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Comprehensive planning for libraries
Comprehensive for Libraries
Planning
Jo Ann Bell* Associate Professor and Director, Health Affairs Library and R. B. Keusch” Associate Professor, School of Business
In the area of planning, the literature has been almost entirely concerned with planning in the business (i.e. profit) setting. Some literature does exist on planning in the nonprofit sector, but it usually deals with tacticalplanning of the short-term character. This is especially true in the area of libraries and many librarians have developed and do administer large, complex organizationswhere comprehensive, long range planning is almost completely untreated in the literature. The current paper discusses the various steps in the strategic planning process, and relates them to a situation in which comprehensive long range plans for a new health sciences library have been developed, and to a considerable degree, implemented. In this framework, the steps of developing purpose and objectives, forecasting and policy formulation, developing and choosing growth strategy, determining resource requirements and provisions, developing an organizational structure, and control system utilization are discussed both in the general framework of comprehensive planning, and with respect to actual experience in the development of a health sciences library. The roles of tactical planning and the implementation of plans are also treated.
INTRODUCTION
C
OMPREHENSIVE
PLANNING
CONCEPTS
ARE
OF
primary concern to most businesses which expect to operate for efficient accomplishment of goals. Although many librarians develop and administer large, complex organizations, long range or comprehensive planning has received little direct *Both authors are on the staff of the East Carolina University Greenville, NC 27834, U.S.A.
discussion in the library literature. Most of the articles prepared for or by librarians have been directed at discussing planning for specific library functions as isolated units and have not discussed conceptual planning techniques and applications. For example, at the 1970 meeting of the Medical Library Association there was one session devoted to the development of new medical libraries. Hitt discussed administrative problems related to collection, staff, and space (10, p. 296). Drake made specific recommendations for budgetary needs, space and staff requirements and the size of a basic collection (5, p. 300). However, there was no discussion by any of the panelists of the problems of planning for a new library in a comprehensive manner. How does one plan and develop a health sciences library ‘from scratch’ as it were? In September 1969, the primary author was the Health Affairs Library at East Carolina University; lacking were several essential ingredients-primarily money, books, quarters, and a staff (3, p. 1). What was the librarian supposed to do? It is one thing to administer an existing library; it is quite another thing to develop one entirely anew. This paper should serve as a guide to those interested in developing cohesive plans for a total library operation instead of considering the various units of a library as detached fragments operating independently of each other. Specifically, the primary characteristics of comprehensive planning will be identified and discussed. Consideration will be given to application of these concepts both in businesses and in libraries. Various planning efforts of the Health Affairs Library at East Carolina University will be used to illustrate the key steps in a comprehensive planning process. PLANNING
DEFINED
What is comprehensive planning? The literature of business yields many definitions of long range
LONG
RANGE
PLANNING
planning. Two of the better definitions are presented below. Scott defined planning as a process:
l Planning is an analytical process which encompasses an assessment of the future, the determination of desired objectives in the context of that future, the development of alternative courses of action to achieve such objectives, and the selection of a course or courses of action from among these alternatives (13, p. 41). Fayol stated : 0 The plan of action is, at one and the same time, the result envisaged, the line of action to be followed, the stages to go through, and methods to use. It is a kind of future picture wherein proximate events are outlined with some distinctness, whilst remote events appear progressively less distinct (7, p. 110). From these and other definitions emerge several concrete ideas about planning; planning involves identifying the purposes of an organization, identifying the alternative methods for achieving these objectives and evaluating each alternative, and selecting those methods which will be used. The future is the center of the plan-what conditions will exist in the future? What action must the organization take in order to optimize its operations in reaction to and reaction with these future conditions? At the same time, planning must be a part of the present. Although one looks at where the organization should be at some future time, it is important to remember that what is being done now will affect the achieving of some goal in the future (6, P. 5). In discussing planning, it is useful to consider planning as being composed of strategic planning and tactical planning. There is some vagueness about the lines of demarcation between the two types of planning. For the purposes of this paper, strategic planning is considered to be the process of determining the major objectives of an organization and the policies and strategies which will determine how these objectives are achieved (16, p. 34). In turn, tactical planning will be considered the determination of the specific processes by which the strategic plans are implemented and will include such activities as medium range programming, shortterm budgets and detailed functional plans. Comprehensive plans are seen as including both strategic and tactical plans. STRATEGIC
PLANNING
The Planning
Process
A strategic plan of operations should include five major areas: (1) objectives and goals of the organization (2) operating policies and strategies (3) resource requirement and provisions (4) organizational structure and (5) control mechanisms (13, p. 62). Such plans cover varying time periods and are continuous.
OCTOBER, 1976
The first step in planning for any organization is to decide to plan and then to specify how the planning will be done. There are basically two approaches which can be taken. Top management officials may decide what will be done and by whom throughout the organization and impose these plans on those lower in the organization. Another approach is for each responsibility center in an organization to plan for its operations and forward these plans up the chain of command to top management which is responsible for coordinating the plans of various units. Actually, in most situations, a combination of these two approaches is used, Top management officials issue guides and in turn divisions and units plan, plans go up for coordination, are returned for revision if necessary and then returned to top management again where a cohesive, comprehensive plan emerges. This actual planning process obviously varies with the size of the organization. In small organizations, a single person may be responsible for planning with minimal input from others, while in a large complex organization a planning staff may be used to gather and present data needed for planning and in turn to assist in the formulation of plans. In either case, it is necessary for an orderly cynical process to occur, and it is important that management recognize the need for flexibility in plans and continuous reappraisal to insure that maximum benefit is derived from the process. Purpose and Objectives
The most important statement in the strategic plan is that which identifies the mission of the organization. For most businesses, the statement of the mission may be located in a creed or a charter, or it may not be formally stated, although it is obvious. Missions may include such activities as producing automobiles, manufacturing furniture, selling a certain type of goods at the retail level, or distribution of goods. It is necessary to enlarge on the mission of the organization by establishing specific objectives which will provide rationality and order for the organization’s activities. A business in establishing objectives will consider the general state of the industry in which it operates, the availability of resources, and the competitive situation. The objectives may include such items as specific types of a product to be produced, the fulfilment of human and economic needs, the intention of maximizing profits, the development of employees’ potential, and market leadership. Subobjectives in turn spell out and give detail and meaning to these general objectives. In planning for libraries, the general mission for a library (regardless of the type of clientele it serves) will be to provide informational resources and services. In establishing objectives for a library, the particular community a library serves must be considered. In order to determine the objectives for the Health Affairs Library (HAL), it was necessary
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to examine the broader goals of the Divisions of Health Affairs and of East Carolina University. Two primary goals became evident. ‘The purpose of East Carolina University is to provide an environment and atmosphere conducive to the pursuit, discovery and dissemination of knowledge and to serve the region as well as the broader national and international communities, by the development of its material and human resources (14, p. 8). The Division of Health Affairs is specifically directed towards education of various health and social service professionals both in full-time and continuing education programs and in providing services to these types of personnel in the eastern part of North Carolina. The Health Affairs Library established the objectives noted below. The Health Affairs Library shall
(1) Serve as the primary resource facility for instructional programs in the Division of Health Affairs and
(2) Serve as a comprehensive resource facility for
health care and social service personnel who practice in northeastern North Carolina.
Neither of these objectives reflected very much on the specific activities involved and were illuminated by presenting more specific subobjectives.
(1) The staff will acquire and organize those printed
and non-printed media which support the instructional, research and clinical activities of East Carolina University’s academic and continuing education programs.
(2) The Health Affairs Library (HAL) will assist faculty, staff, students and health care and social service professionals in achieving their individual and group educational goals not only by provision of appropriate materials, but by active participation in the educational process through group and individual instruction.
