Literatures and Languages Library Implementation Team
Final Report and Recommendations
May 17, 2010
Table of Contents
Literatures and Languages Library Vision page 2
Background page 2
Operational Recommendations for the Literatures and Languages Library page 3
Services page 3
Digital Services page 4
Collections page 5
Staffing page 6
Space page 7
Implementation Plan page 8
Assessment Plan page 9
Implementation Team Members page 9
Appendix 1. Linear feet required for collections page 9
Appendix 2. Collections criteria for specific fields and disciplines page 10
Appendix 3. Position description for Literatures and Languages Library Interim Head page 13
Appendix 4. Position description for Literatures and Languages Library staff member page 14
Appendix 5. Description of specific requirements page 20
Appendix 6. Tabular chart of recommendations page 23
Literatures and Languages Library Vision
The Literatures and Languages Library will offer as physical and virtual environment that supports research, teaching, and learning in a variety of disciplines related to the study of English and Western European literatures and languages, comparative literature, cinema studies, linguistics, and translation studies. Subject specialists will maintain close liaison with departments in developing responsive collections, supporting research and teaching, and promoting the library's collections and services.
The physical library, located in rooms 225 and 200D, will provide an inviting atmosphere conducive to research, collaboration, and study. The on-site print collections will be judiciously selected to reflect the needs and preferences of our constituents, and a suite of services will ensure that our users find the information and resources they need. With exhibits, lectures and special events, browsing collections of new books and current issues of periodicals, comfortable spaces for individuals and groups, and extended hours of service, the Literatures and Languages Library will be a locus of intellectual engagement and discovery, and a "destination location" for researchers and users from both the local community and visitors from other institutions as well.
The physical library will be complemented by a robust virtual library presence that facilitates remote use. Librarians will invest in digital collections where appropriate and utilize new technologies to assist, instruct, and communicate with off-site users. Because our constituents pursue significant interdisciplinary activity, we will welcome opportunities to develop new and innovative ways to meet the needs of wide-reaching, multi-disciplinary research. In collaborative partnerships with our colleagues from the library and across campus, we will ensure that our constituents benefit from the full range of both the library's and the university's many rich resources.
Background
In fall 2009, a planning team composed of Library faculty and staff from an array of Library units directly involved in providing services in support of literatures, linguistics and the languages of Western Europe and their diasporas was convened to continue earlier discussions about how to best support these areas. The Team agreed that a new library unit, "The Literatures and Languages Library," would bring together the collections and services currently provided by English and Modern Languages and Linguistics libraries and should be "established on the 2nd floor, near the Main Stacks and other humanities collections. On December 22, 2009, the planning team submitted its final report, which was posted on the New Service Model Web site: http://www.library.illinois.edu/nsm/lit/planning_team/LLTA_Report.pdf
The report, among other things, recognized that "scholars in the areas served by [the English Library and the Modern Languages and Linguistics Library] share many common approaches and use many of the same resources. Uniting the collections of the two libraries would facilitate many scholars' research." The report recommended that "a merger of the English and Modern Languages and Linguistics units should be implemented in such a way as to increase services and improve collections and accessibility," specifically by offering the opportunity to provide more robust services, longer hours and time-saving research options for patrons.
In spring 2010, the Literatures and Languages Implementation Team began to develop a service profile, a remodeling and space plan, and an implementation timeline for the proposed new unit. The Team's charge was posted on the New Service Model Web site: http://www.library.illinois.edu/nsm/lit/Lit_Implementation_Charge.pdf The Team was specifically charged with identifying opportunities for the development of new initiatives and for the expansion of services currently offered by English and Modern Languages and Linguistics libraries. The Team was also asked to develop plans to best utilize the existing space in rooms 225 and 200D and develop a model for the staffing and organizational structure of the new unit. The Team completed its work in May, 2010 with the submission of the implementation report.
Operational Recommendations for the Literatures and Languages Library
Services
Public Services
The Literature and Languages Library will offer a wide array of public services in the areas of reference, instruction, and outreach. The merging of English Library and the Modern Languages and Linguistics Library into a single unit dedicated to the research and teaching of literature, language and linguistics will allow librarians and professional staff in the new unit to not only continue their rich traditions of services, but also to develop new ones. It should be stated from the outset that the following services are merely recommendations. Not all of them will apply equally to all areas, and their adoption will be at the discretion of the unit head, individual librarians, and professional staff.
