Library-Wide

Executive Committee
Budget Council
Collection Management & Development Council
Collections Management, Ad-hoc
Community Services Steering Committee
Customer Services, Ad-hoc
Digital Resources Steering Committee
Directors Forum
Disaster Recovery Team
Discovery Tools, Ad-hoc
Electronic Theses and Dissertations Committee
Library Services Center Advisory Team
Marketing and Services Team
Research Education Committee
Research on the Emerging Library, Comittee
Staff Development Committee
Student Assistants

Executive Committee
Members: Sara Lowman (chair), Diane Butler, Geneva Henry, Melinda Flannery, Kerry Keck.

Meeting Time: Every two weeks (approximately)
Purpose: The Executive Committee will serve as the main governing body for the library's development. Its agenda and a brief account of its discussions will be routinely sent to all library staff via the listserv.
The main functions and responsibilities of the Executive Committee include:
1. Accountability for the ongoing development of library services, programs, and procedures
2. Adjudication of the library's $11M budget, including preparation of annual capital and operational requests
3. Steering the Planning Council, helping to set its agenda and following through with its recommendations
4. Oversight of the forthcoming library fund raising initiative
5. Fostering communication with the rest of campus regarding the library's goals and objectives, as well as communication internal to Fondren
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Budget Council
Members: Mary Bixby, Melinda Flannery, Kerry Keck (co-chair), Sara Lowman, Janet Thompson (co-chair)
Meeting Time: Second Friday of every other month.
Purpose: This committee will meet regularly, monitor the library's budget (with the exception of full-time personnel/staff funds),make recommendations as to the most effective budgeting process, meet when necessary with library staff and others at Rice who are involved with the budget or who may help focus discussions, and serve as the internal committee with the most detailed knowledge of Fondren's expenditures. This standing committee has been convened to promote greater financial flexibility within Fondren and to facilitate increased departmental responsibility for fund management.


Collection Development & Management Council
Members: Kerry Keck (chair), Esther Crawford, Mary DuMont, Sandi Edwards, Eva Garza, John Hunter, Debra Kolah, Jiun Kuo, Janice Lindquist, Jet Prendeville, Bob Sabin, Jane Segal, Peggy Shaw, Anna Shparberg, Linda Spiro, Elka Tenner, Randy Tibbits.
Meeting Time: Second Tuesday of every month.

Purpose: To discuss collection development and management issues.

Collection Development Steering Committee
Members: Elka Tenner (Coordinator, Collection Development; chair); Sandi Edwards (Head, Reference); three elected CMDC members: Anna Shparberg (2008), Debra Kolah (2006), Jet Prendeville (2007)
Meeting Time: As necessary.
Purpose: To plan discussion topics for the CMDC and make decisions regarding special project purchases.

Members: Sarah Bentley, David Bynog, Esther Crawford, Linda Keating, Erin McAfee, Jane Segal (chair), Lisa Spiro.
Purpose: To review procedures and policies for selection, processing and weeding of compact disc resources.

Collections Management Group, Ad-hoc

Members: Keith Chapman (Facilitator), Melinda Flannery, Lee Pecht, Jet Prendeville, Bob Sabin, James Springer, and Randy Tibbits

Purpose: Works to bring the to the University community access to the resources needed to further its scholarly activity, and heighten awareness and support for Fondren Library's special collections in the Woodson Research Center.

Customer Services Group, Ad-hoc

Members: Amanda Focke (Facilitator), Ginny Martin, Larry Jines, Jiun Kuo, Linda Spiro, Peggy Shaw)

Purpose: To address customer service issues raised in the libqual survey, including quiet study areas, cell phone use, and other related issues.

Digital Resources Steering Committee

Members: Diane Butler, Sid Byrd, Andrew Damico, Mary Du Mont, Melinda Flannery, Amanda York Focke, Eva Garza, Geneva Henry (chair), Kerry Keck, Debra Kolah, Jiun Kuo, Sara Lowman, Phil Montgomery, Lisa Spiro, Marie Wise.

