Speakers: Ray Metz
Impact of Technology on Workload

Speaker biography
Presentation abstract
Presentation

Biography:  
Ray Metz has an extremely strong library background, having both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Library Science, the first from Illinois State University and the second from Indiana University.  He has been an active member of ALA (ACRL and LAMA) as well as a variety of statewide organizations for many years.  His myriad presentations, workshops and publications are quite impressive, ranging from discussions of consultancy to marketing and advocacy of libraries to the future of network navigation tools.   

He is currently Chief of Staff, Executive Assistant to the Chancellor for Organizational Development and Planning at the University of Michigan-Dearborn.  Until the fall 2003, he will also serve as the Interim Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement.  He has had a long, productive career in libraries and in technology – an admitted love of his.  He came to Michigan after serving at Bucknell University as the Associate Vice President for Information Services and Resources.  That position entailed responsibility for library/computing/network/telecommunications.  Among his proudest accomplishments there were:

• creating a merged library/computing organization that was hopefully a model for how to do it in a way that the campus felt well served and that the staff felt pretty good about how it worked. 

• creating an environment where people could make the most of themselves.  I think of the 115 staff members, almost 80 of them redefined their jobs with us in ways that changed at least 50% of their work in the first 2 years.  

• And creating a structure that was so successful that upon his leaving, he notes that “there was NO conversation about maybe we should move back to the prior structure.”  

Before Bucknell he was the Interim Director of the University Library at Case Western Reserve University. CWRU is a highly networked campus with high expectations for library services and related information technology. Before taking on the University Library helm,  he was the Director of Library Information Technologies, where he wore several hats and several names!  He was responsible for all administration and leadership for a campus-wide computing/library service unit which integrates information technologies into library services and programs.  

Describing his career and his professional progression in his own words Metz says, “There is a relationship between what I'm doing today and being a librarian - approach to service, integration of data/information into decision making, and good process design.  Some of the things I am currently working with:  revision of the campus masterplan, creating a new job classification system for the 3 UM campuses, rethinking the way the campus does fundraising in preparation for our capital campaign next year, integrating marketing/communication into Institutional Advancement and planning for a major integrated marketing effort, and creating a collaborative work environment on campus with strong communication.”

If you want to read even more about Ray, click on http://www.umd.umich.edu/~remetz

Presentation abstract
Can we imagine library services and librarians today without technology? Can we imagine future library services and future librarians using less technology? Technology is always changing professions, librarianship is no exception. What level of involvement we should have with technology and what role we should play are still debated. While there may not be consensus around the answers, there are patterns of practice. How aligned we are as librarians with the patterns at our library will reflect our perceptions about the impact of technology on our workload. This session will explore some of the positive and negative impacts of technology on our workloads as well as explore some of solutions and strategies that might be appropriate in response.

Presentation
Presentation: HTML version (Internet Explorer users only!)
Presentation: PowerPoint