Annual Report, 2002-2003

North Carolina State University Libraries

I. PROGRAMS

A. Changes in Scope of Activities
Special Achievements. This year the NCSU Libraries retained position 32 in the Association of Research Libraries' (ARL) rankings of its North American academic library members. NC State's ranking places its library in the top 1% of nearly 3,500 colleges and universities in North America. The NCSU Libraries won the 2003 Library of the Future award given jointly by the American Library Association and Information Today, Inc. The Libraries' Fellows Program met its objective of increasing the diversity of librarians and attracting librarians with background in the sciences or information technology. Three 2003-2005 Fellows, outstanding new librarians, will join the staff this summer. For the second year in a row, the Libraries has recruited a Fellows class where one of three is a minority librarian. Through the Libraries' retention efforts and with support from the provost for salary improvements, the turnover of librarians went down to approximately 10%, the lowest in almost a decade. In March 2003, the Libraries' Satellite Shelving Facility opened with space to house up to 40,000 linear feet of library material or an estimated 800,000 volumes. This year 230,000 volumes and 7,000 linear feet of archival boxes were moved to the facility, opening up shelving and seating space in D. H. Hill Library and its branches. In partnership with a College of Natural Resources faculty member, the library received a two-year NSF grant of $225,000 to create a web-accessible database of wood anatomy images. In support of library preservation projects, NEH (National Endowment for the Humanities) and USAIN (U.S. Agricultural Information Network) awarded $124,500 to the NCSU Libraries, and SOLINET (Southeastern Library Network) presented the Libraries with an $80,000 grant. The Libraries' hired its first-ever collection conservator, Margaret Brown. Brown proved to be invaluable in dealing with smoke damage to library materials after the university's Atrium dining facility, located on the ground floor of the library's west wing, caught fire in April. In May, the Learning and Research Center for the Digital Age (LRCDA) opening ceremony and ribbon cutting took place in the east wing of D. H. Hill Library, celebrating the LRCDA's new high-technology home in renovated space.

Advancement of Teaching and Learning through the Digital Library

•	The completion of the Learning and Research Center for the Digital Age (LRCDA) construction project on the second floor, east wing of D.H. Hill Library was a major achievement this year. The LRCDA is based on a vision formed more than a decade ago that recognized the impact of digital resources on higher education, as well as the expressed needs of faculty and students. Completely renovated and refurbished, the LRCDA's new home brings together a number of essential services and facilities to create a technologically rich environment of collaboration, discovery, and creativity. The center embodies important partnerships between the NCSU Libraries, Distance Education and Learning Technology Applications (DELTA), and the Information Technology Division and includes the following: Digital Media Lab Information Technologies Teaching Center Digital Library Initiatives Department Collaboratory - technology-enabled group workspace for students Usability Research Laboratory Scholarly Communication Center Learning Technology Service Seminar and Conference Rooms
•	As part of the SACS Quality Enhancement Plan: Learning in a Technology-Rich Environment, library staff members participated on the Learning in a Technology-Rich Environment (LITRE) Team and workgroups, investigating topics that included student fluency with information and technology resources and support for the creation, delivery, and use of high-quality content for teaching and learning.
•	The NCSU Libraries' newly enhanced information literacy tutorial, LOBO (Library Online Basic Orientation), received the 2003 Library of the Future award presented by American Library Association (ALA) and Information Today, Inc. The award is given for "innovative planning for, applications of, or development of patron training programs about information technology in a library setting." Completion of LOBO will be required for all students in English 101 beginning in fall 2003, and assessment of student learning outcomes will be conducted.

Expanded Library Collections. The 2002/2003 collections budget was set in November 2002 at just over $9 million. This allowed the Libraries to protect key subscriptions and add needed purchases in the university's four thrust areas. Also, as part of budget and inflation management, and after more than a decade of budget cuts, 436 serials were canceled. Deeper collection cuts can be expected due to further budget reduction in 2003/2004 and continued significant inflation in the cost of serials and other library materials. The NCSU Libraries worked on two major preservation projects, one concerning the Libraries' holdings on North Carolina agriculture from 1825 to 1924, and the other focusing on pre-1950s material documenting the textiles industry in the South. Over $200,000 was received in grant money to support these projects from SOLINET, NEH, and USAIN. In partnership with the College of Natural Resources, the NCSU Libraries received a two-year National Science Foundation grant of $225,000 to create a web-accessible database of wood anatomy images. The Special Collections department, in collaboration with three partners: the Forest History Society, the Biltmore Estate, and the University of North Carolina - Asheville, completed a major web-based resource for research on forest history in North Carolina, funded through a $50,000 grant from NC ECHO (Exploring Cultural Heritage Online). Special Collections received nine new manuscript collections, including one from J. L. Apple, professor emeritus of plant pathology at NCSU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and a former chair of the Friends of the Library Board. Sigma Xi, The Scientific Society, gave $15,000 to NCSU Libraries this year for the processing of its archival records, donated in fall 2000 to Special Collections.

