I. Description of New Program or Major Enhancement of Existing Program:

Redirection of existing librarian positions to Distance Education/Reference and Systems Support.

Will allow a single point of contact for library services to distance education students not at the UCD and Metroplex site. Requires additional operations funding for necessary travel to work with students at all formal off-campus TTVN and fiber video target sites.

Will provide technical liaison for off-campus users as well as direct local library system support.

II. Statement of Need/Justification:

Current technological changes are an enormous benefit to those students participating in multimedia learning situations. However, library services require management changes and cooperative faculty-librarian involvement that is more intensive than normal on-campus classes. Resolution of access problems will require coordination with CTIS as well as faculty. Focusing and realigning existing positions for service to outreach areas of campus commitments will allow the Gee Library to better correlate library services to off-campus instructional support.

We will also be working within the system initiative for a new shared library system, or as an upgrade to the local system as a single campus, to meet technology change in client/server system changes, in the next biennium. Additional systems support within Gee Library is essential for successful implementation.

III. Budget:

Travel allocation for Distance Education librarian support services

and DRA training/continuing education (ongoing) $4,000

Plus Special Item Initiative for New Library System $350,000/ yr.

I. Description of New Program or Major Enhancement of Existing Program:

Additional staffing is required for Multimedia Classroom Services to meet extended facilities (including classroom expansions of this program in 1997/98) and hours of operation.

II. Statement of Need/Justification:

Current technological changes are an enormous benefit to those students participating in multimedia learning situations. However, the addition of three multimedia rooms to the existing single facility in Commerce and the scheduling of additional distance learning spaces for faculty using multimedia elements in the classroom provides demands for troubleshooting support well beyond existing personnel components.

With an additional full-time GA position and backup student support, the Systems & Technical Services Division of Gee Library would be able to:

1. Extend classroom support hours to include weekends.

2. Extend hours for intersession mini-terms, including Friday evening, when appropriate.

3. Supplement Engineer’s technical support to the campus.

III. Budget:

1 FTE Technician $26,439 plus benefits, adjusted to 1999-2000

payscale

1FTE GA $ 8,330 (adjusted for doctoral level if appropriate)

1FTE Student Assistants $ 9,800 adjusted to 1999 – 2000 payscale.

I. Description of New Program or Major Enhancement of Existing Program:

Provision of library collections depends on stable and increasing budgetary support. Gee Library has analyzed the 1998/99 budget and the impact on journal subscription cutbacks, lost opportunities for new electronic initiatives, and the further impact of new programming shifts without flexible materials budgets leads us to request the following increases in the 1999/2000 HEAF allocation for library materials.

Inflationary rates for journals and books have remained at the 10-15% over the past 10 years. Cutting the 1998/99 library materials allocation by $20,000 has resulted in major curtailment of duplicates in electronic and paper versions as well as further cutbacks of unique periodical subscriptions. A fund available to academic departments for support of new program directions has been eliminated; general support of faculty monographic purchases has also been reduced. To reduce this erosion of materials purchased and allow for continuation of existing library serials subscriptions, we require $64,000 to combat the inflationary impact on this year’s budget for the 1999/2000 funding level.

We are further concerned that the TAMU System Special Initiative for the Electronic Network will not received renewal of funding. If that were to happen, an additional $70,500 would be needed to retain the subscriptions to such resources as PsycINFO, IDEAL and Wilson Indexes. Our cancellation plan is to cancel our local CD subscriptions to PsycLIT and Wilson indices on the Reference LAN to meet the budget shortfall in 1998/99; we cannot afford to also lose the system resource for access to these index entries.

II. Statement of Need/Justification:

As noted above, we need to retain existing information resources and also have flexibility to respond to the new opportunities to enrich the educational support for students and faculty. The electronic options are our best effort to deliver equitable service and meet System goals in distance education. Further reductions at both the system and local level will greatly hinder Gee Library and its Metroplex satellite site in meeting the educational support demands of today.

