Major accomplishments during Fiscal Year 2001/02
To continue to implement the removal of outdated material with consultation of faculty.
Systematic weeding of book collections was continued. Weeding criteria include multiple copies, superseded editions, physical condition, low circulation, and dated materials. Subject areas in which weeding projects were initiated included Literature, Economics, and Juvenile non-fiction. Liaison librarians work with liaison department faculty to complete the necessary reviews. This year printed shelf lists were used in addition to the actual flagging of the identified book collection.
The following were major accomplishments by the staff during
2001-2002:
The majority of activity in support of networked resources this year
was in support of making new electronic materials accessible to students
in physical locations off campus. The addition of various JSTOR and
Emerald periodical collections requires numerous implementations of links
in the library's web presentation and within the library catalog by
assignment of new collection locations.
(activities begun and completed
within the 2001/2002 academic year)
Reclassification of the
Juvenile Fiction collection was completed this year.
Work has been completed so that all Special Collections sound
recordings are now in one classification scheme, labeled, and housed in
plastic covers.
New/Updated Database
Subscriptions
To support the "Library-Without-Walls" conceptual
framework, the following database subscriptions were added to the serials
collection:
Spoken Word Recording Evaluation
The spoken word recording
collection was evaluated for possible withdrawal because of low circulation.
The department recommended that the collection be kept because of the high
quality content and the fact that the content is often not as yet available
in other formats.
(report of progress of projects
begun in previous academic year)
Reclassification
Projects
Oversized books in the Dewey collections continue to be
reclassified into the LC Oversize collection. Any oversize books that are
returned to Circulation are now being sent to Cataloging for
reclassification. All books that are selected by faculty for their Reserve
Lists are reclassified into LC before being added to the Reserve Collection.
Reclassification of the American and English literature books (810-829 in
Dewey Decimal collection) areas has resumed now that rearrangements have
made room available in the LC stacks. The books in the General Collection
section of 810-812s have been reclassified.
Database Clean-up
Work continues in changing the coding on
the bibliographic records that were transferred from Dynix to Voyager with the
designation of "Other" rather than as being part of the Dewey Decimal
classification scheme.
The thousands of records that were transferred from the Dynix system
without holdings and item records were identified, examined and corrected.
Recall reports are being run regularly to identify new occurrences. Each of
these bibliographic records are examined individually and corrected monthly.
Weeding of Selected
Collections
Systematic weeding of book collections was continued.
Weeding criteria include multiple copies, superseded editions, physical
condition, low circulation, and dated materials. Subject areas in which
weeding projects were initiated included Literature, Economics, and Juvenile
non-fiction. Liaison librarians work with liaison department faculty to
complete the necessary reviews. This year printed shelf lists were used in
addition to the actual flagging of the identified book collection. Weeding
of outdated, superseded Government Documents is a major ongoing project to
coincide with the transition to a more electronic depository.
Electronic journals
The highest priority serials project
this year was to create linked holdings records for the over 3500 electronic
journals that were added to the collection. We continued implementing the
systems librarian's plan that identifies each periodicals database as a
unique collection or "location". In a cooperative project, bibliographic
records for more than 500 of the new titles were added to the catalog by the
cataloging unit, and thousands of holdings records were added, reformatted,
and updated by Thelma Eckerd and her student assistant staff. Catalog
records are now more accurate and present clearer information to the library
user. A good start was made on this ongoing responsibility with much more
work to be done. The following databases were focused upon:
Work is in progress for these databases:
GPO Electronic Records
GPO electronic records, those with
no tangible distribution, are a reflection of a major emphasis for the
transition of the Federal Depository Library Program to an electronic
collection while meeting the demand to maintain Federal titles in print.
Ganser Library receives a separate monthly Marcive, Inc. file of
electronic-only titles.
Standing Order Process
The process for receiving and
processing book standing orders is being reviewed. These items are currently
received as firm orders and cataloged and processed in the Cataloging unit.
The concept being explored is that these materials be received and
checked-in as serials. This project would mean significant changes in the
current collection development and cataloging unit workflow with the
expectation of a more streamlined operation.
Serials Evaluation
In preparation for the triennial serials
evaluation and also impending budget reductions, unit staff is preparing
up-to-date title lists that now include electronic formats.
URL Revision
The Collection Development Committee reviewed
a draft URL/PURL validation policy. The policy and validation issues remain
under consideration in the Committee.
Physical Rearrangement of Collection Development
Unit
Related to a program review recommendation, unit staff are
developing a plan for the physical merger of the acquisitions and serials
units on the ground floor. Working with Leo Shelley, staff are identifying
space needs, workflow patterns, and furniture/equipment arrangements as
related to number/levels of staff and ongoing unit responsibilities.
