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1983 Report of the Auditor General of Canada

Synopsis

Overview

14.1 As a library, the National Library is unique in Canada: its users are mainly other libraries, who rely on its collection and its expert help in locating library material. In size, the National Library of Canada (NLC) ranks fourth in Canada in holdings (approximately 5.4 million books and other documents) after the universities of Toronto, British Columbia and Alberta. It ranks second in number of staff. The National Library had a late start: it was first recommended by Sir John A. Macdonald in 1883, but not established until 1953. Thus the major collections had already been built up at the large universities and public libraries, in the Library of Parliament and, in some subjects such as agriculture and labour, in departments of government. The Library therefore concentrates its collecting on works by Canadians or about Canada and must still build its pre-1953 collection. NLC's collecting of non-Canadian material is mainly in the humanities and social sciences; the Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (CISTI), part of the National Research Council, has national responsibility in the areas of science, technology and biomedicine.

14.2 NLC does not have the degree of influence in the Canadian library community that size, range and depth of services, and collection give the Library of Congress in the United States or the British Library in the United Kingdom. However, it seeks, and is expected to play, a leadership role in areas such as national information and lending networks, book preservation and library standards.

14.3 The Library is greatly affected by computer and telecommunications technology. For example, the advent of minicomputers has allowed libraries to build cataloguing systems to suit their own needs and develop their own standards, some of which are not compatible with NLC's requirements for building a national bibliographic database. Although the Library is one of the smaller government departments, its own computer system (DOBIS) is complex.

14.4 The National Library's main objective statement in the 1983-84 Estimates is to "facilitate the use of the library resources of the country by the people and the Government of Canada". The sub-objectives are:

- to gather, preserve and make known the Canadian literary heritage in all disciplines;

- to develop and make accessible a national collection of library material and provide research, reference, information and document delivery services which support Canadian libraries and related institutions; and

- to co-ordinate and participate in co-operative programs aimed at ensuring the provision and sharing of library and related services in Canada and internationally.

Exhibit not available

Summary of Audit Observations

14.7 Various activities to preserve the collection have already been undertaken; for example, deacidification, microfilming, and videodisc research. However, they deal with only small portions of the collection and have not yet been co-ordinated and supported sufficiently to ensure preservation of NLC's collection for future generations. Management states that a formal preservation program will be established to strengthen the Library's preservation work.

14.8 Bibliographic records and cataloguing. As required by the National Library Act, the National Library compiles and publishes a national bibliography, Canadiana , which lists for the library community and others work published in Canada, by Canadians or specifically relating to Canada. Control over timeliness is reasonable for the most important listings.

14.9 It has become impracticable for the National Library to maintain a single national union catalogue as prescribed by the Library Act, listing which principal libraries in Canada hold what items. In response to location requests, the Library continues to provide a location service, using reference tools which include NLC's union catalogues for books and serials. However, NLC has not yet developed a national plan for a cost-effective means for Canadian libraries to locate books and other material; that is, a national bibliographic network that would perform the function intended for a single national union catalogue.

14.10 In the area of cataloguing standards, the National Library adequately develops and promulgates national standards or rules for bibliographic data, provides national leadership and represents Canada in international standard-setting. The impact that adopting international cataloguing rules has on costs of cataloguing and providing library services in Canada requires more attention in view of the increasing need to control library costs.

14.11 Technology support. The development history of NLC's library automation system (DOBIS) shows major shortfalls in accomplishment. Completion of all planned modules, which in 1976 was thought to require 4 years, now appears to require at least 11 years. Despite management's experience with service delays, cost increases and significant and rapid changes in computer and telecommunications technology, NLC had made no major changes to the original objectives or development strategy for DOBIS. We believe there is an urgent need for Library management to take action to resolve the future of its automated system.

14.12 We also question whether Treasury Board's present level of involvement with departmental EDP systems can provide the external monitoring agencies such as NLC may need in developing and managing complex computer systems. This problem is discussed in Chapter 4, The Management of Computing in the Federal Government.

14.13 Network development. The Office for Network Development has been engaged since 1981 in testing a new telecommunications-based system (iNet) for connecting autonomous library databases. This supports the Library's highest priority, development of a "national bibliographic network". However, the objectives have not been made clear for this network or for NLC's own leadership role in its development. The Library does not have a strategic plan to guide its work in this area.

