During the 2001-02 academic year, the Faculty Senate Library Committee continued
to fulfill its responsibilities of advising the University Librarian in
the three areas outlined in its standing rules: 1) meeting the learning,
instruction, and research needs of students, faculty, and staff; 2) formulating
library policies in relation to circulation, budgets, services, and development
of resources for instruction and research; and 3) interpreting the needs
and policies of the library to the University. After consultation with the
University Librarian, the committee also advocated for the Libraries during
the budget crisis and OSU 2007 redesign process.
Recall Policy
The committee responded to a motion by Senator Wrolstad at the June 2001
Faculty Senate meeting; he proposed changing the Library's policy to allow
patrons to directly contact each other when recalling an urgently needed
book. After discussion and consultation with the Head of Circulation and
the Associate University Librarian, the committee recommended maintaining
the current policy for both legal and practical reasons. The committee forwarded
this recommendation to the Executive Committee and encouraged the Circulation
staff at the Valley Library to make more widely known its willingness to
directly contact holders of recalled books on behalf of a patron who urgently
needs a checked-out book.
Review of Research Study Room Policy
The long-term study room application process is working well; all 10 rooms
are currently occupied, and each round of applications yields more qualified
candidates for these rooms. The short-term rooms (90-day loan periods),
however, continue to be requested in numbers far exceeding the supply of
32 rooms. We asked Circulation to survey current holders of those rooms
and discovered that 40% of patrons holding or waiting for rooms are graduate
students who have not yet taken their orals (although such students were
not originally intended to be included among those eligible for the rooms).
After discussing the possibility of asking all patrons to share study rooms,
the committee proposed that only faculty and post-orals doctoral students
be eligible for the rooms. This new policy went into effect June 10, though
the Library will honor existing holds.
Suggestion for 2002-03: Evaluate demand for short-term rooms once the
Circulation staff has worked through the existing waiting list and publicized
the new policy.
Shared Collections and Other Circulation and Access Issues
The committee responded to several Collections and Circulation initiatives,
approving plans to circulate bound journals, convert to electronic-only
notification of overdue books, and test JSTOR on a limited basis.
We discussed access vs. ownership of materials, applauding the Libraries'
efforts to provide access to more materials while cautioning about the
difficulties students and faculty face when the Library doesn't own the
materials. Faculty cannot place such items on reserve, and the 3-week period
with one renewal is often insufficient for faculty and graduate students who
must rely heavily upon ORBIS. We discussed possible changes to ORBIS loan
policies, but it would be difficult to implement any changes since the
consortium has 16 members. The committee reviewed ORBIS statistics by call
number to evaluate usage, but several call number ranges are omitted and
grouped only as "Not in Table." The University Librarian suggested that
heavy ORBIS usage within a particular field is perhaps a Collections,
rather than an Access, issue.
An initiative to share collections with the University of Oregon met with
strong committee support, and we encouraged the University Librarian to
include a committee member on the task force. The committee also supported
the idea of a future joint meeting of the FSLC and the comparable UO committee.
Suggestions for 2002-03: Invite John Helmer, head of ORBIS, to speak
with the committee. Place a committee member on the OSU task force to work
with UO, and hold a joint meeting of the FSLC and the comparable UO committee.
Advocacy for the Libraries during Redesign and OSU 2007 Processes
Throughout the year, committee members attended Senate forums and meetings
with President Risser in order to express concern about the future of the
Libraries. To understand the current reporting structure, we reviewed the
Peat Marwick Report and consulted with the University Librarian on standard
reporting structures for her peers at other institutions. In December, we
sent a letter to the OSU Redesign Team urging that the Libraries be treated
as an academic unit with a new reporting structure and that the Libraries be
protected from further budget cuts.
The committee invited Becky Johnson, Chair of the Steering Committee of OSU 2007,
to meet with us to provide information about the process and to hear concerns
specific to the FSLC. Based in part on this conversation, faculty from the
Libraries and from the FSLC formed a Library Satellite Team to participate
in the OSU 2007 process. Two members from the FSLC are serving on the Team,
and the FSLC has been active in helping draft and reviewing the goals of this Satellite Team. The committee has
met with Loretta Rielly, co-chair of the Satellite Team, and will continue
to review all major documents produced by that group.
Suggestion for 2002-03: Remain in close communication with the Satellite
Team.
Faculty Senate Resolutions
At the June Senate meeting, we presented two resolutions that grew out of
this advocacy. Both passed without amendment.
Resolved, That the Faculty Senate reaffirms its 1999 commitment to the Library.
Resolved, That the Faculty Senate supports the establishment of the Libraries as an academic
unit separate from Information Services, and it recommends: 1) a new reporting
structure so that the University Librarian reports directly to the Provost,
and 2) re-evaluation of the title of the University Librarian.
Other Senate Charges for 2001-02
Category I proposals: The committee awaits a proposal from the Curriculum
Council.
Indirect Cost Discrepancies: Our charge had been to meet with candidates
for the position of Vice Provost of Research to discuss the distribution of
indirect costs funds. Because Rich Holdren (with whom we discussed this issue
last year) was appointed Vice Provost of Research for a fixed term through June
2003, there did not seem to be ample occasion to revisit this matter.
Suggestions for 2002-03: Monitor Category I Proposals procedure and
Indirect Costs Distribution.
Other Issues and Informational Items
The committee revised the standing rules to encourage broad representation of
academic disciplines within the committee's membership. The University
Librarian circulated a draft of the Libraries Vision Statement, to which
committee members responded individually with concerns and suggestions, and
she kept us posted on the Libraries' status as a potential member of ARL.
Currently, ARL has declined a site visit to OSU any time during the next
three years. Librarians announced to the committee various digital, information
management, and grant initiatives.
Suggestion for 2002-03: Continue to advocate for the increased
institutional support necessary for consideration by ARL, and participate
in any informal visit by an ARL representative that may be arranged.
Provide new members of the committee with an orientation to the
committee's work and to the complex budget and reporting structure issues
we have addressed this year.
Heidi Brayman Hackel, chair
June 13, 2002
2001-2002 Library Committee Membership
| Heidi Brayman Hackel ‘03 (chair), | English |
| David Horne ‘02, | Chemistry |
| Darlene Judd ‘02, | Entomology |
| Cynthia Twohy ‘02 | Oceanic & Atmospheric Sciences |
| Lawrence Landis ‘03, | Archives |
| Ajoy Velayudhan ‘03, | Bioresource Engineering |
| Mark Edwards ‘04, | Sociology |
| Dianne Erickson ‘04, | Science & Math Education |
| Bob Rost ‘04, | Extension & Exp Station Communications |
|
| Christine Armer ‘02, | Graduate Student |
|
| Ex-Officio: University Librarian, Karyle Butcher | |
|