Vendor Lists
The Serials area completed the processing of
its final paper issue vendor list. For years, older paper issues that are
archived in other formats have been withdrawn and sold to vendors who
specialize in supplying libraries with issues missing in collections. Income
was then used to purchase additional microfilm and microfilm equipment. With
the increase of journal titles available in electronic databases online and
the decrease in paper and microfilm subscriptions, vendor lists will no
longer be part of the work related to subscriptions. Future paper issues
that are identified for withdrawal will be offered for use by the UNESCO library project being
coordinated by Dr. James Cosentino. In fact, some older paper indexes and
journals now held in other formats have already been sent to identified
African countries as a result of this project.
Accreditation Reports and Library Collection
Development
The Collection Development unit coordinated the
compilation of data about pertinent library holdings for the Music, Industry and
Technology, Social Work and Nursing
Departments.
CD-ROM Circulation
There is ongoing discussion about the
development of a general CD-ROM collection that would allow open public
access to this format. Most CD-ROM titles are now placed in the reserve
collection.
Older Indexes in Paper Format
An evaluation project for
older paper indexes is in progress. Current curricular support is the
primary evaluative criteria. Related to the project is a need for space for
incoming materials in the bound volume stack area on the 4th balcony.
Processing of New
Archival Materials
Through standing agreements with some units and
specific contacts with others, the University Archives received materials
from the following offices: President, Provost and
Vice President of Academic Affairs, Director of Library Services, Dean of the
School of Education, Dean of the
School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Director of Sports
Information, Admissions, Director of
Continuing Education, Public
Relations, Registrar, Alumni
Services, the Black Student Union, the Social Equity & Diversity
Office and the various departmental offices across campus. Materials such
as minutes of councils, committees, and departments continue to arrive in
the campus mail daily. Over 100 linear feet of archival materials were
transferred to the archives from April of 2001 to March of 2002. The
Office of Printing and Duplicating also deposits in the University
Archives a copy of brochures, flyers, etc. produced in that office. The
Director of Library Services has issued several memos to University
personnel concerning the depositing of appropriate materials in the
University Archives. Some of the materials above were added as a result;
other units have expressed interest and will likely deposit items in the
future.
International
Technology Education Association Archives (ITEA)
Archival
records continued to be received from the international office of the ITEA
and its affiliate in Pennsylvania. A student assistant from Special
Collections has been assigned to process and reorganize earlier records
from the collection.
Book Collections
We are adding new volumes to the book
collections as the budget allows. The types of materials added include:
out of print and current publications for the Pennsylvania Local History
and Culture Collection, pre-1900 volumes relating to pedagogy for the
Wickersham Collection, imprints published in Pennsylvania prior to 1850
for the Rare Book Collection and new additions from faculty and alumni for
the Millersville Authors Collection.
Frank Gullo Sheet Music Collection Over 9,700 scores of
Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals dating from the late 19th century to
the 1970's have been entered into a local database and indexed. The index
has been placed online and is available on the Special Collections website
at http://www.millersville.edu/~archives/archweb/manuscripts/scoretitle.htm.
Numerous requests for scanned copies have been requested from all over the
world.
Mae Slater Wingenroth Post Card Collection
As part of the
Keystone Library
Network Electronic Preservation Project 1017 postcards of Pennsylvania
Educational Facilities (1890-1950) from the Mae Slater Wingenroth Post
Card Collection have been digitally preserved and their scanned images
placed on the Special Collections website. This includes numerous images
of the Millersville University campus from the early half of the 20th
century. The site can be viewed at http://www.millersville.edu/~archives/archweb/manuscripts/cardtitle.html.
Julius Wallach Imprint Collection
Close to 5,000
lithographic images of significant structures, places and people from the
1790's to the 1850's were donated last year by retired Millersville
professor C. Richard Beam. Many of the images are of European government
buildings, castles and monasteries, prominent world landscapes and
portraits of European royalty, prominent politicians, authors, poets,
philosophers, etc. The initial stages of processing and indexing the
collection have begun as well as scanning some of the images for
preservation purposes. Plans are to complete the indexing and place all
images online.
C. Richard Beam Pennsylvania Dutch Newspaper
Clippings
Over ten linear feet of newspaper clippings of columns
written in the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect by C. Richard Beam have been
processed and cataloged for public use. Includes an extensive archive of
newspaper clippings by renowned Pennsylvania Dutch columnists from 1860's
to the present. A digital index for Internet use is being developed for
the collection.
Noteworthy acquisitions
It is important to note that the
Special Collections unit has acquired many collections of historic
importance. Some of the more significant acquisitions include the Maggie
Cameron diaries, a series of diaries of Senator Simon Cameron's daughter
prior to and during the American Revolution, Susan Ann Furnace daybook, a
rare ledger documenting the business activities of an early 19th century
lime kiln and iron furnace, and the John G. Wink diary, an 1851 diary of
one of the founders of Maxatawny Seminary which eventually became Kutztown
University.
