Presentation to Social Sciences

Presentation to Social Sciences

May 27, 2009

November 2001 - June 2002

• “Aksan Report” - ad-hoc committee to review the library– “Our library system is not entirely measuring up, as

demonstrated in aspects of this report. The community is increasingly aware of deficiencies, as evidenced by recent workshops and newspaper reports about the library. Students point to lack of space, lack of “new” books on the shelves, serial subscriptions which have been cancelled, and insufficient computer stations. “

November 2001 - June 2002

“the ability of the library to sustain a reasonable level of acquisitions of books and serials (paper, or electronic) has declined, and drastically”

November 2001 - June 2002

“The University Library stands at 111th out of 112 in the Association of Research Libraries (of North America) rankings. The Association of Research Libraries group puts McMaster in very significant company, and we have never been (nor should be expect to be) higher than 90, but we are close to being removed from the list”

Recommendations

• That new monies be drawn in the form of a fixed percentage of the Indirect Research Costs fund announced by the Federal Government, of those funds under the administration of the Vice-President (Research).

• That the library acquisitions base budget receive matching funds ($700,000) from reallocations for at least the next three years, 2002/-05, for a total infusion of $1,400,000 each year should the Indirect Research Fund continue.

Increased Indirect Costs

• 2006/07 $556,000

• 2009/10 $766,976

Thanks to Office of Research Services

One-time infusion

• $1.5 million budget committee (quality assurance funds)– Enhance book/journal collections– Support new acquisitions– Upgrade spaces

• $900,000 over three years– Technology Renewal

Thanks to University Budget Committee

Increased Donations

*new pledges*:restricted $368,852 (2008) $117,542 (2007) 214% increasegifts-in-kind $483,068 (2008) $218,746 (2007) 121% increasetotal $851,920 (2008) $336,287 (2007) 153% increase

*cash received:*restricted $229,242 (2008) $124,882 (2007) 84% increasegifts-in-kind $483,068 (2008) $218,746 (2007) 121% increasetotal $712,310 (2008) $343,627 (2007) 107% increase

Thanks to University Advancement

Total Expenditures

2006/2007 2007/2008 2008/2009

Budget $13,626,100 $15,213,067 $17,409,428*

Increase $1,586,967 $2,196,361

ARL Expenditure

Ranking

104 92 86

*Approximately 28% increase since 2006

Solicited your opinion (2007 LibQUAL)

• LibQUAL

• Message: Improve collections

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We responded: increased serials and monographs

2005/06 2006/07 2007/08

Monographs 33,718 117,880 178,743

Serials 26,908 41,216 53,584*

*Probably closer to 48,000 subtracting for duplicates

2008/09 ARL Stats

Volumes

Added

Current Serials Materials

Budget

McMaster 178,927 53,584 $8,261,937

Rank in ARL

(2006)

110 93 90

Rank in ARL

(2009, pending review)

16 76 81

Yes, I said 16th1 COLUMBIA 547,346

2 HARVARD 319,547

3 CHICAGO 277,507

4 CALIFORNIA IRVINE 274,219

5 OKLAHOMA 257,137

6 TORONTO 247,666

7 YALE 238,862

8 ILLINOIS URBANA 208,659

9 CALIFORNIA BERKELEY 207,779

10 TEXAS A&M 206,223

11 TEXAS 191,363

12 BRIGHAM YOUNG 187,005

13 ALBERTA 186,313

14 IOWA 185,900

15 PENNSYLVANIA STATE 184,457

16 MCMASTER 178,927

17 INDIANA 174,417

18 PRINCETON 174,320

19 OHIO STATE 161,118

20 PITTSBURGH 160,722

ARL Ranking

Year* 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09**

ARL

Ranking

108 102 94 90?

*Published in Chronicle of Higher Education**August 2009 Chronicle

Where have we invested?

June 2008 - $47 million CRKN/CFI award for social sciences and humanities. Included:

– ALPSP Learned Journals Collection - 696 journal titles by 52 publishers– CAIRN - 143 French-language titles from 40 publishers– erudit – 57 mainly French-language journals – Oxford Islamic Studies Online/Index Islamicus– Periodicals Archives Online - six separate collections including 500 titles– Adam Matthew Digital - eight collections that offer rare printed sources– InteLex Past Masters - offers 117 full-text humanities databases – Canadian Publishers Collection - 8,100 English and French e-book titles – Ingram Digital Group - collection of e-books from three major publishers– Classical Scores Library - contains 400,000 pages of the most important

classical scores, manuscripts, and previously unpublished materials.– Theatre in Video - contains more than 250 of the world's most important plays,

together with more than 100 video documentaries and online streaming video

Significant New Special Collections

• Jackie Washington Archives - local jazz musician

• Michel Brisebois collection - Anti-Semitism, Resistance, and Propaganda in WWII.