14.14 Library direction at the executive level. The National Library has not had a formal management planning process that produces and updates, in a form useful for managers, integrated strategic and operational plans for its main responsibilities. The statements of objectives and sub-objectives in Part III of the Library's Estimates do not specify what management intends to achieve and therefore do not provide an adequate basis for accountability and program evaluation. In particular, the Library's statutory role in co-ordinating federal government library services is not clear. Management has, however, taken steps to set up an integrated strategic and operational planning and control structure.

14.15 The National Library Advisory Board. Although the Board is not a management board with executive power, we think it should have a clearer and stronger review role within its advisory mandate to help ensure value for money from the Library's operations. In our view, the Board should be an important element in the accountability structure of the Library. Our suggestions for the Library's Board may apply to other government organizations in which boards should play an important review role.

Audit Scope

14.17 Because internal audit, program evaluation, financial services, personnel and administrative services for NLC are supplied by the Public Archives, management control over these functions is assessed in Chapter 15. Some aspects of performance measurement that are solely the responsibility of NLC are set out in this chapter.

14.18 For each of the scope areas, we established criteria to assess whether plans and management controls in place demonstrate due regard for value for money and compliance with accountability obligations. Management agreed that our criteria were reasonable. For the National Library Advisory Board, our purpose was to review its role in the management and accountability structure of the Library.

Observations and Recommendations

The Collection

14.20 The Library's Program Evaluation unit reported in 1983 on the achievement of objectives for the legal deposit program. In our opinion, the evaluation was satisfactorily done. It concluded that this approach to obtaining Canadian published materials, which has been used since 1952, is effective and that compliance is high, estimated by the Collections Development Branch at over 98 per cent of the categories of publications covered by the Regulations.

14.21 Section 11 of the Act requires that two copies of each publication be deposited unless the unit price exceeds $50. In this case, only one copy need be deposited and the Library normally purchases a second copy. Owing to the effects of inflation since revision of the Act in 1969, NLC is spending an increasing amount each year for the purchase of second copies. The amount involved is not yet large (about $62,000 in 1982-83), but it is growing steadily. We understand that management plans a review of the Act and that it will propose an amendment to address this problem.

14.22 Preservation. The National Library is responsible for the safekeeping of about 5.4 million books and other items, with an estimated value of between $250 and $350 million. Large portions of its national collection of Canadiana are, for all practical purposes, irreplaceable. We examined NLC's activities for long-term preservation of its library materials, particularly those dealing with environmental control, physical conservation, microfilming and other media transfer technologies, and disaster preparedness.

14.23 The severity of preservation problems facing all libraries is probably not appreciated by the public. Most paper materials produced over the past century have a life expectancy of only 25 to 100 years, after which they become too brittle to withstand normal use. (See photograph).

14.24 NLC has not yet carried out a general survey of the physical condition of its collection and assessed the risks of deterioration. The National Library has taken some important steps in recent years to address this issue, notably the use of Public Archives' facilities to deacidify books and other paper materials. However, the number of items that the Archives can process in a year to meet both Archives and Library needs is small relative to the total number requiring treatment. A demonstration project on the application of videodisc technology was carried out; subsequent activity has been limited to monitoring developments elsewhere, including work being done by the Library of Congress in the United States.

14.25 Currently, only half a person-year has been formally allocated for preservation work, although other staff are involved in specific projects. No person at a senior level has been specifically responsible and accountable for preservation planning, direction and monitoring over the long term, within the framework of a formal preservation program. Annual work plans for various preservation activities have not been based on a long-term plan; however, management reports that a planning process has begun.

14.26 The Library is working on a disaster preparedness plan for dealing with and preventing disasters such as fire and related water damage.

14.27 Management should assess the adequacy of the resources, organization and planning committed to preserving valuable National Library materials. Responsibility for preservation activities should be assigned at a senior management level. A strategic plan should make clear what is at risk, and the resources NLC intends to apply to preservation should be specified.

National Library response: In 1979, the National Library prepared a document outlining a comprehensive national conservation program, including preservation activities within the National Library. This document was discussed by the National Library Advisory Board, which subsequently made recommendations based on its contents. A revised document, A National Preservation Program for Library Materials in Canada, was prepared and became the basis for later preservation plans. Beginning in 1981, the National Library has requested, as part of its input to the Minister's Strategic Overview, the resources to carry out an adequate program of preservation at the National Library and has worked with Arts and Culture (DOC) and other concerned cultural agencies (Archives and Museums) to this end. The National Library is fully committed to the effort to obtain resources to preserve the materials in its custody and to play a leading role in the development of a national preservation program for libraries.

