PUBLIC SERVICES ANNUAL REPORT 1999-2000

This report summarizes accomplishments during the 1999-2000 academic year for the public services’ departments within the Ohio Wesleyan University Library System. The intent is to document use statistics and highlight efforts to improve library services. For those interested in more detail, in-depth reports are available for each public services area.

The public services staff remained stable. The following staff members composed public services: Paul Burnam, Danielle Clarke, and Joy He, Public Services Librarians; Chuck Della Lana, Audio Visual Services Manager; Deborah Carter Peoples, Science Branch Manager, Carol Hallenbeck, Music Branch Manager, and Charlene Howison, Biology Branch Manager; Bernard Derr, Chief of Circulation, and Chris Yates, Assistant Chief of Circulation; Marsha Zavar, Interlibrary Loan Manager/Public Services Office Manager; Tom Green, Associate Director of Libraries and Head of Public Services; and more than seventy student assistants assigned to public services areas.

Audio Visual Center

After last year's record high, traffic in the Audio Visual (AV) Center decreased 10% this year (see Appendix A for exact use statistics). Equipment checkouts decreased 3.3% and software checkouts -14.8%. There was a dramatic increase, however, in the need for data projection as more faculty members used PowerPoint in their lectures. Total room usage, which includes classroom, study room, and Learning Lab, decreased 12.9%.

The Center kept busy with increased campus demands outside the library and through increased use of video software and production services. Production services increased 49.9%. This included more use of video duplication, recording, editing, and taping. Students in the Economics and Zoology departments, in particular, produced more multimedia projects this year. Other services, led by deliver/pickup and purchase consultation, increased 42.6%.

Several new pieces of AV equipment were processed and added to the circulation inventory. New gear included rolling AV projection carts, audiocassette recorders, overhead projectors, 35mm slide projectors, VHS player/recorders and portable camcorders. Two portable LCD projectors were added to the circulation collection to help meet increasing faculty demands for computer/internet projection. A DVD player was purchased and installed in the projection room (AV 27). A second DVD player was installed in one of the small viewing rooms for student use. New production gear included a digital camcorder, four track audio recorder, microphones and audio cables. A slide/film negative scanner was added to the multimedia workstation for student and faculty use.

More than 70 software titles were added to the circulating collection, filling requests from Black World Studies, Economics, English, Geology, History, Humanities/Classics, Journalism, Modern Foreign Languages, Physical Education, Psychology, Sociology/Anthropology, Women's Studies.

A fall edition of Screenings, the AV Center newsletter, was produced and distributed to faculty the first week of classes (see Appendix B). "Media Software Catalog: Spring 2000" was distributed to department secretaries and made available for browsing at the AV Center services desk. An online version was uploaded to the campus server during winter break and made available from the OWU Libraries Homepage. "OWU Movie Channel Guide" was published monthly and forwarded to the Student Life office for campus-wide distribution.

Audiovisual media sharing for faculty among the Five Colleges of Ohio Consortium was implemented Spring semester. The service was greatly appreciated by the faculty on all campuses.

The AV Center supported individual faculty members and departments in a variety of ways. Multimedia CDs, for example, were created for Dr. Margaret Fete, MFL, Dr. Michael Flam, History, and Dr. Lauren Wiebe, MFL. AV Services Manager Chuck Della Lana also produced eleven video interviews of "native speakers" for an MFL multimedia project. He advised and assisted with the audiovisual component of the History Department's Vogel Lecture. He videotaped student debates for the Journalism Honors course, Information Literacy: News and the Net. He advised and obtained written estimates for History, MFL, Pyschology, and Zoology Department AV equipment purchases. He researched and advised the Journalism Department on digital satellite receiver needs for the campus TV station. In the MFL lab, he examined and corrected data projector problems, worked with the B&G's office to replace the lamp module in the projector, and replaced/installed a new audio system for video playback. He advised and assisted the Psychology Department with an electronic classroom installation. He provided 16mm to video transfer services for the Psychology and Sociology/Anthropology Departments.

The AV Services Manager assisted students with video editing projects for psychology experiments, Theatre/Dance projects, OWU football and basketball highlights. He also helped a student, Jon Yeager, produce a short film, "The Inadvertent Misogynist, as an independent study project.

