Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
www.tbs-sct.gc.ca
Common menu bar links
Breadcrumb Trail
ARCHIVED - Brief Case Studies of Exemplary Practices
This page has been archived.
Archived Content
Information identified as archived on the Web is for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It has not been altered or updated after the date of archiving. Web pages that are archived on the Web are not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards. As per the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada, you can request alternate formats on the "Contact Us" page.
National Library Of Canada
Since 1953 when it was established, the National Library of Canada has built a collection of more than 18 million items. The collection is primarily Canadian publications in all publishing formats including print, audio-visual and electronic. The National Library was created to acquire, preserve and promote the published heritage of Canada and, most importantly, to make it accessible to all Canadians. As a result, the Library now holds the largest collection of Canadiana to be found anywhere. It has several unique collections rare books, literary and music archives, children's literature, audio recordings, as well as excellent collections of Canadian government publications and newspapers, and a large reference collection oriented to Canadian studies.
The objective of the National Library of Canada program is to enable Canadians to know their country and themselves through their published heritage, and to provide an effective gateway to national and international sources of information. The principal responsibilities of the program are:
- to collect, preserve and provide equitable access to Canada's published heritage
- to support the development of Canada's knowledge infrastructure
- to coordinate the management of published information resources in the federal government.
The National Library provides a number of services, broadly speaking based along business lines. These include:
- access to an on-line database (AMICUS) containing over 21 million bibliographic records representing items in the National Library's collection, the national bibliography (Canadiana) and holdings in more than 500 other libraries across Canada, as well as Library of Congress and CONSER records;
- in-depth reference, research and referral services centred on the Library's Canadiana collections. This service is intended to provide users with clear, accurate responses to inquiries that may be placed in person, by telephone, fax, mail or via the Internet;
- making available material in the Library's collections for consultation onsite by registered users, including the provision of photocopying services to onsite users (for a fee); and
- interlibrary loan and location services to libraries across Canada and around the world. Requests for items that are not held in the National Library's collections are responded to by giving locations of other libraries that hold the item.
The use of on-line services by National Library clients has increased dramatically over the last few years.
Service Standards in Use
The National Library of Canada is dedicated to building a world-class national resource to support the study, understanding and continued vitality of Canada's cultural heritage, and to facilitating access for Canadians to national and worldwide networks of information resources. The Library has published a Service Pledge on its website in which it declares its commitment to respond to its clients' information needs in a professional manner, clearly and accurately. The Pledge goes on to commit the Library to treat all users equitably and courteously, with respect for individual rights, privacy, and safety. Finally, it commits to offering its services in the official language of the client's choice.
In developing its service standards, the National Library has consulted with clients through surveys and focus groups as well as through a listserv consultation. In 2000-01, the Research Support business line conducted a client satisfaction survey based on the Common Measurements Tool. Client reaction was rather positive. As well, on-site and on-line users of the National Library are invited to complete comment forms. Generally, very few per year provide any negative comments.
Library staff were consulted in focus groups to develop and review the draft service standards and to ensure that they understand the level of service to which the Library was committing itself and that clients expect. As a result of recent consultations with clients, the Library has made some adjustments to its service standards. The client surveys have also addressed the question of client satisfaction.
The National Library's service standards are posted on its website and results are included in its Departmental Performance Report.
The National Library's service standards and results as indicated in its 2000-2001 Departmental Performance Report are presented below:
| Service | Service Standard | Target | 2000-2001 Results |
| Canadiana, National Bibliography | Records for publications covered by the Canadian Cataloguing in Publication (CIP) program and for federal government publications available to libraries participating in the federal government's Depository Services Program (DSP) will be added to the Library's database within 10 days of receipt of the publication by the National Library. | 100% | 90% |
| Records for at least half of all other current publications listed in Canadiana will be added to the database within three months of receipt of the publication. | 50% | 77% | |
| Research Support | Requests for simple, factual reference information will be answered within two business days. | 100% | 99% |
| Information requests requiring extended analysis and research will be answered within five to ten business days. | 100% | 97% | |
The Library will deliver requested materials to clients:
|
100% | 100% | |
| Database Services | The Library's national bibliographic database service, AMICUS, will be available 98% of the time during scheduled service hours | 98% | 98.8% |
| Downtime over a one-year period will not exceed 3,600 minutes | 3,600 | 6,167 | |
| There will be no period of continuous downtime lasting longer than 24 hours (= 1,440 minutes) | 1,440 | 1,559 | |
| Resource Sharing | Responses to Basic interlibrary loan (ILL) search requests will be provided within two to four business days of receipt of the request | 100% | 75% |
| Responses to In-Depth ILL search request will be provided within ten business days of receipt of the request. | 100% | 92% |
Exemplary Practices Exhibited by the National Library of Canada
The National Library of Canada has exhibited the following exemplary practices in its approach to developing, implementing, monitoring and using its service standards:
- commitment to consulting with clients to identify their level of satisfaction, expectations and priorities for improvement. There was and is an active commitment from National Library senior management to consult with clients and to ensure that their expectations are being addressed. In part, this commitment is exhibited by the encouragement for client feedback through the availability of comment forms for all on-site and on-line users.
- consultation with employees about service standards. National Library staff are consulted before changes to service standards are implemented. This ensures that they understand the reasons for changing the level of service to clients and will be better able to manage client expectations.
Lessons Learned
Need to Earn Commitment and Credibility of Staff
- Consulting with employees prior to changing or adjusting service standards has allowed them to better understand and prepare for these changes.
Contact
For more information on the services provided by the National Library of Canada , please contact:
Paul McCormick
Director General
Strategic Policy and Planning
613-996-2892
paul.mccormick@nlc-bnc.ca