The diverse preservation activities of NLC will be combined into a single program and accountability and resources for this activity will be identified as an essential element of the Library's strategic plan.

Bibliographic Records

14.29 In our view, the National Library has met the intent of the Act and has in place adequate controls over management of the national bibliography. Drawing on legal deposit and other sources, Canadiana lists, for scholars and others interested in Canadian studies, nearly all Canadian materials published since 1953, when the Library was established. Some earlier Canadiana is also available. We found controls over the timeliness of the publication of the most important segments of Canadiana to be satisfactory.

14.30 Union catalogues. One of the Library's most important services, the location service for inter-library lending, tells other libraries in Canada and abroad where particular books, serials or other materials are located. Traditionally, location services have depended on one or more catalogues, called union catalogues, that show which libraries hold the books catalogued. We examined NLC's guidelines for scope, coverage and client services for its Union Catalogue of Books and Union Catalogue of Serials. We also looked at the application of standards to the processing of cataloguing records received for the union catalogues by libraries reporting additions to their holdings.

14.31 The National Library Act implies that NLC will maintain "a national union catalogue in which the contents of the principal library collections throughout Canada may be listed" (Section 7(1)b). However, by the mid-1970s it was generally recognized that the enormous growth of library materials in Canada made continuation of this highly centralized approach impracticable.

14.32 The availability, quality, coverage and completeness of union catalogues have a significant impact on the overall efficiency of library services in Canada, since they are the major tools for locating materials not immediately available in local libraries. Their economic significance has further risen in today's period of restraint and cutbacks, which has in most cases reduced the number of books and serials any one library can purchase, making libraries even more dependent on sharing resources.

14.33 By 1980, NLC was maintaining a manual card catalogue and developing its new computerized catalogues for books and serials. These union catalogues are major locator tools for library materials. They are used by NLC staff in combination with important external sources of catalogue information such as UTLAS, owned by the University of Toronto, which is used by over 200 institutions. With this combination of location tools, NLC management states that its historical success rate of finding close to 80 per cent of requested publications in Canada has been maintained.

14.34 The Canadian Library Association recommended in 1977 that the concept of a national union catalogue, as set out in the Library Act, be replaced by that of a "national bibliographic network", a co-operative network of bibliographic centres and locator tools. In our view, NLC's Union Catalogue of Books and Union Catalogue of Serials currently provide adequate support for NLC's location service for other libraries.

14.35 For the Union Catalogue of Books, the major weakness is the lack of an objective for coverage; that is, what libraries and holdings should be included. The number of libraries reporting their acquisitions to NLC has been gradually dropping. In part this is because some libraries are using their own or other computer facilities, and converting this information to the particular machine-readable form useful to NLC is deemed too costly.

14.36 Given that the concept of a national bibliographic network was accepted by NLC as the logical successor to the idea of a single union catalogue, we would have expected the Library to have set out a course of action to achieve such a goal. This would include:

- developing a consensus on what is meant by a "national bibliographic network";

- describing alternative strategies for achieving the purpose of such a network or networks, including consideration of centralized vs decentralized cataloguing systems;

- deciding, with the library community, the roles and responsibilities of the National Library, other libraries, and the other interests affected;

- specifying what library materials or catalogue information would fall within the scope of the network; and

- establishing appropriate co-ordination and management mechanisms for development and operation of networks.

14.38 NLC has taken various steps in the direction of developing a national bibliographic network, including a national study on interlibrary lending, management of a telecommunications project (iNet) and forming a committee of the Library Board. However, at the time of our audit, it had yet to bring together and document the work under way and what still needs to be done. In our view, the appropriate vehicle for this is a cohesive strategic plan, available for review by the library community, the Board and others affected.

14.39 The National Library should define the immediate and long-term roles and objectives for NLC's computer-based union catalogues of books and serials and relate these to its planning for a national bibliographic network.

National Library response: Roles and objectives for computer-based union catalogues are reviewed as they relate to the needs of users, the effective use of resources, rapidly changing technologies, and the existence of other interloan support services. As an important node in an already existing co-operative national and international interlibrary loan network, the scope of the Canadian Union Catalogue of Books will continue to be modified to ensure adequate coverage and to avoid unnecessary duplication. All modifications are the result of ongoing consultations with user libraries, members of the National Library Advisory Board and its committees, and management of other information bases and other national libraries.

