Information resources and services are sufficient in quality, depth, diversity, and currency to support the institution's curricular offerings.

• Information Services and Assessment

Revised Information Resources Management Policy

The Millar Library’s Information Resources Management Policy has been revised to create an up-to-date document, focusing on intellectual issues associated with the management of information resources. The original “Collection Development Manual” focused on procedures related to the acquisition of materials. The revised and updated document focuses on the management of the various information resources, including the rationale for the provision of these resources.

Key goals in the new policy manual include: (a) describe current information resources as well as the directions of anticipated growth, (b) facilitate collaboration between librarians and university scholars on the identification and acquisition of relevant materials, (c) support budget planning and expenditures, (d) facilitate the creation of priorities in relation to reduced budgets, and (e) facilitate cooperative or coordinated collection development/management with other libraries. In addition, the new policy manual describes the University’s academic areas, and provides information on faculty, students, missions, degrees, and program targets.

• Information Resources Management Policy

Research and Services for Students and Improvements

• Services for students

Research & Learning Center

The Research & Learning Center provides a gateway to information, combining reference collections from five subject-areas in the Library. Basically, one library has been created, providing a degree of consistency in policy and services, and improving access for all students.

Expansion of Reference & Information Services

Reference & Information Services have been expanded significantly. The Library provides personal reference services with professional librarians at the Research & Learning Center on the 2nd floor of the Library, 82 hours per week, seven days a week, during the school year. The expansion of reference services (by nearly 50 percent) offers professional assistance after 5 p.m. and on weekends.

Virtual Reference Services

Since 2001, virtual or electronic reference services facilitate library access for students and faculty. “Ask A Librarian” allows users to ask questions online and receive a quick response. The Library also participates in Oregon’s statewide virtual reference services program. Electronic reference services are particularly important for students enrolled in various distance education programs, such as the Community Colleges Initiative, and distance master’s degrees in Education and Social Work.

Graduate Student Consultation Service

The Graduate Student Consultation Service was created in 2002 to support graduate studies. Services include regular workshops on research skills, personal research assistance on theses and dissertations with subject specialists, special borrowing privileges, and the opportunity to participate in focus groups for improving library services.

Expansion of Instructional Services

Instructional Services have been expanded and improved to integrate information literacy into curricular options. Several standard classes are available, such as database utilization and the online catalog. Basic information literacy helps students to locate, critically evaluate, and integrate information into meaningful contexts to attain realistic goals. Librarians also collaborate with faculty to create customized learning experiences for students, which may include legal, ethical, and economic issues associated with information.

Teaching and learning have become primary elements in the Library’s organizational culture. Librarians taught approximately 800 classes in information literacy in 2004, compared to 50 classes in 2000. The Library hired a coordinator of instructional services in 1998, and a coordinator of information literacy in 2004. An instruction team focuses on a variety of pedagogical and strategic issues, including the integration of the Library into the undergraduate University Studies program. Two state-of-the-art electronic classrooms in the Library were constructed in 1999 and 2002.

Students with Disabilities

Issues associated with visually or physically challenged students are addressed in the design of the new Research & Learning Center on the 2nd floor of the Library. Several librarians conferred with a professor who is actively involved in disability issues, and worked with several of her classes. Their recommendations were integrated into the new facilities. In particular, several workstations are designed for students in wheelchairs. Additionally, ZoomText and JAWS are available on all workstations.

Resources and Services for Faculty and Improvements

• Services for faculty

Librarians were actively involved in the University’s Faculty Vitality Initiative from 2001 to 2003. The Millar Library received $20,000 to participate, and produced a program titled, “Creating Connections: Collaborating for Information Literacy.” Librarians collaborated with scholars in five academic departments in efforts to influence curricular options. Positive and productive relationships were successfully cultivated.

Librarians are cultivating active partnerships with faculty through information consulting. Value added information is provided to support instructional and scholarly needs. Customized and meaningful learning experiences are created for students. Key elements of information literacy and scholarly communication are integrated into these consulting relationships.

Services provided by Interlibrary Loan & Document Delivery have been improved dramatically. Changes in personnel, integration of technologies into the ILL workflow, and a reorganization of ILL processes have contributed to increased user satisfaction, and increased ILL transactions (14,250 in 1998-1999, to 22,000 in 2003-2004; a 54.4% increase). A new coordinator was selected in 1998, and Illiad technology was implemented in 2003.

Changes in personnel and relative priorities have been directed toward a focus on distance education and distributed learning. Reference and instructional services are being delivered to students at remote sites or locations via distributed learning initiatives. Examples include the Extended Studies programs and courses, the eMBA program, the distance master’s degrees in Education and Social Work, and students enrolled in the Community Colleges Initiative.

• Services for distance education

In 2002-2003, the median materials budget for the nation’s “research libraries” (as defined by the Association of Research Libraries) was $7.5 million. In 2004-2005, the Millar Library’s materials budget was $3.25 million, or less than half of the median materials budget of a “research library” in the United States. Additional financial support is needed to provide appropriate and needed information resources. The demands to support growing research programs, information services, and increasing enrollment are basically compromised by repeatedly inadequate materials budgets.

Increased demand on Interlibrary Loan & Document Delivery is increasing the associated costs of the service. Costs, excluding staff, will exceed $100,000 in 2004-2005. These costs are not included in the Millar Library’s materials budget.