Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of total quality management (TQM) in the library and information sectors.Design/methodology/approach – A review of the literature on TQM concepts was carried out. Focusing on TQM implementation in the library and information sectors, the experiences of libraries adopting this method are also reviewed.Findings – TQM was initially applied as a management philosophy in the manufacturing sector. Following its enormous success, this philosophy is increasingly being applied in the service sector, including libraries.Originality/value – The paper provides a useful overview of TQM implementation in the library and information sectors.

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Total quality management in library and information sectors

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a retrospective overview of total quality management (TQM) in the context of library services.Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents a study of TQM and a comparative analysis of TQM in the library context.Findings – Studies of both theoretical principles and experimental implementations demonstrate that it is worthwhile to introduce TQM to the academic libraries. The process of implementing TQM in libraries involves a conceptual change in library professionals and a cultural transformation in the organizational operations. Without a long‐term thinking and commitment, it is not applicable. Teamwork is important for successful implementation of TQM. Every step of the process depends upon the constant support of the top management. Their role determines how far and how long the implementation can go. Therefore, once a decision is made to apply TQM, a strong leadership is required.Research limitations/implications – It is still too early to predict ...

From “user” to “customer”: TQM in academic libraries?

The Learning Organization: Management Theory for the Information Age or New Age Fad?.

Colleges and universities’ missions are typically comprised of educating students, training professionals, engaging in scholarship and research, promoting creative activity, improving healthcare, and providing public service. Academic libraries exist to support these core functions, yet most academic libraries are organized based on library functions rather than the primary missions of their college or university. This article describes one academic library's attempt to align library strategy and structure with its university's academic plan.

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Aligning Library Strategy and Structure With the Campus Academic Plan: A Case Study

Over the past two decades (1980s and 1990s), changes in environmental factors demanded that higher education institutions should be managed more efficiently It is necessary for library administrators to evaluate their organisational structures in order to meet their customers' rising expectation and parent institutions' vision, mission, and strategy for future development The purpose of this study was to examine the extent oflibrary reorganisation within the UK and Taiwan universities, and the principal differences and similarities on organisational structure changes between 1985 and 2001 This study was a population study This study was composed of two surveys (the initial survey and the follow-up survey) in the two countries Quantitative data was gathered though a questionnaire 

The researcher investigated general aspects of library reorganisation, then focused specific on eight research problems and conducted comparison between the UK and Taiwan Thirteen hypotheses centered on the issues concerning organisational structure changes were tested Of the thirteen hypotheses, some were supported by the study and others were not Comparisons were made among organisational charts during this IS-year period 

The main findings are: (1) The extent of library reorganisation for the two countries was high over the IS-year period (1985-2001) However, there had been an overall decline during the follow-up survey period If the non-respondents represented a biassed set (they all had not conducted organisational structure change), then the extent of change in the two countries was actually not so high The plans of organisational change will continue with 30% respondents from UK and 24% from Taiwan in the follow-up survey were considering the possibility (2) There was no significant relationship between the extent of the library reorganisation and the selected background of libraries studied (3) Of the environmental factors responsible for organisational structure changes, Service reasons and management reasons played the top two major roles Economic and technological influences on organisational change declined over the survey time 'Changes in higher Education', 'the development of digitized collection/digital library', 'change in human expectations', and 'changes in scholarly publishing/communication' became the important reasons for changes in the follow-up survey period (4) Most of the libraries conducted internally reorganisation rather than externally The top two methods adopted in internal reorganisation were: 'creating new functions/departments/units', and 'combination of functions' Convergence activities were only reported by several responding libraries, the results showed that the extent of convergence activities seemed increased with time The major reasons for the convergence were: shared vision; to pursue a more effective administration; to cooperate in supporting teaching, research, and learning; overlapping missions and strategies; exchanges of specialization between organisations; more economic administration; to cooperate in development of digital resources and digital collection; sharing of staff, facilities, and equipment (5) After reorganisation, most university libraries in the UK adopted hierarchical structure and based on a combined functional/subject-based pattern Team-based structure was the second favorite Almost all respondents' libraries in Taiwan preferred a hierarchical structure and based on a functional pattern, however, 'teamwork' concept was adopted by some libraries (6) The new organisations mostly emphasized user services, integration of the management of varied resources in libraries, and technological support (7) The management levels of libraries in the UK tended to be flatter after reorganisation However, most of the libraries in Taiwan retained the same management level after reorganisation (8) The title of library managers within UK universities became more versatile after reorganisation However, most of the library managers in Taiwan retained the same title even after reorganisation (9) The considered important challenges of organisational change were: 'the parent institutional climate'; 'managerial support within and outside the library'; 'the climate of the libraries'; 'the staff strengths and weaknesses'; 'staff attitudes towards change'; 'the attitude of library directors' (10) The results of library reorganisation have been mostly positive, and have provided lessons in organisational change from which other libraries may benefit

Elizabeth Crabtree Wells

Papers

Turning the library upside down: Reorganization using total quality management principles