University Archives Photograph Collection
Photographs and
images housed in the University Archives have been removed from old metal
file cabinets, placed in protective Mylar photo sleeves and stored in acid
free file folders and boxes. Over 25,000 photographic prints and negatives
were transferred to the archives last year and are being processed by
three student assistants.
Security
All students, researchers and patrons continue
to register at the reception desk prior to entering the Reading Room.
Restrictions have been placed on areas where rare and valuable collections
are stored. The Manuscript Collection, Rare Book Collection and University
Archives can be accessed only during the hours when the Archivist and/or
Archives Assistant are present.
Climate control
As in the past the extreme fluctuations
in temperature and humidity continue to plague the repository's storage
facility. During the past summer humidity levels exceeded 80 percent and
temperatures reached close to 90 degrees on a few isolated occasions. In
recent winter months the humidity levels have dropped below 30 percent
while temperatures have stabilized to about 65 to 70 degrees. This
dramatic range in both temperature and humidity must be addressed to best
preserve the future lifespan of the many valuable collections stored in
the repository.
MU Index
The MU Index added the following from July 2001
to March 2002: Millersville University and borough articles from the three
Lancaster newspapers from 1960-present the Snapper from
1973-present, MU Exchange, and the Alumni/Millersville
Review for a total of 1,013 items added, bringing the grand total to
more than 87,750 records.
Cataloging Staffing
The Catalog unit has been delighted
to have had Anne McGillivray and Cheryl Lutz appointed as half-time
adjunct librarians with their primary assignments in cataloging during
this academic year. They have been working on a number of projects
including reclassification of American literature and Juvenile Fiction,
original cataloging of Special Collections and other materials, and
verifying and updating non-standard subject and name headings in our
on-line catalog.
Special Collections manuscripts cataloging project
More
than 100 bibliographic records describing the Special Collections
manuscripts have been checked for cataloging accuracy and updated this
year. This represents more than half of the collection that has been added
to the online catalog.
Electronic Periodicals Collections
Hundreds of individual
periodical titles from electronic collections such as JSTOR, Project Muse, Ideal, and GenderWatch have been searched in OCLC, the bibliographic
records verified and added to the online catalog. The holdings records
have been established and made ready for completion by the serials unit.
Labeling Program
The labeler that is connected to the Voyager software is
finally working after having gone through many versions from Endeavor and much
troubleshooting from Teresa Weisser and Aaron Zod. This program should
increase the efficiency in label making.
Authority Control
Quarterly name, series and subject
authority update files are received from LTI. Processing the
updated files has continued to pose problems this year but we are hopeful
that this will be worked out this summer. Authority records for unlinked
subject headings are being reviewed and revised during the spring
semester.
Gifts
Several large gift collections of books, video
recordings and curriculum items were received this year and are added to
the general workflow. They are processed in the order in which they are
received.
Weeding
In order to maintain current and accurate records
of the library's collection on both Voyager and OCLC, weeded materials are processed and withdrawn as
rapidly as possible. Books from 300, 600, and 800s have been withdrawn
after weeding projects in those areas.
Image Server
Image Server software was purchased by the
Keystone Library
Network from Endeavor. It will allow libraries to scan digital images
of unusual or unique collections and input them into their library
catalogs, thereby making them available to our students and to the general
public throughout the world. Preparation work for image server has been
extensive with leadership coming from Millersville through Janet Dotterer,
chair of the KLN
Electronic Preservation Committee, Dieter Ullrich as a member of the
Electronic Preservation Committee and its web subcommittee, and Teresa
Weisser as a member of the cataloging subcommittee. The Committee is
coordinating all the state university libraries and the State Library in
their efforts to have uniform cataloging of the projects.
Cataloging reports
A report was run on item records that
have statistical codes or item type or location name that don't match. The
resulting hundreds of records were corrected. A report was run on item
records that didn't have statistical codes. Codes were added for hundreds
of records that were migrated from Dynix without codes. A daily report is
run identifying any materials in cataloging or labeling that have had a
"hold" placed on them by a patron. Those items are processed and sent to
the circulation desk ready for circulation to the requestor within two
working days. Periodic lists of materials in cataloging and labeling allow
us to monitor the "first-in, first-out" policy easily.
Circulation Services:
Stack
Maintenance:
Building:
Periodicals Area Services:
Office:
Reserve Services:
The highest priority unit goal was accomplished;
the library materials budget was successfully encumbered by the mid-June
deadline set by the purchasing office. Intricate vendor/library license
agreements were completed and detailed tracking of electronic resources
subscriptions by spreadsheet was accomplished. Three major serials
invoices were processed to achieve continuation of subscriptions in paper,
microfilm, and electronic formats.