Reference: The Literatures and Languages Library will offer reference services in all subject areas covered by the new unit. The reference model that may be most suitable for the new unit will be the consultation model, which is currently under development by the Reference Services NSM Team. In this model, librarians and professional staff will provide research consultations to patrons through various means: in-person consultations, email correspondence, electronic chat/IM or over the telephone. Neither the English Library nor the Modern Languages and Linguistics Library have traditionally experienced a heavy or even moderate flow of patrons demanding reference services. Thus assigning librarians and professional staff to hours on a reference desk is not warranted. The circulation desk at the Literatures and Languages Library will be an entry service point for walk-in patrons, as well as provide assistance to those seeking basic help with library resources (i.e., patrons who are searching for known items or using the catalog).
Reference collection: The new unit will have a small core reference collection located in room 225. Most of the new unit's reference materials will be interfiled with other reference materials in the main reference reading room, which will be adjacent to the new unit in room 200.
Coverage of reference: Librarians and professional staff in the Literatures and Languages Library will be expected to answer basic and entry level questions in all subjects covered by the unit when the specific subject specialist is not available. Patrons needing assistance with in-depth research will be referred to the appropriate subject specialist. Cross-training will be provided for all librarians and staff, and will be a cornerstone of the Literatures and Languages Library public service. Graduate Assistants will participate in reference at all levels and with the assistance of subject specialist if needed. Staff will provide basic assistance with reference questions.
Virtual reference: More and more reference questions are submitted by patrons through electronic chat/IM. Thus librarians and professional staff in the unit will be expected to participate in the Library's virtual reference service utilizing IM Collaborator.
Library webpage: A robust web portal will be crucial to the public services portfolio of the new unit. This portal will not only bring together the existing wealth of information on the English Library and the Modern Languages and Linguistics Library's web pages, but also will develop reference and instructional guides for primary subject areas. (Also see section on digital services).
Instruction: Library instruction to the Department of English and the School of Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics has long been important public services of the English Library and the Modern Languages and Linguistics Library, and will continue in the new unit. The collaborative efforts of librarians dedicated to literature, languages and linguistics will enable the development of a library instruction program that includes general research instruction and more specialized offerings. For example, the new unit might develop instructional modules for basic research in different types of literatures and languages. In creating these modules, librarians and professional staff may work with other units in the Library that serve related subject areas, such as the Area and International Studies Library.
Location of instruction: The new unit will have a space for in-house instruction and will also use other instructional classrooms located in the Main Library.
Instructional Guides: A suite of online guides and video tutorials created using software such as Camtasia will be developed to facilitate instruction and promote library resources to off-site users.
Outreach: Outreach to the campus and local community has been a vital part of the English Library and the Modern Languages and Linguistics Library, and will continue to be a key aspect of the new unit. Outreach to the campus community could take several forms: Librarians may undertake initiatives such as:
The new unit will also develop initiatives with other Library units with related interests, such as the Rare Book and Manuscript Room and the Area and International Studies Library. Outreach to the local community might include: author readings, film nights, scholarly presentations, and school tours.
Digital Services
The Literatures and Languages Library will support digital services for patrons and researchers in the humanities through limited in-house services and collaborations with other units: The library will have a digital humanities subject specialist who will work with scholars on digital humanities research, provide guidance to finding resources for their projects, and assist scholars with the tools and software for project work such as text encoding and image digitization. In addition to basic equipment such as a scanner and public workstations, the Library may also house a workstation with Scholarly Commons software for advanced media and digital libraries projects as well as allowing multimedia consultation like that which Bob Cagle now does now out of his office. High quality digital scanners and microfilm readers will be housed nearby in room 200 and the History, Philosophy, and Newspaper Library.
The digital humanities liaison and subject specialists in the unit will also connect scholars to people and research resources at other University research units such as the Illinois Informatics Institute, the Scholarly Commons, NCSA, and Institute for Computing in Humanities, Arts, and Social Science (I-CHASS). The Library may also host workshops in conjunction with these organizations, and these workshops could cover topics on digital humanities tools, research strategies, and project management.
Another aspect of digital services is the Literatures and Languages Library's online presence: The Library will maintain an up-to-date website that is an appealing, easily accessible, and navigable web portal to research resources in the humanities. The website will include, among other things, a virtual New Books Shelf (similar to the ones maintained by Library and Information Science Library and Modern Languages), indexed lists of online resources for humanities research, LibGuides for a variety of broad and specialized research topics in literatures and languages, and Camtasia video tutorials on using library resources. The website will also offer access to the Library's virtual reference service of electronic chat, which librarians will staff using IM Collaborator. Digital services at the Literatures and Languages Library may take a variety of forms beyond these initial possibilities, and the professional staff will strive to remain up-to-date and aware of patrons' needs and how the Library can best serve them.