The AV Center supported campus events and programming in a variety of ways. The AV Center, for example, aired approximately 200 films over the campus cable system for the Residential Life Cinema Series. Memorial services and Commencement were videotaped for the Chaplain's Office. Chuck Della Lana provided a text-scanning workshop for the Greek Affairs office. Also, he was heavily involved in providing audiovisual support for the Mock Convention.

The AV Center provided AV support to numerous meetings and workshops held in the Hamilton Williams Campus Center. Seven teleconferences were downlinked and hosted at the library for academic departments and Delaware area non-profit organizations.

Ten student assistants staffed the AV Center this year. In addition to desk responsibilities, these students were assigned to such projects as updating the print and web-based AV Media Catalog, videotaping special events, and delivering equipment for the OwjL and Upward Bound programs.

Circulation

The 1999-2000 turnstile count of 254,157 represents a 3.5 % decline in the number entering Beeghly Library (see Appendix A for use statistics). Faculty borrowing increased 2.7% and non-OWU patron borrowing 4.1%. Students, however, checked out 9.4% fewer books. Reserve and renewal circulation both declined, too. The total number of book checkouts and renewals was 9% lower than a year ago. Periodicals borrowing remained about the same, decreasing only 0.5%.

Off-campus borrowing and lending continued to be a significant component of Circulation work. Through CONSORT and OhioLINK, 9,131 items were borrowed and 11,756 loaned. The combined consortia borrowing and loaning increased 1.1%. Both Fall and Spring semesters a student in the Student Assistantship Program (StAP) aided with the processing of CONSORT and OhioLINK loans and the follow-up of related problems.

Circulation staff members maintained basic access services. The doors of Beeghly library stayed open 104 hours a week during the school year. Additional hours of service were offered during the week of final exams and the week prior to exams. Patrons were registered and the general book collection, periodicals and materials on reserve were circulated. Some 600 personal copies were cataloged for circulation through the Reserve Room. To keep materials available to borrowers, overdue notices were sent out, books recalled, and $27,877 in fines collected for the repair and the replacement of books. 573 books reported missing were found. The Circulation Department continued to target books not previously marked for the "Knogo" security system.

The stacks were kept in good order with regular shelf reading during the school year and through a systematic shelf reading of the entire book and periodical collection during the summer. In the process, books identified as oversized were transferred to oversize shelves and books needing minor repair were mended. Several small shifts were accomplished during the year in overcrowded sections of the stacks. Assistant Chief of Circulation Chris Yates assisted in the return of the Dewey book boxes and their organization on the second floor of Beeghly.

Library photocopiers (five copiers in Beeghly, two in branches and two staff copiers in Beeghly) made 284,240 copies, 6.2% less than the previous year. The vendor's service staff removed unsightly wires on the photocopiers and the VendaCard readers were shipped offsite for calibration.

ERes, purchased by the CONSORT colleges, is an electronic reserves software package that provides management of electronic documents and Web-based delivery of academic information. Dr. Theresa Byrd, Deb Carter Peoples, Chuck Della Lana, Bernard Derr, Tom Green, Chris Yates, and Marsha Zavar formed a work team to implement ERes. Nine faculty members have agreed to pioneer the testing in the coming year.

The Beeghly Circulation desk was staffed by 35 student assistants, 15 of whom were new and received training in the Fall semester. Again Fall semester, a STaP position, filled by a former Circulation student assistant, helped train new student assistant recruits. This position will be continued in the coming year when, after a heavy graduation rate, fewer than half of the student assistants will be returning. Nine student assistants were nominated for the "Outstanding Student Assistant Award"; one, Monica Muir, received the award.

Bernard Derr, Chief of Circulation, devoted some time to the development of the Browsing Collection. He reviewed Circulation Desk procedures for public services staff members and conducted one-on-one training sessions. Chris Yates, the Assistant Chief of Circulation, continued his involvement with the Beeghly exhibition program, acting as a liaison to the Art department which now controls the schedule of exhibits in the newly refurbished gallery space leading to the Bashford Lounge. He also planned exhibits for the display case.

Branches & Departmental Library

In the branches, Biology experienced a 15% decrease in traffic from a year ago (see Appendix A for use statistics). Total book circulation increased 14.3%. All categories except "faculty" experienced increases. Periodical circulation decreased 25.1%.