Improved Access to and Delivery of Information.

•	The Libraries' web site received over 9,320,000 visits this year, an increase of 15% over last year.
•	The Libraries implemented a major upgrade to its integrated library management system (ILMS), using Sirsi Corporation's Unicorn. This has resulted in greater functionality and productivity for all library functions, including both technical processing and user services. The library catalog search interface remains substantially the same, with a few added features, giving users easy integrated access to both the print and electronic resources in the Libraries' collection. Over 2.5 million library catalog records and authority records were migrated to the new ILMS.
•	In 2002, the Libraries undertook a major redesign of the presentation of research databases via its web site. Two advances were made, one improving the display of databases in a given subject ("Database Finder"); the other allowing simultaneous searching of multiple databases ("MultiSearch"). These new features appeared on the Libraries' web site in August 2002.
•	Database Finder (http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/eresources/dbfinder.html) was upgraded to include new "databases by subject" pages that are designed to improve discovery of key resources for researchers in various subject disciplines. Rather than simply presenting the user with an alphabetical list, the resources are organized in a manner that highlights those that are most likely to be of use and a brief description of each is provided. These pages can be used as either a jumping-off point to search appropriate databases individually, or as a gateway to take advantage of the Libraries' new MultiSearch service.
•	MultiSearch (http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/eresources/MultiSearchFAQ.html) allows patrons to broadcast a search to a number of databases simultaneously. Seeing how many results each database yields for a given search allows the user to focus on the databases that are most likely to be useful for finding articles on a particular topic.
•	Use of the Libraries' E-journal Finder service increased 40%. This year the service was used to perform more than 350,000 searches on journal titles.

Campus Community. The Libraries' NC State University Authors Database, which provides a web-accessible record of publications by faculty and other authors at NCSU, expanded from just over 11,500 to nearly 14,200 citations for articles, books, and patents. This represents works by over 6,820 authors (the majority being faculty, but also including staff and students).

B. Volume of Activities: NCSU Libraries Statistics (2001/02, 2000/01, 1996/97, 1991/92)

Collection Statistics

Year	Volumes in Library	Volumes Added (Gross)	No. of Serial Subscriptions	Microform Units	E-Resources Owned/Leased
01/02	3,143,738	101,154	(a) 52,769	5,006,819	(a) 82,042
00/01	3,061,005	127,099	(a) 47,680	4,986,164	(a) 53,572
96/97	2,618,615	84,303	26,450	4,630,696	4,729
91/92	1,445,957	44,454	17,442	3,471,325	330

Library Services

Year	User Visits to Library	Total Circulations	Instructional Sessions/Students	Reference Transactions	Laptop Loans
01/02	1,716,238	972,868	525 / 12,244	89,828	8,421
00/01	1,562,660	(b) 833,876	472 / 10,882	87,774	6,512
96/97	1,275,395	483,814	289 / 4,692	128,103	n/a
91/92	1,930,324	399,504	298 / 4,694	119,008	n/a

Library Services (continued), Expenditures, and ARL Ranking

Year	Items Loaned to External Organizations	Items Borrowed from External Organizations	Expenditures ($) on Library Materials	Total Library Expenditures ($)	ARL Index/Rank
01/02	(c) 12,559	(c) 21,339	7,781,023	(d) 24,707,755	32 out of 114
00/01	14,899	18,415	8,079,743	(d) 22,350,859	32 out of 113
96/97	19,149	11,578	6,916,560	16,780,431	42 out of 110
91/92	28,647	6,683	3,439,162	9,592,998	98 out of 108

For footnotes, see Appendix A at end.

