See slides of highlights
Section A
A Summary of Major Accomplishments
Building Expansion and Renovation
Project (Physical Environment):
* Phase one of the building project, an addition of
101,000 square feet, continued through almost half of FY07. Construction
was completed by early September, but there were still outstanding punch
list items when the fiscal year ended.
* Using a collection-use report generated from the Voyager circulation
system, we identified which books to move to the warehouse, automated
retrieval collection (ARC) or open stacks. Computer-generated lists were
then used to mark materials according to their destination. If a book was headed for the ARC, we wrote
on the page sides the last three digits of the call number to make it easier
to find the book among the many of the same size (but not necessarily subject)
that would be in the same bin. Catalog records of relocated items were updated
in batches to reflect the new locations. Materials were moved to the warehouse
and the ARC over a period of months, and the books, periodicals, and computers
remaining in open stacks were moved to the addition shortly before it was opened
to the public. Our art collection and the Lorimer Reading Room books were
boxed and stored in the warehouse.
* After books and periodicals were put in place in the addition, new shelf labels
and end panel signs had to be created and temporary signage designed and installed
due to the failure of the contractor to install the permanent signs.
* Since materials were being placed in the addition and two offsite facilities
during the year, staff had to develop new routines for routing and retrieving
materials.
* The Library was ready to open in its new home on October 1, 2006. With few
exceptions, regular services were provided throughout the transition from the
original building to the addition. The automated system received a great deal
of praise and publicity. It was of particular interest during the Campus/Community
Centennial Celebration. A picture of the system taken by an award winning photographer
was featured on the University’s web page during the first half of 2007.
Most users completing feedback forms rated the building four or five on a five
point scale.
* The loss of so much seating (225 vs. 900), especially in quiet study areas,
is a problem as we await the main building renovations, as is the reduction in
the number of public computers (125 vs. 310).
* The new wireless Internet connectivity is a big hit. Patrons may bring
their own laptops, and we offer laptops for checkout and use within the building. The
Systems personnel perform weekly upgrades to the software on these computers
to make sure they stay virus free. We also used wireless technology to
add computers to room 1300 and make it into a computer lab. The room was not
designed with many network connections so we installed wireless cards into the
desktop computers. Since there would not be room for one big computer room,
changes had to be made to the methods for printing. Systems came up with a method
for charges for color printing to be handled through LPT:One.
* Moving the servers to the new building required a lot of coordination with
IT Services to ensure minimal interruption in services while each server was
getting a new IP address. When we discovered the room being used as a server
room in Phase II was excessively hot, we installed a portable server room air
conditioner.
* In preparation for the fall 2008 move back into the renovated portion of the
building, we began loading pre-1971 bound periodicals from the warehouse into
the automated retrieval system, their permanent home. We are also packaging
designated government documents destined for the ARC, because they are too thin
to stand up in ARC bins. Beyond these processing preparations, we are selecting
new furnishings and completing the public area layouts.
Collections, Cataloging and Maintenance Projects (Student-Centered
University):
* In order to provide a single index and gateway to all the electronic
serials to which we have access from more than 200 vendors, we create
links to the serials from an A-Z title listing on our web site. There
are now more than 32,000 electronic periodical titles linked to the
A-Z listing which require ongoing maintenance as titles change, online
content changes, or availability is lost or gained.
* New databases added in
the past year include Web of Science, Physical Review Online Archives,
Philosopher’s Index, Cochrane Library, ACM Guide to Computing
Literature, American Chemical Society Web Editions, Books in Print,
CINAHL Plus with Full Text, and the Ebrary Education Collection.
* We began re-cataloging and barcoding the American Periodical Series
and the English Literary Periodicals Series microfilm collections so
they may be stored in the automated retrieval system.
* To improve our book catalog records, we subscribed to the Bibliographic
Notification Reports so that we can correct bibliographic records as
needed and add contents notes, particularly for books stored in the
automated retrieval system.
* Government documents processing projects included preparing large
sets for storage in the automated retrieval system and
adding the ISSN to NASA Technical Memorandum bibliographic records.
* Serials Librarian Iris Durden served on the GALILEO Electronic Resources
for Nursing/Allied Health Task Force. Three of the committee’s
recommendations were added to GALILEO as of July 1, 2007: ProQuest
Nursing and Allied Health Source, Books@Ovid (nursing/allied health),
and Medline with Full Text.
Services (Student-Centered University, Technological Advancement):
* We have updated the majority of our web pages to comply with the
new campus web design. The remaining pages will be completed
this year.
