W. Frank Steely Library

Progress Report of W. Frank Steely Library: 2002-2003

Letter from the Associate Provost for Library Services

The pace of growth and improvement in our collections, services, and facility continued at an accelerated pace during FY 2003.

An Innovative Partnership with Concrete Results

Arne J. Almquist

In the spring of 2003, a new facility opened on the first floor of Steely Library. The University Welcome Center serves as a "front door" to the University. The Center is a place where prospective students and their families can visit to learn more about the University. Staff in the Center provide directional information and make presentations to groups of visitors. The Center includes a fully equipped presentation room that can accommodate up to 75 people as well as a conference room and very attractive entrance with reception desk.

The Library gained a reconfigured Archives, including a separate workroom and a glass "storefront" that will be used to house displays. The presentation and conference rooms are shared spaces that are available to Admissions, operators of the Welcome Center, and the Library. Most importantly, the Library gained a new "front door" on the first floor. A new service desk has been installed on the first floor, allowing check-in and check-out of materials. The first floor has already become very popular with members of the community, many of whom are elderly and unable to negotiate the stairs leading to the plaza.

The Library and Admissions have developed a unique partnership to operate the facility. During the day, Admissions staffs and operates the Welcome Center. Library staff are stationed at a service desk just inside the Library. At night, Library staff move to the Welcome Center desk where they can watch the entrance, answer directional questions, and ensure access to the informational material provided in the Center.

LRC Move

At the end of FY 2003, we began moving the Learning Resource Center collection (now called the Learning Resource Collection) back to Steely Library. In preparation for the move, a joint committee was formed with representation from Steely Library and the College of Education. The University Architect and his Assistant worked with the group to design a space that would hold the collection's materials while providing room for growth.

Along with the move of the LRC materials, collections currently housed in Steely will be shifted. This includes a move of the current periodicals to a space on the main (third) floor, and the shifting of seldom used materials to a new compact shelving area on the first floor. We are taking advantage of the move to improve our public services offerings by removing the traditional reference desk and replacing it with an Information Desk. The new desk will be at the entrance to the Library, whereas the current Reference Desk is located in a less visible location. The Information Desk will be staffed by trained staff and students who will handle directional and basic reference questions. This will free our faculty for more in-depth research questions and to provide increased reference by appointment services.

We hope to have the moves completed and new desk in place by the beginning of the fall semester.

The Changing Nature of our Collections

Another trend that accelerated during FY 2003 was the move to electronic access versus print and microform in our serials collection. The chart to the left shows that a dramatic shift occurred during the year as the expenditures for electronic serials increased 200+% while print and microforms expenditures declined. Expenditures for serials in electronic format now overshadow those in print and microform.

The trend toward electronic access is important for a number of reasons. First, access to electronic resources is not location specific. That is, growing parts of our collections can be accessed from off campus, providing our users with much more convenient access and presumably increasing the use of appropriate resources in their research. Second, electronic access is cost effective. The electronic packages that we have purchased provide the ability to share pools of subscriptions between libraries. This has the effect of dramatically increasing the number of serials titles in our collection while minimizing cost. Electronic access also provides us with a greatly enhanced ability to keep track of the usage of materials and to tailor our collections according to need. The end result is that we can now provide our users with a much broader selection of information at a very cost-effective price.

Conclusion

Steely Library is a vibrant place that serves as an intellectual center to the University. While electronic access has made access to our collections less location bound, innovations such as the Quiet Zones, coffee bar, and small group study rooms have helped to build use of the physical library. We truly enjoy doing what we do and look forward to a continuing relationship of service with our clientele.

Arne J. Almquist
Associate Provost for Library Services

2002 - 2003: Steely Library Progress Report

THE LIBRARY AS PLACE

"Concepts of what a library is are changing. Though we've always thought of libraries as places, we know that definitions in terms of place are no longer complete. What then is a library? A good working definition is: a library is a reflection of the aspirations of a community - whether civic or academic. A library may provide a link to the past, but it should also be a bridge to the future and to the unknown."

- Andrea Michaels, "Forum III: Physical Spaces for the E-ssential Library." Library Administration & Management 17(2), Spring 2003.

Steely Library is also striving to be a reflection of the aspirations of its primary community: University faculty, staff, and students. As the campus has matured and expanded to meet the needs of its constituents, so has Steely Library. During 2002-03 plans were finalized to incorporate the Learning Resource Center materials and staff back into the Library. This move will accomplish several objectives: increase hours of access and reference assistance to these materials, eliminate duplication of processes, bring much needed staff support to Steely, and free up space in BEP for the College of Education.

