UMD NEASC - Std7: Library and Information Resources

The Library, and Computing and Information Technology Services (CITS), provide and maintain the information, communication, and networking resources that are essential to all segments of the university community. They are separate units with their own administrative structures. The Dean of Library Services serves as the chief administrator of the Library, which also includes the campus's Audio-Visual and PhotoGraphics Services. The Associate Provost for Computing and Information Technology, appointed in 1996, serves as the chief administrator of Computing and Information Technology Services.

There are many areas of cooperation between the Library and CITS, including the Integrated Library System with its on-line search capabilities, working through the Library's Web pages, which allows for both internal searches and networking to other libraries and networks of libraries including the Boston Library Consortium. Examples of collaboration between the two services are numerous and there is a tradition of working well together on special projects, which functionally brings representatives of the services together.

In the mid-1990s, in the context of mandated reallocation and administrative restructuring, the possibility of merging the two units was discussed. It was recommended that they be kept independent. The Library remained a separate unit headed by the Dean of Library Services, and the three separately administered computing services, Academic, Administrative, and Central, were merged under the unified structure of the current Computing and Information Technology Services, headed by an Associate Provost, to promote coordination and centralized planning.

The level of support and attention given to these two units is an indicator of the university's priorities and the effectiveness of its long-range planning. On average, during the 1990s, while support for computing and information technology has increased, support for the more traditional library collections declined. In this Standard, the two units which manage most of the university's technical and information resources are considered separately.

The mission of the Library is to support the academic programs of the university in teaching, learning, and research, and to serve as an information center for the campus and the region. Its activities help to further all aspects of the university's mission (access, excellence, innovation, economic development, public service, and quality of life), with special focus on the mission-based goals of access, excellence, and innovation.

- Access: Providing affordable access to information within and beyond the Library to enhance the research, study, and teaching opportunities of a diverse community. Offering a quality environment for pursuing self-education and discovery as part of the social and intellectual experience of a UMass Dartmouth education.

-Excellence: Offering a breadth and depth of resources in all formats, personalized service in locating, evaluating and effectively using library/media resources, and instructional programs to teach library users to think critically about information.

- Innovation: Incorporating new technologies and services to help administration, faculty, students, and community users discover, create, and disseminate knowledge.

The Library building opened in 1972, and has seen only minor renovations or updating since, most occurring within the past few years. The building contains 133,000 gross square feet, but only 67,048 square feet is usable space because of the distinctive campus architecture. Furthermore, the library does not solely occupy this space. Other campus entities share space on several floors of the library. The library was designed to seat 1200 people and is divided into six floors, four of which are stack levels. A library security system monitors the exits, with 24-hour video surveillance on the second floor exit.

As of June 1999, the library held 454,608 monographic volumes, 80,925 government documents in paper, 14,603 audiovisual units, 1,057 maps, and 682,835 microfiche units. The library subscribes to 2,925 journal and newspaper titles with a backfile of 70,701 bound volumes and 25,286 reels of microfilm. Special holdings in Archives and Special Collections include the university's historical records, Robert F. Kennedy Assassination Archives, and archival collections pertinent to local history, the history of textile manufacturing, and Portuguese Studies.

A browsing collection of print and video materials supports the goal of making the library an important resource in the cultural lives of the students. This collection includes recently purchased fiction and non-fiction best-sellers and popular books. There is a small periodicals browsing area, as well as a collection of popular videos. Passes to area museums further support the library's goal of encouraging student learning beyond the campus.

The Library is open 87.5 hours per week during the academic year. There is also indirect access to a lower level study area and a computer cluster that is staffed until 2 AM, Sunday through Thursday, during the academic year.

The UMass Dartmouth Library has been on the forefront of using and adapting information technologies. Its goal has always been to provide the best possible access to the most useful information in any format. Working closely and collaboratively with Computing and Information Technology Services and other campus partners, the Library has been able to plan and implement efficient and often innovative technology strategies.

The Library provides access to its electronic information resources via the library web and its local area network. Students, faculty, staff, and community users can easily access library resources from their dorms and offices on campus or by entering the building and using the workstations.

The Library's Web pages are evolving almost daily. They have become the interface through which users access library information. Here, users can search Web databases across the Internet or search local electronic resources. Full text resources are available electronically through services such as InfoTrac, JSTOR or ProQuest Direct. Similarly, the Library provides campus-wide access to a growing array of subject specific, Internet databases acquired through negotiated licenses and consortial agreements, such as BHA (Bibliography of the History of Art) and Aquatic Sciences & Fisheries Abstracts. Users can also send interlibrary loan requests, make appointments with librarians for assistance, or just check the library hours. Other regularly updated pages are for reserve readings, library news, lists of new books, videotapes, and paper and electronic journal holdings.

