Table of Contents
Module 12: Corporate Library Services (Reference Excellence)
Purpose
The purpose of this module is to develop your understanding of the nature of corporate library services in local government and to develop the knowledge and skills you will need in order to answer reference questions from a specific group of patrons, council staff and elected councillors.
Introduction
Many of your colleagues working in local councils undertake research as part of their own work processes. Once they have exhausted their own resources they may turn to the library for assistance. Whether your library provides a dedicated “corporate library service” or not, you may find that you are required from time-to-time to answer queries from council staff. The knowledge and skills you have acquired in earlier modules will be utilised in order to answer queries from council staff. There are some additional resources, processes and considerations covered in this module that will assist you in providing excellent reference services to council staff.
Corporate library services
What is a corporate library service?
A number of public libraries in New South Wales provide some form of dedicated corporate library service. A corporate library service may be described as a library service tailored to meet the needs of the parent organisation.
These services may comprise one or all of the following:
- specialist reference staff
- intranet service
- online resources (databases)
- physical and electronic collections (journals, books, council documents, AV resources)
Where there is no corporate librarian, aspects of this function are often part of the duties of other library staff, especially reference or information services staff.
Exercise for corporate library services
Find out if your library offers a corporate library service. Speak to the relevant staff about the level of service offered, and what role library staff have.
Delivering corporate library services
The reference interview
The principles you have learned in Module 2 also apply when dealing with queries from council staff. As queries from council staff may be in-depth, very specific or have a deadline. it is important that you have a discussion about exactly what it is that they require. Make sure you ask questions which clarify and verify the topic and the time frame.
Helpful tips :-
- Write down the query, including keywords,
- What sources have they already checked?
- Note the time frame: when do they require a response?
- Record the staff member’s name, location, contact details and library card number.
Key sources
Council staff and councillors require information from a range of sources that reflects the breadth of their responsibilities.
Consider the following sources:-
- Documents from your own council. These include major plans such as Local Environmental Plans, Development Control Plans; Strategic Plans; Annual Reports; State of the Environment Reports; Council minutes; Codes and Reports
- Documents from other councils: Social Plans, Disability Plans etc
- Publications from local government associations: Local Government NSW, Australian Local Government Association, Municipal Association of Victoria etc
- Library resources (especially corporate library collections where they exist): Books and journals; databases
- Local Studies collections in particular: Minutes, photographs and other historical material
- Reports from state and federal government departments. These could include environmental reports, traffic studies, guidelines for services for children or the aged etc
- Legislation both state and Commonwealth
- Standards and Codes: Includes Australian Standards and Building Code of Australia
- Statistics: ABS, Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, ABARES (Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences)
- Media Monitors
- Social media
Exercises for delivering corporate library services
- Use ABARES to find a research report on bees or other biosecurity topics relevant to your location.
- Find out what resources your council’s planners use. You may arrange to meet with one of them to discuss their needs.
- Where could you find a report on a case heard by the NSW Land and Environment Court?
- Is a procedure in place which outlines how you should handle queries from council staff? Are there special policies regarding charging for inter-library-loans/reservations? Is there a library membership application form for council staff? Do library staff handle council queries in the same way they deal with public queries?
- A council planner phones the library and asks you to find examples of green roof policies at other councils as well as any recent journal articles on green roofs in cities. What resources would you search to answer this query? How would you present the results of your research?
Talk with your supervisor about what you have found once you have completed these exercises.
Hint: Presentation of research to council staff: A useful suggestion is to prepare a report template to use for presenting your research. By setting up a template you do not have to spend time on formatting the presentation of your results with every query. Using a template will also ensure that in-depth reference query results are presented in a professional manner. Templates will also assist you in the research process as they can act as a checklist.
Getting to know your council
This involves being proactive to promote the library services, and the relevant staff.
As a first step, view an organisational chart to become familiar with the different departments within council and how they are organised. Utilise the intranet for staff or divisional information such as phone numbers and contact emails. Learn about the range of services council provides, and the locations of these services.
Attending council staff induction sessions is a helpful way to introduce new staff to library services, including membership, the services offered, and information on accessing resources.
Addressing the various departments within council in smaller group sessions is useful for developing relationships, and also in determining the information needs of that particular group.
Exercises for getting to know your council
- Locate and familiarise yourself with your council's organisational chart and find out where each division is physically located.
- Find out who your councillors are and the approved way to contact them.
Considerations for corporate library services
Promoting the service
This involves making council staff aware of what the library offers. Be proactive in approaching new staff.
Depending on your role, you may consider some of the following:-
- Welcome email to new staff
- Email alert service or mailing list
- Newsletter of new items and services available to target groups
- Tours of the physical collection and/or library
- Presentations to council departments and divisions, at staff meetings and at staff induction sessions.
- Create a flyer/bookmark listing services available
- Social media sites or other group communication services eg. Facebook, Viva Engage (formerly Yammer), MS Teams, LinkedIn
Policies and protocol
It is good practice for your library to have a policy for use of the corporate library/reference services by councillors and council staff, clearly stating who is responsible for any charges incurred (e.g.ILL).
Excerpt from Sutherland Shire Libraries Corporate Library Service Policy:
Appropriate Use of the Corporate Library Service:
- to obtain books, reports and journal articles related to the business of Council
- to keep up to date with local government or management related issues
- work related study or professional development
Inappropriate Use of the Corporate Library Service
- to obtain information for relatives school projects or university assignments
- to obtain information for private recreational reading
- to obtain information for a course that is unrelated to the employee’s work at council. E.g. library employee studying garden design.
Exercises for considerations
- Does your council have a policy on councillors’ access to information and interaction with staff?
- Find the ICAC/Department of Local Government publication “Under Careful Consideration/Key Issues for Local Government”. Read Part 2 – councillors' Access to Information and Their Interaction with Staff.
Copyright
Consider the copyright restrictions on supplying articles to council staff. Things to consider:
- Are they a library member?
- Do they need to complete a copyright declaration form?
- Can this be done electronically?
- Can you supply the article electronically?
- Check the license agreement on your library’s databases.
Exercise for copyright
Locate “Libraries: a copyright guide “ published by the Australian Copyright Council.
Module 12 Answers and review
Other modules for Reference Excellence
Reference Excellence - self paced reference and information services training
Module 1 Overview of the reference process
Module 2 Reference interview skills and question types
Module 3 People skills, reference behaviours
Module 6 Ethics and legislation