Collections
General principles
The collections related to Literatures and Languages will encompass, as they have in the past, a core working collection of materials located in the Literatures and Languages Library, as well as materials housed in other locations including the Main Stacks, the Reference and Reading Room (200 Library) and Oak Street. In addition, the collections include online resources licensed by the Library, such as Eighteenth Century Collections Online. All of these collections will be developed holistically, with a goal of providing faculty and students the most appropriate and convenient means of access possible, and managed in cooperation with subject specialists and collections managers with overlapping areas of interest.
The Literatures and Languages Library will open onto Room 200, the grand Reading Room which houses the main Reference collection. Many of the reference sources currently located in 200 complement, extend, or, in some cases, duplicate materials currently held in the English and Modern Languages reference collections. Bringing these reference materials together, in a location mediated by the Literatures and Languages service point at the threshold between Room 200, 200D and 225, will allow researchers and librarians to have access to the full scope of the available reference materials whenever the Main Library building is open. A core collection of basic reference materials, including a selection of standard language dictionaries, will be located on dictionary stands in 225 as well as a small number of narrowly focused materials that need to be used alongside the circulating collection.
The working collection of circulating books and monographs to be housed in 225 will be in close proximity to the Main Stacks, allowing easy access to the vast collections in the Main Stacks that support and supplement the materials in the located unit. The Literatures and Languages onsite collection will serve primarily as an entry point for students and faculty. Accordingly, the onsite collection will include sources that help orient scholars to a body of work (e.g., The Cambridge Companion to German Romanticism), heavily used materials relevant to the curriculum of the department served, standard editions of collected works, and a selection of new books and monographs. The idea is to build a browsing collection that will be a starting point for basic scholarship for established researchers, provide new (or potential) scholars a broad overview, and inspire new connections. This complements the vast collections in the Stacks, which support focused, in-depth research.
A browsable collection of current, unbound issues of print periodicals will be housed in 200D, along with comfy chairs, large library tables, and ample outlets. With a handful of exceptions for core journals with incomplete online content, which may be important to keep in the Literatures and Languages Library, bound volumes will be sent to Main Stacks (if there is no dependable online backfile) or to Oak Street (if backfiles are available online). This is in keeping with preferences expressed in the survey conducted by the Literatures Planning Team in Fall 2009 which indicated that almost 80% of those responding preferred to access back issues of journals online and more than 70% preferred to use current journals online, as opposed to browsing the print.
Physical New Book Shelf?
After discussion of the advantages(creating an inviting atmosphere for browsing and discovery, supporting a highly valued service about which the user community has strong feeling) and disadvantages (cost in staff time for processing and decision-making, the availability of virtual new book shelves, lack of representation of related materials shelved in other locations), the Team decoded that a physical new book shelf should be maintained in the Literatures and Languages Library. It is hoped that the new unit will attract substantially more foot traffic and become a gathering place, and new book displays could be an attractive and inviting component of the new unit. Currently, English and Modern Languages Library policies for new books differ (English restricts access to the campus communities, while Modern Languages can be requested by other I-Share Libraries) and these will be reviewed and adjusted during the planning for the new unit.
CD-ROMs
English is verifying that all their CD-ROMs have been superseded by online resources, but the Modern Languages CDs are unique. The team recommends that we maintain a CD-ROM station for the time being, but continue to seek online access whenever possible. We recognize that at some point, as the computers with CD-ROM drives go out of service, that this is going to be increasingly difficult to maintain as a dependable means of access and alternatives should be sought as quickly as possible.
Staffing
Faculty and Staff
The personnel of the Literatures and Languages Library shall consist of:
Duties: This position will likely be held by a tenured librarian who already is a member of the professional staff in the future Literatures and Languages Library. The head librarian will serve as the administrative liaison for the unit; oversee daily operations for the unit; and provide leadership for the successful integration of personnel and core activities supporting public services in the new unit. (appendix 3).
Duties: Will serve as subject specialists for the areas of English and Digital Humanities, Cinema Studies and Comparative Literature, and Germanic Languages and Linguistics. These 3 full-time specialists consist of Harriett Green, Robert Cagle, and Janice Pilch, respectively. They would be involved in collection development and management, reference and instruction, and other unit-wide initiatives. They would have office space in the new unit and be available for reference.
Duties: They will serve as subject specialists for French, Translation Studies and Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese, and would be Caroline Szylowicz and Paula Carns respectively. They will be actively involved in collection development and management, reference and instruction, and all other unit-wide initiatives. They will attend all unit meetings and be in the unit weekly. These specialists will have offices elsewhere and may have laptops and docking stations for their work, but they will still need a space for research consultations.
