Summary: This document functions as an archive of the 2017-2018 project to examine and improve the policies and procedures documentation at MSU Libraries in the Technical Services Division. Included are resources, tools, presentations, checklists, and decisions that guided the project.
Prelude to a Project
Before we launched our project, the libraries’ public-facing Drupal website was the repository for TS documentation. This aligned with the overall land-grant mission of the university, but it resulted in some logistical challenges, such as searching – which couldn’t be targeted strictly to TS content.
The documentation had been handed down through multiple editors and migrated across several intranet and wiki iterations. This understandably resulted in disjointed organization, duplicated pages, and outdated or conflicting information. It had also ballooned to a whopping 300 + pages. Finding information could be challenging and often required knowledge on what team performed what function – or sometimes used to perform it. The procedures had been maintained as well as could be expected, but had reached the point at which a concentrated, holistic assessment was necessary.
For context, in 2017, MSU Libraries Technical Services Division employed approximately 40 FTE, all of whom were based in the Main Library building. It is comprised of seven sub-units: Acquisitions, Catalog Maintenance, Cataloging & Metadata Services, Copy Cataloging, Metadata Management (authorities work), Catalog Services (system management of the integrated library system, or ILS), and Electronic Resources.
We launched the project believing that good documentation creates a better working environment. Just like other forms of workplace communication, documentation is a part of staff empowerment because it allows for equal access to information, reduces cognitive load (and, therefore, helps negates mistakes), and supports confident and independent decision making. Technical Services work is detailed and highly structured by its nature. And we believe there is a direct line from good documentation to quality work.
Autumn Faulkner and Emily Sanford were the primaries on the project and were later joined by Tim Kiser. The project began in 2017 and concluded with the launch of a Confluence site on May 15, 2018. While the bulk of the project is finished, we continue to iteratively examine and improve, as well as look for missing documentation.
Project Plan and Goals
Our goals for the project included:
Improved information architecture for the overall site
Increased findability/readability of procedures for users (both within and outside of the Tech Services division)
Simplified process to create/write/edit content (interface, guidelines, templates, built-in infrastructure, and accessibility concerns)
Future-proofing (accounting for future growth and developing tools for routine review)
Identifying documentation gaps (especially in regards to one-person workflows)
Our project plan contained many steps which we tracked using a checklist:
Initial Assessment
Google Survey https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1X0yBOLYkNVPu5HR2sHv_tKl50AxF4pZBucZpZTnCwq0/edit
Substep b
Substep c
Step 4
Substep a
Substep b
Substep c
Autumn – should we say something here about creative commons, etc? Or usage, etc.