Reengineering University Information Services: Yuan Ze University's Experience by Chaucer Chaoyun Liang, Frank Cheng, and Eunice Hsaio-Hui Wang This article describes an ongoing reengineering project at Yuan Ze University in Taiwan that has brought about significant change by providing integrated information services to the campus community. The authors describe the change process as well as the obstacles encountered and the strategies employed to overcome them. Obstacles to the change process were not predominantly technological, but organizational. Over the past decade, the field of library and information science has seen a rising flood of articles and research devoted to various aspects of "the library of the future." Some authors speculate on the directions the library of the future will take,1 while others explain in detail the steps taken to advance their own specific organizations and services.2 In the latter vein, this article shares the vivid experience of an information services reengineering project implemented outside the United States, at Yuan Ze University (YZU) in Taiwan.
INTEGRATED INFORMATION SERVICES In the past, university information service units such as libraries, computing, and media centers functioned as separate entities. Traditionally, libraries were responsible for managing collections of scholarly documents and for providing access to external bibliographic databases, while computing centers managed administrative and/or academic information and numeric databases, and media centers, if available, managed instructional audiovisual facilities and provided diverse media services. As Lunin and D'Elia indicate, each delivery system specialized in different formats and types of information; each developed its own mechanisms and culture for acquiring, maintaining, and distributing information; and each rendered its services independently of the others.3 In short, information was channeled to campus information users and knowledge workers through disparate subsystems instead of through an integrated system. Oftentimes these divergences resulted in fragmentation and duplication of resources and services, which caused confusion, especially when the users' needs were for integrated and/or crossmedia information services. Clearly, then, an integrated information service unit is called for, first to satisfy campus information users' increasing needs, and second to make the administration and implementation of technologies more efficient and effective. Concurrent with this conceptualization, the call for integrated information services within academic environments has already been set in action in a number of instances. According to the last CAUSE professional paper, there are currently more than ninety-four institutions that have such integrated organizations, and
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more than 80 percent of these institutions integrated their operations since 1993.4 The following six are but a few examples. At Babson College, the Information Technology and Services Division (ITSD) brought together five previously separate units: academic computing, administrative computing, media services, the college telephone company, and the library.5 The University of Minnesota also initiated a project through the Integrated Information Center (IIC) through which the users enjoy access to both information systems and services.6 The University of Wisconsin at Whitewater's Technology and Information Resources organization is another example of the integration of library and computing services.7 In addition, Rice University, Lehigh University, and the University of Maryland at Baltimore are recognized for their accomplishments in reengineering their information services organizations.8 In observing the above cases, we realize that although the idea of integration is universal, the action is full of local considerations. Each case has its unique background and campus culture, which in turn engenders its own political considerations and change processes.
INTEGRATING INFORMATION SERVICES AT YZU YZU is located in Chung-Li, Taiwan, and was founded by the Far-Eastern Group in 1989. With an emphasis on the academic fields of engineering and technology, YZU has four colleges: Engineering, Informatics, Management, and Human & Social Sciences. Currently, YZU has 200 faculty members and a student body of 5,000. YZU is recognized in Taiwan for its visionary leadership, technological excellence, and vigorous administrative support. However, to effect the transformation of YZU's information environment called for much more than outstanding technology and top-notch support. It required bone-deep organizational restructuring across all sectors--a top-down and bottom-up approach, which encompassed external physical environments as well as internal mindsets. In keeping with the trends toward intensive application of information technology, the line between the services provided by the library and computing center becomes blurred, and budget pressures force a re-examination of resource allocation. Although these factors are important contributors to the birth of a reengineering project, a commitment to satisfy customers' information needs is the real driving force. The task of integrating the library and computing center at YZU began in 1992, with the reengineering process implemented in three distinct stages: Phase I, Fermentation (August 1992 through July 1994), Phase II, Radical Restructuring (August 1994 through July 1995), and Phase III, Tectonic Change (August 1995 to present). Inevitably, some resistance arose during the process, but the mutual benefits gained from this integration overcame most difficulties. While many technical problems were resolved, the human problems proved by far the
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toughest. Few were encountered in Phase I. Most emerged during Phases II and III, the periods of restructuring and tectonic change. Nonetheless, throughout the painful but exciting restructuring process, many new service ideas blossomed, and numerous innovative tools were developed. After four years, in the fall of l996, the new unit, Library and Information Services, went into formal operation.
