A literature review was undertaken at the beginning of the Study. The aim was to provide an initial mapping of the literature and research on cultural change within higher education, in relation to the technological impact on professions and organisations, with a view to identifying the main frameworks or models for culture change efforts.
The time and length constraints of the Study meant that the literature review focussed specifically on the relevant concepts and constructs for the Study, rather than providing a comprehensive review of the literature on organisational effects of technological change. The Study drew heavily on the JISC-funded IMPEL2 work (also an eLib Supporting Study) undertaken by the University of Northumbria at Newcastle. IMPEL2 follows on from the IMPEL project: both have examined the impact of the electronic campus on LIS staff, students and faculty. This is being undertaken in the context of electronic library developments in HE in general, whereas the present Supporting Study has been examining cultural change effects only within the eLib programme.
Theoretical literature on the relationship between technology and organisational or sociological change considerably pre-dates the electronic library. For example Button, 1993, cites the often quoted example that the development of feudalism as a social system was the product of the stirrup. The literature attests to the difficulties in trying to disentangle cause and effect, despite the importance of doing so. In a recent review paper, Davies (1997) shows how organisational factors, concerning all levels of stakeholders in an electronic library project, impact directly on the way in which the resulting system presents and manipulates information for the end user. The present eLib Supporting Study is intended to focus on the opposite direction of causation: how the electronic library development and implementation projects are themselves affecting the pace and type of cultural change in the organisational contexts of UK higher education.
Organisations can be seen as systems of flux and transformation, and multiple ways of looking at organisations are required to achieve better understandings of their complexities and contradictions; any single metaphor may be incomplete (Clegg 1994). Clegg maintains that organisations are self-reflecting and self-producing, "attempting to play active roles in creating and realising their own identities." One critical aspect of this view includes the notion that causal relationships are not that simple. He also demonstrates that the literature on the wider organisational aspects of the introduction of IT displays considerable diversity. It is thus not surprising that the tiee and length constraints of the present review have necessitated a strict focus on literature containing relevant concepts and constructs for the Supporting Study; it should not be taken to be a comprehensive review of the literature on organisational effects of technological change.
The last 15 years has seen the rapid acceleration of change within all types of organisations, accompanied by a publishing bonanza of texts by a plethora of "management gurus". These works have had an enormous influence on corporate structures and cultures, and the knock-on effects have spread across all spheres of institutional life, including the library (St Clair 1996). Most recent shifts in organisational culture have been in the direction of greater empowerment and participation in decision making and more open communications (Davenport, 1993). This enduring preoccupation with flatter, less hierarchical organisational structures, as discussed for example by Handy (1993) and Kanter (1992), has been embraced enthusiastically in the library and information science literature. The establishment of the networked organisation, allowing leadership and expertise to reside at all levels, is seen to be at odds with the traditional view of academic libraries as being hierarchical and bureaucratic (von Wahlde and Schiller 1993). Nevertheless, at least one published electronic library project has emphasised the importance of developing project teams according to function rather than hierarchical relations (Grygierczk, 1996).
There are inherent difficulties with defining organisational culture. Bate (1994) accounts for these difficulties by referring to the deeply embedded nature of culture which "forms the very foundation stone of our social and organisational lives by providing…a relatively self-contained 'order' or rationale." Definitions of organisational culture abound in the literature of management and organisational theory. Bate provides one definition of organisational culture as the "set of, often unconsciously held, beliefs, ideas knowledge and values which shape the way things happen and makes some courses of action unthinkable". Another key feature of culture given here is that it is shared, it refers to the ideas, meanings and values people hold in common and to which they subscribe collectively. In this respect the layman's terms for organisational culture are as valid as those of the behavioural scientist.
