Effective Library and Information Centre Management

This handbook covers key management issues and aims to guide information professionals through the maze of common problems. To reflect the increasing integration of library, information centre, records, IT and telecommunications management, the book takes an integrated approach to managing the modern information centre. Topics covered range from strategic, IT and human resource planning, to leadership, conflict and change management. Further key areas include service delivery, risk management and the information life cycle.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Understanding the Role of Manager: Introduction to management. Understanding the Environment: Strategic influences on information services; Strategies for understanding the environment. Managing the Environment Through Integrated Planning: Strategic planning; Human resource planning; Information planning; Technology planning; Financial planning and economic analysis. Creating the Corporate Environment: Corporate culture; Politics; Policy-making; Creativity and intrapreneurship; Managing expertise. Getting things done in the Corporate Environment: Leadership; Power, influence, authority and delegation; Decision-making; Networking; Group dynamics; Team-building; Motivation; Conflict management; Negotiation; Change management. Managing and Communicating Information in the Corporate Environment: Personal communication; Internal communications; External communications; Managing corporate information; Managing the information life cycle. Managing the Individual: Stress management; Career planning and personal development. Managing Risk: Return on investment; Security; Risk management and business continuity. Service Delivery: Competitive strategies: strategic marketing; Quality control; Customer focus; Outsourcing service delivery; Performance measurement and evaluation; Epilogue: The final strategy; Index.

About the Author :
Jo Bryson lectures regularly on library and information centre management. She is currently in a senior management position relating to information technology with the Western Australian Government.

Review :
’As an introductory primer to management, it’s all there’ Managing Information ’It is well structured and clearly written, and there are helpful tables and diagrams. Any library or information service manager, even the most experienced, would learn a good deal from it..’ Journal of Documentation ’...excellent...a balanced book that deserves serious consideration as the major text in a beginner’s course and for supplementary reading in any advanced courses.' Journal of Education for Library and Information Science ’... packed with useful data and suggestions.’ Management Skills and Development ’This book will make a fine addition to the shelves for management and staff.’ Public Library Quarterly ’... accessible, well-written introduction to the role of the information services manager in today's competitive and changing environment, the skills required and the nature of the work.’ Education for Information ’This 421-page paperback packs in a lot of information...This is a wide-ranging overview of the place we can make for our information work in the complex organisations we serve. It is not primarily a book to read from cover to cover at a sitting, but rather a resource to dip into when we need to.’ Impact ’... you can quickly pick up the buzzwords of management and an understanding of what they mean. If you need to learn more...it leads naturally into the literature of mainstream management.’ Library Management ’The work provides considerable detail on what is involved in such integration. It also has valuable insights into establishing sound communication procedures that will help establish a healthy corporate environment...This book helps managers by providing strategies that help in the busy and changing customer service environment. A highly readable and very useful text.’ Electronic Library ’Achieves effectively what it sets out to achieve. As a management revision guide for students and a time-saving a