The Library Faculty and Staff Successfully Met Their Goals for 2006/07 and Surpassed Them

LIBRARY

2006/2007

OVERVIEW

The library faculty and staff successfully met their goals for 2006/07 and surpassed them in many cases, as will be seen below. To summarize the major steps forward:

Met most faculty and student research needs through a combination of careful purchasing and database selection and subsidized document delivery
Secured the M. Jean Greenlaw Collection of autographed first editions of children’s books
Secured Congressman E. Clay Shaw’s papers from his thirteen terms in Congress
Rigorously evaluated and weeded the reference collection and continued the evaluation and weeding of the circulating collection to achieve zero-growth to deal with lack of space
Added more than 10,000 new titles to WebCat, including a growing number of electronic resources
Planned additional study areas and a collaborative learning computer area to be implemented in the summer and early fall of 2007, to be funded with gifts
Added the well-known but expensive databases JSTOR I and II, thanks to the growth of our developing collaboration with the College of Law library

I.CHALLENGES AND ISSUES

Continued Lack of Funds Due to Budget Stabilization:

The library continued to operate with a university allocated materials budget (books, journals, databases, scores, and other media) of less than was allocated in 2001/02:

2001/02 fy original allocation:$602,000

2006/07 fy allocation:$562,000

$40,000 less than five years ago

Loss of Purchasing Power due to Inflation and Growth of Student Body:

In addition to the loss of actual dollars, inflation continued to have an impact. Based on the 2001/02 allocation of $602,000, the 2006/07 allocation should have been $773,169

just to meet inflation. Costs forthe electronic databases, most of which are based on student FTE,have increased by about 6.5% in the last four years from the combination of inflation and increases in FTE fees.

Limited Space for Collections and Students:

The 1999 addition of 9,000 square feet for library use was, as librarians pointed out, insufficient space to last more than ten years. Since then, the number of students on the DeLand campus has grown, and we must meet the study and technology needs of about 300 more students than we had prior to the very limited expansion.

II.FIVE-YEAR GOALS AND COMPONENTS

A.Provide Resources for Academic Quality

Physical and digital collections to meet curricular research needs
Technology to support research in the library
University Archives and Special Collections

B.Provide Services for Academic Quality

Reference and research assistance for faculty and students in DeLand and Celebration
Accurate and prompt circulation, reserves, and interlibrary loan services
Instructional services for information literacy and research methodology both in person and online
Organization and cataloging of the physical and digital collections for quick and accurate access
Web site which is intuitive and instructional as a guide to the research resources available
Staffing and technological support for all services

C.Provide Library Facilities to Encourage and Enhance Study and Support the Valuable Print Collection

Collegial and academic atmosphere in the Library
Adequate and well-placed shelving for the print collection
Group and individual study areas to support enrollment

D.Seek Sustained Funding to Support the Library

University funding
Donor funding

PROGRESS 2006-2007

A. PROGRESS, GOAL #1: Provide Resources for Academic Quality

1)Agenda Item #1: Acquire more materials in electronic format, especially periodicals, reference titles, and possibly video and audio.

Eleven databases were added, including reference works, JSTOR I and II, an additional audio music database, and e-books in psychology. Current journal databases added titles with full-text coverage.
The number of print reference works added continued to decline, from 2,167 volumes in 2002/03 to 550 volumes in 2006/07, as we converted to more electronic reference works.

Library users retrieved valuable data from electronic resources for their research:
Full-text journal articles retrieved:127,297
Articles retrieved from reference works: 41,053
Newspaper articles retrieved: 51,113
Abstracts (without full-text) retrieved: 29,073
Musical pieces heard: 13,931

2)Agenda Item #2: Convert the small library at the CelebrationCenter to electronic.

The print volumes and other physical media at Celebration were withdrawn and some funds from the Celebration budget were used to add electronic resources which will benefit students in DeLand and at Celebration.

3)Agenda Item #3: Expand University Archives and Special Collections holdings through solicitations and oral histories.

Alumnus Congressman E. Clay Shaw gave his papers from his twenty-six years in Congress. These arrived in mid-year, and Associate Library Director Susan Ryan began the work of organizing them.
A gift of almost 2,000 autographed first editions of children’s books from alumna Dr. M. Jean Greenlaw was cataloged and placed in the new Johnson Room for security.
Archives Specialist Gail Grieb and Instructional Media Specialist Terry Grieb began interviewing and video-taping retired faculty to add to an oral history of the university.

4)Agenda Item #4: Digitize more of the special collections.

