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This conference report covers a presentation from the 2022 North Carolina Serials Conference (NCSC) on the topic of remote work in library technical services units. The presentation discussed findings from a literature review conducted for a 2020 Serials Review column, and also investigated scholarship on remote work in technical services as published since that time. The online audience offered questions and comments from their experiences, which are also summarized in this report. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Onboarding is the process in which new employees are introduced to an organization and its vision, mission, and values. Library literature reflects the importance of onboarding in welcoming new employees and positioning them for success in their roles, but many established onboarding programs and practices have been interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and shifts to online and remote work. This column provides an overview of library literature and resources for onboarding and supporting new employees in the area of electronic resources, with a focus on resources and processes that are available online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though many library practices and services were put on hold at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, hiring still took place in some academic libraries. This column details the process of remote onboarding in an academic library that was accustomed to in-person hiring and training, and it provides perspective from both the supervisor and the newly-hired electronic resources librarian in the UNC Greensboro University Libraries Technical Services Department. Authors seek to illustrate the process of developing a structured virtual onboarding program, as well as uncover the social challenges posed by physical distancing in a new working environment, and strive to answer the question, how does one become a part of a department when the department itself cannot meet in person? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept and practice of remote work in library technical services is not new, but the scale and speed of the transition to remote work for many libraries due to the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented. This column provides an overview of pre-pandemic literature on remote work in library technical services and briefly examines the history, planning, case studies, technology and equity concerns, challenges, and potential benefits of remote work. Initial connections are drawn between existing literature and the impact of the pandemic on remote work, and future directions for research and discussion are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many campuses are seeing increased needs for support in scholarly communications areas such as open access, research identity management, scholarship metrics, and related topics. This article discusses a professional development program that addresses scholarly communications needs for online and in-person graduate students and faculty at UNC Greensboro (UNCG), through a collaborative, interdepartmental effort that brings together librarians from the departments of Research, Outreach, and Instruction (ROI) and Technical Services. The authors provide a brief overview of the literature related to scholarly communications needs and training in academic libraries and discuss the UNCG program's inception, modules, format, assessment, and future directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The creation, sharing, and maintenance of documentation are critical to support the often detailed and complex work of library technical services units. This column examines documentation portals that share technical services policies and procedures, with a focus on library-based portals that are accessible to personnel within the associated libraries while also being fully or partially open to external users. A review of the literature is provided, as well as links to and descriptions of selected portal examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]