[Eril-l] Retiring - thank you, and what documentation should I leave?

[Williams, Ginger]

Backup your email files and save the archive on a shared drive that several people can access. A 10-year email archive can be a pain to sift through, but sometimes tracking through email exchanges is worth the effort, as they let you reconstruct some of the reasoning behind a decision.

From: Eril-l <eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org> On Behalf Of Goddard, Matthew [LIB]
Sent: Tuesday, June 1, 2021 12:21 PM
To: eril-l at lists.eril-l.org
Subject: Re: [Eril-l] Retiring - thank you, and what documentation should I leave?

Great question. I'm coming at this from the other side, having recently stepped into an ER Librarian role that had been filled by the same person for the previous thirteen years. I agree with all of the suggestions so far. I have two more:


  1.  A brief narrative of the history of each major account. We're over two decades into this e-resources licensing thing and there's a lot of history that can be hard to parse out from digging through old license agreements. Just few sentences along the lines of "We did this direct 2005-2007, then via [consortium]. No perpetual access to 2010-2012. In 2016 we unbundled the big deal based on...., but retained... etc."
  2.  The other suggestion is more general. When typing up procedures documentation, far more helpful than "click this button then click this button" is the "why" of the processes, the logic that determines why you're doing that particular set of procedures. ILS documentation can tell us how to do things, but not why they were done that way locally.

Matthew


___________
Matthew Goddard
E-Resources Librarian
Iowa State University
204 Parks Library | Ames, IA 50011
mgoddard at iastate.edu<mailto:mgoddard at iastate.edu>


From: Eril-l <eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org<mailto:eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org>> On Behalf Of Bhatt, Anjana
Sent: Tuesday, June 1, 2021 11:24 AM
To: Christopher D Vidas <cvidas at clemson.edu<mailto:cvidas at clemson.edu>>; Diane Westerfield <dwesterfield at coloradocollege.edu<mailto:dwesterfield at coloradocollege.edu>>; eril-l at lists.eril-l.org<mailto:eril-l at lists.eril-l.org>
Subject: Re: [Eril-l] Retiring - thank you, and what documentation should I leave?

I so much agree with Chris about creating a common shared account for your E-Resources vendors. It will help you about tracking invoices and other emails that gets sent to random people without you being in the loop.

From: Eril-l <eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org<mailto:eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org>> On Behalf Of Christopher D Vidas
Sent: Tuesday, June 1, 2021 11:52 AM
To: Diane Westerfield <dwesterfield at coloradocollege.edu<mailto:dwesterfield at coloradocollege.edu>>; eril-l at lists.eril-l.org<mailto:eril-l at lists.eril-l.org>
Subject: Re: [Eril-l] Retiring - thank you, and what documentation should I leave?

Hi Diane,

I just finished a recorded presentation on exactly this topic, so I've been thinking through many of the things than can and do help.  Since there won't be any overlap or training, here are some of the highlights that I wish I'd had or that I think would be helpful for our other open positions.


  *   Create workflows that will be accessible by your replacement.  These can be Excel spreadsheets, Word documents, or even recorded videos of common tasks.  They can be generic enough that they specify a position that completes the task rather than named individuals who may change over time.
  *   Be sure to share usernames and passwords.  We use LastPass and Alma (previously Intota), but the next person will need to know where and how to access admin profiles.
  *   A shared email account can be very handy and make transitions easier.  My last two positions had accounts like libacq at yourinstitution.edu<mailto:libacq at yourinstitution.edu> or something similar that can be accessed by you or your team and any replacement who joins your institution.  That helps retain email histories so that the relevant individuals can find important details from vendors or from each other.
  *   Cross-training can also be valuable, so even if you can't pass along your wisdom directly to a replacement, there will be others who remain who can do so.  For example, if I know how to perform several key workflows in Alma, at least one other person here should also understand those processes, even if it isn't all done by the same back-up individual.  That's tough with smaller staffs, but may be an option.
  *   That's probably plenty of info already, but the last thing I'd mention is to be sure your administration understands what you do.  That can mean creating a broad outline of responsibilities, but it helps to avoid gaps in tasks for your replacement.  For example, if you periodically check database links or update LibGuide links, that won't make your replacement's job description, but should be something they know was being done in the past so that they can continue that work.

I hope that you find something here helpful, although you've probably already considered many or all of these things.

Thanks, and congrats on your retirement!

Chris

Christopher D. Vidas
Electronic Resources Librarian
Clemson University
Library Depot
103 Clemson Research Blvd
Anderson, SC 29625
864-656-5175
cvidas at clemson.edu<mailto:cvidas at clemson.edu>

From: Eril-l <eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org<mailto:eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org>> On Behalf Of Diane Westerfield
Sent: Tuesday, June 1, 2021 11:31 AM
To: eril-l at lists.eril-l.org<mailto:eril-l at lists.eril-l.org>
Subject: [Eril-l] Retiring - thank you, and what documentation should I leave?

Hi all,

I'm retiring with my last day being June 30. Thank you all to everyone who has answered questions and given good advice, this listserv has been immensely helpful.

I won't have a chance to train the next person in this position. I started in 2008 when electronic resources hadn't been handled by one person and there weren't so many e-resources to begin with. There was a steep learning curve for me: I had to pore over various things to get them set up properly in different systems, dig into old paperwork and order records to figure things out, and cobbled together new workflows. For those of you who stepped into an already established Electronic Resources Librarian position, what documentation do you wish had been left for you?

I'm furiously writing up documentation, but I know there are things I won't think of until months later, or at all.

Thanks,

Diane Westerfield, Electronic Resources & Serials Librarian
Colorado College, Tutt Library
diane.westerfield at coloradocollege.edu<mailto:diane.westerfield at coloradocollege.edu>
(719) 389-6661


CAUTION:. This email originated from outside the TXST network. Do not click links or download files unless you know the sender and content are safe.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.eril-l.org/pipermail/eril-l-eril-l.org/attachments/20210609/93b1b783/attachment.html>