Meeting time: Third Wednesday of the month
Purpose:
1. Clearinghouse The committee will serve as a gathering point for information about new digital resources, emerging technologies, and news and updates about other libraries and information services in the U.S. and abroad that has relevance to Fondren.
2. Strategic Development The committee will explore ways to enhance and evolve current electronic text, image, and related services in Fondren. The committee will be responsible for knowing the needs of faculty and students at Rice and make recommendations as to how best to meet those needs, current and predicted. How these services and resources can best integrate into the evolving idea of an academic library approaching the turn of the century is also part of the committee's charge. Educational programs, outreach, and training programs are also an integral part of Fondren's evolution, and the committee will take a leading role in determining what programs are needed.
3. Budget The committee will undertake a detailed and ongoing analysis of costs associated with digital resources, and the relationship of these resources to the more traditional printed materials. Recommendations for purchases great and small will be submitted to the VP/AUL routinely. These costs may include datasets, staff, additional space, networking capabilities, and other related items.
4. Library Committee Liaison The steering committee will endeavor to work closely with the University Committee on the Library and to serve in a leadership role to help that committee understand current issues and predicted needs and inform the committee annually of developments in these areas.
5. Information Technology The committee will establish close working relationships with the Rice IT group and integrate its planning and recommendations into the strategic development of IT on campus.
6. Public Relations The committee will serve as a means to make public and promulgate new digital resources, educational programs, and services. The committee can also recommend lecturers, lecture series, workshops, and seminars that might be held at Rice to further the local understanding of these issues as well as to foster the national role Fondren should begin to take in these areas.
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Director's Forum
Members: Mary Bixby, Diane Butler, Esther Crawford, Sandi Edwards, Melinda Flannery, Geneva Henry, Kerry Keck, Sara Lowman (chair), Ginny Martin, Lee Pecht, Janet Thompson, Randy Tibbits
Meeting time: First Tuesday of the month
Purpose: To discuss operational issues and share information



Disaster Recovery Team
Members: Andy Damico, Joe Hatfield, John Hunter, Ginny Martin, Lee Pecht, Alice Rhoades

Meeting Time: As needed
Purpose: The Team is charged to 1) engage in a periodic review of the existing disaster plan, 2) recommend a modest budget for disaster recovery supplies, and 3) recommend programs to heighten staff awareness of disaster recovery routines. The Team is charged as an ongoing group, but will submit an initial report by December 1, 1998.

Discovery Tools Group, Ad-hoc

Members: Esther Crawford (co-chair), Jiun Kuo (co-chair), Denis Galvin, John Hunter, Rafal Kasprowski, Jeff Koffler, Monica Rivera

Purpose: The Resource Discovery Tools Working Group has been convened to research, analyze, and make recommendations about all issues involved in providing that improved access. The group should study our present local situation, including access to RDSA and relevant LibQual survey results. The group should also review emerging best practices at other libraries as well as ongoing research efforts in such organizations as the Library of Congress, ALA, OCLC, the DLF, and IFLA.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Committee (ETDC)
Members: Debra Cosby, Geneva Henry (Chair), Kerry Keck, Debra Kolah, Lee Pecht, Lisa Spiro, Randy Tibbits, Melissa Torres
Purpose: Rice University makes its graduate student theses and dissertations available online through the Rice Institutional Repository (http://scholarship.rice.edu). While many schools have already moved in this direction, there are very few definitive policies and procedures that clearly guide how this should be done at each school. Each university has unique needs, requiring the establishment of some local guidelines for archiving theses and dissertations electronically. The ETDC works closely with the office of graduate studies, the general counsel's office, and the academic departments to define guidelines and address issues for supporting the digital archiving and preservation of Rice theses and dissertations.

