Library Strategic Plan

From Library Self Study

Contents 1 Mission 2 Vision 3 Organizational Attributes 4 Strategic Goals 4.1 Goal 1 - Effectiveness 4.2 Goal 2 - Collection 4.3 Goal 3 - Tools 4.4 Goal 4 - Instruction 4.5 Goal 5 - Scholarship 4.6 Goal 6 - Outreach / Marketing

Mission

The mission of Cowles Library is to create opportunities for learning by empowering members of the Drake community to successfully access and use information.

Vision

Cowles Library is committed to creating and maintaining a dynamic learning environment focused on service and guided by the principles of intellectual freedom. The Library is the gateway to recorded knowledge, both print and digital, for the Drake Community. The Library staff prepares students for citizenship in the 21st century, modeling the principles of information literacy: to acquire, integrate, analyze and interpret information, to use appropriate technology to assist with these processes and to understand their social and ethical implications.

Organizational Attributes

The work of the Library staff is guided by a set of six organizational attributes. By adopting and sustaining these attributes, the staff directs the ongoing development of Library services in a manner that will help produce effective decision-making, efficient use of resources, and excellence in the provision of services.

• The Library is a Learning Organization with both individual and team work focused around a shared vision and a strategic agenda.
• The Library approach to service is framed by a set of Service and Professional Values grounded in a commitment to intellectual freedom and the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights.
• The development and delivery of library services is based on the concept of Collaboration with customers, lead vendor partners, and with the broader library and scholarly community.
• Library Faculty work towards the highest standards of Professionalism in both conduct and mastery of assignments, and play a leadership role at Drake and within Librarianship.
• Library staff are committed to maintaining a Process of Assessment that leads to the highest levels of customer satisfaction and continuous improvement of library service.
• Library staff are committed to advancing the development of a Diverse and Multi-cultural Environment at Drake.

Strategic Goals

Goal 1 - Effectiveness

Enhance the effectiveness of the library organization in order to achieve higher levels of quality service, efficiency, diversity, and the quality of work-life.

Objectives:

• Develop staff and faculty who embody the highest service principles of the Library profession, as well as possessing high levels of expertise.
• Contribute leadership, expertise and other resources as appropriate for the benefit of the Drake community.
• Ensure that the library organization supports and evaluates the principles of diversity as outlined in the Library's Diversity Plan.

Outcomes:

• Show progress in user satisfaction through improvement in survey instrument results such as the "Affect of Service" portion of LibQUAL.
• Evaluate and reward faculty and staff involvement in key University-wide initiatives and committees.
• Deliver coursework and resources that support the aims of the Diversity Plan.

Strategies/Activities:

• Realign the library organization based on the recommendations of the Position Review Task Force (PRT).
• Participate in the University Self-Study – Work with the Self-Study committees to insure that library service outcomes align with institutional needs.
• Begin implementing the "Cowles Library Diversity Plan".
• Undertake the scheduled biannual LibQUAL survey of user satisfaction – and assess results for improvements in library services.
• Develop, in conjunction with university Advancement, a strategic and operational plan for library fund raising.
• Participate in the university master planning initiative (including planning for the long term utilization of the facility).

Goal 2 - Collection

Provide an exceptional collection of print and digital information resources that support the learning objectives of the Drake Curriculum.

Objectives:

• Cowles Library's collection will enhance student learning at Drake by providing access to resources in various appropriate formats.
• Cowles Library's collections support both the general education curriculum and the subject-based curricula of the University.
• Cowles Library's collections will compare favorably with peer institutions.

Outcomes:

• Electronic usage statistics and circulation statistics will demonstrate appropriate level of utilization of the library's electronic and print resources.
• User satisfaction surveys (such as LibQUAL) will show increased level of satisfaction with the library's collections.
• Collection Assessment techniques will be employed to highlight the collection's particular strengths and weaknesses.

Strategies/Activities:

• Disseminate the revised Cowles Library Collection Development Policy to the teaching faculty.
• Transition departmental book ordering to the Blackwell Collection Manager system.
• Begin to assess the utilization patterns of the current base of electronica, leading to adjustments in holdings as necessary.
• Evaluate the E-Reserve service and integrate processing functions into staff assignments.

