Seattle Pacific University: Library Annual Report, 1999/2000

Highlights

• First stages of the installation of a new integrated library system
• Success in overcoming staff shortages
• Large, though temporary, increase in the purchase of learning resources
• Entrance of SPU into online and distance learning

General

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. With apologies to Charles Dickens, 1999/2000 in the library can best be summed up as a mixed blessing. Some activities with great potential for the future—information literacy and staff development—remained in the background, but progressing, while other tasks took center stage. As will be detailed below, it was a year of coping with staff vacancies and turnover. It was a year that saw the acquisitions gnat swallow a large camel of book orders without gagging. It was a year that witnessed some basic organizational experimentation. Yet, it was a year that helped set some basic directions for the future.

Of greatest impact was the decision to join Orbis, a consortium of Oregon and Washington private and public college and university libraries that will give students and faculty at Seattle Pacific University access to more than 5 million items in those libraries. Although the benefits of joining Orbis are still future, the decision’s corollary was the purchase of a new integrated library system—Millennium from Innovative Interfaces, Inc.(III). Organizationally, the library experimented with the use of teams and placing both technical services and public services under common management.

In sum, despite some trying circumstances, much progress was made. Change is never easy, but it is evident that in the world of libraries change will be a constant companion.

Personnel

Given vacant positions and staff turnover, it was a year of “muddling through.” A number of staff did yeoman work in keeping operations running smoothly despite injuries, pregnancies, and various other situations. The two areas hardest hit were cataloging and access services (formerly circulation, reserves, and interlibrary loan). Following the departure of both cataloging librarians, it was left to Jenifer Sigafoes to step in and keep the cataloging backlog in check until Natalee Vick joined the staff as Senior Cataloger in December. At about this time, Jenifer White, cataloging technician, decided to become a fulltime mother, and Jackie Hovick transferred from the circulation area to cataloging. As soon as all these personnel changes were complete, it was necessary to plan for the migration of the catalog database from DRA to III. It is a credit to the staff that the “muddling through” was expertly done.

Another volatile area where “muddling through” was necessary was, as stated above, the access services area. The area lost its supervisor for the entire fall quarter, and of the four staff, only one provided continuity with the past. This was Paula Kraupa, who was named supervisor in spring 2000. Despite being short-staffed for much of the year, the department coped well. Turnover continued, and summer 2000 would see the hiring of three new staff. Vance Lindahl, the first of these, began work in June. Much credit for keeping everything running smoothly in both cataloging and access services during the year goes to Ann Hill, Assistant University Librarian, who at times behaved more like a human resources professional than a librarian.

Although no faces changed, the attempt to develop a workload definition with one group of librarians led to some lively discussions. This group, known as Specialists, is composed of the librarians with faculty status. In order to develop a workload definition that would parallel teaching faculty as closely as possible—and create an equitable distribution of tasks—the University Librarian and the librarians involved worked toward an acceptable solution. The process revealed differences of opinion about workload criteria; it also highlighted continued conflict regarding the staffing of the reference desk. As the year closed, it was evident that the new system would face some serious tests in a year (2000/01) that promised to be atypical because two of the librarians would not be fully available for the year.

Library Services

The year saw the continuation of a downward trend in the use of building-centered resources and services.

*    Numbers estimated during November and December due to equipment failure.
**  Includes 6,611 items circulated in the Reserves system.

These statistics show that in the last three years building exit counts have fallen 23 %. Not only are fewer people entering the building, the use of materials is falling at even a greater rate. Circulation is down 32 %, while internal use of materials is down 40 % during the same period. Reference services also have suffered a decrease of 35 % since 1996/97. If these measures are combined, the composite decrease in the use of traditional library resources and services is 36.5 %.

Library literature reveals that the SPU library is not alone in experiencing such a trend, one that most librarians ascribe to the increasing availability of electronic resources outside the library building. It is interesting to note that use of the building is falling at a slower rate than the use of materials and services. A clue may be in the results of the exit survey conducted by Jenifer Sigafoes and Carrie Fry. Students are still using the building for study and access to computers even if they do not use the materials and other services that the library provides.

Last year, for the first time, the annual report included an estimate of the use of electronic resources. Because of the volatile nature of electronic resources, and the changes in research habits that are necessary, it is too early to document trends. Thus, this year’s report is solely descriptive. Here is activity by vendor. Search totals by subject are available in Appendix 1.

It should be noted that ProQuest statistics indicate screens displayed rather than searches initiated; thus they overstate activity to some extent, since several screens may result from one search. Despite such measurement idiosyncrasies, the statistics are included as they do give some indication of use.

An increase in library hours was implemented with the beginning of the summer 2000 session in June. A survey of graduate psychology students, and discussions with graduate program directors, led to an increase in evening hours for the summer, especially on Friday and Saturday, which totaled ten additional hours per week.

The number of reference transactions at the reference desk continues to slide. This mirrors the trend at ARL research libraries, which show a steady decline in transactions during the past five years. It has been suggested by some that the Web is becoming the new reference desk. Recently it was estimated that ARL libraries handled 1.5 million reference transactions per month. The competitive figures for AskJeeves is 21 million; for AltaVista, 35 million. It seems obvious that libraries must re-think reference strategies for effective use of personnel in this new environment.

