Outsourcing library services

It was reported this week that the Boston Herald is exploring options to outsource its printing operation to western Massachusetts. This news comes on the heels of reports from Florida, where the Miami Herald announced staff reductions of 250 employees. These cuts include the outsourcing of archiving tasks to workers in India.

News libraries, and therefore news librarians, are chiefly responsible for archiving the content their organizations produce. That workers in other countries are now being tapped to perform tasks that were previously the domain of librarians should give us pause, but it is certainly not a new situation.

For instance, where once each library employed a bevy of technical services librarians to perform original cataloging, now the majority of libraries have greatly reduced numbers of cataloging staff and engage more often in copy cataloging of bibliographic records produced by bodies such as the Library of Congress. This change means that the effort expended to complete a task — creating a record for a book — is not duplicated hundreds of times by individual librarians. While jobs were lost as a result of this change, it also meant that the library’s operations were more efficient and cost-effective.

I am not trying to say that I am completely unconcerned with how outsourcing may affect my future job prospects. What I am saying is that we should embrace changes that make our profession more efficient and give us more time to do those activities that make us unique and important.

Yes, librarians at the Miami Herald may have a different job description as a result of this round of lay-offs, but this situation is also an opportunity to explore new ways to contribute to the operation of the newspaper. The more librarians are flexible and open to new ways of utilizing their skills, the more likely they are to remain relevant to their employers.

Tags: Outsourcing