Performance Standard

Outcomes

Planned Activities

80% of surveyed students, faculty and staff members will agree that the at least one library staff member is available for assistance at the reference desk between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.

71% of faculty respondents agreed that a librarian is available “all the time” at the reference desk.  51% of student respondents agreed with this rating along with 63% of the respondents from the community.   After reviewing this performance standard and considering its value in relation to the College’s mission, the library staff has decided to discontinue its publication in the College’s Planning Document. 

• Schedule library personnel to work at the reference desk during the designated time periods. 
• Advertise the reference desk to students during campus tours and bibliographic instruction sessions. 
• Remind faculty and staff that reference assistance is available at staff/division meetings.
• Schedule, advertise and perform training sessions for faculty and staff on the new Voyager online catalog system. 

80% of surveyed off-campus students and patrons will agree that the library is open "adequate" hours.

The library staff surveyed on-campus students, community patrons, faculty and staff members in addition to off-campus students.  Results showed that 60.5% of faculty and staff agree that the library hours are “good” with 60.9% of student respondents reaching the same conclusion.   A mere 33% of community respondents considered the hours of operation to be good; however, only five patrons answered this question leaving its reliability in doubt.  The library staff has agreed, however, that this performance standard is too narrow in focus to be included in the College’s Planning Document, and will not be submitted for consideration.

• Advertise the library's hours on the library web page and handouts.
• Inform adjunct faculty who teach in off campus locations about the library's hours and services. 
• Communicate with local public libraries about interlibrary loan services to off-campus patrons in their areas.
• Investigate electronic databases of articles, which are accessible from home or off campus sites.

80% of surveyed students, faculty and staff members will agree that they are able to check out material in five minutes or less.

66.2% of the faculty and staff respondents agreed that they could check out library material in five minutes or less, and 44.4% of students reached the same conclusion.  75% of community respondents agreed that they could check out material in five minutes or less, but none of the groups indicated that the library met or exceeded the performance standard.  In looking at the planned activities, a schedule was prepared for the circulation desk and all assigned personnel followed it.  The Senior Library Technician for Circulation wrote a training manual for student employees and required each student employee to satisfactorily demonstrate all steps prior to working independently.   None of the library’s current expense budget was spent on circulation equipment; however, funds donated from the Partners in Progress Campaign were expended to acquire a new library security system and automatic door opener for the physically challenged.  Money from the library’s student wage budget was diverted to help employ a new part-time librarian.  Simply put, most planned activities were performed with varying degrees of success.  Results showed little or no improvement over last year’s survey findings causing speculation that the performance standard is unattainable.  It is the recommendation of the library staff that this performance standard be reevaluated and modified to account for time-consuming barriers such as new patron processing.  Surveys will continue to be administered, but this performance standard will not be included in next year’s College Planning Document until a realistic percentage can be established.

• Schedule library personnel at the circulation desk to ensure that assistance is available. 
• Train library personnel to handle circulation requests efficiently. 
• 25% of the library’s current expense budget will be spent on equipment needed to improve the speed of circulation transactions. 
• 10% of the library’s current expense budget will be used to employ student worker(s) to assist with circulation duties. 

70% of surveyed students, faculty and staff members will agree that they receive an overdue notice when the item(s) is overdue.

Over 90% of faculty and staff respondents indicated that they “didn’t know” when or if they received an overdue notice for library material.  Those that were able to respond indicated that their notice arrived within thirteen days.  Similarly, 85.8% student respondents indicated that they didn’t know.  The remaining students had mixed responses with most agreeing that they received a notice in thirteen days or less.  87.5% of community respondents indicated that they didn’t know, and 12.5% indicated “thirteen days or less.”  Library records show that such notices were indeed mailed to students and community patrons with letters explaining each infraction.  Library records also showed that follow-up phone calls were infrequently made .  This performance standard will not be continued in the College’s Planning Document for next year. 

• Send out overdue statements every two weeks until the loaned material is returned. 
• Write a letter explaining the overdue material and include it with the notices. 
• Make follow-up phone calls before the library patron is billed for the overdue material. 

80% of students completing the Pathfinder to the Library Workbooks I & II will receive a grade of B or above.

82.4% of students completing the Pathfinder workbooks during Summer (2000), Fall (2000), and Spring (2001) received a grade B or above, and all planned activities were performed during the academic year.  This performance standard has been met for three consecutive years, and it is because of this success that the library staff has decided to modify this performance standard as a part of the College’s Planning Document.  Next year, the library skills instruction will emphasize technology in the learning process.

