Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
Page 9
Page 10
Page 11
Page 12
Page 13
Page 14
Page 15
Page 16
Page 17
Page 18
Page 19
Page 20
Page 21
Page 22
Page 23
Page 24
Page 25
Page 26
Page 27
Page 28
Page 29
Page 30
Page 31
Page 32
Page 33
Page 34
Page 35
Page 36
Page 37

•To.. 

MEMORANDUM

-c:;----

r' -• ?

(

2fi.

t

From K. STRAND 

?

-

PRESIDENT AND CHAIRMAN OF SENATE 

Date SEPTEMBER 13 1973 

Sub

jed

SENATE LIBRARY COMMITTEE REPORT 

PAPER S.73-112 

The Report to Senate of the Senate Library Committee for 

the period September 1969 - April 1973 is provided for information. 

Note: 

?

One of the items still under review by the Senate Committee 

on Agenda and Rules is the determination of appropriate 

procedures for the disposition of reports from Senate 

Committees. 

On the recommendation of the Senate Committee on Agenda 

and Rules this paper, S.73-112 - Senate Library Committee 

Report to Senate - has been distributed for information. 

It is proposed that this Report be open for discussion and 

comment for a period not exceeding 30 minutes unless the 

nature of the debate indicates the desirability of further 

time and extension is made by the Chair. 

Had this Report contained specific recommendations these 

would have been included as motions in the usual manner on 

this covering sheet. The normal actions of Senate on such. 

motions would pertain. 

Should the discussion of this paper lead to the development 

of any motions these would be given as "Notice of Motion" 

and would not be formally dealt with until the next meeting 

of Senate. They would appear on the agenda for the next 

meeting of Senate only provided there was formal submission 

of Notice of Motion to the Senate Committee on Agenda and 

Rules with appropriate support papers - as in the usual 

manner. 

(It will be recognized that if a discussion on a Committee 

report indicated the necessity of extraordinary action, 

Senate during the meeting could initiate formal action to 

suspend its normal procedures to deal with items of urgency.) 

sNTffi ]L]rY c©MIrIrrE

REPORT ?

TO SENATE

FOR THE PERIOD

SEPTEMBER 1969 -APRIL 1973

-1-

This report is in two parts, as follows:

Part A: ?

Report of Senate Library Committee

Activities

Part ?

Rep9rt of the University Librarian to

the Senate Library Committee

-2-

Part.A:. REPORT OF SENATE LIBRARY COMMITTEE

ACTIVITIES

1. Summary of Activities for 1969 - 1972

The last report to Senate by the Senate Library Committee was made

in September 1969 and covered the period September 1968 through August

1969. Although the present report covers the year ending April

30, 1973

we believed it useful, for the sake of continuity, to summarize Senate

Library Committee activities from September

1969

through April 30, 1972.

The Committee met 13 times during this period. Committee discus-

sions and decisions were concentrated on the following areas.

•

A revised loan policy was developed and forwarded to Senate for

appova1, at first on an interim basis and later permanently.

Library fine administration was rationalized and the establish-

ment of a Library Fines Appeal Committee recommended.

• The

Library's

future space needs were discussed and recommenda-

tions made to the Academic Vice-President.

A decision was made, once again, that there should be no develop-

ruent of branch libraries.

• Advice was given to the University Librarian concerning the budget

allocations by field for 1970/71 and 1971/72. The Committee

•

expresse4 its dissatisfaction with

the overall size of the 1970/71

acquisitions budget.

-3-

• A request was made that a statement on the adequacy of Library

resources be made as part of Senate's new course proposal process.

• Revisions were approved in the administration of study carrell

space and in the "Standards for Library Patrons" statement.

• Initiation of a survey to ascertain the opinions held of the library

and its services by its patrons.

• A proposal was made that the present library building, with a

2-floor addition, become an Arts Library and that separate

•

libraries be built for the Science and Education faculties. The

•

Committee recommended that the library remain a physically

• centralized operation within the University.

Z. Members of the Committee on April 30, 1973 were

as follows:

* ?