(3) The HAL seeks to participate in the expansion of knowledge directly through research investigation conducted by the HAL faculty and indirectly through assistance to others conducting research. (4) The HAL will seek to retain competent faculty who demonstrate excellence in their knowledge, teaching and research activities. (5) The HAL will provide a facility to enable both the HAL faculty and clientele to most efficiently use the resources available to them. In evaluating the objectives established by any organization certain criteria should be considered. Basically, good objectives should be formulated by those persons responsible for achieving them, including top management; they should be realistic, consistent, innovative, and should establish challenges for those who are responsible for implementation. Lastly, they should be simply stated and should be kept up-to-date. In evaluating the objectives set forth for the 50
Health Affairs Library, one must consider that the objectives as presented in this paper are those which were recently approved by the faculty of the Health Affairs Library. Originally, the objectives were not stated in written form but evolved as the Director discussed the plans for the Division with other faculty within the Division. Approximately 1 year after the appointment of the Director, the first written planning document was issued and a brief statement of purpose was contained in that document. As time has passed, the faculty has grown and several planning documents have evolved, the objectives have been restated and refined until they have reached their present form. A major problem once the primary objectives have been specified is to decide on priorities in achieving the objectives. In setting priorities, there must result a proper mix of long run and short term objectives (7, p. 95). Forecasting and Specific Determinations
Policy
In order to decide on the specific direction which is likely to be most effective for achieving an organization’s objectives those responsible for planning must look at the future. Drucker defines forecasting as the attempt ‘to find the most probable course of events or at best, a range of probabilities’ (13, p. 173). Forecasts may be precise, specific and quantitative or very general. In forecasting businesses, one looks at their present strengths and weaknesses and at the internal and external environment and selects those factors which will have the greatest impact on their operations (15, p. 322). Obviously, plans must be established with the capability of responding to such changes, to assure that plans can be implemented and objectives achieved (16, p. 204). Actually, this approach works equally well for businesses and for non-profit or educational organizations, although the latter would not be concerned with profit and loss. Obviously, one important factor in forecasting is the lack of certainty about exactly what will occur. However, by the very act of looking at the future and trying to identify the impact which different states of nature will have on the activities of an organization one is better prepared for the future. In order to make specific plans to accomplish the objectives of the Health Affairs Library certain forecasts were necessary. For instance, in order to fulfill the first objective of selection, acquisition, and organization of appropriate library materials, it was necessary to know what educational programs would be offered by the Division of Health Affairs. The uncertainty of the future which plagues those planning for commercial business ventures was not lacking. The Division was composed of the School of Allied Health and Social Professions, the School of Medicine, and the School of Nursing. Of these three programs only the School of Nursing’s curriculum and development could be described as LONG
RANGE
PLANNING
stable. The School of Allied Health and Social Professions was in the process of developing its curriculum at about the same time the Library was developing. At that point four departments were in existence; although there were tentative plans for several additional departments, there was no concrete information as to which of these possible departments would be developed soon. Given the rapid obsolescence of scientifically-oriented publications, it would not have been wise to purchase materials for programs until their development was imminent. Furthermore, certainty of the development of the School of Medicine was greatly clouded by political opposition. Using the information determined through the forecasts, management must look at various alternatives and evaluate each alternative’s potential in light of the organization’s goals. In the case of the Health Affairs Library, several alternative courses of action existed. One alternative was not to develop a separate library to serve the programs of the Division, but instead to strengthen the main university library’s holdings in the appropriate areas. A second alternative was to develop a separate library to serve only the health-related programs of the Division, but to have the main library continue to serve the social service programs. The third alternative was to establish a comprehensive resource facility to serve all programs in the Division. The third alternative was selected, because it was believed that such a comprehensive facility would best serve the needs of the Division in the sense of collection and service capabilities, and in the case of accreditation of the special programs in the Division such a library would be a valuable asset. Obviously the selection of this alternative course of action materially affected all future decisions concerning the Health Affairs Library. In the process of evaluating alternatives, strategies and policies are developed. Strategies and policies are closely related. Strategies are more comprehensive than policies and interrelate the various goals and policies within a single unified approach. Policies are guides for action; they establish specific courses of action which have been adopted to govern the operations of an organization (12, p. 90). Policies relate to major activities such as lines of business and codes of ethics as well as to very minor concerns such as loitering, smoking and coffee breaks (16, p. 268). For a business there are several types of strategies. (1) Growth strategies are concerned with expansion, selection of certain industries for investment, acquisition of other firms, etc. (2) Product strategies are concerned with the nature of product lines, new product development, quality and obsolescence of products and deletion of products from the product line.
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1976
(3) Marketing strategies are concerned with distribution channels, marketing services, pricing, advertising, and packaging. (4) Financial strategies concern consumer credit policies, sources of capital, and use of capital funds (16, pp. 243-249). This classification of strategies into the categories defined above can be applied to library operations. Growth Strategy
At what rate will the collection expand ? What are the projected staff increases or decreases? Will it be necessary to provide a larger or different facility ? Product Strategy
What types of materials will be included in the collection ? What subject areas will be emphasized ? What proportion of the collection will be in monographs? in journals? Will non-print media be included? What criteria will be used to determine the appropriateness of materials for inclusion in the collection ? When will materials be removed from the collection ? Marketing
Strategy
What services will be available and to whom ? Will reference service be limited to provision of minimal instruction and facts or will it include detailed assistance in research projects and extensive bibliographical assistance? What will be the circulation policies? What public relation measures will be undertaken ? Financial
Strategy
What sources of funds are available? Which area of operation will receive priority in the use of funds ? What emphasis will be given to obtaining financial support from outside sources such as the federal government and private foundations? Will there be a charge for any service? By looking at these possible concerns in the four different strategy areas, we see that in working out each strategy area various policies will emerge. One major policy statement for libraries is a book selection policy which establishes guidelines as to the types of media which will be acquired and which subject areas will receive priority attention. Such a policy has important implication for allocation of resources and efficient use of these resources. Such a policy also touches on at least three of the strategy areas-growth, product, and financial. The original book selection policy of the Health Affairs Library was a broad statement of the
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library’s purpose and its goal of acquiring materials needed for support of the programs of the Division. Some time later (but still early in the development of HAL), a more comprehensive statement was issued, as well as guidelines concerning the general and specific areas to be covered and the depth of coverage for each subject area. This policy made more clear the role of HAL for those within and those outside the Division-a desirable goal in itself, but also necessary to assure main university library personnel that HAL was not about to ‘take over’ certain areas. Policies on gifts, audiovisual materials, multiple copies and staff publications were also formulated. Usually policies governing the operation as a whole are established by top management, and top management has the ultimate responsibility for all policies. Policies should be made available to personnel at all levels in the organization to assure unity of direction. Although written policies are less flexible and poorly formed ones are subject to misuse by disgruntled employees, they are useful for preventing misinterpretations or relative anarchy which oral policy statements cause (16, p. 297). Policies are important in that they guide decisions so that the goals of the organization are reached. Resource
Requirements
and Provision
In the comprehensive plan, information should be applied on the types of resources required. The resources to be described should include human, physical, and financial resources. In the case of a business, management must decide how many and what kinds of personnel are needed, what type of facility and equipment are required and how financial resources will be generated to supply these essential resources (13, p. 62). For a library, decisions must be made on the number of clerical, technical and professional staff which will be required. What kind of physical facility will be needed ? What kind of furnishings should be provided to assure use of the facility is maximized ? And it is obviously necessary to consider what amount of financial resources are required to finance acquisition of these other resources. Organizational
