Jane is a Department Head in a Library of a College or University Essay - 1

Jane is a Department Head in a Library of a College or University - Essay Example This paper declares that ponsibilities might include managing all activities to ensure that materials acquired by the library are accurately and consistently described and classified for effective and efficient retrieval and utilization, managing authority control for use in bibliographic records, develop and maintain policies and guidelines for all bibliographic, cataloguing, indexing and classification work, managing membership, subscription and keeping up to date with bibliographic utilities for purpose of acquisition of bibliographic records, and managing physical processing and binding of all library materials. It is evident from the information provided that when her staff is not at a full contingency problems arise, but from the concerns brought up at the meeting of department heads, it is also apparent that this is an ongoing problem, with some other issues involved. Two questions arise which much be answered. What are the specific problems, and what can be done to improve th e situation? Another very serious issue must be resolved for the long term. Is the underlying problem Jane’s supervision? What can she do to change her management skills that will affect the performance of her entire staff? An additional issue brought up at the Department Head meeting is the backlog of cataloguing and how to resolve this problem. This is not of lesser importance than the other issues, but its resolution is dependent on the solutions Jane devises. Jane should feel frustrated by now. Not only have the problems in her department raised her stress level for the day, they have been noticed by the other Departments. Now it’s time to look at the real issues. Apparently the chain of command in the Department is not clearly set. There should be someone beneath Jane, either an office manager or administrative assistant to organize the day-to-day functions of the department and answer questions.