Presented by Bonnie Thornton. This presentation details onboarding strategies institutions can utilize to help acclimate new e-resources librarians with an emphasis on strategies for effectively establishing and perpetuating communications with stakeholders.

1. Communications and context
Strategies for onboarding new e-resources librarians
By Bonnie Thornton

2. Overview
• Introduction
• Discuss experiences of new e-resources librarians within context of NASIG Core
Competencies
• Specifically, discuss the e-resources lifecycle in context of the core competency of Effective
Communication
• Questions and examples an institution may consider for onboarding a new
librarian, and integrating that librarian into external and internal pre-existing
relationships
• Conclusion

3. Introduction
• Early career professional hired in December of 2018 as a Continuing
Resources Librarian
• Transferred into the role of Electronic Resources Librarian, July 2019
• Mississippi State University
• R1 land grant institution with an FTE of 22,000
• Operating budget is approximately $9,813,712 (~$4.6 million dedicated to Electronic
Resources)

4. Training
• Not a vacated position
• Personnel I could reference as well as time for training
• Mentoring made me realize that I was stepping into many pre-existing
relationships
• Learning and managing institutional relationships
• Key to relationship is to know who to talk to and when

5. Core Competencies for Electronic Resources Librarians
4. Effective communication*
The ERL demonstrates effective communication by
4.1 Communicating effectively, promptly, and consistently, verbally and in writing, with a broad range of internal and
external audiences: users, colleagues and staff, subscription agents, and vendors; the ERL must be able to tailor the
message(s) to the circumstances and to the audience, as needed.
4.2 Synthesizing easy to understand summaries of complex and ambiguous phenomena. ERLs often serve as the library’s
liaison with external stakeholders such as vendors or institutional information technology staff.
4.3 Explaining and instructing clearly and concisely, when and as needed; rises above personal feelings and frustrations in
order to provide the best possible services and resources to end users.
4.4 Demonstrating the ability to work collaboratively with other units and staff, establishing and maintaining effective
working relationships.
4.5 Demonstrating the ability to frame situations according to others’ perspectives to recruit assistance with
troubleshooting from vendors, agents, consortium partners, IT support, student/faculty users, etc.
4.6 Recognizing the need for data, selecting appropriate data analysis methods and utilizing data (e.g. resource usage
statistics) persuasively to inform decision making.
4.7 Making presentations that are clear and comprehensive.
*Highlighted for emphasis. NASIG Core Competencies for E-Resources Librarians retrieved at: https://www.nasig.org/Competencies-Eresources.

6. Figure 1. Electronic Resources Life Cycle (Pesch, 2009). Retrieved from
https://www.nasig.org/Competencies-Eresources.
Electronic Resources Life
Cycle, Competency One

8. Discussion
• Note that dependent upon the start date, a new librarian may be thrown into
the middle of the e-resources life cycle
• Again, contextualizing the life cycle, you’ll want that new librarian to know who to talk
to and how to get ahold of that person as soon as possible.

9. Who are your stakeholders?
• Internal
• Fellow librarians
• Systems/IT
• Administration
• External
• Vendors
• Authentication/Tech Support
• Patrons

10. Stakeholder related questions
• How and where are those stakeholders identified for the librarian?
• how might institutional knowledge, including administrative functions and
vendor contacts, best be documented for a new e-resources librarian?
• The location and effectiveness of this documentation helps determine how effectively a
new e-resources librarian may identify who to talk to and when.
• MSU utilizes shared drives. Other examples include Sharepoint, Wiki, procedures binder,
Google Drive, OneDrive, etc.

11. Transitioning vendor contacts
• If possible, set up an automatic email to notify vendors of the new E-
resources librarian and their contact information.
• Make this part of your onboarding procedure so it is not accidentally overlooked
• If former librarian has planned leave, ask if they have documentation or
vendor contact cards they may leave for the new librarian. Ideally the vendor
contact information will be part of the shared procedure documentation
• For example – having contract contact information listed with the contract renewals
documentation.

12. Internal troubleshooting
• Have an updated organization chart readily available for reference.
• Have clear documentation of troubleshooting workflows.
• For example – at MSU I do not communicate with Campus IT directly.
• Clear indicators of who to contact helps prevent accidental oversteps and
communicating with the incorrect person to resolve an issue.

13. Additional Questions to Ask
• If someone isn’t available to train the new librarian or assist them with
acclimating to their role, what steps are in place for the librarian to adapt to
the proper internal and external channels of communication within their
institution
• How does your institution foster departmental relationships in a way that’s
sustainable?

14. Bibliography/Further Reading
“Guidelines for ALCTS Members to Supplement the American Library Association Code of Ethics, 1994.”
Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS), 28 Mar. 2007,
http://www.ala.org/alcts/resources/alaethics. Accessed 2. Feb. 2020.
Hulseberg, Anna. “Technical Communicator: A New Model for the Electronic Resources Librarian?” Journal of
Electronic Resources Librarianship, vol. 28, no. 2, Apr. 2016, pp. 84–92, doi:10.1080/1941126X.2016.1164555.
Thomas, Joseph. “A Beginner’s Guide to Working with Vendors.” The E-Resources Management Handbook, UKSG,
2006, pp. 1–7, doi:10.1629/9552448-0-3.19.1.
Keisling, Bruce, and Melissa Laning. “We Are Happy To Be Here: The Onboarding Experience in Academic
Libraries.” Journal of Library Administration, vol. 56, no. 4, June 2016, pp. 381–94,
doi:10.1080/01930826.2015.1105078.
NASIG Core Competencies for E-Resources Librarians. https://www.nasig.org/Competencies-Eresources. Accessed 2
Feb. 2020.
“

15. Conclusion
• Questions?
• Contact: bthornton@library.msstate.edu
• Work phone: 662-325-4619