Libraries' Vision Statement

Revision: 10/28/98

The Libraries provide information resources and services that are essential to research, discovery, and learning at Kent State University. Activities of our information professionals include synthesizing, organizing, evaluating, and providing access to the corpus of human knowledge and experience. We are committed to the broad-based support of our primary users - students, faculty, and staff - while also recognizing our role in ensuring and maintaining the Carnegie Research II status of the University. We also provide leadership in cooperation with other University offices in the visioning and management of new and more effective information resource services to the University community. Our vision embraces this ideal while acknowledging that we are bound by available fiscal resources.

1. We are committed to providing an array of tiered services responsive to the needs of the University community.
   
   We provide direct assistance to a diverse University community in identifying, evaluating, selecting, and obtaining information resources, employing numerous avenues for interaction. Specialized services are defined to reflect and emphasize University priorities. Selected services, such as borrowing, are also provided to secondary users (community members, corporate clientele) in order to support the goals of the University. We actively seek a focused instructional role, in collaboration with classroom faculty, to foster the curriculum-integrated development of effective information seeking behavior among primary users.
2. We collect and provide access to a universe of materials which correlates to the curriculum and research of the University.
   
   In cooperation with our OhioLINK partners, we select, acquire, organize, and archive information in any format to build collections that will serve current and future generations. We facilitate access to information in our own collections and beyond through inter-library resource sharing, purchase on demand from commercial sources, and deliver materials to clientele through appropriate physical and electronic means. In close partnership with faculty we continually assess our collection priorities to ensure that the optimal array of information resources are available. Selectively, collections are built in depth to strengthen curricular and research programs that are unique to Kent State University.
3. We continually strive to deploy improved information technologies to support clientele and staff.
   
   We strive to provide current information technologies for our users. Staff are encouraged and supported in using new technologies to realize greater efficiencies. Key to this kind of progress is the continuous improvement of our network infrastructure. Increasingly, we expect more fiscal resources to be directed toward funding technologies which advance productivity, learning, research, and discovery. The changing nature of our services and collections has made us a very large user of new technologies and a very large consumer of network resources. Consequently, we are helping the university map its technological direction in the practical application of new technologies to support the University's research needs.
4. We encourage and provide ongoing development opportunities for all staff.
   
   We pursue the goal of an empowered faculty and staff in the setting of a humane work culture. Toward that end, we seek to broaden and enrich development and training opportunities. Accordingly, we will design and implement technology training programs in different formats and levels of sophistication. In addition, we will enrich the work life of faculty and staff through the redesign of job duties in order to achieve increased versatility and new learning opportunities.
5. We engage in appropriate partnerships with other units and agencies to enhance services.
   
   As part of an eight-campus university we seek fuller integration of the libraries in order to provide consistent services. Through a collaborative relationship with Learning Technologies Services we seek to provide services to the distribute learner. In partnership with other university service units, such as Academic Computing and Technology, we strengthen the University's ability to serve its mission. Working with the University administration and corporate partners we ensure that the relationship between goals and resources is balanced. Consortial partnerships, such as with OhioLINK, allow us to realize economies of scale and increase the breadth and depth of access to information.
6. We value and pursue organizational effectiveness.
   
   We are committed to a program of ongoing assessment of the library's overall organizational effectiveness and leadership, including input from our user community. The Dean and the administration will provide leadership to all units of the library. In addition, we will work to achieve an appropriate balance between generalist and specialist faculty and staff to support the library's goals and mission. Further, we will strengthen the working relationship between the library and other constituent units of Libraries and Media Services and we will design effective marketing strategies to promote the library in the University community.
7. We envision main and branch library facilities revitalized for health and safety, and transformed into dynamic centers for inquiry and learning.
   
   Our library facilities provide a safe and secure environment for staff, library users and collections. Health, safety, and security in our work life mean a library that is conducive to maximum job performance, research and study. Our facilities would have a modern fire prevention and control system, enhanced security procedures, an effective heating, ventilation and air handling system, and windows and lighting technology which promote greater energy efficiency. Facilities would be redesigned in order to serve the change and future needs of library clientele.