arus yang melanda, bagaimanakahpustakawan boleh menangani perubahan dan cabaran abad 21 - perubahan dan cabaran dalambentuk ICT, globalisasi, pembelajaran sepanjang hayat, pengurusan ilmu dan sebagainya.

Pengarang berpendapat untuk menghadapi perubahan dan cabaran yang didapati dalam abad21 adalah menjadi kewajipan pengurus perpustakaan untuk mengatur strategi di mana merekapatut menyediakan perpustakaan yang berdaya saing dalam penyampaian maklumat walaupunterdapat persaingan daripada syarikat komputer, syarikat pengurusan ilmu dan badan profesionallain yang telah merebut peluang dan mengambil kesempatan yang disediakan oleh ICT dankeperluan dunia untuk pekerja berilmu. Pengurus perpustakaan mesti bertanggungjawab terhadapprestasi dan ketidakcemerlangan perpustakaan masing-masing.

Bagi memenuhi tanggungjawab tersebut, pengurus perpustakaan sepatutnya merangka danmerancang pelan strategik, organisasi cekap, pemimpin berwibawa dan kawalan efektif. Denganitu, kebertanggungjawapan sepatutnya menjadi asas pengurusan perpustakaan dalam abad 21.

Zaiton Osman & Sharipah Hanon Bidin. (March, 2004). Accountability in Library Management: Issues and Strategies for the21st Century. Paper presented at the International Seminar on Challenges for Libraries In the 21st century,Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines.

Keka/ ,~badi 23 (1) 2004

1.0 STATING THE ISSUE

If libraries are judged on their own merit, inisolation from their parent organisationsand using only collections and services asbenchmarks, the majority of libraries in theASEAN countries can be said to beexcellent - well-funded, well-stocked andadequately staffed - even when comparedwith many of those in the more developedcountries. However, when the same librariesare judged on the basis of their relevanceto their parent organisations, theircontribution is often seen as peripheralrather than integral to organisational goals.Issues of non-involvement, lack of recognitionof contribution or underestimation of theirability to play an integral role in the corebusiness of their parent organisations, havebeen highlighted again and again in theliterature, at seminars and conferences,locally and internationally. Even with theonset of the 21st century and in the era ofthe digital library, the same issues are stillbeing discussed. For example, in the caseof university libraries, issues such as "Howinvolved are libraries in the actual teaching-learning process?","ls acquiring books theonly role they play?", "Is there a correlationbetween academic achievement and use oflibrary information resources?", "Is thereevidence that using information resourceshelp undergraduates obtain good marks intheir assignments or contribute towardsgood degrees?", are still being debated. Inshort, how does one apply the principle of"The proof of the pudding lies in the eating"to university libraries? The same could beasked of other types of libraries--- publiclibraries, special libraries and schoollibraries.

The real problem as can be gleaned fromabove is one of lack of credibility --- oflibrarians who have not been able todemonstrate their ability to "perform" and"deliver" in a manner that will convince theirorganisations that their libraries areindispensable and integral to theachievement of organisational goals.

The onus is therefore on librarians,particularly library managers, to prove thatthey have an important role to play in theorganisation and this can be done by

injecting the element of accountability intheir library management. Unless librarymanagers are made to be accountable tothe organisation by ensuring that librariesprovide input in the achievement oforganisational goals, libraries will always beperipheral - sidelined and overlooked.

At whatever level therefore, operational,middle-management or top-management ---accountability should be the cornerstone oftheir library management. It is important thatlibrary managers understand this becausethere are already indicators that libraries arelosing their competitive edge in theinformation delivery 'business' - indicatorssuch as :

i. Librarians disassociating themselvesfrom the traditional concept oflibrarianship, giving rise to the changesin nomenclature used such as from"librarians" to "information professionals/specialists"; "Iibrarianship" to "informationscience", "libraries" to "knowledgemanagement centres", "informationdisseminatior)" to "information delivery",etc. as if prior to the advent of ICT,libraries have not been involved ininformation dissemination.

ii. Librarians not awarded the samerecognition vis-a-vis other professions insimilar schemes of service and salaryscales despite the fact that librarianspossess both academ ic andprofessional qualifications at entry point.

iii. The proliferation of members of otherprofessions (engineers, computerscientists, academics, economists; etc.)taking the lead role in informationprovision and dissemination.

iv. The proliferation of "knowledgemanagement" companies that developaccess and delivery systems usingcomplex innovative technology with theability to organise, manage anddisseminate structured and unstructuredinformation.

Against these odds, how do libraries copewith the changes and challenges of the 21 st

century?

