Will the budget cuts continue?

The fiscal predictions for the 10/11 year indicate that further reductions may be necessary. Consequently, the Library, along with every other area on campus, is making plans for further budget cuts. We are hoping that the worst case scenario won’t come to pass.

If the Library has to take additional cuts, what areas would be cut?

Since we have been in a budget reduction for five years, we now would have to cut into the core of the service which would include cuts to the collection (electronic resources, databases, instructional resources, media and books) and cuts to service. Cuts to the collection are very serious because a robust collection is vital for student academic achievement and faculty research. There are over 13 million uses of our web pages per year and about 500,000 uses of our physical collection annually.

What do “cuts to service” mean?

First, the Library would have to reduce the number of hours that it is open. Currently, the Library is open 82 hours a week, seven days a week. This is already down from 90 hours a week from the previous year.

Second, open hours at the various service desks would also be reduced since we will not have the staffing in adequate numbers to support the longer open hours. The Library has already frozen 16 positions which will not be filled anytime in the near term if at all.

Will we still have 24/Access to the Library during finals?

Yes, 24/7 Access is supported by the student Campus Quality Fee. 24/7 Access was very popular last year with students. Feedback from students last year indicated that they would like a few more days before finals. We proposed this and it was also approved in the Campus Quality Fee.

Is the Library going to have a coffee cart?

It is in the planning stages and if all goes well, we will begin to offer service possibly later this semester or certainly next semester. The Freudian Sip will be running the service and students will be able to enjoy coffee and snacks during the weekdays during the semester. The cart will be located in the lobby.

Does this mean we can eat in the Library?

Yes, you can bring in drinks with lids and small snacks. We are asking everyone to be careful with spills of course and to report them right away. Spills cost the Library money as we have to pay for clean-up.

Does the Library have textbooks?

The Library has a few textbooks but not textbooks for all classes as you sometimes hear. However, the Campus Quality Fee also supported the Library for a pilot to purchase textbooks for some classes. This select group of textbooks is on reserve (4th floor, east wing) and is very popular. http://library.csun.edu/Library_Services/Reserves/

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Susan C. Curzon
Dean

Has the Library’s budget been cut too?

As with all other services and programs on campus, the Oviatt Library also has had a budget reduction. In the last four years out of five, the Library’s base budget has been reduced.

What impact have the budget reductions had on the Library?

For the last five years, the Library has made many behind-the- scenes cuts in order not to impact direct service to our students and faculty. Last year, however, we had to reduce our Saturday and Sunday morning hours because of the continuing cuts. We chose those hours as they were the times of the lightest use of the Library.

Why is the Library closed for additional days this year?

For 09/10, the Library’s faculty and staff are on furlough for twenty-four days. Fourteen of those twenty-four days are mandated. When the Library does not have professional staffing available, a closure is necessitated. For more information on Library hours, please go to: http://library.csun.edu/About_the_Library/ovhours.php

How can you afford to have 24/7 access during finals if you have a budget cut?

The student supported Campus Quality Fee provides separate funding for 24/7 access during finals. These extended hours were enormously popular with students last Spring semester. For more information on Campus Quality Fee projects in the Library, please go to: http://library.csun.edu/blogs/librarynews/2009/07/page/2/

Will Library service be impacted?

As much as possible, we will provide the help and assistance that our students and faculty have come to expect. However, some services may be slower because twenty-four furlough days translates into a reduction in work force capacity of about 10%.

Will the Library’s collection be affected?

The provision of knowledge resources is the foremost responsibility of the Library and our highest priority. However, the Library’s collection has already been affected. First, we have the same base budget for the collection that we have had for ten years. Second, the cost of buying new electronic journals, books, CDs etc. inflates at 8.65% each year meaning that our buying power has been reduced. Lastly, we have had to provide new resources for new programs without funding and this has impacted our ability to purchase resources for existing programs.

Why are new equipment, technology and furniture arriving when we have a budget cut?

The Library received funding for equipment, technology and furniture through the student-supported Campus Quality Fee. The funding awards, which were recommended by students, stipulate exactly how the funds may be used. All of the new items are there to benefit students through improved technology, improved resources or more comfortable study spaces. We appreciate the support of the students through the Campus Quality Fee. For more information on Campus Quality Fee projects in the Library, please go to: http://library.csun.edu/blogs/librarynews/2009/07/page/2/

Why are you still having events such as a reception for exhibit openings? Doesn’t this cost money?

