Coordinating Committees

User Services Coordinating Committee USCC
Annual Report to CUWL – July 2011

August 2010 – July 2011

Submitted by Jill Markgraf, USCC Chair

Members of USCC:

Heather Weltin, UW-Madison   
Cris Prucha, UW-La Crosse
Kris Midthun,UW-Milwaukee
Laura Jacobs, UW-Superior    
Brad Gee, UW-River Falls
Jennifer Chamberlain, UW-Colleges       
Mark Rozmarynowski, UW-Stevens Point
Kimberly Bartosz, UW-Parkside
Zora Sampson, CUWL--ex-officio             
Felice Maciejewski, UWSA--ex-officio
Jill Markgraf, Chair, UW-Eau Claire

The CUWL User Services Coordinating Committee has continued its work toward the Strategic Initiatives established by CUWL. A large focus of its efforts have been on planning and holding a monthly teleconference forum series to inform and facilitate discussion and idea sharing among librarians throughout the UW System. The Committee has begun work on developing an inventory of library instruction assessment and expertise for the UW System. Committee members meet monthly via teleconference. In addition to planning and discussing the items below, the members share developments from their own libraries with the group.

Webinars:
The series of USCC webinars continues, with three per semester offered. The webinars are recorded and archived on the CUWL website (http://uwlib.uwsa.edu/committees/userservices/documents/) . Freeconference.com charges $6.50 per recording.

  • Oct. 21: FYE FYI: The library and first year experience programs, with Kim Bartosz and Molly Mathias. (Strat. Dir. 2, Obj. 1): We do not have exact attendance numbers but do know that 22 phone lines dialed in.
  • Nov. 18: LEAPin Libraries with Sarah McDaniel, Laura Jacobs, and Kate Ganski recap (Strat. Dir. 2, Obj. 3): We do not have exact attendance numbers but do know that 16 phone lines dialed in.
  • Dec. 16: Library liaisons with Barbara Bren and Jill Markgraf (Strat. Dir. 2, Obj. 3, Strat. Dir. 2, Obj. 1):  We do not have exact attendance numbers but do know that 14 phone lines dialed in.
  • Mar. 17: Resource discoveries: Teaching with Xerxes, with Kate Ganski (UWM) and Katie Sanders (UW Colleges) (Strat. Dir. 1, Objs 1-3, Strat. Dir 2, Obj. 3): Librarians from 14 locations dialed into this session. 
  • Apr. 14: Collaborations with K-12 community (Strat. Dir. 2, Obj. 1):  Originally scheduled for Feb.17, but canceled due to unrest on campuses, was rescheduled for April 14. Librarians from 14 locations dialed into this session. 
  • Apr. 21: Digital Collections (Strat. Dir. 1, Obj. 2; Stra.t Dir. 2, Obj. 6):  This forum was a collaboration with the Digital Initiatives Coordinating Committee.  Librarians from 18 locations dialed into this session. 

Evaluation of webinar series (Strat. Dir 3, Obj. 1):

The committee conducted a survey to assess the value of the monthly lunch forums to CUWL librarians and staff.  Results suggest that the series is popular and viewed as an effective way to communicate professionally. Some suggestions urged expansion of the series to include library topics beyond user services and to have other coordinating committees participate. Some suggestions were made for improving publicity, such as sending out announcements earlier and to announce the entire schedule early in the semester. Other comments state that the recordings are difficult to find on the Wiki and suggest adding a link to recorded archives in email announcements of upcoming webinars. Some comments suggested more interactivity and the possibility of exploring tools beyond freeconference.com to offer a more complete videoconference experience. 

Assessment: develop online repository of assessment tools, techniques, experience (Strat. Dir. 3, Obj. 1)

The committee has begun working on a survey to send to the CUWL directors regarding the tools and procedures being used at each library for assessment (reference, instruction, etc). The survey results will ultimately be reported on the USCC wiki.

CUWL Conference: The committee sponsored eight sessions for the CUWL summer conference. (Strat. Dir. 3, Obj. 4):

  • Collaborations with K-12 community (Strat. Dir. 2, Obj. 1)
    Kati Tvaruzka, UWEC, others?
  • Collaborative Spaces (Strat. Dir. 2, Obj. 1, Strat. Dir. 3, Obj. 5)
    John Pollitz, UWEC, Molly Mathias, UWM, Anita Evans, UWL,  Steve Baumgart, UW-Madison, Jennifer Chamberlain, UW Colleges
  • Reference assessment (Strat. Dir 3, Obj. 1):
    Steven Baumgart,  Karen Dunn,  Jaime Stoltenberg, Nola Walker,  Amanda Werhane, UW-Madison
  • Marketing Your Library, or We’ve Done That Already, Now What? (Strat. Dir. 2, Obj. 1)
    Brad Gee and Cate Dodson, UWRF
  • Presentation Toolkit (Strat. Dir. 3, Obj. 5, Strat. Dir. 1, Obj. 3)
    Theresa Beaulieu, Kristin Woodward, Maria Cunningham, UWM
  • Lesson study: instruction assessment (Strat. Dir 3, Obj. 1, Strat. Dir. 2, Obj. 1)
    Hans Kishel, Eric Jennings, Jill Markgraf, Shevaun Watson, Cathy Rex, UWEC
  • Libraryh3lp chat system in a consortial environment (Strat. Dir. 3, Obj. 3, Strat. Dir. 3, Obj. 5)
    Katie Sanders and Ann Vogl, UW Colleges
  • CUWL Distance Library Services Committee (Strat. Dir. 1, Obj. 3)
    Anne Kasuboski, UWGB, and Stefan Smith, UWL, co-chairs

K-12 outreach inventory (Strat. Dir. 2, Obj. 1)

On behalf of USCC, Jennifer Chamberlain and Kati Tvaruzka conducted a survey of UW libraries attempting to inventory K-12 outreach activities in place. Results were shared at a webinar, the CUWL conference, and on the CUWL wiki.

Assessment: develop online repository of assessment tools, techniques, experience (Strat. Dir. 3, Obj. 1)

Work has begun on a survey to send to the CUWL directors regarding the tools and procedures being used at each library for instruction assessment.