14.40 The National Library should consider an amendment to the Library Act so that service expectations for the National Library emphasize locating library material in Canada rather than maintaining a single tool such as a national union catalogue.

National Library response: A review of the Act will be undertaken, during which rewording to emphasize service expectations rather than tools for carrying out services will be considered. Amendments will be proposed as necessary.

14.41 National bibliographic standards. We examined how the National Library carries out its responsibilities for developing, evaluating, applying and promulgating standards for bibliographic data. Such standards, used by cataloguers, searchers, publishers and librarians generally, have a significant impact on overall economy, efficiency and effectiveness of library services and are fundamental to exchanging and communicating library data in both printed and machine-readable form.

14.42 Our audit of standards activities in the Cataloguing Branch indicated that NLC adequately develops, applies and promulgates standards for the Canadian library community, provides national leadership, and represents Canada on international standards bodies. An examination of the standards themselves was beyond the scope of our audit, but we assessed the extent to which NLC has evaluated their impact on the cost of cataloguing and of providing library services.

14.43 The Anglo-American library community may have tended to accept standards established by the cataloguing discipline of the profession without fully questioning the economics involved. All Canadian libraries are affected in some way by international cataloguing rules. However, cost-effectiveness of cataloguing practices is receiving increasing attention; for example, in studies by the Centre for Catalogue Research, funded by the British Library.

14.44 In Canada, libraries use cataloguing records created elsewhere, mainly by the U.S. Library of Congress, for meeting 85 to 90 per cent of their needs; re-cataloguing these would not be economic. Only records for Canadian material are created by NLC, and these must be compatible internationally. The standards applied for most records are thus largely beyond NLC's control and, for economic and other reasons, Canadian libraries accept and use these standards. Within this context, the Cataloguing Branch of the National Library has modified the standards to meet specific Canadian needs, such as bilingual terminology, and has considered the cost-effectiveness of applying them.

14.45 We recognize the special concern of a national library for standards. However, in view of the cost of entering, storing and using catalogue records, we think there is a need for an independent review - involving management of other Canadian libraries - of the cost-effectiveness of current standards. This would ensure that cataloguing provides adequate but not excessive information.

14.46 National Library management, in consultation with management of other Canadian libraries, should review NLC's cataloguing standards to ensure that they are cost-effective in meeting the needs of both NLC and other Canadian libraries.

National Library response: Through its advisory committees and related bodies the National Library has worked to ensure that the cataloguing standards used in the creation and dissemination of bibliographic records are effective in meeting the needs of both NLC and Canadian libraries, as well as being consistent with international agreements for the exchange of cataloguing data. In the future NLC plans to encourage more extensive research and review, within the national and international library communities, of the actual effectiveness and cost/benefit of bibliographic and cataloguing standards, both existing and proposed.

Technology Support

14.48 Our audit of the management of the DOBIS project examined planning, budgeting and submissions documents prepared by NLC for the Treasury Board between 1976 and 1983. We expected to find that variances from approved plans were addressed, objectives were reassessed if necessary, and the most cost-effective methods were employed. We also expected to find that the system development process for DOBIS was based on a strategic plan that outlined alternatives for meeting the overall purpose of the system.

14.49 DOBIS is significant in that it is by far the largest single project undertaken by the National Library. This can be measured in terms of gross expenditures by NLC and the National Research Council library (CISTI) - $7.23 million for development and database maintenance, and $10.20 million for operations to 1982-83 - its impact on other library operations at NLC, and its potential impact on other federal libraries. Treasury Board directed that NLC and CISTI co-develop the system for the benefit of all federal libraries; no other federal funds were to be spent on developing major departmental library systems. The DOBIS project is one of very few attempts world-wide to automate the operations of a large library in an integrated, centralized way.

14.50 The National Library met Treasury Board criteria in carrying out the selection process that preceded acquisition of the DOBIS software package, including demonstrating need, analysing alternatives and demonstrating feasibility and cost-effectiveness. Since the 1976 decision to develop DOBIS as an "integrated library data management system", however, there has been a large disparity between plans and results.

14.51 The earliest proposal to Treasury Board, in 1976, projected completion of an integrated system comprising five main modules within about four years, but seven years later, in 1983, only the cataloguing and searching modules are in service. The last of the remaining three main modules is not expected to be available until 1987-88. This is 8 years later than originally forecast and 11 years after development began.

