Library Management Team
Notes from the August 23, 2006 meeting

Attending:  Karen Calhoun, Lee Cartmill, Claire Germain, Anne Kenney, Janet McCue, Jean Poland, Sarah Thomas, Ed Weissman, David Banush

Turnaround Time in Library Technical Services: A Benchmarking Study
        David Banush presented a study he undertook to measure the time it takes to "acquire, pay for, catalog and physically process new print firm (unit) orders."  The study is available at <http://lts.library.cornell.edu/lts/who/reports/upload/Turnaround%20study%20report%20Brief1.pdf>.  David stated that while it appears we are doing quite well in comparison to our peer institutions, there are ways we could do even better although improving turn-around time will cost more and require additional staff effort.  For example, we receive faster service on domestic orders from Amazon than from YBP, but material from Amazon usually costs more and the process is less automated and requires more staff time.  Sarah said that in order to decide whether to spend more to improve turn-around time, we would need more specifics about the tradeoffs and also about user expectations and satisfaction with our current process.  Anne said she would ask public services about its perceptions and concerns in this regard and she would follow-up with preservation about the necessity of stiffening softcover materials, since David reported that the physical processing of softcover items adds significantly to the time it takes for the items to be ready for use. Sarah also will ask the Collection Development Executive Committee to look into whether books that are reviewed in the Sunday issues of the New York Times are received and get to the shelves in a timely enough manner.  In general, LMT expressed satisfaction with the current level of service.  Sarah thanked David for his report.