• Provide an overview for students of the subject material discussed in the Pathfinder Workbook I and explain the related assignments. 
• Provide an overview for students of the subject material discussed in the Pathfinder II and explain the related assignments. 
• Provide tours and training sessions for students enrolled in English 101/102. 
• Work with faculty members to ensure that students understand the material.   

80% of students and faculty will agree that the new, Internet-based library skills instruction format is helpful/effective in learning about libraries.

New Performance Standard

New Performance Standard

80% of surveyed students, faculty and staff members will agree that the library’s collections are easily accessible.

All faculty, staff, and community respondents agreed that the library’s collections are easily accessible, and over 95% of student respondents agreed that the collections are easily accessible.  This is the third consecutive year that the library staff has met or exceeded this performance standard, and it is because of this success that the library staff recommends that it no longer be pursued at the college level.  Surveys will continue to be administered to satisfy a SACS accreditation requirement, and all findings will be submitted annually to the Academic Dean.

• Schedule library staff to “read” library shelves to find misplaced material. 
• Train library staff to find missing material and to make corrections. 
• Develop proper signage in the library for patrons. 
• Provide an adequate number of computer workstations for patrons. 

80% of surveyed students, faculty and staff members will agree that interlibrary loan orders are filled within three weeks after a request has been made.

Although the library processes hundreds of interlibrary loan requests each year, 65.8% of faculty and staff indicated that they “didn’t know” how long it takes their interlibrary loan requests to arrive.  (The remaining 34.2% indicated that their material arrived in less than thirteen days.)  Students (85.7%) also indicated that they didn’t how long it takes for their material to arrive.  This problem is a trend that has continued since 1998, and is likely the result of inadequate advertising of the service.  Library patrons are probably not aware that this service is available, and as a result, cannot comment on its value.  Efforts will be made next year to inform campus and community patrons about the interlibrary loan service via brochures and email.  This performance standard will not be submitted for publication in the College’s Planning Document.

• 15% of the library’s current expense budget will be spent on equipment needed to bring about faster ILL transactions. 
• Work with the computer services department to include the ILL form on the new Intranet.

Notify patrons that their requested material is available the same day that the material arrives via phone and/or e-mail. 

80% of surveyed students, faculty and staff members will agree that the reference collection contains sufficient, quality material.

84.6% of students rated the reference collection as “good” or “adequate,” and 81% of faculty/staff gave the collection this same rating.  Also, 75% of community patrons believed the reference collection to be good or adequate.  This high approval rating is confirmed by the fact that the average copyright date of the collection is 1992.  However, the SACS Reaffirmation Committee determined the library’s collections to be inadequate and dated, and recommended that several measures be taken to overhaul all books and audio-visual materials held by the library.  Since the reference collection falls under this directive, the library staff has developed the following “new” performance standard to address the committee’s concerns. 

• 25% of the library’s book budget will be spent on the reference collection.
• Solicit help from faculty and staff in developing the reference collection.
• Keep abreast of important reference titles by reading trade journals and other library publications.
• Acquire reference materials within three weeks after selection.
• Process new reference material within two weeks after acquisition.
• Notify library patrons about new reference acquisitions via e-mail, The Green Street Journal, and handouts.

35% of the library’s book and audiovisual collections will be improved next year with the remaining 65% to be addressed in 2002-03 and 2003-04.

New Performance Standard

New Performance Standard

80% of surveyed students, faculty and staff members will agree that the circulating collection contains sufficient, quality material.

All community respondents rated the library’s circulating collection as “good” or “adequate,” and 90.9% of the faculty and staff respondents rated it as good or adequate.  84.7% of students rated these books as good or adequate with only 4.2% rating it as “less than adequate” or “poor.”  Despite these promising numbers, the library staff has decided to overhaul the circulating collection with an influx of new material.  The intent is to increase the average copyright dates of the sub-collections to at least 1995 while maintaining titles that have historical value.  For additional rationale, see the “Outcomes” for the performance standard involving the “reference collection.”

• 15% of the library’s book budget will be spent on the circulating collection.
• Solicit help from faculty and staff when developing the circulating collection.
• Read trade journals and other library publications to learn about needed titles for the circulating collection.
• Acquire materials from publishers within three weeks after selection.
• Process new circulating material within two weeks after acquisition.
• Notify library patrons about new acquisitions via e-mail, The Green Street Journal, and handouts.

80% of surveyed students, faculty and staff members will agree that the periodical collection consisting of magazines, journals and newspapers contains sufficient, quality material.