Duties: The support staff members could consist of a senior library specialist and a library specialist, or a senior library specialist and a half-time library specialist. They will cover office manager responsibilities, manage the circulation desk, fill call slips, supervise student workers, and fulfill other collection management duties as needed (appendix 4).
Duties: These graduate assistants will be available across the unit, and not necessarily constrained to a specific language/specialist area. Their duties will include providing reference (in-person and virtual), assisting librarians and specialists with collection development and instruction, web development, and providing reference in the evenings.
Space
The Literatures and Languages Library will be located in room 225 and the adjacent room 200D on the second floor of the Main Library. Room 225 will house a circulating collection, small core reference collections, adequate office spaces for faculty and staff, and group study/collaborative space for users. In order to provide adequate collaborative and quiet study spaces in the new unit, the circulating and reference collections to be transferred to 225 will have to be assessed and reviewed for determination of the most appropriate location in the unit, the Main stacks, Retrospective Reference, or Main Reference (appendix 1 and 2). Room 200D will house a display of current unbound periodicals with some bound volumes. The room will also have a quiet study space. The current door from room 225 to the corridor will become a fire exit. The entrance to the Literatures and Languages Library will be through room 200 (the main reference room). A service/circulation desk will be located at the threshold between Room 200, 200D and 225 (appendix 5).
Alternate recommendation
Combine the new unit's circulation function with a central reference/information desk that can be moved to a central location in room 200 (the main reference room). It would allow for longer circulating hours of the Literatures and Languages Library and longer hours in which expert staff would be available to assist scholars and students.
Implementation Plan
Below is a proposed series of steps to create the Literatures and Languages Library in terms of both
organization and facilities. We anticipate that it will take one year for full implementation of the organizational and facilities changes to occur. Steps are listed in sequential order. Appendix 6 lists these recommendations in tabular form with some estimated costs and a timeline for implementation.
Organizational:
Facilities:
Collections:
Assessment Plan
The impact of the new unit should be assessed annually over the period of three years. Such an assessment would allow for the progressive evaluation of the new unit's circulation records, foot traffic, reference statistics, and research consultations. The assessment should include the following areas: gate count, rate of circulation, course integrated instruction sessions, bibliographic instruction programs, reference questions and consultations, and digital services and initiatives.
Implementation Team Members
Library Faculty and Academic Professionals (AP):
Faculty from outside the Library:
Staff:
(Robert Cagle, Dara Goldman, JoAnn Jacoby and Bruce Swann also served on the Literatures and Languages Planning Team in Fall 2009)
Appendices:
Appendix 1. Linear feet required for collections in 225 and 200D
Shelf space for English circulating collection: 1,900 linear feet (approximately 80% of the current shelving space). The remaining 20% will be transferred to stacks or Oak Street.
Shelf space for Modern Languages and Linguistics circulating collection: 1,000 linear feet (approximately 70% of the current shelving space). The remaining 30% will be transferred to stacks or Oak Street.
Total shelf space for circulating collection in 225: 2,900 linear feet.
Shelf space for English and Modern Languages reference collections in 225: 260 linear feet (approximately 20% of the current shelving space for combined English and Modern Languages reference collections). The remaining 80% will be interfiled with other reference materials in room 200, transferred to Oak Street, or transferred to STX Reference.
Shelf space for English and Modern Languages periodicals collection in 200D: 1,200 linear feet (approximately 80% of the current shelving space for combined English and Modern Languages periodicals collection). The remaining 20% will be transferred to stacks.
Appendix 2. Collections criteria for specific fields and disciplines
The criteria for specific disciplines are intended as a further refinement of the general collection principles articulated in the body of the report. As such, reflect the needs of the specific fields, as well as the historical development that has shaped the core collections in these areas. The criteria were, in most cases, drafted in conversation with the relevant faculties.
English collection
By Harriett Green, Robert Cagle, and Marek Sroka
The English collection represents a highly focused selection of materials covering a wide spectrum of topics and types, from fiction to criticism. The English collection to be housed in the Literatures and Languages Library will differ significantly from the fiction collection held by the Undergraduate Library, which focuses primarily on popular works, and that of the Main Bookstacks, which maintains the vast majority of library holdings in all subject areas. The English collection is a mediated and managed collection-a collection carefully maintained and overseen by subject specialists who work with patrons and researchers to identify and utilize these materials. Because the English Library supports and fosters this type of text-based research-an organic approach that uses information from serials and monographs both old and new to build on a foundation of seminal, canonic texts in both fiction and criticism-it would be difficult-indeed impossible-to articulate a set of simple, overarching principles for the selection of materials to retain or to relocate. Rather, what follow is a set of guidelines for identifying steps to be taken toward the possible revision of the collection.
