VC/UHV Library Annual Report FY08
Calvin is right, nothing does seem to change - but one day you look
around...and everything's different.
It's been a year of change here at the VC/UHV Library. As you check out
the annual reports of our individual departments (use the links over on
the left), you will see that this has been a busy and exciting time. Here
are some of the highlights:
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Construction on the second floor, which began in December, finished out
the move of the Media Center back to the Library.
A new design for the Media Center's webpage showcases and highlights
the video, audiobook, and music collections.
Upgrades to our media broadcast system now give us the ability to stream
media across the Internet to our off-campus teaching locations and to our
users in their homes.
Negotiation of streaming media rights has increased student access to
video and DVD-based instruction materials.
Use of session and time limit control software has returned the use of our
public access computers to our students
New microfilm readers and scanners have added new abilities to our
newspaper researchers.
Processing of the Jack O. and Ellen Brahmann Miller Texana Collection
continues. This significant collection will provide great resources to
researchers.
Interlibrary Loan users now can check the status of their requests online.
RSS (Real Simple Syndication) has been implemented on some Library
webpages. RSS notifies interested users when a webpage is updated or
changed.
New campus ID card design caused the Library's Circulation Department
to process more than 8,200 new campus ID cards, including the season
passes for the UHV Jaguars.
Reclassification of the Curriculum (textbook) collection makes the
collection more usable.
Our new parking lot was finished, which doubled the number of available
spaces to our users.
Library Administration
Highlights
In addition to the normal administrative activities, library administration has been involved in
three major projects during the year:
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The remodeling/renovation on the second floor of the Library to accommodate the move
of the media collection from UHV’s University Center. This including working with
architects, facilities staff from both UHV and VC, and most of the library staff.
Beginning the search for a Media Librarian following the retirement of Gloria Espitia.
Working with Dr. Sara Massey on the oral history project, “The Vietnamese of the
Texas Gulf Coast.”
Professional Activities
Dr. Joe Dahlstrom, Director of Libraries, has continued to be involved in library and other
professional activities, including the following:
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Chair of the Texas Council of Academic Libraries (TCAL)
Member of the Legislative Committee of the Texas Library Association (TLA)
Member of the Chapter Relations Committee of the American Library Association
(ALA)
Member of the Intellectual Freedom Committee of the Association of College and
Research Libraries (ACRL)
President-Elect of the Fellowship of Christian Librarians and Information Specialists
(FOCLIS)
Member of the Connecting to Collections Advisory Board (Institute of Museum and
Library Services grant awarded jointly to the Texas State Library and the Texas
Historical Commission)
Chair of the Outreach Committee of the Formosa Plastics
Webmaster for:
o Fellowship of Christian Librarians and Information Specialists,
o Texas Library Political Action Committee,
o District 4 of the Texas Library Association
Member of the Victoria County Historical Commission
Editor of the weekly bulletin for Victoria Northside Rotary Club
Submitted by Joe F. Dahlstrom, Director of Libraries
Reference/Instruction
Electronic Reference
As we continue to look for electronic resources to serve our students and faculty,
we are astonished at the array (and the price) of what is available. In 2007-2008,
we added the following resources:
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DynaMed - an evidence-based clinical reference tool purchased in support
of the nursing programs at VC and UHV
Science Direct Social Sciences Collection - about 395 full text journals
published by Elsevier Publishers in support of the School of Business at
UHV
Literature Cricitism Online - Short Story Criticism - electronic version of
highly used reference material in support of literature classes at VC
One Source Global Business Browser - part of the Reference USA suite
of databases, the Global Business Browser provides company information
and financial data for over 1.7 million US and international companies
purchased in support of the School of Business at UHV
Top 20 Databases - Based on Numbers of Searches
Database Name
Sessions Searches Total Full Text
Business Source Complete
10,639
41,528
32,281
Academic Search Complete
12,281
31,855
24,941
MLA International Bibliography
11,522
29,604
1,119
Literature Resource Center
9,981
29,525
13,441
CINAHL
5,957
18,941
11,016
Business and Company Resource Center
2,691
15,947
1,787
ERIC
2,369
8,779
PsycINFO
2,174
8,212
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Gale Virtual Reference Library
1,618
7,992
732
Education Index
7,692
5,740
Medline/Medline with Full Text
2,106
7,661
164
Twayne Authors
3,042
7,034
366
Literature Criticism Online
1,480
7,019
3,013
Oxford English Dictionary
1,022
6,858
8,401
Scribners
2,871
6,681
144
Academic OneFile
4,294
6,486
5,852
PsycARTICLES
Biography Resource Center
Psychology and Behavioral Science Collection
2,398
1,072
1,379
6,313
5,570
5,544
Public Computing
In September 2007, responding to increasing student concerns about the lack of
available computers in the Library, we installed software that requires login and
enforces session time limits.