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2.0

Kekal Abadi 23 (1) 2004

CHANGES AND CHALLENGESOF THE 21st CENTURY

To fight the war, one has to recognise theenemy - so it is with libraries. Unless librarymanagers can fully understand the demandsand challenges posed by the 21 st century, itwould be difficult for them to ascertainwhether or not they are capable of copingwith these demands and challenges. Oncethey understand what is required of them,they can then assess their capability byanalysing their strengths and weaknessesas well as to interpret the demands andchallenges of the 21 st century as either"opportunities" or "threats". Undertaking aSWOT analysis of libraries is importantbecause it provides libraries with a 'clinical'approach to library development, minimisingtrial and error in the process.

The SWOT analysis below is not basedon any specific research data of anyspecific library but based on generalfindings from libraries in Malaysia. It is usedas an example to illustrate the need forlibrarians to be introspective and understandtheir capabilities as well as to beaware of developments taking place intheir surrounding internal and externalenvironments (see Fig.1).

2.1 INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

2.1.1 STRENGTH

It is the authors' opinion that anyassessment of libraries' strengths andweaknesses must be based on userfeedbacks in the form of complaints, userstudies or benchmarking. In the absence of

INTERNALENVIRONMENT

EXTERNALENVIRONMENT

such feedback, the authors feel that onlythree areas can be the strength of libraries:

1. Collections

2. Reputation

3. User Education

(1) Collections

Collections are the library's greateststrength because without collections,there can be no library. The strength of thecollections however depends on its sizeand uniqueness. In the 1950's & 1960's,the size of the collection is the measure ofthe library's worth. As such, weedingexercises were seldom undertaken for fearthat large libraries (by virtue of theircollections) will lose their competitive edge.Today, the issue of size is not the maincriteria to assess the library's staturebecause with the advent of digital libraries,the world's collections are easilyaccessible literally at one's fingertips.The uniqueness of collections however hasbecome a more important criteria forassessing the library's strength because oftheir heritage value and their potential asan asset for national development. In thecase of Malaysia, the variousMalaysiana collections at the NationalLibrary of Malaysia, at the seventeenpublic university libraries (in the form oftheses and research collections), atgovernment research agencies in the formof research collections, at the State PublicLibraries in the form of the statecollections, are examples of uniquecollections that are found in the country.

STRENGTH WEAKNESS

• Collection • Collection• Reputation • Staff• User education • Funds

• Usage

• Peripheral role

• Non-integrated strategic plan

OPPORTUNITY THREAT

• Innovative Technology • Proliferation of information

• Globalisation providers

• Lifelong learning • Globalisation

• Knowledge management • National policies & objectives

• National policies & objectives

Fig. 1 : SWOT Analysis

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Keka/ Abadi 23 (1) 2004

Collectively, the collections found in alltypes of libraries in any country can bedeemed to be the country's national asset.The fact that they are professionallyorganised for easy retrieval makes librarycollections indispensable for nationaldevelopment.

However, while the monetary value ofthese collections may be easy to quantifyby totalling the annual budgets of eachlibrary, their academic and cultural valueare priceless. Notwithstanding the fact thatcollections are the libraries' strength, theissue in question is: Are the collectionsused in support of the library's objectives?

(2) Reputation

Libraries exist today because the traditionalconcept of the libraries as being at theheart of learning still prevail. In mostcountries, education is regarded as apriority area in national development. Theybelieve that a literate population is thecountry's foremost asset and a catalystcritical for national advancement. Thisbelief has prevailed till today but it is aperception that has not been substantiatedby library usage. It is obvious that whilelibraries are still regarded as an importanttool for education and a mechanism fordevelopment of manpower for the country,reputation alone is not sufficient. Theperception that libraries are importantmust be replaced by a more realisticview of the library's worth.

3) User Education

Teaching users how to retrieve materialsvia the library systems, whether manual or

electronic has long been undertaken bylibraries. User education programmes havebecome more urgent in recent years whenlibrary systems became ICT-driven. Theunderlying premise of all user educationprogrammes is that, however excellent thelibrary's collections and systems are, if notused, they serve no purpose (see Fig. 2),especially in the case of digital librarieswhich require users to first master the ICTskills before being able to applyinformation retrieval skills. The digitallibrary comprises three elements:

(1) Technical Infrastructure

(2) Knowledge Database

(3) User Education

User education programmes are nowoffered by most libraries in Malaysia, bothformally or informally. It is the best way topromote libraries and library use becausenot only do these programmes enablelibrarians to come into direct contact withthe clients, demonstrate to clients theproficiency of librarians both in the academicaspect of library work (information retrieval)as well as the technical aspect (lCT), butit also provides libraries with theopportunity to be integrated into theteaching and learning process in the caseof university libraries or reaching out tothe greater majority of society in the caseof public libraries.