Monographs (circulating collection):
Materials retained in the collection will include:
Materials that will be possibly transferred:
Reference:
Materials retained in the collection will include:
Materials that will be transferred:
Serials:
Materials retained in the collection will include:
Materials that will be transferred:
French collection
The Languages and Literatures Library will have a relatively small working collection of circulating books. The exact number of titles has yet to be determined and partially depends on available shelf space. The emphasis on the collection will be on titles that support the research interests of the faculty and grad students, the MA reading lists, and foundational literature on topics covered in the curriculum. Currently, there are 60 shelves of circulating books in the 800s (literature) and titles that meet the criteria will be transferred to the new library. Additional titles may be transferred from the stacks if staff time is available. The circulating collection of French linguistics titles currently in the Modern Languages and Linguistics Library (15 shelves) will be transferred to the Literatures and Languages Library.
Only current issues of periodicals will be kept in the new library, with the bound volumes sent to Main Stacks (unless they are available online).
A small non-circulating collection of ready-reference books (dictionaries, style manuals) for quick consultation will be available in the Languages and Literatures Library.
The bulk of the reference collection for French will be in the Reading Room (200 Library), which is immediately adjacent to the Literatures and Languages Library. The current reference collection in Modern Languages and Linguistics Library is being reviewed, with some items transferred to Oak Street (duplicates copies, pocket dictionaries), Stacks Reference (large bibliographic sets, particularly those that have ceased), or potential circulation. The working/research collection of reference books (bibliographies, dictionaries, biographical dictionaries, etc) will be integrated into the Reading Room.
Main Stacks
Unfortunately, the 800s will continue to be split between 5W and 9E, for the foreseeable future, and little room for growth is available in the stacks collection. The stacks collection of 800s and 400s will be reviewed (again!) to identify candidates for Oak Street. Candidates include: books in poor condition (which will be better preserved at Oak Street); duplicate or superseded editions; duplicate sets of complete works (retaining the recommended set in Main Stacks); fiction by lesser-known authors or authors not included in the curriculum; and books and periodicals that are available online. Currently circulating titles from Modern Languages and Linguistics Library that are not transferred to the Literatures and Languages Library should be transferred to Main Stacks if there is sufficient room and if they are relevant to current research/curricular needs.
German and Linguistics
Reference/non-circulating in language, literature, and linguistics in Room 200:
General encyclopedias, bibliographies, dictionaries, indexes, handbooks, chronologies, etc. that are heavily used, including multivolume reference works that need to be held intact in one location, and single-volume reference works that should not circulate due to their value or heavy usage.
Circulating collection:
A circulating collection of subject- and author-specific reference works and books providing comprehensive coverage of a specific area of scholarship that could be checked out on a short-term basis. This would include works like the Cambridge Companion to German Romanticism and the Oxford Handbook of Linguistic Analysis.
Literature and criticism, and scholarly monographs on literatures, languages, and linguistics should be held in Main Stacks and circulated from there.
Spanish, Italian and Portuguese
Circulating Collection:
Language/ Linguistics: Only materials relating language learning for SIP, such as textbooks, cds, grammars, readers.
Literature: The current collection for literature is really just a hodge-podge and not useful in its current state. The new unit will not allow for enough space for meaningful collections.
Reference:
Language/ Linguistics: Dictionaries and grammars
Literature: only major general bibliographies (author and subject-specific will go to Stacks/Oak), major encyclopedias, etc. for both Iberia and Latin America
A guiding principle for reference should be to free up as many works of a specific nature and thus mostly only of interests to single individuals so that they can circulate.
Journals: only most recent volumes; there are no longer SIP popular magazines and only 1 or 2 SIP print newspapers.
Translation Studies
As a dynamic, newly created unit on campus, the Translation Studies collection should have a physical presence in the Literatures and Languages Library. Depending on staff time available for processing and transfer, titles that have been acquired in the past year can serve as the core collection, to which will be added new books relating to the practice and theory of translation (not a collection of books in translation).
Appendix 3. Position description for Literatures and Languages Library Interim Head
Interim Head, Literatures and Languages Library
University of Illinois Library at Urbana-Champaign
Position Available: December 1, 2010. This is a limited-term, three year 100% time, twelvemonth, faculty appointment. At the end of three years, the position will be evaluated and a
search conducted to fill the position.
Duties and Responsibilities: Reporting to the University Librarian, the Interim Head of the
Literatures and Languages Library will provide leadership for and supervision of library
services to students, faculty, and other scholars using resources in the humanities, literatures, and linguistics.
