CONTINUOUS
ASSESSMENT CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
NY3Rs
Statewide Project,
Supported in part by the Federal Library Services and
Technology Act funds, awarded to The New York State Library by the Federal
Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Examples of Constancy of Purpose: Mission, Vision and Values
MISSION
We
cultivate learning and provide tools for discovery.
VISION
Our library
offers an inviting, clean, and safe environment. Natural lighting and
attractive windows take advantage of our scenic views. Well-designed
fixtures and lamps provide good interior lighting at all times of day or night.
Well-tended
plants and cut flowers throughout the library add an aesthetic touch to our
serene space, which is open and interspersed with comfortable and efficient
work areas. A variety of group and private study spaces enable both individual
and collaborative learning. You will find good climate control, soothing
background sounds and clocks all displaying the correct time. Displays show off
our excellent resources. Our library layout is easily navigated with excellent
signage. Special touches include a coffee/tea bar with magazines and
newspapers, reclining chairs, tasteful art works, a fireplace, outdoor patio
with shaded areas, and a library cat. You will find an environment which
inspires creativity, imagination and reflection.
Our
resources are of the highest quality. Our users never have to wait for the
information they want and they never have to pay fines. Technology is abundant,
cutting edge, and easy to use. There is
a technology expert on site to provide assistance at all times. There are
plenty of PCs and laptops available, with
wireless connections, to access a wide range of high quality databases and an
easy-to-use
online catalog. There is sufficient
funding for a comprehensive collection relevant to instructional needs. Books
are clearly visible and organized for easy retrieval. A centralized reference center, along with state-of-the-art
classroom and top-notch library management system,
combine to meet user needs. Connections are global, and library services are
integrated.
Our entire
staff is committed to excellence and teamwork. We are knowledgeable,
professional and friendly. Roving, encouraging librarians communicate clearly
with students and collaborate with teaching faculty who value our resources and
staff. We are open to change, proactive, and desire continuous
improvement. We accurately answer all
questions with courtesy and respect. We enthusiastically support our co-workers
and promote collegiality and excellent communication amongst our staff. We are
adequately staffed and compensated. We aim to nurture the human spirit.
Our
students experience the library as a vibrant and happy place. They want to be
here. They are well informed about what
the library offers and provide thoughtful feedback. Our diverse
student body is eager to learn and feel the library
is the first and best place to go.
VALUES
·
We
seek excellence in every service we provide.
·
We
strive to meet our users’ information needs with enthusiasm.
·
We are
sensitive to the diversity of our users.
·
We
provide an environment that encourages inquiry.
·
Communication
is key.
·
We
embrace change, are flexible, creative and seek continuous improvement.
·
We
work together as a team, in a cooperative, friendly, supportive manner.
·
Civility
and politeness matter.
·
We
respect our users and one another.
·
Well
chosen resources are critical to our students’ academic success.
·
We
support intellectual freedom.
·
Humor,
fun and laughter are encouraged.
Mission:
Our mission is to lead and challenge SCRLC member libraries to superior service.
Values and organizational culture:
We focus on member needs and are committed to members’ success.
We are flexible, nimble, and accommodating.
We are committed to co-operation and collaborative enterprises.
We are technologically sophisticated and committed to life-long learning.
We provide leadership in information technologies.
Vision:
SCRLC Members and associates:
July 20, 2004
HEALTH SCIENCE LIBRARIES and
TECHNOLOGIES
UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER
MEDICAL CENTER
Three-Year
Plan
January
2004 to December 2006
Provide the University of Rochester Medical Center and the greater Rochester community with resources, expertise and an inviting space to support health, discovery, teaching and learning.
We have a clean, secure, friendly, comfortable facility that embraces both latest technologies and natural elements. Skylights and outdoor seating enhance the bright, open, spacious, and user-friendly layout. The pervading feeling is contemporary and energetic, and the welcoming aroma of coffee permeates the air. Our customers can choose their preferred study environment – interactive areas that encourage collaboration, communication, and group learning; or quiet study spaces that are serene, warm, and comfortable.
HSLT staff enjoy their work, take pride in their
professionalism and expertise, and lead the way in introducing cutting-edge
computer technologies to the URMC. Staff workspace is uncluttered, spacious,
and flexible, comfortably accommodating individual or interactive group
work. We greet customers warmly and treat them with courtesy and respect,
whether their presence is “real” or “virtual.”