2.1.2 WEAKNESS

Unfortunately, there are more weaknessesthan strengths in our analysis of theinternal environment. They are:

LIBRARY

I I(1 ) (2) (3)

TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE USER EDUCATIONINFRASTRUCTURE DATABASE (Education and Training)

(Systems) (Intellectual Content)

Fig 2 : Components of digital library

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Kekal Abadi 23 (1) 2004

(1) Collections

Generally, notwithstanding the size of theircollection, libraries have in their collection,materials that contain data which is morearchival than current. They are excellentfor scholars and researchers from theacademia but users of the 21st centuryare weaned on ICT and expectinformation at the press of a button.

Library collections are passive collections,sitting on library shelves for years, unused.Consisting mainly of printed secondary andtertiary sources, they stand the risk ofbeing. replaced bye-books, e-journals andinternet. It has become very common forlibraries to have e-books, e-journals andinternet for content provided by commercialvendors at a very high cost. It would not bea surprise however that later in the 21st

century, access to Internet and electronicdatabases will themselves become passeand by the end of the 21st century, weprobably would have materials which aremore readily available in palmtops andaccessible while showering in the bathroomor driving in cars. Will libraries have thefunds to update and upgrade theircollections will be the main issue facinglibraries in the 21st century. Unless librarieshave collections that are relevant and canmeet the demands ~f the 21st century,library collections comprising of secondaryand tertiary data, will be rendered obsolete.

The main weakness of library collectionshowever lies in the fact that they are notused to the optimum, giving rise tomanagement debates on whether or not itis cost-beneficial to maintain librarieswhen library collections are not used tothe maximum. More damaging would belibraries being relegated to functioning asarchives while internet becomes the morepopular alternative.

sound subject knowledge and goodleadership.

Library schools would have to be moreresponsive to these needs and take intoaccount that librarians of the future will notbe sitting at a desk in a library but will workin a virtual environment with PC(s) ascolleagues. Multi-skilled, the librarian willneed to communicate well, be customer-friendly, knowledgeable in several subjectareas, innovative in the use of ICT,academic and independent.

(3) Funds

Lack of funds is a perpetual problem in alllibraries. Notwithstanding the fact thatthere are libraries that are well-endowed(in Malaysia, the National Library anduniversity libraries), funds are neveradequate to fulfill all objectives. This hasresulted in libraries undertaking resource-sharing of collections and services to reduceexpenditure and optimise usage. In somecountries, libraries have embraced theconcept of 'corporatisation' through whichlibraries have imposed membership feesand service charges. Some, too, haveincreased efforts to attract sponsors anddonors to obtain funds. There will come atime when libraries will have to be self-funding.

(4) Usage

(2) Staff

The most important issue in library usageis the need to provide evidence of usage.Much of the professional literature hasalluded to the fact that despite theirimportance, libraries are not used to theoptimum. Also, with the establishment ofdigital libraries, which makes remoteaccess easy, library visits will soon bemore for pleasure (for the peace, quiet andair-conditioning comfort) than for gettinginformation. In a recent survey" ofundergraduates (2003) at the University ofMalaya Library, only a small percentagevisit the library every day (17.2%), with themajority (54 %) visiting a few times a week.The survey also shows that the majority ofstudents do not use the electronicdatabases (eg. e-books: undergraduates6.4%, postgraduates 16.41%) preferringthe printed books instead (undergraduates84.6%, postgraduates 87.5%). There is a

In order for libraries to be dynamic, librarystaff must have the right qualifications andcompetencies for the job in hand, as wellas the right attitude towards service. Inthe current situation, the majority of librarystaff can be said to be generally passiveand not proactive. This is where libraryeducation plays a part. Librarians of the21 st century must be multi-skilled, have

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need to market library services to increaseusage, whether on-site or remote. At theOUM3 Library, statistics obtained from log-ins of e-books and e-journals show that:

i. remote access is greater than on-site access and

ii. usage of e-books is higher than e-journals

(5) Peripheral role of libraries

Is the role of library passive or proactive?

There is no real evidence to show thatlibraries are integrated into the corebusiness of their institutions, especiallyacademic libraries and special libraries. Inthe case of university libraries for example,is there evidence of integration?

In the case of university libraries, there isno evidence to show that there is acorrelation between usage of libraryresources and academic achievement.

However, in a survey undertaken at theUniversity of Malaya, to determine whetherthe user education programme(Information Skills Course GXEX1401) isuseful for their learning, the majority ofstudents surveyed replied in theaffirmative.'

TeachingIs there resource-based teaching?Are library resources integrated intoteaching activities?LearningIs there resource-based learning?

. Are library resources integrated intolearning activities?ResearchIs there evidence that the morespecialised the research, the lessneed there is for library resources?