14.52 The full development costs for the system were given as $2.75 million in 1976. They were reassessed as $3.34 million about a year later and in 1979, when the final proposal for full implementation was approved by Treasury Board, the revised projected development costs through 1984-85 were reported at $4.16 million (1979 dollars). In 1979, the estimated maintenance costs of the planned database were introduced into the DOBIS total cost picture for Treasury Board. These include costs of supplying enhancements for users and administering the database and were projected at $13.37 million for the period 1979 through 1984-85. NLC's costs for using the system in 1982-83, in addition to maintenance costs, were $3.36 million and are projected at $6.34 million for 1984-85.

14.53 In its most recent submission to Treasury Board for funding (1982), the Library did not segregate projected costs for the development of each DOBIS component. Although projected total expenditures for development are given in NLC's annual EDP report to Treasury Board, the amounts are not linked to the development of specific system components. Thus it is difficult to hold management accountable for expenditures related to the development of any specific components of DOBIS.

14.54 As of June 1983, NLC management had made no major changes to the original objectives and development strategy for the system, yet there was strong evidence of the need to reassess the future of DOBIS. This included: lengthening development time, delays in delivering promised services, a backlog of systems projects, lack of target dates for completing three of the basic modules for the system, and major industry advances in computer technology and system concepts. Perceptions of DOBIS held by federal departmental librarians we interviewed are noted in the section on co-ordination of federal library services. The central problem, in our view, has been management's attempt to create an "integrated library management system" through DOBIS: a central system which is all things to all users.

14.55 In March 1982, NLC management established the Network and Automated Systems Working Group. One of its major concerns was the problems with DOBIS, but by June 1983 the Working Group had not made any recommendations on the future of DOBIS. There has been no strategic plan prepared to guide development of the DOBIS project; however a consultant's feasibility study on strategic planning for the database was reported to management in April 1983.

14.56 The National Library and CISTI, co-developers of DOBIS, should establish and set limits on the role of DOBIS in federal and other libraries; in particular, they should decide whether the purpose of the system is, fundamentally, to maintain a database (NLC/CISTI catalogues and union catalogues), to provide a range of library automation services to federal and other libraries, or both.

National Library response: The future of DOBIS is currently under review, especially in relation to the advent of mini-systems capable of performing specific functions. Initial steps toward such a review have already been under taken by the National Library and CISTI.

14.57 Budgets and cost projections for development of the DOBIS system (as opposed to its maintenance and operation) should be identified and clearly related to the specific modules, components, services or other elements that are to be developed.

National Library response: Full breakouts of DOBIS budgets and cost figures have always been available and will be provided in future documents, as recommended.

14.58 The National Library, with advice from the Council of Federal Libraries, should determine the present and future needs of federal libraries for automation services. NLC should evaluate the cost-effectiveness of providing them. Alternatives to continuing to develop DOBIS as presently planned could include adopting a different strategy for completing DOBIS or using external commercial services for some federal library functions. The DOBIS development plan should be modified accordingly.

National Library response: The National Library will request resources for 1983-84 and 1984-85 to carry out the study of federal library, NLC and CISTI automation service needs and of the alternative ways of providing these, with a view to determining the most flexible, effective, and cost-beneficial system or combination of systems. Subsequent to this, the Library's EDP development plan will be modified accordingly and any necessary resources will be requested to implement this changed plan.

14.59 Network development. The highest priority of Library management is the development of a national bibliographic network, as discussed under Union Catalogues. The Office for Network Development is conducting, with several other libraries, the iNet field trial, a test of the technical feasibility of certain electronic means of connecting autonomous library databases. It is to be completed in 1983-84 and is to be followed immediately by a market trial involving service charges to those using the commercial telecommunications facility that will link the systems. The Library's program evaluation unit plans to evaluate the technical feasibility phase this year, as requested by the Cabinet's Committee on Social Development, to provide a basis for decisions on further pilot projects in network development. We expect the report to the Minister to include also any useful information gained to the date of the report on the implications of the market trial's results with respect to commercial telecommunications charges.

14.60 We examined the iNet project to see how it fits into plans for fostering development of the national bibliographic network. Although Library management places great importance on the iNet project as means of aiding development of a national bibliographic network, there is no strategic plan for national network development setting out the purpose, characteristics, components and structure of the network and the role to be played by the National Library in its development.

14.61 The National Library should develop a strategic plan to guide its activities in the development of the national bibliographic network.