In a tight budget year, tracking expenditures accurately was a
challenging process. This year's base budget was $545,646.00. One-time
supplemental allocations were received to keep library and departmental
non-subscription allocations at the same level as in 2000-01, to cover
inflationary increase for 2002 subscriptions, and for the JSTOR General Science, the
JSTOR Ecology/Botany,
and the Compustat databases. The total base and supplemental materials
budget was $683,559.00. Restricted and unrestricted endowment income for
book purchases was about $15,000.00. (This figure does not include the
Friends of Ganser Library accounts.) In addition, there were two special
allocations transferred into the materials budget. One was the 2001 Senior
Class Gift of $5688.00 that was used to order books for the juvenile
literature collection. The second was a gift of $1,000.00 from the
Commission on Cultural Diversity that was used to purchase diversity
videos. D'Ann Ressler and her staff ordered and received approximately
4000 monographic items during the year. The serials staff checked-in about
700 paper issues, 140 microfilm reels, and 50 bound volumes per month.
Vendors
Baker & Taylor Books continued as the major vendor
for book ordering. The discount through October 31, 2001 was 17.8% and
changed to 18% on November 1, 2001. The discount is based on SSHE library
sales volume.
EBSCO, Proquest (formerly Bell &
Howell/UMI), and Princeton Microfilm Company continued as the major
periodicals vendors.
Baker & Taylor
continued to apply tattle-tape security strips and do paperback
prebinding, as well as creating and applying the barcode for each book.
Many print and media titles were ordered from online vendors like Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com with very
prompt receipt of materials and a competitive discount. Many direct orders
were placed online. Overall, online vendor customer service is
exceptional.
Credit Card
The library continued to refine its use of a
procurement card for purchases. The card is used for online ordering of
materials not available from Baker & Taylor, rush materials, and media such as
videocassettes, DVD's, and CD-ROM's. A credit card enhancement was
developed by the University accounting unit that allows use of the library
credit card for endowment fund purchases. An increase in the credit line
available to purchase materials also increased the timeliness of the
ordering process.
Ordering of Curriculum Materials
Cooperation among the
monographic acquisitions staff, the education librarian, and the
cataloging unit staff improved the ordering/receiving process for
curriculum and other library materials. As a result, orders are more
efficiently processed, and fewer short records are entered into the
catalog.
Voyager
2000 Update
A major revision to the acquisitions module was part of
the 2000 upgrade. The upgrade was a disaster in that many enhancements did
not work properly and greatly impeded acquisitions work during 2000-01.
Refresher training for acquisitions staff was provided by the Endeavor company in
August, 2001. Having overcome the significant problems related to the
upgrade, this year all unit staff had the opportunity to learn more about
system enhancements and develop more normal workflows.
Unit Staff Crosstraining
Unit staff on all levels are
slowly being cross-trained in monographic and subscription materials
processes. Even with a reduced complement, student assistants continued to
work on the weeding project and mail processing. A basic list of
procedures that all support staff should know in order to keep unit
operations running is being developed. Items include: processing of orders
and invoices, materials check-in, various nuances of the Voyager system and
other basic unit routines. It is important to note that crosstraining is
not a reasonable substitute for the reduction of student staff if many
projects are to be continued in addition to basic workflow. In addition,
the number of student hours needed directly mirrors the up-and-down
fluctuation of the materials budget, the number of fulltime staff in the
unit, the experience level of each student assistant, and improvements in
workflow such as those changes related to the credit card and direct
ordering.
Standing Orders
Standing orders continue to be checked in
as firm orders. In order to evaluate the standing order collection,
preliminary exploration for developing a standing order database was
completed.
Electronic Order Form
A few faculty continue to use the
electronic form; some librarians are using Baker & Taylor's Title Source II database to develop
carts of titles to be ordered.
Cancelled Order Process
With a process for handling
cancelled titles now in place and integrated into the regular workflow,
emphasis was placed on closing open orders within a reasonable timeframe.
Jennifer Ruth was instrumental in refining this process to eliminate the
backlog of cancelled title work.
Bindery
The paper journal issues to be bound were
consistently pulled to eliminate any bindery backlog. The bindery contract
is currently out for bid with a binder to be named as of July 1, 2002.
The Curriculum Materials and
Juvenile budgets were well funded this year in comparison to last year's
initial allocation. In addition, the Class of 2001 donated a gift of close
to $6000 for juvenile titles. The gift allowed us to greatly improve our
collection of early childhood and picture books, as well as adding
significantly to the elementary-level titles.
New shelving for Kits and Manipulatives
Kits and
manipulatives were moved to a new location during the summer of 2001. New
shelving, designed especially to house odd shaped and large items such as
kit boxes, was installed in the area currently called the Listening
Center, an area that will soon house the new Math & Science Center,
part of a campus NSF grant
initiative. This area also houses the new educational software collection
and a multimedia PC.
