(Added 7/10/2007)

University of Nebraska at Omaha
University Library and Learning Resources Committee
Annual Report 2006-2007

Members

Faculty:

Administrators/Staff:

Undergraduate Students:

Graduate Students:

Ex-Officio:

Charge to Committee

The University Committee on Library and Learning resources shall be responsible for reviewing and recommending policies and procedures pertaining to the functions and services of the University Library. The purview of the committee shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, the areas of resources, holdings, services, relationships to constituents, and overall programmatic development.

Meeting Agendas Summary

Summary of Proceedings for the Year

At all three meetings of the committee, the major topic of discussion was the on-going library renovation and addition, and improvements in library services implemented by Dean Shorb and his faculty and staff. The committee was very pleased with the changes as they have unfolded and commends all involved for their outstanding efforts and accomplishments.

Library Renovations

Phase I, the construction of the Guinter Kahn addition was completed and resulted in an immediate increase of foot traffic from 2000/day to 6000/day. The new spaces for group and individual study and gathering and the café are very popular with students.

Phase II, involving the replacement of the ground floor, was scheduled to begin after the end of the Spring 2007 semester. This phase will involve rennovation of the faculty and student spaces on the 3^rd floor, the addition of compact stacks on the 1^st floor,

Costs and Budget

The library has remained at budget even though there has been no increase in the library budget and costs of serials and books are skyrocketing. Much cost control has been implemented by reducing redundancy in holds (e.g. keeping an electronic subscription rather than both an electronic and a hard-copy subscription). The library is also switching to an electronic ordering system for acquisitions.

Electronic Theses and Dissertation Submittal

Pending approval by the Graduate Council, students will be able to submit dissertations and thesis electronically. The advantages include citation and abstract availability internationally, digital preservation by the Library of Congress, and lower costs for students.

The committee discussed a few ways of informing faculty and students about the new option, including holding a get-together for graduate students, getting the word out the graduate program committees. Such measures would have to wait until the Graduate Council approves the measure.

Library Services

Meta-search capability

Over the year, Dean Shorb and Karen Hein demonstrated some of the meta-search capapbilities being added to the on-line search function. Searches in one electronic database will link to the full-text version, even if the latter is in a different database from the one being searched.

Student engagement with the library

The library also hosted a number of events to encourage student engagement with the library. These included a "Stress Free Sunday" at the end of prep week in which the students could get free massages in massage chairs, "Fine Forgiveness at the Ballpark" in which students could get library fees waived by going to a UNO baseball game in April.

CD collection

The library has reorganized the CD collection, making them much more accessible to students. These holdings are circulating more.

New electronic resources

A host of new electronic resources have been added or upgraded.

Library acquisitions and deaccessions

A faculty member from Biology attended the final meeting of the LLRC to discuss some questions about acquisition & deaccession policies and practices. One of the points of concern was that she felt there was insufficient communication with the departments regarding what material was going to be deaccessioned. One action item for next year was to have a meeting of all of the library liasons with the Library Dean to get briefed on what's going on. The LLRC should have a joint meeting with the library liasons once per semester.

Freshman and Alumni Satisfaction with the library

According to Linda Mannering, 86.7 % of UNO freshmen at the end of their first year are "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with Library Facilities and Services. This is the highest rating among all services and facilities.

According to a March 2007 survey, library usage is the most often used service by alumni. Keep in mind that only 39% of the respondents live in the Omaha metro area.

Selection of LLRC Chair for 2007-2008

Dwight Haworth volunteered to chair the first meeting of the LLRC in the Fall, 2007. At that meeting, a permanent chair of the committee will be selected.