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Seattle Pacific University:
Library Annual Report, 2002/03

J. Ray Doerksen, University Librarian

• Assessment plan is developed
• Emergency plan for library assembled
• The Orbis Cascade Alliance is formed
• Recataloging and reclassification of music scores is completed
• Library usage continues to grow

General

In March 2003, OCLC released a report called Five-Year Information Format Trends, a report that attempts to project the nature of libraries in the future. The following trends were noted:

1. Traditional information formats (printed books and serials) are not going away.
2. A shift in production of popular and scholarly materials from paper-only to a combination of paper, print-on-demand, and electronic versions is evident.
3. Web content, if not Web sites, will continue to grow exponentially.
4. Digitization (and digital objects) may emerge as the most significant trend in the coming years.

 What do these trends portend for the Seattle Pacific University library? Several results come to mind.

1. There will be continuing pressure on the library’s budget while it struggles to maintain traditional sources of information as it adjusts to new digital realities, because the latter often add to rather than replace the former.
2. In a wired world, constant attention must be given to changing the organization to match new services that are required.
3. There will be a continuing emphasis on the mediatory role of librarians in helping the library’s patrons find their way through an increasingly complex information maze.

This is a daunting menu for the future, but it also provides an exhilarating challenge. It is not for the faint of heart.

One way to discover if the library is on the right track toward the future is to assess its performance in light of its mission and goals. During this year, the librarians took a large step in this direction by developing an assessment plan—a plan that attempts to set goals in terms of outcomes or results rather than in the traditional mode of focusing on inputs. The goals devised by the librarians are as follows:

• Students will be successful most of the time when seeking resources (e.g. books, articles, recordings) for their curricular needs via SPU library systems (e.g. catalog, databases, Summit, interlibrary loan).
• Students will report that their academic information access needs are fulfilled with high quality library services (circulation, ILL, reference, instruction, labs).
• Students across the curriculum will learn information searching and evaluative skills because of the library’s collaboration with faculty and participation in information literacy activities.
• Students and faculty will perceive the library as an adequate supplier of current materials devoted to the relationship between the Christian faith and one or more topics covered in the University curriculum.
• Students will practice responsibility and honesty in their use of information resources.
• Students will observe the caring and professional behavior of library personnel.

It is evident that these goals flow from SPU’s stated mission to educate graduates of competence and character. In the complete assessment plan, the goals are supplemented by criteria for success, suggested measurement tools, and action plans to accomplish the goals. What will follow is the implementation of the plan in the coming years.

Another “document” that received attention this year was the Library Emergency Manual. In cooperation with other segments of the SPU campus, library emergency procedures were developed, adopted, and collocated in a manual. Under the leadership of Ann Hill, Assistant University Librarian, development of the manual continues. In an uncertain world, the manual will promote safety and security for the library’s patrons and staff, as well as provide guidance in future disasters, should they occur. The hope is that this is one book that will never be used!

Personnel

Most of the year was marked by full staffing. As reported last year, Becky Paulson and Jenifer Sigafoes Phelan assumed librarian positions on July 1, 2002. For Jenifer, a special accomplishment during the year was the completion of the M.Ed. degree in Curriculum and Instruction. In September, the contingent of librarians was completed as Steve Perisho joined the staff as Theology/Humanities/Fine Arts Liaison. Ann Hill decided to step back to part-time status midway through the year, but Liz Gruchala-Gilbert continues to ably fill in as needed.

Shelley Rubatino replaced Vance Lindahl as Access Services Technician in December. Vance moved to Interlibrary Loan. In October, a new face arrived in Technical Services as Carol Van Liew assumed the position of Periodicals Technician. Finally, student workers once again provided valuable assistance in getting the library’s work done. In recognition of this good service, Tavia Stone was selected as the 2003 Student Employee of the year.

Learning Resources

Collections

Expenditures for learning resources continued their roller coaster ride (see table below). Lacking an extra infusion of funds, the materials budget fell from the previous year, even while it continues to be affected by inflationary pressures. Especially hard hit is the budget for monographs as electronic resources continue to intrude and inflation affects the cost of serials. Here is the recent history of expenditures for learning resources. Costs for microforms are included for both monographs and periodicals.

At the end of FY 2003, the library held 161,080 cataloged titles, an increase of 5,388 from the previous year (this included 1,568 new e-books). The volume count rose to 189,371, a net increase of 6,497. Projecting similar growth in the future, the volume count should surpass the 200,000 mark within two years.