Structure
The organizational structure should be specified in order to indicate not only what types of decision must be made, but also who is responsible for these
decisions. Such decisions establish responsibility units, so that each division will know what its part in achievement of the organization’s goal is (13, p. 63). In the case of a library, such responsibility units include the collection development and acquisition department, the cataloging department, the circulation department, the serials department and the reference department. A typical library organizational structure might be diagramed as shown below. Control
System
A control system is necessary in order to determine when deviations from the plan occur and to specify what the deviations are. When deviations occur, they must be evaluated in order to decide if they can be corrected or if the plans must be revised to bring them in line with reality. Most frequently the budget is used as a control device. In order to be effective, the budget must specify standards for all operations. For a business this would include the number of units to be sold and the standard sales price for these units as well as an anticipated budget amount for indirect costs. For a library, this area is difficult to quantify except in regard to the funds which will be budgeted for various areas. Unfortunately there are no adequate standards for specifying the number of books which should be ordered or catalogued, or the number of reference questions which should be answered. Quality control as usually viewed, is not now amenable for libraries, although in recent years operations research techniques have been applied to some library operations. TACTICAL PLANNING Sub-objectives and Functional
Plans
Once the comprehensive plans are made, subobjectives and functional plans are developed as a part of medium range and short range plans. Long range plans deal with varying time periods, depending on the organization in question, but usually are for periods of 5 years or more. Medium range plans which deal with periods from 2 to 5 years in the future and short range plans which deal with the present and immediate future are developed in varying detail. Generally, however, as one moves from long range plans to short range plans, there is increasing specificity. For instance, in a business the medium range plans may include categories such as sales, marketing expenditures, unit production,
Director
Circulation
52
LONG
RANGE
PLANNING
research and development, employees and new facility expenditures. For short range plans, each of these areas would be broken down into numerous subdivisions. For sales market share, advertising expense, new market penetration, cost of redesigning product, and development of new products would be quantified, In examining the development of the Health Affairs Library, objectives have already been discussed. Medium and short range plans spelled out specifically what action would be taken in the various areas of library activity in order to accomplish the overall objectives. In regards to the first objective of selecting, acquiring and organizing suitable library materials, the lack of certainty about the exact direction which the educational programs would take was necessarily reflected in specific goals. The immediate goal in the first 2 years of operation was to identify and secure those materials which were closely associated with the curriculum areas of the educational programs already in existence in the Division of Health Affairs. A medium range goal was to identify and acquire materials which would support the first 2 years of a medical school curriculum and to identify and acquire materials for other new curriculums in the Division as their establishment occurred. The long-range goal was to acquire materials to support research activities and to support an expanded School of Medicine program. Another important objective was the provision of group and individual instruction. The faculty of the Health Affairs Library emphasized this objective as primary to the establishment of a successful program. Planning for the accomplishment of this objective fell into three categories. (1) The short-range plan called for emphasis on individual assistance and on group orientation in introductory classes offered by the Division. (2) The medium range plan called for supplementing these activities with various printed guides. (3) Long range plans call for development of various non-print media to instruct the user in library operations. Present activities are emphasizing the long range goal, so now it has, to some degree, evolved into a short-range goal along with the individual assistance, group orientation and printed guides. Such evolution emphasizes the continuity and cyclical nature of planning with plans becoming more specific as the time for their implementation approaches. For instance, the subject matter and specific format for the non-print media was not decided until last year. Also included in the Health Affairs Library’s concept of instruction is the provision of a wide range of reference services. The immediate goal was for the provision of traditional reference assistance in relation to requests for information on specific subjects. Medium range goals were for the development of a capability to provide extensive bibliographical assistance to both students and
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1976
faculty, and practicing health professionals. Long range goals related to the identification and implementation of appropriate advanced information retrieval techniques. The objective of faculty research definitely fell into the medium and long range categories. In the medium range plans, emphasis would be on research to provide better insight into the HAL’s clientele and into collection development. The long range research interests have not yet been specified. Recruitment and retention of quality faculty required short range plans related to minimum educational requirements, types of experience, and philosophy of service. Medium range plans concerned forecasts of the number of faculty members required, identification of special types of faculty required, determination of appropriate evaluation mechanisms, and development of effective recruitment methods. The long range goal related to staff is the provision of staff-enrichment programs. Provision of an adequate facility has occupied much of the time devoted to planning. Short range goals focused on identification and furnishing an interim facility. Medium range plans were for a short term facility to be located in the School of Allied Health Building. Long term planning has already begun for a permanent facility which would be constructed in 4 to 5 years. IMPLEMENTING
PLANS
‘Plans alone cannot make an enterprise successful. Action is required; the enterprise must operate . . .’ (11, p. 114). The implementation of plans will focus on five basic areas of library operations: (1) collection development, (2) service, (3) staff, (4) facility, (5) organization. It can be seen that collection development relates to the first objective (see earlier section on objectives) ; that service relates to objectives two and three; that staff relates to objectives three and four, and that facility relates to the fourth objectives; all of the objectives relate to the organization of the library. Collection
Development
In order to develop a collection which satisfied the current needs of the Division and at the same time to prepare for acquisition of materials for future curriculum areas, several activities were initiated. Faculty of the Division were requested to designate materials which they considered of primary importance for their curriculum areas. These materials were designated for priority purchase. However, a much more extensive effort was the use of numerous subject and specialty bibliographies, such as Medical Reference Works, 1679-1966, List of Books for Small Medical Libraries, and Biological and Biomedical Resource Literature, to identify monographs germane to the
health sciences field. Designation of appropriate journals for the collection was a more difficult task. There were no
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comprehensive lists of basic journals for a medical library. In the first year of operation, once again priority was given to placing subscriptions for journals identified by faculty as basic to their curriculum areas. However, if such an approach had been the only method for identifying journals for subscriptions, a very unbalanced condition would have existed. Rather, the library faculty perceived as one of its functions the responsibility for developing a truly comprehensive collection. Two efforts were aimed at achieving this goal. An informal survey of ten medical libraries was made to determine the journals to which they subscribed. Recently a more scientific survey of this type was executed in order to develop a core list of journals which would be useful to other librarians responsible for developing new health science libraries (2, p. 281). In the initial period of development, journal subscriptions in subject areas specifically related to the curriculum were placed, but the medium range goal was to place subscriptions to peripheral journals and research titles. By using the survey results likely candidates for subscriptions were identified. Evaluation of such titles continues to be performed as time passes and the opportunity for increasing the number of subscriptions arises. Service
Everyone is familiar with that old cliche-‘Hell is paved with good intentions . . .’ Certainly there are few fields more subject to this recrimination than are libraries. There is no library which doesn’t profess to serve; unfortunately there is a large abyss between profession and fact. However, the Health Affairs Library faculty have not only professed to believe in service, but have insisted on its primacy in the HAL’s operations. Initially, basic reference assistance was all that the limited staff could offer. However, the service orientation was emphasized by an aggressive rather than a passive approach. When students entered the library the faculty didn’t wait to be asked for assistance. Whenever they noticed a hesitant step or a puzzled expression, they asked, ‘May we help you?’ Furthermore, the faculty developed research guides to some of the more popular research topics. These guides indicated appropriate indexes in which to check for journal articles and subject terms to check in the card catalog. As the faculty has increased in size, more extensive bibliographical services have been developed. For example, one service which has emerged is SIN. We announced our SIN service with a copy of a picture used in an advertisement for a dermatological product. The voluptuous blond model wore hip-hugger harem pants, and a low-cut midriff revealing top. To this visual stimulation we added thesewords: We want to get to know you To understand Your unique needs and desires To anticipate your needs and desires
