Congratulations!
Starting a new tradition, the College of Medicine student body in Phoenix has created awards for Outstanding Service in several categories. I’m very pleased to tell you that both Kristy Stevens and Lindsey Greene were nominated in the “College of Medicine-Phoenix Support Staff of the Year” category. These nominations are especially meaningful coming directly from the students and show that they really appreciate the support they get from Kristy and Lindsey.
Congratulations also to Paula Maez, a Knowledge River student and AHSL intern. Paula has been selected as an NLM Associate Fellow. Each year NLM selects a small elite group of recent library school graduates to spend a year working at NLM in Bethesda. We know it will be a memorable year for Paula as it was for O. C. Tom, another AHSL “graduate” who was accepted into the program.
Exhibits
Thanks to the Exhibits Committee members who have dressed up the library with educational, inspirational and entertaining exhibits for another year. Jeanette, Jose, Mikel and Mary Riordan have brainstormed, gathered materials, cajoled others and put together a great roster of exhibits including:
Fred Heidenreich's 36 years at AHSL
The Ortiz Medallion
The Viper Institute and Venom Week
Celebrating 40 Years of the College of Medicine
The Healing Power of Music
Multicultural Medicine
Friday, May 9, 2008
Friday, May 2, 2008
Thanks, Email, Art
Thanks
Thanks to everyone who met with Brenda this week or who took her out to eat, etc. I know that she has had a very interesting and beneficial visit. A special thanks to Jeanette for not only arranging Brenda’s schedule but also providing accommodations in her home.
Email changes
In order to ensure greater reliability for email we will be transitioning to the university email system in the next month or two. We are planning to retain our existing email addresses and to keep the Barracuda Spam filter in place. We are also making arrangements to increase the existing storage limits that UITS (formerly CCIT) offers. I’ll do my best to keep you informed as this process progresses.
Public art in front of the library
A question came up at the All Staff meeting about the proposed art project for the grassy circle in front of the library. I have been told that the Office of the President is currently reviewing the UA Public Art Policy and Procedures. All projects have been placed on temporary hold. The University has been in contact with the artist and hopes to offer her a contract as soon as possible.
Thanks to everyone who met with Brenda this week or who took her out to eat, etc. I know that she has had a very interesting and beneficial visit. A special thanks to Jeanette for not only arranging Brenda’s schedule but also providing accommodations in her home.
Email changes
In order to ensure greater reliability for email we will be transitioning to the university email system in the next month or two. We are planning to retain our existing email addresses and to keep the Barracuda Spam filter in place. We are also making arrangements to increase the existing storage limits that UITS (formerly CCIT) offers. I’ll do my best to keep you informed as this process progresses.
Public art in front of the library
A question came up at the All Staff meeting about the proposed art project for the grassy circle in front of the library. I have been told that the Office of the President is currently reviewing the UA Public Art Policy and Procedures. All projects have been placed on temporary hold. The University has been in contact with the artist and hopes to offer her a contract as soon as possible.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Visitor and Budget
Visitor
As you know from previous messages, next week the library will host Brenda Linares, an NLM Associate Fellow. This program brings recent library school graduates to the National Library of Medicine for an extensive one-year internship. Brenda’s biography on the NLM website reads:
Ms. Linares received her MLIS in June 2007 from UCLA. She has reference and information literacy teaching experience as an intern at the UCLA Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library. She also has intern experience in collection development and outreach at California State University, Northridge. Her undergraduate degree is in Finance. She was an officer for UCLA's American Library Association (ALA) Student Chapter and she is a 2005-2006 ALA Spectrum Scholar.
Brenda is in the center of the back row in the photo below:
Budget
We have just received our budget cut for this fiscal year from the College of Medicine. We are being asked to return $9,730 from this year’s funds and to reduce our permanent budget by the same amount. Unlike any other department, this figure was based on only 64% of our total budget (instead of 100%) and represents a half percent reduction of that 64%. Cindy can show you the exact figures for the entire College if you are interested.
This is the good news. The bad news is that we still don’t know what next year’s budget will look like. Current projections are that our permanent budget will be reduced by another 3.5 percent for the coming fiscal year. I will keep you posted.
As you know from previous messages, next week the library will host Brenda Linares, an NLM Associate Fellow. This program brings recent library school graduates to the National Library of Medicine for an extensive one-year internship. Brenda’s biography on the NLM website reads:
Ms. Linares received her MLIS in June 2007 from UCLA. She has reference and information literacy teaching experience as an intern at the UCLA Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library. She also has intern experience in collection development and outreach at California State University, Northridge. Her undergraduate degree is in Finance. She was an officer for UCLA's American Library Association (ALA) Student Chapter and she is a 2005-2006 ALA Spectrum Scholar.