The Library recently completed major portions of the Library Technology Plan (1997-2000). In 1998, the state-funded Massachusetts Instructional Technology Bond Bill allowed the Library to purchase a new integrated library system, as a "buying partner" with Bridgewater State College, the University of Massachusetts Boston and the University of Massachusetts Worcester. With the advice and cooperation of CITS staff, and staff from cooperating libraries, the team selected Endeavor Information Services' Voyager, which includes circulation control, a public access catalog, acquisitions, serials control, audio-visual booking system and web-based access to all resources. This new generation of integrated library system will help form the basis of the university's version of the "virtual library" by allowing the Library to provide a link to all of the University of Massachusetts libraries, those of the Boston Library Consortium and, in the long run, to libraries throughout Massachusetts.

Community Access

Because it is the largest academic library in southeastern Massachusetts, many public, school and special library users look to the UMD Library for information unavailable in their local collections. While our primary obligation is to UMD students, faculty and researchers, the library staff takes seriously its responsibility to all the people of southeastern Massachusetts. Many academic libraries allow community residents to use their collections, but few promote open access and free borrowing to all residents of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as does the UMD Library through its Special Borrowers program. Since 1978, "special borrowers" have used library resources for personal enrichment and business, professional, or academic research. Many become university students after an introduction to UMass Dartmouth through a library visit. There are more than 5000 individuals registered, including 3798 regular library visitors, and 1459 area high school students.

Access Services is responsible for a campus-wide closed-circuit-television cable system used to transmit educational programming to classrooms, the operation of equipment in large lecture halls, and the maintenance and circulation of a large collection of equipment and materials owned by UMD. The library catalog provides bibliographic access to videos, cassettes, and other non-print materials. Video playbacks are broadcast over the Library's cable network from its Resource Center to classrooms across campus. Two satellite receiving systems provide access to a wide range of information channels. The programming has enriched teaching and learning in many disciplines, particularly foreign language and science, and has contributed to the professional development of faculty and administrators.

The former Audio-Visual division was recently merged into Access Services, providing more focused and streamlined services. Two separate Circulation/Reserve service points were combined to eliminate duplication, improve staffing, and provide enhanced services to patrons. In response to patron concerns, a repair hot-line number was established. Educational videotapes are now available on demand, eliminating the need to book a day in advance. Additional new equipment was purchased in order to equip each classroom on campus with a television, VCR, and overhead projector. To address student and faculty demand for video services, an equipment upgrade plan was implemented. The library browsing area holds up to 100 people and has a state-of-the-art data and video projection system. A new circulation desk that is technology friendly, ADA compliant, and able to accommodate traditional and audio-visual circulation services was installed in June 1999.

The library's staff, collections, and services are funded from a variety of resources. State appropriations fund all full-time benefited salaried positions. Library collections are funded partially by a special state appropriation called Educational Reference Materials (ERM) and student fees. Student fees from the day and continuing education divisions are the main sources of revenue for all other library expenditures including part-time and student help, supplies, and equipment. Small amounts of funding from grants and donations add to overall library resources and expenditures.

The UMD library is unusual among the state universities in that it also includes audio-visual services among its responsibilities. Purchasing and maintaining televisions, VCRs, and other state-of-the-art equipment is expensive. The library also houses and manages the PhotoGraphics department. This department includes three staff members, and relies on expensive supplies, sophisticated computer graphic, photographic, and video equipment to provide its services to administrative offices, faculty, and students. The cost of providing these services, staff, and equipment must be considered when evaluating the comparative adequacy of the Library's budget.

The Library supports thirty academic departments and programs in five colleges, including degree programs in engineering, biology, chemistry, and physics. New and expanded program initiatives were implemented during the 1990s, especially with the impetus of joining the UMass system. Certain programs were designated as top priority areas to receive additional resources through reallocation. These included the new Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Marine Sciences, AACSB accreditation for the College of Business, and the Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture. Throughout this period the Library received level funding and was generally not given priority status in the reallocation of funds. The College of Engineering and the Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture are unusual in giving the Library special funds annually in partial support of their new programs. Considering the inflationary costs of serials and books, as well as the increased reliance on more expensive electronic versions of reference materials, the full impact of the Library's level-funding (in a period of program development) becomes apparent.

Fundraising initiatives are now an important part of obtaining supplementary money for special projects to enhance the services of the library. To begin the process of raising outside funds for the library, the library has developed and published a fundraising action report and a draft plan. There are also fundraising objectives in the library's three-year plan.

