The Library fulfills its mission by:
- Selecting and acquiring resources in a variety of formats of sufficient
quality, size and diversity to support the educational programs of the colleges
- Providing access to resources located both in the library and from locations
outside the library
- Educating the college communities in the effective utilization and evaluation
of information resources through reference and information literacy instruction,
providing a foundation for life long learning
- Providing a comfortable and inviting physical environment that is conducive
to individual and collaborative learning, study, research, and social interaction
- Attracting, developing, and supporting a capable and diverse staff to
effectively provide and manage the Library’ s resources, services,
and programs
- Evaluating and monitoring Library services, resources, and facilities
to ensure that they respond to the changing needs and demands of students
and faculty
- Fostering and maintaining cooperative relationships with the faculty,
administration, and students of the colleges and with the broader community
served by the Library
- Cooperating and sharing resources with other libraries, both regionally
and nationally
The staff of the Loyola/Notre
Dame Library shares the following organizational values that underpin the
strategic plan:
The Loyola/Notre Dame Library is dedicated to providing
the highest quality of library services to assist users in fulfilling their
diverse information needs. The Library implements policies and procedures
that encourage full use of its resources and services, and maintains hours
and staffing designed to match the usage patterns of its users.
The Loyola/Notre Dame Library recognizes its role as
a teaching library and works in partnership with faculty to help students
master information competency skills that are critical to independent intellectual
inquiry and life long learning. The Library supports the research objectives
of faculty and students by providing access to materials appropriate to their
interests.
The Loyola/Notre Dame Library recognizes the right of
the academic community to pursue uncensored research on a wide variety of
topics. The Library will support academic research with appropriate resources,
regardless of their controversial or unpopular nature. The Library respects
the confidentiality of all transactions with its users and will not provide
information regarding such transactions except as required by law.
The Loyola/Notre Dame Library anticipates and identifies
users’ needs and changes in the academic and information environments
and responds creatively by improving traditional services or offering new
ones.
The Loyola/Notre Dame Library is committed to the conscientious
utilization of its material and human resources for the benefit of the communities
it serves. The Library deals in an open and candid manner with all of its
users and staff members.
The Loyola/Notre Dame Library provides services and
resources on an equal basis to the Loyola and Notre Dame college communities.
The Library defines varying levels of service for faculty/staff, students,
alumni, and nonaffiliated users, and all users within each group are treated
equally. The Library establishes and maintains human resource policies and
practices that result in the fair and equitable treatment of its staff members.
The Loyola/Notre Dame Library recognizes that successes
result from the combined efforts of individuals working together as a team
in an atmosphere of collaboration and cooperation.
The Loyola/Notre Dame Library supports and promotes
diversity at all levels of Library function—staff, users, collections,
policies, and programs. The Library believes that each person contributes
unique talents, life experiences, heritage, and ethnicity that enrich an open
and inclusive learning environment and help the Library deliver optimum service
to its users. This belief in diversity ensures that all Library staff
are treated with courtesy, respect, and dignity by managers and fellow workers;
establishes education and training programs that foster communication with
others and respect for their unique values and contributions; includes individuals
of diverse backgrounds in policymaking; implements employment practices that
give a fair chance to all; and builds a rich and diverse Library collection.
The Loyola/Notre Dame Library:
- Will be the primary physical and virtual resource for the information
needs and information literacy education of both colleges
- Will make available state-of-the-art information technologies that enable
campus users to both conduct research and create work products
- Will have collections and services that can be considered excellent for
libraries serving comprehensive-level institutions
- Will be a focal point for collaborative learning and a center of intellectual
and cultural activity in cooperation with both campuses
- Will take a leading role in the development and integration
of innovative library technologies that enhance study, teaching, and research
Library: Teaching and Learning
Information literacy refers to the ability to recognize what type of information one may need, and to develop
skills to locate, evaluate, and effectively use the needed information. The Library staff seeks to increase the
collaboration with faculty at both institutions to teach these skills within the context of their courses and the
curriculum, using Library resources that support the teaching and learning objectives.
