1. Introduction
The planning and organisation of information services in libraries involve a comprehensive approach to meet the diverse needs of the user community. This process begins with a thorough needs assessment and understanding the demographic and educational context. Collection development follows, strategically acquiring resources within allocated budgets. Efficient cataloguing and classification systems, like the Dewey Decimal Classification, organise materials for easy user access. Reference services and information literacy programs are implemented to assist users in navigating resources effectively. Technology integration ensures seamless access to digital materials, and user engagement activities such as workshops and outreach programs foster community connections.Planning is a systematic process of setting objectives, identifying user needs, allocating resources, and designing strategies to deliver information services.
Organisation is the structuring of staff, resources, and procedures to implement services effectively, with clear responsibilities and workflows.
Example: A university library planning to introduce an e-journal access service must study user demand, negotiate licenses, set budgets, and organise authentication systems, staff training, and user orientation programs.
2. Steps in Planning and Organising Information Services in Libraries
Planning and organisation of information services is a systematic process. It ensures that services are not developed randomly, but are based on user needs, library policies, available resources, and technological possibilities. The steps can be explained as follows:- Identifying User Needs: The first step in planning any information service is understanding users' needs. Different groups—students, teachers, researchers, professionals, or the general public—require different kinds of information. Surveys, interviews, feedback forms, and analysis of usage statistics help identify these needs. For example, surveys in a medical college library may reveal that research scholars want access to the latest articles in PubMed and Scopus. At the same time, undergraduates prefer textbooks and exam guides.
- Defining Goals and Objectives: Once user needs are identified, the library must define clear objectives. Goals should be specific, realistic, and measurable. For example, a university library may set a goal of launching an SDI service for research scholars. In contrast, a public library may aim to provide community information on health, employment, and government schemes. Such goals give direction to service planning and help in evaluating success later.
- Policy Formulation: Policies provide a framework for consistent and fair delivery of services. They decide the scope of services, target audience, frequency, delivery mode, and financial norms. Policies also cover copyright and licensing issues, especially in digital services. For instance, the Delhi Public Library allows free reference services but charges a nominal fee for photocopying. Similarly, interlibrary loan policies specify who can borrow, for how long, and under what conditions.
- Resource Planning: Information services cannot be delivered without adequate resources. Libraries must plan for finances, staff, infrastructure, and technology. Financial resources cover journal subscriptions, the purchase of books, or licensing databases. Human resources include librarians, subject specialists, and IT staff. Infrastructure may involve seating space, servers, and network connections, while technology provides library management systems and discovery tools. For example, an agricultural university library planning an SDI service must budget for access to CAB Abstracts, train staff in database searching, and maintain user profiles.
- Designing the Service: After resources are planned, the service design is prepared. This involves deciding the workflow, division of responsibilities, delivery methods, and service frequency. For example, in a Current Awareness Service, one librarian may scan new journals, another may compile abstracts, and a third may prepare and distribute a weekly bulletin via email. The design should be user-friendly, cost-effective, and reliable.
- Organisation and Structuring: Planning is converted into practice by organising the service. This means creating specialised sections, appointing coordinators, and assigning clear roles. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) ensure consistency. For example, a “Digital Information Services Unit” may be created in a university library with staff responsible for maintaining databases, training users, and updating the institutional repository.
- Implementation: Implementation is the stage where the service is launched. It may begin as a pilot project and then be expanded. For example, a public library may start a pilot newspaper clipping service for local business users for three months. If successful, it can be made a permanent service. Proper coordination and monitoring are essential during implementation to avoid delays and errors.
- Publicity and Promotion: Many library services fail not because they are poorly designed, but because users are unaware of them. Therefore, publicity is a crucial part of an organisation. Libraries can use posters, newsletters, orientations, social media, and even WhatsApp groups to spread awareness. For instance, a college library launching a plagiarism detection service must conduct orientations for students and faculty, put up notices, and send email alerts.