On January 10, 1972 Senate lengthened the term of office of Senate

members of the Committee to two years. However, the elections

held on October 2, 1972 were for one-year terms only.

** Replacing P. L. Wagner as Chairman for the 73-1 semester

*** Replacing P. L. Wagner for the 73-1 semester

**** Replacing P. Stigger for the 73-1 and 73-2 semesters

-5-

3. ?

Activities for J972/73

The Senate Library Committee met four times during this year -

on July 26 and November 7, 1972 and on February 16 and 23, 1973. Major

decisions and areas of discussion are outlined below.

Journal Circulation

It was proposed by the Chairman of the Physics Department

that current issues of research journals be placed in a reading

room in the Physics Department for a 10-day period on an ex-

perimental basis. The Committee, following long-established

policy, refused to agree with this request.

Reserve Loan Material

The Committee discussed the problem of unsatisfactory usage

of books and xerox material placed on reserve loan by course

instructors. Although some improvement has occurred, indiscrim-

inate reserve still occurs, with resulting processing costs and

weakening of the general collection. The Committee is invest-

igating ways of improving this situation.

Loan Policy

Modifications to the Loan Policy were approved and forwarded

for Senate adoption. These were designed to improve the opera-

tion of the recall and penalty systems.

TRIUL - Conference of the Tn -University Libraries of

British Columbia

The University Librarian reported on the work of this orgariiz-

• ?

tion, which is designed to increase coordination among the three

university libraries with a view to conserving resources and

improving services.

-6-

• ?

Survey of Faculty Opinion

The final report of this

survey

is presented on pages 18 and 19.

The Committee noted that although faculty are generally satisfied

with the library's operations, collections are viewed as inadequate

for faculty and graduate student research. Collections were regarded

as adequate for undergraduate teaching, but needing improvement.

Study Rooms

The use of the 56 closed study rooms on the fifth floor of the

Library has created some controversy. Present policy allows these

rooms to be reserve for use by faculty and students. Complaints

are increasing from students who are unable to obtain one of these

rooms and the Committee has received a

recommendation that the

reservation system be abandoned. The University Librarian and his

staff are experimenting with several options.

. ?

Library Budget

The Committee expressed its grave concern at the continuing re-

duction of the library's proportion of the total University budget,

particularly in view of increasing demands for materials and services.

After a careful review of the subject allocations for 1973/74 the

Committee expressed its agreement with the Library's proposals.

Details are provided on the next page.

-7-

'A

1)

C)

-

'A

'A

—

'.0

'A

—

0

'A

—

0

0

pp *,fl 

*      *        P     S      I 

p

p

p

i

0

0

0

-

.

t

i

$

I

P

$

0

0

0

413

.

'A

I

I

P

I

0

0

C)

13

0

0

315

C)

'1'

-.313

'3"

IA

o

C3

0o

'

oo

o

-.

:

3 'i

'A

:3.

-C

C-

C)

115

—

N

"ft

'A

0

0

0

0

U')

N

0

0

0

0

0

1"

r

C'

5?'

I-.

-8-

History of Library Subject Allocations

A basis for allocating funds for subject collections was presented

by the University Librarian on May 28, 1964 as part of a report for

the Board of Governors entitled 'Development Plan for Simon Fraser

University Library, 1965 - 1969.

The report was accepted by the

Board at its June 1964 meeting and an understanding of its concept-

ualization can be found in the following extraction:

Budget

Several factors influence the budgetary requirements of a university

library. Chief among these is the book budget. The size of the book

budget determines the size of the processing staff and influences the

size of the service staff.

The book budget is founded on the fundamental educational policy of

the university, the number of faculties and teaching departments of

the institution, and the faculty an4 student population.

Simon Fraser University is committed to graduate study and re-

search in at least one of its three faculties and, therefore, in at least

one of its fourteen departments. The fact that graduate and research

work may be postponed for one or two years is, perhaps, irrelevant be-

cause a research collection substantial enough to support research takes

several years to develop.

Neither can it be argued that because the freshman and sophomore

book requirements are limited, the size of the collection should

and because knowledge is the palpable commodity of a university

professor, he must have access to a collection that exhibits breadth

and depth.