The library consists of four divisions: Access Services, Library Systems, Technical Services, and Information Services, which are coordinated by a dean and Associate University Librarian (position now vacant). The Dean reports to the Provost/Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs. The Library employs fifteen full-time librarians, three part-time librarians, two professional technicians, twenty-one clerical support staff, five part-time staff, and eighteen FTE student assistants. Librarians and professional technicians are part of the AFT collective bargaining unit and are entitled to full participation in university governance. The constitution of the Faculty Senate stipulates that a librarian serve on the Faculty Senate Steering Committee. The clerical support staff are unionized.

The PhotoGraphics department also falls under library management and reports to Technical Services. Beyond collecting and distributing commercially produced material, the department produces slide sets and other original artwork for faculty and administrators. It also designs and produces three-paneled poster presentations using sophisticated state of the art computer graphics equipment and software. These materials are used in classes and in publications and presentations within and beyond the UMass Dartmouth campus.

For many years the supervision of the Slide Room, housed in a separate building, fell under library management. The facility is now managed and supported by the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

The library staff has been successful in gaining the participation of the academic community in identifying needs and determining priorities for library collections and services. In addition to the liaison program (described below), the library staff regularly communicates with faculty through joint participation in university governance. Faculty and administrators also have participated in search committees for library positions and in task forces, such as the Library Space Planning Committee.

An active University Library Committee, a standing committee of the Faculty Senate, is composed of library staff, faculty, and students. This committee is the major advisory group to the library administration on policy matters. The committee has co-sponsored programs with the library staff and conducted library surveys. Recently it presented a report to the Faculty Senate with recommendations for increased library funding and a shift in the ratio of serials to books from the current 80/20 to a more balanced 60/40. The Faculty Senate voted unanimously to approve this recommendation and forwarded it to the former chancellor.

The reference desk is staffed nearly as many hours as the Library is open. As part of the regular reference service, librarians help students, faculty, staff, and community define their information needs and identify relevant resources. When the need exceeds what the local print, electronic, and Internet-based resources can provide, librarians use their technical and subject expertise to make efficient use of commercial databases and referrals to other sources.

On-line access to a wide variety of databases is provided to faculty and students. The library also subscribes to numerous CD-ROM databases. The combination of on-line database access, database backfiles on CD-ROM, electronic resources Web page, and full-text resources availability has enhanced and expanded the research capabilities of the UMass Dartmouth community. This has lessened the need for mediated, fee-based online searching of databases such as STN (chemistry) and DIALOG (multidisciplinary). Project ASC, a non-profit, fee-based reference service, offers information search services to area industries, social service agencies, and small businesses. It is a way to give substantive service to external users on a cost-recovery basis.

UMD librarians are committed to active participation in the instructional role of the university. Through the faculty liaison program, each academic department is linked with a professional librarian who has responsibilities for overseeing collection development and bibliographic education activities within that discipline. The librarians who serve as liaisons to departments maintain strong links with the faculty members of their departments. These links include, but are not limited to, staying current with the course offerings of each department, anticipating points at which library instruction would be valuable, alerting faculty members by paper and electronic means to new resources and searching techniques, and serving as collection management officers for departments.

The UMass Dartmouth Library's bibliographic instruction program is the most effective means for linking library resources to the students' academic programs and to their lives beyond the classroom. A three-tiered approach to bibliographic education (1) introduces first-year students to basic resources and searching strategies through the required English 101 and 102 courses, (2) offers focused instruction in each discipline, and (3) provides upper-level and graduate students with specialized guidance. The library's program emphasizes a critical-thinking approach to the use of library resources.

An innovative library intern program enhances the bibliographic instruction program. Students hired with funds from the curriculum services fee are available to provide individual instructional sessions with their peers enrolled in 100-level courses. The interns introduce other students to appropriate indexes, abstracts, and automated searching tools, and explain what additional help is available from the professional reference staff. Librarians also meet with students individually by appointment. Generally these appointments are for those investigating the literature of their major for the first time, upper level students seeking expert guidance on information resources and presentation, graduate students researching specific topics, or those needing remedial and special help.

The General Education program introduced an information literacy and computer literacy component for all freshmen enrolled in ENL101, Critical Writing and Reading I. This merges the efforts of the UMass Information Literacy Project and the General Education initiatives at UMass Dartmouth by providing faculty with an additional resource for teaching information literacy. To make clear the distinction between information literacy and computer literacy, the librarians worked jointly with faculty. This component supplements computer literacy skills with electronic access to information search strategies (information literacy skills) that build on and enhance traditional library instruction. Information literacy competencies cross traditional disciplines, promote communication between campuses, and advance an understanding of information technology.

