Vancouver, British Columbia
May 15-17, 1996

Leading the Agile Organization

Foreword

Research library leaders are not strangers to large-scale, paradigm-shifting change. Each generation has been energized and invigorated by challenges that they felt were critical to the long-term success of their enterprises. From the expansion of higher education in the 1960s through the technological innovations of the 1990s, libraries have kept pace and flourished through their ability to use resources effectively to anticipate, meet, and often exceed the expectations and needs of their users.

What research libraries are experiencing today that is different from the past is a level of complexity and a rate of change that outpaces the ability of an organization to absorb and adapt to its impact. Because no single response can address the enormity of this challenge, enterprises in both the for-profit and not-for-profit arena share a common quest for "agility," the ready ability to move with quick, easy grace.

This program examined the experiences and thoughtful observations of a number of individuals who have worked in the process of leading enterprises through these turbulent times into the ongoing challenges of the 21st century. The meeting opened with a keynote perspective on change in higher education, presented by David W. Strangway, President of the University of British Columbia. Jim Harris, Strategic Advantage, Inc., a management consultant based in Toronto, then offered the first program session, providing insights into how the for-profit sector is dealing with the uncertain and unstable environment in which we coexist.

For the first day's luncheon program, Leo Voogt, Secretary General of the International Federation of Library Associations, offered his perspectives on current issues in international librarianship. Aldyth Holmes, Director of Publishing at the Canada Institute of Scientific and Technical Information, then provided an overview of trends in electronic scientific publishing. On the second day, there were also two guests at the luncheon program. Attorney Susan Kornfield, who represents the Michigan Document Services, Inc., reported on the status of fair use of copyrighted material in light of a recent U.S. court decision on "coursepacks." Graham Hill, University Librarian at McMaster University, reported on the status of license negotiations between Canadian universities and CANCOPY.

Program Session II began with a panel of speakers, each of whom offered a brief overview of an approach to developing agility and flexibility in an organization. This plenary session was followed with two breakout sessions where attendees had the opportunity to discuss these approaches in smaller groups. Charles Manz, Professor, Arizona State University College of Business, focused on using teams for organizational flexibility. Charlan Nemeth, Professor, University of California at Berkeley Department of Psychology, discussed developing individual creativity as a means of building organizational agility. Using organizational structure as a tool for flexibility was the focus for André Delbecq, Professor, Santa Clara University Leavey School of Business and Administration. Finally, Jim Harris, Strategic Advantage, Inc., outlined a holistic approach for sustained success.

To gain organizational experience in a networked information environment, a number of projects are being pursued to explore the implications of electronic technologies for publishing scholarly materials, conserving them, making them more readily accessible to users, and more affordable for research libraries. Program Session III showcased the preliminary findings from three such "natural experiments" that are supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Carol Mandel, Deputy University Librarian at Columbia University, reported on the Online Books Evaluation Project; James Neal, Director of the Eisenhower Library at Johns Hopkins University, reported on Project Muse; and Susan F. Rosenblatt, Deputy University Librarian at the University of California at Berkeley, reported on SCAN (Scholarship from California on the Net). Richard Ekman, Secretary of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, moderated the panel and led a discussion of the implications of such projects for scholarly communication.