Faculty Library Committee

Year-End Report, Academic Year 2007-2008



The Faculty Library Committee consists of:

 

Schools (Three)
            Scott Mills, Forestry (Chair)

      Mary McHugh, Health Professions

      Patrick C. Williams, Music

Humanities (One)

      Bob Acker, Modern & Classical Languages

Sciences (One)

      Nikolaus Vonessen, Math (Chair-elect)
      Social Sciences (One)

       Anna Klene, Geography

Mansfield Library (Two)

Barry Brown, Mansfield Library
Jennie Burroughs, Mansfield Library

Student (One)
      Christina VanRoeckel
Ex-Officio (None-voting)
      Bonnie Allen, Dean of Libraries


           

Year-end-summary

 

The Faculty Library Committee (FLC) met on a monthly basis throughout the 2007-2008 academic year in order to conduct its charge of facilitating communication between the libraries and the faculty senate, and reviewing and advising on matters pertaining to the library budget, collections, and services.  The FLC covered a wide range of items in its meetings and enjoyed a good working relation with the Library Dean, Bonnie Allen.  The FLC appreciates many informative communications from Dean Allen and the library faculty.


Activities and discussion topics of the FLC during the 2007-2008 academic year included: (1) Department representative meeting; (2) library updates and initiatives; (3) acquisitions budget and approval plan; (4) resolution in support of adequate library funding for new programs and centers.

 

(1) Department Library Representative Meeting

 

A meeting was held by the Mansfield Library, and the Faculty Library Committee, for Department Library Representatives on October 18, 2007. About one third of the representatives or their designated alternates attended.

Lunch was provided and handouts were distributed. Speakers included the Chair of the Faculty Library Committee, the Dean of the Mansfield Library, and the Head of Collections for the Mansfield Library. Attendees were informed about the role of the Faculty Library Committee, the UM Libraries Strategic Vision, this year's acquisition budget and collection development, and were given time to meet with their Liaison Librarian to discuss ordering procedures, questions, and suggestions. This is the third consecutive annual meeting which was re-instituted at the request of the Faculty Library Committee. The Faculty Library Committee discussed ways to improve the attendance (e.g. better advertising and reminders) or to change the venue (e.g. give an update at the Faculty Senate or have an annual meeting with an invitation to all UM faculty).


(2) Library Updates and Initiatives

Information Literacy
Information literacy was added to the new general education framework under the writing skills component.  Representatives from the library attended ASCRC to make the proposal and a faculty member from the library was added to the Writing Committee membership. 

Thesis and Dissertation Collection
All thesis and dissertations are now submitted electronically and a paper copy is archived but not bound.  Dissertations have been digitized retroactively; however there are over 10,000 theses and these will hopefully be digitized in the future if adequate funding is available.

 

Learning Commons
A collaborative model that supports student learning has been approved by the academic officers.  If the funding is approved by the legislature, the initiative will move into the design phase.  The math and writing tutoring services available at the library have been a success.

Fundraising and Donations
The Faculty Library Committee was provided with a copy of the quarterly newsletter Connections that goes out to donors.  Efforts are being made to collaboratively build collections within departments.  The library is pursuing grants to enhance the new digital collection. It takes time, effort and supplies to process donated collections. Archives and Special Collections has a former archivist that has volunteered to process a collection.  Interns are also utilized. Rights to publish donated collections online are negotiated with the donor.

 

Expansion, Enhanced Services and Remodel/Redesign
Archives & Special Collections is emphasizing collecting the environmental, political, and cultural histories of Western Montana.

360° Federated Research Tool

The Library purchased a new federated search tool, “360°” that allows the search of multiple data bases at once.  It improves the ability to find information without knowing the specific database. And the results will inform researchers which databases are relevant.

Library Website
Website redesign should be completed by the end of the academic year.  The library is looking at alternatives to the current catalog interface.

Library Remodel
The level 1 remodel has started.  It will provide additional storage for Archives.  There is also a remodel planned for level 4 that will reconfigure the teaching and user areas and improve access to maps.  The library has enough space for anticipated growth for the next five years.

Other
The Library is supporting undergraduate creative efforts by partnering with the “Oval,” a creative writing magazine.