"Partnerships are a wonderful way to extend the library's customer base, reduce costs, build relationship, and provide service."

- Michaels

The Library is continuing to enjoy its partnership with IT and the Office of the Vice Provost in the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning Technology. A number of library faculty members have served as presenters at workshops and participated in the Summer Faculty Institute, which features presentations on online library research, copyright law and distance learning, and integrating online research into coursework. And because the Center is located in the building, faculty from across campus are more frequently in the Library.

The other major physical change was the addition of the University's Welcome Center to the first floor. The Welcome Center, part of Admissions and Enrollment Management, serves as a front door to campus and provides a convenient location for visitor information. The entrance to this facility also serves as a new ground level entrance to Steely Library. The Library staffs the reception desk, providing after hours assistance.

The Library as a physical place is important, but equally important is our engagement in our community, both on and off campus. The Library engaged in a number of outreach efforts during the year. Two that especially deserve mention are the School Dazed booth and our participation in the President's Golf Outing.

The School Dazed Booth is operated during the first two days of fall semester each year, Library faculty and staff offer assistance and reassurance to students, many of whom may be confused by their first day on a large college campus. We provide handouts to the students, such as information brochures, bookmarks, and pencils marked with the Library's web URL. The booth has proven to be a wonderful way for the Library to reach out to students from the point of their arrival at NKU.

The President's Golf Outing is an annual fundraising event for the University. Steely Library's participation in this event began this year with our sponsorship of a photography service. Steely Library volunteers took digital photos of golfers. Frames were custom designed by a Steely staffer. The framed photos were then made available to the golfers at the end of the outing. The event offered yet another opportunity for Steely librarians and staff to interact with members of the community.

ASSESSMENT

The academic library community is recognizing that today's measures of success pertain to how well a library facilitates the study and research of faculty and students, not the physical size of its collection. It is important to emphasize that no collection, print or online, can, by itself, support the full range of programs offered to students. Of the approximately 115,000 books that were published in the U.S. last year, Steely Library purchased 2,729.

The Library participated in LibQUAL+, a national web-based assessment instrument, in the spring. Although the return rate was relatively low, it was a first step in establishing more meaningful measures of user satisfaction with our facilities and services. The chart below illustrates respondents' satisfaction (on a scale of 1 - 10) with four dimensions of service: access to information, affect of service, the library as place, and personal control. The Library is continuing work to better address the changing expectations of users. These efforts include plans to increase consortial purchases as ways of reducing costs, providing equitable access to all users, and improving the information literacy levels of our students to help them to better function in a world of increasingly complex information needs and resources.

In the chart above, the level of overall user satisfaction in four major dimensions is shown. Anecdotal evidence in the past has suggested that users are basically satisfied with our services but less satisfied with the breadth of our collections. In the chart above, the dimensions of service, library as place, and personal control all show that needs are being satisfied while satisfaction with access to information remains weak. Additional funds for the purchase of materials and the application of new methods of providing information should help to bring performance in this area into alignment with the levels of the other dimensions in the near future.

DIVISION HIGHLIGHTS

Office of the Associate Provost for Library Services

The Office, which includes the Assistant to the Associate Provost and Grants Coordinator, provides overall support for the Library.

• Implemented a Service Agreement with the University of Phoenix Campus in Cincinnati. Under the agreement, Steely Library provides library services and access to materials to the students of the Cincinnati campus. The contract provides Steely Library with an important new source of revenue.
• Began negotiations for a similar service agreement with the new Gateway Community College.
• Reconstituted the Friends of Steely Library. A Board of Directors and Officers were appointed in the fall and planning for programming is underway.
• The Library's new Grants Coordinator, Laura Sullivan, was awarded a $17,158 library technology grant from the Kentucky Department of Libraries & Archives. This project will allow for the wiring, installation and purchase of 14 computers and furniture for the student study area in the lobby. Two other proposals were submitted, but not funded. Prospect research is continuing on these proposals.

Circulation Services

• Began incorporating the Media Collection, including equipment and staff, from IT and relocated all library media to this area
• Began using handheld PDA-based system for collection inventory, which will greatly improve efficiencies in maintaining and tracking materials
• Prepared for video-on-demand services that will include video streaming to classrooms
• Circulated over 40,000 items, a 2.8% increase in overall circulation from FY 2002

Research & Instructional Services

This unit provides information and research assistance in person, by phone, or by email and conducts customized instruction sessions to classes.

