Minutes of the Meeting of the University of Texas Libraries Committee, February 14, 2006
Attending: Katherine Arens, John Kolsti, Desmond Lawler, Tom Palaima, Ken Ralls, George Sylvie, Michael Winship; Linda Brown; Janine Henri, Meghan Sitar; Jo Anne Hawkins, Fred Heath, Dennis Dillon, Sue Phillips; Tom Galyean, Linda Abbey, Beth Dodd; Jocelyn Duffy (recording)
The next meeting of the committee will be on March 10 at noon. Location and agenda are to be determined.
The following handouts were distributed: University of Texas Libraries Committee Future Meetings, Report from subcommittee considering size and makeup of the Libraries Committee, Description of C-7 University of Texas Libraries Committee on the Faculty Council web site. Professor Ralls convened the meeting.
The recommendation from the subcommittee considering the size and makeup of the Libraries Committee was approved and will be forwarded to the Faculty Council. Michael Winship was elected Chair-Elect for the 2006-2007 session of the Libraries Committee.
Janine Henri, head of the Architecture and Planning Library (APL) and Beth Dodd, head of the Alexander Architectural Archives (AAA) gave a presentation (view their powerpoint slides here) about their collections and services.
APL and AAA support the academic programs of the School of Architecture and researchers from all over the world. The AAA house over 90 collections that contain over 1 million items, including unprocessed drawings. Fred Heath confirmed that items included in the library catalog are only the tip of the iceberg. Processing of items is done when there is available funding or when someone asks to see materials that have not yet been processed. The APL and AAA acquire items through purchase and gifts. Access is provided through finding aids and subject guides and through exhibits within the APL and AAA and online through UTOPIA.
Desmond Lawler asked what is being done in terms of national outreach; what efforts are being made to reach beyond Texas? Janine Henri outlined activities including presentations at local, national and international conferences, hosting training sessions with national and international reach, and publication. Dennis Dillon stated the Libraries web site is used more often than any other academic web site in the country and Beth Dodd confirmed that the Libraries make as much material as possible accessible online.
Following the presentation Tom Galyean, Chief Development Officer, and Linda Abbey, Major Gifts Development Officer, updated the committee on the Libraries Advancement Program. Tom and Linda have successfully launched their development plan. They established an online giving site and the Libraries now receives one third of its annual gifts via the Internet. Tom led the formation of a Libraries Advisory Council that is actively opening doors for the Libraries and providing helpful insight and they are working with UTOPIA.
Fred stated that before Tom and Linda arrived, the Libraries had one of the lowest endowment bases on campus made up of highly restricted funds. By the end of their first year with the Libraries, they will have doubled the Libraries endowment base and the additional funding is unrestricted.