* We began converting our online policies and procedures documentation
to a Wiki.
* The new Access Services space has proven to be a great improvement,
with clearly delineated work space for such functions as reserves processing,
GIL Express transactions, and public assistance.
* The Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery personnel implemented
the ILLiad borrowing module. ILLiad will facilitate scanning
documents from our collection and sending them to patrons electronically,
instead of photocopying and mailing the desired materials.
* Although advised of the coming change for months, Auxiliary Services
did not begin work on transitioning the photocopiers until the time
of the move. This turned out to be much more difficult than anticipated
and is still not entirely satisfactory. Access Services will
take over library photocopying in the new fiscal year.
* The Disaster Recovery Committee arranged with Auxiliary Services
to use their large freezers in the case of a large number of water
damaged books.
* Information Services established Instant Messaging Reference Services
by placing an IM box on our webpage. The MeeboMe application
allows anyone on any computer platform to access and log in to Yahoo
Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, AOL IM and ICQ from one single interface.
* Lisa Smith and Jocelyn Poole participated in the Jiann-Ping Hsu College
of Public Health Pandemic Flu Drill TableTop Exercise. This was the
first attempt at GSU's emergency operational procedure in the event
of a pandemic. Jocelyn and Lisa contributed an information resource
handout and Lisa demonstrated relevant websites.
* Information Services Department celebrated National Library Week
by hosting "Reference a la Carte," a mobile reference service,
in the Library atrium.
Other (Academic Distinction, Transcultural Opportunities):
* While Henderson Library faculty gave numerous conference presentations
during the year, especially notable were three presentations at international
events. Dr. Bob Fernekes and LiLi Li spoke at The International
Federation of Library Associations (IFLA), in Seoul, Korea,
and Dr. Rebecca Ziegler addressed the International Society for Religion,
Literature and Culture, in Stirling, Scotland.
* While at the IFLA Conference, Dr. Fernekes met Dr. Haruki Nagata. One
outcome of the meeting was Dr. Nagata led a search team from Japan
to our campus on November 20, 2006. The team was interested in
our plans for a learning commons and for information literacy instruction.
* Circulation of books continued to decline modestly, but for the first
time we can report the number of electronic reserve items that were
used. This first-time inclusion of 20,000 electronic reserve
files that were accessed during FY07 misleadingly makes it appear there
was a large jump in overall circulation.
* Interlibrary lending and borrowing also decreased slightly, but some
of that may be explained by the rise in GIL Express lending and borrowing.
Book borrowing among University System of Georgia libraries is faster
than traditional interlibrary loan and thus is our default transaction
whenever possible.
* Although there was a small decrease in the number of users who logged
into GALILEO, the number of searches performed increased dramatically. ICPSR
use also declined, and this trend needs to be monitored carefully given
the expense of the membership.
* While we do not yet have accurate devices for counting building use,
as we did before construction began, the devices will be added during
this fiscal year. As of March 2007 we are able to obtain counts
of our website visits by patrons. During the last four months of
FY07, we averaged 2,478 visitors a day for a total of 299,904. In
April we recorded a high of 2,968 visitors a day.
Section B
Annual Progress on Assessing Institutional Effectiveness
Our Evidence-Based Decision Making Goals for FY07 are reproduced in
the boxes below, along with summaries of our efforts to meet the EBDM
goals.
During summer and fall 2006 we will prepare questions for
focus groups so we can obtain more specific feedback as to why
we are failing to meet certain expectations for services, collections,
and facilities. We will conduct the focus groups in fall 2006,
and in spring 2007 if necessary. Some specific criticisms
are also to be found in the responses to the survey’s open-ended
questions. Patron service training will be developed immediately
in response to the concerns identified in the open-ended responses,
and we will adapt the training as we obtain focus group feedback.
Regarding facilities shortcomings, some will be moot since we
vacate the existing part of the building at the end of summer
2006. Some are unavoidable, such as noise made by the contractors
carrying out the renovations. However, those concerns which
are still applicable, e.g., the need to enforce the quiet study
area policy, will be addressed immediately. As for the
failure of collections and resources to meet expectations, we
will continue to work with the academic departments during summer
and fall 2006 to identify the resources they require, and we
will work with Academic Affairs and University Advancement to
seek the funding necessary to obtain needed resources.