• Prepared for addition to the online catalog over 330,000 records representing Federal government publications, facilitating access to our large documents collection
• Saw an increase of 42% [127%] in the research consultation service from last year (236 as compared to 104). Library users may schedule personal consultation appointments at their convenience.
• Made formal instruction presentations to 272 classes, reaching over 6,400 students. Disciplines included Art, Biology, Business, Chemistry, Education, English Composition, Governor's Scholars, History, Industrial Engineering Technology, Law, Management, Music, Nursing, Physical Education, Psychology, Social Work, Sociology, Speech, Upward Bound, Women's Studies
• Presented 3 workshops to University faculty on integrating research materials into course work and utilizing the electronic resources offered by Steely Library. Additionally 2 faculty co-taught a module of NKU 600, a course for first-time web-based instructors.
• Offered special programming to more than 700 UNV101 students during a special week in October
• New initiatives undertaken include the development of a virtual reference collection, remote access to electronic databases, and planning towards live chat reference assistance.

Selected Statistics:

Government Documents

Current collection total: 504,044

Instruction

Classroom presentations: 272

Number of students reached: 6,431

Learning Resource Center

Items circulated: 19,171

Reference

Research consultations: 236

Average weekly desk transactions: 374

Special Collections & Archives

• Major renovation of the Archives was completed. Redesigned facilities included display windows, color, and a new workroom.
• New acquisitions included several hundred 78 rpm albums donated by the Music Department and a selection of Kentucky maps, a gift of the National Wildlife Research Center, Ft. Collins, Colorado
• Sponsored an exhibit of the log cabin on campus in October, offering a glimpse of everyday life in 19th Century northern Kentucky
• Sorted and indexed nine cubic feet of Dr. W. Frank Steely's presidential records
• Records Management worked with IT to design reports that could be used to aid administrative departments with purging records
• Presentations were made for four visiting university classes and several community groups, including the Campbell County Historical Society.

The above picture is the cover for the latest book by Cathie John, a pseudonym used by local authors, John and Cathie Celestri. Their acknowledgement reads: "The authors wish to thank Northern Kentucky University's Special Collections & Archives Department for giving access to their extensive collection of newspaper files dealing with the gambling activities in Northern Kentucky."

Systems (formerly Automation)

• Reorganized personnel to accommodate three new positions: Web Development Librarian, Web Assistant, and an additional technician
• Resolved 450 service requests
• Made preparations for the August 2003 Voyager system upgrade
• Assisted with profiling and testing records for the MARCIVE documents project and loaded over 300,000 item records
• Replaced 60 computers in the library
• Continued work on wireless laptop project
• Contributed to many in-house projects, including the Loggia grant project and planning for the relocation of departmental technology

Technical Services

• Coordinated the purchase of three major electronic journal packages:
  1. American Chemical Society (31 titles)
  2. Wiley (365 titles)
  3. JSTOR (443 titles)
• Increased access to over 29,000 electronic journals through the purchase of electronic journals packages and aggregated full-text databases
• Implemented electronic reserves
• Revised order and receipt procedures to accommodate the new online order system
• Developed and implemented copyright compliance guidelines
• Began a trial program with Ingenta, a document delivery service
• Purchased NetLibrary, a collection of 10,117 electronic books
• Enabled microforms downloading through a digital reader/printer
• Ordered 2,729 books and media
• Cataloged 4,017 volumes and over 975 electronic journals
• Revised records for over 800 media
• Reclassed 293 volumes from the Learning Resource Center in preparation for the move to Steely
• Requested 2,235 items through interlibrary loan; provided 3,354 items to other libraries
• Processed 1,351 gift additions to the collection
• Created Extended Collections Services, and hired a new Librarian to run the area. Extended collections Services coordinates interlibrary loan, document delivery, distance learning, copyright management, and electronic reserves
• Reorganized Periodicals and Serials to prepare for the collection moves

Steely Library is currently receiving 1,830 journals. These include 276 electronic only, 352 print plus electronic, and 1,202 print titles. In addition, we provide access to articles from 26,579 full-text titles through aggregated journal databases.

The total serials expenditure for FY 2003 was $699,298 with $324,747 spent for electronic materials.

Chart shows the dramatic increase in expenditures for electronic access vs print and microform

Table 5: STEELY LIBRARY USAGE

The chart below illustrates the increase in library use over the past three academic years. The Library now offers additional computer workstations, group study space, and more inviting reading areas, in addition to a coffee bar. These facilities, plus new services, such as research consultation appointments, have contributed to the increase.