National Library response: A strategic plan for network activities will be developed within the department's proposed strategic/operational planning and control structure. Owing to the fact that its development rests on the voluntary co-operation of many institutions - federal, provincial and private - the strategy must be one which provides for a great deal of flexibility and pragmatism and will inevitably evolve along with the availability of new technology.

Library Direction at the Executive Level

14.63 The National Library should develop statements of objectives and sub- objectives for Part III of the Estimates which, to the extent possible, tell Parliament and the library community what management intends to achieve.

National Library response: Objective and sub-objective statements will be reviewed and revised as appropriate for inclusion in Part III of the Main Estimates for 1985-86.

14.64 Co-ordination of federal government library services. Section 7(2) of the National Library Act states, in part:

Subject to the direction of the Governor in Council, the National Librarian may co-ordinate the library services of departments, branches and agencies of the Government of Canada....

14.66 The National Library's information on federal libraries is weak as a basis for assessing what its co-ordinating role should be to produce greater value for money in government library services. For example, the Library did not know the financial and human resources invested in the 280 federal government library units across Canada.

14.67 The DOBIS database system was developed by NLC for the benefit of all federal libraries, thereby satisfying in part NLC's co-ordination role. However, because of its slow development, it is generally perceived as only a shared searching and cataloguing system rather than an "integrated library management system" as it is described in Part III of the Estimates. Eighteen federal libraries use DOBIS. More than 20 use the University of Toronto's UTLAS system, and others use alternative systems. We did not attempt to assess how many of the libraries are using systems other than DOBIS because of its present problems.

14.68 The Council of Federal Libraries was set up in 1976 to advise and assist the National Librarian in co-ordinating library services. Since then, Council committees have enquired into several matters of interest to federal librarians. Librarians interviewed expressed concern about several management and policy issues, including the federal librarians' roles in:

- facilitating access to information under the new Access to Information Act;

- managing information resources within departments and agencies; and

- determining the services and charging policy for non-government and non-department users.

14.70 The National Library should communicate clearly to the federal library community its interpretation of its co-ordinating role under the National Library Act, including its view of the limits to its responsibilities. It should also try to clarify what federal librarians expect in the way of leadership from the National Library.

National Library response: The National Library has a considerable number of files of information on policies, collections and services of federal libraries and manages or oversees several co-operative projects. Based on this information, and following consultation with the Council of Federal Libraries, a statement of interpretation of Section 7(2) will be prepared.

14.71 Planning and control. In 1977, the National Librarian sought the views of the library community on NLC's future role and established its priorities in a 1979 document: "The Future of the National Library of Canada". However, we found no current long-term strategic plans specifically intended to guide Library managers. A Strategic Overview submission was prepared for the Minister in 1982, but it was not designed as a long-term statement for Library managers of what senior management intended to achieve, nor did it cover important strategic issues such as book preservation, the future of the union catalogues, library automation technology or the question of charging for services in Canadian library networks. In 1983, no input to the Minister's Strategic Overview was produced, apparently because the Minister's office did not require an NLC submission.

14.72 We expected, for example, that plans to achieve the Library's main objective "to facilitate the use of the library resources of the country" would include compiling and maintaining inventories of the major Canadian library resources, such as the principal libraries and collections, computer databases available to the public and library locator tools. With Canada's economy becoming more information-dependent, librarians are in a unique position to identify publicly available information sources, document resource availability and play active roles as brokers, bringing together sources of information and users.

14.73 The future direction of NLC may be clear at the level of National Librarian and Associate National Librarian; however formal statements of long-term plans help to ensure that branch managers have the same understanding of organizational objectives and their relative importance, how these are to be accomplished and how performance is to be assessed. Annually up-dating long-term plans is a self-disciplining process. It encourages management to detect and articulate emerging problems and to determine the current expectations of the library community. Issues and the action to be taken to deal with them should become progressively better known through successive annual planning. Documented strategic plans demonstrate the breadth and quality of top management's recognition of problems facing the Library and provide a basis for performance accountability, specifically through information for Parliament in Part III of the Estimates.

14.74 To the extent that the Strategic Overview submission for the Minister is not intended to be a strategic plan to guide Library managers, we would expect senior management to produce long-term plans that meet the needs of managers.

14.75 The Library's preparation of the 1983 Multi-Year Operational Plans was satisfactory. However, it appears that Library managers regard operational plans for central agencies as the means of justifying resource claims to those agencies but not as useful operating plans for themselves.