III. Budget:

To meet the shortfalls in maintaining electronic resources $ 70,500

To meet the anticipated inflationary rate of 10% $ 64,000

Total additional Library Materials HEAF: $134,500

I. Description of New Program or Major Enhancement of Existing Program:

Document Delivery is incurring new and rising charges. This proposal allows Gee Library to respond to the general benefit of the Library users more effectively:

The InterLibrary Loan Department (ILL), Gee Library, proposes to purchase softcover, bound copies of dissertations for library patrons who have requested loanable copies. Purchase will be used to supplement borrowing when (1) no copy can be borrowed, or (2) speed is of the essence, and (3) the item fits the curriculum of the University. The student or faculty member will be given immediate possession of the dissertation upon its arrival, but after the student is finished with it, the item will be added to the Library’s collections.

The InterLibrary Loan Department, Gee Library, proposes that the Library pay all charges incurred while obtaining copies of journal articles for faculty and staff. Although most copies arrive with no charge, sometimes there is no source except a library or business that charges for borrowing.

II. Statement of Need/Justification:

There is a need for this service because many dissertations cannot be borrowed. ILL may have many sources to use for borrowing a book, but there is often only one source for a dissertation – the school where it was done. When the school won’t loan, or the item is missing from its collections, the student has no option for obtaining the item other than purchasing it via University Microfilms. Student and faculty research can be greatly aided by implementation of this new service.

When it becomes clear that a charge is inevitable, the ILL department must contact the requester to see if s/he is willing to pay and maximum expenditure approved. If the patron is willing to pay, the ILL request must be placed again. This results in extensive time delays for the library patron, plus of charge of $8-10 or more per article. Staff time is used in contacting the library patron, re-submitting the request, and collecting and handling payments. This service extension would allow more immediacy of getting articles for faculty and staff, saving several staff intervention steps in the procedure.

III. Budget:

In 1994/95, ILL had approximately 100 unfillable dissertation requests. At $36.00 each, the budget adjustment required is $3,600. This would allow a test program without removing funds from departmental book budget allocations.

In 1994/95, the ILL office was billed $1,756 for such charges. In 1995/96 the figure grew to $1,967. We are requesting a seed grant of $2,500 to underwrite 1999 – 2000 expenditures in this area.

Total Operations Budget request: $6,100

I. Description of New Program or Major Enhancement of Existing Program:

Ongoing access to GPO Selective Depository items is increasingly under pressure of political requirements by different areas of the federal government with differing access and cost recovery mandates. Currently many items traditionally received from the Superintendent of Documents are being transferred to cost recovery agencies such as the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) and Information Industry Association (ISA) which speaks for various information providers who re-package federal data for sale. With the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) increasingly under pressures, some of these resources will remain available to the campus only by subsidizing electronic access or via a single workstation within the Government Documents Collection. This proposal would allow for the more traditional broad access at least to the primary campus clientele: Students and Faculty/Staff.

Library users increasingly need assistance to select the best source and use the electronic document materials at hours beyond 8-5 M-F. We need to increase public service assistance to match open service hours of the facility. This will require a second Library Assistant II for the Government Documents Section.

II. Statement of Need/Justification:

Many standard census databases will become available only at subscription or site licensing rates rather than deposited freely to our documents area. This proposal would subsidize the transitional year while Congress reviews funding supports for the more traditional FDLP program. Also allows us to capitalize on any cooperative purchase power generated by TexShare, Phoenix or AMIGOS for these services.

III. Budget: Estimates of additional HEAF Library Materials Budget:

NTIS Site License - campus-wide access $ 5,000

STAT-USA Census Data access - campus-wide access $ 3,000

CenStats Census Data Fee - campus-wide access $ 5,000

$13,000

Estimates for Personnel:

1 FTE Library Assistant II $14,006 plus benefits,

adjusted to 1999 – 2000 payscale

I. Description of New Program or Major Enhancement of Existing Program:

Additional staffing is required for Metroplex Library to meet extended hours of operation and growing student demand.