-9-

.,...,

In determining the size of the initial book collection, I have

assumed the validity of the two following propositions: firstly, that

the Head of a Department at Simon Fraser is the most reliable in-

strurnent in determining what is an adequate collection for his staff,

and students, and secondly, when the Head of a Department is not

available, that a proportional division of the collection must be made

and the most expert advice that is available should be used.

Dr. Haering, Head of our Department of Physics, has estimated

that his department will require a minimum collection of 1,000 to

1,500 volumes, and that anything less than 1,000 would be inadequate.

This estimate is based on experience at the University of-Waterloo,

where the physics collection numbered 2,500.

Establishing an authoritative base for a reliable proportional

division of a new university library collection would normally be

resolved by examining the collection of some established university

library. Fortunately, the University of California, in establishing

the three new campuses at San Diego, Santa Cruz and Irvine, was

able to hire a staff of librarians to examine, in detail, the collections

that had been successfully developed for the undergraduates at Harvard

and Michigan. The similarity of proportions in subject allocations

in the accompanying table is remarkable and can be considered as

both reasonable and reliable.

As the categories listed in the statement from the Universit

California do not agree with the departments at Simon Fraser

University, I have broken them down on the proportion of tI s buf

have retained the correct balance within the original catei

On the basis of the number of volumes required by the Department

10 -

• ?

of Physics (1,000), and by using the percentage that is required

for each category or department, I have extrapolated the number

of volumes needed in each department and the number of volumes

in the collection.

The prices of books have continued to rise with regularity since

the end of the war. The average price of books published in the

United States in 1963 was $6.55. Converted into Canadian funds,

this becomes $7. 12. Therefore, it is likely that 56,000 volumes will

cost $398,000.

As this figure is large, I would suggest that it represent the book

budget for 1964-65 and 1965-66. Consideration might be given to using

$15,000 from the current capital budget which includes books, and

the remaining $248,000 be appropriated for the fiscal year 1965-66.

I would further suggest that the book budget for the fiscal years 1966-

67 to 1968-69 inclusive keep pace with the initial budget but be in-

creased above $250,000."

.- ?

loll

I-Il

cc ?

.ri

0..-'

CdU)

. ?

4.9

-4 ?

.1.3 ?

­

,9 ?

-°

l ?

ot:44

P..

01 ?

0 ? 0

Cdl

Cd ?

- 12 -

b. Book Budget Expenditures for 1964 - 1972

(1)

This section gives a brief summary of how the book budget.

has been spent to support the academic disciplines at Simon Fraser

during the period 1964-1972. It should be noted that the figures on

the last page summarize expenditures rather than allocations. For

the year 1972 /73, however, it has been possible only to present

allocations since the expenditures are not known precisely until all

transactions initiated in 1972 /73 are concluded, which occurs some-

time in

1973/74. In any case it appears that the ratios of support

for the various subjects will not change signifciantly because of actvity

in 1972/73.

(2)

How allocations were originally determined.

The first allocations (1964/65) were modelled after the patterns

used at the new campuses of the University of California, the new

undergraduate library at the University of Michigan, and the Lamont

Library at Harvard. There was, at that time, a considerable amount

of published information on how the budgets for these libraries were

structured to provide well-balanced high standard collections for under-

graduate studies. From this information, and with a knowledge of

our own special requirements, a profile of subject allocations for

SFU was developed, proposed, and approved.

(3)

Adjustments made during 1964-1972.

To date there have been no really striking deviations from the

original pattern. There has been, however, a tendency to diminish

support for the Sciences and to increase support for the Arts. Over

. ?

the years 1964-1969 Sciences received approximately 16.8% of the

budget, and Arts 63%. Since that time it has been closer to 15.6%

- 1 ?

for Sciences and 67.5% for Arts. Part of the shift was accounted

for by the addition of archaeology as a new allocation line in 1969/70.

(4) ?

Changes made in 1972/73.

Again in 1972/73 modest changes were made in the allocations

profile to allow for better support of new programmes that were

approved by Senate. These were Canadian Studies, Latin American

Studies, African-Middle East Studies, and a projected 'Tine Arts?!.

