May 1, 2005                                                               

 

To:  Council of University of Wisconsin Libraries

From:  Jana Reeg-Steidinger, 2004-2005 RCC Chair

Subject:  Reference Coordinators’ Committee Self-Assessment

 

 

This document responds to CUWL’s request for a RCC committee self-assessment.  The self-assessment supports continuation of RCC as a standing committee such as LAMS and CDC.

 

Membership. One reference coordinator/librarian/or director representing each UW-library and one representative from UW-Colleges. The Committee’s CDC liaison is no longer necessary due to CDC/RCC joint meetings.  Following are the 2004-2005 committee members: 

 

UW Colleges	Marc Boucher	UW-Platteville	John Leonard Berg
UW-Eau Claire	Mimi King	UW-River Falls	Brad Gee
UW- Green Bay	Anne Kasuboski	UW-Stevens Point	Patti Becker
UW-LaCrosse	Randy Hoelzen	UW-Stout	Jana Reeg-Steidinger
UW-Madison	Steven Frye	UW-Superior	Ella Cross
UW-Milwaukee	Linda Kopecky	UW-Whitewater	Barbara Bren
UW-Oshkosh	Sarah Neises	UW System Admin	Paul Moriarty
UW-Parkside	Cynthia Bryan	UW System Admin	Lorie Docken

 

    2005-2006 Officers:  Linda Kopecky Chair and Sarah Neises-Secretary/Chair-Elect.

 

Frequency. The RCC meets on a quarterly basis with at least one face-to-face meeting per year as well as a joint RCC/CDC meeting.  The balance of the meetings is in conference call format. More meetings are scheduled as need arises, i.e. four subcommittee conference calls transpired January-March 2005.

 

Accomplishments. RCC members are proud of the variety and number of accomplishments which originated from CUWL charges, the Committee’s charter tasks, current need issues and Committee initiation. Following are many, but not all, accomplishments:

            Joint discussions with CDC bringing a reference/user perspective to the selection of System subscriptions. 

            Detailed product analysis for subscription databases and potential product purchases for discussion with CDC: Lexis-Nexis Statistical and Academic; Ebscohost Business source premiere; X-referPlus; Gale Literature Resource Center; New York Times (Proquest Historical Newspapers); CINAHL search interface options; and Biological Abstracts. 

            Discussion and Decision-making regarding: System-wide products, i.e. Universal Borrowing from the reference/user perspective; “One system” product candidates; SFX/ExLibris implementation and consistency Issues; OCLC QuestionPoint pilot study; Distance Education and Virtual Reference; as well as dissemination of online tutorial scripts for System-wide products and services, i.e. UB, Catalog searching, and SFX FindIt.

            Roundtable Discussions of reference-related issues and solution sharing was a rewarding exchange for members. Issued included: Web-based instructional material; Reference desk scheduling; Schedule-making software; Reference print resources: use vs. budget; Specialized indexes in print format; Software for just-in-time training modules; Summer staffing; LibQual results as an evaluation of reference services; Reference’s role in New Student Orientation Programs; Library Marketing focusing on current Goggle and remote access users; and Distance Learning.

 

Recommendation:  Committee members unanimously recommend continuation of the RCC as a standing committee of CUWL. In addition to responding to basic issues, such as product analysis and CUWL charges, the Reference Coordinators’ Committee has fostered discussion and action on a variety of public service issues, including Distance Learning, Instruction, and student/faculty use of System-wide products such as SFX/MetaLib.  The reference coordinators are encouraged to invite appropriate library staff to join in those discussions.

The Reference Coordinators’ Committee is essential as traditional library practices, i.e. reference desk service and current trends need to be analyzed and evaluated in order to implement well-studied directional plans. Keeping abreast with the ever increasing ever varied number of electronic resources, campus services, online courseware and distance education are a daily part of library services.  Such analysis and strategic planning is crucial for the library to continue as the university information center.