• We serve the students, faculty, and staff of the university by providing services and technologies which assist them in selecting, evaluating, and using materials which have the information and ideas needed to support their learning, teaching, research, and work needs.
• We serve the citizens of the Commonwealth by making many of our information resources and services accessible and useful to the state's other academic institutions, and to public schools, businesses, and government agencies.
• We serve as effective members of our profession by exploring and creating partnerships with other libraries in ways that meet the needs of our service group and theirs.
• We serve as cooperative and collaborative partners with our colleagues in other areas of the Information Systems division.

We are experimenting with translating into practice a number of ideas about continuous process improvement and teamwork promoted by the university's leadership development program.

As we move forward over the next year, we can apply the teamwork and continuous process improvement developments to enhancing the libraries' outreach and restructuring initiatives.

Many of the accomplishments detailed in this report could not have happened without the support and dedication of the library faculty and staff. I want to thank all library personnel for their contributions.

Eileen E. Hitchingham
Dean of the University Libraries

• University Libraries Storage Facility Opens

• University Libraries Help Set Standards for Electronic Theses and Dissertations

• Building An Electronic Information Access Infrastructure

• Serials Review

• Electronic Services Expanded

• Collegiate Librarian Information Officer Program

The new facility, which provides office and storage space for the university's Records Management unit and the University Libraries, is based on warehousing principles and designed for the most efficient use of space. Books are stored by size instead of by call number. Shelves are arranged to accommodate the maximum number of books per shelf and rise more than 30 feet in the air. A motorized order picker is used to retrieve books from shelves that are out of reach. VTLS, Inc. has developed a new subsystem of document delivery software that links individual books to their places on the shelf and makes delivery to users efficient.

It is estimated that the new high-density, climate-controlled facility will hold one million volumes, allowing for expansion over the next 8-10 years. Some 300,000 volumes and 20 archives and manuscripts collections, currently housed off-site have been moved to the facility. A second phase, to move seldom-used volumes out of Newman Library and the branches to make room for more study carrels and public-access computer workstations, is currently under way.

The library and the graduate school have been working together for over two years to determine how best to take advantage of these electronic texts. The library's Scholarly Communications Project also has been working with Virginia Tech faculty for several years to publish academic research as electronic journals and on an Electronic Reserve system. These and many other projects are contributing to the development of the Virginia Tech Digital Library.

Electronic theses and dissertations will provide more timely public access to current research-all day, every day. We will be able to serve more users without increasing demands on staff and electronic data does not require shelf space, physical copies, or binding. The cataloging record will come largely from existing electronic text. Electronic texts can allow more creativity by permitting hypertext links and, soon, audio and video recordings.

The grant calls for developing an SGML-based system that people can use, to implement search and delivery technology so that documents are archived without library staff having to make manual entries, and to make information available so that users can search, copy, and prepare documentation and training materials for this approach to be used by other universities in the Southeast.

What makes these pages special is the ease with which users can navigate from database to text to image and back again - all with the click of a button. The University Libraries has provided the user with a useful, systematic organization of various electronic resources, just as it has always provided a systematic organization of its physical resources. By providing this kind of access to its electronic resources, the Libraries have created a rich concentration of information and enhanced the provision of library services to its users.

The web pages are still in their infancy. In the future, they will serve as a gateway to a virtual library, complementing the physical library. Links will exist to allow users to connect directly to the electronic resources. There will be an ever-increasing number of electronic indexes to periodical literature, with access available to all in the university community. Requests for documents to be delivered directly to scholars' workstations will be sent via this electronic interface. Software for the manipulation of electronic text and images will be available through the web pages. In short, all of a scholar's electronic information needs will be met through the University Libraries' web pages.

The collection management group, with the assistance from other internal units, and cooperation from faculty and academic units, completed the process in less than four months. The library homepage was used as a site for communicating information to faculty and others in the university community. Approximately 1,400 titles were cancelled, with a cumulative annual cost of $450,000 which will be used to purchase additional electronic sources.

FirstSearch was introduced to the public and access to faculty was made available to their offices. Other electronic sources continued to expand including government documents.

