Posted on Nov. 22: Reports examine role of Library in the academic mission

Two recent reports outline challenges and opportunities for McMaster in ensuring our libraries continue to play a vital role in the academic mission.

The reports are posted on the University's Web site (links appear below). University Provost Ken Norrie and members of the University Planning Committee are inviting feedback from the campus community on the findings and recommendations contained in both documents.

“These reports serve as a powerful reminder of the importance of the Library to the teaching and research mission at McMaster and the potential dangers if we neglect it,” says Norrie. “Our libraries are among our most important resources and are a crucial component of the academic operation. Academic libraries around the world are in a state of transformation and the change is rapid and unprecedented. The challenge for McMaster, as well as for other academic institutions is to embrace this change, manage it, and, in the end, strengthen and protect a resource that is absolutely essential and integral to our academic mission,” says Norrie.

While financial cutbacks have taken their toll on academic libraries, including McMaster, libraries have also been drastically affected by external factors: rapid technological change, the declining value of the Canadian dollar in a largely American book and journal market, and publication monopolies. The reports outline the crisis facing McMaster libraries and others, most notably a decline in intellectual resources.

Report of the Ad Hoc Committee to Review the University Library

The final report of the Ad Hoc Committee to Review the University Library and its Relationship to McMaster's Academic Mission focuses on three main issues:

* The relationship between academic and curriculum planning campus-wide and the building of the library collections which support the academic enterprise;

* library governance (oversight of the construction and maintenance of the collections and support research as well as overall governance of the library); and

* vision.

In carrying out its mandate, the committee adopted a set of principles, which include the belief that “we cannot call ourselves a research-intensive, innovative university without acknowledging that libraries are a crucial component of that enterprise.”

“There's no doubt that we could not be what we are today without the Library. It is crucial to the academic enterprise. Obviously, it's important that we not only sustain but grow and revitalize this valuable resource; the challenge is in how best to do that given the continuing and unavoidable constraints that we have,” says Norrie.

“We agree with the view that the ability of the library to sustain a reasonable level of acquisition of books and series (paper, or electronics) has declined and drastically,” the report states.

The committee makes a number of recommendations aimed at addressing myriad concerns. These include:

* a significant reallocation to base funding for acquisitions;

* the allocation of new monies in the form of a fixed percentage of the indirect research costs (Norrie notes that the university has allocated funds to the library from the indirect costs envelope);

* equity in the allocation of funds to individual departments for such things as journals collection and book purchases;

* the involvement of libraries in academic discussions and a reconstitution of the membership of the Universities Libraries Committee and a strengthening of its authority.

The report calls for a review of the Library's university-wide mission.

Health Sciences Library External Review

The second report, conducted by an external reviewer, examines the state of the Health Sciences Library, particularly where it should be going and how to get there.

The HS Library, says Michael Ridley, chief librarian of the University of Guelph, is at a critical point in its development. “It has endured the ravages of financial cutbacks, constrained funding and relentless inflation but all this has taken a toll on the Librarythe Health Sciences Library is struggling to remain a vital and effective resource.”

While the main recommendation of this report is that the HS library's budget be increased substantially, the report also suggests that these resources be utilized in a significantly different way to reinvent and reinvigorate the resource.

The report encourages the Library to “earn [those] new resources by redefining options, taking risks and exploring new ways to achieve its fundamental goals” and recommends a combination of “strategic directions and tactical actions to reorient itself and become a more vital and influential resource in the lives of its users.”

A number of recommendations for the Library's re-invention are presented in the document. It warns there are no quick fixes and that the transformation of the facility will require new and sustained support as well as innovations in library service.

The report is optimistic in presenting the opportunities that exist for the Library to re-invent itself during a period of great technological change, and in outlining the chance for the library to capitalize on the advances such technological changes can provide.

Ridley recommends the Library's information resource budget be increased and the “access model' be used to rationalize access through electronic availability, on-site print collections and demand delivery. Changing and upgrading the information technology environment to maximize support for digital library services and electronic resources are also on the list of key recommendations. Finally, he recommends that new staff be hired to provide leadership and support for expanded and redesigned services and resources.

The report recommends envisioning the library as a learning commons by clustering resources and reallocating library space.

The reviewer concludes, “The recommendations provided in this report are not the final answer nor the complete solution. This review should be a starting place for renewed and reinvigorated discussions and deliberations.”

The report points out that more than ever libraries are the heart of the academic enterprise and at the centre of learning, a message that resonates with Norrie.

He says the role of the Library in the academic mission will be considered as part of the Refining Directions exercise. In terms of implementing the recommendations, Norrie plans to reconstitute the Library Committee, as the Ad Hoc Committee report suggests, and ask members to determine a course of action based on the report.

The HS Library report is being reviewed within the Faculty in order to prioritize the recommendations and develop a plan for staged implementation.

Comments on the reports can be sent to Bruce Frank, Secretary of the Board of Governors, by the first week in December.