We've been picking up the vibes about Bangor for many weeks but the Guardian article of 16 Feb last summarizes it pretty well. Eight librarian's heads are on the chopping block because:
“The support to the academic and student communities from the qualified subject librarians, whatever its contribution to the teaching and research roles of the institution, is hard to justify in value-for-money terms at a time when the process of literature searches is substantially deskilled by online bibliographical resources.” So what does this tell knowledge workers whose organizations want to capture what they know?
If Bangor proceeds with its decision they are sure betting a lot. I hope they realize they are about to become the ultimate case study.
But let's be mindful that universities aren't shoe factories where the effect of organizational changes on 'production' can be felt pretty well immediately. Even changes which ultimately prove destructive will take some time to show and rise above the 'spin'. The author of the 'hard to justify' paragraph needs to remain in the spotlight so that they can be held to account … whatever the result.