The Media Center improved the Special Services Facility with new adaptive hardware and software. A significant addition, the Arkenstone scanner, provides voice access from both electronic and print sources.

Currently there are CLIO's in the College of Human Resources and Education, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, and College of Business. Future plans are to expand the program to include all colleges.

The University Libraries Interlibrary Loan services are an important source of shared materials for many libraries throughout the state. In 1994/95 the 24,434 books and articles that ILL sent out to other Virginia libraries saved them almost a half-million dollars when compared to purchase or document delivery as alternatives.

VIVA is a consortium of academic libraries in Virginia established to create a network of shared electronic resources for students and faculty and to facilitate cooperation among its members. Virginia Tech users have benefitted from the libraries' participation in VIVA by gaining networked access to full text materials such as The African-American Poetry Full-Text Database, and the English Poetry Full-Text Database. Several abstracting and indexing databases on First Search have also been made available to the Virginia Tech community through the VIVA project.

The Automation Department of the Virginia Tech Libraries provides the listserver that allows all the participants in the VIVA project to communicate with each other and move this joint undertaking forward. Members of this department also share their expertise as part of VIVA's Technical Issues Committee. A member of the Collection Management section at Tech provides similar expertise sharing as part of the Electronic Collections Committee of VIVA.

An electronic receiving system has replaced the old kardex file. VTLS users now have more useful information regarding serial status available to them.

Media Center use has doubled over the year (from 60,000 to 120,000) following the addition of more Mac stations.

The Internet site of the Scholarly Communications Project of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University was awarded a 3-Star rating by the McKinley Group's professional editorial team. The McKinley Group publishes Magellan, a comprehensive Internet directory of over 1.5 million sites and 40,000 reviews. The 3-Star rating is a special mark of achievement based on McKinley's rigorous review process that considers depth of content, ease of exploration and Net appeal.

In collaboration with the Virginia Virtual Library (VIVA) project, the Special Collections and Scholarly Communications Department created home pages for the various components of its collections and mounted guides and inventories on the World Wide Web (WWW). Virtually all of the significant components of the department's collections are represented by their respective home pages, each connected to an attractive and descriptive central page presenting the department. This enterprise makes information about the special materials more accessible to researchers anywhere.

• Expand the availability of materials in Special Collections on the campus network and the Internet by scanning historical photographs, diaries, letters, and drawings, digitizing historical documents and publications, and using HTML tags to present and link unique resources on the World Wide Web

• Reduce printing costs and enhance networked printing from public workstations

• Work closely with other members of the VIVA consortium to provide full Z39.50 access to the library's OPAC and to support online systems such as OpenText's full-text databases and FirstSearch access via proxy servers

• Enhance services/help at the information center in the lobby of Newman Library

• Implement SPROUTS, the Process Review and Tracking Software, to provide information on tracking problems and feedback to employees performing shelving duties

• Improve public access to government publications by taking greater advantage of new Marcive services to speed up processing

• Improve physical facilities including Newman Library and branches

• Provide users with electronic notices to replace paper mailings

• Enhance the networked resources that are available to users: The online version of the Encyclopaedia Britannica and a number of full-text journals will be available from any of Virginia Tech's networked sites, through a cooperative project (VIVA, Virtual Library of Virginia) with other libraries in the state. Other options for using the network for document delivery will be tested.

• Initiate a web-based library literacy program, based on the concept of sequential learning for students at freshman, sophomore levels

Publications

Susan Ariew, reference librarian, had her article, "Sources for Teaching Adolescent Literature: A Selective Guide," published in the Virginia English Bulletin, Fall 1994: 44(2).

Janet Dodd, cataloging librarian, had her article, "Crossroads," appear in The Southeastern Librarian 44, no. 4 (winter 1994): 177-178. She also authored, "Integrated Endeavors: Cooperative Efforts in Selection and Implementation of Tape Loads for Major Microforms Sets," Microform Review 24, no. 2 (spring 1995): 58-60, and "Retro Reality" in the Virginia Librarian 41 (1) (January/February/March 1995): 22-23.