Using a slightly more specific understanding of 'culture', Davies et al (1992) suggest that it is important to define an organisation's culture before attempting to discuss changing it. Summarising a range of definitions from the literature, organisational cultures are seen to be "made up of shared meanings, official and informal rules, about how to behave." The paper develops a model of mapping culture based on the discovery of an organisation's formal and informal rules and how relevant they are to different organisational sub-groups. An essential prerequisite of this type of cultural mapping is given as the understanding of the wider goals and priorities of an organisation. The distinction Davies et al drew between formal and informal rules or assumptions will be explicitly considered in the cultural change framework drawn up later in this document. However, their emphasis on defining a culture before discussing changes to it is impossible to follow in the context of the present Supporting Study; it will only be possible to summarise change in terms of the information given by eLib participants who may themselves have been affected by those changes.
This need to harness information technology directly to the achievement of important organisational objectives, in order to bring about dramatic changes in organisational functioning, is also emphasised by Eason (1988). Eason considers the evolutionary aspects of implementing new technology where the real mastery of a system comes when the user begins to perceive how the system can be used to perform organisational tasks in different and more effective ways. To promote these developments the technical system needs to be complemented by a social system dedicated to its use and development (Eason 1994).
This sociotechnical systems approach espoused by Eason and by others (e.g. Chell 1993) places technological innovation in the context of all social aspects of people's work: their career structures, power and influence, selection and training, industrial relations, reward systems, and informal systems of communication and behaviour. Chell points out that each 'subsystem' within a given organisation will have a primary task, to which other activities are subsumed. This 'primary task' is a key aspect of people's work, and presumably one likely to precipitate immense cultural change if altered by technical innovations.
Higher education has undergone a radical transformation in the last few decades, both in the UK and the US. An extensive literature review of changes in higher education (as applied to the electronic library and consequent organisational and cultural change issues) has already been undertaken (Day et al 1996). The review details the many factors and influences affecting recent changes in higher education and builds on a previous review (Edwards et al, 1993) providing a comprehensive mapping of the important issues and concerns as a background to the IMPEL projects.
The IMPEL and IMPEL2 studies have produced a body of literature on the impact on people of electronic libraries and the attendant issues of cultural and organisational change. Initial findings centred on the increasing demands made on staff and the consequent training issues, as well as the changes in professional identity, altered relationships with users, and general attitudes to technology-led change (Edwards et al, 1995). The concept of "cultural lag" is flagged. This is defined as "the condition which ensues when certain elements of culture change more slowly than other elements" (e.g. where a library is slower than other service departments in embracing new technologies) and is seen an important aspect when considering the relationship between strategies, structures and training. (Edwards, 1996).
A corresponding pace of change has occurred in higher education in the US. American universities have always, at least theoretically, been subject to market forces whereas British universities' implementation of executive styles of management date only from the reforms of the 1980s (Dill, 1996). Seen within the context of changing demands from government for research and service, declining funding and competitive market conditions, Dill stresses the importance of aligning technological change and overall strategic planning processes. However, the restructuring and initiative-taking that may be necessary to achieve ideal information-provision services are by no means straightforward to implement, as shown in depth by the University of Minnesota's experience with an experimental 'Integrated Information Center' (D'Elia et al 1997). As in the US, we may expect some false starts and iterative restructuring before British institutions achieve an appropriate model.
The influence of electronic information systems in re-shaping academic culture has been dealt with extensively in the LIS literature. For example, Cronin and McKim (1996) examine the importance of the WWW on science and scholarship and emphasise the profound social dimensions of the phenomenon (with scholars as the earliest "homesteaders" on the Web). This has had a powerful effect on redefining and reshaping scholarly communication and work habits in general. The effects of electronic mail on scholarly communication behaviour has also been examined in the context of important cultural changes to academic routines (Burton 1994). The literature is strewn with grand comparisons of the effects of the new electronic information services with other landmark developments from history. One example likens the current effects of the electronic information infrastructure on the basic mode of scholarly communication with the invention of the printed journal in the seventeenth century (Heseltine, 1995). Nevertheless, it is unlikely that all or even most scholars have as yet radically altered their working or communication patterns (just as some disciplines in the humanities were never radically altered by journals since monographs continue to be the primary information source). In some disciplines, change is bound to be slow and evolutionary, as discussed further below.
