AUBURN%20UNIVERSITY%20LIBRARIES%20STRATEGIC%20PLANNING

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AUBURN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIESSTRATEGIC PLANNING
DRAFT FOR DISCUSSION

• SITUATION ASSESSMENT
• SUPPLEMENT
• JUNE 2007

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Introduction

• This draft document is a supplement to the
  environmental scans produced in October 2006.
  This document includes two chapters that extend
  the information base for strategic planning.
  More information can be found on the planning
  website at http//lib.auburn.edu/summit.
• The first chapter, Overview of the Libraries,
  profiles the Libraries and the instruction,
  research, and outreach support they provide for
  faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, and
  other library users. It includes general
  information about the Libraries, illustrations of
  a number of key Library services, and brief
  comparisons of Auburn with other Southeastern
  Conference peers.
• The second chapter, Auburn University
  Libraries Situation Assessment, provides
  detailed comparisons of Auburn data with
  comparable data from Association of Research
  Libraries (ARL) members among Four Year 1 SREB
  (Southeast Regional Education Board)
  Universities.
• The third chapter presents a SWOT Assessment
  of the Libraries.

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Contents

• Overview .... 3
• Situation Assessment ... 28
• Assessment of Strengths, Weaknesses,
  Opportunities, and
  Threats (SWOT) .... 42
• Appendix
• Strategic Plan 2007 - 2012 .......
  47

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AUBURN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES OVERVIEW
DRAFT FOR DISCUSSION

• JUNE 2007

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• A university is just a group of buildings
  gathered around a library.
• - Shelby Foote
• Author/Historian

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Auburn University Libraries

• Member of the Association of Research Libraries,
  which includes the top 114 university libraries
  in the United States and Canada
• Ralph Brown Draughon Library and branch libraries
  located at the College of Veterinary Medicine and
  the College of Architecture, Design and
  Construction

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Auburn University Libraries

• Rare books and archives that give Auburn
  University Libraries a distinct identity
• Well-established and continuing collaborative
  partnerships
• Special Collections and Archives serves as the
  official repository for Auburn University records

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Auburn University Libraries

• Advanced library technology providing support for
  5 million virtual visits per year,
  regional and statewide leadership for projects
  such as Alabama Mosaic, and an IMLS funded
  project to further digital archiving
• State-of-the-art technology and specialized
  assistance to students and faculty in the Digital
  Resource Lab

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• Information Literacy Instruction that reaches
• almost 16,000 students per year in more than 600
  sessions with additional special programming for
• undergraduates, such as Tailgate _at_ the Library

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AU Libraries listens to our users.

• The Library is my lab. I could not do what I
  do in the classroom or in my research without a
  Library of this quality.
• Paula R. Backscheider
• Philpott-Stevens Eminent Scholar
• Department of English

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Regular Assessment Activities

• Based on the Association of Research Libraries
  LibQual Survey, we
• Increased our hours of operation
• Added missing volumes of journals
• Improved the accuracy of the catalog and shelving

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Regular Assessment Activities

• SAILS
• (Standard Assessment of Information Literacy
  Skills) pilot project
• How well do Auburn students evaluate and use
  information?
• Focus groups
• Faculty
• Graduate Students
• Undergraduate Students

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AU Libraries responds to our users.

• To conduct competitively successful research
  today requires ready access to the latest
  scholarly literature delivered in an expeditious
  manner. Without the state-of-the-art information
  resources provided by the AU Libraries to keep me
  abreast of my field of research, I would not have
  been awarded more than 8.5 million in peer
  reviewed federal research grants since coming to
  Auburn in 1994.
• -S.W. Schneller
• Dean, College of Sciences and Mathematics
• and
• Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Dean Schneller and his research group
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Databases Supporting Faculty Research

• Of the 200 databases the Libraries license, 12
  premiere Science and Technology databases cost
  almost 2 million per year, illustrating the
  expense of research support.
• AUL Total Library Materials Budget
• Researchers logged into these databases over
  500,000 times in 2005.

