Background and Need for Change
Technical services departments in today's academic library are under increasing pressure to change and
adopt new approaches to acquiring and making accessible dwindling print and growing electronic
resources. As noted in a recent article (Eden 2010) on the future of technical services, academic libraries
need to not only redesign workflows and procedure but to also retool staff competencies.
Over the past several years, the UNL Libraries has systematically reallocated resources to address user
needs, streamline operations, and adjust for decreases in library funding and purchasing power. University
budget reductions and reallocations, as well as increasing prices for materials, have resulted in a
decrease in the number of positions in the Libraries. The number of faculty and staff positions in the
Libraries dropped from a high of 157 FTE in to 136 in 2010. Other cost cutting measures include: a
decrease in operating budgets, a decrease in the number of monographs purchased each year and a