CHICAGO - American Library Association (ALA) President Molly Raphael and Neal-Schuman President Patricia Glass Schuman today announced that on Dec. 23, 2011, Neal-Schuman Publishers will become part of ALA Publishing.

Neal-Schuman Publishers, founded by John Vincent Neal and Patricia Glass Schuman in 1976, will continue to offer print and electronic publications under the well known imprint, but will join ALA Editions, TechSource and the new Huron Street Press under the ALA Publishing umbrella, which also includes ALA Digital Reference, Booklist Publications, American Libraries and ALA Graphics.

“We are very excited about Neal-Schuman joining the ALA family,” Raphael said. “We look forward to continuing the tradition that Pat Schuman and Jack Neal have established – as the best in library and information science education. We welcome the creativity and energy of the imprint and the contribution we see it making to the Association as it seeks to provide the highest quality resources, education and training in this rapidly changing digital environment.”

“Jack Neal and I are extremely proud of the company we have built over the last 36 years, ” said Neal-Schuman co-founder Pat Schuman, who has served as both ALA president and treasurer. “We see ALA as a perfect home for Neal-Schuman, where the imprint can continue to grow and evolve, serving a new generation of librarians.”

Over the next three months, ALA plans on relocating Neal-Schuman operations from New York City to Chicago. Neal-Schuman will continue to maintain a separate product line.

According to ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels, the acquisition of Neal-Schuman closely supports the Association’s strategic goals, which include making the highest quality library service available to all library users and making the highest quality, affordable face-to-face and online continuing education available to libraries.

“New technologies offer the possibility for everyone working in libraries to have access to the training and continuing education they need to provide the best possible service to their users,” said Fiels. “At the same time, rapid changes in technology and our communities themselves make it essential that those who work in libraries have access to the latest information and training on a wide range of topics. The pressure to keep up is tremendous.”

ALA Editions authors have played a growing role in online continuing education for the profession, Fiels noted, and Neal-Schuman’s rich content and many author-experts will allow ALA to offer a much broader range of online and face-to-face learning, as well as enriching ALA Editions’ growing list of e?books. Neal-Schuman publishes hundreds of well known titles, including the popular How-To-Do-It series, The Tech Set® and many textbooks used by library and information science graduate programs.

“The Neal-Schuman imprint will enable the association to expand its publishing program and to bring in new revenue that will augment support for member programs and services,” said ALA Treasurer Jim Neal. “We need to find new financial sources to sustain and grow our capacity in legislative advocacy, public awareness, intellectual freedom, diversity and the full range of ALApriorities.”  Neal also cited the rich potential for expanded international sales in Europe and Asia and the capacity to extend ALA’s electronic publishing capacity.

“Like libraries across the U.S., ALA has been challenged by the economic downturn,” according to Neal, “but thanks to careful stewardship of our resources over many decades, ALA remains fiscally strong.  It is important for the Association to invest in its future to develop new markets and products and, thus, to better serve libraries and ALA members.”

About Neal-Schuman

Neal-Schuman is the leading independent publisher of professional books for librarians, archivists and knowledge managers. Founded in 1976 by Patricia Glass Schuman and John Vincent Neal, the company is based in New York City, with offices in London, England.

Neal-Schuman is considered a premier publisher in the field because of its unique access to librarians and others working on the cutting edge of new services. Neal-Schuman has become the leading publisher of materials specifically designed  to help librarians build on their traditional skill sets and embrace new technologies. Neal-Schuman has more than 500 new, revised and backlist titles in print. In addition, the company markets or copublishes some 200 books and monographs from Chandos Publications, Facet Books (the official imprint of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals), the Medical Library Association and others.

About ALA, ALA Editions and ALA Publishing

ALA Publishing includes ALA Editions, TechSource and the Huron Street Press, as well as ALA Digital Reference, Booklist, Book Links, American Libraries and ALA Graphics.

The publishing imprint of the American Library Association, ALA Editions develops resources, mostly books, for the library and information services community. More than 100,000 copies of ALA Editions titles are purchased each year, helping to support ALA’s general programs. ALA authors are leaders across the field, with their ALA books distributed and valued throughout the world.

ALA Editions’ roots go back more than a century.  The American Library Association committed itself to publishing useful materials for library professionals and researchers. It established a Publishing Section at its 1886 conference in Milwaukee. The Term “Editions” replaced “Books” in June 1994 as the reorganized operation looked forward to a future of multiple formats. With more than 450 new and backlist titles, the publishing program consists of three separate imprints: Editions books and e-books for professional development; TechSource periodicals and online training; and Huron Street Press, a new list for the public.