Three of these programmes are inter -disciplinary in nature, but new

budget lines were not established for them. Instead, it was decided

to retain the division by tradition disciplines and charge materials to

the various lines as the interests of the new programmes required.

Fine Arts, on the other hand, has existed as a separate subject alloca-

tion for several years

even though there was not an approved Depart-

ment before 1972. The fine arts programme is still not operating,

but the collçctioflS are being heavily used and seem to require expan-

sion.

(5) ?

The Library allocation, it will be noted, is the largest single

allocation in the book budget. The greater part of this money is used

to renew serials subscriptions. This was approximately $180,000

in 1972/73. In addition general accounts are allocated to the Human-

ities, Science, and Social Science Divisions for the purchase of

reference materials, serials backfiles, and materials of very general

subject nature that do not relate readily to the standard allocations.

- ?

14 ?

• ?

SUMMARY OF EXPENDITURES FOR 1964-1972 AND

PROPOSED ALLOCATIONS FOR 1972/73

* Based on actual expenditures for 1964 through fiscal 1971; figures for

1971/72, however, are derived from allocations.

** For 1973/74 allocations see page 7.

- 15 -

5. ?

The Financial Needs of Library

The University Library occupies a unique and vital position. It

provides critical support for teaching and research in all areas of the

University and its support is, therefore, a matter of interest to all

parts of the academic community. The Senate Library Committee has

become concerned over the Library's financial needs in light of the

following developments:

The steadily declining share of the University's financial resources

that is being spent on the Library.

• Indications that the Library collection was not keeping pace with

the teaching and research needs of the University.

• Comparisons with the University of Victoria's library budget.

The proportion of the University budget assigned to the Library

has declined from 9. 76 percent and 9. 77 percent in 1967-68 and

1968-69 to 7.31 percent in 1973-74. Except for a minor reversal

in 1972-73 the decline has been quite steady. During this period

the acquisitions budget has fared even worse; budgeted figures are

shown below:

Library Acquisitions ($ '000)

5 ?

These reductions in budgeting have occurred during a period

of rapid increase in book prices. The average price of U.S. hard-

cover trade and technical books increased 51 percent between 1967

and 1971. Between 1970 and 1971 the average price increase was 14

percent. Thus, for example, the reduction in the acquisitions budget

between 1970-71 and 1971-72 although only 31 percent in money terms,

was 40 percent in real terms. Similar effects could be shown for other

years.

The Committee considered the argument that the Library's share

of the University budget should have been expected to decline after

the first few years of collection-building but it was agreed that the

decline had in fact been excessive in view of the exceptional increase

in book prices and the development of new programmes, particularly

5 ?

graduate programmes.

It is difficult to provide hard summary information on the extent

to which the Library collection is not able to meet the needs of the

University. The Committee is impressed with the creative profess-

ional skills which the Librarian and his staff have used to make the

best use of the Library's resources. A recent faculty

survey by the

Library for the Committee reveals, however, that almost two-thirds

of those responding feel that the collection is "inadequate" or "adequate,

but needing improvement."

In the four fiscal years ending with 1972 -73 the University of

Victoria budgeted $548,000 more for library acquisitions than did

Simon Fraser. Planning budgets for 1973 -74 may increase this gap to

$718,000. This difference cannot be explained as a "catch-up' effort

by the University of Victoria; in 1970, nearer the beginning of this

- 17 -

comparison period, the University of Victoria's collection was

301,000 titles, compared to 24,000 titles at Simon Fraser. Further-

more, the University of Victoria, while it is about the same size as

Simon Fraser, has a graduate programme that is much smaller in

scope and size.

Information on comparative funding of other "new" Canadian

University libraries is presented on the next page. While there are

variations in the budget patterns, comparisons of relative and

absolute amounts show that Simon Fraser has supported its library

less generously than institutions with academic programmes comp-

arable in scope and type.

The Committee does not suggest that other universities should

serve as exact models for Library budgeting at Simon Fraser but we

believe that the magnitude of the difference strongly suggests that

our Library may require a higher level of financial support if it is

to meet the academic needs of the University. The Committee feels

that the Library's share of the total University budget should be in-

creased.