Two new student assistants were hired and trained. They joined two returning students to provide coverage during the lunch hour, evenings and on Sundays. From February 14 to May 5, Charlene Howison, Biology Branch Manager, was assigned temporary responsibility for the Greenhouse. A part-time office staff person was hired to perform routine library duties, such as checking items in and out, using the in-house item count function, and shelving items. Science Branch Manager Deb Carter Peoples provided oversight supervision of the Biology Branch during this period.

Traffic in the Music Branch decreased 14.1% (see Appendix A for use statistics). Total book circulation increased 5.6% from strong increase in loans to faculty and an increase in renewals. Periodical circulation remained the same. In the listening room, overall use decreased 10.5% with only audiotapes showing an increase in use.

Some listening room equipment was replaced. Three cassette tape decks and 10 headphones were available at the beginning of the academic year.

During Fall semester, twelve student assistants staffed the desk. Because four of these workers were student teaching Spring semester, three new student assistants were hired and trained. Eleven students worked Spring semester, including one of the four student teachers who worked evenings and Saturdays.

Traffic in the Science Branch increased 1.5% for the year (see Appendix A for use statistics). Total book circulation dropped 6%., primarily from decreased use of Reserves. Periodical circulation jumped from 142 to 398, a 180.3% increase.

Eight student assistants, five of whom were new, were hired for the academic year. By the end of Fall semester, two students had resigned. Because of the difficulty in recruiting students to work, the remaining six students covered most of the hours. Deb Carter Peoples, Science Branch Manager, covered four hours per week during Spring semester. The Student Procedure Manual Ms. Peoples developed for the Science Branch last summer contributed to the student assistants' ability to work independently and successfully. The use of a daily journal for communication also contributed to enhanced performance and teamwork between the assistants and their supervisor. One student assistant, Maureen McCardel, was nominated and received an Outstanding Student Assistant award. Only two student assistants are anticipated to return.

The hours for the Science Branch Manager position increased to 850 hours for the academic year. Also, the position was reclassified to a Classified Grade 12. Deb Carter Peoples developed an action plan for maintaining services in the Biology Branch while Charlene Howison assumed responsibility for the Greenhouse. Ms. Peoples provided oversight supervision of the Biology Branch for much of the semester and was authorized for sixty additional hours of service.

The OWU Science Initiative team, composed of Dr. Theresa Byrd, Deb Carter Peoples, and Tom Green, researched and compiled materials concerning library space planning and science libraries at comparable colleges. Dr. Byrd and Deb Carter Peoples met with the architects regarding new Science Library planning. The OWU Science Initiative team discussed the implications of an undersized science library facility. Deb Carter Peoples drafted a revised Science Library floor plan for submission to the architects.

In addition to her liaison work with Chemistry, Geology/Geography, and Physics/Astronomy, Deb Carter Peoples was assigned and allotted collection development funds for the Environmental Studies Program.

At the beginning of the Spring semester, Jan Young, Library Assistant for the Curriculum Resource Center (CRC), Education Department Departmental Library, resigned. Five student employees and Nancy Groome, Education Department Secretary, kept the doors open. At the end of the semester Kim Strain, formerly Technical Services Assistant, was hired to fill the Library Assistant position. Public Services Librarian Danielle Clarke is the professional librarian who oversees this departmental library.

The Education Department began transferring funds to a Beeghly acquisition account. As new materials arrive, they are automatically cataloged onto CONSORT and prepared for the shelves.

Chief of Cataloging Judy Orahood began attaching the 3,000 book collection to the CONSORT catalog holdings. All items have the location code "Local Use Only." During AY99-00, 1,308 items were converted and 270 new titles were cataloged for the CRC.

Government Documents

The Government Documents Department now reports to the Head of Public Services. Joy He, Public Services Librarian, coordinates Government Documents. Two new students were hired and trained, and two returning students took on new responsibilities. These students were responsible for the initial check-in of documents, OCLC updating, placing labels and plastic covers on documents, shelving, and superceding. They also helped Technical Services staff with copy cataloging. At the end of the Fall semester, the processing area for government documents relocated from an office in Technical Services to an area near the door to the mailroom. There are hopes to add a full-time Government Documents Manager during the next fiscal year.

