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What we stand for, now and tomorrow
Strategic Plan
The Other Past
This is the IRC before it was moved under the guidance of the Dean of the College of Education and subsequently housed in Hughes Hall.
   
Recent Past
   
Under the supervision of the Dean of the COE, the IRC has been undergoing constant change since its relocation to Hughes Hall. With the information age well underway, ALA's Information Power serves as the guide for the IRC's scholarly communication and information delivery, new partnerships and collaboration for effective teaching and research, and new organizational infrastructures to enable and support these changes. The COE's primarily focus is to prepare future teachers, but the IRC serves all college and community patrons as well. The IRC has remained proactive in the direction into the future by achieving these significant accomplishments:
- converting from Dynix to Follett
- creating and maintaining a web-based, user-friendly database: IRC Online Catalog
- implementing e-mailing procedures for fines and overdue resource notification
- acquiring additional B23 for additional work space for project-based, multi-media and PowerPoint usage
- reconfiguring the IRC to better serve the needs of all patrons
- acquiring, through generous donations, specialized collections in the areas of diversity, leadership, psychology, ESOL and physical education
- moving from a print-based reference service to a multi-faceted web-based service environment
- receiving a line-item budget so that planning can be systematic
The Future
This plan identifies targets positive changes that will ensure forward movement of the IRC.
- Fully embracing the concept of the user-centered online accessibility of the IRC.
- Concentrating on the value-added activities that are the IRC's unique responsibilities that make an impact on our patrons: selection, organization, access, and preservation of resources, and instruction in information literacy.
- Obtaining the necessary resources for important activities or positions. The IRC has relied on a non-line item budget in the past, which has been difficult to predict. With the current online budget, then strategic planning will become more routine and predictable.
- Focusing on the future and quickening the pace. The IRC must continue to change as the needs of the patrons change.
- Establishing a strong collective identity and working as one whole organization. A culture of cooperation and collaboration between the IRC and the COE faculty members and staff will necessary to provide the most efficient and effective service to our patrons.
- Ensuring a continual focus on integration of technology and manipulatives into the curriculum.
The IRC is proud of its past achievements, but recognizes that the future needs a continual renewal in order to meet the needs of our patrons. This strategic plan, coupled with a continuous planning process, will be the driving forces behind the excellence service provided by the IRC.
Belief Systems
The IRC will provide the resources to assist in the COE's efforts to complete the following belief systems:
- Competent, committed, caring faculty and staff lead to the development of competent, committed, caring professionals.
- On Teaching, Scholarship, and Service: The College's greatest commitment is to teaching. Scholarship is essential to the vitality of the College and its programs. Through service, College faculty members have the responsibility to contribute to the betterment of the university, the profession, and the community.
- On Leadership: College faculty and staff should be leaders in university, community, and professional endeavors.
- On a Changing World: Technology is dramatically impacting teaching and learning. The College is committed to diversity in curriculum, students, and faculty. The College embraces creating a culture of assessment' to support continuous improvement of academic programs. The College embraces experimentation, innovation, and change as the means to remain relevant and vibrant in a rapidly changing world. The preparation of education and other human service professionals should include extensive, supervised clinical experiences.
Mission Statement
The mission of the IRC is to provide the resources for the College of Education as they prepare competent, committed, caring professionals, provide service to the various communities of which we are a part, and expand the body of knowledge through research and dissemination activities.
Vision Statement
The IRC envision a future where all COE and related communities are eager and engaged life long learners. We support this through:
- Outstanding patron service
- High quality staff at levels that reflect the IRCs continued commitment to a service attitude
- Print and non-print collections that are broad in scope and depth that encompass the broad range need of our patrons and meet the needs and expectations of an increasingly diverse clientele
- Widespread incorporation of new and emerging information technologies as an integral component of overall service
- Convenient, inviting and up-to-date facilities that meet the growing expectations of patrons for adaptability to new technologies, separate areas for children as well as young adults, "quiet" spaces for study/research, and designated space for meetings and programs
- Active involvement in the community
- Upgraded and enhanced technology equipment for student usage through the student technology fees
- Current curriculum donations from major book publishing companies
Planning Document
As of 2003, the IRC Committee was reorganized into the Educational Resource Committee, which represents both the technology and non-technology resources for the College of Education. As a result, all planning is channeled through this committee. The following goals are being addressed for the 2004-2005 period.
- Fully embracing the concept of the user-centered online accessibility of the IRC.
- Concentrating on the value-added activities that are the IRC's unique responsibilities that make an impact on our patrons: selection, organization, access, and preservation of resources, and instruction in information literacy.
- Obtaining the necessary resources for important activities or positions. The IRC has relied on a non-line item budget in the past, which has been difficult to predict. With the current online budget, strategic planning will become more routine and predictable; however, a continued emphasis must be placed on staffing for the IRC since recent cuts in funds reduced the evening hours. The evening hours were primarily used for master's level students and now these services are no longer available to them.
- Focusing on the future and quickening the pace. The IRC must continue to change as the needs of the patrons change.
- Establishing a strong collective identity and working as one whole organization. A culture of cooperation and collaboration between the IRC and the COE faculty members and staff will necessary to provide the most efficient and effective service to our patrons.