Juvenile Books
In ordering children's literature, review
sources such as Booklist, Horn Book, and the International Reading Association's booklists were
consulted. Collection emphases were: elementary level fiction and
non-fiction, multicultural (particularly African-American, Latin-American
and Hispanic-American) titles, and starred reviews from Booklist and Horn Book. For the
first time in several years, a significant number of young adult titles
were added. In support of a course on young adult literature taught in the
English
department, award winning and starred review young adult titles will
be systematically purchased each year.
Juvenile non-fiction weeding
Weeding of the juvenile
non-fiction Dewey collection was begun during the spring of 2002. All
dated (pre-1980) and damaged books have been flagged, and the Education
Librarian and members of the Elementary
and Early Childhood Education department are in the process of
reviewing the flagged titles. The project should be completed sometime in
the 2002-2003 school year.
Planning
Much of the planned new physical arrangement of
CMC resources has been completed. The new Math & Science center, part
of an NSF grant, will be
in place during the 2001-2002 school year, and with the new center the CMC
will benefit from increased publicity among elementary, science, and
mathematics faculty and students and area school teachers. Juvenile
Fiction Reclassification The "Juvenile Fiction" Dewey collection, minus
1500 weeded titles, was reclassified to the Library of Congress
classification system. The project was completed in the fall of 2001. All
juvenile fiction is now part of the Juvenile LC collection. Only older
non-fiction titles remain in Dewey classification.
The Federal
Depository Library Program (FDLP) continues to disseminate information
in a variety of formats to depository libraries with increased emphasis in
the delivery of electronic documents. Electronic access to information
constitutes the major focus of collection development activities in the
Government Documents unit. More than half the products distributed by GPO are in
electronic format. For the next several years, the Government Documents
unit will focus on the management and organization of all formats in the
collection to prepare for the major transition to a strong electronic
collection. The unit will also continue to maintain valuable older paper
publications and selected current paper publications.
The development of the FDLP
electronic collection concept is in response to the congressional mandate
for the successful transition to a more electronic depository program. In
1993 Congress amended Title 44 with the GPO
Electronic Information Access Enhancement Act (P.L. 103-40), which
requires GPO to disseminate Government information products online.
Marcive, Inc.
The Marcive,
Inc. outsourcing contract for GPO-cataloged records is the primary
source for bibliographic records added to the library catalog. The
contract includes GPO cataloged and updated OCLC records with a
monthly file and a separate file of electronic only records.
Web Access
The
Government Resources section of the Library Launchpad provides direct
links to major publications of the United States government. The World
Wide Web access to primary sources and other information is readily
available on the computers in Ganser Library Reference area and is
distributed across the University campus for faculty and students. GPO Access, Core Documents of U.S. Democracy, other national,
international and state links are readily available from the Government
Resources section.
Technical Services:
The technical service functions of the unit strive to provide full
bibliographic and updated records for all materials in the collection -
tangible and intangible. The Marcive
cataloging service provides records of new documents received and is used
as a major resource to import other records to match documents maintained
in the collection. Manipulation and implementation of the records becomes
the responsibility of the department. All corrections of class and item
numbers in addition to holdings information are completed within the
department. Serial check-in and support records are created and updated as
documents are processed for shelving.
The receipt and physical processing of depository shipments added
to the collection remain a top priority. These processes are completed in
a timely fashion, as required by the Federal
Depository Library Program guidelines. Depository library
identification stamps and classification labels are required for each
piece received. These processes are completed for both Federal and State
(Pennsylvania) Depository Programs.
The withdrawal of documents is a routine activity in the unit.
Beginning with January 2002 and the retirement of the Regional Depository
Librarian at the State Library of Pennsylvania (the Regional Depository
Librarian grants approval to selective depositories to post withdrawn
materials on an Available List), we now have eight available lists that
need Regional Approval. Until a new Regional Librarian is appointed, the
lists remain on hold.
Unit Accomplishments:
In General
The use of information technologies in support of various library
programs and activities this year has been one of both frustration and
success. Several undertakings consumed much larger amounts of time to even
partially implement than anticipated while simultaneously failing to meet
basic expectations for the public's benefit. Other undertakings with an
"internal" focus were extremely successful resulting in large increases in
efficiences and consequently time savings on certain activities. Endeavor Information Systems, Inc.
Further work on Voyager reports in the upcoming year is anticipated
to lower the technical thresholds required to get the report to run on
any given PC (by removing the need for various client software and
configurations which are tedious and timely to install on a PC) by "web
enabling" various reports and enabling them to be run "on demand."
Other 3rd Party Software Applications
In House Software Applications
Very preliminary conversation about utilizing this software by other
SSHE institutions has also taken place. The feasibility and particulars
of any non Millersville implementations are yet to be fully explored.
Student Employees and Interns
Hardware
Software
Library Domain / Network
In order to implement the University Library's information literacy
mission within the context of a virtual library, it is essential that a
strategic plan and evaluation process be in place, that a well-defined
faculty and staff team-oriented development and training program be in
operation, and that a method to supplement the resources allocated by the
University through fund-raising and grantsmanship activities be outlined.
