Virtual Conference
Date: November 15, 2018
Time: 8:30 am to 5:00 pm CDT
Where: Online
Host Institution: Rice University
About ELSUG: The Ex Libris Southcentral Users Group (ELSUG) promotes the exchange of ideas and innovation among Ex Libris customers in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. The conference will provide an opportunity to share your experiences, best practices, lessons, enhancements, and local innovations with others using any of the Ex Libris products: Alma, Aleph, bX, campusM, DigiTool, Esploro, Intota, Leganto, MetaLib, Pivot, Primo, RefWorks, Rosetta, SFX, Summon, Verde, Voyager, and 360.
KEYNOTE | Caroline Muglia | Head, Resource Sharing & Collection Assessment, Co-Associate Dean for Collections | University of Southern California Libraries
Presentation: Managing Change (and an ILS migration) like a Get Out the Vote (GOTV) Campaign
Description: All libraries experience change. The distinguishing aspects of that inevitable change is in its management. An ILS migration, which impacts every single person in a library including patrons, serves as the case study to illustrate change management through a new lens of political and community organizing methods. In 2017, the University of Southern California (USC) underwent an ILS migration to Ex Libris. As part of the Implementation Team, my goal was to train all the staff in these areas in the new system, and interrogate current and develop new workflows that leveraged the new technology. I relied heavily on the skills I refined as a political organizer working on Get Out the Vote (GOTV) campaigns and as my role as a National Field Director on a political fundraising operation. Since the ILS migration schedule resembled a GOTV, I used similar methodologies, principles, and tactics to successfully identify leaders, and train and empower the staff in my area. At their cores, an ILS migration and GOTV campaign are about change. They are also about taking leadership opportunities from wherever you are situated in an organizational structure (those at the top are not the only leaders!) Some people embrace change, while others are change averse. Employing political organizing methods during a major change in our library is replicable and scalable to any library system or type of change that is underway. This program will provide specific examples of the approaches I used to identify leaders, develop a detailed 9-month timeline, and utilize a hybrid of high and low-tech methods of communication and interaction. Each phase of the ILS migration will be discussed in the context of the broader management approaches that succeeded or failed, and attendees will leave with several methods of addressing change taken directly a field that must embrace change in order to endure.