The Cross-Functional Team for Kasetsart University Library Reference Service

Abstract

The objectives of setting the cross-functional team for Kasetsart University Library reference service were to 1) Prototype a cross-functional process that has clear steps, being practical and efficient 2) Prepare personnel to be able to replace librarians and information specialists in providing reference services, including answering questions and providing basic assistance in researching. The cross-functional team for the library’s reference service consisted of the following steps: 1) Select the target group of those will be in the librarian training team 2) Assign a mentoring team 3) Define tasks and KPIs 4) Improve information searching skills and knowledge related to service provision of the cross-functional team members 5) The team member provides reference service together with a mentor 6) Two team members together provide reference service 7) Organize the after action review (AAR) activity 8) Improve work process to align with the information obtained from the after action review (AAR) 9) A team member provides services independently 10) Evaluate the performance by service users.

                        After receiving service from the team members, the library users were asked to evaluate their satisfaction towards the reference service. Total 42 respondents was collected. The evaluation form was comprised of multiple-choice questions and 5-point rating scale. The statistics used in the data analysis were percentage, mean, standard deviation. The results of the data analysis showed that the library users’ satisfaction towards the reference service was at the highest level. When analyzing by attributes, the overall satisfaction was also at the highest level.