• Levy virtual holocaust museum and post-doctoral fellow.

• Professor Pierre Conlon – French Enlightenment

• E. Pauline Johnson archives. 3 issues of the Boys Own World; and programs and news clippings of three plays produced by the Brantford Amateurs between 1885 and 1887 in which Johnson appeared.

• Margaret Laurence archives. Her annotated copy of Tom Harpur’s For Christ’s Sake (1986).

• Penang Daily News. A propaganda newspaper in English issued by the Japanese imperial army in 1942.

• Dr. Peter Chasseaud World War I trench maps (in progress)

Significant partnerships

• The World Newspaper Archive - First Canadian participant - the world's largest, fully searchable digital archive of international newspapers. By fall of 2009 nearly 1,000,000 pages will be accessible online.

• World War I Adam Matthew Digital (UK), McMaster University Library and other internationally renowned libraries (UK, US, Australia, Canada) have entered into agreement to create a scholarly resource of primary source materials.

Supporting McMaster Publications

Digital Commons – publishing seven scholarly journals (more in queue)– o Eighteenth-Century Fiction– o Energy Studies Review– o Esurio: Ontario Journal of Hunger and

Poverty– o Global Labour Journal– o Journal of Ethics in Mental Health– o Russell: the Journal of Bertrand Russell

Studies– o The McMaster Journal of Communication

Physical Changes

• Learning Commons (Mills, Thode, Burlington)

• Lyons New Media Centre

• Centre for Digital Scholarship

• Faculty/Grad/Pos-doc Reading Room

Still much work to do

• Significant change in use of the library– Transactions– Physical use– Demands

Transactions

Transaction

Type

2006/07 2007/08

Reference 39,986* 28,154

Instruction

Sessions

524 501

Circulation 341,154** 299,049***

*Down from more than 40,000 prior year

**Down from more than 425,000 prior year

***Approximately 1/3 are laptop loans

Physical Use: Gate Count (Thode)

September 2007 40,658 September 2008 44,684 +9.9%

October 2007 74,471 October 2008 82,364 +10.6%

November 2007 69,591 November 2008 78,065 +12.2%

December 2007 34,962 December 2008 37,693 +7.8%

How do we know we’re doing well?

• 2008 ACRL Excellence in Academic Libraries Award

• Balanced Scorecard initiative

The UL are Facing a Significant Budget Challenge for 2009-2010

• Flat budget for 2009-2010• Worldwide economic crisis

– Collections budget• Average serials inflation at or near 8%• International currency fluctuations• Declining Canadian dollar

– May 1, 2008 - On Par– May 1, 2009 - $0.84– 16% loss of purchasing power– 85% of our budget is spent in US

• Result: UL were facing more than $700,000 deficit

McMaster is not alone

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Causes:

-current economic trends

-major underlying problem is the rising costs of library materials especially serials and electronic information.

-increasing at an unsustainable rate of 8% annually

-Association of Research Libraries (ARL) reports that median expenditures for serials in research libraries has risen 340% from 1986-2007.

ARL Statement

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very few ARL member libraries are not facing substantial reductions in both operating and materials budgets. This is not a prediction but an observation of current realities

International: ICOLC Statement

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Endorsed by OCUL, CRKN and many others

ICOLC Statement

• We expect significant and widespread cuts in budget levels for libraries and consortia

• These cuts will be prolonged.

• Exchange rate fluctuations are complicating and in some cases amplifying the impact.

How is McMaster Responding?

• Past 2 years offered two CAW voluntary separation packages (14 early retirements)

• This year: TMG/MUFA librarian voluntary separation packages (4 early retirements) - will likely be filled with internal promotions

• Did not reach goal, had to declare two redundancies

Any additional impact?

• Do not anticipate any impact on – Collections– Services– Facilities

Future

• Continue to invest in:– Research collections (licensed and owned)– User services (particularly virtual)– Space renovations