An important tenet of the Follett Report (1993), the new paradigm of the teaching library and the librarian as part of the "learning organisation", is a common theme throughout the literature and indeed the shift in terminology from "teaching" to "learning" is frequently addressed (Drake, 1996). Drake also notes the effects of a number of new elements affecting cultural changes in higher education, such as a student intake from the "point and click" generation for whom learning and understanding is approached in entirely different ways to that of earlier generations.
In describing the planning procedures for two new library building projects, Brewer (1995) notes the lack of consensus on the basic organisational model for service delivery, despite the fact that the twin driving forces of technological change and expansion of student numbers make the development of new patterns of teaching and learning inevitable. This is seen within the context of that particular University's policy to effect a strategic shift from a "teaching" to a "learning" culture. It seems that sometimes, the recognition that structural change is needed does not automatically translate itself into a clear vision of roles and services.
Re-orienting the learning support function into the new "educational space" represented by a digital environment is detailed in a paper discussing the role of the intermediary in facilitating networked learner support in higher education (Fowell and Levy, 1995). This is seen as providing a basis for a paradigm shift in the way in which academic practice is defined and implemented. The quality of the networked environment of academic institutions will be important in attracting high quality students and researchers and thus contributing to competitive advantage. As a new mode of learning, networked learning and computer-mediated communication will become increasingly integrated into campus cultures and the development of a new professional practice, by intermediaries, is seen as essential. Thinking in terms of networked learning support also becomes a vehicle for envisioning new configurations of support service such as the convergence of the library and computing sections (one conclusion of the Fielden Report, 1993).
This aspect of technology-led change in higher education libraries has received a good deal of attention in the literature. Day et al (1996) map the beginnings of a convergence trend as far back as 1979. Their case study research identified a number of factors which need to be addressed for successful convergence (good communication, joint staff development and training, attitude changes, key post holders as change agents, strong leadership, need to link IT and information strategies to strategic goals of the organisation). A constant theme was that changes in structure or strategy may not be followed automatically by changes in attitude. The frequent tendency for developments to be technology-driven, rather than approached from the socio-organisational perspective, harks back to the distinctions drawn and the warnings given by the sociotechnical systems theorists, but these are not always drawn to the attention of HE managers or developers (or may not be heeded if they are).
Geleijnse (1996) sees the close co-operation between the library and the computer centre as an important strategic factor in electronic library initiatives and has been a natural outcome of successful electronic library projects. Beyond this, Heseltine (1995) predicts the wholesale organic convergence of academic services to include libraries, computer centres, multimedia production units and the AV centre. This will form part of what he calls the "functional" team, specialising, for example in training, as a better model for convergence than subject or faculty-based teams. An example of this, perhaps one too far ahead of its time, is provided by D'Elia et al (1997) regarding the University of Minnesota (as mentioned above).
The idea of librarians reshaping alliances with the computer technologists and specialists in their institutions is particularly important in the light of past relationships which have been characterised by "unease, caution, lack of knowledge and understanding, and occasionally outright mistrust" (Creth 1996). Creth develops the convergence idea to include additional partnerships with other professional groups, most significantly faculty. This may also require a fundamental shift in attitudes. In order to make an equal partnership succeed, librarians need to see themselves as an integral part of the teaching and research endeavour. If academic librarians are strategically situated to be the main agents of electronic development of the scholarly information system they will need to be viewed by faculty as their peers (Crowley 1996). One extreme suggestion given here is that librarians will need to obtain doctoral status to be viewed more seriously as professionals.
An American perspective of cultural change in higher education is given by Stoffle et al (1996). They emphasise the important role libraries have in reshaping the prevailing corporate culture of their institutions. Rather than allowing change to take place incrementally, a radical, revolutionary change is needed and they argue for a transformation rather than a refining of organisational structure. Faculty is seen as displaying denial about the need for organisational change (and whose solution to current problems is seen as a simple need to secure additional funding). The article provides a comprehensive discussion of the organisational elements, assumptions and approaches which have to change and adopt a number of corporate style tenets and terminology (flatter hierarchies, attention to customer needs, service quality, a focus on knowledge management, the need for flexible attitudes to foster new partnerships). This "corporate-model push for immediate revolutionary change" is criticised in a reply (Lee 1996). She discusses the problems associated with such a revolutionary approach to change in an academic environment where "people, groups, and the whole organisation not only have to learn new ways of thinking, working and acting, they also have to 'unlearn' the habits, orientations, assumptions, and routines that have been baked into the enterprise over time".