Table 6: DOCUMENT DELIVERY/INTERLIBRARY LOAN

As shown by this table requests for materials continue to climb steadily, approximately 16% from the previous year. Steely Library is a member of LVIS, Libraries Very Interested in Sharing, a consortium for the reciprocal sharing of library materials.

Selected Activities - Steely Library Faculty & Staff

FACULTY

Summary:

Classes Taught:

13 credit-bearing courses

Publications:

5 book chapters

10 book reviews

Presentations:

8 state conferences

1 national conference

10 University (FDC) workshops

Offices in Professional Organizations:

1 journal advisory board

1 state association

Community Engagement (Board Memberships):

5 board memberships

Bratcher, Perry

• Sabbatical leave, Spring 2003
• Completed MBA degree
• Chair, Ft. Mitchell Baptist Church Media Center
• Member, Executive Committee, Kentucky Voyager Users Group
• Bass clarinetist, Kentucky Symphony Orchestra and NKU Symphonic Winds

Campbell, Nancy

• Secretary, Professional Concerns Committee, Spring 2002
• Member, University Curriculum Committee, 2002-2003
• Co-editor, "Communications", chapter in Magazines for Libraries, 12th ed.
• Presenter, "Enhancing Web-based Courses through Library Research", Summer Faculty Institute, June 2003
• Member, FDC Web-based Course Development and Facilitation Group, Fall 2002
• Board member and Secretary, Friends of the Kenton County Public Library
• Board member, Beechwood Educational Foundation, Beechwood Independent Schools

Ellis, Allen

• Taught RTV 205 - Introduction to Popular Culture and Mass Media for the Department of Communication (Spring - double section; Intersession, Second Five Weeks; Fall - double section)
• Editor, "Comic Books", in Magazines for Libraries, 12th ed.
• Appointed to editorial advisory board, Journal of Popular Culture
• Conference presenter, "Yes, Sir: The Legacy of Zeppo Marx", Popular Culture Association, March 2002
• Co-presenter, 2 Tea & Training workshops, FCTLT: "Exploring your Cyber Age Library" and "Further Adventures in the Cyber Library"
• Referee for The Library Quarterly
• Chair - Libraries, Archives, & Popular Culture Research section, Popular Culture Association
• Member, Professional Studies Curriculum Committee
• Co-coordinator, Faculty Lunch Seminar series

Gregory, Jennifer

• Member, Institute for Freedom Studies
• Member, Learning Systems Advisory Committee
• Consultant, Baker Hunt Foundation
• Member, Northern Kentucky History Day Planning Committee

Harding, Ann

• Member, University Parking Appeals Committee

Kelm, Rebecca

• Reviewer for Library Journal (10 fiction reviews)
• Member, Speaker's Bureau, Kentucky Humanities Council (4 presentations)
• Member, Academic Strategic Plan Committee
• Member, Professional Concerns Committee
• Secretary, Association in Support of Non-Tenure Track Faculty
• Member, Women's Studies Action Council
• Secretary and Board member, Friends of Campbell County Public Library

Kennedy, Colleen

• Taught UNV 101, Fall semester
• Presenter, FDC Tea & Training workshops
• Member, ACRL Committee, Kentucky Library Association

Myers, Sheri

• Presenter, "Copyright Law and Distance Learning" and "Using Electronic Reserves", NKU Summer Faculty Institute

Providenti, Michael

• Co-author, "Electronic Journals in Communications", Magazines for Libraries, 12th edition
• Presenter, Kentucky Association of Colleges for Teacher Education Conference
• Member, KyVL ADA Work Group
• Chair, SAALCK Web Design Task Force
• Member, Faculty Senate
• Member, Faculty Benefits Committee and Sabbatical Review Subcommittee
• Presenter, FDC Tea & Training workshops
• Consultant, Libertas Technologies

Schultz, Lois

• Chair, Extended Collections Services Librarian Search Committee
• Secretary, Board of Trustees, Kenton County Public Library
• Member, University Library Advisory Committee
• Nominee, 2003 Outstanding Women of Northern Kentucky

Smith, Donna

• Co-editor, "Printing and Graphic Arts", Magazines for Libraries, 12th edition
• Reviewer of new electronic resources for Reference Reviews
• Participant in "Licensing Review and Negotiation", an online course offered by the Association of Research Libraries, July-August 2002
• Member, Arts & Sciences Curriculum Committee
• Volunteer catalog librarian, Behringer-Crawford Museum