Over the years, internal reorganization has enabled the library to maintain and enhance services. Progress was made in the area of library technology, development of the library's Web resources, consolidation of two separate circulation points, and government document services. The recent replacement hiring of four key personnel, including a new reference librarian, will enable the library to continue making important contributions to library excellence. The library has developed a three-year staffing plan to meet current needs and to support the growing information needs of the university community.

Excellent staff, an ever-developing collection, new technologies, and active library users; these are the components of a vibrant library. However, space for collections and services has reached a critical level, with usable space of only 67,048 square feet, far too little for a university library with such complexity of services. In addition to library materials, processing and service points, the Computing and Information Technology staff offices share space on the third floor. A computer lab and a Portuguese television broadcasting station (RTPi) share the lower level library space that was formerly used for video and TV production. When first built, the Library was designed to accommodate twenty years of projected growth. This growth projection has proven fairly accurate, and after twenty-seven years, the building has reached capacity.

The UMass Dartmouth Library develops its collections under a system that shares responsibility between librarians and faculty members. A department-based liaison program consists of librarians and faculty who collaborate to select and guide the growth of the collections by discipline. The collection development committee, comprised of all the librarians and the library Dean, meets monthly to create policy, discuss issues, and make final decisions on all matters concerning the collections.

Materials covered by collection development include all types of electronic resources as well as the more traditional print formats of serials and monographs, microforms, and audio-visual resources, particularly video and audiocassettes and sound recordings. All library materials purchased by the Library are housed in the library building. There are no satellite collections.

The funding for collection development activities derives from three distinct sources. A majority of funding comes from the special state budget line called Educational Reference Materials (ERM). ERM constitutes approximately 70% of the total collection budget, with another 20% derived from university-generated student fees. The balance comes from gifts, foundation accounts, special funding from departments and the Library Associates.

Over the past six years, the Library has been level-funded from all sources of revenue. This has resulted in significant loss due to inflation and is the primary reason for reductions in serial and monograph titles. In addition to inflation, conversion to electronic products for many reference materials, while providing wider access, dramatically increased their price. The transition from print to electronic versions of indexes such as Historical Abstracts, increased their annual cost substantially. As a result of flat budgets, $200,000 worth of journal subscriptions were eliminated in recent years, while simultaneously book title acquisitions fell from 9,000 per year to 5,000 per year.

The Library has engaged in several efforts to cope with budget concerns. It has joined a number of programs negotiated by the Boston Library Consortium to receive electronic databases at reduced rates The electronic versions of these databases provide essential information to library users in a highly accessible and manageable way. However, even at reduced rates these electronic products are far more expensive than their print counterparts.

To ameliorate the substantial serials reductions, the library instituted a document delivery service. Individual articles are purchased as needed in place of subscriptions to lesser-used but important journals. Increased technological capabilities in interlibrary loan, through the use of fax, scanner, and ARIEL, have also lessened the impact of journal cancellations.

Materials not available in the collection may be acquired through interlibrary loan. This service is available to all students, faculty and staff and utilizes the services of several consortia. Access to more than 37,000,000 bibliographic records is provided through participation in the OCLC interlibrary loan subsystem, an automated ordering system shared by virtually all academic and research libraries in the country.

Every year interlibrary loan activity rises steadily. In FY99, the library loaned 7,627 and borrowed 3,769 items through local consortia and national libraries. It continues to remain one of the top fifteen lenders in New England. Activity with consortium partners comprises over 70% of total annual interlibrary loan transactions.

Access to additional resources has been extended by the Library's participation in cooperative library networks. As a member of the Southeastern Massachusetts Cooperating Libraries (SMCL) consortium for the past thirty years, the Library has offered the speed and convenience of expedited delivery service from the libraries of Bridgewater State College, Stonehill, and Wheaton.

In 1993, the Library joined the Boston Library Consortium, a cooperative association of sixteen academic and research libraries, providing access to about 27,000,000 volumes, and more than 140,000 serial titles. Membership includes reciprocal access privileges for students and faculty, a shared resource program, and a courier service to and from the BLC libraries including the major Boston academic libraries, as well as Brown University and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.

Long-standing membership in the Massachusetts Conference of Chief Librarians in Public Higher Educational Institutions (MCCLPHEI) expands the Library's resources by enabling faculty and students to borrow materials on a walk-in basis from other Massachusetts state-supported college and university libraries. Recent affiliation with the newly formed multi-type library system, SouthEastern Massachusetts Library System (SEMLS), has had several positive benefits, providing students and faculty access to several full-text databases, including the Boston Globe. The Library has also benefited financially from participation in the state-wide interlibrary loan net-lender reimbursement program, as well as from new delivery services.

