Maturity of the book purchasing process in university libraries

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/kpm.1559
• Date: 01 January 2018
• Author: Marcelo Jasmim Meiriño,Osvaldo Luiz Gonçalves Quelhas,Mirian Picinini Méxas,Geisa Meirelles Drumond
• Published date: 01 January 2018

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Maturity of the book purchasing process in university libraries

Geisa Meirelles Drumond |Mirian Picinini Méxas |Marcelo Jasmim Meiriño |

Osvaldo Luiz Gonçalves Quelhas

Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niteroi, Rio

de Janeiro, Brazil

Correspondence

Mirian Picinini Méxas, Universidade Federal

Fluminense, Niteroi, RJ, Brazil.

Email: mirian_mexas@vm.uff.br; mirian.

picinini@gmail.com

In organizational management, operational performance and the maturity level of processes

should be considered for improving quality and productivity. The present research has the overall

objective of analyzing the level of maturity of the purchasing process of bibliographic material,

developed in the university libraries of a Federal University. Based on the overall objective, we

aim to identify maturity models used in process management in the scientific literature, as well

as proposing a way of collecting and treating the perception of maturity of the purchasing process

of bibliographic material. To achieve these objectives, we adopted as methodological procedures

the bibliographic research in the SciELO, SCOPUS, and DOAJ bases and the case study on the

perception of maturity of the purchasing process of books from the university libraries, using

the interview and closed questionnaire. The questionnaire was applied to 40 staff members of

the system of university libraries. The results indicate that the majority of activities carried out

for the purchase of books present levels of maturity above Level 1. This shows that the processes

performed in libraries for the purchase of books are defined, planned, and controlled, although

there is a considerable number of aspects that can be improved. In terms of relevance for library

management, the research intends to provide subsidies for the planning and management of the

purchasing process of bibliographic material and the optimization of resources, as well as under-

standing and assessing the process carried out, identifying its maturity levels.

1|INTRODUCTION

In organizational management, operational performance, process

maturity, and the use of performance indicators to evaluate and

monitor processes should be considered for the improvement of

quality and productivity. The search for efficient processes should

involve the use of quality tools, techniques, and methodologies.

In this sense, the International Organization for Standardization

(ISO) has proposed principles and guidelines through the publication

of a set of global standards, which have enabled the evolution of

quality management in organizations.

The ISO 9001 standard guides organizations in their internal

processes for improving performance and quality. In addition to

contributing to the standardization of all critical business processes

that affect products and customers, this standard is clear in establish-

ing the need for performance indicators to monitor and measure

processes. It also covers measurement, analysis, and improvement for

the quality management system and guides the systematic review of

processes to ensure their effectiveness.

Therefore, existing processes in libraries, one of which is the

process of bibliographic acquisition, should be well known, which

entails the need to analyze their level of maturity, to establish improve-

ments in the process, with the aim of achieving better results and

productivity.

This study considered the acquisition process via the purchase of

bibliographic material from the university libraries of a Federal

University, located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Nevertheless,

the process of acquisition of bibliographic material also includes other

service modalities, such as the donation and the exchange of biblio-

graphic material, which are not part of the scope of this work.

In federal university libraries, the purchase of basic and supple-

mentary bibliography is carried out through an electronic auction,

using funds from the University's Institutional Development Plan.

Bibliographic materials, as well as equipment and furniture, can also

be acquired through projects financed by development agencies.

In terms of relevance for library management, the research intends

to provide subsidiesfor the planning and managementof the purchasing

process and optimization of resources, based on the understanding and

assessment of the process performed, identifying its level of maturity.

This research seeks to encourage other studies about the critical

processes of the library, thereby increasing the knowledge of the work

processes to make them more efficient.

Received: 9 April 2017 Accepted: 22 December 2017

DOI: 10.1002/kpm.1559

54 Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Knowl Process Manag. 2018;25:54–63.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/kpm