The successful candidate will:
collection development and management, outreach, instruction, and support for digital
scholarship;
graduate assistants/hourly staff in Literatures and Languages Library;
management of additional collections, specific library programs and operations,
Qualifications:
Required:
environment
resources
Preferred:
Appendix 4. Position description for Literatures and Languages Library staff member
Date:
Position Number:
Civil Service Number:
Incumbent:
Department: University of Illinois Library
Administrative Unit: Literatures and Languages Library
Present Classification: Senior Library Specialist
Reason for Position Description (please check one):
□ New position □ Fill Vacancy □ Audit X Update Other
FUNCTION:
Primary responsibilities of this position are information services, acquisitions, collection management and maintenance, bibliographic record management, computer and information technology services, and administrative coordination of unit operations under the general direction of the Head of the Literatures and Languages Library. In addition, the position has a leadership component that involves training and Library committee work.
ORGANIZATIONAL RELATIONSHIP:
Supervisor's Supervisor: Paula Kaufman
Supervisor: Literatures and Languages Unit Head
Others who report to same Supervisor:
Persons who report to the Incumbent:
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBLITIES - 100%:
I. Technical Services
Collection Management
1. Supervises and/or processes incoming new serials and newspapers in all Western European languages.
2. Maintains holdings records for serial publications and works with Acquisitions and CAM to keep the bibliographic and holdings records current and accurate.
3. Identifies, evaluates, and submits claims for monographic orders.
4. Suggests new materials to be ordered based on knowledge of the collections, consultation of bibliographic sources, and observed user needs.
5. Serves as the Library staff liaison with faculty and students on the status of library materials.
6. Searches OCLC and other bibliographic sources to ascertain title changes and cessation of serials in all Western European languages.
7. Assesses and prepares recently received materials from Cataloging that have selector or user-requested notifications, and those for the Reference collections.
8. Oversees, advises on, develops, and maintains the Reference collections.
9. Supervises and/or searches for materials not on the shelves and orders any needed replacements.
10. Assesses gift books for appropriateness for the Library's collections with subject specialists.
Acquisitions
1. Supports the fund managers' acquisition of materials through the creation, editing, and maintenance of documentation and computer files relating to the funds' budgets.
2. Using extensive knowledge of the bibliographic databases conducts searches for requested materials in French, German, and the Scandinavian languages using a wide range of bibliographic tools (Voyager, OCLC, domestic and international library catalogs), books in print sources (domestic and international), and publishers' material (print and online), to determine author and title information, publication data, availability, and price.
3. Supervises the preparation of and processes monographic and serial orders for French and French Canadian funds.
4. Collaborates with the Fund Managers in the selection of Approval Plan and EBO books as requested.
5. Utilizing a broad understanding of the international book trade, searches second-hand catalogs (print and online) in French, German, and the Scandinavian languages for out-of-print material.
6. Establishes correct bibliographic citations in French, German, and the Scandinavian languages and transmits electronic order forms to the Acquisitions Department.
7. Provides training and ongoing support to library faculty and graduate students in acquisition policies and procedures.
II. Collection Maintenance and Bibliographic Record Management
III. Information Services:
Circulation Responsibilities
Reference & Information Service
IV. Library Administration and Management:
V. Digital Technologies
1. Develops and maintains computer files relating to library policies, procedures, and statistics in Literatures and Languages Library folder on the Library server.
2. Serves as the Staff Coordinator for the Literatures and Languages Library website, identifying and evaluating format and content in collaboration with the professional staff and graduate assistants, developing new web pages, making updates to existing web pages, and liaising with the Library Information Technology Office.
3. Provides technical assistance to professional staff, graduate assistants and students in resolving computer-related problems.
4. Evaluates, prepares instruction materials, and trains professional staff, graduate assistants, and student assistants in new procedures and library-based computer applications.
5. Evaluates, organizes, and maintains the CD-ROM materials in the Literatures and Languages Library, in conjunction with the professional staff and the Library Information Technology Office.
6. Provides technical support of the local digital resources of the Literatures and Languages Library with the assistance of the Library Information Technology Office.
7. Conducts assessment of technology innovations for potential implementation in the Literatures and Languages Library.
8. Provides training to staff in other units on implementing new technology.
1. Knowledge required for the job
First and foremost, the position requires excellent foreign language skills. The incumbent must be able to deal with bibliographic information, records, and queries in all the modern languages of Western Europe. This includes English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian, and Danish, to name but a few. The job requires a broad knowledge base in several areas of library operations, including bibliographic databases and the Library's integrated technical services system. The incumbent must have the ability to apply methods, practices and policies developed for the library setting, and the skill necessary to synthesize, supervise and train others in them. Importance is placed on organizational skills for managing a public service unit, as well as the good verbal and written interpersonal skills to interact with a diverse community of coworkers and users. Being able to work independently, to analyze and adapt to varied and changing operational situations is essential. In-depth knowledge of digital and print resources is critical to success in this position. Competence with and the initiative to learn, computer-based skills used in the performance of the different duties of the job is essential. This position requires the ability to work with and, when judged necessary, to develop and implement new Library knowledge management systems.
