Week in Review
October 28, 2013
Hi,
I have spent a portion of this year serving as a project manager for a SAALCK-led initiative to replace the KYVL contract for Voyager with a more updated system. This initiative is coming to a head with an upcoming meeting Wednesday morning by a SAALCK delegation with CPE and KYVL leadership. The SAALCK Directors are requesting KYVL to negotiate a state-wide contract for a replacement/upgrade system - Alma - which is an Ex Libris product. This is a much more sophisticated ILS than Voyager, and was built - unlike Voyager - with electronic resources and their management in mind. With the critical need for a replacement for Voyager (also keeping in mind that Voyager will be approaching an "end of life"), if KYVL is not able to complete this initiative, it is likely SAALCK will begin its own process of replacing Voyager.
I've distributed key findings from the ECAR 2013 report in several different venues now, including my last Week in Review. Those findings provide yet more support for the need for academic institutions - including libraries - to provide mobile-friendly interfaces. We are in the process of doing just that, as we will be rolling out apps for the library website and for browsing our electronic journal subscriptions. As part of this rollout, and in conjunction with our new website (which will have a hard launch in January), we will begin a spring-semester process of rebranding in order to best reach students and faculty with our new, mobile-friendly services. Erin will be scheduling a marketing committee meeting soon to begin brainstorming a new brand - I invite anyone interested to attend and throw out branding ideas for consideration. The "Research. Write. Speak." brand has served us well for several years now, but now it is time to develop one that speaks to our new directions.
Ashley distributed our dead week/exam week extended hours schedule last week. We are doing this - instead of 24/7 service - for simple cost reasons. Offering 24/7 hours for those two week costs approximately $3,000 per semester. After four years of the service, we have solid data which shows an overall decline in use during the earliest hours of the morning and on the Friday/Saturday between dead week and finals. The extended hours were proposed to SGA for their endorsement; SGA found them acceptable. We will pay the full balance of providing these extended hours (which, with this schedule, drops significantly to approximately $500 per semester).
Last week I went on a recruitment trip to Butler County High School; my first such trip. Enrolling students to Murray State is something that all administrators are being asked to take a more active hand in accomplishing. Several of you have volunteered to serve on the new Racer Roundup groups - thanks for your assistance in this arena.
Have a great week.
Best,
Adam