Brenda is in the center of the back row in the photo below:
Budget
We have just received our budget cut for this fiscal year from the College of Medicine. We are being asked to return $9,730 from this year’s funds and to reduce our permanent budget by the same amount. Unlike any other department, this figure was based on only 64% of our total budget (instead of 100%) and represents a half percent reduction of that 64%. Cindy can show you the exact figures for the entire College if you are interested.
This is the good news. The bad news is that we still don’t know what next year’s budget will look like. Current projections are that our permanent budget will be reduced by another 3.5 percent for the coming fiscal year. I will keep you posted.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Congratulations to Cindy
As many of you know, Cindy has served as President of the BETA group on campus for the last year. BETA is a university-wide organization for office professionals that promotes networking and personal and professional growth. Cindy has devoted large amounts of her own time to BETA and its members showed the gratitude for her leadership by giving her the “Best Boss” award. You can see it hanging on the wall near her desk!
Dr. Anne Wright nominated Cindy and the Faculty Affairs Working Group (FAWG) for the University Team Award for Excellence. The group developed plans for an automated tracking system for faculty appointments and promotion. Although they didn’t place first, they were honored at a ceremony last Friday on Main Campus.
Dr. Anne Wright nominated Cindy and the Faculty Affairs Working Group (FAWG) for the University Team Award for Excellence. The group developed plans for an automated tracking system for faculty appointments and promotion. Although they didn’t place first, they were honored at a ceremony last Friday on Main Campus.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Congratulations to David
David Howse, Paul Bracke and Dr. Sam Keim have published an article in the April 2008 issue of the Journal of the Medical Library Association. Its title is, “Evidence-based Medicine Search: a customizable federated search engine,” and the article describes not only the search engine itself
( http://www.ahsl.arizona.edu/ebmsearch/index.cfm ) but also the process involved in its creation.
( http://www.ahsl.arizona.edu/ebmsearch/index.cfm ) but also the process involved in its creation.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Vision for AHSL
Over the last seven years I have tried to articulate, usually in all staff meetings or during strategic planning sessions, my “vision” for the library. It has evolved, although many aspects have not changed. I sometimes hear from staff that they do not have a clear idea of my vision. This document is an attempt to address this concern. It is not a list of everything that we do, but rather a broad vision of the kinds of things we will be working toward. This is not meant to be an “official” vision statement but is more of a personal document.
This vision is a work in progress. I expect it to continue to evolve. I welcome your suggestions for filling in gaps or challenges to my assumptions.
This document builds on our previous work on strategic directions, strategic planning and on the white papers completed several years ago.
For hundreds of years “the library” has been a place where books are collected, protected and shared. Those who work in libraries have been seen as the caretakers and gatekeepers of the collection and have been expected to help users to find the information they need. But the role of the library and its staff are constrained by the old ideas of the building as a warehouse.
As information resources take up less and less space and become less tangible, new roles open up to us to continue to help users find and manage the information they need. The advanced information finding and management skills that we possess give us the opportunity to become partners in the academic process.
The building itself has accumulated other roles than warehouse over the years. Some of these are valuable roles and should be continued. However the print storage function will be phased out in favor of other uses that support the mission of the organization.
We have the opportunity to transform the library itself and the perceptions of those we serve. In the AHSL we have prided ourselves on the level of service that we provide. This will not change.
• fewer people, particularly faculty, coming into the building
• faculty are using the Internet to search for information; some recognizing the limitations of this approach; many open to learning how to do this better
• decreasing emphasis on print means many tasks are shrinking and some will disappear – binding, journal check-in, materials prep, circulation, shelving
• some new roles are becoming clear; they may require retraining – digitization, link checking, keeping information on the web up-to-date
Principles
• we must go to our users and partner with them to support their missions
• librarians’ skills in information retrieval and organization are of greater value and are more important than ever
• we must have sufficient staff in the building to handle questions.
• when it makes sense to shrink the staff, we will try to do it through attrition; our first option will be successful retraining
• when our value is recognized it means that we are doing the right job
• service to those beyond the campus fulfills the university’s mission of service and brings recognition and respect to the library and its staff
Vision
‰ Liaison librarians located near our primary users will be our predominant (not only) method of service
‰ Future librarian hires will include a focus on subject knowledge and entrepreneurial aptitude and abilities, regardless of position title
‰ Some staff positions will focus more on digitization (see Collections) and support of electronic access (link checking, information maintenance on web pages, etc.)