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Laurie Thompson, MLS, AHIP, brought over 30 years of health science library experience to her role as Editor-in-Chief of The Medical Library Association’s Master Guide to Authoritative Information Resources in the Health Sciences. She is the Assistant Vice President for Library Services at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and is active in the Medical Library Association, serving on its Board of Directors from 2006-2010. We asked Laurie to speak to us in the wake of a great review from CHOICE Magazine, which called the volume she edited “an important, useful tool that is both concise and reliable.” Here she explains how a discussion at an MLA Books Panel meeting turned into this comprehensive resource for health science librarians who must differentiate and select from among the  many resources available.

•  Why did you feel the need to create such a resource?

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The Neal-Schuman Foundation is proud to be a sponsoring partner of the Library 2.011 Conference,  a worldwide virtual conference, November 2 – 3, 2011.  The conference will be held online, in multiple time zones over the course of two days, and will be free to attend.

The Library 2.011 conference is a unique chance to participate in a global conversation on the current and future state of libraries. Subject strands include the changing roles of libraries and librarians, the increasing impact of digital media and the e-book revolution, open educational resources, digital literacy, shifts from information consumption to production (Web 2.0), multimedia and gaming spaces, libraries as community centers, the growth of individualized and self-paced learning, the library as the center of new learning models, understanding users in the digital age, assessing service delivery, and defining leadership and information professional careers in a networked and changing world.

Click here to learn more about The Neal-Schuman Foundation. 

Click here to learn more about the Library 2.011 Conference.

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“Just because you’ve grown up searching things in Google doesn’t mean you know how to use Google as a good research tool.” - Dr. Andrew D. Asher, Lead Research Anthropologist, ERIAL

The Ethnographic Research in Illinois Academic Libraries (ERIAL) project — a two-year series of studies conducted at Illinois Wesleyan, DePaul University, Northeastern Illinois University, and the University of Illinois — provides deep, subjective accounts of what students, librarians, and professors think of the library and one another at those institutions. While the full results of the study have not yet been published, an article in USA Today tackles some of “the sobering truths” that this research brings to light on how students view and use their campus libraries. Among them, students rarely ask librarians for help, even when they need it, students’ study habits are worse than thought, and, despite living in the Internet age, students are not skilled in internet searches.

Exploding the ‘Myth of the Digital Native’

The most alarming finding in the ERIAL studies was perhaps the most predictable: when it comes to finding and evaluating sources in the Internet age, students are downright lousy.

Only seven out of 30 students whom anthropologists observed at Illinois Wesleyan “conducted what a librarian might consider a reasonably well-executed search,” wrote Duke and Andrew Asher, an anthropology professor at Bucknell University, whom the Illinois consortium called in to lead the project.

Throughout the interviews, students mentioned Google 115 times — more than twice as many times as any other database. The prevalence of Google in student research is well-documented, but the Illinois researchers found something they did not expect: students were not very good at using Google. They were basically clueless about the logic underlying how the search engine organizes and displays its results. Consequently, the students did not know how to build a search that would return good sources. (For instance, limiting a search to news articles, or querying specific databases such as Google Book Search or Google Scholar.)

Duke and Asher said they were surprised by “the extent to which students appeared to lack even some of the most basic information literacy skills that we assumed they would have mastered in high school.” Even students who were high achievers in high school suffered from these deficiencies, Asher told Inside Higher Ed in an interview.

-Click for full article published August 22 in USA Today.

One of the most important problems cited in this study is the lack of training students have in how to use the library and basic research methods. That was an issue that  inspired Neal-Schuman authors Arlene Rodda Quaratiello and Jane Devine, as the subtitle of their latest book The College Student’s Research Companion, Fifth Edition: Finding, Evaluating, and Citing the Resources You Need to Succeed demonstrates. Arlene Quaratiello, formerly an academic librarian who now teaches college English, and Jane Devine, a librarian and coauthor of Going Beyond Google: The Invisible Web in Learning and Teaching, saw this desperate need for guidance and today their resource has helped thousands of students fill the knowledge gaps detailed in the ERIAL research.

Look for the full results of the ERIAL study this fall when the resulting papers, Libraries and Student Culture: What We Now Know, are scheduled to be published by the American Library Association. And if the myth of the digital native has haunted your classroom or library, consider how Neal-Schuman’s full range of Information Literacy texts might help you improve your students’ research and information literacy skills.

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ALA created an opportunity to recognize people who have contributed to the field of librarianship and information science in a remarkable way, and one of those people was Neal-Schuman author Dr. Lesley S. J. Farmer, recipient of the 2011 ALA Beta Phi Mu Award for distinguished service to education in librarianship at the annual ALA convention in New Orleans. In a recent interview, I had a chance to ask this veteran of the profession about her experiences, her forthcoming book on instructional design, and her views on the challenges facing teacher-librarians and school librarianship.

