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Time and Motion Studies in Libraries
R I C H A R D H. L O G S D O N
THEESSENTIAL elements of time and motion study and flow chart analysis are commonplace, and it is doubtful if any reader of this journal has failed to make use of them both in his work and in everyday living. In fact, librarians before and since Melvil Dewey have devoted a fair share of time, effort, and pages of literature to finding and reporting more effective ways of getting work done. The literature of library architecture, to cite one example, is concerned basically with promoting building plans which save the time of staffs in receiving, cataloging, and preparing books for the shelves, and of both staffs and readers in the use of those books. Formal motion and time study, however, goes somewhat beyond the concept of work simplification and streamlining of processes. One author lists four distinct parts to the process, namely, (1) finding the most economical way of doing the job, ( 2 ) standardizing the methods, materials, and equipment, ( 3 ) determining accurately the time re- quired by a qualified person working at a normal pace to do the task, and ( 4 ) assisting in training the worker in the new method. The differ- ent parts may be considered separately, but must all be taken into account in utilizing this form of management control and improvement of performance. While library literature contains many examples of cost studies and reports of time devoted to different phases of the library operation, there has been almost no application of time and motion study technique in the formal sense. Joseph L. Wheeler credits Emma V. Baldwin and W. E. Marcus with the first industrial motion study process chart to appear in library literature. Their study, published in 1941, was designed to establish measuring rods for the evaluation of library service. Deductions and conclusions are based on data from thirty-seven public libraries, re- porting the experience of 1,560 individuals in the daily performance of work for a four-month period. It is a time study in the sense that Mr. Logsdon is Director of Libraries, Columbia University.
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R I C H A R D H. LOGSDON
the apportionment of staff time to the major functions of library serv- ice is presented. The process chart itself, prepared by Martha Gilbreth, shows the typical route of nonfiction books through the cataloging department of the MontcIair Public Library. Lillian M. Gilbreth, management engineer, was a consultant for the study. The Gilbreths, known widely in recent years through the best seller, Cheaper by the Dozen, de- veloped motion study as it is known and applied today. The first formal motion and time study of a library routine reported in the literature followed shortly in 1943, and was conducted by D. D. Battles, Howard Davis, and William harm^.^ This was carried out at the Bradley Polytechnic Institute under the direction of Marvin E. Mundel, with the assistance of Arthur M. McAnally, then librarian at the institute. It concentrated on one part of the circulation routine- loaning a book to a patron. Techniques included micromotion analy- sis with motion pictures, a microchronometer, motions broken down
into therbligs ( Gilbreth spelled backwards ) ,and a simo chart (simul-
taneous motion chart). The study showed the possibilities of reduc- ing the time required in the process by at least 35 per cent through such changes as ( 1 ) simplification of card files; ( 2 ) rearrangement of books to place heavily used groups near the loan desk; ( 3 ) rearrange- ment of date-due slip and pocket; ( 4 ) rounding of corners of book cards; and (5) redesign of date stamp. Reduction of fatigue was stressed as one of the main objectives of motion and time study. Atten- tion was given also to lighting, temperature, and control of ventilation as factors affecting work performance. Six years later Jewel C. Hardkopf reported the results of applying methods and motion techniques to the processing of books for circula- tion at the New York Public Library. Over and above presenting find- ings, this report is of interest for (1) reviewing the historical develop- ment of methods and motion study; ( 2 ) analyzing the techniques used; and ( 3 ) reviewing previous reports on methods and motion studies as applied to libraries. Referring to the work of Battles and his associates at the Bradley Polytechnic Institute, she says: "This ap-
proach... should have opened a new era in the realm of library
housekeeping. But there is nothing more in library literature to date [I9491 about further application of methods and motion techniques to library processes." The absence of reports of formal studies, however, does not mean that librarians have made no use of the principles and techniques in-