Over the years, increasing use of the Library by non-student computer users and
recreational use of the computers by students sometimes made available
computers a bit short in supply. The new software placed time limits on nonstudent users (the main users of recreational computing). Those time limits, in
addition to requiring a library borrower’s card for use, has made more computing
time available to students.
All computer users in the Library, VC and UHV students included, are now
required to login to Library computers using the barcode from their campus
ID/Library card. They are required to set up a pin number with the Library
Circulation Department before use.
As predicted, the gate count (overall traffic in and out of the Library) has been
reduced, but less than anticipated (about 25%) as the students re-discovered the
library as a place to study and meet.
Library Instruction
As more sections of classes go online, bibliographic instruction numbers continue
to decline from prior years in terms of classes and number of students served
(both are down more than 30% from last year while contact hours are down more
than 25%). The number of these classes served by in-person bibliographic
instruction is 50% of what it was in 2005-06. Victoria College class instruction
decreased by a lesser amount than UHV but the facts that there are more online
classes AND that we no longer have a direct presence in New Student Orientation
both factor into the decline. There was only one class taught for NONA groups in
2007-08, which is a decrease from prior years.
Looking forward: because of the change in format with New Student Orientation,
and also because of ever-increasing numbers of online courses, we can expect all
numbers for in-person instruction for succeeding years to diminish. To respond to
the growing need for online instruction, we have placed a number of online
tutorials—animated and narrated programs on library research topics on the
library’s web site. More are planned for the future. Future statistics hopefully will
reflect usage of these programs.
4,314
2,009
1,324
Professional Activities
Karen Locher, Head of Public Services, continued service during this year on the
TexShare Electronic Information Working Group. This group oversees the
selection and development of electronic resources subscribed by TexShare for the
use of member libraries. Karen also served on the 2009 Program Planning
Committee of the Texas Library Association, and is Chair-Elect of the Texas
Library Association, District IV.
Lori Williamson, Access Services Librarian, continues to serve on the American
Library Association Office for Information Technology Policy, Copyright
Advisory Subcommittee. The subcommittee's charge is to:
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Advise the OITP Copyright Specialist on copyright education program
content, models and methods;
Provide an ongoing channel for member communication in matters
relating to copyright and libraries
Actively participate on the copyright discussion list
Promote copyright education programs at home institutions and to library
divisions and state chapters;
Attend committee meetings to be held at ALA Annual and Midwinter
meetings.
Her appointment continues through 2012.
Submitted by Karen Locher, Head of Public Services and David Ticen,
Instruction Librarian
Web Services
Connecting with Users
The office of the Web Services Librarian is directly behind the Reference Desk in
the VC/UHV Library, and this past fiscal year the path from the office to the desk
has become well-worn. This is fortunate, because the primary purpose of Web
Services is to connect with library users –
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to provide content for and updates to web pages
to input the electronic records that bring users material over the Internet
to broadcast news about library materials and events
to help strengthen the Library’s connection with the campus, at both the
University of Houston-Victoria and Victoria College
The Library’s primary connection to users is its web pages. The return of the
Media Center to the Library’s second floor prompted a radical re-design of the
Center’s web pages. New mediagraphies have been placed on the pages. These
subject-based lists of video recordings are generated from a database that is
constantly updated to include new purchases and to reflect deletions of outdated
material. Other new content on the pages is a monthly featured video, music CD
and audio book. These featured media items have RSS feeds, so that users can
subscribe and be notified when the content is updated.
Other pages on the Library’s website also contain RSS subscription capability.
Those pages are the “What’s New” “Library Study Guides and Tutorials, and
the list of “Audio Books on CD.” The list of “Audio Books on CD, like the
video recordings mediagraphies, comes from a constantly-updated database, and
the user can generate the list sorted by the author’s last name or by the title –
depending on preference.
Further access to media content was provided with a feature films on DVD page
and a feature films on VHS page. All of the mediagraphies and list of media items
link back to the Library’s catalog to show the item’s status. Status tells the user
whether the material is checked in and waiting on the shelf.