28.6% of faculty and staff indicated that they “don’t know” about the quality of the library’s hardcopy magazines and journals despite the fact that over $17,000 was spent improving this collection over the past three years.  64.3% of faculty and staff found this collection to be “good” or “adequate,” and only 7.1% rated it as “less than adequate.”  87.5% of students rated the periodical collections as good or adequate, and only 2.4% rated it as less than adequate or poor.  The library spent 29% of the book budget on this collection during 2000-01, and completed all remaining “planned activities.”  However, the library staff has decided to reduce this amount to 18% next year to free up enough funds to purchase new books and audio-visual material (see the performance standard outcomes for the reference collection).  This action will result in the elimination of nearly 50 hardcopy titles from the periodical collection.  The library staff will continue to monitor patron satisfaction rates via surveys to learn about any repercussions.  Results will be submitted to the Academic Dean, but will not be published in next year’s College Planning Document. 

• 25% of the library’s book budget will be spent on the periodical collection.
• Solicit help from faculty and staff when developing the periodical collection.
• Read Katz Magazines for Libraries and other evaluative sources to keep abreast of needed titles for the periodical collection.
• Acquire selected materials through Ebsco, or another vendor to minimize shipping, handling, and labor costs.
• Process new periodical material the same day that it arrives.
• Notify library patrons about new periodical material via e-mail and handouts.

80% of surveyed students, faculty and staff members will agree that the electronic resources collection contains sufficient, quality material.

84.7% of student respondents agreed that the library’s electronic databases are “good” or “adequate,” and only 2.8% found them “less than adequate.”  73.8% of faculty and staff indicated that these databases are good or adequate, and the remaining 26.2% indicated that they “didn’t know” about the quality of the databases.  By submitting requests to the Technology Action Team and by acquiring related supplies via the library’s current expense budget, the library staff has continued to offer over 2300 full-text magazines and journals on computers that are fast and easy to use.  The library’s web page has been updated every three months with new Internet sites being added.  The library staff will continue to monitor this performance standard via surveys for internal planning purposes, but it not be submitted for publication in the College’s Planning Document.  Many of the planned activities will be continued in conjunction with the new performance standard for library skills instruction. 

• 20% of the library’s book budget will be spent on electronic resources.
• Solicit help from faculty and staff when developing the library’s electronic resources.
• Attend state and local workshops on electronic databases to keep abreast of changes within this format.
• Acquire electronic resources (and install if necessary) within one month after selection.
• Notify patrons about the availability of new electronic resources within two weeks after installation via e-mail, The Green Street Journal, and handouts.
• 40% of the library’s current expense budget will be spent on maintaining the library’s computers, related supplies, and accessories.

80% of surveyed students, faculty and staff members will agree that the audio-visual collection contains sufficient, quality material.

42.9% of faculty and staff respondents indicated that they “didn’t know” about the quality of the library’s audio-visual collection.  52.4% rated it as “good” or “adequate,” and 4.8% rated it as “less than adequate” or “poor.”  Students appear to be more informed about these resources with 69.6% rating them as good or adequate.  None of the groups indicated that the library staff had met or exceeded the performance standard.  This problem is probably due to the library staff’s inability to effectively solicit help from the faculty in building the audio-visual collection.  This performance standard will be discontinued, but many of its “planned activities” will be integrated with the new performance standard for collection development. 

• 10% of the library’s book budget will be spent on audio-visual resources.
• Solicit help from faculty and staff when developing the library’s audio-visual resources.
• Keep abreast of changes in audio-visual resources by reading related trade journals.
• Acquire audio-visual materials within two weeks after selection.
• Notify library patrons about new acquisitions via e-mail, The Green Street Journal, and handouts.

50% of surveyed students, faculty and staff members will agree that the special collection contains sufficient, quality material.

Students have demonstrated increased awareness and appreciation for the library’s special collections as 72.5% rated the collection as “good” or “adequate.”  50% of faculty and staff rated this collection as good or adequate with the remaining 50% indicating that they “didn’t know” about the quality of the collection.  75% of community respondents rated the collection as good.  All three groups indicated that the library staff had met and exceeded this performance standard.  Due to this success, this standard will not be measured next year and will not be included in the College’s Planning Document.

• 5% of the library’s book budget will be spent on the special collection.
• Solicit help from the college’s history department and local community patrons when developing the special collection.
• Acquire materials for the special collection within six weeks after selection.
• Process new acquisitions within two weeks after acquisition.
• Notify library patrons about new arrivals via e-mail and handouts.