These 12 databases cost 1,950,055 in 2005,
comprising 37 of the Library Materials Budget.
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User-requested Services
Digital Resource Lab for multimedia projects
Movies, Music and More for AV collections
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User-requested Services

• Online referenceAsk a Reference Librarian
• Chat reference
• Email reference

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User-requested Services

• Responding to requests for additional access to
  the library as study space
• extended hours
• Up All Night

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User-requested Services

• Partnering with other campus units
• Study Partners tutoring service
• Office of Information Technology Help Desk

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User-requested Services

• Partnering with other campus units
• Food Service with Stacks Café
• Student Government Association Advisory Group

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Digital Collections

• The Auburn University Digital Library currently
  has more than twenty digital collections,
  including...
• Auburn University Photographs
• Alabama Cooperative Extension Service (ACES)
  Photographs
• Caroline Dean Wildflower Collection
• Auburn Football Program Covers from the
  1930s-1950s
• Minutes of the Auburn University Board of
  Trustees, 1856-
• The Glomerata, 1897-
• Eddie V. Rickenbacker Collection

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The Caroline Dean Wildflower Collection
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Eddie V. Rickenbacker Collection
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Auburn Football Programs from the 1930s-1950s
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So Where Does Auburn Rank?

• Near the top in the Princeton Survey
• for Library services
• But during the last ten years, 100th or lower out
  of the 114 members of the Association of Research
  Libraries

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SEC Peers

• 2005 ARL RankingTotal Materials Expenditures
• 33. Georgia (11,013,996)
• 35. Florida (10,698,308)
• 38. Tennessee (10,146,013)
• 43. Vanderbilt (9,967,495)
• 48. Kentucky (9,413,427)
• 80. LSU (6,932,439)
• 91. South Carolina (6,364,082)
• 93. Alabama (6,274,306)
• 110. Auburn (5,261,396)

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SEC Peers

• Average 2005 library material expenditures
• Per SEC university--8,442,384
• Auburn--5,261,396

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Auburn vs. Alabama

• Auburn Alabama
• Total expenditures
• 12,251,864 13,587,699
• Materials expenditures 5,261,396 6,274,306
  
• Book expenditures
• 891,275 1,712,729
• Serials expenditures
• 3,440,754 4,515,297
• Total Professional Support Staff
• 108 141

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Service
Auburn Alabama Reference
Transactions 103,850
92,600 Interlibrary Loans 10,500
12,000 Circulation 244,000
229,500 Number Instructed
16, 600 10,800 Door Count 1.6
million 1.1 million Students
19,700 17,000 Library Dollars Per Student
620 780 Faculty
1,100 800 Library Dollars Per Faculty
11,000 17,000
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AUBURN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES SITUATION ASSESSMENT
DRAFT FOR DISCUSSION

• JUNE 2007

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Situation Assessment

• Funding for AU Libraries is the lowest among 22
  ARL/SREB peers. This is true of total library
  expenditures (Chart 1), library materials
  expenditures (Chart 2), and salaries and wages
  (Chart 3).
• In the number of books or serials added, AU
  Libraries ranks in the bottom three among 22
  ARL/SREB peers (Charts 4, 5 and 6).
• AU Libraries budget increases rank in the lowest
  tier among 22 ARL/SREB peers (Chart 7).
• AU Libraries ranks 14th of 22 ARL/SREB peers for
  the number of presentations given and 10th for
  the number of reference questions answered
  (Charts 8 and 9).
• Auburn spends fewer dollars per student and per
  faculty on Library expenditures than most of 22
  ARL/SREB peers (Charts 10, 11 and 12).

