Forms of material collected include all formats generally included in academic library collections. Print media; electronic media, including videotapes, audiotapes and computer programs (on a limited basis); optical media, including music compact discs, CD-ROMs, films, slides, pictures, and kits; microforms; or realia all may be appropriate for the University Library collection.

The intended use and/or legal requirements involved in the purchase, rather than the format of the material, is generally the deciding factor in the inclusion or exclusion of particular material from the collection. (Collection Development Policy)

Does the library maintain the currency of the collection through a judicious weeding program?

The Selectors group recently revised the weeding section of the Collection Development Policy, entitled, "Material Withdrawal Guidelines", which states, "Weeding is the withdrawal of materials from the library’s collection. This process is an integral part of collection maintenance and development. The liaison librarians are responsible for weeding the collection in their respective subject areas on a continual basis. Parallel criteria apply to weeding and to selection of materials."

The Guidelines continue with specific criteria to be applied to weeding of the collection, also delineating the process to be used. In addition, the liaison librarians meet as a group (Selectors) to address the subject of weeding in a more formal manner as needed. Weeding projects in the past several years have been undertaken with the assistance of LTAs, who have pulled superseded editions of titles and second copies of titles for the librarians to review for withdrawal. Currently, librarians are weeding areas of the collection in unassigned subject areas in order to clear the shelves of superfluous and outdated materials in areas that are not assigned to subject librarians. However, despite the fact that the library collection is at maximum capacity insofar as shelf space is concerned, generally, weeding tends to be a lower priority than other activities for the librarians.

Access

What methods are used to provide maximum intellectual and physical accessibility to the library and its resources?

Maximum intellectual access in the library online catalog is provided by assigning multiple subject headings as well as authoritative name and corporate headings to bibliographic records and providing keyword searching of the entire bibliographic record. Most online databases to which the Library subscribes provide keyword searching. In order to make full use of these headings and search mechanisms, information access instruction is provided by library reference staff through in-class instruction session, workshops, tours and point-of-use assistance.

Physical access to library materials is facilitated through wide aisles between the stacks and the provision of step stools to reach upper stacks. Lighting directly attached to the top of each shelving range gives sufficient light to read spine titles. Library staff members are ready to assist physically challenged individuals who cannot reach materials.

How is the accuracy and currency of the catalog assured?

Cataloging staff members strive for accuracy by having experienced catalogers review the work of other staff members before the cataloging is entered into the database. After the bibliographic record is in the catalog, the holdings statement is checked again for accuracy before the material is sent to the Circulation Department for shelving. Also, the head of the Cataloging Department gives inservice training to catalogers to ensure their knowledge of cataloging rules and procedures. When reference or circulation staff identify problems in the database, catalogers are able to make real time corrections to rectify the problems. Governors State University Library participates in the ILCSO consortium of 45 academic libraries. The technology staff of the consortium run frequent database scans for errors. Any errors noted in GSU records are corrected immediately. Additionally, cataloging staff members follow a ten-year cycle inventory of the complete library collections. When discrepancies or errors are found, the catalog is immediately changed.

The currency of the catalog is striven for through cataloging books ordered through Acquisitions within two weeks of their arrival in cataloging. Media often takes closer to a month to be cataloged, because high quality bibliographic records are not as easily found as Library of Congress records for books. In DRA catalogers are now able to add GSU holdings to existing bibliographic records which were added originally by other libraries.

Is the arrangement of the collections logical and understandable?

The Reference Collection is located directly behind the Reference Desk area and arranged by Library of Congress (LC) call number. The general Circulating Collection begins where the Reference Collection ends, and also is arranged by LC call number. For at least the last ten years the educational materials have been pulled from their alphabetical place in the Circulating Collection and placed immediately following the end of the Reference Collection. The rationale for this placement was to locate the education materials physically closer to the Educational Materials Center, which contains a small juvenile collection, teachers’ resource books, K-12 textbooks, and computers to evaluate educational software. Occasionally the distinction between teachers’ resource books located in the Materials Center and education-related materials in the Circulating Collection is unclear. Library staff have proposed that the education materials in the Circulating Collection be returned to their appropriate place in call number order to eliminate confusion.