- Evaluation and Feedback: Evaluation ensures that services are effective, economical, and user-oriented. Libraries must regularly collect feedback and analyse usage statistics. Methods include surveys, interviews, cost-benefit analysis, and benchmarking with peer libraries. For example, if a library’s CAS bulletin is not widely read, feedback may reveal that users prefer short mobile alerts to lengthy newsletters. Based on this, the service can be modified to suit user preferences.
3. Challenges in Planning and Organisation of Information Services in Libraries
- Funding and cost control: Budgets rarely keep pace with inflation in print and especially in e-content. Planning must juggle one-time purchases, recurring licenses, and hidden platform fees. IFLA’s Public Library Service Guidelines stress formal financial planning to keep services efficient, economical, and effective. Consortial models (e.g., India’s e-ShodhSindhu) reduce unit costs but add coordination overhead and access-policy constraints.
- Staffing, skills, and role clarity: Many libraries face shortages in metadata, licensing, data analytics, and instructional design. Organisational charts often lag behind new service lines (digital literacy, maker spaces, research data help). Clear lines of authority and continuous training are required to avoid gaps in reference, e-resource management, and IT handoffs. IFLA guidelines outline workforce planning tied to service goals.
- Technology and infrastructure: Service plans fail when bandwidth, authentication, discovery layers, or link resolvers are weak. PLA’s national technology survey shows rapid expansion of hotspots, streaming media, and digital-skills training, but also flags funding and subscription terms as binding constraints. Planning must specify uptime targets, SSO/federated access, device support, and refresh cycles.
- Licensing complexity and access rights: Shifting from ownership to licenses complicates hours, user categories, walk-in access, and course-reserve use. COUNTER Release 5 improved comparability of usage data, yet libraries still navigate multiple report types and evolving versions when evaluating value. Plans must encode renewal calendars, archival rights, and concurrent-user needs.
- Measurement and evaluation: Managers need credible indicators to decide what to expand, fix, or sunset. ISO 11620 standardises performance indicators; ISO 16439 defines impact-assessment methods and vocabulary. Without these, the data are incomparable across time and branches. Build dashboards that mix inputs, outputs, outcomes, and cost-per-use.
- Privacy, ethics, and data governance: Personalisation, analytics, and third-party platforms create privacy risk. IFLA’s Privacy Statement reminds libraries to protect personal data and search histories, and to codify retention, access logs, and consent. Plans must specify data flows, vendor clauses, and staff protocols.
- Accessibility and inclusion: Services must reach users with disabilities and linguistic diversity. The Marrakesh Treaty eases making and exchanging accessible formats, but delivery still requires accessible platforms, alt-text, captions, and staff capacity. Bake WCAG conformance and accessible-format workflows into project plans.
- Awareness and uptake: Well-built services underperform if users do not know or cannot navigate them. The IMLS Public Library Survey highlights the need to align offerings with real use and to improve measures and communication. Plan scheduled orientations, micro-learning, and just-in-time prompts in LMS/OPAC.
- Collaboration at scale: Interlibrary loan and consortia amplify reach but complicate policy, turnaround, and cost-sharing. DELNET’s ILL model shows benefits but requires clear SLAs, packaging standards, and copyright checks across members. Define governance, routing rules, and exception handling before launch.
- Change management and culture: Service redesign meets resistance when roles, metrics, or desk coverage change. Use pilots, communicate benefits, and pair new expectations with training and fair workload standards anchored in recognised KPIs. IFLA guidelines recommend aligning structure, finance, and community outcomes during change.
- Continuity and risk: Disasters, cyber incidents, and vendor outages disrupt access. Plans need documented DR/BC steps, offline fallbacks for circulation/reference, escrow or perpetual-access clauses, and contact trees for vendors and consortia. Use ISO metrics to test recovery targets and user impact after incidents.
- Urban–rural and campus–branch disparities: Branches and rural outlets often lack the bandwidth, devices, or staff depth assumed by central plans. National and international data sets (PLS, IFLA guidelines) show uneven capacity. Build tiered service levels and mobile or offline options; leverage consortial access where local budgets cannot stretch.