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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2015
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University libraries offer resources of all kinds
KATIYN BALLARD/KANSAN
Reference books are only a single part of the resources offered at libraries across campus like Anschutz and Watson. According to Rebecca Smith, the libraries' executive director of communications, advancement and administration, the libraries on the Lawrence and Edwards campuses see 1.5 million visitors a year.
KATHERINE HARTLEY
@kat_hart9
Overstended students chugging coffee, rushing to cram for that exam. Groups working diligently in order to finish the big project in time. And, most likely, at least one head on a desk, finally catching a few moments of much-needed sleep.
These scenes are what greet students upon entering Anschutz or Watson libraries on any given school day.
During the course of a year, over 1.5 million students visit the libraries on the University's Lawrence campus and the Regent Center Library on the Edward campus. Anschutz visitors comprise about three-fourths of these students and Watson visitors number around 400,000, said Rebecca Smith, the libraries' executive director of communications, advancement and administration.
"Every decision that we make related to the physical library spaces is based on data that we have documented over the course of a number of years," Smith said. "That's why Anschutz is open for an extended period of time. We have extended hours in Watson, too, so we're really open when students are needing to have that space available to them.
The libraries are also adjusting to the shift from physical to digital tools to better fulfill the needs of their users. In recent years, the use of e-resources has grown significantly while book checkouts have decreased Smith said.
For example, she said the search engine that appears on the libraries' homepage saw 21 percent increase in the number of searches from 2013 to 2014. Overall website traffic went up by 19 percent and the searches on the aggregator database, Academic Search Complete,
grew by 6,500.
"I would say we have not seen significant increases in the number of books that are checked out, and I think that that correlates pretty directly to the increase in availability of online materials," Smith said. "So that online access has gone up pretty substantially."
The libraries don't only focus on current students, but incoming students as well, in an effort to improve services for all.
"Over the last few years we've collaborated very strongly with the Office of First-Year Experience and we have a session with every University 101 class, every first-year seminar and close to every one of the Honors Freshmen seminars as well," said Erin Ellis, assistant dean of research and learning. "So, if I were to guess, because of those efforts, I
would assume that we're seeing a little more freshman traffic than prior to those."
To better understand the demographics of their users, the libraries have also been gathering data on who is using their physical locations.
"Anschutz is, not exclusively but heavily, undergrad, as opposed to faculty and graduate students," said Jeromy Horkman, head of user services. "Watson, in contrast, is much more representative as far as the campus population's percentage of undergrads, percentage of grads and percentage of faculty and staff that are in the building using the resources."
Horkman said the physical location of the buildings plays a part in the different groups that take advantage of them.
This data comes from different snapshot surveys that the libraries do, in which they canvas and ask people entering the building to identify who they are or what they plan to do, and get feedback and comments
we've made an effort to really open up and capitalize on its popularity as a study space and destination for reaching out for the Learning Studio as well. I think it's just situated in the right spot for undergrads."
to improve services, according to Horkman.
Watson, on the other hand, offers more humanities and social science resources, which could be what draws more faculty there, Horkman said.
"Everything we do is really with that and result of improving academic success for students; that's the forefront of everything."
“[Anschutz] is right at the crossroads of a lot of the large seminars,” he said. “it's really at the hub of campus and campus activity, and I think you can tell
REBECCA SMITH Libraries' executive director of communications, advancement and administration
These library resources -- support services, e-resources and other collections -- come
"I think that [Anschutz] is just a place that accommodates so many different needs." Ellis said.
"We've purposefully tried to locate student support services in that location, too, so you don't have to leave the building necessarily to get your tutoring or to go get a cup of coffee or meet with your group after class. It's just a very convenient place to do so many things."
from a student fee, which is $1 per credit hour and is currently split among the needs of the libraries, Communications Coordinator LeAnn Meyer said.
The amount of resources offered on the Lawrence campus and the purchase of these expensive electronic tools support the goals of the libraries to align everything with the chancellor's goals of retention and improving academic success, Smith said.
"One of the things that is important to keep in mind is that a vast majority of our expenditures support e-resources," Smith said. "So we're buying in the neighborhood of 70 to 75 percent electronic versus print, which is something that shifted just in my short number of years here. The cost of electronic resources is exorbitant; it's truly astonishing."
"Everything we do is really with that end result of improving academic success for students; that's the forefront of everything," she said.
"There is a student advisory board made up of undergraduate students who take on certain initiatives," she said. "It's completely student-run and promoted. They are actually seeking a student fee increase to help support both services and collections because of the need. Most of our peer institutions are actually between the $3 and $5 per credit hour range, while we have been steady at $1 for more than a decade."
Those electronic resources are some of the biggest expenses. The library has access to roughly 400 databases and 110,000 journals. Some of these journals, such as the Journal of Science, cost up to $8,000 per month.
Edited by Chandler Boese
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