The Senate Library Committee recognizes that the University

budget is finite and that the allocations of these scarce funds is a

controversial and perplexing problem. We do not argue that the

Library, like the other parts of the University, has an automatic

claim for funding. However, the cumulative impact of the continuing

reduction in support for the Library seems to us to be a matter of

serious concern. The correction of this trend should, we believe, be

given priority in the allocation of the University budget next year.

N ?

(fl

'.0

s.O(D

'.ot

'.0

'.0

'.0

'0 N

a s

•

- )-

p-.'

,-.'

0'.

.'4

C-)

tT1

.Tj

I—I

-3bJ

1-1

Cl)

- 19 -

SENATE LIBRARY COMMITTEE SURVEY OF FACULTY

FINAL REPORT

January, 1973

When a progress report on the survey was presented in November,

1972 the librarians were asked by the Committee to attempt to obtain replies

from more faculty members. At that time only 45 people has answered.

During the past semester the librarians again contacted every department,

frequently more than once, to get a better response. As a result of this effort

23 more replies were received, making a total of 68, or c. 20 percent of

332 faculty.

The following departments failed to reply: Education, Communications,

Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Physics and Kinesiology.

Summary of Responses

•

1. ?

Are the collections inadequate

adequate, but needing improvement

satisfactory

outs tandi ng

Aspect of work most hampered by Collections

inadequacy:

undergraduate teaching

graduate teaching

graduate research

personal research

How often is ILL used:

once a month

6 to 12 times per year

1 to 6 times per year

not at all

22 ?

- 20 -

How often is UBC Library visited:

once a month

6 to 12 times per year

1 to 6 times per year

not at all

Reading ability in non-English languages:

Should SFU collect more non-English materials:

. ?

Yes ?

No ?

In addition to the above, suggestions for new acquisitions, as well as

for topics or disciplines that might be strengthened, were requested. In

each case a Collections Librarian has already spoken to the individual faculty

member about his request, or to the Library Representative. In most in-

stances orders have been placed for items we lack. The more generalized

replies, i.e. those concerning collections that should be built up, have also

been discussed with the Departmental Representatives. Our collecting ob-

jectives then have been modified when this has been mutually agreeable.

Conclusions

In general the replies express the feeling that:

The collections are adequate for undergraduate teaching, but

they need some improvement.

There are numerous sub-disciplines to which future collecting

should be directed in order to provide broader support to the

undergraduate programme.

-21 -

3. ?

The collections are not adequate for the research work faculty

are personally engaged in, nor for that being done by the graduate

students they supervise.

There is heavy reliance on UBC via Inter-Library Loan, or in-

person visits; to supply needed research materials.

SFU should not collect more non-English materials.

The Library should be more active in collecting out -of -print

materials.

It takes too long to process a new book.

The turn-around time on binding serials is too long.

- 22 -

Part B: REPORT OF THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIAN TO

THE SENATE LIBRARY COMMITTEE

Introductory Remarks

During the period under review the University Library passed

two significant milestones on the road to academic respectability;

the 300, 000th volume in April 1970 and the 400, 000th volume in

February 1972. By the end of the fiscal year, March 31, 1973,

455,212 letterpress volumes had been acquired and with the addition

of non-book materials the total reached 737,042 items. The subtle

change from an undergraduate institution to one with research capabilities

was further acknowledged when the University was accepted as a

•

full member in the Canadian Association of Graduate Studies in

November 1970. When one remembers the bareness of the shelves

in September 1965, with the thin line of 13,000 volumes, the impact

of our growth and development becomes conspicuous.

The lively growth of our collections has had as its basis both the

generous funding provided by a far-sighted university administration

and the dedication to collection development of a corps of faculty

members and librarians. Unfortunately, the recent trend has shown a

gradual diminution in acquisition funds and a steady increase in operat-

ing costs. Quality education is expensive and the Library contributes

significantly to both the expense and the quality. Perhaps, the seventies

will provide new answers to an old problem.