Government documents and periodicals are located in a space separate from the Reference, Circulating and Materials Center collections. In the Documents/Serials area federal government documents are initially encountered and arranged by SuDoc numbers. Immediately following the federal documents, the Illinois state documents are shelved by Dewey call numbers. At the end of the state document collection the Periodical collection commences. Periodicals are arranged alphabetically by the title of the journal. This arrangement of documents and periodicals is confusing to faculty and students. A recent staff committee studying use of library space suggested that the Periodical Collection be given more visual prominence in this area of the library rather than being hidden behind the Documents Collection which would be moved to the area directly to the right of the Periodicals Collection. Additionally, the committee members asked for increased signage to designate the various collections for students and faculty.

Does the library provide timely and effective interlibrary loan or document delivery service for materials not owned by the library?

Interlibrary loan and document delivery services are provided in a timely and effective manner to students, faculty and staff. Requests are processed on the day which they are received. When materials are requested, the ILCSO consortium is queried first and then OCLC. Most requests can be filled through these resources. For those items which cannot be filled through ILCSO or OCLC, staff contact the publishing company for assistance in tracking down a library lender. Books requested through the ILCSO consortium are received in an average of five days, while books through OCLC generally take two to three weeks to arrive. However, journal articles sought through ILCSO usually arrive in two days and through OCLC in seven to ten days. The articles are immediately mailed to the patron upon receipt by the library.

The library recently began a Rush Interlibrary Loan service to obtain journal articles more quickly. Each student, staff, and faculty member can make three document delivery requests per trimester. The articles generally are available for pick-up at the Circulation Desk in three business days. In the Winter Trimester 2000 the library began offering dissertations within three business days from Dissertation Express. In the past patrons could order dissertations at their own expense. Now the library pays the costs and then adds the dissertation to its collections.

Online forms for requesting interlibrary loan service are available on the library’s web pages from the interlibrary loan page and the distance education page.

Does the library participate in available consortial borrowing programs?

The library participates in ILCSO, CODSULI, CCMP, OCLC/ILLINET, SMRHEC, Suburban Library System, and NILRC. The mission of the Illinois Library Computer Systems Organization (ILCSO) is to enhance and expand access to and effectively utilize information resources through collaborative partnerships among ILCSO members and with the Illinois Library community. Through ILCSO the library participates in Illinet Online, the consortial online catalog and through IBIS subscribes and accesses a number of online index and abstract databases. Additionally, other consortial members are the library’s primary interlibrary loan providers. CODSULI, Council of Directors of State University Libraries in Illinois, promotes the advancement of public academic libraries in Illinois by encouraging research into common library issues, increasing cooperation, establishing and improving standards, sharing information and experiences, communicating with and lobbying the Illinois Board of Higher Education, advocating CODSULI interests in other regional or statewide consortiums, and initiating activities that lead to the development of public academic libraries in Illinois. CCMP, Cooperative Collection Management Program, seeks to increase resources in member libraries through cooperative collection management which is one aspect of library resource sharing. Libraries use this as a planning strategy to provide for their users materials and information that they cannot afford to have on site. The GSU Library subscribes to several online databases through CCMP. Through OCLC/ILLINET the library accesses OCLC for cataloging, resource sharing, and online citation, bibliographic and full-text database access. In addition, library staff members provide and receive continuing education in library skills and topics. The library, also, belongs to the regional library system, Suburban Library System, SLS. Membership in SLS is required in order to participate in OCLC/ILLINET. Additionally, SLS provides opportunities to cooperate with other academic libraries in the south metropolitan suburbs. Likewise, SMRHEC, South Metropolitan Regional Higher Education Consortium, provides yet another opportunity to work with neighboring academic libraries to provide continuing education experiences for library staff. The library is an associate member of NILRC, a consortium of midwest community colleges, colleges and universities. NILRC seeks to improve the cost effectiveness of members' learning resource centers/libraries and alternative delivery programs through group buys of materials and services, to facilitate the exchange of resources and information, to strengthen the skills and knowledge of members' institutions personnel through staff development activities, and to serve as an advocate for issues and projects that would enhance members' instructional support activities.