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R I C H A R D H. LOGSDON Wheeler's survey of order and cataloging department policies at the San Diego Public Library 18 included before-and-after motion charting and diagramming of the clerical processes, although the charts were not published. Over-all savings from recommendations were estimated at $1,500 to $2,000 early in a relatively small operation. I t is quite understandable, therefore, that the Public Library In- quiry should have devoted staff attention to time and work unit measurement. The full title of the report prepared by Watson O'D. Pierce l9 is significant: Work Measurement in Public Libraries; a Re- view and Manual on Time Studies and Work Units with a Statistical Analysis and an Evaluation of Administrative and Management Pro- cedures in Certain Public Libraries. The study presents a mass of data and interpretation commensurate with the somewhat extended title. Reference to Part I1 (chapters 4 and 5) will serve the purposes of this paper. These chapters describe in detail how time measure- ments can be made by the staff of a public library, and together form a manual of instructions in carrying on time and work unit measure- ment. They describe preliminary stages of training and preparation, the orienting of library personnel to measurement studies, and the method of analyzing the results. Report forms are included. Recent surveys of the New York Public Library by the firm of Cresap, McCormick, and Paget represent the most extensive and de- tailed analysis to date of technical processes in a major research li- brary. Two studies cover acquisitions and preparations, respectively, giving attention to organization, staffing, management controls, methods (including flow of work), and such physical factors as loca- tion, layout, and furnishing. Librarians interested in some of the more specific accomplishments of these studies are referred to the articles by T. D. Morris 20 on acquisitions and R. E. Kingery 21 on preparations. While Miss Baldwin and Marcus are credited with the first process chart to appear in library l i t e r a t ~ r e , ~it was used only for analysis and description, and was not accompanied by any attempt to show how the procedure might be simplified. It was not until 1952, in the survey of the Houston Public Library, that H. H. Young 22 used this technique to show first the actual route of the order card from preparation by the division head to final filing (twenty-eight steps), and second, the proposed simplified plan which reduced the route to eighteen steps. The charts employed symbols based on N. N. Barish's work23 show- ing "Operation, Transportation, Inspection, and Storage." 24 Time
Time and Motion Studies in Libraries
taken at each stage is not shown, however, so no estimates of savings are presented. Published literature represents perhaps only a fraction of the man- agement activities being carried out in libraries in general and with special reference to work simplification. The work being done at the Brooklyn Public Library under Francis St. John, for example, is re- ported only in a general ~ a y. ~ 5Jewel Hardkopf, whose thesis has been mentioned, devotes full time to studies of internal operations and pro- cedures at Brooklyn. The photoclerk experiment undertaken in 1952 drew upon the experience of staff members in twelve libraries and stimulated research and study of various procedures in the cooperat- ing institutions. The University of California Library at Berkeley sup- plied several significant examples of flow charts based on work done there, both in relation to internal operations and in connection with the development of the standard interlibrary-loan form. The Detroit Public Library supplied a floor plan of the Binding Department layout, showing the flow of work through the Department. Alma Jacobus described the use of work flow charts at the 1950 meeting of the Special Libraries Association. Carolyn Hale 27 reports the work simpli- fication clinic held at the University of California School of Librarian- ship, Berkeley, which included presentation of the Gilbreth method of process procedure analysis, while the Library of Congress has pro- duced a sound film, "The Flow Process Chart and How to Make It." Several theses bearing on the subject have been reported from the University of Illinois, but are u n p u b l i ~ h e d. ~ ~ - ~ ~Other items may have escaped this writer's attention. It appears from the above information that the essential elements of time and motion study have been used by librarians in fulfilling management responsibilities. Going back to Barnes's four points, li- brarians have been interested, even if in varying degrees, in (1) find- ing the most economical way of doing jobs; ( 2 ) standardizing methods, materials, and equipment; ( 3 ) determining time required by a qualified worker to do a given task (i.e., the setting of perform- ance standards); and ( 4 ) on-the-job training of staff. We have seen, also, that only the smallest beginning has been made in relation to the potential gains from application of the principles of motion and time study to library operations. We know as a result of industrial experience, from Taylor on through the World War I1 period and to date, that research and study of methods, materials, and equipment pay tremendous dividends in
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Time and Motion Studies in Libraries
ance of a specialist on a consulting basis. As specsc projects get underway, all staff members affected should be brought into dis- cussions. The third suggestion is to identify and to recognize similarities and differences in library operations in relation to the industrial activities for which time and motion techniques were developed. Such tech- niques normally apply only where the activity or operation is re- petitive. An early paragraph in the report of the survey of the prepara- tion procedures at the New York Public Library is particularly significant.