Fermentation (August 1992-July 1994) Promoting information technology applications is one of YZU's long-standing and well recognized developmental policies. In 1992, in order to transform innovative information service ideas into action, the school formed a think tank, "Information Society at YZU," which has met regularly since its formation to discuss critical issues in an information society. At first, the think tank focused on R&D activities of the various campus information systems within the University. This initial venture yielded worthwhile results by improving productivity-a by-product of the system diagnostics undertaken during that period. It also brought YZU nationwide recognition for administrative automation when the think tank activities were written up in national business magazines. YZU's interest in exploring the information society focused not only on the technological infrastructure, but also on its educational and societal implications. Thus, in 1993 the think tank expanded the scope of its discussions to cover four major issues, namely: •
information technology and instructional/research activities
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information technology and campus services
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information technology and organizational design
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information technology and laws/ethics.
A process of vigorous exploration, courteous dialog, and rumination ensued. The best of this brainstorming sharpened the direction and brought forth the ideas that became the foundation for reengineering the existing information service organizations on campus. Some primary members in this think tank then formed a task force with a mission to carry out the reengineering project. The task force is composed of four major figures: the dean of the Informatics College, the director of the computing center, the head of the library, and an information service expert from the Department of Information Communication. Although each member of the task force has full authority over his/her charging organization, the dean of the Informatics College holds a strong influence on the developmental trends of campus information services. The original plan was to finish the project within one year, from 1994 through 1995. To avoid unnecessary interruptions of the campus information services, the task force started this project as pure academic research.
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Radical restructuring (August 1994-July 1995) In August of 1994, after two years of brainstorming, the task force moved to put its ideas into action with the intention of completing the reengineering project by July of 1995. During the first six months, among numerous items on its agenda, the task force first defined its organizational mission, namely: Taking concerted action within the University's developmental policy, to evaluate information needs, to plot information strategies, to develop information systems, to manage information resources, and to promote information services. The task force then took a critical look at the service processes of the library and computing center, and aggressively explored possible organizational structures, managerial practices, and service models. Based on this analysis, the task force next combined the similar functions of both organizations and proposed a new service model (see Figure 1). This service model then provided the organizational structure for the new information service organization, which comprised five divisions: (1) Collection Management, (2) Promotion and Consultation, (3) System Development, (4) Media Services, and (5) Networking (see Figure 2). Figure 1: Proposed new service model
Under the new organizational structure, the Collection Management Division would be in charge of library administration as well as the acquisition and cataloging of library collections. The duties of the Promotion and Consultation Division would include circulation and reference services, technical support, educational activities, and cooperation with off-campus partners. The System Development Division would be responsible for developing and evaluating a variety of information systems. The Media Services Division would undertake planning, managing, and promoting campuswide media services. And finally, the Networking Division would be in charge of planning, maintaining, and promoting network applications. Although this project had the full support of top management at YZU, the task force still met some obstacles, and inevitably some resistance arose during the radical restructuring process. These problems included: (1) limitations set by government regulations, (2) misunderstandings by other intra-campus units, (3) discrepancies and deficiencies in professional practice, and (4) traditional practices of information users.