(6) Non-integrated strategic plans

The 'isolationist' approach to strategicplanning where the libraries have their ownshort-term and long-term plans (separatefrom the strategic plan of the organization)is often the cause why libraries remain onthe periphery of organisational activities. Italso reflects the status of libraries withinthe organisation.

2,2 EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

In order to be prepared for the 21st century,libraries would have to be aware ofdevelopments taking place in the worldoutside the library walls and interpret theseinto either opportunities or threats. Thosethat can be considered as opportunitiesmust be taken advantage of, while stepsshould be taken to counter the threats.These opportunities and threats foundbeyond library walls must however be seenin the right perspective, against thebackground of the library's capabilities orits "strengths" and "weaknesses".

2.2.1 OPPORTUNITY

What can be interpreted as 'opportunities'can be subjective, depending on how thelibrarians perceive them to be. For thepurpose of this paper, the authors haveidentified five (5) opportunities:

(1) Innovative Technology(2) Globalisation(3) Lifelong Learning(4) Knowledge Management(5) National Policies & Objectives

(1) Innovative Technology

The phrase "innovative technology" isdeliberately used here to denote theinnovative aspects of technology becauseever since the wheel there has been nodevelopment so global that it has not

2 Zaiton Osman, Kiran Kaur & Zanaria Saupi Udin. (2003). A survey of student satisfaction at the University of Malaya Library,Keka/ Abadi, 22(1), p. 1-17.

3 Sharipah Hanon Bidin's monthly statistical reports for the online use of the OUM Digital Collections for the year 2003.

4 The information was obtained from Chan Sai Noi, Head of the Research & Academic Services Division, University of MalayaLibrary, in March 2004. This division is responsible for the management and implementation of the compulsory one-unitInformation Skills Course GXEX 1401 conducted for all 6,000 first year undergraduate students every year since1997/1998 session.

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Kekal Abadi 23 (1) 2004

touched every aspect of life and every levelof society - e.g. e-Iearning, e-government,e-business. From the Parliament toshopping, technology has become part oflife, reaching the moon has become areality-- everythingelse seems possible.

The advantages provided by innovativetechnology can be summarised as:

a. More efficient work processes, withless mistakes and greater output

b. Provides global access toinformation

c. Encourages independent learning

However, the issue that confronts librariesin the 21st century is: To what level shouldlibrarians be trained in technology?

In the case of libraries, innovativetechnology has been identified to facilitate:

a. Day-to-day tasks such asacquisitions, cataloguing, circulation,information service etc.

b. Interaction with users via the use ofportals.

The development of informationgateways or portals offers greatopportunities for library andinformation professionals to givetheir services to users a real push.Information portal can offer usersone-stop work stations where theycan search across a multitude ofresources and retrieve electronic andbook resources within one station.Information portals can provideintegration of sources for searchingand for location and delivery ofmaterials - in whatever format theyexist. Portal brings the opportunity todevelop e-library services - to meetthe growing expectations of thestudent population.

c. Enables user education programmesto be conducted in large groups withhands-on sessions. Undertaking usereducation programmes provideslibraries with the opportunity tooptimise usage because users aretaught lifelong learning skills such as

information retrieval skills and ICTskills.

"Implementing a portal can changethe environment in which usersdiscover information and get betteraccess to the wealth of contents".(Murray, 2003)5

(2) Globalisation

The term "globalisation" is associatedmainly with business - giving rise toconcepts such as 'global economy', 'globalmarkets', 'global competition' or 'hypercompetition', etc. As described by Hitt, "aglobal economy is one in which goods,services, people, skills and ideas movefreely across geographic borders.Relatively unfettered by artificialconstraints, such as tariffs, the globaleconomy significantly expands andcomplicates a firm's competitiveenvironment"."

Is globalisation relevant for libraries? Theauthors are of the opinion that since'information delivery' is a business andglobalisation is basically a businessconcept, than globalisation will have animpact on libraries.

Innovative technology has made it possiblefor business to be conducted in a globalenvironment but how does globalisationaffect librarians?

i) Self efficiency vs. Outsourcing

Concept of self-sufficiency hasgiven way to global outsourcing bycutting out the role of the middleman, including the librarian. Thishas implications for the library inmatters relating to human resourceand organisational structure.

Examples:

a. Acquisitions: librarians do not needto go though local agents. Thereare many more companies onInternet who can acquire anythingfor libraries, ranging fromequipment to books.

5 Murray, R. (2003). Information portals: casting a new light on learning for universities, Campus-Wide Information Systems, 20(4),p146-151.

8 Hitt, M. A. et. AI (2003). Strategic management: competitiveness and globalization. (5th ed). Mason, Ohio :Thompson SouthWestern.

