The university library as learning organization for innovation.

The aim of the study was to examine an innovating university library as a learning organization and to understand the mechanisms by which organizational learning facilitates innovation. These questions were posed: (a) How does organizational learning occur in a given university library today and how does it contribute to the innovation process? (b) As part of this broad process, how does organizational learning contribute to use of the Internet, including the world wide web, as an innovation? (c) How does this learning and innovation match a learning organization framework based upon the literature associated with management for change and innovation? Qualitative and quantitative methods were combined in an exploratory case study of one university library. The study population consisted of librarians and professional, administrative, and technical staff. Qualitative data was collected through interviews with departments heads, administrators, and focus groups of librarians and technical staff. Quantitative data was gathered through a survey of librarians and technical staff. Three levels of library activity were studied: individual, department, and organizational. Three aspects of a learning organization model were considered: continuous learning, team learning, and shared vision. Through qualitative analysis, a series of vehicles for organizational learning were identified, each with barriers and incentives. Organizational learning was portrayed as a means to prime individuals and teams for innovation, to empower people, and to serve to institutionalize innovation in the workplace. Partial support for the proposed model was established through quantitative analysis supported by the interviews. Continuous learning, team learning, and shared vision were associated with innovation for some departments and divisions of the library studied. When all three factors were examined together with background variables by division, continuous learning was most often significant. Two background variables, professional reading and number of publications authored, held a significant relationship with innovation. These findings may aid library administrators and staff in designing and refining tools for organizational learning and add to knowledge about the diffusion of innovation in organizations more generally.Ph.D.Communication and the ArtsEducationHigher educationLibrary scienceManagementSocial SciencesUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/130712/2/9811080.pd