Northern Kentucky University

April 27, 2009

Steely Library – Room 510

Present:

Arne Almquist, Lois Schultz, K.C. Russell, Tom Heard, Greg Martin, Vicki Culbreth, Katherine Kurk

Not present:

Lane Clarke, Yasue Kuwahara

Arne began the meeting with a welcome and asked if there were any changes to the minutes from the 2/27/09 meeting.

Updates and Announcements:

• Budget cuts – the last big cut was in 02-03 and we have services in place we didn’t have then (i.e. SourceFinder, ILL services, etc). The Provost held us harmless the beginning of 2009 but with serials inflation, we still lost and will continue to lose money. For FY 2010, we anticipate approximately a $50,000 cut to the materials budget and $79,000 in purchasing power. In anticipation of big cuts, people stopped spending and we have a $45,000 carryover, a projected $7,500 from the list of titles being cut and an additional $12,000 in microform cuts (does not include newspapers). We will also be cutting the budgets of the liaisons within the library by 50%. Looking forward, if a larger deficit from the state results in additional cuts, we would have no choice but to cut databases and serials. There are many new products and trials currently being offered that, unfortunately, will not be in the budget. As a positive, we have received additional funds for library materials in support of the new Ed.D. program. This being the first doctorate on campus, we anticipate strengthening our materials on dissertation and qualitative research.
• Preparation continues for the new Bachelor of Science degree in Library Informatics – the first enrollment will be this fall.
• LibQual+ was much better marketed this year and we received more responses. We are also conducting focus groups – approximately 15 faculty and 15 students are participating. We should have results within the next few weeks and provide a report at the first ULAC meeting in the fall.
• The Duveneck painting will be returning soon from its restoration. There is a fall event being planned for the unveiling. A drawing by Dixie Selden, a student of Duveneck, was found in the archives and is currently being authenticated.
• Arne invited everyone to the Friends of Steely Library sponsored poetry reading by Jane Gentry, Kentucky Poet Lauriat, on April 28th at 7:00 pm in the Eva G. Farris Reading Room.
• Materials formula update – Arne met with the department chairs and provost concerning the new formula. Two departments had cuts of over 50% and we are looking for a way to lessen the impact – a possible cap or a phase-in over a period of years is being considered to ease the transition. Based on feedback from faculty and chairs, we will have the ULAC subcommittee review the formula again to ensure that we are better reflecting department resource usage. The committee then discussed the best way to measure current allocations and considered a 5 year usage history and national standards as possible starting points. The committee will continue to address this issue next year.

How can we make ULAC more useful?

The ULAC group began as the Library Materials and Budget Committee and has grown to what it is today. We are continuously looking for ways to improve. After discussion, it was determined that the current number of meetings (1 each quarter) was agreeable to everyone and special meetings would be called on an as needed basis.

Regarding information flow to and from the ULAC committee:

1. In an effort to maintain better communication campus-wide, it was agreed we need to submit regular reports to the Faculty Senate and Chairs Council. Greg Martin is currently a Chairs Council Member and Katherine Kurk is on Faculty Senate and will be our liaisons with those groups. We also need closer contact with individual colleges re: database and/or journal cuts, allocation criteria, etc.
2. It was noted that any surveys should NOT be via email and that faculty are currently “surveyed out”!! Greg suggested we get feedback from the 4 or 5 top key research/heavy user sections vs. a blanket survey.
3. Kathy Kurk suggested a meeting of the library representatives to help determine strengths and weaknesses. This group changes yearly so early fall would be the best time to meet and perhaps consider 2 year terms for consistency.
4. There were suggestions made and discussed on how best to make available to departments a listing of new publications (i.e. monthly or bi-monthly basis; automated trigger to send to appropriate department when something purchased; spreadsheet on the K: drive).
5. Arne said that we will try to give ULAC members lead time for things we are announcing campus-wide and that items (i.e. budgets, spreadsheets, presentation, minutes, etc.) will be placed on the Steely Library homepage for their review—go to ULAC under Library Administration and drill down from there.
6. Arne reminded everyone that when we call for agenda items to please feel free to bring things forward and suggested that we have an information sharing discussion period during the meetings.

Special Collections Cataloging / How to find materials in Archives?

We didn’t have a fulltime Archivist until 2002 – we are now closing every Friday for inventory, creating “finding guides” and adding to collections thru purchases. We are looking at Grant Projects to help with organizing. We have used co-ops in the past. We will plan to have Lois Hamill make a presentation to the group. We could bring other areas in on a periodic basis, as well.

What are the “strengths” of our library by discipline?

The Learning Resource Collection is one of our strengths (comparable to anyone in state). We have a very strong Government Documents Collection—we collect 83% of all government documents published every year. We are also strong in video, silent, and foreign films. It was suggested that if we track our ILL requests from other libraries, we could use them to help identify our strengths. Once they are determined, we need to document and advertise.

Arne thanked everyone again for their service on the committee and for an informative/productive meeting. He will be sending out a note to all chairs facing cuts and will copy ULAC members on it, as well as the budget spreadsheet.

There being no further business – adjourned