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b. Cataloging: OCLC is a case in pointalthough it does not contain recordsfor non-English items.

authoritarian and elitist to one thatadvocated 'equal opportunity ineducation'. 'Equal opportunity ineducation' was seen as the democraticright of all individuals ---- irrespective ofrace, status, age or ability but at thesame time 'equal opportunity' does notmean the same treatment for everyone.

c. Information Services: It is a matterof time before information servicesare conducted on a global basisreplacing libraries and librariansexcept for the provision of localinformation which however may betaken over by local companies withenough entrepreneurial acumen totake over the information market.

ii} Demand for wide-ranging information

Imagine providing information servicesfor the whole world, when mostlibraries cannot even satisfy theinformation needs of their ownclientele. Theoretically, however, thisis what globalisation could generate.Do librarians have the potential forit? In reality, no. Working on thepremise that no one person canprovide all information on everything,it will be a massive task but iflibraries do not do it, other 'moreenterprising professionals would. It isworth a thought.

For example, libraries in Malaysianeed not confine themselves toproviding information merely aboutMalaysia but through databasessubscribed and information networksestablished via the universities andministries, librarians can playa role.This will have implications for thelibrary in terms of collections, humanresource (must be proficient inEnglish and other languages, haveworking knowledge of subject areas,etc.) and job expertise and skills(indexing, desktop publishing, web-design, etc.).

For equal opportunity to be meaningful,however, education must be extendedon a continuous lifelong basis withopportunities for success provided atevery stage of the continuum. Anyattempt at early elimination would renderthe democratisation process ineffectiveand make a mockery of the principle of'equal opportunity'.

Conceptualising education as a lifelongprocess was an effort at translatingdemocratic principles into educationalpractice. Democratising education on theprinciples of equal opportunity meant areappraisal of traditional aims andmethods. Unlike the traditional concept,the modern concept of educationbelieves that education should produce alearning society, not a learning minority.In simple language, higher educationshould be catering to the masses.

The change in emphasis in educationalaims and objectives has made itnecessary for teaching and learningmethods to be reviewed, giving rise to aproductive learning environment with thefocus on learning and the learner ratherthan teaching and the teachers, withgreater emphasis given to differentiationin needs, abilities and personalities in thedevelopment of independent and activelearning.

(3) Lifelong Learning 7

The democratisation of higher educationhas given the concept 'equal opportunity'a new meaning, encompassing a widerscope of educational aims andobjectives. It has given moderneducation certain characteristics, assummarized below:

The question that begs to be asked atthis juncture is: Do we still need librariesand librarians in the face of globalisation?

The move towards a more democraticform of education in the 1960's and1970's resulted in a shift in the conceptof education from one that was

(a) Greater and more flexibleaccess to higher education

Greater access does not mean mainlyincreasing the number of peopleenrolled in mainstream university

7 Zaiton O~ma.n& Sharipa~ Hanon Bidin. (June, 2003). Providing equal opportunity in leaming: the role of the OUM Digital Librarytn dl~tance leammg. Paper presented at the International Conference on Change and Challenges of Public libraryServices to Bridge the Digital Divide, Penang.

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Kekal Abadi 23 (1) 2004

(b) Learner-centred approach tolearning

The importance given to the learner inthe modern approach to educationensures that learner needs are givenpriority. In lifelong learning, the focus ison teaching the learner how to learn, notwhat to learn. In modern terms, it wouldmean "empowering" the learner suchthat he can be independent andresourceful throughout his lifetime oflearning experiences. This also meansthat the learner is given the opportunityto learn at his own pace and accordingto his own style. He can undertake hislearning anywhere, anytime, anyhow.Learning therefore becomes flexible, ata pace dictated by the learner and inaccordance with negotiated objectives.

(c) Variety of teaching strategies

the learning population moves fromprimary schools to universities,libraries will have to reassessits collections, services and deliverysystems to accommodate this learningcontinuum. There will be traditional aswell as non-traditional universities. Inthe case of the non-traditionaluniversities offering open and distancelearning programmes, libraries will needto focus more on digital collections;services to be more flexible providingfor remote access and deliverysystems need to be efficient.

The issue is: When libraries move fromproviding library-centred to user-centredservices, the library can no longer be abuilding but a system.

programmes but also to provideopportunities for those previously"excluded" for various reasons.Propagating lifelong education wouldensure that anyone who wishes toacquire qualifications at any stage of hislife would be able to do so becausethere are alternative means by whichthe opportunity is provided.

