Maplewood Public Library Background Maplewood Public Library is located in a sma
ID: 3689469 • Letter: M
Question
Maplewood Public Library
Background
Maplewood Public Library is located in a small but growing rural community that is rapidly becoming suburban as more people move into the area. The influx of library patrons has stretched this small library's information system to its limits. The current system is computerized, but it was not designed to handle the workload that is now required. As librarians log books in
and out of the system, it is not unusual for the information system to hang. Patron requests for holds or interlibrary loans still are done at the circulation desk. The library building has just been expanded to sustain increasing public visitors. Local leaders have agreed that a new information system is necessary for the continued operation of the library. You are an experienced systems analyst and have been appointed as project manager for the project.
Tasks
1. Provide the organizational chart to include “person” and “responsibilities”—this can be notional.
2. Provide your network design.
3. Provide your proposed back-end data design.
4. List and provide the system’s functional decomposition
Explanation / Answer
1.Provide the organizational chart to include “person” and “responsibilities”—this can be notional
Associate Dean and the Dean. In this arrangement the Dean will act as Chief Executive Officer and will deal primarily with external functions, while the Associate Dean will act as Chief Operating Officer and will deal primarily with internal functions. The Associate Dean will serve as the manager of daily operations and direct supervisor of the eight top level managers. While the Dean will also direct these top level managers as well as the Associate Dean, the intent of this structure is to allow the Dean to focus on external stakeholders and strategy. All current staff and operations will be reorganized within these top level functional units as described in the remainder of this plan. One of these top level units, the Research Support Office, is prospective and will not be immediately staffed; it anticipates a function and funding stream that will grow over time as sponsored funding and collaborative research between the faculty and the library expands. The following are descriptions of the seven top level units created in this structure. Two types of top level units are being created, divisions and offices. Divisions are the largest organizational structures, fulfill core library functions, and are similar in scale to academic departments in colleges of the university. Offices are somewhat smaller than divisions, and fulfill various library administrative functions. Divisions will be ledy librarians, while offices may be led by either librarians or senior staff.
LATERAL COORDINATING GROUPS
The examination of organizational structure in the library has highlighted the need for effective crossdivisional or “lateral” coordination of efforts. This functional need is not directly addressed in this organizational plan, but our expectation is that the new top-level of management recruited will take up this issue immediately. For example, a function that was frequently cited as requiring effective lateral coordination by virtually everyone is the subject liaison program. Lateral coordinating groups and mechanisms will be cultivated in a subsequent planning stage by the new top level management team, once it is in place.
PROCESS FOR RECRUITING TOP LEVEL MANAGERS
Internal recruitment is the process envisioned for populating the top level of library leadership identified in this plan. Position announcements for the new division and office leader positions will be posted with the intent that internal candidates receive first consideration. There are several reasons for pursuing this strategy.
2.Provide your network design
Building and design news
New developments in library design and new library projects
Funding and subsidies
Access to information about public library subsidies and funding resources.
Library building and design - standards and guidelines
Standards and guidelines associated with library design, buldings and service.
Library Design Forums
Papers and presentations from library design seminars and conferences.
Library Gallery
Public Library photo gallery showcasing public library buildings and spaces.
Planning tools
Australian and International listings and information about library design.
Queensland
Australia
International
4. List and provide the system’s functional decomposition
Functional decomposition refers broadly to the process of resolving a functional relationship into its constituent parts in such a way that the original function can be reconstructed (i.e., recomposed) from those parts by function composition. In general, this process of decomposition is undertaken either for the purpose of gaining insight into the identity of the constituent components (which may reflect individual physical processes of interest, for example), or for the purpose of obtaining a compressed representation of the global function, a task which is feasible only when the constituent processes possess a certain level of modularity (i.e., independence or non-interaction). Interactions between the components are critical to the function of the collection. All interactions may not be observable, but possibly deduced through repetitive perception, synthesis, validation and verification of composite behavior.