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September 13, 2012

University Library Committee Minutes
Thursday, September 13, 2012

Members Present
Cynthia Jasper (Chair), Ed Van Gemert, Larry Nesper, Ron Harris, Allison Kaplan, Steven Barkan, Susan Barribeau, Jody Hoesly (minutes)

  1. Welcome and Administration

    Introductions were made. It was pointed out that student members still need to be appointed by ASM to be added to ULC. The Interim Director, Ed Van Gemert, also reminded ULC members that ULC faculty will need to be selected to serve on other campus governance committees such as; Memorial Library Committee and the Campus Planning Committee.

  2. Election of the 2012–2013 UCL Chair

    Cynthia Jasper was nominated and unanimously approved to be the chair for 2012–2013. There were no other candidates nominated.

  3. Review and approve 5/20/2012 ULC meeting minutes

    Ron Harris made a motion to approve the 5/20/2012 meeting minutes without changes, second by Susan Barribeau, approved.

  4. Interim Director’s Report

    Library Budget Update - Ed Van Gemert reported on progress being made with library funding despite the fact that the UW Madison collection budget is ranked one of the lowest in the CIC. We are second from the bottom, just above Purdue. The top school, Michigan, has a collection budget of $23 million whereas the UW-Madison Libraries combined collection budget is $10.9 million.

    Mary Rader stated that although these additional funds provide some relief, most of the FY13 budget lines took a 10% cut on top of inflation. These deep cuts are impacting the libraries ability to support research and teaching.

    Ed reported that additional funding has become available from the following:
    Student Information Technology Initiative (SITI): The GLS has been awarded SITI funding of $100,000 one-time funding plus a $250,000 base budget adjustment that is specifically targeted for ebooks, mobile access, and educational innovation. CIC large acquisition program: Each year, the CIC schools pool collection funding for a consortia purchase which is typically around a million dollars. For UW Madison, it has become more and more difficult to pay our portion which is about $200,000. This year, the Provost and Vice Chancellor agreed to provide the funding for the CIC large acquisition program. During the discussion, the Vice-Chancellor asked what does success for the library look like and how would the additional funding impact the campus? The Interim Director consulted with the library executive committee who advised investing in technology and people to help the library move forward in a reduced environment.

    Provost request for additional collection funds: Another request was made to the Provost for $500,000 per year for 3 years with a 3% increase after that to support library collections. The request has been approved but the exact amount has not been confirmed yet. This additional funding would be used for enhancement of the collections, staff, spaces, and partnerships.

    Proposal to use the Chancellor’s Annual Fund to support library development: A request was also made to have a full time UW-Foundation advancement specialist dedicated to the library. There has been a part time person in the past, but not a dedicated individual.

    Allison Kaplan made a motion to endorse the enhancement and development proposal, second by Susan Baribeau, passed. A recommendation was also made to form a Libraries Board of Visitors who can help develop fundraising strategies to enhance the library endowment.

    Verona Storage Facility: The storage facility is being funded with $1 million in unrestricted library gift funds along with $1.2 million from campus funding. Campus has also agreed to pay for any additional site preparation costs that exceed the initial estimate.

    Educational Innovation (EI) and libraries – Campus library resources and services are being aligned with the EI initiatives to support research and learning.

    Ithaka S+R faculty needs assessment survey in the spring 2013—ULC co-sponsorship? – Ithaka is a consulting service to advance research and teaching in sustainable ways. Ithaka has invited UW-Madison Libraries to participate in its annual spring faculty assessment survey. The GLS will provide a project manager to work with Ithaka to create and administer the survey locally to determine faculty needs and then compare the results to other universities participating in the survey. Ed stated that ULC support for this project would help the process. Steve Barkan mentioned that he had already been contacted by Ithaka, but it may have been for a Law Library survey.

  5. Campus Libraries Director Reports

    College Library Computer Lab Redesign. Carrie Nelson described the College Library computer lab redesign which now includes:

    • Media Studio Classrooms – a digital media rich environment for small group collaborative projects.
    • The Design Lab – digital project design consulting with a digital aesthetics and composition focus.
    • Software Training – resources for software training in proximity to the other digital creation services and support.

    It was mentioned that the media studio classrooms are not listed in the timetable, whereas WisCEL is listed. This issue is being addressed. It was also suggested that future ULC meeting be hosted at College or other campus libraries so ULC members could see projects such as this one.

    Mary Rader (Collection Development Officer) reported on the Deduplication Project. The de-duplication project has resulted in at least 35,000 duplicate serials and journals being removed from library shelves. She emphasized that this is duplicate materials and NOT unique content. Regarding collection budget cuts: she reported that many of the subject lines had a 10% cut. These reductions are very difficult to make and difficult to communicate. Access is the goal and the Libraries are doing the best with what they have.

  6. Themes for the year

    The following is a list of potential ULC themes that were mentioned along with a summary of the discussion regarding specific topics:

    • Copyright Education
    • Open Access – Are we interested in moving toward options? There are peer review and tenure concerns.
    • Print storage plan
    • Interlibrary Loan (ILL) – There is increased efforts for ILL. We are not getting big collections. Instead, we are getting items when needed. What does this mean for the long term?
    • Director Search – Where are we?
    • Library Success - What should the University Library look like…realistically…not utopia? What does success look like? What provides richness and special things in the library? What should students and faculty expect? How do the other ULC topics/themes fit in? The ULC not only affirms things, is also a governance group. We should be using this to articulate the Libraries vision which will help justify future library service, facilities, workflow, or content improvement projects.

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