The University of Central Florida’s digitization grant proposal, which would have included an extensive part of our archives, did not succeed. However, we continued with several in-house projects:

Associate Director Susan Ryan scanned and indexed numerous items from Archives and Special Collections for the web site.
Ryan began the process of indexing the papers and photographs of the Congressman E. Clay Shaw Collection. Selected photographs are being digitized and added to the web site.

5)Agenda Item #5: Inventory the physical collection (excluding documents) on an ongoing basis.

This project was continued by the Technical Services Department’s student assistants. In addition to identifying missing books, others thought lost were found and reinstated. The department’s methodical system has created a “rolling inventory.” This is now a formalized, continuing process and will no longer be listed as an agenda item.

6)Technology to Support Research in the Library: The Information Technology Office supplied ten new computers during the fiscal year to replace obsolete machines. We provide forty workstations for our students, all with the appropriate Microsoft Office software and tools for research.

7)Government Documents Collection: The number of net physical items in the collection continued to decline as more information is made available electronically. As electronic versions were made available, some of the print collection was withdrawn and made available to other Federal Depository libraries, according to regulations.

8)Resources Expenditures by Format: While still operating with less money from the university than in 2001/02, our continued fundraising and recent endowments made it possible to purchase $646,982 in library resources (including binding, shipping, etc.) for all libraries. Journal subscriptions took 36% of the budget, web databases took 28.4%, and books took 25.8%, with the remainder spent for other media and shipping.

Database usage (indicated above) and the circulation of 31,702 physical items borrowed and renewed continue to show good use of the resources we select. The Library Director continued her work as Chair and Fiscal Agent for the ICUF libraries, gaining substantial discounts on electronic resources. Without the ICUF discounts, we could not afford the excellent electronic resources now available for our students and faculty.

B. PROGRESS, GOAL #2: Provide Services for Academic Quality

1)Agenda Item #1: Implement the First Year Student Project “My Librarian.”

In consultation with Dean of First Year Studies Leonard Nance, each librarian in the main library assumed responsibility to contact a first year student. With a list provided by the First Year Studies office, each librarian wrote a personalized letter to the students, offering to assist them when they arrive and to answer by phone or email any questions they might have during the summer. The letter was accompanied by the 12-page library brochure for students describing library use, collections, and services. These letters were followed up by emails during the year. We had direct responses from sixteen students as well as several favorable comments from parents who read the letters and brochure. What cannot be assessed is how many may have felt more comfortable approaching librarians for assistance during the year as a result of the contacts.

2)Agenda Item #2: Add a computer on the mezzanine at the top of the stairs on a tall stand for quick checks of WebCat.

After further consideration of the amount of use it might receive, this was not done, although it is still an option.

3)Agenda Item #3: Begin investigation of updating or replacing the library’s integrated automated system to improve the user interface and to include federated searching.

The Systems Team began the review, but with the financial situation still so tight it was clear that a replacement or substantially updated Sirsi integrated automated system was not likely in the near future. Trends for public catalogs (such as our WebCat) indicate the development of public catalog software which uses the data in the integrated system but has an independent and more user-friendly interface. This will continue to be studied. Federated search software (to search multiple databases simultaneously) was investigated, and a decision was made to purchase Serials Solutions’ Central Search product. It will be implemented in the summer of 2007.

4)Reference and Research Assistance for Faculty and Students in DeLand and Celebration:

We continued to provide research assistance at the Reference Desk during most of our open hours, but the number of transactions decreased from the previous year by 2%. A noticeable change, however, is that while the transactions at the desk dropped by 11%, the number of requests for research assistance directed to librarians not at the desk – by phone, email, or personal encounter in the library - increasedby 54%over the previous year. An increase is also noted in the number of students who took advantage of personal consultations through the Research Assistance Program (RAP). Thirty eight of these in-depth research sessions were held vs. only twenty eight the previous year.

5)Circulation, Reserves, and Interlibrary Loan Services:

The number of items circulated dropped slightly from the previous year, with a total of 31,702 items borrowed or renewed in the duPont-Ball Library, a decrease of 3.3%.
The number of Reserve transactionsin the main library continued to decline, with a decrease of 5.2%, to 4,113 items. This continues a trend begun when faculty began to place readings on Blackboard instead of on Reserve; Blackboard is a more efficient delivery system for the faculty and the students since the items may be read outside the library. Another trend noted is the increase of 216% in the number of videos and DVDs circulating on Reserve.
The number of items borrowed from other libraries for our students and faculty increased by 5.4% to 2,659, with an average delivery time of 8.5 days. We lent 3,524 items to other libraries. $2,989 was spent to purchase journal articles and dissertations not available as free loans.