A professor at California State University Long Beach, Lesley S. J. Farmer coordinates CSU’s Librarianship program. Dr. Farmer has worked as a teacher-librarian in K-12 school settings as well as in public, special, and academic libraries. She is the co-author of the The Neal-Schuman Technology Management Handbook for School Library Media Centers and the author of the forthcoming Instructional Design for Librarians and Information Professionals. 

•  First of all, congratulations on winning ALA’s 2011 Beta Phi Mu Award for distinguished service to education in librarianship this past May. Could you describe some experiences that might help others that were pivotal in your becoming an award-winning teacher of teachers?

One of my first pivotal experiences was teaching library science in Peace Corps (Tunisia), which lighted my teaching fire. That realization led me to pursue a doctorate in Adult Education so I would have the knowledge and skills to instruct adult pre-service librarians. I think my own librarian experiences informed my teaching, and gave me “street cred.” My writing has also informed my teaching as I have researched a variety of topics, and I have also co-authored with my students. Certainly, coordinating a library science program has enabled me to see the big picture: from developing and expanding a cohesive library program to assessing its effectiveness. Hiring and working with program lecturers has also sharpened my expertise. Teaching online, both with self-grown Web pages and course management systems, provided another dimension for instructional design and delivery. And, of course, I learn from my students every day.

•  Your newest book Instructional Design for Librarians and Information Professionals is on press as we speak. What is its focus, and why did you decide to write this book?

Increasingly, librarians are asked to instruct beyond just-in-time reference help. Even school librarians, who typically have a teaching credential, receive little formal training on designing and implementing library instruction (i.e., information and digital literacies), particularly in a systematic way or in light of virtual education. This book provides such a focus. Because I have worked in all types of libraries, I have experienced a wide range of informational needs, and know what kinds of instruction are appropriate for different clientele and situations.

•  What is technology-transformed instruction and how do librarians implement it?

Technology has the potential to change instruction significantly, not just play an additive role. Of course, teaching with technology involves knowing ABOUT technology, and requires that libraries match technology tools and strategies to the content and learning objective, as well as the learner. The transformative part of technology can apply to both the teaching and learning experience as the roles of the parties involve change from a hierarchical one to a collegial and joint exploratory one. In addition, technology facilitates generative knowledge — that is knowledge production; the learner is no longer just a consumer of information but also a producer of it. Lastly, technology facilitates the dissemination of this new knowledge so that others can be informed by it.

•  As you have focused on teacher librarians and library media curriculum over the years, what have you found to be the new or perennial challenges of the profession?

Obviously, technology continues to change and grow, which impacts both the nature of information itself as well as its “carrier” or “container.” That, in turn, impacts how librarians locate, evaluate, select, and organize recorded information. Librarianship or library service has become more participatory, which I laud. Especially with the Internet, collection development has a whole new meaning as access sometimes outweighs ownership. The library is no longer a closed universe controlled by the librarian; it is a portal to information, guided by the librarian/information professional.  Librarians now share their expertise more, such as teaching users how to evaluate information more than ever; their instructional role has increased. Likewise, with the advent of Web 2.0, even in the cataloging arena, librarians are sharing that intellectual space with users – who can complement subject headings with personal tags and contribute to the collection with their own products more easily. Other issues deal with diversity and globalization: the increasing variety of users and their needs, and their interaction; the world really is getting smaller. More than ever before, librarians need to address the information needs of people with physical and mental differences as well as linguistically different people. I think that librarians also have to assume a greater leadership and advocacy role than ever before; having the fireman attitude of just being ready when the user wants help is no longer enough – librarians have to seek opportunities to reach out to their communities (both physical and virtual) and pro-actively provide information and services that respond to those communities’ needs and wants. Libraries and librarians can no longer to be taken for granted, particularly in light of the many options for gaining information and engaging in leisure activities. More than ever before, librarians have to show their value, including conducting research and analyzing data to evaluate and improve their programs. Nevertheless, libraries continue their core roles of collection development and physical/intellectual access in light of the community, and being socially responsible in the process.

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“Lean” is an especially timely concept for librarians now as demand for their services surge while budgets are being cut. That’s why we sat down with Neal-Schuman author John Huber to talk about his new book, Lean Library Management: Eleven Strategies for Reducing Costs and Improving Services.

John Huber at ALA New Orleans 2011

Huber’s background, with that of J. Huber and Associates–the management consulting firm he founded, is in helping organizations improve their customer service through improved process performance. He has assisted more than 100 organizations transform their operations.

Here, he answers a few questions about his book, Lean principles, and the response of the library community.