Does the library provide sufficient numbers of appropriately capable workstations for access to electronic resources?

The library provides five independent CD-ROM workstations and twenty-six Internet workstations to the public. Use of eighteen of the Internet terminals is limited to library subscription databases. During high use periods, patrons may need to wait for access to a terminal.

Is access to the catalog and to other library resources available across campus and off-campus?

Illinet Online, the library’s online catalog, is accessible throughout the campus and through any Internet Service Provider (ISP). In addition, IBIS, InfoTrac, FirstSearch, and OTBibSys are available to GSU students, faculty and staff through any ISP with a password. Other library subscription databases must be accessed through the GSU server either on-campus or off-campus. Plans are underway for a proxy server, so that all library subscription databases can be accessed from any ISP with user authentication.

If materials are located in a storage facility, are those materials readily accessible?

The only library materials not located in the library proper are the rare book collection and the archival materials. These materials are located on the same floor as the library in a room approximately 100 feet from the entrance to Technical Services. While the room is kept locked, library staff can easily access the materials when needed.

If the library has responsibility for maintaining the college archives, how are they organized and made accessible?

The college archives are organized by the office in the university which generated the materials, unless the materials were donated as the papers of a particular administrator or faculty member. Archival materials are accessible through a finding guide which is arranged by the organizational structure of the university along with other categories, such as faculty papers, theses, etc.

In what way does the library provide for its users who are engaged in distance learning programs?

One of the librarians is responsible for coordinating distance learning services and serving as liaison to distance learners. Letters describing library services to distance learners are sent each trimester to every student taking distance learning classes. On the library web site a special page for distance learners provides them with information about the library services available to them and access to many of those services via the web. The library provides access to a number of online databases to distance learners as well as reference services, interlibrary loan services and sending GSU library materials to distance learners. In addition, a number of User's Guides were written by GSU librarians and mounted on the library web site to assist distance learners in using the databases found there.

Staff

Does the library employ staff capable of supporting and delivering information in all available formats, including electronic resources?

In a survey of library services in 1999, 93% of the respondents indicated that they were satisfied or very satisfied with the Circulation desk staff’s delivery of information, while 90% were satisfied or very satisfied with the Reference/Information staff’s delivery of information, including electronically.

Is sufficient budgetary support provided to ensure the ongoing training of all staff?

The library budget is always going to seem barely adequate to ensure the ongoing training of all staff. New electronic resources as well as ever-changing hardware and software requires ongoing training for all library staff members. Survey results indicate that students and faculty are satisfied with the service that they receive.

Does the library have qualified librarians, other professional staff, skilled support staff, and student assistants in adequate numbers to meet its needs?

Based on a survey of library services done in 1999, the consensus is that the library needs more staff. Currently the GSU library employs nine librarians including the library director. According to the formula in the Standards for College Libraries, 1995 edition, the GSU library needs twelve librarians. A sufficient number of skilled LTAs, who are trained on-the-job, exists. The ratio of library staff to students, faculty and staff is 1:106 which ranks number 4 with our peer institutions. However, the library does not have an adequate number of student assistants. Because Governors State University is a commuter campus of largely adult students, most students are employed in the community at better paying positions than student assistant. Consequently, books and journals are not reshelved as quickly as library staff, faculty and students would wish. Additionally, the Circulation Desk is staffed solely by library employees rather than student workers. Moreover, the processing of new library materials in Technical Services is slower, because of the limited number of student assistants. The budgeted amount for student assistants has not increased in the past ten years.