The Library's assessment activities have been limited to comparison with external peer data, other campus departments that have included the Library in their accreditation process, and in broad campus surveys. The Library is responsive to students, faculty, and community for teaching, research and instructional needs, and the library staff members are generally perceived as very knowledgeable, helpful, and productive.

A recent student satisfaction survey was done for the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) and the University Library Committee conducted a faculty survey two years ago. In the NACUBO survey (1997-98), the Library came out very favorably, not only in importance, but also in user satisfaction. Students expressed great satisfaction overall with the Library, and had high praise for the staff. Most of the criticism centered on the "unavailability of materials." It is clear that this comment is directly related to the history of insufficient funding of monograph and serial purchases.

The Library Committee's faculty questionnaire echoed student remarks: very happy with services and people but strongly recommending more funds for materials. Sixty-five per cent of the respondents have worked with a library liaison. Many faculty took the time to write such comments as "indispensable" and "amazing" to describe the liaisons and their work. They also reported that library instruction resulted in an improvement in student performance. Among faculty who indicated that they used the various parts of the collection, the majority ranked them qualitatively "very good" or "adequate" in terms of student needs, but lacking in quantity of materials. Overall, facilities and equipment were ranked adequate in terms of quantity and quality, but many respondents simply weren't aware of items such as audio equipment, CD-ROM workstations, microform reader/printers, and video viewing equipment.

These results help the Library determine areas of strength and, more importantly, those areas that need improvement or more visibility. More frequent communication concerning services and collections and more user surveys have also helped confirm many of the objectives of the Library's three-year plan, from improving the collection to upgrading the quality of facilities and equipment. Comments and suggestions from survey results will be taken into consideration as library staff begin the next round of long-range planning.

A thorough planning process was begun several years ago, resulting in both a three-year library strategic plan for the years 1997-2000 and a detailed library technology plan. The strategic plan outlines seven goals representing major library functions: collections, services, technology, personnel, facilities, fundraising, and communications. These goals support the Shared Academic Agenda for UMass Dartmouth adopted by the Faculty Senate in 1997. They include strengthening library resources and services for undergraduate and graduate programs, supporting faculty development, providing library outcomes assessment, enhancing support services to help students successfully assimilate into campus academic life, improving rates of satisfaction, retention, and degree completion, and improving the library support infrastructure.

The strategic plan serves as the foundation of all library planning and assessment activities. The library staff has made significant progress each year toward reaching prior-year objectives, leading to measurable results as activities and projects are completed. Details of completed projects can be found in recent library annual reports (see documents in workroom). Of many recent achievements, the stand-out is the implementation of the Voyager library system and the growth of the number of Web-based electronic resources available to campus users. The Library has also increased its avenues of communication, utilized staff input in planning efforts, and has made strides in beginning a step by step refurbishing of the Library.

Assessment and evaluation of these activities and projects is chiefly done from a quantitative perspective, and is based on the fulfillment of targeted goals and objectives. The Library has met 95% of its targets with a year remaining on the plan. This is a remarkable achievement considering the static budget and space constraints under which the Library has been operating.

The UMass Dartmouth Library remains the most important information resource facility in southeastern Massachusetts, and has always been conscious of its role as the largest library in the region. The Library serves a unique and diverse audience and every year its obligations to these groups increase. The entire region looks to the Library to provide materials unavailable elsewhere. The Library looks ahead to adopting mechanisms which will build support for the vital services it provides in helping the university maintain and increase the quality of its programs and the accessibility of its collections.

The implementation of a new Web-based integrated library system has enhanced the current offerings and services. The Library will work within the new budget planning process to identify levels of support which will allow it to maintain and build on this system.

As part of the review process of creating a new three-year strategic plan, the Library Administrative Council (LAC) is the formal library planning and assessment committee. In this role, it will not only develop new goals and objectives for the next strategic plan, but will also assess the Library's success in fulfilling the present three-year plan. Assessment activities include further evaluation of survey results, regular input from liaisons, the Faculty Senate Library Committee, and the Library Associates. Formal individual reviews and evaluations, as well as self-evaluation based upon fulfilling objectives in the three-year plan are also appraisal methods that will continue.

The Library will continue to work closely with academic departments and the General Education program to support information literacy and bibliographic instruction in specific majors.

Graduate programs and other initiatives which contain resource implications for Library collections and services will be identified and included in the long-term planning of the university through the new budget planning process, linking goals and objectives with resources.