GOAL 1
Provide high-quality information literacy instruction that contributes to the educational missions of
Loyola and Notre Dame by addressing student needs for critical thinking as they relate to information acquisition
and ethical use.
- Objective 1:
Partner with faculty to promote and establish information literacy as a collaborative effort and a
fundamental educational goal to help students achieve course objectives.
- Strategy 1:
Determine the best methods for including information literacy objectives in each discipline by
conferring with departments.
- Strategy 2:
Conduct faculty workshops on new information technologies and techniques for integrating
information literacy into courses, assignments, and programs.
- Strategy 3:
Establish the Library as an integral component of the teaching excellence centers.
- Objective 2:
Identify new teaching initiatives at the two institutions that require different pedagogy and techniques.
- Strategy 1:
Participate in undergraduate curriculum planning committees at both institutions.
- Objective 3:
Assess the Library's information literacy program in order to strengthen and refine the program to meet the existing and future curricular initiatives of the two institutions.
- Strategy 1:
Partner with faculty to devise and apply feedback mechanisms to determine the effectiveness and impact of the information literacy instruction on achieving course goals.
GOAL 2
Expand the role of librarians in supporting new learning initiatives by providing information literacy skills in innovative course delivery systems.
- Objective 1:
Adapt teaching methods and apply appropriate emerging technologies to enhance delivery of literacy instruction to meet differing information needs.
- Strategy 1:
Host a national conference for comprehensive university information literacy on new learning methods.
Efficiency:
Develop additional help guides, tutorials, or podcasts as an alternative or supplement to face-to-face instruction and ad-hoc research assistance; organize off-campus instruction and institute use of webinar software to minimize travel.
Library: A Campus Resource Building
The renovation and expansion of the Library building provides many new opportunities for the
Loyola and Notre Dame communities to utilize the facility for academic and co-curricular purposes.
In addition to functioning as a place to store materials, the Library contains space for individual
study, group work, research, and social interaction among students, faculty, and staff. The Library
strives to become more connected to the two institutions, encouraging use of the building for classes,
lectures, meetings, exhibits, and other events.
GOAL 1
Create a library environment that is welcoming, convenient, and functional, thus encouraging patrons to
make effective and efficient use the Library's resources and facilities.
- Objective 1:
Provide services and resources that enhance patron use of the Library.
- Strategy 1:
Create an interactive online tour of the Library.
- Strategy 2:
Increase and improve signage throughout the building.
- Strategy 3:
Update floor maps and add more as necessary.
- Objective 2:
Evaluate the building usage, the programs offered, and the quality of services to
determine where and how improvements can be made.
- Strategy 1:
Conduct regular patron surveys and make any changes or adjustments to library operations.
- Strategy 2:
Collect and analyze statistics such as gate count, room use, circulation information, reference questions, etc.
GOAL 2
Contribute to the intellectual, cultural, and recreational pursuits of the institutions
beyond the classroom.
- Objective 1:
Enhance communication with Loyola and Notre Dame faculty and student groups to improve
awareness and use of library resources.
- Strategy 1:
Increase internal, external, and electronic communication of services, programs, and Library
news.
- Objective 2:
Encourage the use of the Library spaces by Loyola and Notre Dame faculty, staff and students.
- Strategy 1:
Solicit presentations, performances, and exhibits from campus departments, offices, and student groups.
- Strategy 2:
Showcase events that take place in the library.
GOAL 3
Create a marketing plan that promotes Library services and collections, informed by data collected from
surveys of faculty and student needs.
Efficiencies:
Monitor building systems to ensure optimum performance; assess whether energy-efficient modifications are feasible; monitor library usage to fit library hours; research possible cost savings on building supplies through alternative products or vendors. Use social networking tools to promote and assess building usage.
Library: Collections
The Library continues to purchase materials in traditional print and media formats. Increasingly, the
majority of scholarly materials are produced digitally or converted to digital formats. In order to
effectively and efficiently support the research and teaching missions of Loyola and Notre Dame, a
significant portion of the Library's acquisitions budget is now spent on electronic resources. The
challenge the Library faces in managing the convergence of content formats arises from supporting expanding
and new programs, within budget constraints and rapidly changing information technologies.
