Changing roles of the systems librarian at the College of William and Mary: the explosion of technology and position of the systems librarian
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/07378830310494517 |
| Date | 01 September 2003 |
| Published date | 01 September 2003 |
| Pages | 333-339 |
| Author | Mack Lundy |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Changing roles of the
systems librarian at the
College of William and
Mary: the explosion of
technology and position
of the systems librarian
Mack Lundy
Background
The College of William and Mary in Virginia
was chartered in 1693 and is the second oldest
college in the USA. It consistently ranks as one
of the best small public universities in the USA
in the US News and World Report rankings. In
1982, 289 years after its founding, the college
committed itself to the goal of an automated
library system, a system that did not go fully
on-line until 1987. At the time the system went
live, there were three participating and
independent libraries at the college: the Earl
Gregg Swem Library (the main library), the
Marshall-Wythe Law Library, and the Virginia
Institute of Marine Science Library at a satellite
campus 15 miles distant from the main campus.
Swem Library took the lead in creating the
on-line catalog. Since then, the holdings of
several departmental libraries representing the
sciences, education, business, and music have
been added to the library system, along with
those of Richard Bland College, a two-year
community college affiliated with William and
Mary. In 2003, the records of the Colonial
Williamsburg Foundation's John D.
Rockefeller, Jr Library will be added to the
system as part of a consortium arrangement.
The systems office and the position of
systems librarian (or systems manager until
2001) were established at Swem Library to
implement a union on-line catalog, known as
LION, for the college. The library established
the systems office with responsibility for the
library management system and its host
hardware for several reasons:
.the computing center was not in a position
to maintain a system with the complexity of
LION in addition to the college's
administrative systems;
.the VTLS software only ran on an HP3000
minicomputer which was not used
anywhere else in the college; and
.an overburdened computer center could
not dedicate the staff to guarantee a quick
response time when problems arose.
Swem has continued to use library staff to
manage LION, its host computer, and all other
library automation, though the initial reasons
which compelled its independence no longer
apply.
The author
Mack Lundy is Systems Librarian in Swem Library, at the
College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, USA.
Keywords
Systems monitoring, Systems analysis, Librarians,
Team working, Technology led strategy,
United States of America
Abstract
The systems office, at the College of William and Mary's
Swem Library, evolved from a hierarchical department to a
modified team structure. Along the way, the role of the
systems librarian has changed from a department head to a
member of a team. A unique blend of timing and
personalities made this transition both possible and
practical. While the systems librarian now works on the
same administrative level as non-librarians, there is still a
fundamental difference in how the systems librarian
functions within the library. This role of the systems librarian
has changed in complexity but still comes down to bridging
the worlds of library and technology.
Electronic access
The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is
available at
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/0737-8831.htm
333
Library Hi Tech
Volume 21 .Number 3 .2003 .pp. 333-339
#MCB UP Limited .ISSN 0737-8831
DOI 10.1108/07378830310494517
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