6)Instructional Services for Information Literacy and Research Methodology:

Librarians taught research methodology to 69 classes and 1,090 students in 16 academic departments. This represents 18.8% fewer classes than last year, which had an unusually high number. Coordinator Jane Bradford continued her work with faculty teaching the entry-level courses in the Department of English, introducing first-year students to library research.

7)Organization of the Physical and Electronic Collections for Access:

10,364 titles were cataloged during the year, representing 13,341 physical or digital “items.” This is an increase of 12% over the 9,260 titles cataloged the previous year. The number of titles requiring original cataloging and the expertise of a librarian is also increasing as we add more digital information, local materials, and media.

8)Web Site as a Guide to Research and Resources:

The library’s electronic research guides continued to be well used, and fourteen were extensively revised. The library’s web pages received 419,362 hits June 1, 2006 – March 31, 2007 (the campus Information Technology Office was unable to supply the data for April and May due to the upgrade of web services which required disabling these reports at this time). All pages were checked for links and accuracy on a regular schedule.

C.PROGRESS, GOAL #3: Provide Library Facilities to Encourage and Enhance Study and to Support the Valuable Print Collection

Students continued to use the library as a place to study and gather. Our gate count was 209,119, down 1.4% from last year, but still substantial. Problems with housekeeping since December have had some effect on the overall appearance of the building, but we are hopeful these will be remedied.

1)Agenda Item #1: Implement a phased plan to weed the reference collection to provide more student study space.

The reference librarians conducted a complete review of the reference collection based on their usage studies of the past few years and the availability of electronic versions. 5,356 volumes were withdrawn, and the collection was shifted to empty three ranges in the middle. Those ranges will be removed in the summer of 2007 to provide space for study tables and give a more attractive appearance from the entry.

2)Agenda Item #2: Rearrange to maximize space for computers and group study.

Additional study space was created in the reference area, as noted above. A study of the microforms collection, heavily used ten years ago when the library was renovated, indicated that it is now rarely used, and much of the information is now available for our users through our electronic subscriptions. Some material was weeded, but most of it was moved to the ground floor. This prime space on the main floor (approximately 600 square feet) will be converted into an area for collaborative computer work, with additional computers and extra chairs.

3)Agenda Item #3: Maintain an updated building expansion concept paper for Development purposes.

The expansion concept paper remained the same. The concept papers for an additional computer area and group study rooms were withdrawn, as those concepts have been reconceived and will be implemented in the summer of 2007.

4)Agenda Item #4: Work toward zero-growth in the physical collection for the next five years to meet space constraints.

This goal was reached, due to the special reference collection evaluation and the ongoing collection evaluation of the circulating collection:

Reference & Circulating Books Added:5,467

Reference & Circulating Books Withdrawn:7,368

The Periodicals Retention Project, phase 1, was completed as the Director, Head of Technical Services, and Periodicals Supervisor reviewed every print journal also available electronically through the publisher or through at least two of the major aggregators (Ebsco, Wilson, or Proquest). We identified more than 350 titles for which we will keep only the last few years in print, without binding, and rely on the electronic subscriptions for back issues. 900 bound periodical volumes were withdrawn, and numbers of loose issues waiting for binding funds were withdrawn. Withdrawn items were sold when possible ($2,670 was received) or offered to other libraries. The post-1984 bound journals collection on the main floor was shifted following the withdrawals in an effort to make this space last ten more years.

5)Provide Additional Secured Space for Archives and Special Collections:

The plan described a year ago to enclose the shelving area of the Evans C. Johnson Congressional Reading Room with a wrought iron grill was implemented. It is attractive and does not detract from the comfort of students studying at the tables in the non-enclosed area. The cataloged Stetson Collection was moved into this area as planned, leaving space in the current Archives area to receive President Lee’s papers. When we received the M. Jean Greenlaw Collection of autographed first editions of children’s books, these were also placed in the enclosed section of the Johnson Room for security.

The above plan would have given us a little more space for Archives and Special Collections, but in November 2006 alumnus Congressman E. Clay Shaw called to offer his papers from his thirteen terms in Congress. It was obvious we had no place to put these and would have to decline if we could not find space. Vice-President James Beasley agreed to move the computer lab in the library’s ground floor (room 5-L) elsewhere on campus at the end of spring term 2007 and open this room (approximately 600 square feet) as an addition to Archives and Special Collections to house the Congressman’s papers and memorabilia. The room will be renovated and furnished in the summer of 2007 with funds from library donors. The focus of the room will be on alumni who have been active in government service.

6)Provide a Collegial Atmosphere Conducive to Study: