LAUC President's Report
2001/2002

August 14, 2002

Dear Colleagues,

As LAUC transitions from one year to the next, I thought it would be useful to stop and take a look at what has occurred during this past year. I've prefaced highlights of our year's activities with an overview of LAUC's role within the UC system.

First of all, what does LAUC do?
The Librarians Association of the University of California (LAUC) is a unique organization within UC. As an official unit of the University of California, it does not report to the University Librarians. Instead, LAUC directly advises the University on professional and governance matters of concern to all librarians. More specifically, LAUC advises the Office of the President, the campus administration, and the library administration on:

How is this different from other groups?
The key difference is that instead of looking at specific topics or issues, LAUC looks at the library as a whole. It is very different than the CDL, which focuses on shared digital resources. Our role is the transmission of values and vision and the Library's place within the UC system.

What has LAUC been working on this year?
Because of the wide range of topics we can address, it's often hard to give a focused overview of all the activities LAUC works on during the year. Within the activities of the committees and ExBd though, you'll notice there are some underlying themes.

One theme is increasing communication both within and outside LAUC. You'll notice more information available on our web site (www.ucop.edu/lauc) as well as more interaction between the LAUC ExBd and the University Librarians Group. Another theme is to identify and address issues of wide concern among our members. This main areas of focus this year have been on developing awareness of the need for an Information Literacy policy as well as polling the membership for input on a discussion of the Barrier Step/Distinguished Librarian designation.

You'll find a more detailed listing of specific LAUC activities and projects in the appendix to this report.

Sincerely,

Deborah Murphy
LAUC President

Appendix A: SUMMARY OF 2001/2002 LAUC ACTIVITIES

Contents

  1. LAUC COMMITTEES
  2. CAMPUS VISITS
  3. INFORMATION LITERACY
  4. COMMUNICATION WITH UL GROUP
  5. LAUC BUDGET
  6. LAUC PUBLICATIONS

1) LAUC COMMITTEES
This year is our first complete cycle of our "stretched" timeline for committees. Previously, LAUC committees would begin work on Oct. 1 and tended to look on the Spring Assembly as their deadline for completion of work. Our revamped cycle removes this artificial deadline and reaffirms that Sept.1 is the end of the work year and date for completion of the final report. Committees are also now archiving their year-end reports up on the LAUC website; a very useful feature for those interested in deciding whether to serve on a committee. You'll find links to their websites at www.ucop.edu/lauc/committees.html.

  1. Committee on Professional Governance This committee conducted an extensive survey regarding the Barrier Step/Distinguished Librarian designation to get a clearer sense of how the membership looks on these areas. They are analyzing this data for their final report. The results of this survey will help the ExBd discuss with and advise the University Librarians Group.

  2. Committee on Committees, Rules and Jurisdiction A huge year for this committee. They completed the monumental task of revising and getting approval on much needed revisions to the LAUC bylaws. We should all give thanks for their thorough and detailed work!

  3. Committee on Diversity This committee has been very active in creating an extremely useful website that provides information on campus activities, systemwide efforts and links to related materials. For example, you'll find committee reports, relevant documents, resources on Diversity from UC Campuses, and links to LAUC statistics on diversity. A very fine example of how to organize a large amount of information and make it accessible.

  4. Research and Professional Development Committee This year R&PD embraced the 21st century by providing the option of electronic submission of research proposals. With a total of $84,793.48 requested in proposals and $30,000 of funds to disperse, the committee worked very hard on distributing funding in the best possible manner, even revising their proposal review checklist for more uniform evaluation. To aid members interested in applying for grants, the committee has enhanced the R&PD website with more links to full-text of funded grant proposals, an overview of what types of "research" and research-related projects has LAUC/UCOP funded or not funded in the past, and links to more research resources for librarians for grants available elsewhere.

2) CAMPUS VISITS
During the year, I visited all the UC Libraries (except Merced) and met with Dan Greenstein at CDL. This travel marathon, though tiring, was extremely helpful to me as LAUC President. I had a chance to hear one on one from members about their issues and concerns. And they had the opportunity to ask questions directly of me. It will be interesting to see if campuses are interested in continuing to invite the LAUC President to visit.

3) INFORMATION LITERACY
Of all the issues that LAUC has addressed this year, Information Literacy has leaped to the forefront. What started out in Fall '01 as a suggestion for LAUC to look into creating Position Paper garnered interest and support from the membership to the point that the Spring '02 Assembly featured a special program on IL implementation. And as an outcome of this interest, the assembly approved a strongly worded statement on how LAUC should further the implementation of a systemwide Information Literacy policy. Links to LAUC documents on IL can be found at www.ucop.edu/lauc/docs.html.

In summary, it asks LAUC to recommend that Office of the President appoint a committee with members from LAUC, the Academic Senate and representatives of the University student body to develop an Information Literacy policy for UC. It also asks the LAUC President appoint a systemwide task force to work with faculty, students and administrators to develop an Information Literacy policy for UC.

I've had a chance to discuss this resolution with the University Librarians Group and the incoming Chair of the Academic Senate. Both have provided valuable insights and suggestions on how to make these resolutions successful. The LAUC ExBd will discuss this topic at our meeting on 8/16/02.

4) COMMUNICATION WITH UL GROUP
LAUC continues to work on establishing a more regular line of mutual communication with University Librarians Group. Given that the UL Group does not want to meet with the LAUC President as a standing agenda item, the LAUC President continues to request time on the ULs' meeting agenda for discussion of points important to the membership. We have also communicated more frequently via informal email that has allowed the UL group to respond to specific questions without having to meet with the LAUC President. One example of this is the UL email regarding the question of paid leave for research projects.

5) LAUC BUDGET
It comes as no surprise that LAUC expenditures have slowly grown over the years as travel/lodging costs increase and as the number of new committees with LAUC representatives grows. Given no increases to our budget for many years, LAUC has written UCOP requesting increased funding to our base budget. Given the current state of the UC budget, an increase this year is unlikely, but we will continue to document expenditures as we fulfill our charge.

6) LAUC PUBLICATIONS
" LAUC, the first 25 years: a history of the Librarians Association of the University of California, 1967-1992 " (Z673 .L38 1993) was written in honor of LAUC's 25th anniversary and documents a number of key issues regarding the creation, purpose and work of LAUC. It's a fascinating overview of the creation of our review system, collective bargaining, advancement, research, Academic Senate membership and more. You'll find a PDF version of this publication available on the LAUC website soon.