GOAL 1
Formulate a new collection development plan that adapts to new, emerging, and strategic academic
programs of Loyola and Notre Dame, particularly graduate programs.
- Objective 1:
Increase input from students and faculty regarding acquisition of specific materials for course
work and research.
- Strategy 1:
Form a student advisory group which would make suggestions and recommendations on collection acquisitions and online resource usage.
- Objective 2:
Respond to new academic initiatives with clear collection development objectives and resource needs.
- Strategy 1:
Establish partnerships with schools and departments to develop collections which support curricular needs.
- Objective 3:
Increase the acquisition, preservation, and use of archival and special collections that serve the institutions' curricula and the scholarly community
- Strategy 1:
Add a staff member to the archives department to support increased workflow.
- Strategy 2:
Develop a collection policy for manuscript and special collections.
- Strategy 3:
Digitize and index historical print publications of both institutions.
- Strategy 4:
Identify vulnerable materials in the archival, manuscript, and book collections for preservation work.
- Strategy 5:
Catalog rare and antiquarian book materials to add to the main library catalog. Link the archival holdings records to the library online catalog.
- Objective 4:
Increase the use of Library collections by developing collaborative academic projects with both institutions
GOAL 2
Strengthen the collections of the Library within the strictures of a significant budget reduction
- Objective 1:
Reduce duplication in all formats, and seek alternative access models to provide information in the most easily accessible and cost effective forms.
- Strategy 1:
Digitize non-book materials and targeted special collections to provide direct access for the communities of both colleges.
- Strategy 2:
Expand student staff support to allow more rapid growth of the image database projects for the two schools.
- Strategy 3:
Publicize library holdings and additions to the collection by adapting new technologies and linking with bibliographies and displays.
- Objective 2:
Initiate collaborative collection development within the Maryland Interlibrary Consortium (MIC).
- Strategy 1:
Identify collection strengths within each MIC library.
- Strategy 2:
Allocate budgetary resources collectively for shared acquisitions.
- Objective 3:
Expand the daily courier service beyond MIC to other colleges and universities in the state.
Efficiencies:
Reduce duplication in all formats. Initiate collaborative collection development with consortia. Expand the daily courier service. Establish a duplicate gift book exchange among MIC libraries. Consider not purchasing any requested book more than 2 years old if already owned by another MIC library.
Library: Future Directions in Information Technology
The Library depends upon information technology to provide core services and resources. The academic
environment within which the Library operates requires the implementation of rapid technological change
to meet the research and information needs of faculty and students.
GOAL 1
Implement enhancements in technology to improve the usability, searchability, and delivery of online
resources, and incorporate them into library services as appropriate.
GOAL 2
Increase sharing of resources, including content, skill, and technology, by working collaboratively
with the information technology departments of Loyola and Notre Dame and broader library communities.
- Objective 1:
Develop simple integrated methods for patrons to use library services, including accessing print and electronic materials and financial transactions.
- Strategy 1:
Provide one card ID access to patrons from both campuses.
- Objective 2:
Provide faculty and students access to the same content and software available on their campuses, creating seamless network access.
- Strategy 1:
Showcase emerging academic technologies to faculty and students for improved information access.
- Objective 3:
Partner with library associations, such as Affinity, Maryland Interlibrary Consortium, and the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, on emerging digital services and collections and incorporate them into library services as appropriate.
- Strategy 1:
Expand shared digital products and projects with consortia such as the AJCU and Maryland Digital Library archives projects.
Efficiencies:
Increase sharing of resources with information technology departments of the two schools and partner with library associations on emerging digital services and collections. Adapt and adopt open source software wherever possible.
Library: Staffing Advances
The Library is committed to providing an organizational structure which meets the needs of students,
faculty, and Library staff. Providing resources and services to the two institutions on their main
campuses, satellite campuses, and online will require the Library staff to adapt to the changing demands
of the undergraduate and graduate curricula and to new technology.