Smith, Jennifer

• Taught ENG 386 Children's Literature, Spring and Fall semesters
• Taught ENG 590 Appalachian Children's Literature, Summer
• Presenter, OSU Children's Literature Conference, February 2002
• Presenter, BELL Conference, Bellarmine University
• Presenter, Kentucky Reading Association Conference
• Organizer, OKI Children's Literature Conference, November 2002
• Chair, Kentucky Bluegrass Award
• Board member, Kentucky Reading Association
• Executive Committee member, OKI Children's Literature Association
• Member Education Curriculum Committee
• Participated in Then & Now Together, a program of the National Underground Freedom Center
• Recipient of the Celebrate Literacy Award, International Reading Association
• Recipient, Outstanding Service Award, Kentucky Reading Association

Sullivan, Laura

• Taught SPE 220 Interpersonal Communication, SPE 230 Small Group Communication, and SPE 101 Principles of Speech Communication
• Recipient of $17,158 grant from KDLA for expanding library computer access
• Member, Complaint Advisory Committee
• Member, Learning Systems Advisory Committee
• Volunteer, WNKU Fall Fund Drive
• Volunteer, Radio Reading Services
• Recognized by a graduating communication senior as having the greatest impact on their academic and personal development

Wesley, Threasa

• Taught LIS 690 Instructional Services for UK Graduate School of Library & Information Science; offered at 3 sites around the state via compressed video, Summer 2002
• Taught UNV 101, Fall 2002
• Taught in the NKU 600 course
• Manuscript referee, School Library Media Research
• Member, SAALCK Virtual Reference Planning Committee
• Presenter, Spring and Fall Graduate Student Orientation and New Faculty Orientation sessions
• Member, Presidential evaluation focus group
• Co-developer, library system for the Kenton County Detention Center

Williams, Gerry

• Member, KLA Academic Membership Committee
• Member, Faculty Senate Budget Committee
• Recipient of Faculty Development Grant to attend 2002 Voyager Users Group meeting
• Member, North America Serials Interest Group Finance Committee

Wood, Wendy

• Co-editor, "Printing and Graphic Arts", Magazines for Libraries, 12th edition

Yannarella, Philip

• Secretary/Treasurer, KLA Government Documents Roundtable
• Volunteer librarian, Cincinnati Museum Center Science Library

STAFF

Edelen, Cheryl

• Member, Staff Congress; Constitution and Bylaws Committee and Food Services Committee
• Second Vice President, Erlanger Lioness Club
• Participant, Community Care Day at Redwood Rehabilitation Center

Rawe, Rosanne

• Member, Staff Congress; Credentials and Elections Committee
• Organizer, Steely Library's 5th Annual Christmas Tree Lighting

Seibert, Royleen

• Chair, Regents Distinguished Service Awards Committee
• Human Resources Advisory Committee
• Member, Staff Appreciation Day Planning Committee
• Member, Staff Congress
• Member, University Parking Appeals Committee
• Co-convener, GCLC Support Staff Interest Group
• Moderator, GCLC Roundtable Discussion, "Supervising Student Employees"
• Board President, Kincaid Regional Theatre

Vater, Peggy

• Celebrated 30 years of service with Northern Kentucky University

SELECTED NEW ACQUISITIONS

• Census 2000 Block Maps [electronic resource]: census of population and housing
• Issues for Libraries and Information Science in the Internet Age
• Nanotechnology
• Sustainable Agriculture
• Encyclopedia of Ethnic Groups in Hollywood
• American Family: reflecting a changing nation
• Target Iraq: what the news media didn't tell you
• Hispanics in the U.S.: an agenda for the 21st Century
• Myths of American Slavery
• Kentucky Curiosities: quirky characters, roadside oddities, & other offbeat stuff
• In the Face of Uncertainty: 25 top leaders speak out on challenge, change, and the future of American business
• Living at the edge: a biography of D.H. Lawrence and Frieda van Richthofen
• Science and Ideology: a comparative history
• New Medical Conversation: media, patients, doctors, and the ethics of scientific communication
• Deciphering cyberspace: making the most of digital communication technology

Also added over 30 DVDs to the Media Collection, including Phantom of the Opera (1925/2003) and JFK, a Presidency Revealed (2003)

W. Frank Steely Library

updated: Wednesday, 24-Aug-2005 11:00:34 EDT

• resources
• information
• administration
• campus