(→‎Blending Lab Facilities)
(→‎Media Services User Surveys)
Despite the fact that the respondents to Crowley's survey were largely active Media Services users, many respondents were uninformed about some services. Although students supported investment in new digital technologies, most of these students were also unaware of new or planned digital facilities. One clear conclusion of the survey is that visibility and access could be better for some media services. For instance, some respondents suggested ways to improve access, whether through longer hours, more workshops or more facilities. The survey project director recommended that future follow-up surveys be conducted to compare whether the reasons people use each service change and to evaluate the satisfaction levels for each type of services by patron types. [Exhibit: Crowley, Lin. Media Service Survey]
Although respondents to Crowley's survey were largely active Media Services users, many respondents were uninformed about some services. Although students supported investment in new digital technologies, most of these students were also unaware of new or planned digital facilities. One clear conclusion of the survey is that visibility and access could be better for some media services. For instance, some respondents suggested ways to improve access, whether through longer hours, more workshops or more facilities. The survey project director recommended that future follow-up surveys be conducted to compare whether the reasons people use each service change and to evaluate the satisfaction levels for each type of services by patron types. [Exhibit: Crowley, Lin. Media Service Survey]
=====Comparing Use Statistics With Other Libraries=====
Academic computing also provides access to—and instruction in-- information technologies through a balance of specialized and open computing facilities.. With the migration of many media applications to commonly available personal computer platforms, instruction and facilities to support media publishing have spread to academic computing and even to the library proper.
Library and information resources support a surprisingly diverse infrastructure of technologies and media in the curriculum. For greatest efficiency, library and information resources should considered more coordination across boundaries to provide technology support. For instance, students should be able to move more seamlessly between different areas, such as CAL, MML, and the Computer Center. Certainly, the pathways between areas could be more clearly articulated by evaluating common services, including printing, building and maintaining image sets, server filespace, and common software. By taking better advantage of the network infrastructure, students will experience less confusion, and IT staff who directly support the curriculum could dedicate more energy toward coordinating, developing and designing IT strategies with academic programs instead of maintaining redundant infrastructures.
Of course, such changes would require Academic Computing staff to work more intensively in curriculum planning, a change of focus by IT specialists who previously devoted themselves more to infrastructure. In support of these possibilities, library and information resources should discuss models for integrating curricular support and instruction.
The Library will continue to actively develop a new library front page and database search pages. The library is currently engaged in discussions with the college web designers who may be willing to maintain the library front page without exerting too much control over content. The Orbis-Cascade consortium may develop a shared catalog front-page, which the library will consider as well. Currently, the reference group is researching the commercial options for federated searching to replace Meta-find, which was found to be completely unacceptable as currently formulated.
SAIL has demonstrated its continual need for supplemental funds, which provides a strong argument for a permanent increase in the budget allocation. Selectors should still have the flexibility to purchase various formats from their funds for print monographs, but a stable and larger allocation for the SAIL budget would lessen the need to do so and reduce irregularities in expenditures, workload and processing. During Winter of 2008, the reference group will review the materials budgets with the intention of reallocating funds according to the curricular demands for video and digitized reference resources. If these discussions result in a larger budget for SAIL, more staff will be required to order and process the additional items. Additionally, the staff will be more deeply involved in researching web-based media collections. This process will develop in concert with the push to digitize archival collections, including photographs, video, and copies of faculty artwork. The Center for New Media will take the lead in this ongoing project.
During the self-study period, the budget for purchasing monographs was cut, starting with $49,000 reduction in 02/03. In 04/05, $25,000 was transferred out of the monographs budget and into Periodicals/Reference. These cuts have been partially restored through a yearly allocation of $45,000 from Indirect Cost (soft money produced largely from grant activities involving research) and $10,000 from Library Fines, leaving a cut of $20,000. There have been no new allocations in response to inflation. The monograph budget should be restored, even as periodical titles continue to grow in number and inflate in price, and even as we commit more resources to SAIL. Any new (or reinstated) funding should not automatically be applied across the board. For instance, cuts in science monographs are balanced by burgeoning periodical titles, which tend to answer more inquiries in the sciences than do monographs.
While the Edutech report gave Evergreen good marks for its budgetary support of information technology, the report also recommended that "to follow current best practices, the replacement cycle should be permanently funded and the operations budgets need to be raised regularly to reflect the increase in technology-equipped classrooms, the increased number of servers and desktop computers that must be supported, and other increases in the technology base." The college has begun to address this issue, proposing permanent line items in the next biennium for replacing the core server and desktops. This movement toward more permanent allocations for replacement and repair will help ensure that the infrastructure can support the curriculum. Although ITCH can play only an advisory role, it has participated actively in the process of establishing permanent allocations, setting priorities, and sharing resources. Beyond budgets, Media Services, the Library, and especially Academic Computing need more instructors who focus on developing IT literacy across the curriculum. These specialists would work directly with the faculty and students, mentoring them through a technological landscape even more mutable than Evergreen's curriculum and should be a high priority for Academic ITCH in its role of advocacy for IT across the curriculum.
The remodeled Technology Wing created more teaching spaces and more technology. While labs are equipped with computers for each student, most classrooms include a computer along with projection and LCD display systems. The library plans to add more study lounges with computer access. But, most urgently, the library should convert one of its classrooms into a lab. At this point, Library and information resources and Academic Computer can adequately support the computer facilities distributed across campus, but that's about it. As enrollment creeps up toward the target of 5,000, the college will have to add additional resources—human and technological.