After a fit of false starts the
Endeavor Information Systems "Image Server" product and associated
desktop clients were finally deployed. Preliminary testing work has been
conducted resulting in a 3rd and final "from the ground up"
configuration of the container that will house the electronic version of
the Wingenwroth postcard collection physically present in the Special
Collections unit.
Better
utilizing existing network operating system software, the library can
now automatically deploy and centrallly manage the client software
associated with the Voyager system. This new management capability
should save considerable time when upgrades of the Voyager system take
place (usually in December and sometime during the Summer months).
Several new
"locations" were established to allow for better management and granular
access by the public to certain materials contained within the library's
various collections. New locations were created to enhance serials
management and workflow along with the addition of several new locations
for curriculum materials that will be part of the Math and Science
Teachers Center.
Several VBA (Visual
Basic for Applications) scripts were developed and implemented for the
purpose of capturing and handling various Voyager related use reports.
Reports that previously took several hours to run and days to manually
compute are now automatically feed right into a database for easier
manipulation.
The Ariel software utilized
heavily by the Interlibrary Loan unit was successfully upgraded from
Ariel 2.x to 3.x, but machines were later downgraded to version 2.3 when
it was determined that the device drivers for the Minolta scanning
equipment (bound volume scanner, microfilm scanner) used by the library
was sufficiently incompatiable with version 3.x that major functionality
was lost. As of the June, the Research Library Group and Minolta have
only offered a patch to the 3.x version for the bound volume scanner. As
a result, this project will spill over into the summer and possibly the
Fall semester.
New Clioweb software was
purchased, installed and partially integrated with certain Interlibrary
Loan activities. Patrons now have the ability to check the status of
their ILL transactions online in "real time" as the underlying database
is updated. However, as of early June we are still unable to provide
electronic delivery of inbound articles (received via Ariel) through a
secure website because of numerous software bugs that were reported. As
a result, this project will spill over in to the summer and possibly the
Fall Semester. Once fully operational this software should allow the
Interlibrary Loan unit the ability to deliver ILL articles that are
received electronically from lending institutions directly to library
patrons via a secure webpage without the need to print or physically
handle the item.
The Directory of
Library Collections was database and web enabled by Anna Maltseva, a
Computer Science intern during the Spring 2002 semester. She also
developed in Visual Basic a custom interface for use by the Circulation
Unit for so the directory can be more easily updated without working
knowledge of the database itself or the need to understand any web
markup languages. This directory is used in conjunction with the Library
Catalog to aid people in finding the physical location of various
materials.
The Directory of Library Faculty and Staff now contains
much more information about library faculty and staff and has been
database and web enabled to allow for better overall accessibility and
maintenance. A sorting feature allows users to more easily identify
faculty, staff, administration and general "office" contact information.
Used in conjunction with the Library website, this database allows for
much more centralized (and we hope) accurate information about who to
contact for various questions, comments, concerns, etc.
A rather sophisticated equipment
inventory management application was also developed over the last
academic year by Aaron Zod (a student), Technology Assistant for Library
Systems. This allows various people within the Library to spend
considerably less time tracking hardware, software installations,
memory, processor speeds, etc. while hooking into various "move plan"
activites when new equipment arrives within the Library and older
equipment is reshuffled or slated to leave the Library. Updates and
tracking are done in "real time" as equipment is installed or reassigned
to new users and/or locations.
Although little used this
fiscal year, extensive testing and configuration work was completed to
align funcationality with need to make these electronic forms function
properly. The new forms and logic takes into consideration the person
submitting the request, matched to the applicable fund lines for the
appropriate department or program, then matching the request to the
appropriate department liaison and generating and formatting the
information for actual ordering by the Acquisitions Unit.
Eleven minor and one major new
release of the Library's Website Administration Application were made
during the last academic year. Eleven specific bugs were identified as
such and corrected while 21 specific enhancements were implemented
including an automatic indexing and search functionality. This new index
functionality provides additional access points to various library
resources, services and information should a user not be able to readily
locate something by navigating through the website itself. A "report bad
link" functionality was also developed and implemented to allow "one
click" reporting of links to resources or services that are not
functioning as anticipated. Security was also tested and some additional
user accounts have been created with less than "super user" rights to
parts of the website. Expanded participation in working with the library
website in anticipated in the coming year.
The
Library's Systems and Information Technologies Unit continued to rely
upon Millersville student Aaron Zod for supporting many of the
implementation and very technical aspects of the Library's technological
infrastructure throughout the academic year. During the Spring 2002
semester he was joined by Anna Maltseva, a Computer Science intern
earning co-op credit for software development. The Library was also
fortunate to be able to hire Millersville student Justin Golihew to
assume various duties from Aaron Zod upon his anticipated graduation in
December of 2002. Justin began working in the Library in May 2002.