Access to one collection improved during the year. The music scores were recataloged and reclassed by Liz Gruchala-Gilbert. Moving the materials (2,466 titles; 3,088 volumes) from the Dewey classification system to the Library of Congress not only makes the organization of the scores consistent with other library materials, but it enables them to be located in their proper sequence in the stacks in the future.

Electronic Resources

The convenience of electronic resources continues to be demonstrated by increasing use of library-supplied databases and fulltext materials. Almost half of the use is from off-campus. Surprisingly, only 2% of the use is from distance learners. Undergraduates connect at twice the rate of graduate students from off-campus, and this comprises over 40% of all use of electronic databases. The total number of searches for the year total 185,388, an increase of 5% over the previous year. The popularity of the databases remains similar to that noted in previous years. The TOP TEN databases, and the number of searches used this year, are listed below. For the complete list, see the Appendix.

* Includes cumulated searches in the following databases: ABI Inform, Research Library, New York Times, and Washington State Newsstand.

A new tool purchased this year should make finding electronic periodicals easier in the future. Gold Rush enables staff or patrons to search for a specific electronic periodical that is part of a database such as Academic Search Premier. Since database titles are not cataloged, it has been difficult previously to fully determine what electronic titles are available to SPU library users. Gold Rush also allows librarians to compare the titles covered by various databases. The capabilities of this product will be tested in the coming year.

Interlibrary Loan

Interlibrary loan activity increased, as can be seen by the chart below showing activity for the past five years. It appears that the lower figures for 2001/02 were a one-year phenomenon as a result of the initiation of Orbis borrowing. As other libraries have reported, after an initial decrease, services like Orbis borrowing ultimately bring an increase to interlibrary loan as patrons become accustomed to requesting materials from external resources. It is interesting to note that more than 85% of interlibrary borrowing currently is for periodical articles rather than books. This undoubtedly is due to the availability of books through the consortium.

One thing did not change; the ratio of net borrowing remained greater than 2:1.

Orbis Borrowing

Orbis borrowing, as anticipated, continued to increase. Total activity for the library (borrowing and lending) increased 54% from the previous year, while borrowing alone grew by 38%, from 4,195 requests to 5,776. It is interesting to note that the SPU profile of borrowers matches that of the consortium as a whole. Over 60% of all borrowing is done by undergraduates. Faculty and graduate students split the rest fairly equally.

A significant event occurred during 2002-03. The Orbis Cascade Alliance was formed from the merger of Orbis (20 libraries) and the Cascade group (the publicly-supported baccalaureate institutions) in Washington (6 libraries). When the catalog merger is complete, over 22 million items from the consortium libraries will be available to SPU students and faculty—a wonderful resource.

Library Services

Going against the general trend in academic libraries, use of the SPU library building continued to grow, as did circulation and in-library use of materials. It is difficult to speculate about the reasons for the return to 1997/98 levels of building activity, but it is gratifying to know that the library as a place has not yet been superceded by the world of electronic communication. On the other hand, the number of reference questions fielded by librarians decreased.

Year                 Building Use       Circulation      In-Library Use     Reference Q           

2002/03           292,548              66,847**          36,684                  7,651

2001/02           256,496              60,149**          35,359                  8,827

2000/01           246,838              57,698**          37,237                  7,344 

1999/00           239,429              46,821**          48,511                  9,763 

1998/99           257,868              50,322             49,774                11,362

1997/98           291,333              65,192              65,547                13,277                             

**  Includes items circulated in the Reserves system.

Library Goals for 2003/04

		Begin implementation of the assessment plan, with the possibility of administering LibQUAL+, a standard assessment tool developed by the Association of Research Libraries.
		Integrate into library operations the new services made possible by the creation of the Orbis Cascade Alliance—such as on-site borrowing at other consortium libraries and Pickup Anywhere capabilities.
		Complete the implementation of Ariel to the patron’s desktop.
		Continue to develop/implement the plan for remote user services.
		Process and transfer the University Archives to a new location.
		Initiate writing of grant requests.
		Initiate development of a serials management plan, beginning with an evaluation of Gold Rush and electronic databases.
		Begin to develop a reference collection plan.

Appendix

Electronic Database Use 2002/2003 (Total=185,388)

Database                                            Searches

 Rev. 10/08/2003