Status Report on Library Automation and
Networking in Community Colleges

Abstract

Computer technology and the availability of electronic databases have increased access to information at an exceptional rate. All libraries — academic, public and private — must strategically plan in order to meet the demands of patrons wishing to use new technology to access information from databases statewide and worldwide. Community college librarians are working to serve patrons through expanding access and effective use of information resources through cooperative partnerships among Illinois libraries. This is done on several levels, including automation of library materials and local networks such as Local Library System Automation Projects (LLSAPs) and the ILLINET Online statewide system, a computerized library system that provides descriptive information on library materials in more than 800 libraries. This report briefly describes the status of community college resources, expenditures, automation, networking and the implications of technology needs has on community colleges and their library patrons.

Status Report

Libraries are no longer perceived as a place where books, government documents and nonprint materials are collected and shelved but now are perceived as places where information is retrieved through sources like electronic catalog listings, full-text periodicals and Internet access. Automation of library functions-acquisitions, circulation interlibrary borrowing and lending—has allowed librarians to expand their role and meet their patrons needs for information worldwide.

Illinois librarians have shared resources and services through regional and statewide consortia, such as NILRC (community college library consortium), LLSAPs and ILLINET Online. For some time, community college librarians have recognized that building large collections within the confines of their own institutions would never meet the information needs of their patrons. They automate their collections with the anticipation of operating more efficiently and accessing information databases statewide and worldwide. This report briefly describes the status of community college library collections, operating expenditures, automation and networking, and the implications of new technologies on library resources sharing.

As a part of learning resource centers, community college libraries meet a wide range of needs within their institutions. Library resources support instruction in transfer and occupational programs, remedial and developmental education, adult basic and secondary education and English as a Second Language. Collection strengths in these libraries cover diverse topics, such as electronics, computer technology and nursing and allied health to name a few. According to data collected for Fiscal Year 1996 IPEDS Academic Library Survey, total operating expenditures in community college libraries were nearly $25.1 million, an increase of 7 percent ($23.3 million) from Fiscal Year 1994. In Fiscal Year 1996, wages and salary expenditures accounted for 66.5 percent ($16.7 million) of the total operation expenditures in libraries, while material expenditures accounted for 22 percent ($5.5 million). Other expenditures account for the remaining 11.5 percent (see chart). Expenditures for salary and wages and materials increased by 5 percent and 15 percent, respectively, from Fiscal Year 1994 to Fiscal Year 1996.

* Yvonne Singley, Director of Instructional and Student Development, Illinois Community College Board, Springfield. The article is based on a report presented to the Illinois Community College Board on Oct. 17, 1997.

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Book volumes held in community libraries totaled more than 2.6 million a 5 percent increase from Fiscal Year 1994 (2,548,099) to Fiscal Year 1996 (2,668,317). Volumes added to community college collections increased by 8 percent (from 83,248 in Fiscal Year 1994 to 90,135 in Fiscal Year 1996). As community colleges libraries experience collection growth, they also are experiencing increases in resource sharing within the Illinois library community.

Interlibrary loan requests fulfilled by community colleges increased by 14 percent (from 52,720 to 59,924) in Fiscal Year 1992 and Fiscal Year 1994, respectively, and 87 percent (from 59,924 to 111,915) in Fiscal Year 1994 and Fiscal Year 1996 (see chart). Library materials received by community colleges from other academic libraries decreased by 7 percent (from 66,571 in Fiscal Year 1992 to 61,969 in Fiscal Year 1994), but increased by 12 percent (61,969 to 69,104) from Fiscal Year 1994 to Fiscal Year 1996. When comparing the number of materials lent and those received, community colleges are clearly net lenders in interlibrary loan activity.

As increasingly active participants in the Illinois library resource sharing network, community college libraries strive to provide the best service possible to their patrons. Most community colleges have electronic catalogs and indexes and reference tools that include their library holdings accessible primarily from within the library. Unfortunately, access to these resources outside the library or off campus is limited. The chart below compares electronic access for public universities, private colleges and universities and community colleges.