Yes, but the Library receives private donations for receptions. The funds can only be used for the purposes designated by the donor.

For more information on budget cuts to the CSU and to CSUN, please go to: http://www.csun.edu/presofc/campusbudgetnews-FAQs.html

I am pleased to let you know that we received funds for 24 hour Library access for 7 days during exam time for both the Fall, 2009 and the Spring, 2010 semesters. The 24 hour access during finals was very popular with students this last Spring and we received many positive comments.

We also received funds to try a pilot program placing more textbooks on reserve. The cost of textbooks has been of great concern to us all. We hope this pilot program will be successful and will help to alleviate student cost.

The Library is a very well-used facility with a gate count of 1.4 million annually. We love to see the Library full of people. Two projects were funded that will enhance comfort in the facility. Currently, the Library can seat about 2200 people at any one time. We received funds to replace some of the worn out chairs. We still have many more chairs that need replacing but these new chairs will be very comfortable and modern.

Students have also been asking us for more relaxed lounge areas for study. Funds were also received to create a comfortable study lounge on the 4th floor east wing.

Student use of the computers provided by the Library is very high with over 340,000 logins per year. The Library provides nearly 500 computers for student use. Every year we need to refresh a portion of our technology to keep up with changing needs. We received funds to refresh 130 student computers and 20 laptops.

Finally, we are transitioning our older videotape collection to DVD’s and we were very pleased to receive funds to purchase 500 DVD replacements. Last year, students checked out over 17,000 DVD’s from our extensive collection.

For more information about the Campus Quality Fee, please go to:
http://www.csun.edu/studentaffairs/campusqualityfee/index.htm

Sue Curzon

I would like to announce two new Library web presentations that I hope you will enjoy:

50th Anniversary-The Virtual Exhibition

http://library.csun.edu/50/exhibition.html

The online version of the Library’s Gallery Exhibition on CSUN’s history, “Fifty and Fabulous,” gives web visitors a tour of images and descriptions of all the items in the live exhibition, plus numerous other objects. Five windows of exploration — “Early Days,” “Rapid Growth,” “Campus Life,” “CSUN in the Community” and “CSUN in the World” connect to items in our University Archives and in our Digital Collections.

The CSUN Stories Project

http://library.csun.edu/CSUNStories/

After you’ve toured the virtual exhibition, click over to the CSUN Stories Project to hear voices from CSUN’s history, beginning with the founding days to recent graduates.  If what you hear stirs memories of your own CSUN experience, please feel free to leave a comment!  The Library will continue collecting CSUN Stories until June 30.  You can email Elizabeth Altman <ealtman@csun.edu> for more information.

Footnote: You can now get the Library News by RSS feed.  Just point your RSS Reader or web browser to http://library.csun.edu/blogs/librarynews/feed/ to stay up-to-date.

As always, please ask if you have any questions about these or any other services of the Oviatt Library.

Sue Curzon

Dear Colleagues:

The Oviatt Library is pleased to announce the availability of EndNote Web. It is a very useful, new, online service that enables researchers to better manage the collection, organization and incorporation of citations, footnotes and bibliographies within their papers. It also allows one to choose from a variety of citation styles for works cited, referenced, etc., including APA and MLA.

Information on how to create an account and use EndNote Web can be found on the following Library webpage: http://library.csun.edu/Find_Resources/Databases/i-endnoteweb.html. As always, please ask if you have any questions about this or any other service of the Oviatt Library.

Sue Curzon

Contact Information

November 2008

Electronic Books at the Oviatt Library

The Library now provides access to more than 150,000 electronic books. The subjects are wide-ranging. For example, in an electronic format, one can find Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia; Animal Sciences edited by Allan Cobb; Cloud Computing by Michael Miller; and In His Own Right: the Political Odyssey of Senator Robert F. Kennedy by Joseph Palermo.

We also have available electronic encyclopedias, handbooks and guides. Examples include Oxford Music Online, West’s Encyclopedia of American Law and the Encyclopedia of American Religions.

To explore the Library’s many electronic book offerings, go to http://library.csun.edu/Find_Resources/e-books/
Remember also that electronic books are identified in the Library’s catalog. When you click on the title you want, you will see a note on the record that says “Available electronically.” Click where it indicates and it will take you to the book.

If you need more information about electronic books in your discipline, please contact the librarian subject specialist for your department at http://library.csun.edu/About_the_Library/librarians.html
As always, please ask us if you have any questions about the resources and services of the Oviatt Library.