2. Responsibility
A. Supervisory Controls
The Head of the unit may assign work both orally and in writing. Priorities are based on observed and expected needs assessed in the context of the Library's mission. In addition, the incumbent must balance the priorities of duties associated with responsibilities to other professional staff in the unit.
Guidelines
This position operates under guidelines derived from manuals, instruction materials, written regulations, and policy statements issued by the University, the Library Administration, and the Head of the unit from time to time as applicable and specific to the performance of the job. This position operates under a high degree of freedom. The position is the unit manager responsible for the continued running of the library when needed by the unit, and does so in coordination with the Head Librarian.
3. Difficulty
A. Complexity
a. The application of constant judgment and initiative, and the discernment of interrelationships and deviations are a must in the performance of a job whose complexity requires both knowledge and flexibility.
b. It requires careful evaluation and judgment to identify correct bibliographic entries by searching the Online Catalog, OCLC, and other bibliographic and online sources.
c. Providing for library users needs and interpreting needs not always fully or coherently articulated by library users is very important.
d. The ability to utilize a variety of reference and research tools and an acquired skill in working with all the major languages of Western Europe.
e. Using judgment in determining the need for referring to subject specialists in assisting users with their information needs.
B. Scope and Effect
The purpose of the job is to provide services to library users, to participate in the library operations, and to support the professional staff in the orderly rendering of collection maintenance, circulation, acquisitions, reference, and computer and technological services as provided by the unit, which in turn affects the Library as a whole.
4. Personal Relationships
A. Personal Contacts
Frequent oral (face-to-face and via telephone) and written (via email or paper) contact takes place with a wide variety of library users and during a range of duties. Interpreting the needs of the unit includes proposing, organizing and chairing meetings or training sessions with professional staff and student workers.
B. Purpose
These contacts are made for the purpose of providing technical support, answering circulation and reference questions, providing information, giving instruction, and working closely with users, professional staff and student workers.
ENVIRONMENTAL DEMANDS:
1. Physical Requirements
No special requirements except reasonably good health. Some moving and lifting of books which is neither intense nor physically exerting may be necessary.
2. Work Environment
The job is performed in an office and in a reading room environment. There may be occasional discomfort due to crowded conditions of the work space.
Appendix 5. Description of specific requirements
Literatures and Languages Library
DESCRIPTION OF GENERAL REQUIREMENTS
Interior building
Walls: Gypsum board and/or original plaster and paint
ceramic tile wainscott on wet walls. Walls should be repaired and painted
Ceiling: repair and paint Yes
Floor: carpet the floor in 225
Trim: paint TBD
Doors: natural wood finish TBD
All walls, ceilings, and trim will be painted Yes
All walls and ceilings are to remain existing plaster except in locations of demolition where gypsum board will be new construction
All window covering to be mini blinds. TBD
Project will include alarm system as possible add alternate
(allow $3,000-4,000) NA
Literatures and Languages Library
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS
Room Description (Room 225 will be used for circulating, small core reference collections and office space for faculty and space))
Use Stacks of circulating materials as well as office space for faculty and staff. 225B, an existing conference room and instructional space reservable through Library Facilities <http://www.library.illinois.edu/administration/facilities/rooms.html> will be used for staff meetings and instruction. Current Slavic seminar room will be used for meetings.
Area (NASF) 4,659 square feet
Adjacencies NA
Special Requirements The room should support wireless Internet connection.
Occupancy I FTE unit head, 2 FTE librarians, 2 Librarians with primary offices in other units, 1 FTE AP, 1 FTE staff, 1.25 FTE GAs. Some space should be provided for users (up to 10 people)
Furnishings Shelf space for circulating collections: 2,900 linear feet*
Shelf space for reference collections: 260 linear feet*
Separate office spaces should be created for 2 librarians, 1 AP, and 1 staff. The existing office in 225 can be used by head of the new unit.
Laptop docking station and consulting space (or shared office?) for the 2 librarians who are assigned part-time to this unit and will have their primary offices elsewhere.