Physical Plant

The architect designed the University Library as a nine-storey

building that could be constructed in two or three phases. When the

- 23 -

University opened in 1965 the first phase of the Library was built in

five floors; at that time the interior of the fifth floor was not finished.

The building housed the power plant, all administrative departments,

the Bookstore and the Library in 122,000 gross square feet. In 1967,

several academic departments were moved to the newly finished fifth

floor but Library space was not extended. A construction strike in

1970 set back the completion of the Classroom Complex and the move

of tenants from the fifth floor was set back several months.

The Library acquired 2 /3 of the space on the fifth floor in February

1971 but because of the excessive over-crowding prior to the move this

new space was filled immediately. However, with an additional floor

the long-term plans that provided a separate floor for each major subject

• ?

collection came to fruition; social sciences on the fifth floor, humanities

on the fourth and sciences on the second. The processing and loan

divisions occupy the third or entrance floor and audio visual spread

over much of the first floor. The completion of the Administration

Building in August 1971 and the Physical Plant Building in November

1972 saw the end of the interlopers and allowed the Library to claim

ownership and sole tenancy of the building designed for that purpose.

Proposals for additional floors to house and service our growing

collections were discussed on several occasions by the Senate Library

Committee during the past two years. At the request of the Academic

Vice-President documentation was prepared by an ad hoc Building

Committee established by the University Librarian. Planning standards

were based on the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Educa-

tion (WICHE) and were accepted by the Department of Physical Plant

and Planning and the Office of the Academic Vice-President.

-24-

Building priorities have been set by the Academic Vice-

President and, subject: to the approval of the Board of Governors,

a second phase to the University Library will begin in May 1974.

The addition will have two floors, that is, the sixth and seventh

floors. The sixth floor will provide additional space for the social

sciences collection; the fifth floor will be largely dedicated to services

while the sixth floor will house the book collection and both will have

additional seating. The seventh floor will be unfinished initally but is

tentatively planned for the sciences collection. Additional elevators

will be provided. Barring any prolonged construction strike in 1974

the new floor will be ready for occupancy late in 1975.

3. ?

Proces sing (Acquisitions and Cataloguing)

If a generalization can be made about the activities in the process -

•

ing divisions over the past four years, it is that we have gone from the

period of big budgets and feverish growth, through a period when many

processes and records have had to be newly minted or improved upon,

and are now entering a period, although not of tranquility, where the

workload permits more adequate attention to each detail.

A major physical change took place with the move of the Registrar

to the Administration Building. The space increased from 6600 to

8700 sq. ft. and gave configuration better suited to Cataloguing but, un-

fortunately, this was not true for Bibliographical Searching.

Organizational changes have taken place in both Acquisitions and

Cataloguing. In Acquisitions, Serials and Monographs have been com-

bined into one unit with Bibliographic Searching and Serials now under

the supervision of senior Library Assistants, rather than professional

-2.5-

librarians. In Cataloguing, two changes have taken place. A

descriptive Cataloguing Unit has been formed; this achieves the

principle that librarians will only be involved in work of a profess -

ional nature. The Keypunch Unit has been transferred to the Systems

Division, as staff there have the greatest involvement with the Comput-

ing Centre.

The largest work project completed in Cataloguing was the conver-

sion of subject catalogue to "tick -tracing". This will speed up and

reduce costs of card production and will simplify the usage of the cat-

alogue by patrons.

In the Spring of 1970, S.F.U. began participation with a shared

• cataloguing scheme aimed at getting new books on the shell sooner and

at less expense. This scheme started with U.B.C., UVic and S.F.U.

and now includes eight university libraries across Canada.

In Serials the major project is work toward up-dating and correct-

ing the various files of annual serials. In addition, the space consump-

tion of the Kardex was finally ended by the purchase of a Centrac--which,

if we must expand it, will grow vertically.

This period saw the deterioration of service from our major

supplier and agent for our approval plan for American publications.

We have gradually moved our business to other suppliers and are now

testing an approval plan operated by a Canadian agent.

A major activity taken on by the processing divisions has been the

provision of a centralized processing service for two-year colleges.

