Validation Process Focus Group Reports
Pat Tumulty, Executive Director of New Jersey Library Association

Pat Tumulty, Executive Director of NJLA
September 29, 2004
Heyer Conference Room, SCC 404 Alexander
Library, CAC, New Brunswick

1. How do you think the citizens of NJ use the Rutgers University Library system?

• RUL participates in statewide activities
• lends RUL materials
• Jersey Clicks
• Citizens can use in house materials
• Uses periodicals [Pat's personal use]; considered ILL too slow when she needed it - years ago

2. What role do you think the library should play for the citizens of NJ?.

• All resources are statewide resources
• shared resources
• Why isn't there a state library card?

3. How can a state university library benefit the state as a whole?

• People think RU is a public institution and therefore they should be able to use those resources
• Provide electronic databases
• share statewide resources
• public is beginning to use the libraries as a place to get books
• Public sees academic library's role as to serve the students
• Small businesses need more research resources - State Knowledge Initiative
• High end resources - people recognize that they cannot get high end resources anyplace else but large academic libraries
• RU, NJIT and Stephens are seen as having high end resources and research related information
• Pat is continually educating educators on the importance of libraries
• Senator Lance of Hunterdon County well heavy public library user

4. Have you encountered any barriers(service failures) in your relations with RULS?

• Academic Librarian Participation in NJLA
• Many RULS librarians do not participate in NJLA activities
• There are lots of things that could be done[by NJLA] if just more academic librarians participated.
• She recognizes that there are travel barriers to participation in NJLA activities and committees
• How can we get more academic librarians involved with NJLA?
• Tenure is a barrier to state participation.
• Librarians participate in organizations where your institution values your participation
• State Digitization Project
• Rutgers is playing a major leadership role in the state with the digitization grant
• This project can provide benefits for the citizens
• This is a phenomenal way for librarians to use new technology to benefit the citizens
• This digitization project is really a boom to get collections to the citizens.
• RUL provides leadership skills at the state level
• Access Issues
• Remote access issues are barriers for citizens to use the libraries
• Citizens do not have library cards [no direct borrowing]
• This of course is a function of who pays for what.

5. If you were creating measures for evaluating the impact of RULS on NJ citizens, what measures do you think would be important?

• Collaboration
• Name recognition
• Future collaborative projects will bring name recognition to RULS
• Rutgers participation in state wide projects
• RULS leadership role, need more [Rutgers librarians] than Marianne to play a leadership role at the state level

6. Of the measures you identified which is the most important?

• Collaboration/ visibility
• Count the number of collaborative projects RULS is participating in at the state level
• The number of people involved in state initiatives from RULS
• VALE Participation important

7. Please suggest or identify individuals or groups who can participate in this assessment process. We specifically seek people who are able to evaluate the role that the RULS fulfills for the citizens of the state of New Jersey

• Only thing mentioned was the Gallop Poll as a mechanism to identify if citizens know about the libraries.

Other - basic message. RULS needs to participate more in state activities and especially NJLA.

Basic Conclusions after meeting with the State Librarian & NJLA Executive Director

WE will change the Academic Excellence Quality Indicators criteria to Awareness and Collaboration instead of Service and develop new measures.