(4) Knowledge Management

With the learner's interest at the heart ofthe teaching-learning process, themethod and strategy of instructionneed to adapt. Instruction has nowto be skills-based, not subject-based,consistent with the need to preparelearners for lifelong learning, so as toteach them how to learn rather thanwhat to learn. Instruction isindividualised to cater to individualdifferences of the learners making itnecessary for small-group teachingrather than the whole-class approachwhich assumes that learners learn atthe same pace. A greater variety ofteaching strategies have been devisedin recent years to cope with the learner-centric pedagogy such as interdisciplinaryteam-teaching, project work, problem-based teaching and with greater leTcapability, web-based teaching, e-teaching, etc.

The concept of Knowledge Management(KM) is basically one that advocatessharing of knowledge within a company oragency such that with the sharing ofknowledge it will help the company oragency to combat competition and provideit with the competitive edge. It is a processthat involves:

i) Knowledge creation recordinginformation from top managementdownwards and vice versa. It includesdocumenting unwritten knowledge or inother words, documenting experiencesof people relevant to the companyoperations.

This is not an easy task because theinformation may not be current andpeople are not forthcoming, preferringto be secretive.

ii) Knowledge organisation - documentingand using retrieval systems to storeand make accessible the necessaryinformation.

What to document, how detailed and forwhom are issues related to KM. In certainagencies, there will be a committee orjury of specialists to decide whichinformationto document and store.

iii) Knowledge dissemination/sharingWhat implications does lifelong learninghave for libraries? Bearing in mindthat lifelong 'students' are now notconfined to the 5-14 age cohort butmore likely 5-65 years age cohort as

KM was introduced to reduce barriersin information/knowledge sharing incompanies to facilitate decision-makingand prevent unnecessary duplication ofeffort. Knowing what others are doing

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in other departments will helpdepartmental heads to make moreinformed decisions. Knowledgesharing is more effective if it involvesall levels of staff - from topmanagement downwards and viceversa. The logic of sharing strategicand operational knowledge is to makeprocesses more efficient and intra-departmental communication moreeffective. As for its role in ensuring thecompany's monetary gains, it has beenreported in the professional literature tobe 'successful'. KM has also beendescribed as "organisational learning"because in sharing the information orknowledge the whole organisation goesthrougha leamingprocess.The successof KM is difficult to quantifybecause it is difficult to measure thesuccess of knowledge-sharing or toascertain to what extent organisationallearning takes place.

But what does KM mean to libraries?

secondhand, outdated, irrelevant andinsignificant.

iii) Staff must be trained or retrained incertain areas in order to functioneffectively such as the ability tointerview effectively, the ability to relateto people without either intimidatingthem or being intimidated by them,knowledgeable in relevant subjectareas, proficient at handling ICTinformation delivery systems, etc.

iv) Allows library to be creative becausethere is neither universal approach toKM, nor one or best way ofimplementing it.

v) Recognition that information is animportant commodity but like any otherproduct needs good marketingstrategies. If the library wants tofunction as an information centre it hasto convince its own market and societyat large of the importance of its roleas information provider.

(5) National Policies and Objectives

All countries have long-term strategicplans. In Malaysia, it is a 25-year plan (theVision 2020) which forms the basis fornational development till 2020. Briefly, theaim of Vision 2020 is to make Malaysia anindustrialised nation by the year 2020. Inorder to achieve this aim, nine thrust areaswere identified to drive the Vision 2020.One of the thrust areas is to make theMalaysian society a knowledge-basedsociety.

In the case of Malaysia, not only is thepublic sector committed to achieving thestrategic objectives of Vision 2020 but theprivate sector as well. Knowing where thenation is heading towards and the roleplayed by each sector of society isimportant to the library and although therole of libraries is more indirect than direct,(serving the Ministry of Education and theuniversity, etc.) libraries do have in theircustody the nation's intellectual wealthwhich should be optimized in thedevelopment of the knowledge society.Considering the wealth of informationresources located at libraries throughoutMalaysia, if they had been read and used,Malaysia does not need to wait till the year2020 to have an information-rich society.

i) The library can become the Centrefor Knowledge Management in theinstitution by being involved indocumenting, organising &disseminating the information orknowledge gathered from within theorganisation. This is particularly viablefor all libraries ego in the case ofuniversity libraries, information aboutteaching, learning and researchactivities can not only be documentedvia published reports but also byinterviewing the Vice Chancellor,Deputy Vice Chancellors, Deans,lecturers, students, Ministry ofEducation officials, etc. In speciallibraries at government agencies orprivate companies, there may beproblems with access to confidentialinformation like pricing of commodities,marketing policies, marketing researchresults, etc. In Malaysia, there are afew successful agencies undertakingKM. From their experience, it can besaid that the success of KM dependson the support of the management ofthe organisation while the mainproblem is that colleagues are notcooperative and not forthcoming withinformation, especially tacit information.

ii) The library can create primary "live"information, instead of dealing with"passive information" which is often

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2.2.2 THREAT for loans and reference, using print andelectronic resources. These materials canbe accessed on-site or from the home oroffice. However, the critical issue iscurrency and variety of information thatcannot be supplied by libraries.Globalisation will then take away from thelibrary its information delivery functionbecause in speed and variety libraries willnot be able to compete with informationcentres worldwide despite the cost.