We provide the information our users need - whenever and wherever they need it - to teach, learn, conduct research, and provide patient care. Extensive online resources are easy to locate on our reliable, accurate, and intuitive web site, and linking software allows customers to easily move from resource to resource. The libraries and HSLT-supported classrooms and computer labs are completely wireless.
Patients, their families, and members of the public find comprehensive consumer health information and friendly, knowledgeable staff in our latest branch library - the Strong Health Knowledge Center located in the hospital’s lobby. As part of the health care team, we provide digital consumer health information via bedside computers to patients who have been admitted to the hospital, to help them with their health care decision-making.
Initiative and Innovation
We support creativity, reasonable risk taking, the application of innovative technologies, and leadership at all levels.
Personal Integrity and Respect
We display mutual respect, caring, and truthfulness toward each other, our customers, and our collaborators.
Customer Service
Meeting customer needs is our highest priority and we interact with customers in a friendly, caring, and courteous manner.
Partnerships
We work together for the best possible outcome – with each other, with customers, and with other collaborators within and outside the University of Rochester Medical Center
Life-Long Learning
We create and sustain an environment conducive to continuous individual and organizational learning.
Responsibility
We each assume personal responsibility for the success of the group and our mission.
Optimism
We aspire to provide a joyful environment, where we work with enthusiasm and a positive attitude.
Privacy
We protect the privacy of customers and co-workers to the fullest extent of the law.
Intellectual Freedom
We promote and protect every individual’s right to find information, read, study and learn.
GOALS AND INITIATIVES
To affirm its indispensable role in the
mission of the University, HSLT is committed to ongoing improvement. To this
end, HSLT has identified six important strategic areas of focus over the next
three years:
·
User-Focused Services and Culture
·
Instruction
·
Communication and Advancement
·
Collections
·
Technology
·
Community Health
Initiatives:
1.1+ Explore redesigning and/or
streamlining library processes utilizing a customer perspective.
1.2 Establish a liaison
program by assigning a librarian to URMC departments in order to:
1.2.1 promote awareness of library
services/resources;
1.2.2 gather information about
emerging trends in our users' disciplines;
1.2.3 satisfy educational needs
through individual consultations or customized classes;
1.2.4
solicit input about library resources.
1.3+ Redesign and renovate/refurbish Miner Library's entrance to create an
"Information Commons" in order to provide inviting, comfortable,
shared spaces for study, discovery, and collaboration.
1.3.1 create a single point of
service for reference and circulation functions;
1.3.2 investigate the provision
of wireless technologies and provide fully configured laptops to lend to users;
1.3.3
create "customer friendly"
signage;
1.3.4
increase the security of library print
materials.
1.4 Redesign
and relaunch the research and education portions of the URMC/SMD web site.
1.5 Investigate
an Institutional Review Board (IRB) collaboration, incorporating librarians’
expertise and use of knowledge-based systems in the IRB’s work, thus reducing
institutional risks associated with conducting clinical research.
1.6 Provide,
publicize, and market virtual reference assistance to affiliated and
non-affiliated remote users to mirror the depth of service provided to
in-library customers.
1.7 Investigate
feasibility of providing services directly to the research community that
facilitate access to and enhance knowledge of research databases and tools
(e.g., computer-based research tools in genetics and molecular biology such as
GCG, LaserGene, and BLAST). If
feasible, develop and implement strategies for providing these research
services and resources.
1.8 Advance
education, research, and patient care by implementing free interlibrary loan
service to provide “just in time” access to any material not owned by the HSLT
libraries.
1.9 Use
a variety of customer feedback mechanisms – usability studies of the web site
and digital library, analysis of services and processes, focus groups, surveys,
etc.
Strengthen, expand and re-structure
instruction programs to ensure they are user-focused, responsive to faculty and
student needs, and focused on learning outcomes.
Initiatives:
2.1. Develop a complete, robust,
multi-tiered educational program for URMC web authors.
2.2. Encourage senior leadership to
endorse baseline standards for online learning within the URMC academic
mission. Identify and dedicate expanded resources (both human and electronic)
to support online learning.
2.3 Investigate providing instruction in
the use of PowerPoint to faculty, in the context of online learning.
2.4 Develop
and implement an expanded set of formats for library instruction (i.e., online
tutorials, targeted small-group presentations, hands-on exercises, etc.) so
that the methods used are appropriate to the specific instructional objectives.
2.5 Regularly compare Ovid Medline and PubMed to select
for teaching the search interface that best supports the goals of the SMD
curriculum and life-long research needs.
