SCONUL new shared service: the Organisational Development Knowledge Base (ODKB)

We are delighted to announce that the new shared service from SCONUL, the Organisational Development Knowledge Base (ODKB) is now live and we’re now asking SCONUL members who have not previously done so to add their data.

What is the ODKB?

The ODKB is a new shared service for SCONUL members – a searchable database of job descriptions and organisational charts covering the SCONUL membership, allowing you to share and reuse information and resources quickly and easily. It will allow you to compare JDs for similar roles, including salary information, and to distinguish newly created or reviewed JDs. It will also allow you to review organisational structures for any participating member institution. The database sits behind the member login on our SCONUL Access website and can be viewed by any member of staff at a SCONUL institution library (i.e. those with a SCONUL Access website log in). The right to add (or remove) data is limited to those granted administration rights (see below for more details).

It was developed by the SCONUL Organisational Development Strategy Group in response to requests for an easier and more efficient way to share information about these important aspects of our services. Many thanks to all of those who have contributed so far including by providing data for the pilot. Particular thanks go to Davina Omar, Director of Library Services at the University of West London who has led the development of this project.

What features does the ODKB have?

It currently contains data from 36 institutions who have helped with piloting the service. The data can be sorted by a range of criteria including starting salary, region, job area etc. It also has the option of full text search. 

For those uploading data, we have attempted to make this as straightforward as possible. Where data is held elsewhere such as within the SCONUL benchmarking statistics (e.g. library staff FTE), these fields will be pre-populated. There is a bulk upload function for job descriptions (see below for more information) and it includes a tool to generate editable AI summaries of JDs. This function can be turned off if preferred. 

We have included guidance notes within the database but if you feel anything is not clear, please do contact the office at sconul@sconul.ac.uk. 

Call to action for members

This is a shared service for members and will only be effective with your support and contributions.  We are now asking all members to take the time to load up their job descriptions and organisational charts with a deadline of the end of September for this work to be completed, if at all possible.

We are very aware that this is a time of significant change for some institutions. If you feel that you are not in a position to share your information at this point, please do contact us at ann.rossiter@sconul.ac.uk to let us know and we can come back to you at an appropriate time.

How to use the ODKB

You can access the ODKB by visiting https://access.sconul.ac.uk/user/login, and log in using your Access website username and password. If you don’t have a SCONUL Access website login, please email sconul@sconul.ac.uk to request one.

Once logged in, ‘Knowledge Base’ will be visible in the top navigation menu, from there you can access job descriptions, department organisational charts and an Information for users section where you will find a user guide with further information about the ODKB.

Users who need to create/edit job descriptions and charts will need administration rights. Please email sconul@sconul.ac.uk to request this. Once granted, you’ll be able to create new job descriptions and charts and make changes to your institution’s entries. Users can either add job descriptions one-by-one or use the bulk upload function which should speed up the process if uploading a large number of job descriptions. We advise users to consult the user guide which can be found here before starting the upload process to make sure you have the needed information and files at hand.

Feedback and further development

We are keen to hear from members on their experience of using the ODKB and any possible ways in which it can be improved.  Please do contact us with any thoughts or suggestions at noura.mokhtar@sconul.ac.uk.

The major value of the ODKB lies in its core function for members but we are also interested in exploring what further services and/or data analysis can be built on the back of the shared intelligence captured in the knowledge base. The Organisational Development Strategy Group will be actively considering options and if you have particular suggestions or requests for further work, please do contact Ann Rossiter at ann.rossiter@sconul.ac.uk