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Figure 2: Proposed new organizational structure
Limitations set by government regulations. According to current higher education regulations in Taiwan, every university is required to have a library, and the designation "library" must be part of the university's organizational chart. Originally, the idea at YZU had been to merge the library and computing center into an integrated organization, essentially eliminating the name "library" from the school's organizational chart, although the services would still exist. Unfortunately, current regulations limited this innovative move. Misunderstandings by other intra-campus units. Other intra-campus administrative and academic units did not have a clear picture of the proposed restructuring. Misunderstandings grew into suspicion about lines of authority, future resource allocation, and so forth, and inevitably rumors spread across the campus, in turn generating still more resistance. Discrepancies and deficiencies in professional practice. The traditional boundaries between library and computer sciences are becoming blurred as the two professions move closer together, but the knowledge and skill gap in professional practice remains wide. Additionally, for both groups, the reengineering project involved some sensitive issues such as changes in work content and job security. The prospect of these impending changes increased tensions and deepened estrangement between the library and computer professionals involved. How to help these two groups of professionals work together successfully became a high-priority mission. Traditional practices of information users. A contemporary library should be positioned as an "information-access center," but it is still regarded for the most part as a "sit-in-and-read" place by the majority of users. Changing the customary practice of using a library was another crucial hurdle for the task force to overcome. The task force decided that constant communication would be the key to overcoming most of the above problems. First, by raising related issues and stimulating wide-ranging discussion in professional journals and at conventions, the task force hoped to attract attention beyond the YZU campus, to influence professional opinion and, in turn, to modify government policies. Next, to clarify its intentions and to allay as many unnecessary doubts as possible, the directors of the library and computing center paid courtesy visits to all the academic and administrative units on campus to illuminate the ideas and to explain how this change would be implemented. Furthermore, they made a 5
variety of presentations across campus. They explained the benefits, such as convenience and effectiveness, which would accrue from the organizational change. The problems enumerated above did create difficulties in implementing the organizational changes. But the analyses strongly validated the restructuring concept and top management gave full support. Consequently, the task force decided to invest a further year to soften its approach.
Tectonic change (August 1995-present) After reviewing the progress in Phases I and II, the task force decided that the radical revolution-type change might not be appropriate for YZU because such a large-scale change would threaten people's established beliefs and behavior patterns toward information services. For Phase III, the task force decided on a two-pronged attack. First, the radical approach to change was abandoned in favor of a more muted approach--one of tectonic change.9 At the same time, the task force squarely faced the aforementioned problems and set about resolving them. Beginning in August of 1995, the library and computing center both had new leaders in place, and the Provisional Office of Information Services was formally established as an administrative unit on campus. Two months later, according to plan, the above two organizations began to "virtually integrate." Virtual integration meant that work areas were reassigned, without change to the original organizational structure. The help desk in the computing center was relocated to combine with reference services in the library. The library automation system staff were moved to the system development division in the computing center. The audiovisual services originally provided by the library were also merged with the telecommunication and networking services to become an integrated media services unit. This virtual integration was a significant change for the staff from both the library and computing center because relocation meant radical change in their work environment, their partners, their job content, and even their professional culture. However, this change was followed by a six-month period of stability, which allowed them time to adjust their work routines, pace, and mood. During this period, a series of on-the-job training activities was carried out to make up any deficiencies and inconsistencies in required professional knowledge and skills. Custom-designed and spontaneous leisure activities such as exercises and lunch parties were also held to increase opportunities for interaction and mutual understanding among and between the library and computer professionals. In addition, the task force identified departmental egoism as a major stumbling block to productive change during Phase III. This is a common characteristic of traditional organizations. Units insulated by a protective shell of perceived selfinterest become closed systems. This has two major adverse effects: it reduces
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work efficiency and service quality, and it inhibits healthy professional and organizational development. The task force chose three ways to tackle this problem. The first was to open effective lines of communication between and among the departments and professionals involved. A number of strategies such as on-the-job training, job rotation, team-based projects, and regular cross-division meetings were used to accomplish these goals. The second was to invite a climate of self-examination by example. Beginning in October 1995, the heads of the library and computing center discarded the traditional self-sufficient stereotype and visited every academic department in person to inquire into needs and to collect feedback. During these visits, some latent complaints surfaced and extra demands were brought out which caused consternation in the staff of both the library and computing center, but at the same time, these meetings produced some creative suggestions that strongly stimulated ideas on how to innovate the original information services. The first and second strategies brought out the third naturally--to create a culture of organizational learning. Personnel were encouraged to expand their competencies beyond the professional requirements. The philosophy behind this culture of learning was to create an environment more open to change, where people are more self-confident and self-monitoring In 1996, approximately nine months after establishing the Provisional Office of Information Services, the task force began an evaluation of virtual integration. This produced several preliminary conclusions and suggestions. These reflections became the foundation for providing innovative services in the future. First, the staff from the two organizations were asked to reflect on two questions: What are our clients' needs? and What are our needs? From the answers compiled it was evident that: •
the major concern of clients is accessibility to information resources;
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clients wish to have stable and easy-to-use information systems;
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clients want their information needs met as quickly and as inexpensively as possible;
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scholarly information is still the clients' major need, but the demand for leisure information is increasing;
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staff face increasing difficulties with breakdowns in technologydependant services.