(3) National Policies and Objectives

Governmental support is critical inpromoting the library's role in anyorganisation and as such nationalpolicies and objectives specificallyformulated for the development of librariesand their role are critical.

Absence of such policies will deprivelibraries of the basic infrastructure for itsvery existence.

(1) Proliferation of InformationProviders

A potential threat is the proliferation of non-library information providing companiesand agencies that provide information viaInternet. They may impose charges for theinformation but the information is usuallycurrent. How can libraries compete whenthe collections available at libraries aremainly secondary information found in printand electronic media?

There are three areas that the new breedof information providers has foundfoothold:

(a) delivery systems(b) content development(c) content management

At the recent International Conference ofAsian Digital Libraries, held in KualaLumpur in December 2003, it wasremarkable to listen to ICT specialists whohave devised systems for informationdelivery. The focus was systems ratherthan content but it gave a good indicationof what is imminent in the near future.Much as librarians were awed by thecurrent developments, it also gave theimpression that unless libraries take on amore pro-active approach, libraries will beby-passed as information centres.

So the issue is: Can libraries compete?

(2) Globalisation

There are two aspects in globalisation -the positive and the negative, dependingon how one views it. Pages 7 and 8, hadgiven positive insights into what canhappen with globalisation. There are twopotentials:

(i) Ability to outsource certain aspects oflibrary functions such as acquisitions,cataloguing and information sources.

(ii) Provide information services beyondhome shores. It will be a daunting taskas there will be a need to upgrade staffexpertise but notwithstar:ding this, weneed to explore the possibility.

From the negative point of view, it will spellthe end of library services as we know itnow, specifically with regard to informationdelivery. The library will remain the centre

3.0 ACCOUNTABILITY INLIBRARY MANAGEMENT

Are libraries ready for the 21st century?

Having defined the environment (internaland external) it is obvious that while in theinternal environment there are moreweaknesses than strengths, in the externalenvironment there are more opportunitiesthan threats. How then can libraries takeadvantage of the opportunities that the21sl century has to offer when libraryresources are inadequate and their rolemore peripheral than integral?

The answer is to strategise - through well-designed strategic plans, efficientorganisation, capable leadership andeffective control measures. As can beseen, these serve as management toolsand strategies that library managers shouldadopt as part and parcel of theirmanagement strategy.

It is only when these management toolsand strategies are in place can librariesensure the achievement of their goalsand objectives which should be anintegral part of the overall organisationalgoals and objectives. The onus thereforelies with the library managers tomaximise their opportunities and beaccountable for the success of theirperformance. Seen in this light,accountability therefore is the key factor

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as to whether or not library managerscan meet the demands and challengesof the 211t century.

Example of: Objectives

(1) PLANNING

A well-designed plan would providedirection, minimise uncertainty and impactof changes, reduce waste and establishstandards for goal achievements. Theplanning process incorporates the followingsteps:

Goal: To be in the forefront of knowledge...Objectives:

• to increase Science & Technologycourses to 60% in all faculties

• 40% of General studies courses tobe reduced and combined withscience course

• to increase the research vote by 20%by the year 2004

1. Setting of goals and objectives2. Formulating strategies3. Developing action plans4. Coordinating activities5. Monitoring accomplishment of

goals6. Review / revise plan

For the libraries, it is crucial that theyunderstand what their core business is,which is SERVICES. Their core businessmust be integrated into the core businessof their organisations. In designing thestrategies, the library has to first determinea strategic focus which will be incorporatedin its (i) vision (ii) mission and (iii) objectivestatements:

Example of: Strategic Plan

Strategic GoalsUniversity• Upgrade academic achievement of

weak students• Upgrade opportunities & facilities for

research for academic stafft t

Library• Implement collection development

policies for teaching and learning• Library as first stop research centre

Improve user education programmes• Develop IT

Example of: Vision

• To be the leading contributor indemocratising education

• To develop quality education throughmultimode learning technologies

• To develop and enhance learningexperiences towards the developmentof knowledge - based society

Where does the issue of accountabilityarise in the formulation of the strategicplan? It is in the quantitative methodsused to measure the accomplishment ofgoals and objectives, in the time framegiven to accomplish each activity and inthe quality measures used in theperformance such as monitoring, settingstandards (ISO) and benchmarking.However brilliant the plan, unlessimplemented, it is useless.