How does the college ensure that the library’s professional staff has the appropriate accredited degrees, and how does it encourage them to engage in appropriate professional activities?

Librarians at Governors State University are tenure-track faculty members in the faculty labor union. As a condition of employment, library faculty members must hold a Masters of Library Science degree from an ALA- accredited institution. Each librarian over a six –year period must work towards and apply for tenure as University Professor of Library Science. To achieve tenure the librarian must hold a second Masters degree and complete service and research activities in addition to performing at a superior level assigned primary duties in the library. The tenure process not only encourages but demands engagement in appropriate professional activities like ALA committee service, university governance involvement, community service, and research activities in the library science field. A small amount of travel money is allotted each library faculty member for professional use, and grants must be sought to augment these funds.

How does the size of the library staff relate to the goals and services of the library, the college’s programs, degrees, enrollment, size of the faculty and staff, and auxiliary programs?

While the number of programs offered at Governors State and the number of students enrolled has increased, the number of librarians and staff members has remained the same.

How do library staff policies and procedures compare with college guidelines and sound personnel management, especially in the areas of hiring, recruitment, appointment, contract renewal, promotion, tenure, dismissal and appeal?

The library staff members are under two different contracts, one for the faculty members and one for the Civil Service employees. The majority of staff members are Civil Service employees whose manner of hiring, recruitment, dismissal, promotion is dictated at the state level. Interpretations of these regulations by GSU Human Resources personnel has made it difficult to upgrade positions and to recruit qualified employees. The Faculty contract defines a six-year tenure process and professional advancement increase. Dismissal and appeals processes are addressed in both contracts.

How do staff members who are responsible for instruction maintain sufficient knowledge and skills to be effective instructors?

The library faculty members usually perform instruction. Consequently, they must continually familiarize themselves with technological advances, new interfaces and the content of online databases as well as trends and developments in their subject areas. Librarians are afforded time to attend conferences in library, computer and information systems fields. Additionally, librarians are encouraged to take classes beyond the prescribed academic requirements; Governors State University offers free tuition benefits to its employees. Inservice training sessions covering many electronic resources are available and given by computer staff as well as library staff.

How does the library provide security, preservation, and emergency training for its staff?

All library staff are encouraged to attend security, safety, and emergency programs provided by the university or through in-house library workshops. This type of workshop is being planned by the Staff Training and Development Committee.

Facilities

Does the library provide well-planned, secure, and adequate space for users?

Library staff members just completed a study of space issues in the library. While the use of space in the library is well-planned, there is not adequate space for the users. Security in the library is maintained by restricting public access to the library through the front door with a security control system. All other doors in the public area to adjacent parts of the university are alarmed and locked. While doors in Technical Services are open during the day, they are locked in the late afternoon when those staff members leave for the day.

Are building mechanical systems properly designed and maintained to control temperature and humidity at recommended levels?

Temperature and humidity controls in the library are problematic. Originally Governors State University was built as a university without walls. The temperature and humidity controls were designed for large open spaces. Over the years numerous walls were erected, but the heating and cooling systems were not changed significantly.

What are the perceptions of users regarding the provision of conducive study spaces, including a sufficient number of seats and varied types of settings?

A user survey taken in the Fall of 1999 indicated that most respondents were satisfied with the number of seats and variety of study spaces. In comparison to peer institutions GSU library had the worst ratio of seating to combined students and faculty FTE.

Is there enough space for the library's collections?

The library does not have enough space for its collections. The collections must be weeded constantly just to find space on the shelves for new materials.

Does the staff have sufficient workspace and is it configured to promote efficient operations?

A staff survey indicated that eighty-four percent of the respondents felt the staff had neither sufficient workspace nor was the workspace configured to promote efficient operations.

If there are branch libraries, do they have sufficient space for the collections and staff?

GSU library has no branches.

Is the library's signage adequate?

The recent committee that studied the use of library space recommended increased signage to improve the public's access to library collections and services, including the restrooms.