1. What is “Lean Manufacturing” and how did it come about?

Lean first and foremost engages and motivates the entire workforce to identify and eliminate all waste in a process. In the early 1980’s manufacturing and distribution companies (following the lead of the Toyota Motor Company) discovered that by eliminating waste in their processes they not only reduced cost and improved quality, they also dramatically reduced the lead-time required to deliver products and services to their customers. It was a game changer and a win-win strategy. In fact, it is no longer a question of whether a manufacturing company should deploy the concepts of Lean: it is a fundamental requirement of entry.

2. Why do you feel Lean Manufacturing has particularly relevance to libraries?

In 2001, I was invited by the Tulsa City/County Library to evaluate and improve the service capability of their delivery process (what I call the service delivery chain.) The ability of customers to request on-line a hold to be delivered to the branch of their choice had become hugely popular to the Tulsa community. Unfortunately the supporting delivery system (vans, tote boxes, pick list, in-transit slips and hold wrappers) was not able to support the ever-increasing volumes this popular service option had created. During our tour, I admit I was a bit apprehensive, after all what did I know about libraries? That changed very quickly, for I soon recognized many familiar things. I saw a manufacturing company (acquisitions, purchasing, technical services, processing); I saw a distribution company (receiving, warehousing, sorting, shipping, returns) and a retail organization (circulation desk, retail services, help desk). I discovered that behind the doors of every library, there was a complex manufacturing, distribution and retail organization. I realized at that moment that all my Lean skills, developed over a twenty-five years career, could be adapted to the library environment. In addition, I realized that Lean could transform the library world. As a result of this epiphany, I dedicated myself to assist libraries across North America transform their service and cost capabilities. The results have been dramatic:

• 50-75% reduction in new book delivery time.

• 50-75% reduction in holds delivery lead-time.

• 20-45% reduction in service delivery costs.

• 25-40% improvement in service days available.

• 25-90% reduction in injury related tasks.

• 25-90% reduction in internal book damage.

Huber at ALA New Orleans 2011

3. What is the main message you would like people to take away from Lean Library Management?

Lean is like a smooth flowing river, no twists and turns, no stagnant water, no dry banks, no hidden rocks, no white water and no flooding. The opposite of the Lean River is the Snake River. A river full of twists and turns, rocks that lie in wait to destroy your boat, dry banks that force you to carry your boat and flooding that forces you off the main flow of the river. The river, of course, is your service delivery chain, a series of processes that cross department boundaries. For example two primary service delivery chains are the New Book Service Delivery Chain and the Holds Service Delivery Chain. Every library I have worked with attempts to navigate the Snake River, which is a costly endeavor. To transform your library from the Snake River to the River Lean, you must engage your workforce to understand where these twists and turns, rocks, and dry banks occur and more importantly why. Lean is that strategy. Lean defines, measures, analyzes, improves and controls the performance of your service delivery chains.

Secondarily, libraries appear to be driven by two primary measurements: circulation and budgets. How many of you wake up in the morning and say: “I can’t wait to get to work today so I can increase our circulation and reduce our budgets”. Nearly every librarian and library staff member I have worked with are not motivated by circulation and budgets, but by servicing their customers. For me, Lean is not about cost reduction, Lean is about service improvement. It just happens to be a not very well known fact that as you improve service you reduce costs. My main message to libraries is that to survive in today’s competitive market (and yes, you have some tough competition) you must embrace Lean and you must embrace the service nature of your staff. If your staff embraces Lean to improve the service capability of your processes, you will reduce costs.

4. We heard from Dr. Annie Norman, State Librarian of Delaware, that she handed out your book “to rave reviews.” What kind of response has your book found in the library community?

Librarians and their staff are a highly intelligent and a well-educated group of people. It is no surprise to me that once explained, the concepts of Lean would be fully embraced by the library community. On a related note, I am frustrated that some city managers have come to a different conclusion. By their decisions to outsource library management responsibilities to ‘for-profit’ managers, they assume library leadership teams are incapable of adapting and responding to our current economic challenges. The facts and my experience argue just the opposite. Historically, libraries have been the very first to embrace change and to embrace new technology. For example, Libraries were one of the first to embrace the power and capability of the Internet, bar coding technology and now RFID. The idea that libraries cannot respond and adapt to new challenges is a false proposition.

However, prior to this book, it is true that most library managers and their staff had not been exposed or educated on how Lean concepts could streamline and improve their service delivery chains. Now that the book has been released and Libraries now understand the River Lean, it is just a matter of time that the concepts of Lean Library Management will be as common to libraries as every other new technology they have embraced.

Finally, I have been very pleased and humbled by how the library community has so fully embraced my book and the concepts of the Lean Library Management. As such, for all of you that have contributed to the ‘buzz’ that surrounds this book, I want to take this opportunity to thank you. Furthermore, I look forward to thanking you in person.

Learn more about Lean Library Management on the book’s webpage.

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