Promote and strengthen HSLT’s profile, while
continuing to reinforce, assess, and value its foundation - the skills and
contributions of its staff.
Initiatives:
3.1 Develop
a marketing/public relations campaign for HSLT.
3.2 Investigate
the feasibility of a more interactive and visible physical environment for WTG
staff, either within the Miner Library or at another site.
3.3 Foster an environment
in which team effort plays a greater role.
3.3.1 Increase staff
awareness of goals and needs that require crossing departmental boundaries to
accomplish.
3.3.2
Improve mechanisms for
communication between individuals and departments in areas of common interest.
3.3.3
Provide training in extant or emerging skills
and technologies that enable staff to effectively engage in these new endeavors
and to understand each others’ roles in their accomplishment.
Continuously improve and align collections and
information resources with University priorities and programs, providing
reliable access, whenever and wherever needed.
Initiatives:
4.1 Develop and implement plan for
moving from a predominately print to a predominately digital journal collection.
4.1.1
Replace print journals with digital versions,
while maintaining core journals in both print and digital formats.
4.1.2
Increase the quality and reliability of the
digital journal collection by developing appropriate management and maintenance
policies and procedures.
4.2 Plan and initiate offsite storage of
books and journals to free up space in the stacks.
4.3 Provide better security for branch
libraries’ print collections.
Reaffirm a
strong commitment to the use of technology as the basis for progressive and
innovative services, and to the ongoing implementation of digital library
services and resources in support of the University’s teaching, learning,
research, and patient care programs.
Initiatives:
5.1+ Redesign Miner's Digital Library
5.1.1 Make it easier for users
to find the right resource when and where it is needed.
5.1.2 Ensure sustainability
& continuity of support & maintenance as collection and utilization
grow.
5.1.3
Ensure that the
reporting needed for decision-making and cost allocation is provided.
5.2+ Provide
resources and support for PDA use by customers
5.2.1 Identify knowledge
resources for PDAs; determine whether and how to acquire them.
5.2.2 Develop infrastructure for
PDAs to enable wireless access and to highlight available resources.
5.2.3 Provide education and
training on using PDAs for reference.
5.3+ Promote change in scientific
publishing by encouraging the use of DSpace to archive the digital works of
URMC authors.
5.3.1
Educate URMC authors about the benefits of
institutional archiving, the availability of DSpace, and ways to maintain
copyright.
5.3.2
Train and support URMC departments that
establish digital collections on DSpace.
5.3.4 Serve as metadata experts.
5.4
Redesign
the Highland Digital Library to incorporate the relevant improvements to the
Miner Digital Library.
5.5 Configure HSLT's systems
to use the URMC Active Directory for authentication.
HSLT
remains committed to: 1) bringing
together libraries, health organizations and associations, healthcare delivery
systems, and educational institutions in order to provide all the people of the
greater Rochester area with the high-quality healthcare information and
resources they need to make wise lifestyle and healthcare choices; 2) supporting the URMC’s community-wide
mission dedicated to making Rochester the healthiest community in America by
the year 2020.
Initiatives:
6.1 Provide access to targeted,
high-quality health information for patients, families and members of the community.
6.1.1 Develop
patient/family library services and collections (traditional and digital) that
are integrated into the services of Strong Memorial Hospital and appropriate
outpatient locations.
6.1.2 Participate in bedside computing
pilots/initiatives within URMC/Strong Health.
6.1.3 Train and individually consult with
patients/consumers as they seek to find information for healthcare
decision-making.
6.1.4 Collaborate with community partners (through
CLIC-on-Health and similar ventures).
All areas of HSLT will be involved in the
implementation of this plan over the next three years. Staff will focus on
specific initiatives, either individually, as members of teams or committees,
or in conjunction with their department head and departmental colleagues.
The following opportunities were identified by
HSLT staff in the initial stages of three-year-plan development (September
2003). While they are not included among the primary goals and initiatives for
2004-2006, nevertheless, they are worthy of advancement, as time and
circumstance permit:
A.1. Develop a robust intranet for HSLT
staff;
A.2. Collaborate with Dr. Ron Epstein
(Family Medicine) on a patient information research project;
A.3. Purchase and implement federated search
engine software to provide a uniform search interface for HSLT’s electronic
books;
A.4. Improve the appearance, and perhaps
configuration, of study carrels on the two lower levels of Miner Library;
A.5. Develop/offer basic computer skills
(Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop) classes.