Does the library provide ergonomic workstations for its users and staff?

The library does provide ergonomic workstations for users and staff. While not all staff members have ergonomic chairs, all have had the opportunity to receive them.

Are electrical and network wiring sufficient to meet the needs associated with electronic access?

This is currently being investigated and remedied.

Does the library meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act?

The library meets ADA requirements. Ramps and elevators provide access to the library. There is a specialized computer station for ADA requirements. In addition, library staff recently attended a workshop on ADA compliance.

Communication and Cooperation

Is there effective communication within the library that allows for a free flow of administrative and managerial information?

An opinion survey of the library staff indicated that sixty-five percent of the respondents felt that effective communication from administration and management was taking place regularly. Monthly all staff meetings provide a forum for the communication and discussion of administrative and managerial information. Librarians, coordinators, and selectors each meet monthly as well to discuss these matters.

Are staff members encouraged to suggest new ideas or procedures to improve operations or working conditions within the library? Is there a process to facilitate this?

In an opinion survey of the library staff sixty-nine percent of the respondents believed that staff members were encouraged to suggest new ideas or procedures to improve library performance. Such suggestions can be made at the monthly staff, librarian or coordinators meetings, as well as at department meetings or in conversations with department heads, coordinators or the library director.

Does the library have a regular means to convey information to the campus?

The library publishes a newsletter at the beginning of each trimester which is distributed campus-wide. The library also has access to university-wide email and voice mail systems. However, these are used on an as-needed basis rather than as a regular means of conveying information, and are only useful for conveying information to faculty and staff, not students.

Has the library established cooperative working relationships with other departments on campus?

The library has a liaison program, wherein each librarian, as part of her assignment, serves as liaison to specific programs within the colleges on campus. There is also a library liaison for Extended Learning and a liaison for community patrons.

If the library and information technology are administered separately, does the organizational structure provide opportunities for productive communication and collaboration?

The library and information technology are administered separately. Nevertheless, the director of the library and the director of information technology attend meetings of the Information Technology Policy Council and the Enrollment Management Team. Beyond a formal structure, there is routine communication between the directors, as well as among the technical support staff in both units. In addition, the library has staff representation on the Technology Users Group and the CARS Users Group.

If one administrator has responsibility for both the library and information technology, how well have the two functions been integrated?

Not applicable.

Is the library able to obtain technical support for information technology in the form of in-house expertise to provide electronic resources to on-site and remote users?

The library has a full-time Microcomputer Support Specialist on staff and we also have support from the university’s Information Technology Services (ITS).

Is the capacity of the campus network sufficient to provide reasonable response times for local and remote information resources?

Governors State University needs better wiring in the library and throughout the campus. While newly installed wiring is Category 5, the older wiring is of a lower category. The entire infrastructure needs to be updated. The campus network runs on a 10-mbps ethernet network. While 100-mbps ethernet cards that support higher speeds are being purchased, the campus network is still running at 10-mbps. The campus network has one T-1 line that is working at maximum capacity. Another T-1 line is needed, or a T-3 line. ITS is working towards this. The library needs a proxy server to enable off-campus students to access databases without using the GSU network as their ISP.

Administration

How does the library administration encourage effective use of available library resources?

The library publishes a newsletter that discusses the services and collections of the library. Individual library faculty serve as liaisons to each academic program at the university and have collection development, instruction, reference/research assistance and communication responsibilities for those departments. The library maintains hours that are adequate for the university community and staffs the reference and circulation desks all the hours the library is open. The library hosts open houses and conducts demonstrations of library resources. The library participates in university wide welcome week activities and other events that publicize library services and resources. In addition, the library is committed to improving outside the library access to electronic resources.

What is the statutory or legal foundation (e.g. college bylaws) for the library’s activities?

The library is considered one of the academic units of the university. The library director is a member of the Deans’ Council and the library faculty participate fully in the university governance structure.

To whom does the library director report? Is that reporting relationship appropriate?