Joanne Eustis, Director of Planning and Program Review Information Systems, and reference librarians Linda Maddux and Dana Sally, published their article, "The Collegiate Librarian/Information Officer Program at Virginia Tech," in the Virginia Librarian 41 (3) (July-September 1995).

Tamara Kennelly, archivist, had her article, "Restoring the Cracked Mirror," published in the Virginia Librarian vol. 41 (1) January/February/March 1995.

Donald J. Kenney, associate dean of administrative services, co-authored with Kate Ragsdale, University of Alabama, an ARL Spec Kit (Kit 208), Effective Library Signage, published May 1995.

Harry Kriz, special assistant to the Dean for special projects had his paper, "Windows and TCP/IP for Internet Access," published in Computing and Systems Technology Division (AICHe) Communications, volume 17, No. 2, (Summer 1994): 6-14.

Edward Lener, reference librarian and Flora Schrode Cobb, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, published an article, "Internet Resources for Earth Sciences," in the May 1995 issue of College & Research Libraries News.

Gail McMillan, head of Special Collections, published an article, "Scholarly Communications Project: Publishers and Libraries," in Filling the Pipeline and Paying the Piper: Scholarly Publishing on the Electronic Networks, Washington D.C.: ARL, 1995. She also published "Cataloging CD-ROMSs: Serials? Computer Files? Serials Files? Computerials?" in New Scholarship: New Serials. Proceedings of the North American Serials Interest Group, Inc. New York: Haworth, 1994, and simultaneously in The Serials Librarian, v. 24, no. 3/4, 1994. Ms. McMillan's paper, "A New Service from Libraries: Electronic Publishing," has been published in Continuity & Transformation: The Promise of Confluence; Proceedings of the 7th National Conference of the Association of College and Research Libraries, published by ACRL/ALA.

Paul Metz, principal bibliographer, authored, "Revolutionary Change in Scholarly and Scientific Communications: The View from a University Library," in the January 1995 issue of Change.

Bruce Obenhaus, reference librarian, had his article, "Bold and Beautiful? Virginia State Documents," published in the Virginia Librarian, April/May/June 1995, vol. 41 (2): 7-10.

James Powell, programmer, had his second article, "Spinning the World Wide Web: An HTML Primer," published in the February 1995 issue of Database Magazine.

Ginger Young, reference librarian, published an article, "Evaluating the Impact of Library Instruction Methods on the Quality of Student Research," with Linda G. Ackerson in Research Strategies, Summer 1994: 12 (3).

Presented Papers & Conference Participation, 1994-95

Victoria Kok, reference librarian, presented a poster session, "Variations on a Theme: Survey of the Veterinary Medical Librarians in the United States and Canada," at the 1995 Annual Meeting of the Medical Library Association in Washington, D.C., May 8, 1995.

Charles Litchfield, reference librarian, gave a presentation, "Technical Issues of the Virginia Virtual Library Project (VIVA)", as a panel member "Scholarly Communications Project: Publishers and Libraries," at the ACRL Conference in Pittsburg, Virginia, Spring 1995.

Gail McMillan, head of Special Collections, presented a paper, "The Library in the Electronic Age" to the American Association of University Women, January 24, 1995. She also presented "Electronic Scholarly Communications and Libraries" with James Powell to the Special Interest Group on Networked Information, Discovery, and Retrieval on August 4, 1994 at the Mitre Corporation, McLean, Virginia.

Joyce Nester, library assistant, co-led a session, "Training and Cross Training," at the Virginia Library Association Paraprofessional Annual Conference at the University of Richmond on May 23, 1995.

John Tombarge, reference librarian, and Maggie Zarnosky, reference librarian, presented a poster session, "What to do when 'Plan A' Fails: Contingency Planning for the Electronic Classroom" at the ALA Annual Convention, Chicago, IL, June 26, 1995.

Assistant Editors & Layout
Linda D. Southard and Elizabeth Ackermann

Special thanks to all the Department Heads for their contributions. A very special thanks to these library personnel who contributed: Leslie O'Brien, Gail McMillan, Richard Sapon-White.