Given the $2,500 LibQUAL+ price tag and the amount of time it requires
for patrons to complete the questionnaire, we only conduct it once
every three years, with the next survey scheduled for spring 2009. Therefore,
over the next two years we will attempt to measure our improvement
efforts by employing shorter, less comprehensive questionnaires
based on the LibQUAL+ questions where we were found wanting. In
order to control costs and to focus on the constituencies that
expressed the most concerns, these questionnaires will be given
to selected graduate students and faculty members only. |
- We were able to obtain some useful feedback on our service from
the Library Committee, but other focus group efforts were unsuccessful
because of the difficulty in finding faculty and students willing to
participate. Nevertheless, we increased our public service emphasis
in training and professional development opportunities. Library
personnel attended two customer service training sessions: World-Class
Customer Service (sponsored by the University, September 22, 2006),
and Customer Service and Communication (sponsored by the Library and
conducted by SOLINET personnel, December 13, 2007).
- We instituted a patron feedback system consisting of just two questions, and
placed the form at strategic locations to ensure anonymity. We received
114 patron satisfaction forms that rated the quality of library service and the
quality of experience in the library. Using a 5 point Likert scale, our mean
rating for quality of service was 4.73, and our mean rating for overall experience
was 4.6. These are very encouraging results.
The LibQUAL+ results clearly indicate library patrons, especially
graduate students and faculty members, are dissatisfied with Henderson
Library collections. The benchmark comparison illustrates major
funding differences between Henderson Library and the libraries
at selected peer institutions. James Madison University is the
only one of the three aspirational peers that also participated
in LibQUAL+ during spring 2006. In marked contrast with Georgia
Southern’s results, all three patron categories (undergraduate
students, graduate students, and faculty members) at JMU indicated
their libraries collections exceeded minimal expectations.
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- As indicated in Section A, we added several new databases this past
year, including the Web of Science, PROLA, Philosopher’s Index,
Cochrane Library ACM Guide to Computing Literature, American Chemical Society
Web Editions, Books in Print, CINAHL Plus with Full Text, and the Ebrary
Education Collection. While these are important additions, they
are for the most part indexing and abstracting databases. Faculty
and students would like access to more full text databases, which will
be our top priorities in the coming year.
During summer 2006, implement the following recommendations:
Change name of Quick Menu box to Quick Links.
Change the section for book/video searching so it reads "Search our catalog
for books, videos, e-reserves, and other things we own" and move the search
box below the description.
Add Library Workshop Schedule next to "Schedule" and "Calendar" on "About
Us" page.
Since the GALILEO link in the blue bar on the bottom of the web page is redundant,
replace it with "Borrowing from Other Libraries" which should be
a link to a page describing ILL and GIL Express, with links to the appropriate
pages.
Change "How to Use the Library" to "Guides to Finding Information." |
- The Information Services department revised and improved
the library web page, incorporating most of the ideas from the EBDM but
preferring other options in some cases. Further web usability testing
is being conducted to identify other possible improvements.
Other Efforts to Improve Library Effectiveness:
- Debra Gilchrist, library consultant on information literacy presented
an all-day workshop for the Information Services librarians on best practices
in assessing learning outcomes (May 4, 2007). We are incorporating
Dr. Gilchrist’s principles in our instruction sessions beginning
this fall.
- Information Services librarians submitted student assessments for 4 classes
they taught during Fall and Spring semesters. Using a 5 point Likert scale,
the mean scores for Instruction and Handouts were 4.61 and 4.35 respectively.
- LiLi Li, Charles Skewis, Cynthia Frost, and Jocelyn Poole met with the library
personnel at the Dublin Center in order to answer questions and to provide further
assistance for the service needs of our students and faculty who hold classes
there. The overall conclusion was the Dublin Center library believes they
are receiving adequate support from Henderson Library for Georgia Southern programs.
- The rate of library loans becoming overdue has dropped 5% since 2001. The
rate of materials being returned within a week of their due dates has not changed. The
decrease has been entirely in the percentage of loans that are returned after
more than seven days beyond their due dates. The improvement is attributable
to sending reminders more systematically and by e-mail, and to placing registration
holds on students with long-overdue materials.
- 97% of materials requested from remote storage were located and delivered on
schedule, yet only 61.5% of responding patrons indicated above average satisfaction
with their experience obtaining the materials. Compare that level of satisfaction
with the level for obtaining materials from the automated retrieval system (see
below). It is not surprising patrons prefer the 5-10 minute wait over the
wait of several hours.
- 82.4% of responding patrons indicated above
average satisfaction with their experience obtaining materials from the automated
retrieval system.
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