The Government Documents collection has 152,873 items. As a selective depository library, we receive 26.39% of everything the federal government publishes. This was an intentional reduction from a selection rate of nearly 30%. Several groups of documents (annual reports, general publications, dailies, new and misc. items) were reviewed and 377 item numbers were de-selected. Thus, staff time and money will not be expended processing and cataloging documents that are unlikely to be used. Last summer the P section of the depository collection was weeded. This summer, the Y 4 areas of the collection are being weeded.

The government documents check-in process was streamlined. DocAssist, a free software package, replaced the Enhanced Shipping List Service, which was not printing labels properly. The new software partially automated the initial check-in process by creating and printing labels with SuDoc numbers on them. Because all documents are cataloged on CONSORT, the Kardex System was eliminated. An electronic shelf list was created using Microsoft Excel. It documents class number changes, drops and any other changes that are made to a specific document.

An agreement for selective housing of U.S. depository documents between Ohio Wesleyan University Libraries and the Lewis Westgate Geology Collection at Ohio Wesleyan University is in progress.

The Government Documents Roundtable of the American Library Association awarded the 2000 Bernadine Abbot Hodusk Founders Award to the Five Colleges of Ohio for pioneering work in retrospective cataloging of their early collections of government publications.

Interlibrary Loan

The total number of filled traditional Interlibrary Loan (ILL) book and periodical requests was 26.6% less than the previous year (see Appendix A for use statistics). We borrowed 105 monographs and 907 periodical articles. This decrease can be accounted for from stopping the experiment in direct patron borrowing from the Index of Journal Articles in May 1999. 76 requests went unfilled.

Other libraries requested 2,771 items through traditional ILL, 20.3% more than a year ago. The ILL Department filled 1,628 of those requests, 31.1% more than the previous year. There were 789 filled book requests and 839 filled periodical requests.

Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Manager Marsha Zavar hired and trained three student assistants. Student assistants sorted and checked-in most of the in-coming CONSORT and OhioLINK items and both prepared and packaged most of the out-going items on a daily basis. Ohio Wesleyan's lending to OhioLINK libraries doubled as a result of a change in the OhioLINK algorithm. Because of this increase, the ILL manager spent more time this year processing CONSORT and OhioLINK items.

Library Instruction

Teaching others how to make the most of library resources took many different forms. A total of 1,596 students in 111 sessions received some form of library instruction this year. English 105 accounted for 55 of these sessions; the remaining 56 sessions were course-related.

Additionally, 92 students attended one or more of nine library workshops offered Fall semester (see Appendix C).. Workshop topics included "Introduction to Research in the O.W.U. Libraries," "Advanced Research Techniques," "Power Searching on the Web," "Getting the Most from Full-Text Databases," and "How to Cite Electronic Sources Correctly." Paul Burnam also offered a workshop in the Hayes Hall microlab.

With the help of Marsha Zavar, Danielle Clarke organized a "New Faculty Reception" in Beeghly Library. The 15 new faculty members who attended heard presentations about CONSORT, OhioLINK, WorldCAT and received a packet of informational handouts. Again this year, Danielle Clarke and Marsha Zavar conducted tours of Beeghly Library for new students and their parents during New Student Orientation while Paul Burnam demonstrated OhioLINK databases in the Bashford lounge.

The teaching staff took their instruction "on the road" this year by making individual appointments with faculty members for JSTOR instruction in faculty offices. Some library staff also included instruction on netLibrary during these sessions or at other times.

Danielle Clarke team taught a journalism honors course with Dr. Paul Kostyu, chair of the Journalism Department. "Information Literacy: the News on the Net" (Journalism 200.2) was open to both journalism majors and non-majors at any level. Ten students finished this course that explored various methods of using the World Wide Web as a research tool. Students were taught how to find, use, and evaluate the information they found online.

Teaching experiences with non-OWU students included such groups as Big Walnut High School (Sunbury, OH) Advanced Placement English class, Olentangy Middle School, Marysville High School Advanced Placement English and Humanities classes, Delaware Cub Scouts, and a local independent scholar.

