Newsletter Number 48, Spring 2003    The University of Texas at Austin    www.lib.utexas.edu


When a library director writes comments to accompany the final annual report that will be issued over his name, one would expect some special attention to be paid to the fact. While the 2002-2003 annual report closing my tenure in office will be issued over another director's name, the truth is that it does not make a lot of difference whose name accompanies these reports.

The credit for most accomplishments belongs to the library staff. The issues to be faced are generally created by forces over which the staff have little control. The library administration must identify the issues and determine how best to deal with them then hand them off to the staff.

Many of the demands made on General Libraries staff, however, are created by staff members themselves simply because they are so accomplished. The quality of services provided, collections enriched, imagination applied, accountability recorded, raise ever higher the expectations of the campus community. Other libraries and networked alliances are helped so well that such assistance has come to be expected. Whether campus-based or alliance-based, the challenges have always been met, and at levels of special distinction. I continue to be surprised by our library's accomplishments and its progress from year to year. It makes my point that it is the staff that must be recognized as the source of success. Combined with the contributions from the other libraries on campus, these efforts have made the UT Austin Library truly one of the superb libraries of the world.

Let the results detailed in this report represent an enviable record for the year and a challenge to staff and leaders to come.


Harold Billings
Director of General Libraries
2001-2002 Annual Report
and beyond...

Accessing the collections
• Half a billion "pages read" on UT Library Online • Electronic reference assistance increased 21% • Mallet Chemistry Library usage up 17% • 472 faculty now use the new electronic reserves system • New and expanding: from streaming audio reserves to DDoc Telecampus assistance for remote users • Texas Information Literacy Tutorial (TILT) expands its global presence • With so much information online, fewer users visit most libraries • 34,140 attend library instruction classes • Assistance to users with disabilities up 229%

Collections and resources
• Online resources enriched substantially • Over 1,200 donors give $820,589 worth of research materials • Benson Latin American Collection celebrates its 75th year with major archival additions • Azerbaijani collection attains national prominence • UT Austin library holdings rank first nationally in 42 subject areas • Cost-saving measures implemented • UT System enhancement funding assists with major acquisitions

Cooperative initiatives and outreach
• General Libraries serves all of Texas • Digital Library Services provides assistance to campus and to state • Online engineering tutorials include Japanese version • Continued major role in national records cooperative programs • Benson Latin American Collection materials exhibited in Mexico • Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriors (Mexico) funds Benson CD • Life Science Library provides off-campus support

Infrastructure improvements
• Walter Geology Library renovated and expanded • Undergraduate Library gets a facelift • Perry-Castañeda facilities upgraded • Access infrastructure upgrades accelerated

Funding for collections and programs
• People who made a difference • Grants for special projects totaled $1,181,877 • Two new endowments established and a third pledged • Notable monetary contributions • UT Austin departmental, school and college support • Donors of library materials

Tasks before us
(see page 7)

For details >>