54
We want you to participate in SIN To learn more about SIN, turn the page. SIN is actually a selective dissemination of information service (SIN stands for Selective Information Network). However, knowing our faculty, we figured they would read about SIN much quicker than they would about SDI. Anyone participating in SIN can indicate topics of interest; the HAL faculty scans current journals and notifies them when articles of interest appear (4, p. 56). Another such service which is still being developed will include the formulation of bibliographies to support various continuing education programs. At the same time, a related service will be implemented which will provide abstracts from select journals on select subjects. When we move closer to implementation, specific subjects will be selected and appropriate journals to be surveyed will be identified. For long range goals, the staff will seek new innovative ways to improve the service potential of the Health Affairs Library. Staff
The recruitment of quality faculty is of primary importance in the establishment and maintenance of a quality operation. Since the Director was originally the only faculty member, her standards were imposed on the employment of personnel. Since that time, the faculty have established certain minimal criteria which must be met by potential faculty. Furthermore, basic performance criteria in relation to competent on-the-job activities, continuing educational development, and professional involvement have been established in order to offer a basis for retention and promotion decisions. Projections of staff requirements have been made for the next 10 years. Presently, investigations are being made to determine more effective recruiting methods. Equally important to the function of the library are the subprofessional workers. Short range goals were to employ clerical workers who were able to perform a variety of tasks. Another immediate goal was to develop an operations manual which would enable such workers to refresh their memory about unfamiliar or seldom-performed tasks. Medium range goals are to develop concepts of group related tasks which will result in workers specializing in certain tasks. Furthermore, it will be necessary to design jobs with various requirements of education, training and experience and with varying degrees of responsibility in order to provide possibilities for advancement within the clerical area. In the area of faculty research, the original goal was to perform research which would provide better insight into the HAL’s clientele and into collection development. The research project to determine to which journals most health science libraries subscribe has already been mentioned. Investigation into the needs of the HAL’s clientele has occurred on several occasions. During the
LONG
RANGE
PLANNING
1969-1970 academic year, a survey of faculty needs in relation to the library was completed. That survey was concerned primarily with kinds of materials, circulation policies for faculty and students, and special services desired by the faculty. In the 1971-1972 academic year, another survey was performed. Both students and faculty were surveyed for their reaction to the library collection, services, policies and staff. The resulting information was used as the basis for a self-study composed for the Southern Association of Colleges and Universities. In spring 1974 a third survey of student users of HAL was performed. All of the research described has been important in the planning process and in modifications of service patterns in order to provide more effective services. Furthermore, analysis of use statistics has been carried out to determine if more effective staffing patterns can be established. Facility
There are few differences in planning a facility for a library or for a business. In both cases, such planning must cover a rather long time span if an adequate facility is to be constructed. First of all, a building program must be composed which specifies the types of activities which will be performed in the building, who and how many people will be involved in each activity, and what relationships exist between the various activities. For a manufacturing company, it would be necessary to know with some precision, what processes will occur and in what order. How many people are involved in each of these processes ? What staff departments will exist? What tasks will they perform? How do all of the departments interrelate ? In the summer of 1973, a building plan was developed to describe these same type of needs for the Health Affairs Library. In the spring of 1974, several libraries which serve comparable programs were visited in order to provide the staff with innovative ideas about library facilities. Presently, the staff is translating the concepts of the building program into specified spatial relationships. Soon the architect will begin to draw detailed floor plans to satisfy the various requirements which have been described. At the same time, the staff will begin to consider various line of interior furnishing which will enable the facility to contribute most effectively achievement of the library’s objectives. Organization
Traditionally, libraries are organized along functional lines, as described earlier. Staff and faculty are organized into the broad divisions of public and technical services. Within each broad area departments are organized to perform certain functions such as ordering, cataloging, circulating, reference, and administration. At this point, the HAL operation is in a fairly loose state of organization primarily due to the small faculty and staff
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1976
size. Each of the four faculty members has responsibility for a particular functional area. The Director is responsible for over-all administrative functions and coordination of all activities. Medium range plans call for the employment of a Director of Public Service and a Director of Technical Services who will handle most of the coordinating activities for operations related to these areas. Later an Associate Director will be employed to assist in the administrative area. Budgeting
The budget is the means of directing responsibility for implementation of short-range plans. At the same time, budget projections relate plans for the future in quantitative terms. In the budget for the current fiscal year, each area of the budget will be spelled out in considerable detail. By use of budgets, managers are forced to express the organizational goals in concrete terms. For the Health Affairs Library, considerable time has been spent in preparing budget requests for the next 8 years. Except for the next two fiscal years such budget figures are presented only for the broad areas of personnel, supportive activities and collection development. For internal purposes there are general estimates of the numbers of personnel, the types of supportive services and the quantity of books and journals which will be supplied if the budget as requested is provided. Supporting documents for these budget requests have been long range plans which have been issued periodically during the past 5 years. The long range development plan recently prepared this spring is shown in the box. Since that time, a more detailed plan has been prepared for the University of North Carolina which spelled out clearly the premises on which the plan was based. CONCLUSION
A common conceptual model of planningstrategic planning, tactical planning, and implementation and review-has been used as a basis for presentation of an actual planning experience in a nonprofit setting. Those in such settings have seldom utilized comprehensive planning, perhaps feeling that it is the exclusive province of business. The authors-agreeing with Hardy (8, p. l-23) that it is easy to overemphasize the differences between the settings-have shown how this framework of comprehensive planning has been effectively utilized in a nonprofit (library) setting. Is planning in such a setting really worth the time and effort involved in the process ‘7McDearmid has noted ‘Administration by hunch soon becomes administration by guess, and society has yet to discover many people who can guess correctly even a fair proportion of the time’ (1, p. 39). Planning is important because it enables management to have the initiative; by planning managers help shape the future rather than merely reacting to it (9, p. 243).
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Lastly, it is necessary for management to know where the organization-profit or nonprofit-is going in order to evaluate performance. Planning is important, and management must not just think about how beneficial it is, but must plan for as Urwick has noted, ‘. . . talking about it, the idea, doesn’t get anyone very far . . .’ (17, p. 27).
(2)
(3)
Theo Haimann and William G. Scott, Management in the Modern Organization, Houghton, Mifflin, Boston (1970).
(8)
James M. Hardy, Corporate Planning for Nonprofit Organizations, Association Press, New York (I 972).
(9)
Herbert G. Hicks, The Management of Organizations: A Systems and Human Resources Approach (2nd edition), McGraw-Hill, New York (1972).
(IO)
Sam W. Hitt, Creating the library itself, Bulletin of the Medical Library Association, 69, 296-299, April (1971).
(II)
Harold Koontz and Cyril O’Donnel, Principles Management (5th edition),Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York (1972).
(I 2)
Jo Ann Bell, The Academic Health Sciences Library and Serial Selection, Bulletin Medical Library Association, 62, 281-290, July (I 974).
Robert J. Mockler, Business Planning Formulation, Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York (1972).
(13)
Jo Ann Bell, Perils of Pauline. Unpublished presented at annual meeting, Medical Association, 2-7 June (I 974).
Robert J. Mockler, Readings in Business Planning and Policy Formulation, Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York (I 972).
(14)
Purpose and objectives 66 (3). 8, June (1974).
(15)
George A. Steiner, Comprehensive managerial planning, in Joseph W. McGuire, Contemporary Management: Issues and Viewpoints, 325-350, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (1974).
REFERENCES
(1)
(7)
Gertrude L. Annan and Jacqueline Fetter, Handbook of Medical Library Practice, Medical Library Association, Chicago (1970).
paper Library
of East Carolina
(4)
Jo Ann Bell, Sex, SIN and dirty books, Bulletin of the Medical Library Association, 62, 55-57, January (I 974).
(5)
Mayo Drake, Priorities in preparation for opening day, Bulletin of the Medical Library Association, 59, 300-303, April (1971).
(I 6)
George A. Steiner, Top Management Macmillan, New York (1969).
David W. Ewing, Long-Range Planning for Management (3rd edition), Harper Et Row, New York (1972).
(17)
Lydall F. Urwick, Elements of Harper 8 Bras, New York (1943).
