This report, based on data and commentary from directors, deans and other high level officials at 80 American college and university libraries, explores the sometime strained relationship between the library staff and the Administration information technology staffs that often service and interface with librarians and other library staff. The study quantifies just how common are turf battles between the library and university or college information technology staff, what form these conflicts take, and how they are resolved, or not. The study also defines the percentage of colleges that have their own information technology staffs, and the results when they do. Survey respondents relate their level of satisfaction with the college’s main information technology department and give their views on how well it serves the library and how the relationship might unfold in the future.
Just a few of this 36-page report’s many findings are that:
Nearly 38% of respondents felt that turf battles between the library and information technology department staffs were “common” or “pervasive.”
14.3% of small colleges with fewer than 1,300 students had a separate information technology department reporting to the library director
Colleges at the highest tuition levels reported much less satisfaction with the level of support that the library received from the college information technology department than did colleges in the lowest tuition category.