Second, based on concern for the available but limited resources and on the realistic needs of the campus, the task force decided to temporarily combine the originally separate Networking Division and Media Services Division into one integrated unit named Networking and Media Services. This division would not be
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separated into two units until later, when the information needs and service resources reached a critical point. Third, in keeping with the object-oriented approach, the task force created a map of the organizational operation, with their information services indicated as a matrix. As Figure 3 illustrates, each college at YZU could be viewed as a specific client group, assigned to a particular service team that would then cover every needed information-related function. Figure 3 Matrix of client services interface
Taking the College of Informatics at YZU as an example, the college would be extensively supported by a team whose services cover information needs collection, resource acquisition, reference assistance, information analysis, and strategic recommendations. Because the relationship would be one of cooperation, the service team would become more familiar with its client's specific terminology, research fields, personal characteristics, and communication culture. This familiarity would help to secure and extend the service quality and depth. After almost one year had passed, most staff were still engaged in adapting to the new type of services and work environment. This phenomenon illustrates that any kind of organizational change needs cultivation time, a period for those involved to make up their knowledge and skills deficiencies and to become comfortable with their working environment. Thus, it is essential that their job performance must not be evaluated prematurely.
THE INTEGRATED ENTITY In August 1996, after four years of countless presentations, and public discussion and meetings, the Provisional Office of Information Services was formalized and its name changed to Library and Information Services (LIS). The director of the computing center resigned to become the dean of LIS, and the recently appointed director of the library became the vice dean of LIS. The staff of the 8
library and computing center were now fully integrated. LIS now comprises four divisions, namely: Collection Management, Promotion and Consultation, System Development, and Networking and Media Services. The specific job content of these four divisions is described in Figure 4. Figure 4: The integrated entity and its divisional responsibilities
In the past two years, LIS has continued to fine tune its practice and to explore any promising extensions to its services. Looking back over the six-year struggle of the reengineering process, the experiences and feelings are accumulated in memory as a mosaic of odds and ends. Almost all those involved in this project would agree that there were always difficulties, but the mutual benefits gained from the integration surmounted these obstacles. While many technical problems were resolved, the human problems were without doubt the toughest, especially during the period of radical restructuring. The LIS at Yuan Ze University is the first case of reengineering a university information service organization in Taiwan (perhaps even in Asia). It is thus worthwhile to keep a close watch on its progress. Now LIS's short-term goal is to set up a performance evaluation system to accurately assess the new organization's service quality and its integrated performance. As its long-term goal, LIS wishes to precisely execute its organizational mission. As to the future, keeping the organization flexible will be the key to its further development.