C. Special Achievements of Significance (see also Special Achievements paragraph I. A., p.1)
The NCSU Libraries:

•	quickly reinstated 24-hour and Saturday services in fall 2002 with budget support from the chancellor and provost. A special effort was made to rehire library employees who lost positions in the university's reduction-in-force of June 2002;
•	awarded Associate Professor George Hodge, College of Textiles, the 2002/2003 Libraries Faculty Award for integrating information literacy instruction into the curriculum of his courses and his overall outstanding support of the Libraries;
•	held the I. T. Littleton Seminar; Professor James D. A. Boyle, the William Neal Reynolds Professor of Law at the Duke University School of Law, addressed current U.S. copyright issues and Creative Commons concepts. The Creative Commons is an organization that encourages authors to dedicate their work to the public domain;
•	held well-attended Friends of the Library events, including the 2002 Fall Luncheon (120 attendees) featuring NC State's Michael Stoskopf, professor of aquatics, wildlife, and zoological medicine and of molecular and environmental toxicology, the 2003 Spring Dinner (220 attendees) featuring author Lee Smith, and special presentations by authors: Tony Horwitz, Tony Reevy, and Doug Stanton (over 200 attendees in total);
•	received two major monetary gifts of $100,000 each, one given by the "Wolfpack Club;" and
•	took pride in the special achievement of Friends of the Library Board member Cyma Rubin, who, this spring, received an NC State honorary doctorate of fine arts. Rubin is an Emmy and Tony award-winning producer, director and writer, an NC State graduate, and curator of the fall 2003 Pulitzer Prize Exhibit at D. H. Hill Library.

D. Special Program Reviews, Studies or Plans

•	The Master Plan for library facilities presents a blueprint for the future of the NCSU library system. This year the final draft of the Master Plan was presented to the Buildings and Property Committee of the NC State Board of Trustees and approved. The plan addresses the Libraries' space needs for study areas, seating, collections, and collaboration areas, as well as its technology infrastructure and buildings needs. A major overhaul of D. H. Hill Library and construction of a new Centennial Campus Library are key tenets.
•	Construction and infrastructure work to finish the Satellite Shelving Facility Project continued until early 2003. The Libraries leased the university's old Central Stores/warehouse building and spent close to $1.0 million renovating the facility, and purchasing and installing compact shelving. This renovation provided relief and additional space for the D. H. Hill Library and its branches, which were over capacity and needed room for shelving, study, and seating areas. The current renovation and planned expansion will provide at least ten years of additional storage capacity on campus, avoiding any discernible impact on service to users. The first group of items selected for storage (over 230,000 items) arrived in February 2003, and the facility opened in March, with University Library Committee (ULC) backing. The ULC had not only discussed and approved the selection criteria for material to be moved into storage but also reviewed and approved the service guidelines for the facility. For journal content stored in the facility, the most popular delivery option has proven to be Web/Desktop Delivery service. To deliver articles via the web, library staff convert each requested article to digital format for delivery. This service has received a great deal of positive feedback from users. The acquisition and installation of additional compact shelving is planned for future years in order to fill the facility to its capacity.
•	As documented in the Libraries' renovations plan, the Department of Insurance required that the Libraries install an emergency egress stairwell, a new ADA-compliant elevator, new electrical and HVAC systems, and ADA-compliant restrooms in the east wing of the D.H. Hill Library. Creating the egress as an addition to the building's exterior solved a safety problem while preserving valuable library space. In order to connect the egress stairwell and elevator to the third floor, several bays had to be added, allowing the creation of much-needed office space. This project was completed in spring 2003 at a cost of $1.23 million, funded by about $688,000 in state repair and renovation funds and $540,000 in overhead funds from the Libraries' budget.
•	A review of the Libraries' serials assessment procedures was started this spring and will continue into next year. The group involved with the review includes both collection management librarians and faculty members of the University Library Committee. The review should help the Libraries to develop new assessment procedures, enrich its serials collection, and make it easier to rank the criticality of each serial to identify those no longer needed.