Besides the Media Center, Web Services made connections and delivered web
page content from the Weisiger Personal Notes files and the Teacher’s Daily
Registers from 1888-1976 for the Victoria Regional History Center.
As well as the before-mentioned projects, Web Services has generated the
following connections for users in the past fiscal year:
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241 Ask a Librarian email questions answered – 38 of those came from
EBSCOhost database links to Ask a Librarian
38 chat sessions participated in by various reference librarians
The Library now has 66 friends on its Facebook page
Library has 18 friends on its MySpace page
The Library maintains a presence on UHV Connect and Flickr
An additional responsibility of Web Services is to provide cataloging for
electronic materials and web resources, select for government documents and the
Library's Literature Committee. In that capacity, the following activity is
reported:
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498 electronic records added to the catalog – these include electronic
books, electronic reference resources, new databases, and web resources
1172 electronic documents selected to add to the library’s catalog
Collection development selections for the Literature Committee
Submitted by Paula Packard, Web Services Librarian
Acquisitions
Horizon System Administration
This has been a very eventful year for the Horizon System Administrator. The City of Victoria
decided in the spring of 2008 to dissolve the Victoria Shared Library System Consortium, which
has shared an integrated library computer system since 1983. The actual split between the
systems will occur in December 2008, but the planning and organization of resources which will
be retained by each library has taken a good deal of time this year.
The VC/UHV Library will retain the Horizon Integrated Library System which has again
remained relatively stable with no upgrades and no new equipment purchases. The system
administrator did a very large retrospective project with OCLC for Victoria Public Library to
verify their holdings. The Victoria Public Library has also continued to do Inventory based on
the new inventory devices and more conventional inventory based on lists created by the System
Administrator, in order to prepare for the migration of their data to the new Symphony system.
Acquisitions
The Acquisitions Department welcomed a new library assistant, Yolanda Perez, in June in 2008.
Yolanda previously worked for Victoria Public Library as an Acquisitions Assistant so her
integration into the Technical Services team was smooth and she is proving to be an asset to the
department.
In 2007-2008, the Acquisitions Department ordered and processed 1768 books at an average cost
of $29.55. 25 Reference Books were purchased at an average cost of $73.62. We are continuing
the processing of the Miller gift collection from 2006-2007 and also added 1655 new gift books
this fiscal year.
We received extra funds this year for the digitization of various Media materials and purchase of
streaming video licensing. Replacements of materials were as follows: 201 DVD items to replace
VHS materials, 43 audiobooks on Audiocassette or older single audiocassettes were replaced by
Audiobooks on CD or DVDs, and a total of 57 Licenses for Streaming Video access were
purchased.
Over the course of the year, due to the absence of a Media Librarian, the department did most of
the collection development in Media, particularly Nursing materials. A total of 318 AV items
were purchased at an average cost of $127.16. This collection development activity was a
significant additional work flow process as we have, in particular, worked to purchase in DVD
format as many of the American Film Institute list of the top 100 movies of all time. These
movies are used by both institutions for classes in popular culture and philosophy.
In order to enhance our collection of electronic books, 286 electronic books were purchased.
Most of the ebooks were purchased as part of Netlbrary bundles of records:
1. 22 titles under on the subject of IT (Gaming, Multimedia and Graphics in Computer
Science)
2. A basic teacher's resource bundle with 26 titles
3. 35 titles on the subject of learning various languages
4. 50 titles in Leadership and Management, and a Ready Reference bundle with 141 titles.
5. 12 ebooks were purchased as individual titles.
The average cost for ebooks based on purchases this year is $46.05
Collection Development activities by the Head of Technical services this year included weeding
and replacement of dated materials in Law, Communication, Nursing, and Language and
Linguistics subject areas.
Submitted by Gail Crockett, Head of Technical Services
Catalog Department
Highlights
Fiscal 2007-2008 was a challenging year for the VC/UHV Library Cataloging Department -- one
of staff changes, high cataloging outputs and numerous project activities.
The maximum staffing level of the department remained at three employees. Our newest
employee resigned to take advantage of a scholarship, so for the second time in less than a year
we were challenged with filling an open position. We were lucky to hire Rebecca Holm, a
Victoria resident. Rebecca comes to the library with a background in journalism. Having
completed training activities and probationary status, Rebecca is already contributing to the
accomplishments of the department. In the interim period, the department was periodically
assisted by assistants from the Circulation Department.
