Minutes of August 30, 2007 Meeting
- Present:
- G. Agnew, R. Becker, J. Cassell, K. Hartman, K. Mulcahy, R. Sewell, G. Smulewitz, J. Still, A. Watkins
- Guest:
- J. Boyle
AUL's Report (Robert Sewell)
CDC goals were finalized and sent to Cabinet and to CDC. State funds ($7,083,535) were allocated. Central
funds are available for price increases and RU Online purchases. There is a reserve fund for other
invoices, such as serials invoices received in a different year from the order. Non-state funds have some
free balances and will be ready for distribution by the second week of September. Nancy covers
commitments from previous years before releasing the remaining amount. $90,000 that resulted from
prepaying the Harrassowitz account will be placed in the state funds allocation.
Interpreting library statistics (Jeanne Boyle, guest)
Statistical charts are available on the libraries' website. Currently working on 2006-7 statistics. Some
highlights:
- Building use continues to go down
- Database use has gone down
- Website use is down by over 6 million hits
Jeanne Boyle is asking the Councils to explain what these statistics tell us and what they mean for our
continued service to the university.
Discussion included the following comments:
- Users have a decided preference for electronic materials at their fingertips rather than having to go to where resources are.
- Campus sociopolitical issues play an important role, e.g., a new deal who emphasizes instruction.
- It was suggested that we break down ILL against our collection. Do we not own the book(s) requested or were they checked out at point of ILL request.
- It was suggested that we analyze circulation statistics by classification and category.
- It was suggested that we look at expanding RUOnline with available offerings, such as Google Books
- Class sizes and assignments are changing. The emphasis is on original, quantitative research rather than traditional library-based research.
- There is also an increased fear of plagiarism when using other resources.
- CRL citation studies show that 70 0r 75% of citations in the humanities are from books
- It was suggested to keep more nuanced reference statistics that document the subject or subjects and the category of user asking the reference questions (e.g., faculty, graduate student, etc.)
- MINES was identified as an opportunity to learn more about database usage, particularly by category of user and broad area of use.
Other Business
- It was agreed to continue the subscription to Countrywatch
- Large price increases in subscriptions are continuing to occur. Harrassowitz must notify us of any
increase over 20%. Harrassowitz has already notified us of 56 subscription price increases. The average
increase is 41%. Largest increases are in education subjscrptions
It was suggested that selectors need to understand the mechanics of subscriptions-when price increases
occur, how they are handled, etc. It was agreed that we should have a liaison program with the Serials
Group to educate and inform selectors on an ongoing basis.
Submitted,
Grace Agnew (recorder)