Goal 3 - Tools

Provide electronic tools that will advance the learner’s ability to conveniently access and utilize scholarly information resources.

Objectives:

• Drake students will have access, through the Library's Web page, to appropriate bibliographic (and other) tools needed to conduct research and scholarship
• Drake students will have the skills and judgment that are necessary to select and deploy these tools.

Outcomes:

• The Library's Web page will be developed through a process of usability studies and other forms of user input.
• Use of electronic tools will be developed by employing methods such as usage statistics, and regular "state-of-the-art" product review.

Strategies/Activities:

• Implement latest version of Sirsi Unicorn software, including “My Library” functions.
• Utilize the results of the Solutions, Inc. study to implement a redesigned web site.
• Acquire and implement enhanced searching tools (e.g. federated searching).
• Investigate potential Content Management Systems (CMS) – to support development of internal and external resource web sites.
• Conduct a “bench-mark” review of library technology (including the Sirsi system) utilizing the services of an outside reviewer or review team.

Goal 4 - Instruction

Provide support services for the use of information resources; deliver instructional and training programs that increase the information literacy of students and faculty.

Objectives:

• Drake students will master the appropriate concepts and skills that will advance their ability to access and critically evaluate information, in both the scholarly process and their daily lives.
• The Library will support a broad view of Information Literacy in the curriculum that embraces the values and ethics-based issues inherent in the use of information technology.

Outcomes:

• Drake students who successfully complete library-provided courses will be able to articulate needs that require information solutions and identify and select appropriate information sources. They will be able to formulate and efficiently execute search queries appropriate for the information resource selected. They will be able to interpret and critically analyze the search results.
• The Library faculty will serve on key University-wide Committe's that develop and address general education requirements.

Strategies/Activities:

• Implement the Information Commons.
• Develop a student “peer to peer” service for the Information Commons.
• Sustain (and expand) the virtual reference service with the IPAL consortium.
• Implement the 046 web course, and assess opportunities for additional web based information literacy learning activities.
• Coordinate faculty awareness and training with the Center for Digital Technology, OIT, and DTC; examine the feasibility of establishing a more formal collaboration through an E- Learning Cooperative.
• Partner with the First Year Student Life and Honors programs to provide students with additional opportunities to interact with library services.

Goal 5 - Scholarship

Provide services that advance the creation, preservation and availability of scholarship and archival resources that are unique to Drake.

Objectives:

• Provide a permanent, freely available, Web-based repository for Drake's scholarly and research output.
• Provide a permanent, freely available, Web-based repository for Drake's historical materials, and to link these materials to the Drake curriculum and other activities of the Drake community.

Outcomes:

• Increase the size and quality of eScholarShare@Drake (the campus's Institutional Repository)
• Develop the Drake Heritage Collections by identifying, adding, and increasing the depth and breadth of this resource.

Strategies/Activities:

• Promote the availability of the Drake Digital Repository services.
• Enhance the Drake Digital Repository through collaboration with the Iowa Heritage Project and IPAL.
• Plan for the implementation of the Drake Heritage Room.
• Collaborate with Drake Advancement on projects that link the Drake Digital Repository and the Drake Heritage Room to the celebration of Drake’s 125th anniversary.
• Develop a plan for sustaining a Drake Archives program (staffing, resources, policy and procedures).

Goal 6 - Outreach / Marketing

Provide programs and activities that advance the understanding of the role of libraries, information, literacy, and scholarship in our society.

Objectives:

• Develop faculty and staff awareness on key issues affecting the scholarly environment.
• Develop and promote programs that enhance the library's learning role and visibility.

Outcomes:

• Deliver programs that develop campus understanding of copyright, and Open Access, issues.
• Work with the University community to develop and sustain appropriate public programs, such as the Bucksbaum Lecture Series.

Strategies/Activities:

• Develop a formal plan for providing training and awareness services for teaching faculty in copyright policy and practice.
• Plan for a faculty awareness session on Open Source/Access.
• Continue to collaborate with the School of Education, the Des Moines public schools on the “Celebration of New Books for Children” program.
• Implement the library’s marketing and outreach plan, including a second “Live at Cowles Library” event.
• Investigate the feasibility of developing Cowles as an information and service provider for the Des Moines region.