The year saw the beginning of some new services. SPU began offering its first online course through the School of Education, and the library’s Kate Shelby-Martin assumed the task of developing and defining services for remote students. Lessons learned in this first year will be useful as the library plans future services with those in mind who do not normally come to the library building. As Martin Dillon of OCLC has stated: “In the information age, navigation will become more important than collections and librarians will be more important than libraries.”

Beginning in June, another innovation was the use of a cell phone with roving reference librarians during the summer 2000. The reference team, under the leadership of Linda Lambert, decided to try this new method of providing reference help during non-peak activity hours. The success of this experiment is still to be determined.

A new service area was added to the administrative responsibilities of the library this year—university archives. Although presently without a home (the materials are in off-site storage), the archives will benefit from the planning and work of Jenifer Sigafoes, who supervised the removal of the materials from the old HR house before it was destroyed.

Learning Resources

Apart from the personnel changes in the cataloging area, the most significant event of the year in technical services was the dropping of allocation limits in the spring in order to stimulate ordering of materials and avoid repeating a large library under expenditure that had occurred the previous year. The response, to put it mildly, was overwhelming and unexpected. Not only was the book budget overspent by almost $100,000 by the end of the year, but the acquisitions technician faced an extremely heavy workload increase—an increase that would be felt for a number of months in the cataloging department. Donna Lunak is to be commended for her professional demeanor and management of the process during this most difficult time. It is hoped by all concerned that this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

During this event, however, a large number of important works were purchased as specialists eliminated at least part of their ordering backlogs. Most of the influx was in the print format. One electronic title that promises increased convenience for scholars—and relief on space demands for storage of periodical backsets, JSTOR—was also purchased. The money invested in access to the JSTOR file of electronic back issues should pay large dividends in the future as researchers learn to mine its riches.

The table of funds expended during the last two years from the operational budget for learning resources vividly demonstrates the effects of the late-year purchase bulge in 1999/00                                                                                      

*  Includes microform

Library holdings and additions for the year are as follows:

Another manner in which the library provides learning resources to SPU students and faculty is through interlibrary loan. This supplements the materials available locally with those held by other libraries. As the chart below illustrates, there is a general trend of decreasing loans and increasing borrowing—from about a 2 to 1 net lender to a 2 to 1 net borrower in a span of two years. It is not known if the borrowing spike in 1999/2000 is idiosyncratic or an indication of things to come.

Technology

At the end of fiscal year 1999, the library had under spent its budget by $168,000. A proposal was presented to the Provost that this money be used for a new library automation system that would prepare the way for joining the Orbis consortium. Joining Orbis enables the library to make a quantum leap in the availability of paper learning resources in the future. The proposal was accepted, and the library was permitted to keep the funds to purchase the Millennium system from Innovative Interfaces, Inc. During the first six months of 2000, much effort went into planning the system migration; extracting, modifying, and testing the catalog database; and beginning training in the new system—even though the system would not go “public” until August 2000. Special commendation is due Carrie Fry, who, as systems librarian, led and carried the process through to a successful conclusion.

Concurrent with embracing a new automation system, the library updated much of its hardware. Eleven new staff computers were purchased in order to handle the demands of the new system. Public dumb terminals were replaced by PCs from a computer lab. The classroom was upgraded with 17-inch monitors, a new data projector, and a wireless keyboard and mouse. In other words, there was a substantial investment in new technology.

The heart of the new technology initiatives in the library is the Instructional Technology Services department (ITS). Whether the campus need is for help with PowerPoint presentations, the creation of videos, development of online educational materials, or training of faculty to use the new technology in teaching, ITS is there. Listed below is just a sampling of ITS activities during 1999/2000.

• Worked with faculty to develop 63 courses that use online components, including 19 that may be considered fully online courses.
• Worked with librarians to develop online information literacy materials, especially in relation to USEM and the Master of Education program.
• Created templates for streamlining building of online courses and modules.
• Developed and conducted multiple training sessions for faculty in the use of Blackboard and PowerPoint.
• Worked with several faculty to produce video projects.
• Produced a CD archive of historical photographs for Camp Casey.
• Helped create a template for an online newsletter for FCS students.

As is evident from the above, there is much occurring with technology on the SPU campus that is productively bringing SPU into the 21^st century—work which often does not have a high profile. David Wicks, Director of ITS, is to be congratulated for the way he and his staff have contributed to the use of technology in education on this campus. 

Goals for 2000/01

It should be noted that some of the goals listed below are carried over from last year. Although they have not yet been completed, they are still worthy goals.

• To survey both students and faculty regarding use of, and expectations for, the library.
• To develop a long-range plan for information services in the 21^st century.
• To create a staff development program.
• To successfully implement Orbis borrowing.

This, of course, is not a comprehensive list. Many other goals and objectives govern the day-to-day operations of the library. The list above represents only those activities with the highest profile.

Appendix 1

Electronic Database Use 1999/2000

*     Per search databases
**   Partial year subscriptions
*** ProQuest numbers represent pages viewed, not searches