Even with the turnover of staff, the department statistics reflect a continuing high level of
cataloging activities this year. Total new title records added to the catalog were 4630, and new
items were 6866; these additions include acquisitions and gifts. Withdrawals were equally high:
4481 titles and 6285 items were removed from the catalog database. (Collection maintenance
activities, such as collection reassignments and relabeling, are not included in the numbers). 51
original records were created in the international library consortium OCLC WorldCat database.
The multi-year project of reclassification of the Texas Curriculum Collection was completed this
year. This effort consisted of moving the Curriculum Collection from a local classification
system to the Library of Congress classification system. To assist our frequent browsers of the
collection, we minimized the quantity of base call numbers to facilitate the collocation of like
items and subjects.
Major efforts continue in the cataloging of the Jack O. and Ellen Braman Miller Texana Gift
Collection. This significant Texas-focused collection of regional importance requires meticulous
records creation, handling and cataloging, and is therefore the highest priority, and one of the
most labor intensive, of all department work efforts.
Efforts to address the backlogs of printed and electronic U.S. Documents and printed Texas
Documents, awaiting cataloging and records verification, were successfully addressed this year,
with the elimination of all government document backlogs.
With the publication of the American Film Institute’s (AFI) 10-Year Anniversary List of 100
Greatest Movies, we have updated the catalog records for the revised listing, as well as adding
newly listed items to the media collection. [An example of the new alternative title format:
Number 1 on the American Film Institute's list of 100 greatest movies (2007)].
The Cataloging Department has taken a lead role in the supervision in the application of security
devices on the majority of media items in the Media Center. This project involves the delicate
installation of magnetically-controlled strips directly to the media items, a superior method of
security control for our Media Collection.
Another improvement for our Media Collection is the upgrading of disk and cassette container
quality. New disks, particularly audio books, in thin, cardstock containers are now repackaged
into higher-quality cases. We have replaced the worst of old, flimsy and worn cases with
sturdier, positive securing cases. We will continue to upgrade older containers as budget permits.
Additional Media Center projects included a significant realignment of class numbers for videos
from movies to adaptations, and vice versa, to better associate the video collection to the
appropriate works or class number; and the collocation of paper and digital accompanying
materials (materials containing content details that accompany media cassettes or disks) to a
location adjacent to the Media Center counter for ready retrieval by staff.
Other department projects remain in work, but are seeing progress toward completion. Examples
of ongoing projects are: U.S. Documents moving to the 3rd floor is progressing well; upgrading
ebook records to include call numbers; the addition of subject, series and general notes to
enhance accessibility to cataloged resources from speakers at Victoria College and University of
Houston-Victoria Lyceum, American Book Review, and John W. Stormont lectures and
conferences.
Finally, a major general improvement across all cataloging has been the enhancement of content
and summary information in cataloging records. This increase in bibliographic record
information should help resource selection by the ever-growing number of distance learners, as
well as ready access to content information for onsite catalog searchers.
Collection Development
As a member of the library’s Collection Development Team, the Catalog Librarian is
responsible for contributions to the Hard Sciences Collection. Additions to the Hard Sciences
were 11 titles in Astronomy, 6 titles in Chemistry, and 18 titles in Physics. One major focus was
the updating of the Basic Atmospheric and Weather section, where 8 titles of an introductory
nature for upper-level education were added.
Submitted by Marc Vezeau, Catalog Librarian
Circulation Department
Highlights
Main Collection Projects
The Circulation Department undertook several shelving projects involving the 3rd
floor Main Collection.
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Study carrels were removed from the 3rd floor next to the Q-Z section in
order to make room for additional sections.
One section of double-sided shelving was added to each of the four middle
ranges in the Q-Z section.
The Q-Z section was shifted in order to fill in the spaces left by the new
shelving..
Circulation assisted with pulling books for weeding in the LB and PS
sections. Shifting is ongoing to fill in the gaps left by the weeding.
Shifting was performed in the A-E section to make room for books in the
BPs that were brought up from cataloging.
Circulation performed an inventory project which involved the checking
in of all books from individual sections. This project yielded numerous
books that were in Lost status, Trace status, out of order and Transit status.
The project is ongoing.
Curriculum Relocation Project
The Curriculum Collection was relocated from the back of the Circulation
Department to the 2nd floor in the new Media Center area.
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Shelving was erected in the Media Center area in order to house the DVD
and video collections as well as the Curriculum collection. Circulation
aided in the construction of these shelves.
