• UWELib (University of Waterloo Electronic Library) has become a rich resource supporting teaching and research. Collection Development Librarians have enhanced their Resources by Discipline pages to include many new electronic journals and electronic texts. An expanded section, "Using the Library," provides faculty and students with access to resources and services such as the electronic interlibrary loan forms, the electronic reference service, and Web-based user education workshops. The number of accesses in 96/97 to the University of Waterloo Library Scholarly Societies Project on UWELib increased to 559,414 (35.5% inc rease). The use of electronic publications is also up:
  • "Titles" publications - accesses up 204% over previous year
  • "How to" publications - accesses up 188.4% see also: An Introduction to Searching Electronic Databases.
• There is a growing need for intervention to help students use increasingly complex information resources. Consequently, library staff initiated a geospatial help-desk service (patrons receive assistance in acquiring and using cartographic data) in workstation areas and reference roving.
• The number of accesses to Library Electronic Data Service (EDS) increased 150%, to almost 38,000. During the past year the Library Electronic Data Service (EDS) convened an Advisory Group. It includes representation from all faculties and many supporting departments in the UW academic community. In consultation with its advisory group, EDS:
  • Created a listserve;
  • Established hours of service;
  • Contracted with the University of Toronto to provide access to CANSIM and 1991 Canadian census data;
  • Put a test database on the WWW to deliver Leisure Studies DataBase files;
  • Streamlined procedures to provide access to DLI (Data Liberation Initiative) and other datasets.
• Library Staff reviewed library publications and promotional flyers. Most library publications survived scrutiny. These handouts continue to be an effective and sought-after source of information about library collections and services. This year new titles included: The Beginners Tool Kit, ARTBibliographies Modern on Disc, and The Schantz/Russell Family Papers. The Library printed over 100 separate information publications, guides, and flyers in 1996/97. Many of these are being merged into electronic processes so that Library users can print them on demand.
• The Information Needs of the University of Waterloo Academic Community: Report of the 1993-1994 Survey is available.
• The Library continues the work on creating a Management Information System. The Library is planning to use more flexible analysis tools with the introduction of the Endeavor System.
• A study was done on weekend use of the Library. The study confirmed that 15% of the use of UW libraries on the weekend is from off campus.
• An informal study of student information needs in the student residences led to library staff participation in a residence redevelopment project.
• The Industry and Business Information Service (IBIS) was restructured. A part-time staff member now operates it, and Financial Services does the invoicing.
• University of Waterloo Library staff helped to design a well-received standardised response for Ontario Council of Graduate Studies appraisals of graduate programs.
• Staff reductions resulted in fewer hours of service with the government publications collection on the Dana Porter fifth floor (now noon to four, Monday through Friday). Some basic reference service regarding government publications is provided at the Main Information Desk.
• Library staff are tracking for the first time interactions with users relating to:

  Roving Reference	315
  In-depth	577
  Distance Education	43

• Library staff members are developing stand-alone information workstations for electronic reference databases. A study of electronic texts in the humanities was initiated. The intention was to provide scholars in humanities with resources offering a new approach for exploring, comparing, and analysing literary and linguistic features of a wide range of electronic texts.
• The Library added to the number of CD ROM information resources available on the library network. Networked resources were made available on the Watstar network. The use of CD-ROM databases has increased by 368% since 1990/91. During the year, the increase was 22%.

  

Reference Activity - Summary of Trends - 1996/97

• Total reference activity decreased by 5.6% during this fiscal period. The decline from 1992/93, when reference activity reached its peak (72,536 reference transactions) is 12.3%.

Library Traffic

• Turnstile counts show an increase of user traffic in the Davis Library of 27%. The Dana Porter turnstile counts are lower than in Davis and declined by 7% last year. The Davis Centre Library accounts for more than 75% of library visitors. Further study is scheduled.