The Five Colleges of Ohio Information Literacy Committee continued to develop an online tutorial, using funds from the AT&T grant received in October 1998. Ohio Wesleyan was responsible for a module on "Understanding Citations" and "Citing Your Research." Our representative to the committee, Danielle Clarke, also served on the Usability Sub-Committee. The Information Literacy Committee applied to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for a grant to provide campus-wide information literacy instruction to faculty and students. In December, a grant for $475,000 was awarded to the Five Colleges for this purpose. In May, a kickoff event, "Integrating Information Literacy in the Liberal Arts Curriculum: Symposium for Instruction Librarians" was held at the Cherry Valley Lodge near Newark.

Online Services

During Fall semester, three new computers were installed in the Reference area. A Pentium III 450 MHz replaced a 90 MHz Pentium at the Reference Desk. Two new Web services workstations were added. The PsycLIT and CLASSMATE workstations were removed. The furniture and CD-ROM cabinets in the Web services area were rearranged to make better use of the space. The laser printer, now serving five workstations, was more centrally located.

Through OhioLINK, the statewide consortium of academic libraries, Ohio Wesleyan added several new Web-based resources. Fall semester we added: ABC POL SCI, Business & Industry, Contemporary Authors, Contemporary Women's Issues, GeoRef, Humanities Index, Literary Index, and Sociological Abstracts. Spring semester we added: ATLA Religion Index, Ethnic NewsWatch, GenderWatch, History Universe: African American Studies, INSPEC, ITKnowledge, MathSciNet, netLibrary, and Poole's Plus.

Some use data was made available for OhioLINK Central Catalog searching, PCIRC activity, and downloads from the OhioLINK research databases. During the past year, Ohio Wesleyan users most heavily searched the following databases: Periodical Abstracts, 11,351, Academic Universe, 6,578, PsycINFO, 3,593, Biological Abstracts, 3,038, ABI/Inform Global, 2,882, WorldCat, 2,303. In the Electronic Journal Center, Ohio Wesleyan users made2,246 pdf downloads.

Spring semester also saw the addition of JSTOR, full-text access to 117 scholarly journals in 15 disciplines, and a charter subscription to the General Science Collection. Liaisons visited individual faculty and departments to demonstrate JSTOR. Each faculty member received a recent JSTOR newsletter and a list of journal titles organized by discipline.

Iter's Bibliography, approximately 225,000 records from the complete runs of more than 300 scholarly journal titles pertaining to the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and Women Writers Online, a full-text database of pre-Victorian writing developed by the Brown University Women Writers Project., were also purchased Spring semester.

Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (TLG), a CD-ROM database of ancient Greek texts, was upgraded without cost under our existing license. However, the application software, TLG Workplace 8.0, also needed to be upgraded. Costs were split with the Humanities/Classics department for this software and a new version of PHI Workplace, the application software for the PHI Latin CD-ROM.

Public Services Librarian Joy He maintained and updated the library home page on a regular basis. Some of the changes included:

• Online forms for book title requests and general suggestions about the library.
• OWU Periodicals Union List.
• A pop-up menu with direct links to the most frequently used OhioLINK databases.
• A scrolling message used for announcements.
• A new full-text resources page containing databases with full-text articles.
• Citation examples were added to the citing Internet sources page. The citation examples were taken from the handout developed for the workshop on "How to Cite Electronic Sources".
• The governmental information pages were revised to include direct links to databases available to depository libraries and the public for free.
• The Library Student Research Assistance Center page was revised. Now it is called Subject Guides and Course Resources. It contains subject guides for all of the academic departments. Each subject guides includes OhioLINK databases and Internet Resources, and a few of them contain print materials.

The library intranet was maintained by Tom Green, Associate Director of Libraries and Head of Public Services. Pictures of library student assistants were added.

Public Services

Public Services Office Manager Marsha Zavar reserved the rooms in Beeghly Library. The Bayley Room received heavy use from National Colloquium programs, Trustee meetings, Admission Office events, and departmental lectures and programs. The seminar rooms were used for tutoring and study sessions. The Office of Academic Advising used the Great Teachers Room prior to the start of the Fall Semester. CEO Scheduler Plus, new campus-wide scheduling software, was installed for use by Chuck Della Lana in the AV Center and Marsha Zavar, for Beeghly room reservations.