Office furnishings: 5 desks, 5 computers (or 4 computers and one docking station), 5 task chairs, 5 visitor chairs, 5 phones, 6 file cabinets, 6 medium-sized shelves, additional 1 small conference table and 3 chairs for the unit head's office.
One shared desk, a chair and a computer for 1.25 GAs
Two tables and 10 chairs for students.
One staff printer.
Security gate for door out to 200?
* these figures represent shelves that are 85-90% full
pstmplte.doc
Literatures and Languages Library
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS
Room Description (Room 200D will be used for current periodicals display and quiet study space)
Use Stacks of current periodicals and quiet study space. Public computer terminals, a public printer and a scanner.
Area (NASF) 1,500 square feet
Adjacencies Circulation/service desk located outside of 200D and 225 must be adjacent to 200D and 225
Special Requirements The room should support wireless Internet connection. Add power to the existing power receptacle on the floor.
Occupancy Approximately 20 users.
Furnishings Shelf space for current periodicals: 1,200 linear feet* (900 linear feet for unbound periodicals and 300 linear feet for bound periodicals)
4 tables with seats for 6 each; comfy seating: 2 arm chairs; 2 carrels for quiet study, end table; power for 10 people to plug in their laptops; 4 public computers; one public printer and one scanner.
Appendix 6. Tabular chart of recommendations
Literatures and Languages Recommendations
|
Recommendation |
Specific Recommendations |
Start Date |
Completion Date |
Cost |
|
Transfer the English and Modern Languages reference collections to 200, Oak Street, or STX Reference |
Approximately 80% of the current English and Modern Languages reference collections should be transferred to 200, Oak Street, or STX Reference. The selection needs to be done by subject specialists. IPM can help with the transfer |
May 2010 (selection and transfer) |
August 23, 2010 (selection and transfer) |
NSM funds to support IPM labor costs for transfers |
|
Identify titles from the English and Modern Languages circulating collections to be transferred to stacks or Oak Street using collections criteria |
The selection needs to be done by subject specialists. Stacks and IPM can help with the transfer |
May 2010 (selection) October 2010 (transfer) |
August 2010 (selection) November 2010 (transfer) |
IPM costs |
|
Relocate government documents collections to the opposite end of room 200 |
Provide adequate space for a service/circulation desk of Literatures and Languages Library |
June 2010 |
August 23, 2010 |
Library Facilities labor costs, Student wages |
|
Renovate Room 225 to accommodate circulating collection, office spaces, public service area with comfy seating, and reference collections |
Provide adequate shelving, carpet the floor, re-lamp and paint the room; build office spaces. |
June-August2010 Some work can start in the back of 225 as early as June 2010 |
December 2010 |
$150,000 (NSM funds) |
|
Vacate the whole room 225 by moving the Slavic Reference Service to 200D |
Vacate 225 by relocating remaining Slavic staff and faculty and reference collections to a temporary location in 200D |
August 9, 2010 |
August 23, 2010 |
Library Facilities labor costs |
|
Reconfigure the current door from room 225 to the corridor into a fire exit |
The entrance to the Literatures and Languages Library will be through room 200 (the main reference room). |
October 2010 |
November 2010 |
Library Facilities labor costs |
|
Install a service/circulation desk at the threshold between Room 200, 200D and 225 |
A used desk can be installed |
November 2010 |
November 2010 |
Library Facilities labor costs |
|
Appoint Interim Literatures and Languages Head |
Appoint Interim Literatures and Languages Library Head (preferably a tenured librarian serving as a subject specialist in the Literatures and Languages Library) to lead the implementation process for a three year term; evaluate position after two years and begin search in third year |
December 2010
|
December 2013 |
$3,800 stipend for internal appointment |
|
Develop Literatures and Languages Library Web site to develop new identity |
Hire a graduate hourly |
December 2010 |
ongoing |
$20 per hour for graduate hourly support |
|
Install security gate between 225 and 200?? |
A used security gate can be installed (e.g. the current security gate in 225) |
December 2010 |
January 2011 |
Library Facilities labor costs |
|
Move the collections and staff of the English Library and the Modern Languages and Linguistics Library to 225 upon the completion of the renovation of the room |
Both English and Modern Languages and Linguistics should be moved at the same time to 225 |
December 2010 |
January 2011 |
Library Facilities labor costs |
|
Vacate 200D by moving the Slavic Reference Service to 321 |
|
April 2011 |
May 2011 |
Library Facilities labor costs |
|
Organize space for Literatures and Languages Library periodicals in 200D |
200D space needs to be organized for a display of Literatures and Languages Library periodicals in 200D |
April 2011 |
May 2011 |
Library Facilities labor costs |
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Last modified by: Kimberley Matherly on 5/18/10