GOAL 1
Cultivate a staff organization that is flexible, collaborative, and proactive in anticipating and meeting
the changing needs of students, faculty, and Library staff.
- Objective 1
Develop a formal project management process for departmental initiatives and ad hoc teams.
- Strategy 1:
Review progress in project management on a quarterly basis to assess effectiveness of process and changes in project resource needs.
- Objective 2
Institute a comprehensive program of staff cross-training to enable flexible staffing of all service areas.
- Strategy 1:
Analyze workflow patterns across departments to identify staff able to support periods of intensive work demands in another department.
- Strategy 2:
Document important problem-solving procedures unique to each position to enhance staff flexibility.
- Objective 3
Conduct regular assessment of library services to ensure adequate staffing support.
GOAL 2
Provide for the ongoing development of Library staff through systematic training and upgrading of
skills, supporting succession needs and hiring policies.
- Objective 1:
Develop a comprehensive continuing education plan appropriate to the skills and knowledge needed
for program support.
- Strategy 1:
Ensure that the staff develops new skills and competencies to enhance Library services by leveraging the technology training offered in-house, online, and through Loyola and Notre Dame.
- Strategy 2:
Institute biannual all-staff workshops on adapting to emerging technologies & information and education trends.
- Objective 2:
Consider the projected loss of experienced staff to retirement during the next five years and identify long range staffing needs.
- Strategy 1:
Analyze current staffing patterns and develop a program to address long-range staffing needs and competencies.
- Strategy 2:
Identify staff with potential to take on new and increased responsibilities and train them accordingly.
GOAL 3
Promote integration of Library staff into the Loyola and Notre Dame communities in order to
gain a broader understanding of each institution's operations and priorities.
- Objective 1:
Increase involvement of librarians at both schools by participation on committees, additional liaison activity, and provision of more archival services.
Efficiencies:
Cross train staff. Utilize training offered in-house and online by Loyola and Notre Dame. Participate in webcasts and podcasts of local and national association conference programs and vendor product seminars to reduce travel expenses and time.
Library: Fundraising
The financial climate in today's academic library is challenging. The Library's annual budget alone can
no longer support the high cost of electronic information and new technologies, as well as the annual cost
increases for library materials and programming. Fundraising efforts will therefore be developed
for the Library to augment the funding from Loyola and Notre Dame.
GOAL 1
Launch a fundraising program for the Library in collaboration with Loyola and Notre Dame advancement offices, seeking government and foundation grants, donations, and gifts.
- Objective 1:
Develop and implement an array of fundraising strategies to attract external funding.
- Strategy 1:
Target funding organizations that specifically support libraries.
- Strategy 2:
Identify local foundations with history of supporting library operations.
- Strategy 3:
Start with small funding requests, manageable projects, especially in regards to matching funds.
- Objective 2:
Identify and apply for external funding from at least two grant applications a year.
- Strategy 1:
Partner with other institutions and libraries in collaborative projects to make funding applications more attractive.
- Strategy 2:
Assign and train a librarian with specific responsibility for managing grant applications.
GOAL 2
Establish a fund to support library programming and special collections purchases.
- Objective 1:
Cultivate a core group of donors interested in contributing funds for library operations.
- Strategy 1:
Establish a Friends of the Library organization.
- Strategy 2:
Showcase unique library activities and programs, improved facilities, and valuable collection
resources.
Library: Assessment Approach
1. Methodology:
a. Review each goal, objective and strategy for appropriate assessment.
b. Determine if assessment will be checkmarked or quantitative/qualitative measures applied.
c. Target constituencies when using surveys.
2. Strategic Plan will be reviewed every six months in the first three years for progress.
a. Review for goal progress.
b. Determine if resources are needed.
c. Adjust goal or objective if conditions indicate.
d. Analysis will be data driven.
3. Develop an in-house cross-cutting instrument.
a. Apply periodic or longitudinal as appropriate.
b. Consider an absolute threshold if goals or objectives merit this approach.
4. Assessment will be applied to:
a. Information literacy.
b. Usability and services.
c. Reasons why students or faculty do not use the library.
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