This indicates that the undergraduate holdings of the Library strongly mirror the traditional areas of study on this campus. Book selection responsibilities are shared with faculty liaisons in each academic department. The faculty involvement in this process is a strength of the collection. Library funds are directed to the most critical collection needs by active faculty. The allotment of the funds is governed by a formula developed by the University Library Committee, again evidence of faculty participation in library collection development.
Faculty also collaborate in the selection and, when necessary, reduction of serials titles.
The new automated library management system brings with it the potential to gather solid data to analyze collection use and needs. Initiatives over the next few months will include describing data collection points and reporting needs to enhance collection evaluation. The Library is struggling to keep up with serial and monograph inflation costs while at the same time serving an expanded university mission. One weakness is the level of library expenditures as compared to the General Fund. The relatively flat proportion of general funds coming into the Library resulted in a shift from ownership to access of remote library materials.