The Curriculum collection was relocated to the Media Center. As the
shelves in Circulation were emptied, they were torn down and organized
to be placed in the UHV warehouse. UHV facilities moved the shelving
parts to on-sight storage. One range of Circulation shelving was used to
construct a range in the Media Center to supplement a lack of Media style
shelving.
Circulation assisted the Cataloging department with the relocation of
Curriculum items that were being processed in to the Library of Congress
cataloging system.
Other Relocation Efforts
Circulation staff helped with several relocation projects this year, including the
reorganization of the Circulation Department's workroom..
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Double-sided miniature shelving was constructed on the 2nd floor lobby
area to house the Media Center Audio book collection. The Audio book
collection was moved and arranged with CDs facing the elevators and
audio tapes facing the Media Center.
A range of shelving was added in room 204 to accommodate boxes from
Regional History. Two sections of one-sided shelving were also
constructed in room 204 to house the vinyl record collection from the
Media Center.
The Library IT department was relocated to the Circulation WorkRoom.
This involved the shifting around of furniture, the creation of a new floor
plan and the relocation of Gayle Hardcastle's entire work area.
The Color Phaser printer from the library’s administrative area was
moved to the Circulation Reserve Area. Circulation is now able to print
color copies for patron’s through PC Cop at $.25 a page for students and
$.50 a page for non-students.
The Fax Machine was moved to the Circulation Reserve area. The
Circulation Department will now be responsible for sending and receiving
faxes for the entire library staff and patrons.
Tech-Support
Circulation Department Staff are being trained to assist in technical support of the
public computers and to help students with their computer problems. Greg Garcia
and Patsy Brown will now assist Gayle Hardcastle in providing computer
technical support to library staff as well as patrons. Greg has been designated to
assist in PC Cop technical support as well. Eden assisted Gayle Hardcastle in the
cleaning of all 1st floor public computers during the Summer semesters.
Manuals and Documentation
Greg completed work on updating and digitizing the Circulation manual. The
manual has been placed in to a PDF format for easy viewing. He is in the process
of completing a digitized Circulation Supervisor’s manual.
ID Cards and the Jaguars
Circulation printed 327 season passes for the UHV Jaguar Inaugural baseball and
softball teams. Season passes were printed using Ivis. The ID card design for both
UHV and VC student, staff and faculty cards was changed in the Ivis printing
program. New cards began circulating at the beginning of September 2007. An
estimated 8,200 ID cards were produced.
Personnel Changes
Elena Sanderson accepted the job of Circulation Assistant in August of 2007 and
then moved to another department at the Victoria College in May of 2008. Patsy
Brown accepted a transfer from the Acquisitions department to assume the job of
Circulation Assistant. Roberto Tonsul resigned his position as student assistant
and moved to the UHV School of Nursing as an online technician. Cherlyn
Hodge, Eden Gonzalez, George Ortiz and Kara Rippstein remain as part of the
Circulation staff.
Submitted by Lori Williamson, Access Services Librarian
Distance Education
In addition to serving students and faculty in Victoria, the VC/UHV Library continues to serve
distance education students at various off-campus sites and in online classes.
The UH System Centers at Sugar Land and at Cinco Ranch both have librarians on location to
serve students and faculty. The librarians at these locations offer reference and instructional
services as well as handle the technical support aspects of library service such as interlibrary loan
and document delivery with almost 400 items delivered through Texpress. This year 21
instructional sessions were held at these two locations for UHV classes.
New off-campus centers supported by the Victoria College in Gonzales and Port Lavaca also
received onsite library instruction this year and requests are expected to grow as these centers
expand.
Submitted by Lori Williamson, Access Services Librarian
Media Center
Highlights
Remodel of the second floor...five little
words...what a lot of work and what a lot of
difference!
Shortly after the first of 2008, construction was
completed and we moved into the remodeled
space on the second floor. The new Media
Center has 3 viewing rooms, each seating about
12. There are 8 computers for student use.
Media Collections are now open stack and have
been color coded to aid in reshelving.
During this year, UHV upgraded the handicapped workstation, which now has JAWS (reader
software), ZoomText (software for enlargeing text), and a CATV (for enlarging print text). We
also upgraded and improved our software and hardware for copying media from one format to
another, which was used extensively with a recent oral history project
As items were moved into permanent homes, collection analysis of audiocassettes, kits, models,
and slides were undertaken. Audiocassettes were analyzed and replaced in CD/DVD formats.