II. COMPACT PLAN: Major Initiatives

•	Campus Community: "Four Thrusts": The Libraries completed collection assessments in the four thrust areas in 2001/2002. This year journal subscriptions were expanded in the thrust areas and special attention paid to monograph purchases.
•	Partnerships: Transformation of Scholarly Communication: During 2002/2003 library staff together with faculty and university administrators addressed many scholarly communication topics, including the TEACH Act, copyright extension, institutional repository concepts, intellectual property concerns, journal/database pricing, license terms, bills impacting fair use and privacy, and library of the future issues. In particular, the scholarly communication librarian, Peggy Hoon, was very active in helping NC State and the nation understand the ramifications of the newly enacted TEACH (Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization) Act by creating a TEACH Act Tutorial on the Libraries' web site. Not only was the tutorial cited in the national press (including The Chronicle of Higher Education) but it was also a presentation topic at several conferences during the year, with NC State staff presenting the topic before audiences of librarians, faculty, and legal staff. Hoon also continued to help the NC State community implement the NC State Administrative Regulation pursuant to the University of North Carolina Copyright Ownership and Use Policy as an ex officio member of the University Copyright Committee.
•	Partnerships: NC LIVE: The NCSU Libraries continued in the successful partnership with public/private universities and colleges, community colleges, and public libraries to support and offer NC LIVE, a statewide electronic resource project. Major accomplishments this year included the release of a revamped web site, which now offers a single search feature, and the implementation of an outreach program where NC LIVE help desk staff visited many member libraries in the state. The staff intends to visit every NC LIVE member by mid 2005.
•	The Libraries' Space Needs: To address its need for space, the Libraries completed four major renovation projects in 2002/2003 at a total cost of over $4.0 million, with about $3.0 million coming from the Libraries' overhead funds, and about $1.0 million coming from state repair and renovation funding. In addition, the Libraries' Master Plan, which looks at space issues over the next 20 years, was finished, presented, and approved this year. Renovation PROJECT 1 took 15,000 square feet of non-functional space in D. H. Hill's east wing to make the Learning and Research Center for the Digital Age. PROJECT 2 was the addition of an emergency egress, an ADA-accessible elevator, and additional office space also in D. H. Hill's east wing. PROJECT 3 consisted of upgrades to the electrical and HVAC capacity of the east wing - built in 1953 and never updated. PROJECT 4 focused on the renovation of the Central Stores building to turn it into the Libraries' Satellite Shelving Facility. With the approval of the Master Plan this year, Master Plan phase I is now taking shape. The plan outlines a four-phase planning approach that includes renovations and additions to the D. H. Hill Library, and construction of a Centennial Campus library. Phase I calls for renovations of the Libraries' east wing on the ground and first floors. Using $9.2 million in 2000 bond money, the Libraries will reclaim about 20,000 square feet and create space for its Special Collections department and technical services functions. Renovations are scheduled to commence in 2005.
•	Information Access and Delivery: The Libraries' curriculum-integrated library instruction program continued to gain momentum on campus, especially at the College of Textiles, and the College of Engineering where hundreds of students and many faculty and library staff were involved in 2002/2003 library instruction activities. The Libraries' geographic information systems program and online course offerings (through ESRI - Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc.) also grew this year. The Ask a Librarian LIVE service demonstrated the popularity of real-time Internet "chat" as a means of responding to reference questions. A web-based "Virtual Tour" of the Libraries helped users navigate the facilities and services.
•	Library services for Distance Learners: In accordance with national accreditation standards/guidelines, the library maintains an active service and outreach program for distance learners. Demand for these services has grown. Last year, for example, borrowing requests from distance learners numbered just over 1000; library staff handled 25% more requests this year.
•	Recruitment and Retention: The average salary of NCSU Librarians plummeted in comparison to peers, as no money was available for raises in 2002/2003. However, the provost's support for librarian salary improvements contributed to successful retention efforts, holding turnover down to approximately 10% of librarians, the lowest in about a decade. This is a temporary improvement. The Libraries must significantly improve salaries to be competitive in the face of a worldwide labor market shortage of librarians and information science professionals. Turnover of SPA positions continues at a high rate (28% in 2002/2003).

III. DIVERSITY: INITIATIVES AND PROGRESS

•	This year the Libraries launched a new and highly successful Peer Research Advisors program, developed by the Libraries' Diversity Committee and modeled on similar programs at other institutions. Peer research advisors are students from diverse backgrounds who teach and assist fellow students while improving their own research skills. They help to answer questions at the reference desk and assist librarians with instruction sessions and outreach efforts. Four students participated this year. The program is one of a number of library initiatives to make students aware of the excellent career possibilities in library and information science. In the coming year, the Libraries will take the lead in submitting a TRLN (Triangle Research Libraries Network) grant proposal to the Institute of Museum and Library Services to expand this program.
•	Data for combined EPA/SPA hires in 2002/2003 show that 22% of appointments made were to persons from targeted ethnic backgrounds; two ethnic minority librarians were appointed.
•	Liz Burnette, assistant head of NCSU Libraries Acquisitions department, was selected to participate as a student and mentee in the Association of Research Libraries' Leadership and Career Development Program (2003/2004). The program is designed to increase the number of librarians from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups in positions of influence and leadership in research libraries by helping them develop the skills needed to be more competitive in the promotion process.
•	Susan K. Nutter, vice provost and director of Libraries, will serve as a mentor to a non-NCSU librarian in the Association of Research Libraries' Leadership and Career Development Program (2003/2004).
•	Karen Letarte, assistant head of Cataloging, was appointed chair of the American Library Association's Diversity Council.