A different spin on the cultural change effects of an increasingly electronic environment is outlined by Dugdale (1997). She explores the inherent contradiction facing those in higher education who are attempting to create equality of access to information, where nevertheless new aspects of inequality may be introduced and a new two-tier information society may be created. This may occur even where all members theoretically possess equal access to the same material.
Barry (1995) stresses the need for a qualitative research approach in evaluating the impact of the diverse set of systems that make up the electronic library, and in investigating the impact on the complex research world of the academic. Primarily a methodological discussion, the paper points to the complex nature of academic research; simple linear models of the research process are misleading. This is compounded with the diverse nature of information-seeking behaviour and the use of IT assisted information tools. Another key area of concern associated with researching this area includes the difficulty of explaining learning and take-up of IT. Barry concludes that in order to understand the effect of IT-assisted information access on research it is necessary to take an holistic approach and investigate the widest possible context: the whole of the academic's research environment.
Ellis (1996) explores the implications of integrating new technology in a library environment from the perspective of a single group of disciplines (the humanities) and argues that a tacit consensus is building that new technology in the humanities requires specialised organisational responses. This implies that every discipline and subject area must be examined within the context of its own cultural paradigm. Ellis notes that few humanities technology initiatives have been written about from an organisational point of view: little is known about the conditions that give rise to new initiatives and about the rationale for the way organisations have responded to them.
General assumptions that the move to an electronic library environment is desirable for academics (providing easier, quicker access to more and better information) is questioned in a paper by Barry and Squires (1995). They report on research which takes a user-centred approach going beyond the mere interaction of the user and IT towards a broader focus on the whole world of work as an academic researcher. The article provides examples of the many changes wrought to an academic discipline as a result of electronic information services. In theoretical physics the use of a pre-print database has increased the pace of working because "more people tend to be working on exactly the same thing at exactly the same time because they all have exactly the same information at exactly the same time". Working with near "perfect information" could be seen to cause a backlash as some scientists decided it represented an unacceptable level of information overload or interfered with creativity (in that the emphasis on reading other people's ideas inhibited the capacity to produce original work).
Hine (1995) shows that organising changes around a technological development is a particularly powerful means of re-engineering a major change in one discipline. The paper charts an account of how biological taxonomists' decision to develop a database which removed the need for them to act as identifying agents for other biologists' plant specimens freed them to concentrate on their study of plant features and improve their credibility as a science.
The most systematic study of cultural change within a discipline is possibly that of Ruhleder (1994, 1995), who discussed the impact of computer-based textual analysis tools and databases on classical scholarship. Questions about a given text, that would once have occupied years of doctoral study and a whole thesis, can now be answered by a computer in seconds. The focus of scholarship can thus change, to allow deeper and more complex questions to be considered. Ruhleder also pointed out the wider organisational implications of the growing use of computational tools, as classical scholars try to gain recognition for work resulting in an electronic product or tool rather than traditional publications, and as they demand better technical facilities within their departments and libraries. Technical support posts are created where none previously existed, and the skills needed to advance the technologies are ones unfamiliar to traditional scholars. Ruhleder's classification of the various impacts of technology is discussed further below.
We can see from the above discussion that for cultural change to happen, it is not sufficient for someone to recognise that it is needed: the structural and functional aspects of the organisation must change, and in addition the attitudes of stakeholders towards the innovations being made. Their working practices and mutual communications may then change, but often only over time. In the HE context, the traditional roles and assumptions of both librarians and academics, as well as their daily working practices, strongly affect the types of cultural change which can be achieved in the near future, regardless of the nature of the innovations themselves. With these issues in mind, we will now attempt to build a fuller model of the stakeholders and factors involved in institutional cultural change in UK HE.
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