Almost 40 pieces of new equipment
were ordered in April of 2002 for Summer deployment thorughout all units
and physical areas of the Library building. As of late May almost all of
that equipment was deployed and being used by Library faculty and staff.
The Library was also able to purchase an additional Windows 2000 server
as part of an on-going attempt to provide some type of hot "roll over"
redundancy that would allow continued access to library resources and
services to patrons in the event of some catastropic hardware failure.
The arrival of this new equipment will result in the physical movement
and rebuilding of approximately 80 other pieces of equipment throughout
the Library.
The library's primary server had storage
space doubled (from 30gb to 60gb) and an additional half a gigabyte of
memory was added to the machine. Tapeware is also being utilized for
backup and recovery in keeping (to the extent possible) with existing
university systems practice and policy. The Library may have to
investigate a new tape drive for the upcoming year as the number files
and size of the backup precludes utilizing one or even two backup tapes.
A new HP8000 series printer was purchased early
in the academic year for use in the public Reference Area. The prior two
printers which this unit replaced had really reached the end of their
useful lives given the extremely high volume (500,000+) they were
experiencing on an annual basis.
Automate, a macro generation program, Beyond
Compare, a file comparison utility, and Flash were all purchased by the
library for various "backoffice" uses ranging from preliminary concept
testing to pre-production testing. Additional licenses of Snag It, a
screen capture type utility were also obtained during the year to
faciliate problem resolution in the technical services areas.
As new equipment is being deployed,
those machines are being added to the Library's own domain vs. the
University domain. This will allow for much better and more efficient
administration and management of application(s) software, critical
operating system updates, the ability to automatically lock down public
use machines to preclude any electronic vandalism, restore files, etc.
As more equipment is being
added to the Library domain, more administration tools are being located
and utilized to good effect. Students Aaron Zod and Justin Golihew have
either developed or adapted more "user friendly" interfaces or scripting
to make installation of new equipment and updating of existing equipment
almost entirely automatic. As the numbers of computers has edged up
somewhat over years past (we're somewhat stable at about 120 computers),
the ability to administer and manage this equipment has improved
substantially, allowing more time to be spent on improving services that
benefit not only library faculty and staff but the university community
as well.
Networked resources from a public use standpoint continues largely
unchanged from last year. As new electronic resources or collections have
been acquired they have been added in appropriate places through the
library website, but no major design or appearance changes have been
undertaken during this academic year. As more faculty have the opportunity to participate directly in
"content management" via the website (designing resource guides, adding
annotations to describe resources for certain effect for particular
courses or classes, adding new resources or information for various units)
the probability that certain "templates" that control the look and feel of
the website will need to be reviewed. At present, the library has
relatively few style and color combinations which has lent a sense of
coherency to the overall presentation, but as more focused 'sub sites' are
designed within the entire website itself with a particular objective in
mind the present look and feel may not always meet the needs of users.
The website continues to be enhanced and
maintained for the Special Collections and Archives at http://www.millersville.edu/~archives/archives.htm. The
site consists of brief descriptions, scanned images, and transcriptions of
collections housed in the repository as well as lists of holdings.
Patron Usage
The number of students, patrons and
researchers who visited the Special Collections unit was nearly double
last year's totals. The circulation of materials from April of 2001 to
March of 2002 was 1246, up 331 from the past year's report. The number of
patrons entering Special Collections to use its various collections rose
from 554 to 1267 during this same period. With the introduction of the
Special Collections online reference desk the unit has received over 100
requests for information, copies or scanned images of materials kept in
its repository. The number of classes receiving instruction on using the
archives has also doubled since last year. There were six courses taught
during the past two semesters on how to locate and properly use archival
materials in the Special Collections and University Archives. The number
of tours by visiting professional and student groups to the campus has
also increased during the past year.
The use of Ariel for sending
articles to and receiving them from other libraries continued to increase.
During the 2001-2002 fiscal year we sent approximately 80% and received
approximately 65% of all articles via Ariel. This increased use continues
to improve services to our users by decreasing the number of days it takes
for us to acquire requested items.
Online Forms
The use of online request forms for
interlibrary loan and faculty photoduplication requests continues to be
popular. The software tool, ClioRequest, processes patron initiated requests,
allowing staff to route the request to a variety of destinations.
Approximately 60% of all faculty requests for photoduplication of library
materials were submitted through the online forms.
ClioWeb and
ClioAutoUpdater
The library technical staff continues to
experience difficulties getting the newly purchased software package of Clio products to
function as advertised. When fully functional, this software will
eliminate time consuming steps for staff and will offer multiple new
options to our patrons such as receiving articles delivered to their
desktop, requesting renewals on line and checking the status of their
requests.
