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Between administrative interfaces for internal and third-party Library service applications, IT/networking services, support services, etc., I have around 3 dozen bookmarks just to (barely) manage my responsibilities.  That doesn't include the various forms for requesting other people do other things with their tools/utilities.  The other departments like Access Services, Reference, Archives, Purchasing, HR etc. have their own utilities and services for their needs, and I've been wondering if anyone is actually keeping track of all of these internal needs in case someone else suddenly needs to take over any particular job.  Because of reduced staffing, there is almost no redundancy, thus, I know unquestionably that should I get hit by the Lotto bus, there are lesser-used-but-still-vital systems/services that nobody else knows how to access.  They might know of them and are probably smart enough to figure out at least some basics if plopped in front of them, but how to get to them has limited/no documentation.

I've been thinking that our fundamental function is keeping track of information, so shouldn't the Library also *collectively* keep track of all the tools/utilities necessary to keep the library functioning?  I imagine that just a giant list would be too overwhelming when an individual employee might only need a small percentage of them, so some means of indexing/searching is probably required.  Does anyone here do have a shared/collective solution, or does each department (or worse, individual) just keep that information separately and internally?  Do you use a third-party product (what?), or have you constructed your own solution?  Do you keep track of shared credentials or the individual staff members who hold credentials?

Thanks,
Erich


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Erich Hammer            Head of Library Systems
[log in to unmask]         University Libraries
518-442-3891              University @ Albany

The perversity of the Universe tends towards a maximum.