LibGuides: Special Interest Group Meeting Notes: Resource Sharing 3/21/2024

Meeting Notes

Icebreaker: Favorite Dessert

The results:
chocolate: x2
Coconut bunny cake
Carrot cake
Cheesecake: x2
Creme brulee: x2
Pie: apple, Boston creme, key lime - any pie!
Wet walnut sundae with vanilla soft serve: (from Mary Jane’s, until someone ran through it last year, but maybe it’s back)
Anything with Marzipan or coconut
Tiramisu (T. cheesecake); see Hudson Valley Cheesecake (in Newburgh)

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Kirsten Williams from the University of Southern Indiana presented on cross-training:

Benefits of cross-training:

Decreases chance of burnout
Improves morale
Provides employees opportunities to learn new skills
Encourages communication + community

ILL is mission critical -> back-ups are a must have! No ILL staff member should feel like they can’t take a vacation or be out of work.

Create detailed documentation:

Creating documentation is a large time commitment but it is something back-ups can turn to if needed. They can be empowered to make decisions on their own.
Documentation should be considered a living document. It should be updated regularly and available online if possible.
One option: libguides! Can bookmark a private libguide.

Importance of regular training:

Assign weekly ILL days. Have 1 day a week where back-ups are responsible for processing requests.
Not going to retain everything if training is very infrequent.

Communication is key!

Have a group chat just for ILL issues.

Be flexible!!! Have to be able to pivot.

Advocate for yourself and your needs as an ILL staff member.

Next meeting:

Early June, possibly in Newburgh.
Potential topics: letting it go (giving up control of ILL when needed), niche sources for borrowing (New York State Library, information on MISP)

Resources:

Book recommendation: The Checklist Manifesto: written by a W.H.O doctor

Presentation recording: "No ILL Will: cross-training"

Presentation recording: "Writing it all down: the evolution of future proofing Library workflows"

Cross-training Sheets for SEAL