Solving the information workflow tracking dilemma: putting in place an automated system for tracking various service processes in information work can assist tremendously in evaluating the types of content purchased and being able to adequately report activities to management when making funding requests. But the key question is: how do you do it?

Information Outlook, Nov, 2008 by Ann Cullen, Tomalee Doan, Toby Pearlstein

In November 2007, the SLA Boston Chapter offered a program (1) in which presenters from an academic and corporate library discussed how they used different software and systems to track their research work, and, consequently, were able to easily and accurately report on the value-added they contributed to their organizations.

I, Ann Cullen, initiated the idea for this program because in my previous job at the Credit Suisse First Boston library they had an internally developed research work tracking system. Once I came to academia (I am currently at the Harvard Business School), I was surprised to see that such systems were not as commonly used in corporate libraries. So when I heard about what Tomalee Doan, currently associate professor and head librarian of the Management and Economics Library at Purdue University, had done to implement such a system, I thought it might be interesting to organize a program comparing what they were doing with the activities of a corporate library in (he Boston area. The library at Bain & Company, which had recently implemented a new and innovative system for workflow tracking, was identified to provide the corporate perspective.

At the Boston Chapter program, Tomalee talked about how she worked with Numara Help Desk software to develop tracking procedures for various library operations, including research workflow. Toby Pearlstein, who retired in December 2007 as director of global information services (IS) at Bain & Company, presented on what Bain Global IS had done to track and demonstrate the contribution of their global research operations.

Some of the key points Tomalee and Toby touched upon that evening included: how they identified the work-Now problems and solutions thereof; how their organizations set things up; got everyone on board; and used those tools to track workflow, support knowledge sharing and training. An additional benefit they both discussed was how they were better able with such systems to report on the value they added to their organizations. Tomalee will first recount what she did at Purdue, followed by Toby's comments on her activities at Bain.

Tomalee Doan's Story:

Harnessing Help Desk Software at Purdue

In a 2006 Educause Review article, Jerry D. Campbell, chief information officer and dean of University Libraries at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, wrote, "Given the events of the past decade, academic librarians perhaps know better than anyone else that the institutions they manage--and their own roles--may face extinction over the next decade." (2) This is a very recent reminder that the burden rests upon librarians to demonstrate their value to the academic institutions that we are part of and, most importantly, as partners in meeting our shared customers' expectations. Using an information workflow tracking application was an innovative way for the Purdue University Libraries' Management & Economics Library (MEL) to demonstrate alignment of work outcomes with the Purdue University Libraries overall strategic plan--striving for excellence in discovery, learning, and engagement.

In 2006, after taking the position as Head Librarian at MEL, my first priority was to understand how the resources at MEL were being used, including human resources. MEL was in the midst of a shifting paradigm, converting from a primarily print collection to a digital collection, which, in conjunction with a major physical renovation, resulted in a student-focused business information center. Organizational changes quickly occurred, from the evaluation of all staff and faculty job responsibilities, to setting organizational priorities, to increasing access to electronic resources and delivering new library services.

The implementation of workflow tracking software proved a vital asset and assisted with all of this by accomplishing the following:

* Helped to assess strategic initiatives.

* Accelerated achievement of long-term organizational productivity improvements.

* Leveraged knowledge transfer (internally and externally).

* Reduced the learning curve while accelerating service responsiveness.

Prior to becoming a library director, I held the position of systems librarian. That experience introduced me to how academic information technology units tracked their phone, e-mail and in-person queries using helpdesk tracking software. The Purdue Libraries IT department was using Numara Footprints software as a ticketing system for tracking customer issues. Since the software was already purchased for the Libraries IT Department, MEL had access and license to use the tracking software at no additional cost. Customization of the software was required for library use, which required staff time to create an interface using appropriate fields meaningful for library metrics. It was very important to determine which statistics to track that would best demonstrate MEL's value. The fields created were based on the Academic and College Research Libraries (ACRL) and College and University Business Libraries (CUBL) (3) annual data surveys.