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VCU Libraries Advisory Committee

James Branch Cabell Library, 4th Floor Conference Room

February 18, 2011 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm

Minutes

Attendance
Mary Baechle, Angelica Bega-Hart, Jan Chlebowski, Corey Davis, Linda Hughes, Cindy Jong, Roy McKelvey (chair), Jana McQuaid, Raj Rao, Brenda Seago, Ann Wiesner

Absent with notice
Bonnie Davis, Karen Rader, Patricia Strong

Absent
Rosemary Farmer, Matthew Kelberg, Allen Lee, Nathaniel Markson, Faye Prichard

Staff: John Duke, Jeanne Hammer, Teresa Knott, John Ulmschneider, Pam Fraga (recording secretary)

Guest: John Glover, Ibronke Lawal

Review and approval of agenda
The agenda was approved as presented.

Review and approval of minutes from January 2011
The minutes were approved as presented.

Elevator lobby redesign: selection of quotations - handout
Ms. Hammer, referring to the handout, announced that there have been some additions to the list of quotes originally distributed for this meeting (additional handout was shared by Dr. Hughes).  She explained that she shortly will send to Committee members a spreadsheet of all quotations submitted for consideration; Committee members will then rank the quotations.  (NOTE: These quotations had been solicited from the VCU Libraries’ three advisory committees, as well as faculty and staff, as part of process to choose a handful of quotes for the elevator wall areas in Cabell Library.)  Ms. Hammer said that the results of the judging should be returned to her by Wednesday of next week for compilation.  Ms. Hammer said that the designers may need to “tweak” some quotes to get them to fit on the wall space available.

So far, all submissions are in Roman script but all languages will be considered, including Braille.  VCU Libraries will have an independent team from the Resource Information Services department verify quotes and language usage.  It is hoped that the lifespan of this design will be quite long and that there will not be changes to the quotes once applied.

Reports and Discussion

MRS Task Force initial recommendations - handout
Mr. Ulmschneider reported that a small task force had been created to review services and resources in the Media Resource Services (MRS) department of VCU Libraries.  The goal is to revise, update and remodel the department into a state-of-the-art media creation and editing center for students.  The handout outlines a set of recommendations from the Task Force that it believes can be implemented immediately to improve services and space in the 3rd floor space occupied by MRS.  Mr. Ulmschneider reviewed the recommendations for the Committee.

  • Two of the existing six public computers in MRS will be relocated to the main 3rd floor area and will retain their current configuration.  The four remaining computers will be restricted to the vcu.edu domain (VCU services, including email) and library-provided resources (e-journals, databases, e-books, etc.).  They will not provide general network access (Facebook etc.) or productivity software (Microsoft Office etc.)  The changes will ensure that students have access to these four workstations for MRS-related tasks.
  • Two of the four existing computers for microform scanning will be reconfigured to match the four reconfigured computers in the MRS area: they will be restricted to the vcu.edu domain (VCU services, including email) and library-provided network resources (journals, databases, e-books, etc.), and they will not provide general network access (Facebook etc.) or productivity software (Microsoft Office etc.)  These machines will provide dedicated access to microforms.  The remaining two microform stations will not be changed.
  • The 16mm film collection, originally collected by Richmond Academic Library Consortium (RALC) members and transferred by them to VCU, will be reviewed.  Films that do not have intrinsic value or usability will be discarded.  The VCU Libraries will create a list of titles targeted for discard for review by RALC members and faculty.  Films may be transferred back to their original owners if requested, or made available to faculty members who wish to use them for projects.  There are between 200 and 300 films in the collection.
  • The VCU Libraries will discard filmstrips, CD-ROMS, software, and other classroom support materials originally purchased for the School of Education.  Most of these materials date from the 1960s and are obsolete.

The space freed by removing these items will be converted to usable study space.  None of the items being considered for removal are part of the music collection.

VCU Libraries in recalibrated VCU2020 Strategic Plan
Mr. Ulmschneider gave a brief update on the current status of the VCU2020 Strategic Plan.  He described the 4 “themes” of the plan and noted that the VCU Libraries had representatives on 3 of the 4 teams that created goals and objectives for the themes in November and December 2010.  The final draft of the Plan was sent to President Rao on January 23rd.  The process to finish the plan includes separate reviews by the Council of Deans and the Board of Visitors at retreats in February and April; a final opportunity for comments by the University community as a whole in April and May; and final approval by the Board in May.

In discussion, several members of the Committee encouraged their colleagues to attend the open forums that are expected in April, and noted that the University leadership really is paying close attention to the feedback being offered.  Mr. Ulmschneider reminded the Committee that ARL standing for the VCU Libraries has emerged as a University-level metric at this point, and it is hoped that this goal will be retained into the final plan.
LibQUAL+survey, spring 2011- visual demonstration and handout

Dr. Ibronke Lawal, Collection Librarian for Engineering, gave the report on the upcoming LibQUAL+ survey.  The survey will take place for 3 weeks, beginning on March 22nd.  Dr. Lawal reviewed the evolution of LibQUAL+ from its original form at Texas A & M University to a nationally-standardized survey administrated by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL).  VCU Libraries conducted LibQUAL+ surveys in 2006 and 2008; the 2011 survey will create a data set that is content-consistent with those surveys and can be used for trend analysis.

The full LibQUAL instrument, used in the 2006 and 2008 surveys, is a long and somewhat demanding questionnaire.  This year, the full instrument has been revised to create “LibQUAL+ Lite”, a less burdensome instrument which produces data that can be integrated into the results from the full survey.  Both instruments retain 5 “local” questions pertaining specifically to VCU issues.  The VCU Libraries will use both instruments in the 2011 survey: about 70% of recipients will receive the “Lite” version.

Dr. Lawal explained that the survey will be sent to a sample population at VCU totaling 11,757 recipients.  The recipients include a random sampling of students, both undergraduate and graduate, and all faculty (population).  The response rate target is 15%.  Some Committee members asked why the survey for students is based on a sample; since the survey is electronic and scored electronically, the entire student body could be sent the survey.  Mr. Ulmschneider said he would look into this.

VCU Libraries programs: (handouts)

  • Forgotten Roots: Muslims In Early America, January 24-28: Mr. Ulmschneider reported that the event was well attended, garnering much more attention than was anticipated.  Many of the people coming to this event had never been on the VCU campus before and were positively impressed.
  • Melissa Harris-Perry, February 10: Another very well-received event, with over 270 attendees.  Dr. Harris-Perry was an engaging and entertaining speaker, quick and very gracious.  Many people from the larger community attended and were favorably impressed.
  • Brown-Lyons Lecture, March 24: As every year, the year promises to be an engaging and stimulating lecture: the title is “How Jewish Was Jesus?”  The speaker, Dr. Jack Spiro, is always a powerful presenter.  Attendance at this event has exceeded 400 for the past 4 years.
  • Bedpan Elegance: Ms. Knott distributed a handout about the March 31st presentation on bedpans at the Tompkins-McCaw Library.  The exhibit will be a combination of artifacts and photographs by Professor William DuBois from Rochester Institute of Technology.  There will be a talk followed by a reception and tour.  The event starts at 4:00 pm.

Demo and discussion: Google Scholar discovery tool - online demonstration
John Glover, Reference Librarian for the Humanities, gave a brief demonstration of the research available on both the VCU Libraries website and the Google website.  He showed how to access this tool and customize it so that VCU users can instantly access journal articles and other materials owned by VCU in the search results. 

The meeting adjourned at 3:10 pm.