‰ Statewide outreach and service will continue to be supported and we will aggressively search for extramural funding
‰ If the liaison and other user support programs are successful, we may need additional librarians
‰ It is likely that the total number of classified staff positions will decrease; a goal will be to accomplish this through attrition and to support retraining and cross-training in support of new tasks and skills
• our user community expects fast, easy access to information
• most of our information resources are available electronically
• the cost of information has been rising while our budget has been flat or decreasing
• we have some unique items in our collection
Principles
• while fighting for the budget we want, we must provide the best core information possible within our budget
• fast, easy access must be a primary goal for our user community
• some print items are of value because of their physical format, rarity, history or other reasons and must be preserved
• all unique items and information should be shared as widely as possible
Vision
‰ Through our liaisons, surveys, online statistics and other measures we will constantly update our knowledge of our users’ needs
‰ We will strive to meet the information needs of our user community through purchase, partnerships and borrowing but not by sacrificing competitive salaries or building maintenance
‰ We must put as much emphasis on our web site and finding tools as we do on the selection of information resources
‰ We will create an active digitization program to preserve and distribute materials in all formats (text, objects, sound and video) that are unique to our collection and to which we own the rights
‰ When possible within our resources we will support open-access publishing and other changes to the system of scholarly communication in support of our users
• space is in demand on campus
• no unit “owns” its current space; the university controls all space and allocates it to support its mission
• our users rely less and less on our print collections which take up space
• our user community enjoys coming to the library as a quiet, neutral space that supports collaboration; the library is thought of as a good place to be
Principles
• we work to find the best use of any space we can make available
• we use only the space that we need to support our mission
• we strive to provide “quality” space that meets the needs of our users
• we provide common equipment (from tables to computers) available to the entire campus community
Vision
‰ The square footage devoted to collections will continue to decrease
‰ We will seek out uses for library space that support the mission of the university; this may involve bringing other service groups into the existing space or ceding space to other units
‰ We recognize the intangible value that users give to this “special” place and strive to maintain it while providing needed types of space and equipment
‰ We will continue to allocate funds for maintenance and upkeep (re-upholstering, re-carpeting, etc.)
This vision is a work in progress. I expect it to continue to evolve. I welcome your suggestions for filling in gaps or challenges to my assumptions.
Vision for AHSL
Summer 2008
Summer 2008
This document builds on our previous work on strategic directions, strategic planning and on the white papers completed several years ago.
Background
For hundreds of years “the library” has been a place where books are collected, protected and shared. Those who work in libraries have been seen as the caretakers and gatekeepers of the collection and have been expected to help users to find the information they need. But the role of the library and its staff are constrained by the old ideas of the building as a warehouse.
As information resources take up less and less space and become less tangible, new roles open up to us to continue to help users find and manage the information they need. The advanced information finding and management skills that we possess give us the opportunity to become partners in the academic process.
The building itself has accumulated other roles than warehouse over the years. Some of these are valuable roles and should be continued. However the print storage function will be phased out in favor of other uses that support the mission of the organization.
We have the opportunity to transform the library itself and the perceptions of those we serve. In the AHSL we have prided ourselves on the level of service that we provide. This will not change.
The Roles of Librarians and staff
Environment• fewer people, particularly faculty, coming into the building
• faculty are using the Internet to search for information; some recognizing the limitations of this approach; many open to learning how to do this better
• decreasing emphasis on print means many tasks are shrinking and some will disappear – binding, journal check-in, materials prep, circulation, shelving
• some new roles are becoming clear; they may require retraining – digitization, link checking, keeping information on the web up-to-date
Principles
• we must go to our users and partner with them to support their missions
• librarians’ skills in information retrieval and organization are of greater value and are more important than ever
• we must have sufficient staff in the building to handle questions.
• when it makes sense to shrink the staff, we will try to do it through attrition; our first option will be successful retraining
• when our value is recognized it means that we are doing the right job
• service to those beyond the campus fulfills the university’s mission of service and brings recognition and respect to the library and its staff
Vision
‰ Liaison librarians located near our primary users will be our predominant (not only) method of service
‰ Future librarian hires will include a focus on subject knowledge and entrepreneurial aptitude and abilities, regardless of position title
‰ Some staff positions will focus more on digitization (see Collections) and support of electronic access (link checking, information maintenance on web pages, etc.)