• To be the leader in open learning

Example of: Mission

(2) ORGANISING

Example of: Goals

• .To be in the forefront of knowledge• To produce graduates of high quality• To develop a permanent pool of

excellent scholars• To contribute to nation-building and

the well being of the people• To promote universal human values• To develop an efficient, innovative

and committed management

The organisation structure should facilitatethe achievement of goals. Therefore it isimportant that the organisation structure isdesigned to facilitate work flow (whethervia function, specialisation or process),define the chain of command (whetherhierarchical, flat, etc.), define the span ofcontrol (the wider the less effective) andclarify issues such as centralisation vs.decentralisation.

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Kekal Abadi 23 (1) 2004

The library management would have tostructure the organisation in such a way asto ensure that the organisation structurefacilitates rather than hinder theachievement of goals. The librarymanagement is therefore accountable inthis aspect.

(3) LEADING

i) It is a means of measuring whethergoals are met and if not why. You canhave well-formulated strategic plans,well-designed organisation structure,highly motivated staff but withoutcontrol there is no measure of goalsachievement.

ii) It is a management tool that can beused to monitor and measure activities(financial, performance, etc.) withgreater objectivity.

Leading is influencing others to carry outtasks towards the achievements of goals.There are different types of leadership(autocratic, democratic, transformational,etc.) but there are certain traits orcharacteristics that reflect good leadership:

(a) Develop corps of excellent staff• Staff development plan• Motivation• Competency training• Leadership training• Performance measurement

(b) Monitor activities(c) Monitor achievement of goals(d) Flexible and adaptable leadership(e) Establish value culture

leadership by example

How to measure?

There are basically three types of controlmeasures that libraries can use:

(a) Monitoring(b) ISO(c) Benchmarking

An efficient and effective control systemshows accountability.

4.0 CONCLUSION

(4) CONTROL

The inability to demonstrate theirrelevance to organisational goals hascaused librarians to be relegated tosecond-class citizens in their ownorganisations. But who is to be blamed?The 2151 century, bringing with it thechallenges of globalisation, knowledge-management, digital library, life-longlearning,TQM etc., will cause librariansto be more isolated until and unlesslibrary managers adopt and adaptstrategies that can provide them with the'strength' to confront these challenges.Library managers must therefore be heldaccountable for putting these strategiesin place. Unless library managers areprepared to be accountable for theirlibraries' performance, the issue of lackof credibility will persist and libraries willalways remain ineffective and its roleperipheral within its organisation andbeyond.

Leadership is not confined to being theChief Librarian or the Library Director butleadership is found at all levels. Leadersmay be managers but not all managers areleaders. The quality of human resource inany organisation depends on the quality ofleadership. In this way, the library managershould be held accountable if staff cannotperform and goals cannot be achieved.

Control measures must be in place tomonitor activities and ensure that goals areachieved. The effectiveness of any controlsystem depends on how effectively it canfacilitate the achievement of goals.

Why is a control system important?

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REFERENCESBrophy, P. (2001). The Library in the 21st century: New services for the information age. London:

Library Association Publishing.

Chowdhury, S. (2000). Management 21C : Someday we'll all lead this way. London, FT Prentice-Hall.

Coakes, E. (Ed). (2003). Knowledge management: Current issues and challenges. Retrieved fromOnline Database Books24X7.

Corral, S. (2000). Strategic management of information services: A planning handbook. London:AslibllMI.

Evans, G. E. (2002). Management issues of consortia, pt 2. Library Management, 23 (6/7), 275-286.

Gadd, E. (2002). Meeting the library needs of distance learners without additional funding. LibraryManagement, 23 (8/9), 359-368.

Garrod, P. (2001). Staff training and end user training issues within the hybrid library. LibraryManagement, 22 (1/2), 30-36.

Hitt, M. A ... et.al, (2003). Strategic management: Competitiveness and globalization (5th ed.).Mason, Ohio: Thomson South Western.

Pors, N. O. & Johansen, C. G. (2003). Library directors under cross-pressure between new publicmanagement and value-based management. Library Management, 24 (1/2),51-60.

Srikantaiah, T. K. & Koenig, M. E. D. (2000). Knowledge management for the informationprofessional. Medford, N.J.: Pub for the America Society for Information Science by InformationToday.

Strouse, R. (2003). Globalization of Corporate Information Centers. Retrieved from http://www.onlinemag.net p. 50-52.

Sweetland, J. H. (2001). Outsourcing library technical services - what we think we know, and don'tknow. The Bottom Line: Managing Library Finances, 14 (3), 164-165.

Van Looy, B. et.a!. (Eds.). (2003) Services management: An integrated approach. London, FT:Prentice Hall.

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