The slide collection (which had not circulated in years) was removed. Models were updated and
kits rehoused into better containers. Collection analysis continues to replace material in newer
technological formats.
The Cataloging Department worked to place audiobooks on CD into new containers, replacing
the cardboard boxes that audiobooks are typically sold in and do not hold up well in use. We are
very pleased to note that the circulation of audiobooks has risen dramatically this year - 265%!
The Feature Film Collection was pulled out of the videorecordings collection and given its own
space on the shelves. We also added a feature film mediagraphy to the newly designed Media
Center webpage
Speaking of the newly designed Media Center webpage, in addition to the before-mentioned
feature film mediagraphy, all mediagraphies were rebuilt, updated, and linked into the online
catalog.
The nicest features of the new Media Center are the viewing
rooms. The three viewing rooms were outfitted with 46' flat
panel tv's and have VHS and DVD equipment.
The Curriculum Collection was moved back to the Media
Center. It was reclassified into the LC classification system,
making it easier to retrieve materials.
The video broadcast server was upgraded from the coax network, which served only two
buildings on campus, to an ethernet network. This upgrade allows us to send media streaming to
both VC and UHV as well as the Internet.
The move from a closed to an open stack collection for our media forced us to consider the issue
of security. It was decided to place media under the same security as our print collection.
Equipment was ordered from 3M and the Media Center staff, under the supervision of the
Cataloging Librarian, started applying the security strips .
Following the retirement of Gloria Espitia, our Media Librarian, the responsibilities for
collection development, purchasing, and supervision were taken up by other librarians. Karen
Locher, Head of Public Services, took collection development and analysis, Gail Crockett, Head
of Technical Services, took purchasing and licensing, and Abraham Mendoza, Media Center
Assistant, took on the job of scheduling and supervision of student workers. The position of
Media Librarian was empty for most of the fiscal year, but we have hopes of filling it in the near
future.
submitted by Karen Locher, Head of Public Services
Periodicals/Interlibrary Loan
Highlights in Periodicals
During the construction on the second floor, Periodicals and Interlibrary Loan
shared space with Media Center staff and worked through the process of a
reorganization of the service desks on the
second floor.
Two ScanPro 1000 desktop
microfilm/microfiche scanners were added the
department. We now have enhanced abilities to
scan microfilm/fiche to disk and better print
quality
Mitzie Stewart created Union List holdings on
OCLC; and used OCLC reports to identify and
clean out defunct union list holdings. An Access database of holdings listed on
OCLC was created along with a printed card file to replace old hand-written file.
During this year, most periodical titles available online were converted to online
only. Exceptions include browsing, pictorial and book selection titles. We created
an Access database of these titles showing:
1. What we have access to online. This information is also in Horizon for
titles we pay separate from databases;
2. Link to EBSCO's Electronic Journals System, if any;
3. Link to URL, with administrator’s username/password;
4. Whether usage statistics are available;
5. Whether there are licensing restrictions.
Mitzie Stewart chaired the Library’s search committee for Media Librarian,
which continues into FY09. In addition, she served on the new VC Recycling
Committee. The committee is developing procedures to separate white paper from
mixed for pick-up by VC Maintenance.
The Index to Texas Magazines and Documents continues. We had 7 quarterly
subscriptions and 16 orders for annual copies of the Index
Submitted by Mitzie Stewart, Serials Librarian
Highlights in InterLibrary Loan
Interlibrary Loan and Periodicals staff continue to work well together to provide
faculty, staff and students service in a timely and courteous manner. Our aim is to
complete the processing of the incoming requests from our patrons and those of
the borrowing libraries each work day. JoAnn has been of great assistance in ILL
lending and processing incoming materials leaving Lou Ellen more time to assist
Shirley in borrowing materials for our patrons. Having JoAnn’s help in
Interlibrary Loan is especially beneficial since ILL/periodicals staff help to cover
the second floor service desk when needed.
This year a service was added to our webpage that allows users to check the status
of their requests. They simply put in their email address and the search pulls up
their requests and whether the requests are pending or fulfilled.
For items which we borrow for our students, staff and faculty, our filled rate is
94.8% for books, and for Journal Articles, 96.9%. The filled rate for Books
Loaned to other libraries is 67%. The filled rate for Journal Articles sent to other
libraries is 38.5% This low rate might be attributed to the fact that many of the
titles requested are for articles from full-text databases. The articles are either
embargoed or the articles requested are for years earlier that the database
provides.