All public universities have full access to their materials from different locations on campus as well as off campus. The majority of private colleges and universities can also access information on and off campus, although to a lesser extent than public universities. Most community colleges (82 percent) offer electronic information within the confines of the libraries on campus, but access to this information is limited anywhere else on campus and off campus as well. The limitations of electronic services on community college campuses are further substantiated by the ALA Survey Report, Electronic Services in Academic

Percent of Institutions Providing Electronic Access
to Catalog Information by Type of Service*

Institutions	Library Access	Access Elsewhere On Campus	Access Off Campus
Community Colleges	82%	29%	41%
Public Universities	100%	100%	100%
Private Institutions	78%	57%	53%
*Source: Illinois State Library Special Report Series, 1997.

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Libraries (1996), about Internet access on campuses. Among community colleges, 39 percent do not make Internet access available to library users. This percentage is much higher when compared to that of the doctorate degree-granting institutions (7 percent), the master's degree-granting institutions (18 percent), and the baccalaureate degree-granting institutions (24 percent).

Community college libraries are working to make their resources accessible on and off campus through automation. Prior to Fiscal Year 1997, not all community college libraries could participate fully in electronic networks such as ILLINET Online. Several community colleges needed to automate their remaining catalog records to participate fully in this form of resource sharing. Last year, the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) provided a Higher Education Cooperation Act (HECA) grant totaling $130,000 to 13 community colleges to do retrospective conversion of more than 115,000 library records. These colleges were selected based on the 1995 Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) survey. The survey results indicated that several community colleges had converted fewer than 80 percent of their collection records. To maximize resource-sharing efforts in the state, the library holdings of those 13 colleges needed to be automated and made a part of the ILLINET Online database.

The conversion of community college records comes in a timely fashion as the IBHE moves to support upgrades to ILLINET Online. In Fiscal Year 1997, the Illinois Board of Higher Education allocated funds to the University of Illinois, on behalf of the Illinois Library Computer System Organization (ILCSO), to assist ILCSO member libraries in preparing for the implementation of a new computer-based library system. These funds enable the 45 ILCSO member institutions (including five community colleges) to assist in purchasing state-of-the-art computer workstations and equipment and supplies needed to complete the barcoding of library materials. As ILLINET Online moves toward a more sophisticated system using Internet/server and World Wide Web architectures, it is important that community colleges upgrade their equipment, infrastructures and telecommunications systems to efficiently access resources in this network.

Results from the 1995 ICCB survey and a more recent one conducted by the NILRC, revealed that community college library equipment and infrastructure are insufficient to operate at peak capacity to meet the demands for electronic databases. With limited computer capability, some community college libraries must limit student and staff computer access to these resources. The Illinois Community College Board felt that it was important to remedy these access issues for community college students and staff in light of the new developments with the ILLINET Online system. In May 1997, the ICCB in collaboration with NILRC and with consultation and advice from the University of Illinois Office of Planning and Budgeting, submitted a HECA proposal requesting funding to purchase state-of-the-art computer workstations and equipment and supplies for barcoding materials for all 49 community college libraries. At its September meeting, the IBHE granted funding totaling $240,000 to purchase Pentium computer workstations with the capacity to facilitate the infrastructure needed to connect to online databases, including ILLINET Online. In addition to the workstations for each community college library, the grant allows for the purchase of several barcoding conversion and portable duplicating systems to be shared among the 49 community college libraries.

Funding from the Illinois Board of Higher Education is supporting changes needed to provide better services to students, staff and faculty. However, community college libraries must continue to keep pace with the rapid changes in technology and, particularly, with the upgrades in the ILLINET Online system. Access to full-text journals and various electronic databases requires not only state-of-the-art computers, but Internet/servers and printers in libraries to handle all the requests for services from patrons. Last, as new equipment becomes available to community college personnel, there continues to be a strong need for technical support for training of faculty and staff on how to use and teach the use of these resources to students and other patrons.

Community colleges are expanding their capacity through library automation and networking with the support of organizations such as the Illinois Board of Higher Education. Currently, all 49 Illinois community colleges are active participants in the 12 regional multi-type library systems across the state and participate in networks and consortia of all types. Illinois community colleges have long been leaders in distance learning technologies. As the World Wide Web becomes a mode of distribution for education and information resources, community colleges in cooperation with four-year institutions, are in a strategic position to better serve the educational and informational needs of Illinois citizens.

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