(6)
56
LONG
of
University,
Planning,
Administration,
RANGE
PLANNING
Planning
Jo Ann Bell* Associate Professor and Director, Health Affairs Library and R. B. Keusch” Associate Professor, School of Business
In the area of planning, the literature has been almost entirely concerned with planning in the business (i.e. profit) setting. Some literature does exist on planning in the nonprofit sector, but it usually deals with tacticalplanning of the short-term character. This is especially true in the area of libraries and many librarians have developed and do administer large, complex organizationswhere comprehensive, long range planning is almost completely untreated in the literature. The current paper discusses the various steps in the strategic planning process, and relates them to a situation in which comprehensive long range plans for a new health sciences library have been developed, and to a considerable degree, implemented. In this framework, the steps of developing purpose and objectives, forecasting and policy formulation, developing and choosing growth strategy, determining resource requirements and provisions, developing an organizational structure, and control system utilization are discussed both in the general framework of comprehensive planning, and with respect to actual experience in the development of a health sciences library. The roles of tactical planning and the implementation of plans are also treated.
INTRODUCTION
C
OMPREHENSIVE
PLANNING
CONCEPTS
ARE
OF
primary concern to most businesses which expect to operate for efficient accomplishment of goals. Although many librarians develop and administer large, complex organizations, long range or comprehensive planning has received little direct *Both authors are on the staff of the East Carolina University Greenville, NC 27834, U.S.A.
discussion in the library literature. Most of the articles prepared for or by librarians have been directed at discussing planning for specific library functions as isolated units and have not discussed conceptual planning techniques and applications. For example, at the 1970 meeting of the Medical Library Association there was one session devoted to the development of new medical libraries. Hitt discussed administrative problems related to collection, staff, and space (10, p. 296). Drake made specific recommendations for budgetary needs, space and staff requirements and the size of a basic collection (5, p. 300). However, there was no discussion by any of the panelists of the problems of planning for a new library in a comprehensive manner. How does one plan and develop a health sciences library ‘from scratch’ as it were? In September 1969, the primary author was the Health Affairs Library at East Carolina University; lacking were several essential ingredients-primarily money, books, quarters, and a staff (3, p. 1). What was the librarian supposed to do? It is one thing to administer an existing library; it is quite another thing to develop one entirely anew. This paper should serve as a guide to those interested in developing cohesive plans for a total library operation instead of considering the various units of a library as detached fragments operating independently of each other. Specifically, the primary characteristics of comprehensive planning will be identified and discussed. Consideration will be given to application of these concepts both in businesses and in libraries. Various planning efforts of the Health Affairs Library at East Carolina University will be used to illustrate the key steps in a comprehensive planning process. PLANNING
DEFINED
What is comprehensive planning? The literature of business yields many definitions of long range
LONG
RANGE
PLANNING
planning. Two of the better definitions are presented below. Scott defined planning as a process:
l Planning is an analytical process which encompasses an assessment of the future, the determination of desired objectives in the context of that future, the development of alternative courses of action to achieve such objectives, and the selection of a course or courses of action from among these alternatives (13, p. 41). Fayol stated : 0 The plan of action is, at one and the same time, the result envisaged, the line of action to be followed, the stages to go through, and methods to use. It is a kind of future picture wherein proximate events are outlined with some distinctness, whilst remote events appear progressively less distinct (7, p. 110). From these and other definitions emerge several concrete ideas about planning; planning involves identifying the purposes of an organization, identifying the alternative methods for achieving these objectives and evaluating each alternative, and selecting those methods which will be used. The future is the center of the plan-what conditions will exist in the future? What action must the organization take in order to optimize its operations in reaction to and reaction with these future conditions? At the same time, planning must be a part of the present. Although one looks at where the organization should be at some future time, it is important to remember that what is being done now will affect the achieving of some goal in the future (6, P. 5). In discussing planning, it is useful to consider planning as being composed of strategic planning and tactical planning. There is some vagueness about the lines of demarcation between the two types of planning. For the purposes of this paper, strategic planning is considered to be the process of determining the major objectives of an organization and the policies and strategies which will determine how these objectives are achieved (16, p. 34). In turn, tactical planning will be considered the determination of the specific processes by which the strategic plans are implemented and will include such activities as medium range programming, shortterm budgets and detailed functional plans. Comprehensive plans are seen as including both strategic and tactical plans. STRATEGIC
PLANNING
The Planning
Process
A strategic plan of operations should include five major areas: (1) objectives and goals of the organization (2) operating policies and strategies (3) resource requirement and provisions (4) organizational structure and (5) control mechanisms (13, p. 62). Such plans cover varying time periods and are continuous.
OCTOBER, 1976
The first step in planning for any organization is to decide to plan and then to specify how the planning will be done. There are basically two approaches which can be taken. Top management officials may decide what will be done and by whom throughout the organization and impose these plans on those lower in the organization. Another approach is for each responsibility center in an organization to plan for its operations and forward these plans up the chain of command to top management which is responsible for coordinating the plans of various units. Actually, in most situations, a combination of these two approaches is used, Top management officials issue guides and in turn divisions and units plan, plans go up for coordination, are returned for revision if necessary and then returned to top management again where a cohesive, comprehensive plan emerges. This actual planning process obviously varies with the size of the organization. In small organizations, a single person may be responsible for planning with minimal input from others, while in a large complex organization a planning staff may be used to gather and present data needed for planning and in turn to assist in the formulation of plans. In either case, it is necessary for an orderly cynical process to occur, and it is important that management recognize the need for flexibility in plans and continuous reappraisal to insure that maximum benefit is derived from the process. Purpose and Objectives
The most important statement in the strategic plan is that which identifies the mission of the organization. For most businesses, the statement of the mission may be located in a creed or a charter, or it may not be formally stated, although it is obvious. Missions may include such activities as producing automobiles, manufacturing furniture, selling a certain type of goods at the retail level, or distribution of goods. It is necessary to enlarge on the mission of the organization by establishing specific objectives which will provide rationality and order for the organization’s activities. A business in establishing objectives will consider the general state of the industry in which it operates, the availability of resources, and the competitive situation. The objectives may include such items as specific types of a product to be produced, the fulfilment of human and economic needs, the intention of maximizing profits, the development of employees’ potential, and market leadership. Subobjectives in turn spell out and give detail and meaning to these general objectives. In planning for libraries, the general mission for a library (regardless of the type of clientele it serves) will be to provide informational resources and services. In establishing objectives for a library, the particular community a library serves must be considered. In order to determine the objectives for the Health Affairs Library (HAL), it was necessary
49
to examine the broader goals of the Divisions of Health Affairs and of East Carolina University. Two primary goals became evident. ‘The purpose of East Carolina University is to provide an environment and atmosphere conducive to the pursuit, discovery and dissemination of knowledge and to serve the region as well as the broader national and international communities, by the development of its material and human resources (14, p. 8). The Division of Health Affairs is specifically directed towards education of various health and social service professionals both in full-time and continuing education programs and in providing services to these types of personnel in the eastern part of North Carolina. The Health Affairs Library established the objectives noted below. The Health Affairs Library shall
(1) Serve as the primary resource facility for instructional programs in the Division of Health Affairs and
(2) Serve as a comprehensive resource facility for
health care and social service personnel who practice in northeastern North Carolina.
Neither of these objectives reflected very much on the specific activities involved and were illuminated by presenting more specific subobjectives.
(1) The staff will acquire and organize those printed
and non-printed media which support the instructional, research and clinical activities of East Carolina University’s academic and continuing education programs.
(2) The Health Affairs Library (HAL) will assist faculty, staff, students and health care and social service professionals in achieving their individual and group educational goals not only by provision of appropriate materials, but by active participation in the educational process through group and individual instruction.