We are proud of the fact that Interlibrary Loan is a free service to our students,
faculty, and staff; but, it is not without cost. Direct and indirect charges occur for
each transaction. Excluding staff time, costs associated with interlibrary loan
service were $14,664.67 in FY08.
Submitted by Shirley Parkan, Interlibrary Loan Coordinator
Statistical Tables
Periodicals - Paper Format
Number of periodical subscription
titles
Number of continuation
subscriptions
255
44
Number of full-text electronic
journals
26,632
Periodical holdings - volumes
3,829
Journals routed - The Periodicals Department
routed 119 issues to 68 faculty members.
Journals routing is a current awareness service
to the faculties of the Victoria College and the
University of Houston-Victoria
Periodicals - Microforms
Number of microform
subscription titles
6
Microform Holdings
Periodicals Microfilm
5,498
7,435
volumes
Periodicals microfiche
40,220
units
3,539
volumes
Newspaper Microfilm
8,532
reels
396 years
Microform Use
In-House use
755 reels/units
InterLibrary Loan Statistics 20072008
Materials Loaned
Books/AV Materials
1,784
Journal Articles
699
Materials Borrowed
Books/AV Materials
792
Journal Articles
1,807
Victoria Regional History Center
Highlights
Collections
In the Victoria Regional History Center (VRHC) this year, the watchwords were preservation
and digitization. We identified several series of primary records in urgent need of preservation
and applied our resources to that end and we digitized records, or their finding aids, to make
them accessible on the Internet.
HISTORICAL MANUSCRIPTS
Transcribed records from the Sidney R. Weisiger historical manuscript collection
were added to the VRHC webpage by library technology staff who added browse
and search functions. These records can be viewed at
http://vrhc.uhv.edu/manuscripts/Weisiger/pnotesearch.cfm. VRHC staff has been
transcribing these handwritten notes, which amount to over 8,000 pages, for a
number of years.
This year, we acquired the papers of Brownson Malsch who was born in Victoria
and lived here for most of his lifetime. As a historian, his interests included the
histories of Indianola, Texas (in Calhoun County), Victoria County, and Jackson
County, where he resided at the time of his death. He wrote a weekly gardening
article for the Victoria Advocate for many years. Two of the books written by
Brownson Malsch are Indianola: The Mother of Western Texas and Captain M. T.
Lone Wolf Gonzaullas: The Only Texas Ranger of Spanish Descent. The papers,
which were donated by Brownson Malsch’s daughter, Marguerite "Peggy"
Malsch and her husband, Ron McMichael, include research, correspondence, and
maps.
We also received records of Gonzales Ranch in Nursery, Texas donated by John
McNeill. These records include business papers and receipts and some personal
items such as school books that belonged to the Gonzales family.
REGIONAL HISTORICAL RESOURCE DEPOSITORY (RHRD)
RECORDS
A list of Victoria County (rural) schools and teachers, 1888-1976, was converted
from an obsolete database format and added to the VRHC webpage. The list was
compiled by VRHC staff from the Victoria County Teacher’s Daily
Registers—the booklets used by teachers to record students’ names, class
attendances, and grades for a school year. The list of teachers and schools can be
viewed at http://vrhc.uhv.edu/rhrd/victeachers.cfm and is searchable by school
name. The registers of students (1888-1976) are available for researchers at the
VRHC.
Another important series of records in this collection is the civil and criminal case
papers of Victoria County courts. With the help of our volunteer and student
assistants from various departments, we processed 18 boxes of these records and
created indexes for them. These records span over one-hundred years beginning in
the mid-1800s and include records from the Victoria County Justice of the Peace
Courts and the County and District courts.
PHOTOGRAPH COLLECTION
The Yorktown Museum organized a well-publicized event to encourage
Yorktown community members to bring their family photographs to be copied
and added to our library Photo Collection. Bob Allen spent a day there, and
brought back 495 copies of photos, including those from the Yorktown
Museum’s collection of historic Dewitt County photos.
Also, copies of photos from the Rubin Frels Collection at the Victoria County
Archives were added to the Photo Collection.
A total of 1,500 prints and 1,850 negatives were added this year, bringing the total
number of negatives in the Photo Collection to 23,171.
REGIONAL HISTORY AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS BOOKS
In early 2007, the library received the Jack O. and Ellen Braman Miller Texana
Gift Collection. The collection, which includes hundreds of rare first editions, is a
wonderful enhancement to the library’s already substantial Texana collection.