Library Services Center Advisory Team
Members: Mary Bixby, Sandi Edwards, Veronica Huitrado, Kerry Keck (chair) Jiun Kuo, Ginny Martin, Denis Galvin, James Springer
Meeting: biannual (or as needed)
Purpose: This standing group will advise library and Library Service Center (LSC) management on issues affecting user services, and stewardship of the Fondren Library collections housed at the LSC. The group is authorized to form ad hoc sub-teams, including membership of other Library or Rice community staff members as needed, to develop fully developed implementation proposals relating to either user services or collection stewardship. Membership will be reviewed annually to allow for the evolving needs of the LSC and Team. The group will meet regularly and record minutes, which will be made available to the Library staff and Rice community.

Members: Mary Bixby, Keith Chapman, Sandra Edwards, Amanda Focke, Debra Kolah, Sara Lowman, Mary DuMont.
Purpose: The Marketing and Services Team will be responsible for discovering and maintaining the identity of Fondren Library. The Team will develop a logo and related marketing materials for use in promoting the library. The Team will utilize survey and communications tools to enable the library to develop and maintain a service philosophy and departmental customer service standards.
Subgroups of MAST are the Collections Management Group and the Customer Service Group.

Research Education Committee
Members: Esther Crawford, Sandi Edwards, Debra Kolah, Jane Segal, Anna Shparberg, Lisa Spiro, Elka Tenner
The Fondren Research Education program at Fondren Library supports the instructional, research, and public service programs of Rice University, including its strong commitment to undergraduate and graduate education to create effective lifelong users of information. Our mission is to teach library users how to access, evaluate and make use of information sources in the creation of new knowledge. The library staff works collaboratively with the Rice Community to design and implement instructional services aimed at developing skills needed by undergraduate and graduate students to excel in their work at Rice University and after graduation. We are committed to user outreach and excellent customer service to provide an effective instruction program that meets the needs of our library users.

Research on the Emerging Library, Committee
Members: Diane Butler, Amanda Focke, Geneva Henry (Chair), Jiun Kuo, Lisa Spiro
Meeting: monthly
Purpose: The Committee on Leadership will help the Fondren community to envision the future: with a greater knowledge of the influences and changes likely to occur, the library will be able to plan and make strategic decisions to more effectively benefit and serve the University.

The Committee will operate as, in part, a research component for Fondren. Key issues will be identified and explored, with recommendations made to the library routinely. Areas of interest and exploration will most likely arise by asking difficult questions and then following through with thoughtful investigations. How will the next generation of librarians be trained? Where might this generation come from? What are some important contemporary changes to library schools and their curricula? What are some key transformations in the way scholarship, research, and teaching are conducted at Rice and elsewhere? What are the implications for library support? What are some interesting examples of changes and new practices at other institutions? How is the success of these changes measured? What are some of the most important, emerging technology applications pertinent to libraries? What are some of the more ground breaking projects on the horizon? How will we define a library at the end of the decade? What are new means of communication within and external to the university that can facilitate this process of understanding more deeply what lies ahead? How do we recognize leadership? There are of course many other questions, and many other ideas to confront. The Committee will have the freedom to identify and investigate a wide spectrum of issues.

Staff Travel/Development Committee
Members: David M. Bynog (chair), Andy Damico, Melinda Flannery (Administrative liaison), John Hunter, Phil Montgomery, Ali Salman, Anna Shparberg, Linda Spiro, Siu Min Yu.





Student Assistants, Ad Hoc Committee on Library
Members: David Bynog, Esther Crawford (chair), Sandi Edwards, Ginny Martin
Purpose: This committee will serve in an advisory capacity to the Executive Committee. The primary duties of this committee will be:

1. Student budget -- the committee will be responsible for making recommendations to the Executive Committee regarding the allocation of the student assistant budget.
2. Training -- the committee will sponsor an annual library training session in the Fall, providing students with an overview of how the library works, how to fill out time sheets, providing a list of rules for employment, etc.
3. Reviewing student job classifications and pay scales -- the committee will periodically evaluate pay scales within the library and compare them with campus rates.
4. Manual -- the committee should develop a training manual for students. This manual could contain general information about working in the library, a sample time sheet with instructions, a copy of the building and departmental hours, a list of rules for employment, and a calendar of time sheet due dates.
5. Bring other student work related issues to the attention of the Executive Committee.

Staff Association

Librarians Assembly