II. Statement of Need/Justification:

Current technological changes are an enormous benefit to those students participating in distance education, and as a result, the Metroplex library is experiencing increased use in all areas - circulation, interlibrary loan, and reference. Now with two distant education classrooms, the Metroplex facility will see an even greater demand for library resources. Students expect and are entitled to at least the same access to information as the

students on the main campus. With additional staff support, more students will find this access easier.

Additional staff support is necessary to assist students and faculty in using the advances in information retrieval. This will only grow with the improved access to TAMU's indexes on-line, as well as TexShare and FirstSearch availability at the site. Finally, safety of staffing and library users is always of concern during the extended hours. Having more than one staff person available for both assistance in using library materials and in coordinating response to emergency requirements is essential.

Changes are evident in the types and number of courses at the Metroplex. Nine classes are offered from the College of Business in Spring '97 as opposed to three in Spring '96. Region 10 Teacher Alternative Certification students meet at the Metroplex on Saturdays. Residents and interns from the Center for Professional Development and Training (CPDT) meet in the mornings and afternoons. Efforts are also being made to offer library resources to those TAMU-Commerce students taking courses at the Dallas Education Center. The presence of these students during expanded Metroplex programming should be matched with additional staffing and library support to their curriculum. The proposed Executive MBA program and outreach to the business community, typically a weekend program, will further impact the Metroplex as these plans mature.

With an additional full-time position and backup student support, the Metroplex Library would be able to:

1. Extend Library hours to include weekends (Saturdays) and mornings in the Fall and Spring semesters.

2. Extend hours for intersession mini-terms, including Friday evening, when appropriate.

3. Extend hours for the Summer terms, when classes are taught at the Metroplex from 7:00am to 10:00pm.

III. Budget:

1FTE Library Assistant II $16,100 plus benefits adjusted to 1999 –

2000 payscale

0.5 FTE Librarian $16,016 plus benefits, adjusted to 1999 –

2000 payscale

1FTE Students $ 9,000

I. Description of New Program or Major Enhancement of Existing Program:

Enhance Bibliographic Instruction program with hands-on module by expanding classroom with laptops for networked training tools.

II. Statement of Need/Justification:

Bibliographic Instruction has been limited to demonstration mode or hands-on within the LAN Reference area at the detriment of service to other library patrons. Adding 16 laptops to the room capabilities will allow librarians to work with students in small groups (up to 32 students) with actual database searching and Internet services using the students’ own topics of interest. Students will have a better understanding of search strategies and service limitations caused by network clutter with knowledgeable librarians available to assist in sorting out problems encountered.

III. Budget:

16 Pentium laptops with 16MB RAM, Active Matrix screens, sound cards, Type II slots for network cards (Ethernet & IR), and large harddrive capability. Upgrade the IR support capability. $ 60,000

Summary of Budget Requests for Service Initiatives:

Staff [plus benefits costs]

0.5 FTE Librarian $ 16,016

2.0 FTE Library Assistant II $ 30,106

1. FTE Technical Assistant $ 26,439

1.0 FTE Graduate Assistant $ 8,330

2. FTE Student Assistants $ 18,800

Library Materials HEAF Increase Electronic TAMUS repl. $ 70,500

Library Materials HEAF Increase – Inflation $ 64,000

Library Materials HEAF Increase GPO $ 13,000

TOTAL: $147,500

Operations Relief – ILL & Distance Education Travel: $ 10,100

HEAF Equipment Addition over 1998/99 $ 60,000

Special Item Initiative: New Library System $350,000

All of these initiatives will provide matching effort on the part of A&M Commerce as we solicit funding for outreach and renovation needs. Current requests for external funding range from $5,000 -- $1.5 million.