Special Initiatives

Special Initiatives

1. Goals/accomplishments current year
   4. Special Initiatives
      1. Many of our special initiatives don't fit under the headings provided in the Annual Report format. We will begin this section with these items unique to the Library.
         1. Budget. In the past, the library budget operated with few internal controls and little planning. We took several steps to rectify this problem, including:
            1. hiring Dr. Herbert Snyder, an NDSU AIS professor and nationally recognized expert in library finance, to consult on developing a budget and accounting system with appropriate internal controls;
            2. promoting Alissa Kuntz, our accounting technician, to full-time and giving her authority to plan and enforce our operating budget.
            3. likewise, giving Michele Azar and Mark England greater authority and control over the materials budget.
         2. Collegiality and professionalism. Changes in policy and direct interventions were made to promote greater respect and cooperation, along with direct and open communication among employees. These included adding collegiality and professional behavior provisions to Position Descriptions, and providing staff training in these areas.
         3. ODIN. ODIN’s (Online Dakota Information Network's) shortcomings as an Integrated Library System (ILS) have exacerbated the budget and collegiality problems described above, by making normal library operations more difficult or even impossible and raising stress levels. NDSU library staff has been working closely with Randall Thursby, the new CIO for the NDUS, in order to understand and prioritize problems. We have have made gains, although it now appears that the current ILS may have insurmountable problems.
            1. Created a web application to correct ODIN's erroneous inventory and shelf list reports. This makes it possible to conduct routine inventory activities.
            2. Implemented an infrastructure to create statistical reports from data acquired from ODIN's Oracle back-end.
            3. Worked with ODIN and UND's ITSS to restore access to the infrastructure previously mentioned. It is forthcoming.
         4. Student and faculty relations. We have worked to achieve greater involvement with student government and the University Senate Library Committee in order to provide collections, facilities, and services that are more responsive to their needs.
         5. Reorganized library management model to a management team of 6 Directors who all report to Dean. Formed new division, Information Resources (Director, Mark England); installed Jeremy Brown as new Director of IT.
         6. Reconfigured Kathy Enger’s position to include significant new duties related to policy, planning, and library advancement.
         7. Initiated reforms in annual performance evaluations, including an individual self-report form for annual accomplishments, mechanisms for honest responsibility reviews, and merit pay tied to performance.
         8. Worked with architectural firm Meyer, Scherer, and Rockcastle to conduct feasibility study for a new library.
         9. Brought Susan Ray-Degges and her senior design class to study and redesign Tech Services area to improve employee satisfaction and work flow. Class presentations were very impressive, and we are proceeding according to their suggestions. Susan has also helped us redesign the front office at minimal cost.
      2. Diversity
      3. Cooperative programming/interinstitutional activities
         1. NDSU Libraries remains very active in the Tri-College University Library consortia. Current projects and committees include:
            1. TCU Directors group: all TCU Library Deans/Directors regularly meet to discuss common issues
            2. TCU Film and Video Library: a cooperatively and shared collection of films, videos, and other media
            3. TCU Union List of Serials: lists serials held by Fargo-Moorhead libraries
            4. Tri-College Shuttle: provides twice a day service to all F-M libraries
         2. NDSU Libraries cooperatively purchases many databases and other resources with a wide range of libraries, campus offices, and consortia. (UND, Tri-College, EpSCOR, INBRE, ESIG, MINITEX, etc.)
         3. ODIN participation is also an important component in the Libraries’ cooperative efforts. Besides a shared online catalog (with over 70 North Dakota libraries), provides our users with several cooperatively purchased ‘external’ databases.
      4. International activities
         1. The German from Russia Heritage Collection sponsored the 13th Journey to the Homeland Tour to Odessa, Ukraine and Stuttgart, Germany in June. The tours provided a valuable experience for participants and developed new contacts for GRHC, the NDSU Libraries, and the university.
         2. The Dakota Memories Oral History Project staff conducted interviews in Saskatchewan, Canada with funding in part from the Canadian Embassy.
      5. Interdisciplinary activities
      6. Economic development efforts
         1. We have met with VP Boudjouk and the Terri Zimmerman of the Center for Business Enterprise to discuss ways in which the Library can support private sector research in this region.
      7. On-line courses and programming