From discussions begun Spring 1999, the Work Group on Meetings, composed of Danielle Clarke, Tom Green, Carol Hallenbeck, and Carol Holliger, completed its recommendations at the September 1999 staff meeting. A calendar for the semester was devised which specified when various meetings would be held (never more than one meeting during any one week). In addition to the frequency of meetings, other topics discussed included the general purpose of each meeting, recommended beginning and ending times, the agenda for library staff meetings, cross communication, meeting protocol, and preferred methods of staff communication.

The Scenario Building Work Team, composed of Paul Burnam, Deb Carter Peoples, Chuck Della Lana, Tom Green, and Joy He, brainstormed, drafted three scenarios and assisted Dr. Byrd in the preparation of a PowerPoint presentation for President Tom Courtice and V-P for Development Audry Carter on December 3, 1999.

Copies of the procedure manuals developed for most public services areas were deposited with the Director of Libraries.

All public services areas developed objectives for Fall 1999. Public services staff members identified individual and team summer 2000 projects.

The following in-service training sessions were held:

• Judy Matz from Lexis-Nexis demonstrated Academic Universe.
• Bernard Derr reviewed Circulation Desk procedures and provided one-on-one training.
• Barbara Wiesner provided GOBI (Global Online Bibliographic Information Service) search training for Yankee Book Peddler.
• Michael Upfold introduced Eres, the new electronic reserves software.
• Danielle Clarke and Paul Kostyu discussed what worked and what didn't in their team-taught course "Information Literacy: the News on the Net."
• Tom Green introduced JSTOR.
• Paul Burnam explained NetLibrary and ITKnowledge.
• Sandy Wicker provided a tour of the Grady Memorial Hospital Library.
• A Copyright Teleconference videotape was viewed.
• An Information literacy day-long retreat was held.
• Patty Bisker, Information Systems, taught a five-session course on using Access.
• Xudong Jin explained CORC and Metadata.

An optional brown bag in-service training session was held:

• A videotape of a speech given by Kee Malesky, a librarian for National Public Radio, was viewed.

Public Services staff members also benefited from presentations at library staff meetings. In October, Dr. Kathryn Ogletree, Director of Minority Affairs, showed the video "Free Indeed" and discussed aspects of "white privilege." In November, Dr. David Cozzens, Chair of the Division of Student Life, helped us develop a repertoire of options in dealing with problem patrons.

Public Services Librarian Danielle Clarke coordinated eight meetings of the OWU Book Discussion Club. The following books were read:

• Jean Hegland's Into the Forest
• Anita Shreve's The Weight of Water
• Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha
• Paulo Coehlo's The Alchemist : A Fable About Following Your Dream
• Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha
• Marian Keyes' Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married
• Roy Arundhati's The God of Small Things

Reference

Reference and directional questions asked at the Beeghly Reference Desk decreased 9.8% from the previous year (see Appendix A for use statistics). Of that total, 332 questions were received through the ASK-A-LIBRARIAN e-mail service. Because many academic libraries, including Ohio Wesleyan, are experiencing declines in traditional reference services, Dr. Byrd initiated discussion about new models for reference services. A Reference Camp will discuss these issues during the 2000 summer.

In addition to their regular duties, Carol Holliger and Marsha Zavar each provided about six hours of Beeghly Reference Desk coverage during the Fall semester. These hours provided release time from reference for Danielle Clarke while she taught a credit course.

A total of 307 reference titles were added to the collection during the period August 1999 through May 2000. These consist of standing orders, gifts, and new acquisitions. Appendices 1 to 3 of the Reference Collection Development Policy were revised.

Science Branch Manager Deborah Carter Peoples, as part of an assignment for her Kent State University School of Library and Information Science program, initiated a survey of user satisfaction with Beeghly reference service which began on November 29, 1999. The Wisconsin-Ohio Reference Evaluation Program (WOREP) instrument was used. She conducted training sessions for reference desk librarians. Both directional and standard reference questions were measured. Data collection continued into the beginning of Spring semester. We await a summary of her findings.

Tom Green compiled this report with contributions from Paul Burnam, Deb Carter Peoples, Danielle Clarke, Chuck Della Lana, Bernard Derr, Carol Hallenbeck, Charlene Howison, Joy He, and Marsha Zavar.

Summary of Public Services Use Statistics

Appendix A