CLOSING REMARKS
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On the basis of systems theory, a reengineering project should focus its effort on the holistic coordination and performance of the system. Processes to be restructured must be naturally connected and become an actional whole to maximize the reengineering effort. This actional whole would be, in turn, a key to changing the overall structure of the organization and even its culture. In other words, if a reengineering project focused only on the processes, then the organizational change would achieve but limited effects. Therefore, the planning and implementation of the YZU's reengineering project focused not only on its processes, but also on its fundamental beliefs, its organizational structure, and its culture. It should be noted that any organizational change will be full of local considerations and that the YZU information service reengineering project is only a single case. Therefore, the task force would not recommend that it be implemented at other universities without adaptation. However, our experience could provide insights for reference and/or for teaching purposes. In this article, we have described a real case of reengineering a university information service organization. The experience tells us that the obstacles to the change process are not technological, but organizational, and they demand major strategic planning and tactical management. It is our hope that the experiences and insights identified herein will significantly improve the probability of success by others and create avenues for future research and initiatives that will lead to improvements in this critical area of information services.
Endnotes 1
J. D. Gilbert, "Are We Ready for the Virtual Library?" Information Services and Use 13, no. 1 (1993): 3-15; Hannah King, "Walls Around the Electronic Library," Electronic Library 11, no. 3 (June 1993): 165-174; Matthew Bowers, Linda DeBeau-Melting, JoAnn DeVries, and Merry Schellinger, "Organizational Restructuring in Academic Libraries: A Case Study," Journal of Library Administration 22, no. 2/3 (1996): 133-144. Back to the text 2
Lois F. Lunin and Marion J. Ball, "Redesign/Reengi-neering of an Information Services Division in a Major Health Sciences Institution: Lessons Learned at the University of Maryland at Baltimore," Journal of the American Society for Information Science 45, no.5 (June 1994): 319-344; Beth J. Shapiro and Kevin B. Long, "Just Say Yes: Reengineering Library User Services for the 21st Century," Journal of Academic Librar-ianship 20, no. 5-6 (November 1994): 285-290; Sue Samson, Vicki Pengelly and Barry Brown, "The Collaborative Advantage: The Library and Computing Services at the University of Montana," RQ 36, no. 3 (Spring 1997): 370-374. Back to the text
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3
Lois F. Lunin and George D'Elia, "Integrated Information Centers Within Academic Environments," Journal of the American Society for Information Science 42, no. 2 (March 1991): 117-119. Back to the text 4
Arnold Hirshon, Integrating Computing and Library Services: An Administrative Planning and Implementation Guide for Information Resources, CAUSE Professional Paper Series #18 (Boulder, Colo.: CAUSE, 1998). Back to the text 5
See http://www.babson.edu/.
Back to the text 6
Lunin and D'Elia, 117.
Back to the text 7
Chaucer C. Liang and Roger L. Yin, "The Infrastructure for Academic Information Kaleidoscope: A Comparison Study of Integrated Information Services in the University Campuses in Taiwan and the United States," a paper presented at the 1996 Association for Educational Communication and Technology National Convention, Indianapolis, Ind., February 14-18. Back to the text 8
Lunin and Ball; Mary Ellen Davis, "News from the Field," College and Research Libraries News, December 1996, 717; Shapiro and Long.
Back to the text 9
Rhonda K. Reger, John V. Mullane, Loren T. Gustafason, and Samuel M. DeMarie, "Creating Earthquakes to Change Organizational Mindsets," Academy of Management Executives 8, no. 4 (November 1994): 31-46. According to the authors, a tectonic change is a significant change that is large enough to destroy outdated aspects of the organization's old identity, which is then followed by a period of steady growth to stabilize the shaken process. Through this series of well-orchestrated, mid-range changes, the organization gains momentum toward its goal. Back to the text Chaucer Chaoyun Liang (
[email protected]) is Associate Professor and Chairman of the Information Communication Department for Yuan Ze University in Taiwan. He was the University Library Head, responsible for planning and directing the library reengineering project. Frank Cheng (
[email protected]) is Professor and Dean of Informatics College for
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Yuan Ze University, where he has overall leadership responsibility for infocom technology and service policies, acting as a CIO for the university. Eunice Hsiao-Hui Wang (
[email protected]) is Assistant Professor in the Information Communication Department for Yuan Ze University.
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