The library director reports to the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs, which is appropriate. The director sits on the Deans’ Council and participates in the President’s Administrative Group as well as other appropriate university committees.

Is there a document that defines the responsibilities and authority of the library director?

The job advertisement serves as a position description for the library director; the union contract(s) define the authority of the director in relationship to library faculty and staff and provide a framework for activities regarding job assignment, evaluation, promotion of library faculty and staff.

Does the library have a standing advisory committee? Does the committee have adequate classroom faculty and student representation? How effective is the committee?

There is currently no library advisory committee but one is being established.

How effective are the policies and procedures that determine internal library governance and operations?

The library is composed of Access Services (Interlibrary Loan, Circulation, Reserves, Shelving, Billing, and Telecourses/AV), Reference Services (Reference, Instruction, Collection Development [although all library faculty have some collection development responsibility]), Government Documents, Serials, Cataloging, Acquisitions, Archives, and Administration (which includes computer support). Monthly meetings of Library Faculty, Library Staff, Library Coordinators, and Library Selectors ensure that open communication and joint decision making occurs. Library and Department procedures are updated regularly. Various ad hoc committees respond to needs for focused response to particular issues.

Does the library operate in accord with the spirit of the ALA "Library Bill of Rights"?

The library faculty attempts to provide a balanced collection that supports the curriculum of the university. It provides instruction geared toward the specific assignment for all who ask whether part of the university or the community. Library rooms are scheduled on a first request basis to members of the university community. Specific policies for library use are posted or available; these policies are inclusive.

Budget

Does the library director prepare, justify, and administer the library budget in accordance with agreed upon objectives?

The library determines its goals and objectives within the larger framework of the university mission, goals, and objectives. These provide the basis on which the library budget is prepared. Early in the process the library director asks for budget requests from department heads and coordinators. These requests are discussed at coordinators meetings. Requests for state funding of new library programs must be prepared, justified, and administered both in accordance with initiatives identified annually by the Illinois Board of Higher Education and the university's mission, goals, and objectives. Reallocation of budget items must be justified to the university administration in terms of the library's goals and objectives.

Are the library's annual authorized expenditures adequate to meet the ongoing, appropriate needs of the library?

The annual authorized expenditures have generally been adequate, except in certain areas. For example, budget priorities have changed in recent years with the growing emphasis the library has placed on electronic services, resources, and equipment. This has created the need for additional funding for printer paper and toner, electronic database services, high-powered computers, infrastructure changes, technical personnel, etc.

How is the college's curriculum taken into account when formulating the library's budget?

The library's materials budget is allocated among the academic programs of the university. Individual librarians are designated as selectors and liaisons for each division or program area within a division, and have responsibility for ensuring the materials purchased meet the curriculum needs of the programs.

The materials budget has traditionally been divided into two parts. Book acquisitions account for approximately 40% of the budget for materials and periodical subscriptions account for the other 60%. The additional cost of database subscriptions, however, is growing to more than 15% of the materials budget, which is affecting the percentage allocated for books and periodicals. The book budget is generally allocated among the programs based on enrollment, although a minimum amount is allocated to every program regardless of enrollment. Some funding is set aside to support new programs and to purchase reference and library-support materials. The periodicals budget is not divided strictly on the basis of program enrollment, but takes into account accreditation requirements, average cost of materials in the discipline, etc. Adjustments to the materials budget allocation formula are done at the beginning of each budget year.

How are the instructional methods of the college, especially as they relate to independent study, considered when formulating the library's budget?

The instructional methods of the college are actually determined within the program areas, so the materials budget is not affected by instructional method per se. Of increasing consideration for the library is a growing emphasis on distance education, which is currently affecting the budget primarily in terms of the costs involved in making all our databases available to distance students and providing personnel to service this population.

What methods are used to determine the adequacy of existing collections? Is the budget adequate to maintain an appropriate rate of collection development in fields pertinent to the curriculum?

