How We Can Help
Take a look at the list of our projects to get an idea of how we have helped a variety of libraries, organisations and companies
Our unrivalled experience in libraries, technology and business means we are well placed to help. Of course organisations have their own goals and agendas so we work flexibly, adapting to client needs. We are responsive and can tailor our services. To give you an idea of our competences and expertise here are just some of the ways in which we can help:
Audit/review of library technology and systems
Ken Chad Consulting can provide an audit/review of your current technologies and systems, which will yield
- Options for leveraging the library’s technology to deliver improved customer focussed services.
- Better use of staff.
- Improved interoperability between systems
- Cost savings.
Few organisations are equipped to easily and quickly analyse the effectiveness of their solutions and compare them against current market offerings. The library systems market is complex and changing quickly– driven by major changes going on in the wider information world.
We provide the additional capacity and expertise. This means you can deliver service improvement and efficiencies more quickly and effectively. We can help identify potential for improved customer service and efficiency savings.
Procuring new library systems
As well as the Library Management Systems (LMS) libaries employ a plethora of related systems, often from a variety of vendors. It’s a very complex environment. Ken Chad Consulting can save your organisation tens of thousands of pounds while also substantially speeding up the procurement process. We have extensive experience in this process. Ken and Laurie have been involved in over 100 major procurements for a variety of systems. Many organisations have systems that are “end-of-life” and have to be replaced in the next few years. Others are not providing good value or adequate functionality. If you are thinking about procuring new systems we can provide specific consulting services to manage this process. We will help you formulate the requirements, analyse the market, work with stakeholders, prepare bid/tender documentation and assist in the selection process and negotiate with the vendors.
Shared services
Technology offers a key piece in the overall package that enables shared services. By helping to overcome some of the technical barriers to the take up of shared services in libraries, Ken Chad Consulting can help identify and realise opportunities for the delivery of improved services at considerable savings for the organisation.“Shared Services” is one the key strategies being evaluated and implemented by central and local government and Higher Education to effect savings.
Community engagement-mobilising community content
Ken Chad Consulting can help you utilise new technologies to engage your communities. The government acknowledges the role of public libraries as “community hubs” and technology offers a tactic in a wider strategy of community engagement. Libraries should be well placed to mobilise their information management skills to assist communities to create, organise and make accessible a wide range of community and local content. For example, free or low cost software, such as Wikis, can be mobilised to provide innovative content management systems that are “owned” and managed by the communities themselves.
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for libraries
Ken Chad Consulting can help you seize the opportunities and avoid the pitfalls of RFID by providing a review of the technology and evaluating the RFID solutions for the library market. There is potential to make expensive mistakes by procuring a RFID system that will not be sustainable in the future. RFID can offer significant benefits, but the technology is still maturing and can be confusing to prospective users. Ken Chad Consulting can also provide support for the procurement process. This can include formulating the requirements, preparing the bid/tender documentation, evaluating the systems assisting in the selection process and negotiating with the vendors.