GOAL IX: Effectively market the library's products and services, and expand outreach to new and underrepresented constituencies.
1. Conduct a needs assessment to understand our users and their needs and integrate the findings into annual planning process.
STATUS:
An Evaluation and Assessment Librarian was appointed to the IRIS Research Team to address the Library's ongoing need for user assessment and evaluation.
CUL initiated the Convenient Business Hours Study with data gathering throughout Fall 2002, including an extensive user survey that garnered 3,600 responses regarding preferences for hours and services. As a result, hours were extended in both Olin and Uris beginning with the spring 2004 semester. Uris Library is now open 24 hours Sundays through Thursdays. Olin Library added fourteen more hours per week, extending its closing until 2:00am Sunday-Thursday and opening at 10:00am on the weekends. (see V.7)
CUL participated in the LibQual survey conducted by the Association of Research Libraries in 2001, 2002 and 2003. In each year, Cornell faculty and students ranked the Library first overall in service quality among peer research institutions participating in the survey. At the same time, the Library has taken action to improve areas in which the gaps were largest between the respondents’ perceived level of service and their desired level of service, including convenient hours of service.
2. Expand the number of programs, events, and exhibitions relating to authors, readers, and other library-related cultural activities that enhance the community's awareness of the Library's resources and services.
STATUS:
CUL created the Committee on Cultural Events in the Summer 2002 in support of this objective. Relevant activities include:
a) Reading Projects:
- New & Noteworthy Books—Moved this Olin Library collection to a new location and promoted its use by rush ordering and adding second copies of highly requested items. Created bulletin board displays throughout the year to accent reading events and activities, including the CUL Seven Millionth volume celebration.
- New Student Reading Initiatives: created posters and library resources web sites. Library staff members served as small group discussion leaders.
- 2002—Frankenstein.
- 2003—Antigone
- 2004—The Trial
- Coordinated the Scholastic Books distribution with Library External Relations. This resulted in the distribution of approximately 11,000 children's books from Scholastic Inc. to elementary school and public libraries, as well as to literacy and other community organizations, in the upstate New York area.
b) Coordination and publicity for the Library Advisory Council Book Collection Contest for undergraduates.
c) Coordination of a variety of exhibitions and events, including presentations in the Lib Café by distinguished speakers and the March 2004 Games event in the Lib Café for students in association with the Pastimes & Paradigms: Games We Play exhibit.
Every semester, Mann offers book talks by faculty authors from the College of Human Ecology & the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. These talks, free & open to the public and held on the second floor, showcase recently published books on topics ranging from invasive plant & animal species to preventing violence in adolescents. We also offer occasional special lectures on current exhibits or other topics related to the library.
3. Enhance user recognition of the Library as a virtual presence by "branding" the licensed resources and the digital collections made available through the Library.
STATUS:
The Library Gateway Committee developed a Library web logo, which has been added to the CUL Library Gateway and the Library Catalog. The logo is being incorporated it into unit library websites as they are redesigned as well as other online services and projects. The web logo id also being used to brand external databases as the opportunity becomes available. Many of the major databases have been branded including Lexus-Nexus, Science Direct, Sage Publishing, Wiley InterScience, OCLC FirstSearch, RLG Eureka, SpringerLink, MetaPress and Ingenta. CUL continues to push information suppliers to provide space on their Web pages for the CUL brand.
The redesign of the CUL Library Gateway has resulted in a more consistent look for CUL's online presence. Information from unit library websites has been pulled up to the Gateway level to provide a single, identifiable place for accessing Library information, resources and services.