‰ Statewide outreach and service will continue to be supported and we will aggressively search for extramural funding
‰ If the liaison and other user support programs are successful, we may need additional librarians
‰ It is likely that the total number of classified staff positions will decrease; a goal will be to accomplish this through attrition and to support retraining and cross-training in support of new tasks and skills
Collections
Environment• our user community expects fast, easy access to information
• most of our information resources are available electronically
• the cost of information has been rising while our budget has been flat or decreasing
• we have some unique items in our collection
Principles
• while fighting for the budget we want, we must provide the best core information possible within our budget
• fast, easy access must be a primary goal for our user community
• some print items are of value because of their physical format, rarity, history or other reasons and must be preserved
• all unique items and information should be shared as widely as possible
Vision
‰ Through our liaisons, surveys, online statistics and other measures we will constantly update our knowledge of our users’ needs
‰ We will strive to meet the information needs of our user community through purchase, partnerships and borrowing but not by sacrificing competitive salaries or building maintenance
‰ We must put as much emphasis on our web site and finding tools as we do on the selection of information resources
‰ We will create an active digitization program to preserve and distribute materials in all formats (text, objects, sound and video) that are unique to our collection and to which we own the rights
‰ When possible within our resources we will support open-access publishing and other changes to the system of scholarly communication in support of our users
The “Library as Place”
Environment• space is in demand on campus
• no unit “owns” its current space; the university controls all space and allocates it to support its mission
• our users rely less and less on our print collections which take up space
• our user community enjoys coming to the library as a quiet, neutral space that supports collaboration; the library is thought of as a good place to be
Principles
• we work to find the best use of any space we can make available
• we use only the space that we need to support our mission
• we strive to provide “quality” space that meets the needs of our users
• we provide common equipment (from tables to computers) available to the entire campus community
Vision
‰ The square footage devoted to collections will continue to decrease
‰ We will seek out uses for library space that support the mission of the university; this may involve bringing other service groups into the existing space or ceding space to other units
‰ We recognize the intangible value that users give to this “special” place and strive to maintain it while providing needed types of space and equipment
‰ We will continue to allocate funds for maintenance and upkeep (re-upholstering, re-carpeting, etc.)
Friday, April 4, 2008
Supervisor Evaluations, Budget
Supervisor Evaluations
I have been working on evaluations and have read all of the supervisor evaluations that have come to me. I want to thank all of you for participating in this process. I’ve found your observations to be very thoughtful and helpful. It’s obvious that most of you gave a lot of thought to your comments and it shows in the insight that you have provided. Thank you for participating in this experiment, which, I believe, has been a great success!
Budget
We are being told to expect the legislature’s budget plan sometime in the next several weeks. In the meantime the Provost has asked all units to submit a plan for a 2% budget reduction in state funds for the current fiscal year that will become a permanent reduction next year. We have until April 11th to submit the plan along with a description of the effect such a reduction will have on the library. This is only a first step and the actual distribution of the budget cuts will be determined later. The budget cut for the current year will be covered primarily with salary savings from grants. For next year, the Phoenix collection budget has already been cut by 8%. We will try to cover much of the cut in Tucson with money from vacant positions. Cuts to the Tucson collection budget can be covered partially with Foundation funds from gifts and endowments, resulting in a slowing down of building and furniture maintenance. I do not see us cutting any positions as a result of these cuts.
I have been working on evaluations and have read all of the supervisor evaluations that have come to me. I want to thank all of you for participating in this process. I’ve found your observations to be very thoughtful and helpful. It’s obvious that most of you gave a lot of thought to your comments and it shows in the insight that you have provided. Thank you for participating in this experiment, which, I believe, has been a great success!
Budget
We are being told to expect the legislature’s budget plan sometime in the next several weeks. In the meantime the Provost has asked all units to submit a plan for a 2% budget reduction in state funds for the current fiscal year that will become a permanent reduction next year. We have until April 11th to submit the plan along with a description of the effect such a reduction will have on the library. This is only a first step and the actual distribution of the budget cuts will be determined later. The budget cut for the current year will be covered primarily with salary savings from grants. For next year, the Phoenix collection budget has already been cut by 8%. We will try to cover much of the cut in Tucson with money from vacant positions. Cuts to the Tucson collection budget can be covered partially with Foundation funds from gifts and endowments, resulting in a slowing down of building and furniture maintenance. I do not see us cutting any positions as a result of these cuts.
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