|
UNIVERSITY OF
CALIFORNIA, SANTA CRUZ |
AS/SCP/1333 |
Committee on the Library
Annual
Report 2000-2001
To the Academic Senate,
Santa Cruz Division:
The Committee on the Library
(COL) met once each in Fall, Winter, and Spring Quarters.
In addition, the
committee chair took part in the annual meeting of the University-wide UCOL.
In Fall Quarter 2000,
COL met on 11/28/2000 to discuss current issues. University Librarian Allan
Dyson informed the committee about new services, including the new form of the
Request service, which will now go directly to other UC libraries, resulting in
a significant leveling of loads. He also provided information about the near
system that is likely to succeed the current Union Catalogue
("Melvyl"), which will be discontinued in the new future. The
committee was pleased to hear that the campus can feel guardedly optimistic
regarding the prospects of the planned TEAM Center and McHenry extension: The
project has been reinstated in the 5-year plan, and additional fundraising
activities are under way.
In Winter Quarter 2001,
the committee had a meeting on 01/19/2001 with Cecily Johns (UCSB), the Project
Director for the Collection Management Initiative. This project is a major
Mellon Foundation-funded attempt to determine, among other things, what impact
having only electronic format (vs. paper format) materials on UC campuses has
on faculty and student research. Ms. Johns explained the background and
underlying philosophies of the project, the ways in which campus libraries can
participate, and just how implementation is envisioned to work. The meeting was
very successful in that it brought out many of the problems that will arise
once journals (in particular, current issues) are no longer available in paper
format: among other things, committee members pointed out that, compared to
hard copy browsing in the journals section of the library, electronic browsing
is still much less convenient and efficient, and graphics, colors, and fonts
continue to present major difficulties.
The University-wide
Committee on the Library (UCOL) met on 02/02/2001 at UC Davis. The meeting was
followed by a combined UL/UCOL meeting of University Librarians and Library
Committee representatives from all UC campuses. A main topic of discussion was
the problem of library space. UCOL agreed to send a new resolution to the
Academic Council underlining the urgent need to preserve and expand the library
space on UC campuses. UCOL Chair Vermeij
(UC Davis) presented
two new initiatives. First, an attempt to collect concrete and usable data
regarding undergraduate use of the library. Such data would be especially
important in support of any argumentation for increased library space. After
some discussion, the committee agreed that the University Librarians on the
individual campuses should be approached to collect such data. Secondly, Chair
Vermeij presented his idea to introduce into the curriculum a brief course,
required for all incoming students at all levels, on information literacy. The
proposal met with much interest, but it was agreed that the concrete
implementation of the proposal requires further thought and preparation.
Beverlee French, the Interim University Librarian for Systemwide Planning for
Libraries and Scholarly Information, reviewed with the committee the principles
of campus co-investment in systemwide digital resources. One item that should
be of
interest to small campuses
such as UC Santa Cruz is the fact that while many of the digital resources are
shared and accessible from all campuses, it happens in specific cases that a
proper subset of the campus libraries gets together to subscribe to some
specific item. It is then impossible for the nonparticipating campus libraries
to gain access to this material (i.e., not even by interlibrary loan
mechanisms, since no hard copy exists).
At the Spring Quarter
meeting (5/29/01), University Librarian Dyson briefed the COL on the status of
plans for the retrofitting and expansion of McHenry Library. In response to the
COL's 1999-2000 letter (strongly endorsed by the Graduate Council and the
Committee on Planning and Budget), Chancellor Greenwood sent a letter to the
Office of the President urging that the McHenry project, now scheduled for Year
4 of the Systemwide Five-Year Capital Plan, be advanced to Year 2 (2003-04).
The project as currently envisioned is estimated at $63 million (of which
approximately 2/3 will be devoted to expansion and 1/3 to retrofitting).
In assessing the overall
health of the UCSC Library, University Librarian Dyson estimated facilities to
be satisfactory in the long term, if expansion and retrofitting plans proceed
as expected (though space will continue to be a problem in the short term), and
staffing to be satisfactory, as long as it continues to receive a percentage of
budget growth. The budget for collections, however, is an ongoing problem. For
example, $281,000 originally expected for next year's collection budget has
been cut. UCSC's share of the overall Library budget was determined
approximately 25 years ago, and does not reflect the increase in both numbers
and percentage of graduate students. The size of our collection adversely
affects the campus's eligibility for inclusion in the American Association of
Universities (AAU) and the Library's membership in the American Research
Libraries (ARL). The latter is usually a prerequisite for the former.
The Committee thanks
Library Association of UC (LAUC) members Ann Hubble and Larry Millsap for their
contributions to COL's work. The Committee appreciates student representative
Sean Winslow as an active and engaged member of the Committee.
Respectfully
submitted,
Committee on the Library
Scott
Brandt
Nobuho
Nagasawa
Onuttom
Narayan
Jin
Zhang (W,S)
Quentin
Williams
Allan
Dyson, ex officio
Armin
Mester, Chair (F,W)
Sharon
Kinoshita, Chair (S)
October 18, 2001