Library Office Notes

JANUARY LIBRARY EXHIBITS

Electoral College
Government Documents Library, Main Hall Wall Case

Poesia LatinoAmericana Contemporanea
Latin American Library Display

Plants Which Poison Animals:  Old Knowledge and New Evidence
Treasures in the Attic:  Libraries on the Fourth Floor of the Main Library
Main Hall Case

Yehuda Amichai:  Israeli Poet Revolutionary:   1924-2000
Modern Languages and Linguistics Library

Inaugural Daze
Mueller Case

James Jones and WW II
Rare Book Room

Lost University of Illinois - "What Once Was -- What Might Have Been"
University Archives, Outside Room 19

University of Illinois Library Office of Development and Public Affairs

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University Library Faculty Meeting Minutes
December 15, 2000

407 Illini Union

Tim Cole, Vice-chair, Executive Committee, presiding

1.  The minutes of the November 17, 2000, faculty meeting (distributed December 4, 2000) were approved.

2.  Announcements

Janis Johnston introduced Kevin Butterfield, the Law Library's new head of technical services.

3.  Standing Committees

o Executive Committee (Tim Cole)

The committee has met three times since the last faculty meeting: on November 20, and December 4 and 6.  Budget discussions dominated the meetings.

On November 20, the committee discussed the search for an Assistant University Librarian for Services.  After a delay, the search is moving forward, and interviews will be scheduled soon.  The committee discussed the process for the review of budget proposals by the Executive Committee and Administrative Council.  One committee member raised a question about the wording of email signature files.  Beth Sandore offered to ask the campus webmaster about applicable university policies.  New business included:  discussion of the recruitment of a faculty-excellence prospect in the field of biotechnology; visiting committee assignments; a review of the report of the Recruitment Task Force; and the timing of Promotion and Tenure Advisory Committee election.  Paula Kaufman announced that draft procedures for the evaluation of library administrators are nearly completed.

On December 4, Sandore reported back on her conversation with the campus webmaster.   Campus policy dictates that computers should be used exclusively for campus business.  The library exercises common sense in the enforcement of this policy but is authorized to address objectionable use when it occurs.  EC decided not to develop a separate library policy. 

The committee devoted the remainder of the meeting to a discussion of FY02 budget requests.  Rather than discussing individual requests, the committee addressed general themes found in the requests.  These included: the large number of positions related to electronic resources; striking a balance between filling vacancies and creating new positions; staff requested for user-education activities; the creation of a staff-upgrade pool; defining basic services; providing for the cataloging of materials in western European languages; coordinating electronic reserves; providing network access to CD-ROM products; providing adequate funding to support recruitment and retention; prioritizing equipment and facilities requests.

The committee discussed the need to set priorities for the use of premium high-demand space, such as the Undergraduate Library.  The location of the Mortenson Center in the Undergraduate Library was seen as an example of how premium space is being used inappropriately.

The committee also agreed that two issues raised in the budget requests should be brought to the faculty for discussion:  the role of the position of User Education Coordinator (which is already a part of the Library's strategic plan) and the opening of the book stacks to undergraduate students.

The committee made several recommendations to the Budget Advisory Committee:

1.  Proper staffing is important, but there should be a balance between new initiatives and basic services.

2.  The committee should take into account that the divisions approached this new budget-request process in different ways.  Some brought every need to the table, others were more conservative.

3.  The committee should exercise good judgment in considering the requests of large and small divisions.  Size is not always the best criterion; the size of the user base and providing services for the greater good should also be considered.

Kaufman reported on her work to pursue funding that is available outside the usual venues.

o Promotion and Tenure Advisory Committee (Leslie Troutman)

The committee has completed its deliberations on this year's cases.   Recommendations have been forwarded to the University Librarian.  The promotion and tenure calendar will be available from the PTA page next week.  Many of the dates represent changes from last year's calendar.

3.  Report of the Taskforce on Recruitment and Retention (Janis Johnston)

Johnston led a discussion of the taskforce report (distributed in advance of the meeting).

The committee approached the task with common ideas on recruitment:

- The Library is recruiting in a tight market, which changes the way we should approach recruiting.  We must be proactive in our recruiting efforts and do more in the way of outreach if we are to fill our positions with the best candidate.

- In order to be successful, we must run an efficient and effective search process.   We must insure good communication with candidates at every step of the process.

Discussion:

One faculty member mentioned that some of the recommendations included in the report are already being considered and acted on by the Personnel and Development offices.   In response to a question about a second position in Personnel, Bart Clark confirmed that a search is underway.

Although it is helpful for the taskforce to establish the calendar dates that should be followed for an efficient search, we have little ability to work with great speed at certain points in a search.  For example, offers can be made quickly, but negotiations can take weeks, and this can be a frustrating time for the other candidates.   Also, when the offer includes appointment at the rank of associate professor with tenure, a negotiation can take five or six weeks.  Johnston replied that it is incumbent on the chair to keep the candidates informed during these long delays, but there are limits to what we can tell the other candidates when we are negotiating an appointment with our candidate of choice.  Perhaps a script should be prepared for search committee chairs and for Cindy Kelly so that we can make sure that these conversations are handled appropriately.

The report states that our research requirements for promotion and tenure have had an effect on recruitment and suggests that this is a question that should be addressed by the faculty.

4.  E-mail and collaborative reference services (Jo Kibbee)

Collaborative Digital Reference Service (CDRS) came out of a discussion at ALA two-and-a-half years go about how the models of collaboration and resource sharing that we currently use for ILL and cataloging might be adapted to reference services.  The Library of Congress took the initiative to organize the effort by establishing an international consortium of libraries to answer questions via the Web.  Participating libraries profile their collection strengths and indicate the schedule that their service would be available.  The goal for answering a question is forty-eight hours.

In October 2000, Kibbee heard more about the project at a conference and, at that point, Illinois decided to sign on.  She profiled our library according to the strengths of reference department, not strengths of library collections as a whole.   Our participation will begin in January 2001.

Participation by other libraries in the system would be at the discretion of the individual units.  Kibbee will send out a note to unit heads to let them know that they will be receiving referrals.  She will report back to the faculty in three months.

6.  There was no new business.

7.  Announcements

Candidates for Assistant University Librarian for Services will be announced shortly.

Richard Griscom
Faculty Secretary

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Library Staff Steering Committee Meeting Minutes
January 10, 2001

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