25th IATUL Conference Report Alice Trussell and Jay Bhatt 4 LIBRARY HI TECH NEWS Number 8 2004, pp. 4-7, # Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 0741-9058, DOI 10.1108/07419050410567281 ``Library management in a changing environment'' was the theme of the 25th conference of the International Association of Technical University Libraries IATUL) in Krakow, Poland, May 30-June 3, 2004. The host institution was Cracow University of Technology Library www.biblos.pk. edu/pl). The world has experienced a tremendous amount of change in the last 40 years. Technology has exploded, and political/economic shifts have directly impacted institutions and individuals worldwide. Within that framework, the IATUL chose to focus the conference presentations on library management in a changing environment. The location of the conference in Krakow, Poland was a vivid reminder that the world situation has changed enormously within the last 15 years. The four themes of the conference were: 1) Elements of library management. 2) Traditional collection and e-resources ± policy dilemma. 3) Public relations: user-oriented services. 4) Regional library cooperation. In addition IATUL always builds in a ``study-tour'' day on Wednesday of the conference week. A library different from the host institution is visited and then a tour of interesting places in the host country is followed. The first stop on the study tour day was a visit to the Jagiellonian University Institute for Information and Librarianship. It was exciting to hear about and see the nearly 500 students studying library and information science in Poland. The remainder of the day was spent traveling to the Pieniny Mountains, rafting on the Dunajec River, touring Neidzica Castle and Museum, and having a traditional dinner in Zacopane, a ski-resort area in the mountains of southern Poland. The opening session began with a focus on the first theme: ``Elements of library management''. The majority of presentations in the conference focused on this theme. The keynote speaker, Dr Henryk Hollender, head of the Warsaw University Library in Warsaw Poland, spoke on ``Radical management and the modern information world''. Hollender assessed where libraries of the world are and where they need to go additional information about him is available at http://ebib.oss.wroc.pl/ Frankfurt/hollender.html After initially affirming that although libraries are performing well and being successful, he indicated that libraries need to perform better. This makes us take a second look at how they are managed. Across the world, libraries are not given equal chances because of funding. This can be seen if you look at the funding in traditional European Union countries in contrast to the European Union Accession countries who are joining after the end of the cold war. At the same time, we realize the users are using search engine. If commercial vendors tailor their services to individual users, libraries may become invisible and unimportant. The added value of libraries is actually in the premises. We need physical libraries for people to meet and find information: we must have physical libraries for physical people. It is difficult to provide and manage a physical space, and libraries are fighting the stereotypes that libraries are boring and difficult to use. Look at bookstores ± there are many successful bookstores providing physical places for physical people. What are the bookstores doing differently than the libraries? Every manager needs to look around and consider what is seen. What things do we delegate? Every manager must select priorities. Setting the sequencing of priorities is tremendously important, so the menu of tasks must be prioritized carefully. Primarily, we have to prioritize these factors: automation, cataloging, digital projects, collection building and access services. How do we harmonize the technical and the social, the physical place for the physical person? Tools to accomplish this are found through total quality management TQM) as pioneered by W. Edwards Deming. The techniques of scientific management may be counter to the personal experiences of many librarians. The scientific techniques may lead us to putting things into boxes and creating flowcharts to see what we are doing and how we are doing it. Two other books on management are highly recommended: Management, by Stoner et al. 1995), which has become a widely used classic; and Radical Management, by Culbert and McDonough 1985), which is not a how-to book, but it is very helpful. Variations on radical management that we can use in the management of libraries are: . Understand your organization. Find methods to decode its external and internal process. . See the tiniest detail. Harmonize all the details. . Forget the detail and think big! . Accept your organization. Change profoundly the unacceptable. . Accept your customer. . Always consider what you are actually responsible for. The second speaker was Egbert Gerryts of the University of Pretoria, South Africa, on ``Using a three-year- rolling-development plan 3 Y RDP) to lead and manage library transformation''. In order to lead the library through the changes needed to manage transformation, a broader view of the external environment is imperative. By the