14.76 We found that the Library did not have an integrated planning and control structure for developing strategic and operational plans, through which management could be expected to identify and deal systematically with important issues, consider alternatives for achieving objectives, ensure adequate peer review of managers' planning proposals and their implications for the other units, and define the performance control processes at the senior management level.

14.77 The National Library Advisory Board acts as a central link with the library community, which is affected by what NLC plans to do or not to do. Annual review by the Board of management's strategic and operational plans would help both the quality and acceptance of planning decisions by Library management. The Board's role is discussed later.

14.78 The National Library should establish an integrated planning and control structure for all levels for which formal plans are appropriate.

14.79 Management should develop long-term plans that make clear what NLC intends to achieve, as a guide to managers and as a basis for accountability, and should update them annually. The National Library Advisory Board should review them and give management its views.

National Library response: Work has begun on the development of a comprehensive strategic/operational planning and control structure for the Department. As part of this structure, departmental long-term plans will be updated and subsequently reviewed on an annual basis. Departmental plans will be submitted for review to NLAB as appropriate. The advice of the Office of the Comptroller General has been requested in adapting strategic and operational planning techniques and systems developed for large departments to the needs of a small agency. Planning sessions have been held for several years to ensure input from all areas of the Library.

Administrative and Evaluation Functions Managed by the Public Archives of Canada

14.81 Program evaluation. The purpose of this part of the audit was to determine whether the joint program evaluation unit was satisfactorily managed to evaluate the programs of the Public Archives and National Library. We reviewed the Program Planning and Evaluation group's management and reporting practices.

14.82 In our view, management of program evaluation was reasonable in the circumstances. Initially ambitious plans for NLC program coverage, which led to significant slippages in schedules, have been revised and made more realistic, taking into account the existing resources. The number of evaluations originally scheduled has been reduced to match a reduced number of formal program evaluation components so that they can be covered in the five-year cycle suggested by the Office of the Comptroller General.

14.83 In 1982, NLC completed an evaluation of the legal deposit program. Both the evaluation assessment and the study itself were, in our view, adequate. We understand that the Library chose legal deposit in part because it was a relatively simple assignment to use for the Library's first attempt. Part III of the Estimates section on program effectiveness indicates that library services are the most important area for program effectiveness evaluation. Library services are prominent in the Library's 1983-84 evaluation plan. We would expect management to continue to concentrate on library services in formulating its long-term evaluation plan.

14.84 Efficiency. Treasury Board's 1976 policy statement required departments to establish ways of routinely measuring ongoing performance of operations in terms of effectiveness and efficiency. In 1979, the Council of Federal Libraries' Working Group on Performance Measurement published a handbook that included guidelines to facilitate the use of performance measurement techniques. Some major problems identified were the lack of library performance standards and the difficulty of comparing costs.

14.85 Since NLC played a strong role in activities on the CFL Working Group, we had expected to find prompt action in meeting Treasury Board's requirements and following up on the 1979 CFL Handbook, but did not. We have noted our concerns to senior management.

Reporting to Parliament

14.87 We found the Library's Part III to be a reasonable first effort that generally complied with Treasury Board's requirements. The main problems were the usual ones for management preparing the department's first Part III: specifying objectives in terms of results to be achieved by the Library and choosing and describing the most useful performance indicators. The Library's Part III was weak in disclosing the assumptions or other support for expected 1983-84 workloads and there were no Library-wide guidelines or systems in place for preparation and review of the information. The Part III Estimates were not reviewed by internal audit.

14.88 Our detailed observations on the information in each section of Part III and the adequacy of internal controls over reliability of the information have been given to management. Our concerns and recommendation for more specific objectives statements allowing better accountability for results were set out in the Mandate section of this chapter. Other recommendations in the Chapter also could help improve the quality of the Part III Estimates.

14.89 Management should specify standards and guidelines for development of Part III Estimates information by the branches and for verifying information supplied, especially the basis for projections or forecasts. Internal Audit should include, in its regular work, review of the information in Part III and the underlying systems and procedures generating information for the Estimates.

National Library response: Such standards are now being developed by the departmental interbranch planning committee, and will be applied in Main Estimates Part III for 1984-85. These standards will be revised each year until the content and format of the Expenditure Plan has stabilized across the federal government and a Performance Measurement System is functioning effectively across all branches of NLC. In addition, the staff of the Public Archives, who provide internal audit services to the National Library, will be requested to schedule regular routine audits of the functioning of all new resource management systems introduced by the central agencies until these systems stabilize.