Beginning

1970/71 with Douglas College, this year service is pro-

vided (at cost) to Douglas College, Capilano College, Vancouver City

College, Selkirk College and B.C. Institute of Technology. While this

- 26 -

is a worthwhile service and is in keeping with the general stance of

the University as an institution with concerns outside its campus, the

magnitude of the task is a considerable burden, and moves are under-

way to get support for the venture from the provincial government.

This January, the processing divisions embarked on an experiment

with the modified work week along with other units of the University.

Early results indicate staff satisfaction combined with improvement

Over the past four years 144,268 new titles have been acquired.

This is an increase of about

481,868 physical items have come onto the shelves; about 65% more

than the

1969

item count.

It appears that on an average taken over the past four years, the

collections have been enlarged by 36,852 titles and 120, 170 items

annually.

The high rate of microform accessions is striking. There has been

a great increase in this form of publishing over the past few years. The

SFU Library has been actively acquiring these materials because there

has been demand for them from faculty and students, and because they

give smaller academic libraries access to a body of materials that is

generally out-of-print and not obtainable in the original form.

The following table presents a general summary of collections expan-

sion since the beginning of 1969.

The staff of 12 librarians responsible for collections development

is also responsible for all services which help students and faculty make

efficient use of library resources. Lecturing by invitation of faculty on

specialized aspects of bibliography, offering a non-credit course on how

to do library research, preparing and maintaining CAN/SDI profiles for

members of the Science Faculty, lecturing in the Reading and Study

Programme, and consulting with graduate students on library problems

daily in the Collection Divisions.

In addition to the above, librarians and library assistants offer direct

one-to-one assistance to readers at six public desks. These are staffed

approximately 75 hours per week and a count of the kinds and numbers of

questions is kept. The following is a brief summary of this service from

September 1968 through March 1973.

Total Reference Questions by Division

As a major 'front end' service, the Loan Division is continually

responding to changes in the pattern of user requirements:

Since January 1970 the Division has read (made sure each book

is in its proper place on the shelves) the entire Collection twice a

month, and ensured that all books received or picked-up in-house,

are returned to the shelves in no more than one-and-a-hall days.

In April 1970 Phase I of an On-Line circulation system was in-

stalled. Users enquired about the status of loaned books via cathode

ray tubes connected directly to the computer. Had Phase II been

completed, the system would have provided immediately current in-

formation about both General and Reserve loan transactions. How-

ever, a cost/benefit analysis done by the Systems Division, prior to

the initiation date of Phase II, proved that the system could not be just-

ified, so the Division returned to batch processing in August 1971, and

concentrated on other problems.

Starting in April 1971, the Division progressively added nine

B.C. colleges to a service whereby it provides xerox copies of journ-

al articles and parts of books (no monographs or copies of complete

works) to their undergraduates at a charge of ten cents per exposure.

The experiment has been very successful, and a service fee structure

Is being formulated so that monographs can be supplied to the colleges

through Interlibrary Loans without imposing a financial burden on

S. F. U. The long term purpose of such extensions of service, is to move

toward complete reciprocal borrowing amongst the libraries in B.C.

so that a diminishing amount of money is spent by the Province on the

duplication of books collections and services.

- 3 ?

University Libraries to modify the Interlibrary Loan Code so that

undergraduates at the three institutions can borrow material re-

ciprocally. This agreement began in January 1973 for an experimen-

tal period and shows every sign of being well received by our under-

graduates (they borrow an average of ten items a day from the other

two universities). An estimate of costs and benefits will be made

at the end of the Spring 1973 semester to determine if the service

can be continued.

In September 1971 a new loan policy was introduced. It continued

the established policy of parity, extended the basic loan period for

General materials to a semester, established a Recall system which

guaranteed the borrower at least fourteen days use of the material,

and allowed the Library to recover unpaid fines and lost-book money

through the use of a collection agency. The new policy has worked

well.

