Annual Report

Goals for FY 2007/08

Year in Review: 2006/07

Ruppel library annual report 2006/07

Goals for Fiscal Year 2007/08

Develop the library’s collections and increase access:

• In adherence with the library’s collection development policy, build a strong collection to support the education of music teachers at VanderCook College of Music
• With the assistance of a CARLI grant, acquire recordings of crossover music
• Encourage participation by faculty/students in building the library’s collection: visit our acquisitions suggestion form
• Catalog 500 backlog items and all new materials
• Add Ruppel Library’s serials holdings to WorldCat

Maintain a staff of two professional music librarians who are active leaders both in the library profession and at the college:

• Library staff attend and participates at one national and one regional conference each; staff attend continuing education classes and workshops throughout the year, as available locally, to keep current in the profession; staff serve on local, regional or national committees of professional associations
• Coordinate the statewide Music Education Cooperative Collection Partnership (MECCP)
• Participate in committee work for various library organizations (MLA, ILA, etc.)
• Maintain the library’s disaster plan and disseminate the information throughout the college
• Participate in college committee work or other college-wide activities
• Explore grant opportunities

Promote services to faculty and staff:

• Collaborate with applied instrument instructors to promote relevancy of library materials and increase library usage
• Work closely with professors to design appropriate instruction sessions and tailoring library services to meet the needs of VanderCook course offerings
• Meet individually with professors to discuss library services and resources, obtaining lists of acquisitions suggestions
• Continue to garner the support and participation of the administration and faculty to implement the library’s strategic plan, especially through collaboration with class instruction
• Notify professors when new materials pertaining to their subject specialties are added to the collection
• Distribute welcome packets to new faculty

Promote services to students:

• Train qualified library apprentices, targeting their customer service and information literacy skills
• Offer individual reference and instruction
• Provide library orientation to new students
• Maintain and update the library’s technology resources
• Market the Basic Skills collection
• Offer library instruction sessions in coordination with courses throughout the year and as part of VanderCook College of Music’s Information Literacy Plan

Year in Review: 2006/07

Statistics:

Holdings:

• 7235 books
• 2186 scores
• 2631 CDs
• 387 videos
• 93 print periodical subscriptions
• access to over 100 electronic full-text journals in music and education

Usage:

• 9355 items circulated, up 9%
• IIT borrower transactions down 33%
• Number of items lent to other libraries: 496 (up 32%)
• Number of items borrowed from other libraries: 157 (up 96%)
• Library website generates an average of 435 page views per week

Monthly Usage - Online Databases:

Financial statement

• Library total revenue (without salaries): $60,948,77 (previous year revenue: $67,925.51)
• End of year remaining balance: $7,527.31

Library collections:

• Completed processing the solo/ensemble score collection backlog
• 706 items added to the collection in adherence to the library's Collection Development Policy
• Began adding Ruppel Library’s periodical holdings to WorldCat
• Strengthened the library’s world music sound recording collection by 1) subscribing to Smithsonian Global Sound, a streaming audio database of world music recordings; 2) purchasing recordings of world music on CD
• Technology resources: implemented two social networking technologies: LibraryThing.com (for new books), del.icio.us (for music education links)
• Received the following donations:
  • G. Gilpin and C. Baird: 27 handbooks
  • M. Zajec: 11 books
  • M.D. Buckley: 69 libretti
  • J. High: 1 book
  • W.T. Robinson, III: 4 books
  • M. Nagy: 219 LP records
  • F. Buchtel, Jr.: 2 compact discs

Library administration

• Professional Activities – Library Director
  • Music Library Association, Education Committee
  • Chicago Area Solo Librarians, Steering committee
  • Midwest Chapter of the Music Library Association, TAPS committee, TAPS website editor, Public Services committee, Program committee
  • Synergy: the Illinois Library Leadership Initiative, Selection committee
  • VanderCook College of Music, Higher Learning Commission Steering committee, Technology committee, Quality of Campus Life committee, administered grants (CARLI)
  • Conferences: MWMLA, ACRL, ILA
  • Updated and maintained library’s disaster plan
  • Mentored one undergraduate student
  • Other continuing education: Great Lakes User Group for Horizon; Customing EBSCOhost; Leadership seminar; Local holdings maintenance; Interlibrary loan (online workshop); CARLI bibliographers meeting; NASM: Future of music libraries; CARLI grant workshop; Social networking tools for libraries (audit); RSS Feeds: the future of information delivery; CONTENTdm; Website usability testing; Teen Second Life: Library services in a 3D world
• Professional Activities – Music Librarian
  • Music Library Association, Co-chair of the Social Responsibilities Round Table
  • Midwest Chapter of the Music Library Association, TAPS committee, Membership committee, Cataloging committee
  • Chicago Music Librarians, Active member
  • Music OCLC Users Group, Active member
  • Chicago Area Solo Librarians, Active member
  • VanderCook College of Music: Development committee, Co-Chair of the Higher Learning Commission Steering committee, final editor of the Higher Learning Commission Self-Sudy
  • Conferences: MWMLA, MLA, Music OCLC Users Group
  • Publications: Book reviews for RILM Music Abstracts and Music Reference Services Quarterly

Services to faculty

• Collaborated with applied instructors to promote relevance of library materials and increase library usage
• Worked closely with professors to design appropriate instruction sessions and tailoring library services to meet the needs of VanderCook course offerings; collaborated with the Music Technology course in Fall 2006
• Obtained reserve lists, textbooks, other classroom resources
• Met individually with professors to discuss library services and resources, obtained lists of acquisitions suggestions
• Worked with administration and faculty to implement the library’s strategic plan, especially through collaboration with class instruction
• Notified professors when new materials pertaining to their subject specialities were added to the collection
• Distributed welcome packets to new faculty

Services to students

• Provided reference assistance and instructional services to VanderCook College of Music faculty, staff and students
• Maintained a current print and electronic collection to serve the college community’s academic and professional needs
• Implemented a Distance Education policy and procedures for graduate students
• Apprenticed seven undergraduate students, teaching them customer service and advanced information literacy skills
• Created the following library publications: Women and Music: Select Bibliography, Preparing for Certification Testing: A Resource List, Finding Brass Materials @ Your Music Library, Music and the U.S. Constitution
• Provided .25 hours of library instruction to 25 faculty/staff on the topic of copyright
• Provided 19.5 hours of library instruction to 504 students in 23 class sessions

site last updated: November 27, 2007