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Virginia Tech
Governance Minutes ArchiveOctober 21, 1992
These minutes were approved as submitted at the ULC meeting on November 11, 1992. UNIVERSITY LIBRARY COMMITTEE MINUTES October 21, 1992 PRESENT: Meighan Belsley, SGA Ken McCleary, Human Resources Carol Burch-Brown, Provost's Office Martha Rose, CSAC Norm Dodl, Education Mark Smith, Veterinary Medicine Jeff Fithian, GSA James Yardley, Business Edward Fox, Arts & Sciences Rodney Young, Ag. & Life Sciences Gerald Luttrell, Engineering GUESTS: Dave Beagle, Library Paul Metz, Library Don Kenney, Library Francis Riggins, Library Buddy Litchfield, Library ABSENT: Darrell Clowes, Faculty Senate J. Scott Poole, Architecture Joanne Eustis, Library MEETING SUMMARY: The meeting was called to order at 3:30 p.m. The September minutes were approved with one correction: page 1, 2d paragraph, Communications Committee should read Communication Resources Committee. Meeting times were changed to the second Wednesday. OLD BUSINESS REQUEST TO RECONSIDER THE MEETING TIME (N. Dodl): Because of conflicts for two committee members, it was agreed to change the meeting time from the 3rd to the 2nd Wednesday of each month for this semester. The next two meetings will be on November 11 and December 9, at 3:00 p.m. NEW BUSINESS LIBRARY MATERIALS BUDGET UPDATE (P. Metz): The library received $1.25 M additional from the tuition increase. About 1/4 of this money replaces the one-time assistance the library received in 1991/92; about 1/4 covers serials inflation, 1/4 allows increased firm ordering, and 1/4 will permit purchases that have been previously deferred (i.e., some new subscriptions, CD ROMS in business, sociology, public affairs, dissertations, physics, biology, medicine, food science, etc.), an end user search program, current contents databases, and engineering technical standards. Book buying will be up about 35% to 40% over last year, and new publishers will be added to the automatic approval plan. There will be no cuts in serials this year, and some new serials purchases will be made. Determining selected new subscriptions or reinstatements is a chief goal of the fall 1992 outreach to departments, during which bibliographers will be visiting the departments for consultation with faculty. There is no automatic reinstatement of subscriptions that were canceled last year. In order to make the best use of new funds, any request for reinstatement of a canceled subscriptions will have to compete with new titles which are being considered. The library materials budget is allocated as follows: 50% journal subscriptions 17% standing orders 5% binding 21% firm orders 5% approval plans 2% blanket orders The $1.25M will be added to the library base budget, and will recur. However, the library does not know whether the future budget allocations will be indexed to inflation. Serials inflation could be as high as 20% next year. For the current year the budget is holding up very well. N. Dodl asked about Lexis/Nexis and D. Beagle responded. Registration to Lexis/Nexis has been opened, and an article will appear in Spectrum in about two weeks explaining registration. There are about 150 people registered so far. Lexis/Nexis is a database available from News Data Central in Dayton, Ohio. It began as an online legal system, but is much more than that at the present time. Many other databases can now be accessed through Lexis/Nexis, and almost all the databases are full-text, rather than just bibliographic reference. Lexis/Nexis offers educational institutions a flat- rate to buy as many research sessions as needed. Currently we can have 12 simultaneous sessions. It is available through the internet to campus offices after making a few software changes to allow the connection. The library checks requests for registration to make sure the requestors are faculty, staff, or registered students in order to guard against abuses of the system that have occurred at some other institutions. ANALYSIS OF LIBRARY SURVEY (D. Kenney): A detailed paper entitled Analysis of the 1992 User Survey was distributed. The survey was conducted last spring, and was sent to all faculty and given to a random sampling of students coming into the library. The survey document was the same as the one used in the 1987 survey, with the exception of a few minor changes. The responses turned out to be very similar in both surveys. Highlights from this spring's survey include: The top three positive responses from faculty were: 1) satisfaction with circulation desk, 2) satisfaction with reference people being polite and willing to help, and 3) reference responses well-informed and correct. The top three positive student responses were: 1) politeness and willingness of reference people, 2) availability of VTLS terminals, 3) satisfaction with circulation desk. The highest negative responses among faculty included: 1) not enough photocopy machines, 2) cannot find periodicals, even after finding location and status on VTLS, and 3) inadequate hours and seating. Among students the highest negative responses were: 1) inability to find periodicals, 2) inadequate number of hours open, 3) not enough photocopy machines, 4) and inadequate seating. The survey indicated that among faculty and students the main reason to come to the library was to use reference materials. After that, faculty listed finding books to check out, and using periodicals and newspapers. Students' responses included coming to the library to study their own books, to find books to check out, and to use periodicals and newspapers. The two things best liked by students were the building and study areas, followed by the collection, VTLS, electronic means of obtaining information, and the staff. Faculty rated the collection at the top, followed by VTLS, the staff, and cooperation in obtaining requested materials, primarily through Interlibrary Loan. Liked least by students was less than full information on VTLS, needed materials not being available, poor environment, and that the library does not own needed materials. Faculty cited as least liked that the library does not own needed materials, followed by less than full information on VTLS, needed materials in use, and delays and errors in reshelving. The library staff has concluded from survey results that it needs to address VTLS and the collections. Among written comments the highest number of negative responses were about VTLS, especially among faculty, but many of these were misunderstandings about use of the system. The library plans an educational program and publicity about the enhancements and capabilities available with the implementation of VTLS '92. The written comments about the collections were concerned with having lost ground during the financial crisis. The additional allocation to the materials budget this year should help alleviate this problem. There was some discussion about VTLS training for students. The students do not always take advantage of the training the library provides, although freshman English classes assign VTLS training. Training sessions are better attended if they are combined with a class assignment that requires library research. PROGRESS REPORT ON LIBRARY GOALS FOR 1992/93 (D. Kenney): The document outlining library goals for 1992/93 was distributed at the last meeting. The library goals are being monitored on a monthly basis. There are a number of goals related to enhancing services. The in-bound modem pool for VTLS has been established, 4 smart terminals and printers have been placed in public areas for patrons, a task force has been named to consider establishing an information desk in the lobby, an end-user database searching program has been implemented, and a committee is planning an instructional video aimed primarily at incoming freshmen. A number of goals were related to implementation of the Disabilities Act, and there is library representation on the university-wide committee which is studying this issue. The goals related to collection access are being worked on. Plans include improving access to government documents through bibliographic computerized tapes by making them available on VTLS, and also loading the tapes for the Center for Research Libraries on VTLS to make their research materials more readily available. A library task force is working on a new acquisitions system, the VTLS electronic serials check-in project should be completed by the end of the fiscal year with some information already available on VTLS, the library has increased document delivery from once a day to twice daily, and the library has purchased software to enhance document delivery through interlibrary loan. The meeting was adjourned at 4:25. The next meeting will be on November 11, at 3:00pm.
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Last modified on: Tuesday, 25-Sep-2001 13:57:52 EDT