Tech trials? Top'd, turn'd and transform'd

In 2000, unification of the University of Western Sydney (UWS) brought together three fiercely independent Libraries and thus three previously autonomous and disparate Technical Service operations united as a single unit to support the acquisition and processing of materials and the provision of Document Delivery services for UWS' seven geographically dispersed Libraries. Staffing numbers were reduced by 25%, staffing costs by 30% and all staff were co-located to a single centralised location. Amidst, and arising from, a turbulent background of change, cataloguing backlogs were eliminated, expenditure on materials increased by 14% in the first year following radical organisational change, with a concomitant increase in items ordered, received and processed. Processing time decreased by 70%. A massive shift of serials in print to electronic formats commenced. During this time, many Technical Services staff also undertook voluntary Service desk shifts" either Loans or Information Services as appropriate to the individual Higher Education Worker (HEW) level. How was this achieved? Staff were assigned to one of two multi-skilled teams, managing both serial and monographic materials, with each team member responsible, according to their HEW level, for the full range of 'tech services' tasks: ordering; receiving; cataloguing; end-processing and document delivery. This paper examines how it all came together" from team selection through training and development to a fully trained, multi-skilled staff. We then look at ourselves now, 6 years on. What lessons have we learnt? How have we sustained and enhanced throughput, multi-skilling and job satisfaction? Where will we go from here?