The following statistics show a declining circulation figure for

Fall and Spring semesters to a low in the year 1971/72. Although

the sharpest drop in Total Loans occurred coincidentally with the new

loan policy in the Fall semester of 1972, the Division regards this as

a statistical, not an absolute, decline in the number of times individ-

uals used Loan Division services. Under the old system, the require-

ment to place Renewals or return books every two weeks, caused

people to come into the Library when it was not convenient for them -

but these actions added to our statistical count. Except for the fact

that all material is due at the end of the semester, the new system

produces a statistical pattern that is an expression of user needs,

and is, therefore, much more reliable when assessing behavioral

changes in the use of the Library. Finally, it is interesting to note

the gradual increase in Summer semester Loan activity over the

whole period and that Fall semester 1972 figures show an increase

over the same semester a year earlier.

Total Loans - includes: all General Loans, Reserves, ILL transactions,

Study Tapes circulated from Reserves desk, effective May 1972.

** ?

New Loan Policy in effect.

Reduction in traffic due to relocation of Administrative departments

and reduced use of Library Cafeteria when East Concourse Cafeteria

opened.

33 -

Audio Visual Centre

Since the Audio Visual Centre does not fall within the terms of

reference of the Senate Library Committee, it is not included in this

report.

Administration

In 1970 all professional positions were filled; the Head of the

Sciences Division had been vacant since our opening in 1965. The

number of librarians has stabilized at 28 and the total staffing during

this period ranged between 170 and 150. The ratio of Librarians to

other staff has normally been over 1 : 5, well below the American

standard of 1 3.

•

Several new standing committees have been established in recent

years including: Library Administration Committee, Collections

Committee, Exhibitions Committee and recently a Committee of Divi-

sion Heads.

To undertake comprehensive library planning it is essential to

know and understand the role and requirements of the Library in re-

lation to the academic programmes of the university. With this know-

ledge the resources of the Library needed to implement agreed upon

plans can be mounted. The need exists for improved library statistics

to determine the cost and effectiveness of Library programmes and

services in relation to academic programme requirements. To this

end work has begun on collection usage analysis and we have been en-

couraged by the information that has been produced.

In the area of management information, discussions with the

Bursar's Office provided the opportunity to develop responsibility

accounting in the Library. For the past two years division heads have

- 34 -

developed their own operating budgets and receive the bi-monthly

commitment report for their division. The Assistant University

Librarians are responsible for monitoring the expenditure of division-

al funds on a quarterly basis. The arrangement has been effective.

The Systems Division was approximately six months old in

September 1969 and since that time it has been directly involved in

over twenty Library projects, of which some involved automation,

some not.

Many of them could be characterized as housekeeping projects:

the On-Line Loan System, which went up in April 1970 and down in

August 1971 - for good cost/benefit reasons; revisions to the

Acquisitions programmes to allow the processing of materials for the

colleges; Library forms control; Arts Centre Archives Index;

Accessions Lists; etc.

But, at the same time, the Division began working toward the

development of a Library Management Planning System. The gradual

effect of this has been to bring the sophisticated resources of the

Division closer to the Library management function: programmes have

been written which give a statistical picture of the growth of the

Collection and its use; a prototype simulation model has been develop-

ed using hard data from the Library's keypunching unit. Both these

activities represent the tangible beginnings of an ambitious but neces -

sary plan that will result in the Library having powerful tools with

which to make itself increasingly effective.

In the fall of 1970 British Columbia's three provincially support-

ed university libraries established an informal organization called

Tn -University Libraries (TRIUL) with the objectives of maximizing

the use of resources and reducing overall costs through cooperation

- 35 -

and integration. Notable progress is being made in attaining these

goals. Continuing consultation among collections development librar-

ians has made it possible to avoid expensive duplication and triplica-

tion of major acquisitions. Insofar as the universities' curricula

permit it, responsibilities for collecting in specific subject areas

are being allocated among the three libraries. Development of auto-

mated systems is proceeding along parallel lines: work on a single

system for acquisitions is well advanced. Common policies on public

service are being developed, and special codes governing loans to

colleges and other types of libraries are in preparation. Cooperative

processing is resulting in faster and cheaper cataloguing of new

materials.

The possibility of using the joint resources of the three pro-

vincial universities will be a mode of cooperation that will, hope-

fully, flourish in the next decade.

May 15, 1973