Committee on Library 2003-2004 Annual Report
To the Academic Senate, Los Angeles Division:
The Committee on Library takes, as its principal obligation, to reflect and articulate the views of
UCLA faculty members concerning the role of the University Library in the acquisition, storage, and
provision of scholarly materials.
National Rankings and Budget Reductions Impact
The UCLA Library was ranked 8th in the latest national ranking by the Association of Research
Libraries (ARL). The ranking system is primarily influenced by the budget of the Library. In 200304, the Library’s share of UC budget reductions was $2.1 million. The Chancellor permanently
restored $800,000 to the scholarly collections budget. The Chancellor also provided $1.1 million in
one-time funds for the replacement of the ORION2 catalog system.
All Campus Meeting – The Unsustainable Economics of Scholarly Publishing
The Committee on Library (COL) began its year on October 14, 2003 with a meeting open to all
Senate faculty members, held in the Faculty Center. Approximately 110 faculty members, students,
and staff attended. Daniel Greenstein, UC University Librarian spoke on “The Unsustainable
Economics of Scholarly Publishing and the Immediate Impacts on the University of California.” Dr.
Greenstein reported on UC’s negotiations for new multiyear contracts with several commercial
publishers, including Reed Elsevier. Over the past decade the cost of serial publications and
electronic databases has far outpaced the consumer price index (CPI). Between 1986 and 2000,
scholarly journal prices increased at four times the rate of the CPI. In Science and Engineering,
journal prices in most fields tripled or quadrupled between 1998 and 2002, a time when the CPI
went up 10%. There is no realistic budgeting strategy that will allow research libraries to meet
rising costs of this magnitude. Faculty members were encouraged help influence the pricing
policies of journals in their fields. Steps open to faculty include,
 Submit papers to quality journals that have reasonable pricing practices.
 Modify any contract that you sign with a commercial publisher to ensure that you retain the
rights to use your work as you see fit, including posting it to a public archive.
 Consider declining offers to review for unreasonably expensive journals and to serve on
their editorial boards.
UCLA Senior Faculty Editors
Approximately 800 UC faculty members serve as editors on Elsevier journals. It is estimated that
20% of article Elsevier article content is from UC faculty. The COL invited UCLA senior faculty
editors to discuss the challenges of journal prices to our November 18, 2003 meeting. Several
senior editors said that they will advocate keeping price increases reasonable with their journals.
Completion of the Elsevier Contract
In January 2004, the UC/California Digital Library completed negotiations and signed a 5-year
contract with Elsevier. The protest actions of UC faculty had a positive impact on the negotiations.
There is UC-wide access to 1,200 scholarly journals, including titles produced by Harcourt Health
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Sciences, Academic Press, and Cell Press. The contract eliminates access to some 200 title never
subscribed to on any UC campus. UC libraries will spend 25% less on Elsevier print & electronic
subscriptions in 2004 than they did in 2003 ($7.7 million in 2004 as opposed to $10.3 million in
2003). The cost associated with the system-wide agreement for online content accounts for a
large part of the savings. The underlying economics of scholarly publishing have not dissipated
with the completion of the Elsevier contract. There is a need to investigate and develop new and
innovative ways of disseminating scholarly work more widely and keep promotion and tenure
decisions abreast. The success of these actions depends on the faculty’s proactive support. The
power to change the economics of scholarly publishing lies with those who produce its intellectual
contents, e.g. the faculty and their collective judgment on tenure and promotion decisions.
Executive Sessions
Throughout the year, the COL met independently of our Library colleagues for a portion of our
meetings. The COL believes that to best advocate the Senate’s position regarding the Library, it is
important to meet in executive session. The COL appreciates the work of University Librarian Gary
Strong, Associate University Librarian Cindy Shelton, Assistant University Librarian Robert Bellanti,
and Ellen Broidy, Library Association of University of California, Los Angeles, with whom we
worked collaboratively during the year.
University Committee on Library
Professor Afifi represented UCLA on the systemwide University Committee on Library (UCOL) and
also served as Chair of UCOL. During the year, UCOL members reported on the actions and issues
facing their divisional academic senate library committees. Many of the campuses’ activity focused
on scholarly communication issues. The Systemwide Library and Scholarly Information Advisory
Committee (SLASIAC) has drafted a strategic plan for the libraries and scholarly information. This
plan identifies five strategic directions for the UC libraries and scholarly information:
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Collection Management and Coordination
Shared Facilities
Shared Services
Persistent Access to Digital Information
Scholarly Communication
When the strategic plan is finalized, short summaries aimed at specific target audiences (e.g.,
faculty, library staff) will accompany the final document during distribution. The California Digital
Library acquires the shared digital collection to which every campus has access. Campuses can
also choose to independently acquire their own collections. Through interlibrary loan members of
other campuses may access electronic journals available on only one campus.
LibQual Study
During April 2003 the UCLA Library was one of more than 300 academic and research libraries
across the country that participated in LibQUAL, a national project to measure service quality in
libraries. A random sample of 3,957 UCLA users (1,438 faculty, 1,190 graduate students, and
1,329 undergraduate students) was selected to participate; nearly 600 took the survey, for an
overall response rate of just over 15%. The survey consisted of 25 questions that grouped into
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four key dimensions of service: Access to Information, Affect of Service, Library as Place, and
Personal Control. While various areas for improvement are apparent from the results, those that
warrant most attention are Access to Information and Personal Control. This is especially so for
faculty respondents and, to a lesser extent, graduate students.
Access to Information: Reliable access, especially to electronic journal collections and other
electronic resources, is of significant concern, as are finding print resources in the libraries’ stacks
and the efficiency of the current document delivery system. Faculty results especially indicated
problems with finding materials independently and remotely, the quality of the Library’s Web site,
and using library resources from home or office.
Personal Control: The responses from faculty and graduate students reveal a general need to
improve tools and services as well as to better manage expectations, including better
communication and instruction.
Protection of the Collection
The COL voted unanimously to support the Library’s recommendation to refer users, including
faculty, with unpaid book replacement bills to a collection agency, the UCLA Student Loan Services
& Collections. The impetus for this effort is to get materials returned; it is not to obtain collection
agency fees.
Information and Literacy Program
The Information Literacy Initiative was launched in late 2001. Information literacy is the ability to
identify an information need, locate information efficiently, evaluate information, and use
information effectively and ethically. The goals of the Initiative are:
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To assess information literacy skills at UCLA
To improve information literacy skills at UCLA
To increase awareness of information literacy concepts among members of the UCLA
community, within the context of changing information needs and environments.
One Credit Classes: Librarians will partner with faculty to tailor a one-credit, information literacy
adjunct course that will parallel the content and pace of the primary course to which it is tethered.
The librarian/instructor will devise customized information literacy modules that reinforce the
teaching objectives and class assignments of the primary course. COL members report that they
have incorporated their classes with the library instruction and the results have been beneficial.
While often the COL discusses suggestions for improvement of the Library, there are many
examples of superior service demonstrated by the Library staff and management.
Respectfully submitted,
A.A. Afifi, Public Health, Chair
Rogers Brubaker, Sociology
Jonathan Furner, Information Studies
Wayne Grody, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
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Yasmin Kafai, Education
Jody Kreiman, Head & Neck Surgery
Philip Levine, Classics
Claudia Rapp, History
Stanley Trimble, Geography
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