Is it true that organization and management is not much of a problem in the smaller academic library?
Are libraries, here academic libraries, different enough in their mission, goals, and objectives to warrant different, even unique, approaches to organization and management?
To what degree do library administrators seem to be concerned with efficiency and cost-effectiveness? Is this likely to be more of a problem for the non-profit organization?
If academic libraries are organized by functions, which functions are important enough to be recognized?
What is bureaucracy? Why might it be harmful? Are there viable alternatives?
Why do most academic libraries continue to be organized on hierarchical lines?
Why is two-way or "open" communication so important? Is it possible to have a traditional, hierarchial organization with two way communication?
How does the collegial model differ from the bureaucratic one? Is this model likely to be effective in the academic library? Why? In the collegiate model, do all faculty share equally in the decision-making? What liabilities are associated with this model?
What is a "matrix-oriented style"? How does it differ from traditional library organization?
What is the difference between a reference department and a reference team? How easy will it be to implement the team model?
What is TQM? What is different about it? Have not academic libraries been focused on quality in the past? TQM focuses on user satisfaction and quantitative evaluation. How difficult is it to measure user satisfaction in an academic library? To what degree are our library users "customers"?
Why might an academic library be "relatively insensitive and unresponsive" to changing client needs for information?
Does it seem reasonable to bring together in one unit the various campus information agencies and services. The usual examples are the library and computer services but archives, audio-visual and instructional technology services might also be included? Assets and liabilities of this approach? As more information sources become digital, will this model become more popular?
Would a campus information policy benefit the library?
In this chapter, there is considerable discussion of the need for the academic library to be flexible. How might administrative organization facilitate flexibility?
What does "library without walls" mean? Is this the same as the "virtual library"? How might such a library be organized?
To what degree to faculty and academic librarians "partner" in creating effective teaching-learning? How might an organizational structure enhance this?
In many academic libraries, reference librarians are assigned to academic units to assist with collection development, bibliographic instruction, and other services that benefit teaching-learning. Could we call these librarians "consultants"? How likely is it that faculty will see academic librarians as consultants? Does a consultant have to be a subject specialist? How many subject specialists can an academic library have?
Academic library administrators are supposed to have "vision." What exactly is vision?
What must be done to make the academic library "a learning organization"? What is a "learning organization"?
What has there been so little change in the organization of academic libraries in the last few years? Is this likely to change?
To what degree does it make sense to decentralize library services and collections. Departmental libraries are one traditional way to do that.
