PUC Library Advisory Committee Meeting

March 10, 2004 – 8:15 a.m. - CLO 154

In attendance were: Kathryn Carpenter, Miriam Joyce, Catherine Murphy, Michael O’Toole, David Pick, Lee Rademacher, Robert Selig, Rebecca Stankowski, Elaine Waples.

The meeting began at 8:15 a.m. with a review of the February 18, 2004, meeting notes. The minutes were approved “by acclaim.”

Rebecca Stankowski and Leticia Herr were acknowledged for creating a Web page for the Library Advisory Committee. The updated periodical list will also soon be added to the committee page, which is linked to the Library’s main page.

An increase in funding for periodicals has been requested, but the budget allocations have not yet been issued. “Scholarly content” was the top item on the Academic Computing Council survey. Kate will meet with that group later today; $50,000 for resources will be requested and the funds will be presented as a strategic initiative.

Catherine Murphy has not yet created the Wish List template. Talking points, with a time frame, are to be created for discussions with the faculty. Mid-range planning (2-4 years) will be highlighted, as it helps the Library plan strategically. The deadline for the Wish List will be before the end of the semester. The process will then continue into early fall, with a request for input on periodical subscriptions. Most departmental meetings/retreats are in August or September. The guide is to be completed by the next meeting on April 21, 2004.

There is no new information on the South County Learning Center to report at this time.

The projections for periodical price increases are preliminary and based solely on the PUC subscription list, as the projections formerly issued by Faxon are no longer being published. EBSCO doesn’t issue projections; and, the ALA projections came out in October, instead of April. The current price projections are based on the prices paid this year, although they were not the normal prices due to the collapse of Faxon and the impact of publisher gracing practices.

Requests for scholarly content were then discussed. The Library has received many requests for Lexis Nexis, given its broad coverage. Legal materials such as court cases, federal rulings, appellate, and state cases are included; some information dates back to the 1950s; newspapers are also included. An approximate subscription price for PUC is $11,000 per year.

There is nothing new to report at this time regarding the 2005 periodicals renewal update. The renewal process will be completed in fall 2004, because the time for renewals has shifted to the fall, rather than the spring. More specific budget information will also be available in the fall. Discipline models, not departmental models, are to be used, as the Library now allocates collection funds by discipline. Item use will be a critical factor. A comment was made that more journals are incorporated into LASS curriculum than in the technical areas. Another comment stated that some courses, although taught only every two to three years, demonstrate student need for journals. Discussion was held as to how journals are tracked; are citations checked? Class/research use is a priority. All the above are tracking issues. Some items are needed by faculty, and not by students. A comment was made that anticipated use by students is the priority for Library purchases, so that urgently needed items are there when demand occurs, and that basic reference sources are also purchased to support student inquiries. Last year there were 4,200 ILL requests; ILL use has dropped due to the availability of more electronic items. Either electronic or ILL services are needed in the Library, as Web sites are often not authoritative sources of scholarly information.

The Library supports research and study at the undergraduate level, but needs to improve the holdings for use by upperclassmen and graduate students. Expanding graduate programs, increasing the number of graduate students and increasing the emphasis on faculty scholarship will create new information needs that the Library must satisfy. Cost, space, and need are to be considered. Compact shelving had once been considered, but they are too heavy for the SFLC building. SFLC is built to support 150 lbs per square foot, but compact shelving requires floor-loading capacity of 400 lbs per square foot.

The faculty will be asked to consider the University’s Strategic Plan and the “inverted pyramid” model for Library purchases, i.e. purchases support the most urgent needs, when they develop their statement on information needs in their disciplines. They will also be asked if the items are needed for student or research use. The “questions-based form” will help the Faculty focus on accurate replies. The questionnaire will be worded to help Faculty in making tradeoff decisions regarding paper versus electronic sources. Keeping the Library informed of these tradeoffs will help in making the final decisions, as the Library will facilitate trading print for electronic versions if that is the preference of the faculty in a discipline. Collection management issues of space, timeliness of holdings and projecting future needs will be included in the Library Advisory Committee’s questionnaire.

The wish list will begin a dialog with faculty that will eventually include periodicals review and collection weeding, both for space planning and for currency of the collection. The Library is no longer able to shelve all its holdings. Materials are in rotation in the Circulation processing area, as they cannot be shelved until other materials are checked out. Library Advisory Committee members will meet with departments to present the process, get feedback, and initiate its implementation. Catherine Murphy, Kathryn Carpenter, and Robert Selig will work on the wording of the memorandum to departments. They will present a draft to the committee for feedback before the next meeting.

The space planning and weeding process has not yet been designed, as it will include feedback from departments and schools. For example, Bipin Pai requested a list of holdings, which he was able to obtain by searching Pulse by call number. Another approach is to scan items on the shelves.

The Library Advisory Committee will request that each department select three or four persons to serve on a departmental task force that will assist the Library Advisory Committee in gathering feedback on needs, periodical use and collection weeding. The process will be less daunting when the duties are spread among a group of people. In the past, books that were weeded were always discarded. Only gift books can be sold, and state-funded books cannot be resold. Books have also been donated to high schools, to prisons, and to the community. The covers must be removed from the books when recycling. Many books in technical fields that the Library owns are out of date. Old information could be considered dangerous. Books such as Chaucer, etc. are never discarded. Due to funding and space factors, the Library will be able to hold only the most useful books.

Library services in support of scholarship, research & grants will be discussed at the April 21, 2004, meeting.

The meeting adjourned at 9:25 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Cindy Leighty
Secretary, Library Director’s Office