IV. STAFF

A. Major New Appointments.
Carolyn D. Argentati (formerly Donald E. Moreland Associate Director for Public Services at NCSU Libraries) designated as Associate Vice Provost and Donald E. Moreland Deputy Director of Libraries; Robert R. Hoon (formerly Director of Grants, Contracts and Licensing at NCSU Libraries) as Director of Space Planning and Contract Management; James P. Mulvey (formerly Director of Development at the Alice Aycock Poe Center for Health Education) as Director of Development.

B. Kudos, Professional Activities and Recognition.
This year the Libraries' staff achieved the following noteworthy awards, honors, and appointments: Kristin Antelman was elected a Director-at-Large of the Library and Information Technology Association (LITA); Carolyn Argentati was named a prestigious Frye Leadership Institute Fellow; Tamika Barnes won an Association of College and Research Libraries Conference Scholarship; Jeff Barnhardt won one of the NC State provost's Awards for Excellence; Liz Burnette was selected to participate in the 2003/2004 Association of Research Libraries' Leadership and Career Development Program; Terrell Armistead Crow co-edited, Live Your Own Life, The Family Papers of Mary Bayard Clarke, 1854-1886, a book published this spring by the University of South Carolina Press; Beverly Godwin received a Special Service award from NCSU's College of Veterinary Medicine Class of 2004; Kelsey Libner received honorable mention in the contest "Visions: The Academic Library in 2012" sponsored by Farleigh Dickinson University and the New Jersey Chapter of the Association of College and Research Libraries; Monica Lopez received an Institute of Information Literacy Scholarship from the Association of College and Research Libraries and also won an Association of College and Research Libraries Conference Scholarship; Laura Osegueda won the Most Valuable Member award from the Biomedical and Life Sciences Division of the Special Libraries Association; Andrew K. Pace wrote a book for library and information science professionals entitled, The Ultimate Digital Library - Where the New Information Players Meet, and published it through the American Library Association; James Jackson Sanborn won a Digital Library Federation Fellowship; Eleanor Smith wrote a winning essay to obtain a 2003 US Agricultural Information Network Conference Scholarship; and a team of NCSU librarians and staff (including Josh Boyer, May Chang, Kim Duckett, Cindy Levine, Megan Oakleaf, Darby Orcutt, Eric Pauley, and Tom Zack) won the American Library Association/ Information Today, Inc. Library of the Future award for NCSU Libraries, for the production of an outstanding library orientation web tutorial in collaboration with NCSU faculty. In terms of monetary awards, the staff won over $6,000 this year, mainly to help support travel to conferences and/or courses.

V. RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCERNS FOR THE FUTURE

•	A new, additional library building on the Centennial Campus appears to be the most effective long-term solution to the Libraries' space problems. The Libraries has completed a Master Plan that now has received approval. Ensuring the inclusion of the Libraries' funding needs in the 2005 bond package will be critical.
•	Impending budget cuts, combined with significant inflationary pressure, will force the library to cancel a number of serials, reduce acquisitions of monographs and other material, and reduce library services during 2003/2004, with devastating effects over time on research and learning, and on our ARL ranking.
•	Pending litigation threatens to redirect receipts from library fines collected since 1996/1997 to the county school system. In a worst-case scenario, NC State will forfeit approximately $650,000 (retrospectively to 1996/1997) to the school system. Depending upon the final amount of money the court orders the Libraries to pay, the budget impact may be staggering. The University administration's support is needed, especially to help deal with any crippling costs.
•	Recruitment and retention of information professionals continues to be a daunting challenge due to the worldwide market shortage of librarians. The ability to offer competitive salaries is the primary concern.
•	Fire is a major disaster for any library. This year the Libraries' west wing suffered smoke damage after the university's Atrium dining facility, located on the ground floor of the Libraries' west wing, caught fire in April. The damage forced the Libraries to discard hundreds of national and international newspapers as well as undertake a total clean-up effort costing more than $40,000.

APPENDIX A: FOOTNOTES TO NCSU LIBRARIES STATISTICS

	(a)	Includes NC LIVE resources.
	(b)	Includes both main collection and reserve circulations, both print and electronic reserve circulations (beginning in 1998/1999).
	(c)	Decrease in lending and increase in borrowing reflect serials cancellations, reductions in books purchased, and increased use of TRIPSaver expedited delivery service.
	(d)	Excludes benefits.