VRHC staff is working with staff in the Acquisitions department to incorporate
these books into the VRHC. The process, which is scheduled to be completed in
December 2008, has included inventorying and evaluating the books in the
VRHC’s two areas-- Regional History and Special Collections—where cataloged
books and other materials are shelved.
Outreach
The popular “Mystery History” articles continue to be published in the Victoria Advocate
under the management of Doris Obsta, who is a volunteer in the Photograph Collection. These
articles feature unidentified photos and also bring attention to the Photo Collection.
Volunteer Leona Booth and her husband, Kenneth, help publicize the VRHC by giving out
brochures at genealogical meetings they attend in the district.
Together, Doris and Leona volunteered 150 hours of work and we are indeed grateful!
General
The following articles by Sheron Barnes were published in Victoria: Crossroads of South Texas,
a quarterly publication of the Victoria County Genealogical Society:
•
•
•
“More Records Added to the VRHC Web Page” (Winter 2007 edition)
“Records of the American Citizens Social Club at the Victoria Regional History Center"
(Spring 2008 edition);
“Helen Ashworth Moore Records" (Summer 2008 edition)
The VRHC participated in the Fall Library Open House held in August 2008. Each department
of the library prepared presentations and displays that featured their resources. The VRHC
presented a PowerPoint program of some of the photos from the Photograph Collection and
displayed books from the Miller Texana Collection.
Displays
The following were displays prepared by the VRHC this year:
•
•
•
•
January 2008: “Cultural Legacies”
February 2008: “Automobile History”
March 2008: “The Long Struggle: Civil War 1861-1865” (First Floor Display)
June 2008: “Good Old Summertime”
Staff Training
Marie Adcock attended training for Office 2007 Word/Excel/Power Point. Sheron attended Excel
II workshop at UHV.
Submitted by Sheron Barnes, Special Collections Librarian
Fact Book (Statistics)
2003-2004
20042005
20052006
20062007
20072008
Collection Size
287,001 289,953 295,923 254,333 203,042
Cataloged Items
Audiovisual Materials (cataloged
11,564 12,773 13,030
7,207
5,433
items)
Federal & State Documents
68,892 49,324 49,536 36,661 34,869
(cataloged items)
Serial Subscriptions (print only)
285
294
277
291
189
Full Text Journals (titles online) **
10,000 19,743 16,006 19,946 26,698
Microforms (no. of physical units)
529,684(rev) 529,691 529,592 54,947 55,228
Archives, Papers, Manuscripts (linear
1,071.78(rev) 1,151.85 1,176.52 1,218.04 1,282.11
feet)
**Includes periodical titles from aggregated databases as well as individual electronic subscription titles
Library Services
Visits to http://vcuhvlibrary.uhv.edu
(VC/UHV Library)
Visits to http://reserve.uhv.edu
(Electronic Reserve)
Visits to http://vrhc.uhv.edu (Victoria
Regional History Center)
Database searches executed
(based on available data)
299,859 341,686 250,613 356,129 270,992
na
na
na
na
23,841
na
na
na
na
33,623
254,926 296,280 *260,890 323,645 376,183
*= data for top 10 databases only
Full Text articles provided to
research database users
na
na *114,250 144,773 147,389
*=data for top 10 databases only
Circulation Services -Use of Print
and Audiovisual Materials
(items checked out or used in-house)
Ask-A-Librarian requests
Instructional presentations
Number of persons attending
instructional presentations
Gate Count
Groups Using Study
50,962
55,275
45,604
36,111
45,344
na
36
336
52
210
70
219
67
241
46
764
1,180
2,214
1,995
1,182
266,502 271,268 248,158 247,088 192,005
na
na
416
504
494
Rooms/Auditorium
Interlibrary Loan - Items Borrowed
2,596
3,051
Interlibrary Loan - Items Loaned
1,827
2,966
Library Building Service Hours - Fall
76.25
76.25
& Spring terms
Library Building Service Hours 67.25
67.25
Summer term
Library Staff (FTE)
Librarians
10
10
Library Assistants/Clerical Staff
14
14
Student Assistants
3.7
3.7
2,789
5,331
3,078
2,295
2,599
2,483
76.25
76.25
76.25
67.25
67.25
62.25
10
14.5
4.2
10
14.5
3.64
10
14.5
3.67