Information Services Management Committee

Minutes of the Meeting of October 1, 2002
1:30 – 3:30 pm
Porter Conference Room

Regrets:  Richard Pinnell, Mary Stanley

Guest:  Margaret Aquan-Yuen

1. Minutes of Previous Meeting

The minutes of the meeting of September 17, 2002 were approved with changes.
2. Review of the Terms of Reference for the Library Instruction Committee
   ISMC began the discussion by ensuring that there was a shared understanding of LINC’s current mandate and how that mandate relates to instruction that individual librarians do for their academic departments.  The Committee then considered a set of questions proposed by Susan as a focus for today’s discussion.
   1. Do the terms of reference accurately reflect what the committee is currently doing? While there was general agreement that the terms accurately reflect what LINC is currently doing, there are times when the areas of activity the committee is responsible for become blurred.  The question of whether LINC, or Library Communications and Development should coordinate certain events or publications was raised in association with the following activities:
      1. the recent open house for graduate students
      2. student handbooks
      3. the brief Library tours given by casual staff at the beginning of the term (while it was felt that it wasn’t necessary for LINC to handle these kinds of tours, it does want to review the scripts used by the students.  Melanie agreed to be LINC’s contact.)

      It would be useful to include a statement under “Purpose” in the terms of reference reflecting the Library public relations aspect.

   2. Is the Library Instruction Committee doing work not reflected in the terms of reference?  It was noted that:
      1. The areas of activity don’t include the in-house scripts that LINC provides for those who deliver selected sessions.

      2. The paragraph “Identify the need for and coordinate the scheduling of general, non-discipline specific workshops" should be separated into two distinct points.

      3. LINC evaluates general library instruction services in a qualitative and quantitative manner (e.g. , reviewing evaluation form results).

      4. LINC compiles statistics for external reports, including statistics for both general and course-specific instruction.

      5. LINC prepares an annual report.

      6. LINC’s website already includes links to templates, etc. that are used by librarians doing similar sessions, but it was noted that this activity could be expanded so that the site could serve as a repository for both general and course specific instructional materials.

   3. Are there gaps in the terms, e.g., are there things that need to be done that might be done by LINC? Gaps in the terms of reference were identified as follows:
      1. If LINC is to be responsible for establishing long-term goals, a vision statement is needed. (It was proposed that groups or individuals outside the Library might be well suited to sit on this committee, e.g. someone from LT3, if LINC is to investigate opportunities such as online tutorials.)

      2. LINC should explore what other libraries are doing with library instruction, particularly TUG institutions and the church colleges. Some librarians from Guelph and Wilfrid Laurier could also be invited to meet with us to share ideas, under the auspices of either ISMC, or LINC. (Perhaps include this idea when considering a vision statement.) 

      3. Training for instructional activities may be referred to the ISR Training Committee, if it is decided that it doesn’t fall under LINC’s responsibility.

   4. Who else should be involved in the review?  It was agreed that ISR librarians should be included in the review, once a draft of the revised terms is completed.  Melanie will bring this topic to a User Services meeting. 

   Membership: The Library Instruction Committee currently has eight members. Interlibrary Loan and UMD are not represented at this time, but Margaret will approach Christine Jewell and Richard about this. It would be desirable to include a statement in the terms that LINC would welcome representation from Optometry, UMD, and ILL/DD, if departmental workloads permit. The ideal membership would include two librarians each from Davis and Porter ISR, two library assistants from ISR, one staff member from User Services, and up to three staff from other departments. 

   Budget: A suggestion was made to revise “A proposal to fund expenses” to “proposals to fund expenses.”

   Reporting: It was suggested to remove the paragraph, leaving the first sentence.

   In addition to the proposed amendments for the membership, budget, and reporting sections of the terms of reference, it was suggested to replace  “areas of activity” with “areas of responsibility.”

   Margaret will draft a revised version of the terms of reference based on the minutes of today’s meeting.  The discussion on the role of Library public relations will be continued when Mary returns.