Annual Report 2000/01

The Social Sciences & Humanities Library

Annual Report July 2000 - June 2001

1. Introduction

2. Accomplishments

2.1 Collections

2.2 Services

2.3 Staff and Organizational Development

3. Goals

4. Concerns and Challenges

5. Statistical Summary

5.1 - 5.6 Public Service Desk Statistics

5.7 - 5.11 Material Use Statistics

5.12 Gate Counts

Submitted by Tammy Nickelson Dearie

October 1, 2001

1. Introduction

The Social Sciences & Humanities Library (SSHL) continued to focus on the provision of services to users and the adoption of technology to meet the department goals. There were ongoing efforts to identify new types of services and new methods of providing services to our users. The department continued to see decreases in the volume of activity at traditional service points and an increasing demand for higher level of service. Highlights of major accomplishments are listed below as well as goals for the coming year. Concerns and challenges we will face this coming year end the narrative, followed by a statistical summary of department services.

2. Accomplishments

2.1 Collections

Collections, the heart of the library, continued to be developed and managed. Several projects in particular were critical to the development of the collection and impact on our users.

UGL Weeding Project: SSHL coordinated the review, transfer, and weeding of more than 50,000 volumes from the Undergraduate Library. Materials reviewed included the circulating collection, Reference, the Careers Section, bound journals, and microfiche. Titles were transferred to SSHL, the Arts Libraries, Science & Engineering Library, and the Biomedical Library.

Annex Weeding Project: SSHL continues to coordinate the review, weeding, and transfer to SRLF of approximately 200,000 volumes currently located at the Annex. The Annex Task Force consists of representatives of all libraries, as well as Facilities, the Catalog Department, and Gifts, and is responsible for developing procedures.

Virtual Melanesian Collection: The need for a means of collecting Melanesian materials in one physical space was met by developing a virtual Melanesian Collection. The Catalog Department continues to add a Notes field "Melanesian Collection" to records so they may be retrieved as a set when searching in ROGER.

UN Fiche: We obtained special funding to purchase the comprehensive UN microfiche collection from 1975 to 1989, filling in a much-needed gap for materials lacking in paper.

2.2 Services

The department continued to focus on the provision of services to users, especially in the arena of electronic and remote access. This year the department launched several new initiatives that will allow patrons better access to our collections and services.

Publicity and outreach: In an ongoing effort to create an identity for the Social Sciences & Humanities Library the library developed a new library web site, created an electronic newsletter (Shhh!), and launched a major effort to introduce exhibits in the library. Exhibits included "Resources for Research: California's Electric Utility Crisis" and "Hot Spots Around the World."

eReserves and eReference: Throughout the year several members of the department participated in the development of electronic services. eReserves, launched in fall 2001, will provide undergraduate students in all disciplines and graduate students in the humanities and social sciences access to reserve material at their desktop. eReference continues to be explored in DRIFT with SSHL making a strong commitment to participate in the service when available. SSHL continues to provide eReference through email service.

Access in Lieu of Ownership services: The Circuit and CDL Request were enhanced to allow users improved access. The number of items users can request was increased in The Circuit from 10 to 20 items per day. CDL Request was enhanced by an increase in the number of requests for undergraduate students (from 5 to 20 per day) and the addition of Special Collections material requesting. Both of these services are part of consortium with SSHL staff leading the development.

Wireless connectivity: Wireless access, initially slated for installation for the spring quarter, was installed summer 2001. Wireless access via local antenna in SSHL and the ability to check out wireless cards will allow users to access licensed library materials from personal laptops or handheld devices throughout Geisel Library.

2.3 Staff and Organizational Development

With a department of 50 staff and 14 librarians, recruiting is a way of life. Last year SSHL staff participated in 20+ department recruitments. Several recruitments for critical positions, such as the department head, assistant department heads, Instruction and Outreach Coordinator, GIS Specialist, night circulation staff and guards were critical to the department's ability to meet its goals. Several new positions were created to provide a better organizational structure to meet the needs of both staff and users. In terms of physical organization SSHL continue to explore that final frontier (space planning).

Department Head recruitment: In April 2000 Brian Schottlaender requested that the department recruit for a new department head in order to allow Jackie Hanson to focus on her duties as Associate University Librarian for the Social Sciences & Humanities Cluster. A new department head was successfully recruited and in place by February 2001.

Creation of assistant department head roles: Three additional assistant department head positions were created to better facilitate managing operations within the department. The positions are Assistant Department Head for Data, Government Documents and GIS, Assistant Department Head of Bibliographer's Group, Assistant Department Head for Access Services (under recruitment). These positions work together with the existing positions of Assistant Department Head for Reference, Instruction and Outreach (under recruitment) and Assistant Department Head for Centralized Functions (working title).

Circulation LA II positions: Various LA II positions in Access Services were restructured to provide better service during the evening hours and to meet the changing workflows brought about by increased use of The Circuit and changes in Interlibrary Loan activity.

Current Periodicals, Microform, and Newspaper LAIII position: This position, removed in 1996 due to budget constraints, was reconstituted and rehired. This position allows the library to offer career staffing all hours the library is open.

Instruction and Outreach Coordinator: A coordinator position was funded to provide a coordinated instruction and outreach program for SSHL. The recruitment is underway.

Geographic Information Services: A new GIS Specialist was successfully recruited and the GIS program expanded. The program is of great interest to many academic departments and efforts are underway to work closely with them to develop future programs.

Space Planning: Research Services completed their yearlong project of a major renovation of their space with the move of staff into the new section during fall 2000. Access Services launched a new space planning effort to capitalize on changing workflows, the addition of new services, and the planned move of the Corporate Programs services to the Biomedical Library in March 2002.

3. Goals

SSHL will continue to focus on the provision of services to users and the development of collections from a variety of fronts in the coming year. Three of the major goals are as follows:

Instruction and Outreach: Develop an instruction and outreach program that builds upon existing services and collections and attracts users to the library (virtually or physically).

Remote Access: Continue to develop services that enhance access in remote settings. Such services may include a robust wireless computing environment throughout the library, virtual reference service, desktop delivery of collections, and the installation of consortial borrowing software, which will allow for greater patron access.

Government Documents, Maps, GIS and Data: With the integration of the map collection into the government documents collection area and the weeding and eventual storage of the government documents collection onto compact shelving, begin to develop centralized services to incorporate all aspects of Government Documents, Maps, GIS and Data.

4. Concerns and Challenges

As the SSHL use statistics show, users do not frequent the library in the same numbers they did in the past. While we are concerned about the decrease in activity, we also find it challenging. What can we do to continue to serve our users, what services do our users want and expect, how can we find out what they want, and how we can change our skills and abilities to deliver the services and collections they desire? We are already beginning to experience new demands for computer assistance - from those in the library and those calling from home. How much more will users expect and how can we meet that demand will be our biggest challenge in the coming year. We will also need to redefine what it means to be a library and what services we, as library staff, expect a library to deliver. Those boundaries between academic computing, library computing, and home computing are beginning to blur -- how we respond will be one of the major challenges for us in the coming year.

In addition to the computing challenges, faculty continue to call on bibliographers to provide orientation sessions to their classes. Bibliographers must remain familiar with all the traditional print resources, as well as learn the new tools, databases, and interfaces to electronic resources of CDL and SAGE. This dual task presents the bibliographers with important challenges. As the student enrollment continues to grow, the bibliographers will, in turn, be confronted with higher levels of physical and intellectual stress as they are expected to adapt to these challenges.

5. Statistical Summary

5.1 All Public Service Desks in SSHL