Course Reserves

As you know, Course Reserves are faculty-selected resources put on reserve for a specific course. These resources may be either Library-owned (books, CDs, DVDs etc.) or faculty-supplied (books, textbooks, articles, test samples etc.). For more information about Course Reserves, please go to http://library.csun.edu/Library_Services/Reserves/.

Electronic reserves services are also available at the request of faculty. For selected resources, our electronic reserves system provides unlimited 24/7 online access that is very popular with students. Last year, students accessed electronic reserve materials more than 80,000 times. Some audio and video reserves are also available electronically. For more information about electronic reserves, please go to http://library.csun.edu/Library_Services/Reserves/subguide.html.

We recommend that faculty request resources to be placed on reserve at least two weeks before the semester begins or, if that is not possible, at least two weeks before students need to access the resources.

As always, please let us know if you have any questions about the services and resources of the Oviatt Library.

Sue Curzon

Contact Information

August 2008

Dear Faculty:

I invite you to contact your librarian for a Library Instruction session for your students. Last year, almost 26,000 students attended a Library Instruction session with their professors. The purpose of these sessions is to help students learn how to use the current resources in the field of study and how to find, use and evaluate information. As you know, students with good skills in information research have a significant academic advantage when working on their papers and other assignments.

To set up a Library instruction session, please contact your librarian who is the liaison for your academic department. Your librarians can be found at:

http://library.csun.edu/About_the_Library/librarians.html
You can also use the Library Instruction request form, which is online at: http://library.csun.edu/Library_Services/instreq.html

As always, please ask us at any time about the services and collections of the Oviatt Library.

Sue Curzon

Contact Information

March 4, 2008

Expanded Catalog Services

The Library’s Online Catalog (http://library.csun.edu/cgi/opac) has new features that may interest and help you:

• Send a Call Number to your cell phone: when you find an item with a call number you want to retrieve, click the “Send via Text Message” button to send the location, call number, title and author information to your cell phone (text messaging charges may be applied by your cellular carrier).
• Submit your search to WorldCat.org: the results and record display screens have a new “WorldCat” icon. Click it to submit your search to WorldCat (http://worldcat.org/), the world’s largest network of library content and services, with over 1 billion searchable items in more than 10,000 libraries worldwide. If you find something in WorldCat we don’t have, you’ll be able to use the FindText link to submit an Interlibrary Loan request to us.NOTE: If you try this from off-campus, you will need to log in to the Library’s proxy server with your regular campus login ID and password before you can access WorldCat.
• New Media Links: We’ve also added links to the “New Audio” and “New DVD/Video” pages in the right-hand box.
• A New Catalog Service: A new “LibraryThing” (http://www.librarything.com/) service has been added to our catalog. At the end of the full record you will see (up to) 3 new fields you can use to expand your search:
  • Other Editions and Translations
  • Similar Books
  • Tags

You can see a specific example at: http://suncat.csun.edu/record=b2110707

Sue Curzon

Contact Information

Library Catalog Has New Features

We have launched a new version of our catalog. Features include a tabbed search interface, a visually enhanced results list, media-type icons, and book jacket images where available. CSUN users can also now log in to view their library record using their CSUN login ID and password.

The Library’s catalog is the gateway to the Library’s resources of over 920,000 titles, including books, journals, newspapers, scores, DVDs, CDs and other media. To search the catalog, please go to: http://library.csun.edu/cgi/opac

For information about how to use the catalog, please go to: http://library.csun.edu/Research_Assistance/i-opac.html

As always, please don’t hesitate to ask us about the resources and services of the Library.

Sue Curzon

Contact Information

Dear Faculty:

I invite you to contact your librarian for a Library Instruction session for your students. In these sessions, the librarians teach students how to find, use and evaluate the relevant resources and information in the field and how to develop a strong information search strategy. As you know, students with good skills in information research have a significant academic advantage when working on their papers and other assignments. Last year, almost 26,000 students attended a Library Instruction session with their professors.

To set up a Library instruction session, please contact your librarian who is the liaison for your academic department. Your librarians can be found at: http://library.csun.edu/About_the_Library/librarians.html

You can also use the Library Instruction request form, which is online at: http://library.csun.edu/Library_Services/instreq.html

As always, please ask us at any time about the services and collections of the Oviatt Library.

Sue Curzon

Contact Information