The National Library Advisory Board

to advise and assist the National Librarian in the organization and development of the Library and to advise and assist in the development of the relations of the Library with other libraries and library and educational associations and institutions.

14.92 The Board's effectiveness depends on having a well-defined purpose. However, the 1969 Act does not define "advise and assist", and the Board's own procedural documents do not set out what it is meant to achieve. In reply to a 1982 parliamentary question, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Communications described the Board's advisory role, in part, as "advising on and reviewing the priorities of the Library, its developments and its ongoing activities". We believe the issue of interest to Parliament is the purpose of the Board's review function and what it should encompass. The staff resources and out-of-pocket costs annually invested in the Board and its three committees are significant, but our main concern is whether the Board's review role is as strong as it can reasonably be expected to be, within the advisory mandate, to enhance value for money in the Library's operations and NLC's accountability.

14.93 Our approach was to understand the Board's development and present operation in order to assess the usefulness of its role in the management and accountability structure of the Library. It was not our intention to audit the operations of the Board against pre-determined criteria and report findings. We also recognize the difference between the advisory role of NLC's Board and the executive or management function of boards such as the Board of Trustees of the National Museums of Canada or the British Library Board. Our review included attendance at a Board meeting, review of Board minutes and documents, discussions with persons knowledgeable about the Board and other like Boards, and relevant management literature reviews.

14.94 We believe that three matters are relevant to what Parliament could expect from the Board. The first is that the National Library serves mainly other libraries. It does not have the direct contact with the public that university and public libraries have, making its performance difficult to observe. It is therefore important that the Board's review role be substantial.

14.95 The second matter is the relatively little contact the Minister of Communications has with the Library. Section 4 of the Library Act, new in 1969, states that the Minister shall "preside over" and "has the supervision of the management and direction of the Library". The fact that the Minister of Communications has several other cultural agencies and the Department itself reporting to him, combined with the relatively small size of NLC's budget, suggests that the minister concerned could not be expected to allot much time to the Library. In fact, meetings with the National Librarian are few. This suggests further the usefulness of a strengthened review role for the Board.

14.96 The third factor is the rapid change in information technology and its cost. This affects NLC's planning and decision structures, the cost and percentage of Library resources needed for technological investment, the need to co-ordinate NLC's technology with other organizations, and the effect of technological change on the types and forms of delivery of library services. These are factors that call for review by Board members knowledgeable not only about library affairs and technology but also sound management practices.

14.97 We believe there is a need for the Board, in advising the National Librarian, to have:

- a clearly-defined review role;

- members capable of constructively criticizing plans, budgets and reported progress for key Library functions and projects; and

- direct access to the Minister when the Board thinks it is needed.

14.99 The National Librarian and the Board should review the role of the Board in the management and accountability structure of the Library and discuss with the Minister the role and operating guidelines they think the Board should have.

National Library response: Subsequent to the arrival of the new National Librarian, the present role which the Board plays will be reviewed and discussed with members and with the Minister, as appropriate.

14.100 We have offered suggestions for Board operating guidelines for consideration by Board members, the National Librarian and the Minister. Assuming that the guidelines may be relevant to other boards in government, we are including a summary of them on the following pages.

Suggested Operating Guidelines for the National Library Advisory Board (For Consideration by the Board, National Librarian and Minister)

Board Objectives and Accountability

Appointment to the Board and its Committees

Board Tasks

- conveying to NLC management the views and suggestions of key stakeholder groups with whom Board members are in contact, and conveying to Library clientele and others what NLC is trying to accomplish;

- reviewing National Library strategic and operating plans and priorities and their cost implications, and the results achieved, including NLC's program evaluations;

- reviewing major projects or studies, aided by current information from staff on cost and other implications of project plans, including progress achieved and the reasons for variances;

- recommending to the Minister criteria for the appointment and tenure of the National Librarian; and

- advising the Minister on any matter the Board deems important enough to warrant direct and timely communication of its concern.

Board Structure and Management

14.105 The Board should have a process in place to:

- plan the work of the Board and its committees, including determining the information needed, how the work is to be accomplished, and timetables;

- determine how the work of its committees is to be assessed and how its own work and that of its committees is to be reported; and

- establish the frequency and agendas of meetings and ensure the best use of limited meeting time.

Review of Board Mandate