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Total Library ExpendituresAuburn ranks 22nd with
total expenditures of 12,251,864.
Chart 1
TEXAS
VIRGINIA
NORTH CAROLINA
TEXAS AM
FLORIDA
NORTH CAROLINA STATE
GEORGIA
TENNESSEE
MARYLAND
VANDERBILT
TEXAS TECH
KENTUCKY
OKLAHOMA
SOUTH CAROLINA
HOUSTON
DELAWARE
FLORIDA STATE
OKLAHOMA STATE
LSU
ALABAMA
VIRGINIA TECH
AUBURN
million
Rank of 22 ARL Libraries 1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
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NOTE As a point of reference, Yale has total
library expenditures of 68,789,335 and Dartmouth
has total expenditures of 16,735,903.
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Total Library Materials ExpendituresAuburn ranks
22nd with total materials expenditures of
5,261,396.
Chart 2
LSU
TEXAS
VIRGINIA
NORTH CAROLINA
TEXAS AM
FLORIDA
NORTH CAROLINA STATE
GEORGIA
TENNESSEE
MARYLAND
VANDERBILT
TEXAS TECH
KENTUCKY
OKLAHOMA
SOUTH CAROLINA
HOUSTON
DELAWARE
FLORIDA STATE
OKLAHOMA STATE
ALABAMA
VIRGINIA TECH
AUBURN
million
Rank of 22 ARL Libraries 1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
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Total Salaries and WagesAuburn ranks 22nd with
total salaries and wages of 4,583,327.
Chart 3
TEXAS
VIRGINIA
TEXAS AM
FLORIDA
NORTH CAROLINA STATE
GEORGIA
TENNESSEE
MARYLAND
VANDERBILT
TEXAS TECH
KENTUCKY
SOUTH CAROLINA
HOUSTON
DELAWARE
LSU
ALABAMA
VA TECH
AUBURN
NORTH CAROLINA
OKLAHOMA
FLORIDA STATE
OK STATE
million
Rank of 22 ARL Libraries 1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
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Volumes Added (2005)Auburn ranks 21st with
37,370 volumes added.
Chart 4
VIRGINIA
KENTUCKY
TEXAS
NORTH CAROLINA
TEXAS AM
FLORIDA
NORTH CAROLINA STATE
GEORGIA
TENNESSEE
MARYLAND
VANDERBILT
TEXAS TECH
OKLAHOMA
S CAROLINA
HOUSTON
DELAWARE
FSU
OKLAHOMA STATE
LSU
ALABAMA
VA TECH
AUBURN
Rank of 22 ARL Libraries 1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22
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Monographs (Books) Purchased (2005)Auburn ranks
20th with 23,579 monographs purchased.
Chart 5
VIRGINIA
KENTUCKY
TEXAS
NORTH CAROLINA
TEXAS AM
FLORIDA
NC STATE
GEORGIA
TENNESSEE
MARYLAND
VANDERBILT
TEXAS TECH
OKLAHOMA
S CAROLINA
HOUSTON
DELAWARE
FSU
OK STATE
LSU
ALABAMA
VA TECH
AUBURN
Rank of 22 ARL Libraries 1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22
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Current SerialsAuburn ranks 20th with 29,355
current serials.
Chart 6
VANDERBILT
FLORIDA
VIRGINIA
NORTH CAROLINA
TEXAS AM
SOUTH CAROLINA
TEXAS TECH
NORTH CAROLINA STATE
OKLAHOMA STATE
FLORIDA STATE
GEORGIA
OKLAHOMA
TEXAS
LSU
KENTUCKY
TENNESSEE
VIRGINIA TECH
MARYLAND
ALABAMA
HOUSTON
AUBURN
DELAWARE
Rank of 22 ARL Libraries 1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22
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Increase in Materials Budgets Since 1996Auburn
ranks 18th with a 53 materials budget increase.
Chart 7
VT
OKLAHOMA
TEXAS AM
LSU
ALABAMA
HOUSTON
VANDERBILT
TEXAS TECH
TEXAS
FLORIDA
NC STATE
GEORGIA
FSU
MARYLAND
N CAROLINA
VIRGINIA
AUBURN
DELAWARE
USC
TENNESSEE
OKLAHOMA STATE
KENTUCKY
Rank of 22 ARL Libraries 1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22
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Library Instruction PresentationsAuburn ranks
14th with 690 presentations.
Chart 8
VIRGINIA
TEXAS
FLORIDA
TENNESSEE
TEXAS AM
MARYLAND
LSU
FSU
NORTH CAROLINA
HOUSTON
TEXAS TECH
VA TECH
VANDERBILT
GEORGIA
KENTUCKY
ALABAMA
AUBURN
NC STATE
OKLAHOMA
DELAWARE
OKLAHOMA STATE
SOUTH CAROLINA
Rank of 22 ARL Libraries 1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
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Reference Questions (2005)Auburn ranks 10th,
answering 103,844 reference questions.
Chart 9
MARYLAND
TEXAS
NORTH CAROLINA
VAN
GEORGIA
NC ST.
FLORIDA
SOUTH CAROLINA
LSU
VT
VIRGINIA
OKLAHOMA STATE
FSU
AUBURN
DELAWARE
ALABAMA
TEXAS TECH
TENNESSEE
KENTUCKY
AM
HOUSTON
OKLAHOMA
Rank of 22 ARL Libraries 1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
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Dollars Per Student Total Library
ExpendituresAuburn ranks 17th with 620.91 per
student.
Chart 10
TENNESSEE
VIRGINIA
TEXAS TECH
ALABAMA
NORTH CAROLINA STATE
TEXAS
FLORIDA
TEXAS AM
MARYLAND
LSU
FSU
NORTH CAROLINA
SOUTH CAROLINA
HOUSTON
VA TECH
VANDERBILT
GEORGIA
KENTUCKY
AUBURN
OKLAHOMA
DELAWARE
OK STATE
Rank of 22 ARL Libraries 1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
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NOTE As a point of reference, Yale has total
expenditures per student of 6,172.77 and
Dartmouth has total expenditures per student of
3,009.51.
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Dollars Per Faculty Total Library
ExpendituresAuburn ranks 18th with 10,409.40.
Chart 11
TEXAS
FLORIDA
TEXAS AM
VIRGINIA
LSU
HOUSTON
ALABAMA
OKLAHOMA
TENNESSEE
MARYLAND
FLORIDA STATE
NORTH CAROLINA
SOUTH CAROLINA
TEXAS TECH
VA TECH
VANDERBILT
GEORGIA
KENTUCKY
AUBURN
NORTH CAROLINA STATE
DELAWARE
OK STATE
Rank of 22 ARL Libraries 1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
40
NOTE As a point of reference, Yale has total
expenditures per faculty of 39,625.19 and
Dartmouth has total expenditures per faculty of
21,428.81.
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FacultyAuburn ranks 17th with 1,177 Faculty.
Chart 12
MARYLAND
TEXAS
NORTH CAROLINA
OKLAHOMA
VANDERBILT
TEXAS AM
TEXAS TECH
TENNESSEE
GEORGIA
NORTH CAROLINA STATE
FLORIDA
SOUTH CAROLINA
HOUSTON
LSU
KENTUCKY
VIRGINIA TECH
VIRGINIA
OKLAHOMA STATE
FLORIDA STATE
AUBURN
DELAWARE
ALABAMA
Rank of 22 ARL Libraries 1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22
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AUBURN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES SWOT ASSESSMENT
DRAFT FOR DISCUSSION