Strategic planning

The strategic planning process will involve reviewing user expectations and matching these with the Library’s mission.  The process should take approximately six months. 

     

(3) Acquisitions Budget and Approval Plan

 

At the September 2007 meeting of the FLC, Barry Brown, Head of Access and Collection Services for Mansfield Library, gave a presentation on changes in the acquisitions budget.  The library received a 7% increase from fiscal year 2007 that corresponds with the expected 7-8% inflationary increase for databases and journals.  This is an essential part of the university¹s agreement with the state and is included in estimated fixed costs.

 

Over half of the acquisitions budget, $1,778,000 is allocated to electronic resources which has generally increased each year.  The print serials budget is down from last year at $749,000. The monographs and media budget is also down approx $300,000 at $672,396, but is still 20% of the allocations budget.  MSU only spends 10% of its allocations budget on monographs. Book circulation has generally declined.

 

The budget reflects the transition to the YBP Core Book Approval plan.

Departments are no longer allocated funds for acquisitions and a supplemental fund of $217,396 was established to purchase monographs and media not captured in the core approval plan.  The profiles were revised and expanded in most disciplines with consultation from departmental representatives; and will be revised yearly as faculty retire and new faculty are hired.

 

The document delivery budget is up at $250,000 due to various bibliographic service contracts including one for improved search services in a federated search environment similar to Google (i.e. 360 Search).  The binding budget is down to $10,000 and is used mostly for government documents and some print serials.

 

The Office of Research and Sponsored programs did not provide funds to the library this year, as it did in previous years. Thus it is even more important that new programs allocate adequate resources for support services.

 

Professor Brown provided an update on the approval plan at the February 2008 meeting.  Library liaisons are meeting with faculty department library representatives and new faculty to make sure their interests are included in the profile for departmental research and teaching needs.  As of December 2007, the fiscal year was 50% done and more than 50% of the allocated funds had been spent.  Revisions to the Approval plan profile are ongoing.  The company representative will be visiting in April. Supplemental ordering (i.e. Books and monographs outside the approval plan) is ongoing.  As of January the ordering part of the fiscal year was 72% done and 70% of the Supplemental funds had been spent.  The acquisitions model is working and should be effective next year as well, as long as there is at least a 7% increase to the acquisitions budget for inflation.

 

     

(4) Resolution in Support of Adequate Library Funding for New Programs and Centers

The Committee discussed the curriculum review process and how best to involve the library earlier in the process to assure adequate funding for new programs.  The following resolution was drafted and amended after presentation at the March 13th Faculty Senate meeting.   It was approved at the April 10th Faculty Senate meeting.

 

 

Whereas, the Mansfield Library is currently involved with reviewing New Program Proposals (Level II) and New Center Proposals (Policy Number 103) and the review form (Level II Regential Form) for them requires the signature of the Dean of Libraries; and

 

whereas, the addition of new programs and centers has potentially large impacts on library resources and services; and

 

whereas, the addition of new programs and centers, which have large impacts on library resources and services, without new funding to support their needs often result in the diminution of library resources and services available for previously existing programs and centers; and

 

whereas, the earlier the library knows about all new proposals (Level I as well as Level II) the better prepared it will be to analyze, discuss, and act on the impact of those changes on library resources and services.

 

THEREFORE, be it resolved:

 

·         The Faculty Senate encourages the Mansfield Library to continue to carefully and critically evaluate the impact of all new Program Proposals and new Center Proposals on library resources and services. Level II Proposals from all schools and colleges (including the College of Technology) should be included in these reviews. 

·         The Faculty Senate requests to add an additional line to the Level II Regential form, following the signature area for the Dean of Libraries, to allow a statement from the library about the impact of the new Program Proposal and any financial estimate of additional library resources and services needed to adequately support a new program proposal or new center proposal.    

·         The Faculty Senate requests that the The University of Montana administration resubmit proposals that have been significantly changed after the review process to the Mansfield Library for consideration of the impact on library resources and services. 

·         The Faculty Senate requests that The University of Montana administration provide adequate additional funding for library resources and services, in addition to regular inflationary increases, for the support of New Programs and Centers identified as having a significant impact on library resources and services.