Information Services Management Committee

Minutes of the Meeting of June 1, 2004

1:30 – 2:15 pm

Davis Conference Room  

Present: Christy Branston, Helena Calogeridis, Judy McTaggart, Jim Parrott, Susan Routliffe (Chair), Linda Teather, Rose Koebel (Recorder)

Guest: Susan Bellingham

Regrets: Richard Pinnell, Mary Stanley, Melanie Watkins

1. Minutes of Previous Meeting

   The minutes of the meeting of May 18, 2004 were approved.

2. Results of Staff Survey

   The results of the Library Staff Questionnaire about Reference Service at UW were reviewed further to determine what recommendations might be made. Generally Library staff are happy with the information services they provide. While most staff feel that staffing is appropriate, there are some concerns about scheduling at some of the service points. The responses concerning hours of service vary; there are suggestions for both increasing and decreasing hours for some services. With respect to training, a recurring theme is the appreciation of the assistance that the ISR Training Committee provides.

   Recommendations based on the survey will include:

   • the ISR Training Committee is maintained after the new management structure is in place;
   • the new managers review concerns that have surfaced regarding staff scheduling and that they attempt to address these concerns in the foreseeable future;
   • a task group that includes Mary Stanley be formed to address advertising or increasing awareness of Library services;
   • an exploration and analysis of hours of service be undertaken.

   Some further comments from today’s discussion include:

   • It would be useful to note in the final report the number of staff available for reference service (e.g., FTE per site including UMD and Optometry) and how many hours of service are offered per week. Judy agreed to obtain these numbers.
   • A recurring theme in the staff survey results is the suggestion to utilize contract or co-op library science students to provide reference service. Susan will include this suggestion in the final report.

   Susan will begin to draft the reference service review report.

3. Reference Philosophy/Goals

   The group agreed to revise the reference philosophy statement to incorporate elements of the mission statement from the University of Victoria library. Linda will request permission from UVic to do so.

Next Meeting: TBA