Presentation on restructuring

At a recent meeting, I led a session on restructuring in academic libraries. As the only member of the panel who had never restructured an academic library, I was the least biased of the panel, and the obvious person to speak about the topic.

Here are some of the things I learned - or as we call them in the education business, learnings. They are in no particular order, and do not constitute a summary of then session.

All technical services are user services and all user services are technical services.
Offsite users are also onsite users, and vice versa even more so.
There is no need ever to restructure. There are plenty of terms like refocus, realignment, and reorientation which can be used instead.
All students are distance students.
Researchers account for most use but we never see them any more unless we go to their place.
Everyone deserves a nice title.
If you can draw an accurate organisation chart then the organisation is too hierarchical.
Most people have both a PD and a job, with little relationship between them.
Student centred is a better term than client centred but our clients are not all students.

I hope this helps.