CASE STUDY REPORT: NATIONAL LIBRRARY OF AUSTRALIA essay
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA’S BACKGROUND
Today, National Library of Australia is one of the major libraries of Australia, which has an important role in the cultural life of Australia as well as in the social and economic life of the country. Initially, National Library of Australia was created as the library, where important documents, books, and other materials could be stored, whereas Australians could have had an access to these materials any time they like. In the course of time, National Library of Australia accumulated huge funds of books, journals, documents, and other materials which are the true treasure of the library.
The long history of National Library of Australia witnessed the rise and crises, which the library had to pass through. Nevertheless, today, National Library of Australia is still one of the major libraries of Australia, where a huge amount of different materials are stored. At the same time, the huge funds of the library need effective management. The library attempts to develop its information management system and use the full potential of its resources. In this respect, the role of human resources becomes strategically important for the library.
In fact, it is due to devoted employees working in the library, National Library of Australia has managed to preserve such rare artifacts as a 1796 theater playbill has been added to the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Register.
National Library of Australia keeps progressing but faces numerous challenges associated with the emergence of new technologies and consistent socio-cultural changes. In fact, the emergence of information technologies and computer technologies along with modern telecommunication systems raised a number of challenges National Library of Australia has to deal with. In actuality, it is obvious that National Library of Australia needs modernization to keep pace with emerging technologies and to provide its clients with products and services they need at the moment. In such a context, human resources should be able to deliver services customers of National Library of Australia need and, what is more important, employees of the library should keep progressing to maintain effective company-customer relationships that means that National Library of Australia needs an effective strategy of the development of its human resources, which inevitably affects the company-customer relationships of National Library of Australia.
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA’S PLAN
In actuality, it is possible to distinguish several points in the plan of National Library of Australia concerning its further development:
The use of balanced scorecards helps the company to assess its current performance as well as performance of its employees
The collection of development policies helps the company to define the further direction to the development of the library
The collection digitalization policy stimulates the introduction of new technologies and digitalization of the library.
The collection disaster plan helps to prevent losses and damages caused by disasters that may affect National Library of Australia.
The copyright position statement regulates copyright policies of National Library of Australia and observation of these policies by employees.
The cost recovery impact statement helps National Library of Australia to overcome negative effects of the recent economic recession as well as other financial problems.
The digital preservation directions statement 2008 – 2012 provides the four year program of the digitalization and technological development of the library.
The digital preservation policy lays the foundation to the digitalization and protection of digital data stored within the library and its database system.
The information technology plan focuses on the elaboration and introduction of new information technologies in National Library of Australia in the nearest future.
The reader services policies shape the relationships between employees and customers of the library in both short-run and long-run perspectives.
The social media policies define the company-customer relationships of the library and the use of social media to improve these relationships.
ASSUMPTIONS FOR HUMAN RESOURCE STRATEGIC PLAN
In actuality, National Library of Australia has already reached significant progress in its human resource management, especially with the introduction of the balanced scorecards approach. The use of balanced scorecards enhances the control over the work of employees and improves the communication within the organization. The balanced scorecard approach allows conducting mutual assessment of employees’ performance, when employees assess the performance of each other. The balanced scorecards are the effective tool of assessment of employees and organizational performance.
In such a context, National Library of Australia should enhance the balanced scorecards approach to improve the relationships within the company through their adequate assessment. This can be done through the introduction of adequate measures in response to problems identified with the help of balanced scorecards. In addition, the library can use consumers to assess the performance of employees and respond to their needs after the analysis of information they receive with balanced scorecards.
Furthermore the digitalization of the library is strategically important for National Library of Australia. On the other hand, the digitalization raises problems of the introduction of new technologies to maintain information system of the library and to manage information effectively. Moreover, the personnel of the library need training to use the full potential of new technologies.
In addition, the problem of information security and the personnel should be aware of importance of information security and protection of private information and database from information breaches, identity theft, and other problems. At the same time, employees should be not just aware of these threats and problems, but they should be also able to prevent them and to protect the library from such threats.
Furthermore, National Library of Australia needs the improvement of relations with customers. The library has to attract readers and provide them with larger access to its resources, whereas employees should provide customers with services of the high quality. In addition, the use of the full potential of social media can help the library to reach the target audience and attract more customers.