(3) The HAL seeks to participate in the expansion of knowledge directly through research investigation conducted by the HAL faculty and indirectly through assistance to others conducting research. (4) The HAL will seek to retain competent faculty who demonstrate excellence in their knowledge, teaching and research activities. (5) The HAL will provide a facility to enable both the HAL faculty and clientele to most efficiently use the resources available to them. In evaluating the objectives established by any organization certain criteria should be considered. Basically, good objectives should be formulated by those persons responsible for achieving them, including top management; they should be realistic, consistent, innovative, and should establish challenges for those who are responsible for implementation. Lastly, they should be simply stated and should be kept up-to-date. In evaluating the objectives set forth for the 50
Health Affairs Library, one must consider that the objectives as presented in this paper are those which were recently approved by the faculty of the Health Affairs Library. Originally, the objectives were not stated in written form but evolved as the Director discussed the plans for the Division with other faculty within the Division. Approximately 1 year after the appointment of the Director, the first written planning document was issued and a brief statement of purpose was contained in that document. As time has passed, the faculty has grown and several planning documents have evolved, the objectives have been restated and refined until they have reached their present form. A major problem once the primary objectives have been specified is to decide on priorities in achieving the objectives. In setting priorities, there must result a proper mix of long run and short term objectives (7, p. 95). Forecasting and Specific Determinations
Policy
In order to decide on the specific direction which is likely to be most effective for achieving an organization’s objectives those responsible for planning must look at the future. Drucker defines forecasting as the attempt ‘to find the most probable course of events or at best, a range of probabilities’ (13, p. 173). Forecasts may be precise, specific and quantitative or very general. In forecasting businesses, one looks at their present strengths and weaknesses and at the internal and external environment and selects those factors which will have the greatest impact on their operations (15, p. 322). Obviously, plans must be established with the capability of responding to such changes, to assure that plans can be implemented and objectives achieved (16, p. 204). Actually, this approach works equally well for businesses and for non-profit or educational organizations, although the latter would not be concerned with profit and loss. Obviously, one important factor in forecasting is the lack of certainty about exactly what will occur. However, by the very act of looking at the future and trying to identify the impact which different states of nature will have on the activities of an organization one is better prepared for the future. In order to make specific plans to accomplish the objectives of the Health Affairs Library certain forecasts were necessary. For instance, in order to fulfill the first objective of selection, acquisition, and organization of appropriate library materials, it was necessary to know what educational programs would be offered by the Division of Health Affairs. The uncertainty of the future which plagues those planning for commercial business ventures was not lacking. The Division was composed of the School of Allied Health and Social Professions, the School of Medicine, and the School of Nursing. Of these three programs only the School of Nursing’s curriculum and development could be described as LONG
RANGE
PLANNING
stable. The School of Allied Health and Social Professions was in the process of developing its curriculum at about the same time the Library was developing. At that point four departments were in existence; although there were tentative plans for several additional departments, there was no concrete information as to which of these possible departments would be developed soon. Given the rapid obsolescence of scientifically-oriented publications, it would not have been wise to purchase materials for programs until their development was imminent. Furthermore, certainty of the development of the School of Medicine was greatly clouded by political opposition. Using the information determined through the forecasts, management must look at various alternatives and evaluate each alternative’s potential in light of the organization’s goals. In the case of the Health Affairs Library, several alternative courses of action existed. One alternative was not to develop a separate library to serve the programs of the Division, but instead to strengthen the main university library’s holdings in the appropriate areas. A second alternative was to develop a separate library to serve only the health-related programs of the Division, but to have the main library continue to serve the social service programs. The third alternative was to establish a comprehensive resource facility to serve all programs in the Division. The third alternative was selected, because it was believed that such a comprehensive facility would best serve the needs of the Division in the sense of collection and service capabilities, and in the case of accreditation of the special programs in the Division such a library would be a valuable asset. Obviously the selection of this alternative course of action materially affected all future decisions concerning the Health Affairs Library. In the process of evaluating alternatives, strategies and policies are developed. Strategies and policies are closely related. Strategies are more comprehensive than policies and interrelate the various goals and policies within a single unified approach. Policies are guides for action; they establish specific courses of action which have been adopted to govern the operations of an organization (12, p. 90). Policies relate to major activities such as lines of business and codes of ethics as well as to very minor concerns such as loitering, smoking and coffee breaks (16, p. 268). For a business there are several types of strategies. (1) Growth strategies are concerned with expansion, selection of certain industries for investment, acquisition of other firms, etc. (2) Product strategies are concerned with the nature of product lines, new product development, quality and obsolescence of products and deletion of products from the product line.
OCTOBER,
1976
(3) Marketing strategies are concerned with distribution channels, marketing services, pricing, advertising, and packaging. (4) Financial strategies concern consumer credit policies, sources of capital, and use of capital funds (16, pp. 243-249). This classification of strategies into the categories defined above can be applied to library operations. Growth Strategy
At what rate will the collection expand ? What are the projected staff increases or decreases? Will it be necessary to provide a larger or different facility ? Product Strategy
What types of materials will be included in the collection ? What subject areas will be emphasized ? What proportion of the collection will be in monographs? in journals? Will non-print media be included? What criteria will be used to determine the appropriateness of materials for inclusion in the collection ? When will materials be removed from the collection ? Marketing
Strategy
What services will be available and to whom ? Will reference service be limited to provision of minimal instruction and facts or will it include detailed assistance in research projects and extensive bibliographical assistance? What will be the circulation policies? What public relation measures will be undertaken ? Financial
Strategy
What sources of funds are available? Which area of operation will receive priority in the use of funds ? What emphasis will be given to obtaining financial support from outside sources such as the federal government and private foundations? Will there be a charge for any service? By looking at these possible concerns in the four different strategy areas, we see that in working out each strategy area various policies will emerge. One major policy statement for libraries is a book selection policy which establishes guidelines as to the types of media which will be acquired and which subject areas will receive priority attention. Such a policy has important implication for allocation of resources and efficient use of these resources. Such a policy also touches on at least three of the strategy areas-growth, product, and financial. The original book selection policy of the Health Affairs Library was a broad statement of the
51
library’s purpose and its goal of acquiring materials needed for support of the programs of the Division. Some time later (but still early in the development of HAL), a more comprehensive statement was issued, as well as guidelines concerning the general and specific areas to be covered and the depth of coverage for each subject area. This policy made more clear the role of HAL for those within and those outside the Division-a desirable goal in itself, but also necessary to assure main university library personnel that HAL was not about to ‘take over’ certain areas. Policies on gifts, audiovisual materials, multiple copies and staff publications were also formulated. Usually policies governing the operation as a whole are established by top management, and top management has the ultimate responsibility for all policies. Policies should be made available to personnel at all levels in the organization to assure unity of direction. Although written policies are less flexible and poorly formed ones are subject to misuse by disgruntled employees, they are useful for preventing misinterpretations or relative anarchy which oral policy statements cause (16, p. 297). Policies are important in that they guide decisions so that the goals of the organization are reached. Resource
Requirements
and Provision
In the comprehensive plan, information should be applied on the types of resources required. The resources to be described should include human, physical, and financial resources. In the case of a business, management must decide how many and what kinds of personnel are needed, what type of facility and equipment are required and how financial resources will be generated to supply these essential resources (13, p. 62). For a library, decisions must be made on the number of clerical, technical and professional staff which will be required. What kind of physical facility will be needed ? What kind of furnishings should be provided to assure use of the facility is maximized ? And it is obviously necessary to consider what amount of financial resources are required to finance acquisition of these other resources. Organizational
