University Libraries Strategic Plan

The University Libraries supports excellence in research and learning by selecting, acquiring, creating, and organizing digital and print collections; by assisting students, faculty, and the community to effectively access and use information; and by promoting diversity of ideas and ensuring that today's resources are available for tomorrow's students. The Libraries collaborates with campus academic departments and with external entities to achieve our goals.

Priority 1 - To expand the Digital Scholarship and Literacy Program.
Timeline: 2006/07.
Values: Research and Creative Activity, Learning, Stewardship.

The Libraries provides tools, expertise, and training for creating and organizing digital content to support research and instruction. This priority includes the wide range of activities in the libraries that support digital scholarship, an emerging frontier in today's research environment. The Libraries has reallocated five positions, received 8 grants where library faculty are the principal investigators, and designated private donations to support moving from pilot programs to production.

Activities

• Expand Center for Digital Research in the Humanities.
  Metrics - Number of faculty involved, success at obtaining grants.
• Expand UNL's Institutional Repository called DigitalCommons.
  Metrics - Increase in number of items in the repository, downloads of material, number of faculty involved.
• CONTENTdm Program. Creating image databases for teaching and research.
  Metrics - Number of images and other non-print items, number of courses using.
• Digital Learning Librarian (DLL) Program. Integrating multi-media into the curriculum.
  Metrics - Increase in use.
• Geographic Information Systems Program expanded.
  Metrics - Use of the GIS equipment, number of instruction sessions provided, megabytes of content developed.
• Information literacy and technology training for campus. Metrics - To be developed.

Priority 2 - To enhance reference and instructional services to students, faculty, and the community.
Timeline: 2006/07.
Values: Learning, Research, Engagement.

The Libraries continues to implement new technologies to improve services as needs change and as programs change. By continuing to enhance our services to meet the needs of a digital generation, the Libraries provides user-centered support for research and creative activities by our students and faculty that meets the needs of a new generation. Our user-centered focus to our services supports recruitment and retention of students and recruitment of faculty as the Libraries serves as a partner in the research and instructional activities of the university community.

Activities

• Participate in a 24/7 Online Reference Service Program.
  Metrics - Increase in questions received and answered online, user feed-back.
• Enhance document delivery services.
  Metrics - Turn around time for delivery of materials, user feedback.
• Promote the ability of faculty and students to customize their access to the Libraries catalog system.
  Metrics - Use of the system.
• Refine how reference and instructional services are provided.
  Metrics - Increase in use of reference services
• Research gaming technology and use in instruction and in information retrieval.
  Metrics - Research papers produced.

Priority 3 - To enhance collections to support research, instruction, and service for today's users and tomorrow's scholars through increases in acquisitions.
Timeline: 2006/07.
Values: Stewardship, Research, Learning.

The Libraries will continue to balance access to resources with ownership of resources to provide the best mix of research materials available for our students and faculty. The Libraries is working with faculty to change from print-based works to electronic access to resources as appropriate. This change is particularly noticeable in the sciences where most of the current research is distributed electronically, in the area of reference tools, and in the distribution of scholarly journals. The move to electronic access from print ownership raises a number of issues in terms of preservation of digital materials. The Libraries is participating in the national conversation and work in this area. The Libraries continues to enhance access to campus resources by adding bibliographic information about these collections to the Libraries catalog. Examples of this program include inclusion of the Center of Great Plains Studies library collection in IRIS and the addition of the materials in the Women's Center to IRIS. Students and faculty can more easily identify and then use these valuable resources when they are listed in the Libraries systems.

Activities

• Improve system for managing digital assets.
  Metrics - Collection use.
• Library Depository/Retrieval Facility collection rearrangement.
  Metrics - Complete summer 2007.
• Serial Adjustment Process.
  Metrics - Completion of the serials study. Plan next serial prioritization project.
• Cataloging campus collections not owned by the Libraries.
  Metrics - Number of titles cataloged and added to the IRIS database.