• JUNE 2007

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Assessment of Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT)

• STRENGTHS
• AU Libraries consistently receives high ratings
  for services from undergraduate students,
  graduate students and faculty.
• AU Libraries has ongoing and collaborative
  partnerships with other campus units, as well as
  other libraries and organizations, to improve
  teaching and learning.
• AU Libraries is a member of the Association of
  Research Libraries.

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Assessment of Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT)

• WEAKNESSES
• AU lacks a mechanism that links Library support
  to price increases or to the new costs associated
  with expanding programs or branching disciplines.
• AU Libraries funding is last among 22 ARL/SREB
  peers, putting faculty at a disadvantage.
• AU Libraries adds fewer books and journals
  annually than 20 of 22 ARL/SREB peers so each
  year we fall further behind.

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Assessment of Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT)

• OPPORTUNITIES
• Improve funding for AU Libraries by gaining
  increased support from Auburn University and by
  building a donor base for fundraising.
• With adequate levels of funding, AU could
  redesign the Library space for growing
  collections and better services, establish the
  Libraries as a model for new teaching methods and
  technology-centered services, and continue our
  leadership role in developing technology
  solutions.

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Assessment of Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT)

• THREATS
• The lack of a link between price increases and
  the Library budget could further weaken
  collections.
• Inadequate resources could impact staff and
  infrastructure adjustments in a rapidly-changing
  information environment.
• Continued redirection of resources may erode
  service strengths.
• Taken together, these threats could undermine
  Auburn Universitys larger goal of establishing
  itself as a major research university with a
  strong graduate program.

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• INSERT TABBED DIVIDER HERE LABELED Appendix

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AUBURN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES APPENDIX
DRAFT FOR DISCUSSION

• JUNE 2007

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