Outsourcing Task Force Begins to Confront Complex Issue
Staff -- Library Journal, 1/11/1998
"Of all the outsourcing functions, only selection has been challenged seriously as an abdication of the library's role," observed Sheila Intner, professor in the Graduate School of Library and Information Services, Simmons College, who was asked to provide a historical overview to the panel. Indeed, after hearing speakers talk about outsourcing in disaster recovery and technical services, Pat Wallace, chair of the Hawaii Working Group that spearheaded attention to the recent outsourcing controversy in the Hawaii State Public Library System, said her primary concern was paying private vendors to select materials. Outsourcing should not be applied to core services, she said: "I think you're shooting yourself in the foot as a profession if you can't define what you are uniquely suited to do." George Coe, representing Brodart, said that library requests for services have driven his company's growth. Still, he cautioned, "We see collection development as primarily the responsibility of the library." Panelists also expressed their concern that the reliance on vendors for tasks like cataloging will deplete the capacity of libraries to train future staff. The task force will hold an open forum for input from ALA members on Sunday, and meet again Monday.
In the first meeting of the ALA Outsourcing Task Force, members Saturday heard presentations about a range of outsourcing situations and issues--and they heard a challenge that ALA take a stand on core principles of librarianship.