Structure
The organizational structure should be specified in order to indicate not only what types of decision must be made, but also who is responsible for these
decisions. Such decisions establish responsibility units, so that each division will know what its part in achievement of the organization’s goal is (13, p. 63). In the case of a library, such responsibility units include the collection development and acquisition department, the cataloging department, the circulation department, the serials department and the reference department. A typical library organizational structure might be diagramed as shown below. Control
System
A control system is necessary in order to determine when deviations from the plan occur and to specify what the deviations are. When deviations occur, they must be evaluated in order to decide if they can be corrected or if the plans must be revised to bring them in line with reality. Most frequently the budget is used as a control device. In order to be effective, the budget must specify standards for all operations. For a business this would include the number of units to be sold and the standard sales price for these units as well as an anticipated budget amount for indirect costs. For a library, this area is difficult to quantify except in regard to the funds which will be budgeted for various areas. Unfortunately there are no adequate standards for specifying the number of books which should be ordered or catalogued, or the number of reference questions which should be answered. Quality control as usually viewed, is not now amenable for libraries, although in recent years operations research techniques have been applied to some library operations. TACTICAL PLANNING Sub-objectives and Functional
Plans
Once the comprehensive plans are made, subobjectives and functional plans are developed as a part of medium range and short range plans. Long range plans deal with varying time periods, depending on the organization in question, but usually are for periods of 5 years or more. Medium range plans which deal with periods from 2 to 5 years in the future and short range plans which deal with the present and immediate future are developed in varying detail. Generally, however, as one moves from long range plans to short range plans, there is increasing specificity. For instance, in a business the medium range plans may include categories such as sales, marketing expenditures, unit production,
Director
Circulation
52
LONG
RANGE
PLANNING
research and development, employees and new facility expenditures. For short range plans, each of these areas would be broken down into numerous subdivisions. For sales market share, advertising expense, new market penetration, cost of redesigning product, and development of new products would be quantified, In examining the development of the Health Affairs Library, objectives have already been discussed. Medium and short range plans spelled out specifically what action would be taken in the various areas of library activity in order to accomplish the overall objectives. In regards to the first objective of selecting, acquiring and organizing suitable library materials, the lack of certainty about the exact direction which the educational programs would take was necessarily reflected in specific goals. The immediate goal in the first 2 years of operation was to identify and secure those materials which were closely associated with the curriculum areas of the educational programs already in existence in the Division of Health Affairs. A medium range goal was to identify and acquire materials which would support the first 2 years of a medical school curriculum and to identify and acquire materials for other new curriculums in the Division as their establishment occurred. The long-range goal was to acquire materials to support research activities and to support an expanded School of Medicine program. Another important objective was the provision of group and individual instruction. The faculty of the Health Affairs Library emphasized this objective as primary to the establishment of a successful program. Planning for the accomplishment of this objective fell into three categories. (1) The short-range plan called for emphasis on individual assistance and on group orientation in introductory classes offered by the Division. (2) The medium range plan called for supplementing these activities with various printed guides. (3) Long range plans call for development of various non-print media to instruct the user in library operations. Present activities are emphasizing the long range goal, so now it has, to some degree, evolved into a short-range goal along with the individual assistance, group orientation and printed guides. Such evolution emphasizes the continuity and cyclical nature of planning with plans becoming more specific as the time for their implementation approaches. For instance, the subject matter and specific format for the non-print media was not decided until last year. Also included in the Health Affairs Library’s concept of instruction is the provision of a wide range of reference services. The immediate goal was for the provision of traditional reference assistance in relation to requests for information on specific subjects. Medium range goals were for the development of a capability to provide extensive bibliographical assistance to both students and
OCTOBER,
1976
faculty, and practicing health professionals. Long range goals related to the identification and implementation of appropriate advanced information retrieval techniques. The objective of faculty research definitely fell into the medium and long range categories. In the medium range plans, emphasis would be on research to provide better insight into the HAL’s clientele and into collection development. The long range research interests have not yet been specified. Recruitment and retention of quality faculty required short range plans related to minimum educational requirements, types of experience, and philosophy of service. Medium range plans concerned forecasts of the number of faculty members required, identification of special types of faculty required, determination of appropriate evaluation mechanisms, and development of effective recruitment methods. The long range goal related to staff is the provision of staff-enrichment programs. Provision of an adequate facility has occupied much of the time devoted to planning. Short range goals focused on identification and furnishing an interim facility. Medium range plans were for a short term facility to be located in the School of Allied Health Building. Long term planning has already begun for a permanent facility which would be constructed in 4 to 5 years. IMPLEMENTING
PLANS
‘Plans alone cannot make an enterprise successful. Action is required; the enterprise must operate . . .’ (11, p. 114). The implementation of plans will focus on five basic areas of library operations: (1) collection development, (2) service, (3) staff, (4) facility, (5) organization. It can be seen that collection development relates to the first objective (see earlier section on objectives) ; that service relates to objectives two and three; that staff relates to objectives three and four, and that facility relates to the fourth objectives; all of the objectives relate to the organization of the library. Collection
Development
In order to develop a collection which satisfied the current needs of the Division and at the same time to prepare for acquisition of materials for future curriculum areas, several activities were initiated. Faculty of the Division were requested to designate materials which they considered of primary importance for their curriculum areas. These materials were designated for priority purchase. However, a much more extensive effort was the use of numerous subject and specialty bibliographies, such as Medical Reference Works, 1679-1966, List of Books for Small Medical Libraries, and Biological and Biomedical Resource Literature, to identify monographs germane to the
health sciences field. Designation of appropriate journals for the collection was a more difficult task. There were no
63
comprehensive lists of basic journals for a medical library. In the first year of operation, once again priority was given to placing subscriptions for journals identified by faculty as basic to their curriculum areas. However, if such an approach had been the only method for identifying journals for subscriptions, a very unbalanced condition would have existed. Rather, the library faculty perceived as one of its functions the responsibility for developing a truly comprehensive collection. Two efforts were aimed at achieving this goal. An informal survey of ten medical libraries was made to determine the journals to which they subscribed. Recently a more scientific survey of this type was executed in order to develop a core list of journals which would be useful to other librarians responsible for developing new health science libraries (2, p. 281). In the initial period of development, journal subscriptions in subject areas specifically related to the curriculum were placed, but the medium range goal was to place subscriptions to peripheral journals and research titles. By using the survey results likely candidates for subscriptions were identified. Evaluation of such titles continues to be performed as time passes and the opportunity for increasing the number of subscriptions arises. Service
Everyone is familiar with that old cliche-‘Hell is paved with good intentions . . .’ Certainly there are few fields more subject to this recrimination than are libraries. There is no library which doesn’t profess to serve; unfortunately there is a large abyss between profession and fact. However, the Health Affairs Library faculty have not only professed to believe in service, but have insisted on its primacy in the HAL’s operations. Initially, basic reference assistance was all that the limited staff could offer. However, the service orientation was emphasized by an aggressive rather than a passive approach. When students entered the library the faculty didn’t wait to be asked for assistance. Whenever they noticed a hesitant step or a puzzled expression, they asked, ‘May we help you?’ Furthermore, the faculty developed research guides to some of the more popular research topics. These guides indicated appropriate indexes in which to check for journal articles and subject terms to check in the card catalog. As the faculty has increased in size, more extensive bibliographical services have been developed. For example, one service which has emerged is SIN. We announced our SIN service with a copy of a picture used in an advertisement for a dermatological product. The voluptuous blond model wore hip-hugger harem pants, and a low-cut midriff revealing top. To this visual stimulation we added thesewords: We want to get to know you To understand Your unique needs and desires To anticipate your needs and desires