- Ensuring a continual focus on integration of technology and manipulatives into the curriculum.
- Maintaining convenient, inviting and up-to-date facilities that meet the growing expectations of patrons for adaptability to new technologies, separate areas for children as well as young adults, "quiet" spaces for study/research, and designated space for meetings and programs.
- Pursuing active involvement in the community, especially from the Pittsburg public schools.
- Upgrading and enhancing technology equipment for student usage through the student technology fees.
- Maintain the artful asking from book publishing companies for donations in an effort to maintain curriculum-based resources at the state-of-the-art level.
Selection and Deselection Policy
Introduction
The vitality the Instructional Resource Center depends, not only upon vigorous collection development, but also upon careful collection management. In order to enhance the center's value and utility, care must be taken to insure that its collections are properly maintained. One important aspect of this process is the deselection of materials that no longer support the mission of the College of Education or the purpose of the IRC's collections. The process of deselecting materials requires as much care as the process of selection itself. It is especially important that deselection be viewed within the broader context of the IRC's collection development programs and policies. Like collection development, deselection of materials is a consultative endeavor involving IRC staff, faculty members, and other parties as appropriate. This document describes policy guidelines governing the deselection of IRC's materials. It does not provide detailed procedures for implementing these guidelines. Other detailed procedural documents covering different types of deselection are written as necessary and reviewed by appropriate bodies.
Objectives of Deselection:
- To make the most effective use of shelf space. Shelving of center's materials is inherently expensive. Sufficient stack space is also lacking. Deselection may be necessary to remove materials that are not needed and provide space for new acquisitions.
- To utilize acquisitions funds in the most effective manner. Cancellation of unnecessary subscriptions frees acquisitions funds to acquire other titles that are more responsive to current teaching and research needs.
- To increase the relevance of the existing collections to current curricular needs. Removing dated or irrelevant titles from the shelves facilitates browsing by students and faculty.
- To maintain the collections in an acceptable physical condition.
Types of Deselection
1. Weeding
Weeding is the permanent removal of a title from the collections. Categories of weeding include the routine weeding of superseded editions of titles received on standing order. Another category of weeding involves individual types of materials (e.g. pamphlets, musical scores, recordings, and government documents) which are weeded according to separate criteria and procedures for each material type. Title-by-title weeding of unused volumes no longer relevant to the curriculum or current research needs is a third category.
2. Journal cancellations
Deselecting or canceling journals is part of the continuous process of evaluating the IRC's collections. Journal subscriptions are evaluated regularly to assess their relevance to curriculum and research programs as well as their cost and usage. Titles no longer relevant to current needs, overpriced (relative to use), underused (regardless of price), or appropriately accessible through interlibrary borrowing or electronic transmission are candidates for cancellation.
Criteria for Deselection
Titles outside the collecting scope of the IRC
Titles no longer relevant to current curricular or research needs and therefore not within the scope of the IRC's current collection development policies may be removed from the collections or (in the case of subscriptions) canceled.
Obsolescence
Titles that contain obsolete information (e.g. legal or medical reference works) may be deselected because the information they contain is out-of-date, invalid, inaccurate, or incomplete.
Redundancy
Copies or editions of titles may be deselected to minimize redundancy of holdings. Individual titles containing information found elsewhere in the collection may also be deselected for this purpose.
Infrequently used materials
Titles not used by current faculty and students or lent to other libraries via interlibrary loan may be deselected.
Copyright Violation
If resources are asked to be placed in the IRC that are in violation of copyright laws, they will not be placed. If such resources should be found in the IRC, they will be deselected and destroyed.
Physical Condition
Materials may be deselected due to poor physical condition. Many current newspapers are routinely retained for stated periods and then discarded or replaced in microform. Deteriorating books are evaluated for preservation and withdrawn if necessary. Replacement copies are sought as appropriate and available.
Cautions, Restrictions, and Safeguards
The same care and caution used in purchasing or accepting a title as a gift is exercised in deselection. Deselection decisions are carefully considered and subject to the conditions listed below.
- The process of deselection must not discourage gifts of useful or valuable materials, endanger the good will of IRC donors, or diminish public confidence in the IRC. In individual cases of deselection, the wishes of donors, insofar as they can be determined, must be honored.
- Titles to be deselected must bear no legal restrictions forbidding disposal.
- Appropriate consultation with faculty must be insured. This is essential whenever deselection is not routine, for example, journal cancellations or the weeding of subject areas or groups of titles. After consultation, the final determination of what will be placed or removed from the IRC resources will be determined by the director of the IRC. In minor, routine cases, resources will be removed without consultation.
- Funds realized from the sale of materials deselected will be used only to acquire other titles for IRC resources.
- To avoid conflict of interest, or the appearance of it, great care will be exercised when considering the sale of deselected titles to any member of the college community.
Disposal
The Director of the IRC will seek and arrange the best sale, auction, or exchange possibility, or other suitable method of disposal, that will benefit the IRC. All collection development policies are subject to revision. Sept. 2003.
Printer-Friendly Strategic Plan (does not include Selection and Deselection Policy)
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