The liaison librarians are responsible for collection development for their programs. They are responsible for maintaining the adequacy of collections under their purview in accordance with the library's collection development policy. Although the materials budget has not increased greatly over the years, the Illinois State Board of Higher Education has allocated a percentage increase annually (10% each year for the past three years) for all Illinois public universities. Only once has the university cut funds for the materials budget and it has never taken funds away during the year. Based on accreditation visits in various disciplines, the library budget seems to adequately maintain an appropriate rate of collection development.

How does the size, or anticipated size, of the student body and the classroom faculty affect the library budget?

For the most part, the budget is unchanged by increases or decreases in the student body and the classroom faculty. Such increases may affect the equipment budget, which is a zero-based budget, if the director is able to justify library needs to the Provost and other academic administrators, who are competing for the same funds.

Does the budget support an appropriate level of staffing and compensation?

Staffing has been virtually unchanged over the past ten years, except in two cases where a retired person's salary is enough to cover more than one replacement position. Staffing is adequate, except for the number of student employees. Compensation for librarians and most support staff are negotiated according to their respective bargaining agreements, so the library has no control of the process. The process for giving merit increases is also governed by the bargaining agreements.

How is the adequacy and availability of funding for other library resources (e.g. Archives and Special Collections) determined?

At this time, the library does not provide funding for any resources other than those directly supporting the curriculum.

Does the library budget reflect the library's responsibility for acquiring, processing, servicing, and providing access to media and computer resources?

The library has always provided adequate funding to support media resources, which currently are primarily microforms and videos. Funding for the acquisition of media resources comes from the program areas of the materials budget. The library budget provides adequate funding to acquire and support computer resources at the present time. It has been able to do so through budget reallocations, cooperative consortial purchases, Illinois State Library purchases to provide free databases to all Illinois citizens (FirstSearch, News Illinois, etc.), materials budget annual increases, and the introduction of a student technology fee.

To what extent does the library director have authority to apportion funds and initiate expenditures within the library budget and in accordance with college policy?

All public universities in Illinois have line item budgets; for example, commodities is a line, as is contractual services, etc. The library director has the authority to apportion funds within lines, although she must receive approval from the President, Budget Director, and Provost before filling positions and making permanent reallocations in the breakdown of funds in the personnel line. Requests for reallocating funds between lines require the approval of the President, Budget Director, and Provost.

How does the library monitor its encumbrances and the payment of its invoices? How does the library determine its choices and schedule its expenditures?

The university's business office does a funds check of the library's purchase requisitions before encumbering library funds, but the library also keeps an account of requisitions and receipts. Before payment of library invoices, the business office requires that a copy of the invoice be returned with an authorized signature verifying the receipt of the item and the accuracy of the invoice. The library has an annual budget, so it can schedule its expenditures throughout the year until the date the business office stops processing purchase requisitions, which is usually approximately six weeks before the end of the fiscal year, or until the funds in that line are completely spent. The business office also establishes a date, approximately two months after the end of the fiscal year, by which all invoices for the year must be paid. Outstanding invoices will be paid from the next fiscal year's funds.

Except for some commodities maintained by the central stores unit, some specific brands (computers, software, etc.) supported by the university, and some university-wide purchases (photocopiers, etc.), the library may purchase equipment, resources, and services it selects from the vendors it prefers.

Does the budget include adequate support for extended campus programs?

At the present time the library does not have a proxy server, and so has to limit its database offerings to students who use the university as its Internet Service Provider. A librarian is assigned responsibility for serving distance learning students along with other staff members who also have as part of their duties distance education services. Currently, services are provided via written correspondence, telephone including fax, and electronically. The library has recently begun to allocate funds for document delivery/interlibrary loan to better serve the needs of these students.
 
 

This document was prepared by: Rebecca Bostian, Diane Dates Casey, Linda Geller, Ann Glascoff, Beth Hansen Shaw, Mari Ellen Leverence, Lydia Morrow Ruetten, Nancy Shlaes, and Colleen Waltman