54
We want you to participate in SIN To learn more about SIN, turn the page. SIN is actually a selective dissemination of information service (SIN stands for Selective Information Network). However, knowing our faculty, we figured they would read about SIN much quicker than they would about SDI. Anyone participating in SIN can indicate topics of interest; the HAL faculty scans current journals and notifies them when articles of interest appear (4, p. 56). Another such service which is still being developed will include the formulation of bibliographies to support various continuing education programs. At the same time, a related service will be implemented which will provide abstracts from select journals on select subjects. When we move closer to implementation, specific subjects will be selected and appropriate journals to be surveyed will be identified. For long range goals, the staff will seek new innovative ways to improve the service potential of the Health Affairs Library. Staff
The recruitment of quality faculty is of primary importance in the establishment and maintenance of a quality operation. Since the Director was originally the only faculty member, her standards were imposed on the employment of personnel. Since that time, the faculty have established certain minimal criteria which must be met by potential faculty. Furthermore, basic performance criteria in relation to competent on-the-job activities, continuing educational development, and professional involvement have been established in order to offer a basis for retention and promotion decisions. Projections of staff requirements have been made for the next 10 years. Presently, investigations are being made to determine more effective recruiting methods. Equally important to the function of the library are the subprofessional workers. Short range goals were to employ clerical workers who were able to perform a variety of tasks. Another immediate goal was to develop an operations manual which would enable such workers to refresh their memory about unfamiliar or seldom-performed tasks. Medium range goals are to develop concepts of group related tasks which will result in workers specializing in certain tasks. Furthermore, it will be necessary to design jobs with various requirements of education, training and experience and with varying degrees of responsibility in order to provide possibilities for advancement within the clerical area. In the area of faculty research, the original goal was to perform research which would provide better insight into the HAL’s clientele and into collection development. The research project to determine to which journals most health science libraries subscribe has already been mentioned. Investigation into the needs of the HAL’s clientele has occurred on several occasions. During the
LONG
RANGE
PLANNING
1969-1970 academic year, a survey of faculty needs in relation to the library was completed. That survey was concerned primarily with kinds of materials, circulation policies for faculty and students, and special services desired by the faculty. In the 1971-1972 academic year, another survey was performed. Both students and faculty were surveyed for their reaction to the library collection, services, policies and staff. The resulting information was used as the basis for a self-study composed for the Southern Association of Colleges and Universities. In spring 1974 a third survey of student users of HAL was performed. All of the research described has been important in the planning process and in modifications of service patterns in order to provide more effective services. Furthermore, analysis of use statistics has been carried out to determine if more effective staffing patterns can be established. Facility
There are few differences in planning a facility for a library or for a business. In both cases, such planning must cover a rather long time span if an adequate facility is to be constructed. First of all, a building program must be composed which specifies the types of activities which will be performed in the building, who and how many people will be involved in each activity, and what relationships exist between the various activities. For a manufacturing company, it would be necessary to know with some precision, what processes will occur and in what order. How many people are involved in each of these processes ? What staff departments will exist? What tasks will they perform? How do all of the departments interrelate ? In the summer of 1973, a building plan was developed to describe these same type of needs for the Health Affairs Library. In the spring of 1974, several libraries which serve comparable programs were visited in order to provide the staff with innovative ideas about library facilities. Presently, the staff is translating the concepts of the building program into specified spatial relationships. Soon the architect will begin to draw detailed floor plans to satisfy the various requirements which have been described. At the same time, the staff will begin to consider various line of interior furnishing which will enable the facility to contribute most effectively achievement of the library’s objectives. Organization
Traditionally, libraries are organized along functional lines, as described earlier. Staff and faculty are organized into the broad divisions of public and technical services. Within each broad area departments are organized to perform certain functions such as ordering, cataloging, circulating, reference, and administration. At this point, the HAL operation is in a fairly loose state of organization primarily due to the small faculty and staff
OCTOBER,
1976
size. Each of the four faculty members has responsibility for a particular functional area. The Director is responsible for over-all administrative functions and coordination of all activities. Medium range plans call for the employment of a Director of Public Service and a Director of Technical Services who will handle most of the coordinating activities for operations related to these areas. Later an Associate Director will be employed to assist in the administrative area. Budgeting
The budget is the means of directing responsibility for implementation of short-range plans. At the same time, budget projections relate plans for the future in quantitative terms. In the budget for the current fiscal year, each area of the budget will be spelled out in considerable detail. By use of budgets, managers are forced to express the organizational goals in concrete terms. For the Health Affairs Library, considerable time has been spent in preparing budget requests for the next 8 years. Except for the next two fiscal years such budget figures are presented only for the broad areas of personnel, supportive activities and collection development. For internal purposes there are general estimates of the numbers of personnel, the types of supportive services and the quantity of books and journals which will be supplied if the budget as requested is provided. Supporting documents for these budget requests have been long range plans which have been issued periodically during the past 5 years. The long range development plan recently prepared this spring is shown in the box. Since that time, a more detailed plan has been prepared for the University of North Carolina which spelled out clearly the premises on which the plan was based. CONCLUSION
A common conceptual model of planningstrategic planning, tactical planning, and implementation and review-has been used as a basis for presentation of an actual planning experience in a nonprofit setting. Those in such settings have seldom utilized comprehensive planning, perhaps feeling that it is the exclusive province of business. The authors-agreeing with Hardy (8, p. l-23) that it is easy to overemphasize the differences between the settings-have shown how this framework of comprehensive planning has been effectively utilized in a nonprofit (library) setting. Is planning in such a setting really worth the time and effort involved in the process ‘7McDearmid has noted ‘Administration by hunch soon becomes administration by guess, and society has yet to discover many people who can guess correctly even a fair proportion of the time’ (1, p. 39). Planning is important because it enables management to have the initiative; by planning managers help shape the future rather than merely reacting to it (9, p. 243).
65
Lastly, it is necessary for management to know where the organization-profit or nonprofit-is going in order to evaluate performance. Planning is important, and management must not just think about how beneficial it is, but must plan for as Urwick has noted, ‘. . . talking about it, the idea, doesn’t get anyone very far . . .’ (17, p. 27).
(2)
(3)
Theo Haimann and William G. Scott, Management in the Modern Organization, Houghton, Mifflin, Boston (1970).
(8)
James M. Hardy, Corporate Planning for Nonprofit Organizations, Association Press, New York (I 972).
(9)
Herbert G. Hicks, The Management of Organizations: A Systems and Human Resources Approach (2nd edition), McGraw-Hill, New York (1972).
(IO)
Sam W. Hitt, Creating the library itself, Bulletin of the Medical Library Association, 69, 296-299, April (1971).
(II)
Harold Koontz and Cyril O’Donnel, Principles Management (5th edition),Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York (1972).
(I 2)
Jo Ann Bell, The Academic Health Sciences Library and Serial Selection, Bulletin Medical Library Association, 62, 281-290, July (I 974).
Robert J. Mockler, Business Planning Formulation, Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York (1972).
(13)
Jo Ann Bell, Perils of Pauline. Unpublished presented at annual meeting, Medical Association, 2-7 June (I 974).
Robert J. Mockler, Readings in Business Planning and Policy Formulation, Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York (I 972).
(14)
Purpose and objectives 66 (3). 8, June (1974).
(15)
George A. Steiner, Comprehensive managerial planning, in Joseph W. McGuire, Contemporary Management: Issues and Viewpoints, 325-350, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (1974).
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(1)
(7)
Gertrude L. Annan and Jacqueline Fetter, Handbook of Medical Library Practice, Medical Library Association, Chicago (1970).
paper Library
of East Carolina
(4)
Jo Ann Bell, Sex, SIN and dirty books, Bulletin of the Medical Library Association, 62, 55-57, January (I 974).
(5)
Mayo Drake, Priorities in preparation for opening day, Bulletin of the Medical Library Association, 59, 300-303, April (1971).
(I 6)
George A. Steiner, Top Management Macmillan, New York (1969).
David W. Ewing, Long-Range Planning for Management (3rd edition), Harper Et Row, New York (1972).
(17)
Lydall F. Urwick, Elements of Harper 8 Bras, New York (1943).
(6)
56
LONG
of
University,
Planning,
Administration,
RANGE
PLANNING