LILRC 7th Annual Technical Services Open Forum

Program Schedule

9:30 AM –  Program opens on Zoom for sign in and welcome

10:00 AM  – Not Just a Location: Library Technical Services, Remote Work, and COVID-19

Anna R. Craft, Coordinator of Metadata Services, University Libraries, UNC Greensboro

While the specific tasks accomplished in academic library technical services units can vary across institutions, “technical services” has traditionally been thought of as a physical location (or locations), not just a category of work. Electronic resources and online systems–which can often be used or managed from anywhere with a reliable internet connection–have steadily grown in importance within many libraries and technical services units; but the published literature offers few examples of explorations of remote work placements for library technical services personnel.

But what happens when physical library technical services spaces aren’t available? Library personnel around the world have grappled with this question with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has brought serious impacts to lives, communities, and organizations at all levels. This presentation will briefly look at the pre-pandemic history of remote work in library technical services and will discuss how previously identified challenges and lessons can help personnel navigate some of the issues that technical services units are confronted with as a result of the pandemic.

Bio:
Anna R. Craft is an associate professor at UNC Greensboro, where she serves as Coordinator of Metadata Services in the University Libraries. In a role that integrates aspects of metadata and scholarly communications, she coordinates institutional repository services, supports users of UNCG’s open access journal installation, provides scholarly communications training and development opportunities for students and faculty, and works collaboratively with personnel in and beyond Technical Services to ensure that the Libraries’ resources are discoverable and available for patrons worldwide. She is active in service and scholarship within the library profession and is a regular columnist for the journal Serials Review. She started her library career at the North Carolina State University Libraries, served as Metadata Librarian at Western Carolina University, and earned her MSLS from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

11:00AM –  Let’s Talk: A Panel Discussion on COVID’s Impact on Tech Services

Long Island academic and public librarians will share their varied workplace experiences during COVID 19 shutdowns and reopenings.

Register @ LILRC