Environmental Scan/Community Relations

Introduction
I did not really understand the importance of environmental scans/community relations when I started this assignment. That is why I included lots of different resources, especially from my text books. It was actually really difficult to find information on environmental scanning, so I feel lucky that I was able to find so much on this one topic.

(As for the physical articles, I have each one saved in corresponding folders on my computer. Since this blog is public, I felt that it would be a violation of each author's copyright to share copies of their work without permission. That's why I felt that an annotated bibliography would be the best way to construct a management portfolio.)


Textbook Chapter:

1. Gordon, Rachel Singer. 2005. The Accidental Library Manager. Medford, New Jersey: Information    Today, Inc. 229-257. Specifically pay attention to the section of this chapter entitled "Your Community," page 235-240. It gives the reader some good pointers on how to manage community relations in a proactive manner.

• Chapter 4 is vague but it is also helpful.

2. Stueart, Robert D. and Barbara D. Moran. 2007. Library and Information Center Management, 7th ed. Westport, Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited. 93-117. While this chapter deals with planning, it has an excellent section on gauging the environment of your library on pages 99-107.

Article from prof library literature:

1. Marshall, Nancy J. "Public Relations in Academic Libraries: A Descriptive Analysis." Journal of Academic Librarianship 27, no. 2 (2001): 116-121. Marshall justifies reasons for academic libraries to establish good public relations with their campuses.

Article from prof management literature:

1. Chan, Diana L.H. and Samson C. Soong. "Strategic repositioning in a dynamic environment." Library Management 32, no 1 (2011): 22-36. This article illustrates how an academic library in Hong Kong completed an environmental scan and reorganized itself based on its findings. One can certainly take some pointers from an article like this. This article could be used to help teach library staff about ways to conduct scans and implement changes based on that scan's findings.

2. Albright, Kendra S. "Environmental Scanning: Radar for Success." The Information Management Journal 38, no. 3 (2004): 38-45. Albright defines what environmental scanning means to an organization and why it integral to an organization's strategic plan. She also describes the process which is involved in conducting an environmental scan. This article establishes a basic understanding of environmental scanning and why it is important. It could be used for a basic lesson on environmental scans in the future.

Example of library policies and procedures:

1. The Ephrata Public Library's Public Relations Policy is short, sweet, and easy to understand while giving good examples of how to deal with different groups like the media and how public inquiries are handled: http://www.ephratapubliclibrary.org/public-relations-policy.php

2. Blossburg Memorial Library Community Relations Policy provides a concise outline of this library's policies and procedures in relation to the public. It states its objectives and how it will accomplish such objectives. It is provides a great example of how a library should conduct its business.

Other resources:

1. http://scanblog.blogspot.com/2005/07/environmental-scanning-pt-2.html Even though this blog is now defunct, it provides several interesting and helpful posts on environmental scans in the library world.

2. http://www.olc.org/marketing/4pr.htm This public relations asks the librarian an excellent question: "How do you want the library to be seen in relation to the community?" It gives some excellent tips for building a healthy and long-lasting relationship with your community.