To the management analyst accustomed to the office routines and production techniques of business and industry, the preparation ma- chinery of a large research library presents both a challenge and a fascinating field for study. Here one finds the customary exterior of a mass production office operation-files, forms, typewriters, and con- trols. But there the similarity largely disappears and a complexity complicated by strange terminology is encountered in almost every phase of the work. The concept of repetitive operation which is the keynote of economical mass production in business is strikingly absent in the Library because each new piece prepared may present new or unusual problems to the searcher, the cataloger, the filer and other assistants. In this respect, preparation exhibits characteristics more closely allied to those involved in manufacturing a custom-made prod- uct. As one becomes more intimately acquainted with the substance of cataloging, it is more readily apparent that preparation is not a series of simple clerical tasks but a professional undertaking requiring skills that only specialized training and experience provide.
This statement should not be read to exclude the use of scientsc management methods from areas involving exercise of professional competence, but rather that time and motion techniques may be more productive in some aspects of the library operation than in others. The fourth suggestion is to recognize the significance of small gains either in actual dollar savings or in staff convenience and elimination of fatigue. A continuing saving of $100 per year may justify spending up to $2,500 for research or new equipment, and $100 may be as little as one week of one staff member's time in a year. The fifth and final suggestion is to recognize that perfection is rarely if ever reached. Operations should be kept under continuous scrutiny, assuming always that further improvements can and will be discovered with study and experience. There is, of course, the corollary
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RICHARD H. LOGSDON
-"Don't try to reach perfection in one step." In fact, it is frequently more practicable to freeze certain aspects of an operation in order to focus attention sharply on a related aspect, just as the scientist often starts with certain assumptions, but in due course, if not in the irn- mediate process, retests and corrects these assumptions.
References
- Barnes, R. M.: Motion and Time Study. 3d ed. New York, J. Wiley, 1949, pp. 1-4. 2. Wheeler, J. L. : Work Simpilfication in Libraries. Public Libmries, 6: 14- 18+, April 1952.
- Baldwin, Emma V., and Marcus, W. E.: Libmry Costs and Budgets. New York, Bowker, 1941, pp. 110-111.
- Barnes, op. cit., pp. 7-16.
- Battles, D. D., et al.: A Motion and Time Study of a Library Routine. Li- brary Quarterly, 13:241-244, July 1943.
- Hardkopf, Jewel C.: An Application of Methods and Motion Techniques in Preparing Books in the New York Public Library. Unpublished M.S. Thesis, Colum- bia University School of Library Service, 1949.
- Ibid., p. 6.
- Reichmann, Felix: Costs of Cataloging. Libmry Trends, 2:290-317, Oct.
- Miller, R. A.: Cost Accounting for Libraries; a Technique for Determining the Labor Costs of Acquisition and Cataloging Work. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, University of Chicago Graduate Library School, 1936.
- Gates, Frances C.: Job Methods Study. L i b m y loumal, 68:178-179, March 1, 1943.
- Gates, Frances C.:^ Job Methods Training^ in^ Libraries.^ Wilson Library Bulletin, 18:30-33, Sept. 1943.
- Meyer, Margaret R.: Self-survey at Russell Sage College Library. College and Research Libraries, 6: 17-19, Dec. 1944.
- Heintz, E. C.: Industrial Training Applied to Libraries. Wilson Library Bulletin, 21:353-357, Jan. 1947.
- Shaw, R. R.: Continuous Fotoprinting at the U.S.D.A. Library. Library Journal, 70:738-741, Sept. 1, 1945.
- Shaw, R. R.: Scientific Management in the Library. Wilson Library Bulletin, 21:349-352+, Jan. 1947.
- Price, R. F.: A Man-Hour Analysis of Periodical Circulation. Library Quar- terly, 16:239-244, July 1946.
- Los Angeles. Bureau of Budget and Efficiency: Organization, AdminMra- tion, and Management of the Los Angeles Public Libmry. Los Angeles, The Bureau, 1948-51, 12 v.
- Wheeler, J. L.: Report of a Suruey and Suggested Reorganization of Order and Catalog Department Policies and Procedures at Sun Diego Public Library. (Mimeographed) San Diego, Calif., Public Library, Feb. 1948.
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