From summer 2001 through the end of the
spring 2002 semester, library faculty taught a total of 248 classes,
reaching nearly 5200 undergraduate and graduate students. Library
instruction was offered in the following subject areas: Anthropology;
Biology; Business Administration; Chemistry; Communication; Educational
Foundations; Education; Elementary Education; English; Earth Sciences;
Industry and Technology; Mathematics; Music; Nursing; Psychology; Reading
Education; Social Work; Sociology; Special Education; and Wellness and
Sport Science.
Millerville hosted the annual meeting of the SSHE Reference
Librarians on November 8-9, 2001. More than 30 librarians from State
System institutions attended the two-day meeting that included
discusssions of reference resources, services, and philosophies. Also
featured was a panel presentation by three Millersville faculty members:
Dr. Larry Reinking (Biology); Dr. Rita Smith Wade-El (Psychology); and Dr. Ying Wushanley (Wellness &
Sport Sciences).
Faculty
Scott R. Anderson
Geraldine M. Benson
Jessica George
Cheryl Lutz
Irene Risser
Leo Shelley
Paul Studdard
Dieter Ullrich
Marjorie Warmkessel
Teresa Weisser
Marjorie White
Support Staff
Loree Conrad
Janet Dotterer
Thelma Eckerd
Catherine Foutz
Krista Higham
Sally Levit
D'Ann Ressler
Sue Rohrer
Jennifer Ruth
Deborah Sowers
Milta Vega
The University Library will provide a liaison program that is the
primary link between the Library and academic departments or programs.
Components of the liaison program will include information services, library
instruction, and collection development that are appropriate for each
liaison partnership.
(activities begun and completed
within the 2001/2002 academic year)
The Liaison Committee was
instrumental in implementing a new, university-wide Library Liaison Advisory
Subcommittee, consisting of classroom faculty, the Director of Library
Services, and the Chairperson of the Liaison Committee. This Advisory
Subcommittee allows faculty from the three schools (Education,
Humanities/Social Sciences, Science/Math) to participate in the planning of
the Liaison meetings, which are held twice a year. The Liaison meetings are
attended by faculty from both the Library Department and the academic
departments, as well as deans and the Directory of Library Services. These
meetings are extremely useful in fostering communication between
professionals within the Library and the faculty and administration of
Millersville University.
The Liaison Committee also ensures that each academic department on
the Millersville campus is connected with the Library through a Library
faculty member, who acts as the academic department's liaison. The Library
Liaison to each academic department is responsible for ordering appropriate
materials to be housed in the Library to support the educational programs of
the academic department, and also acts as a contact person for the faculty
within the academic department. The Liaison Committee ensures this
connectivity by preparing and maintaining a list of each academic department
and the departments' chairpersons and the liaisons to the library, as well
as the Library faculty member assigned to be the Library Liaison to the
department.
Finally, the Liaison Committee is participating in the Library
Department's Outcomes Assessment process during the 2001-2002 academic year
by conducting a survey among all regular faculty in order to gauge their
knowledge and use of online resources made available through the Library
Launchpad. This survey has been completed and the results of the survey are
being coded and analyzed.
The purpose of the Strategic Planning Committee is to provide a
mechanism for proposals emanating from curriculum committees to be
evaluated for impact on other areas within the Library. In a sense, to act
as a clearinghouse to better coordinate and determine that all the major
issues surrounding an activity that may impact on other programs in the
library department are identified and addressed.
Presentations and Awards
Professional Development
Service
Professional Development
Service
Publications and Presentations
Professional
Development
Service
Professional Development
Anne McGillivray
Service
Professional Development
Elaine Pease
Service
Professional Development
Service
Professional Development
Service
Sessions for faculty
interested in applying for sabbatical leave
Publications and Presentations
Professional Development
Services
Served as member
of planning committee.
Publications and Presentations
Professional
Development
Service
Elected Secretary for 2002-2003 academic
year.
Pubications and Presentations
Professional Development
Presentation was favorably
reviewed in the Local History & Genealogy Librarian News in the
October 16th, 2001 issue. See http://www.heritagequest.com/html/lhgl_011016.html#century
Service:
Listened to lecture entitled "Citation Server, Image Server,
Encompass - How do they Relate" and panel discussion on the "LSTA Image
Server Grant"
Observed the following presentations:
"Digital Philadelphia", "Providing Access to Electronic Records", "Virtual
Exhibitionists", "The Electronic Records Jumpkit" and "Marrying Our
Collections to the Web"
Publications and Presentations
Professional
Development
Service
Served as member
of planning committee.
Publications and Presentations
Professional Development
Service
Publications and Presentations
Professional Development
Service
Served as member
of planning committee.
Served as group facilitator and
presenter.
Professional Development
Service
Professional Development
Service
Professional Development
Service
Professional Development
Service
Publications and Presentations
Professional Development
Service
Professional Development
Service
Professional Development
Service
Professional Development
Service
Professional Development
Service
Professional Development
Service
Professional Development