(PDF version)

Libraries
by Ann Wolpert

Public Services
by Steve Gass

Collection Services
by Carol Fleishauer

Administrative Services
by Keith Glavash

Technology Planning and Administration
by MacKenzie Smith

About Us > Annual Reports

MIT Libraries
Annual Report FY 2003-2004

Director, Libraries

In describing the state of the MIT Libraries in the 21 st century, we sometimes humorously characterize our situation as having "one foot on the dock, and one foot in the dinghy." Considerable amounts of time, energy, and resources are dedicated to maintaining the traditional library environment (the "dock") on which the MIT community still remains heavily and documentably reliant for research and education. At the same time, however, a significant and growing amount of our effort must now be dedicated to trying to anticipate and influence the complex emerging digital environment (the "dinghy") that will inevitably shape academic research library collections and services in the future.

Any sailor knows that having one foot on the dock, and the other in a dinghy, can be an uneasy balancing act -and that the connections between the dock and the dinghy must be carefully attended to as people and materiel are transferred from one place to the other. It's important that the dinghy not depart prematurely -for obvious reasons, but it's also important to separate crisply when the time is right. And, of course, even with the best seamanship, should the weather turn bad, or a chop develop in the water, the situation can get downright uncomfortable.

AY 2004 was not a particularly comfortable year for the MIT Libraries. As we juggled the demands of these two different, but interconnected, library models, we confronted some rough budgetary weather and a fair amount of inflationary and operational "chop". The academic year was characterized by rising costs for information resources; a growing awareness of the sustainability challenges of a highly distributed physical footprint; reductions in our budget (with notice of more to come); and concern for undergraduate and graduate student productivity -as another 65,000 volumes of educational and research resources were shipped to off-campus facilities for want of adequate on-campus space.

It is a profound tribute to the professionalism and dedication of the Libraries' staff that the Libraries responded to these challenges with teamwork, intelligence, and poise. The Libraries developed new metrics to insure that scarce resources were devoted to services and information content that would benefit the MIT community the most. They looked for operational efficiencies and deferrable activities -in an operation that was already exceptionally productive. They renewed their focus on understanding the current and future needs of MIT students and faculty and how best to meet those needs. They devised an explicit communication strategy, so that the changes we were obliged to make to live within our budget were fully explained to the MIT community in advance of their implementation.

Equally noteworthy in AY 2004 was the ongoing commitment of the Libraries' staff to shaping the future of academic research libraries. At a time when the unpleasant task of "doing less with less" was all around us, the Libraries nevertheless pursued their mission with enthusiasm and forward-looking goals. The staff of the MIT Libraries are exceptional in their ability to appreciate and pursue the unique opportunities that are provided through their high-quality relationships with faculty, students, and staff of the Institute. They have a remarkable ability to think creatively, act entrepreneurially, and focus on what is best for MIT -even in lean times.

For example, during AY 2004, Public Services staff focused on the challenge of rethinking and redesigning information services for the MIT community in the digital age. Significant progress was made to advance this goal. Other staff attended to the stewardship of MIT's rich and unusual collection assets, with notable results. Three CRSP projects and a few modest, internally funded, space improvement projects addressed several long-standing facilities problems and improved working/studying conditions for students and faculty. The technical infrastructure that delivers the Libraries' network-based information products and services to the MIT community was capably attended to and priorities were established for the introduction of new products and services. Critically important research interests were identified, collaborators were secured, and funding was obtained.

The MIT Libraries continue to be an essential component of MIT's outstanding research and education mission. The combination of deep, rich traditional collections, unique archives, DSpace information resources, and carefully selected licensed digital resources (accessible via innovative interfaces, and supported by exceptionally responsive and creative services), provides MIT with Libraries that are worthy of this world-class institution. Reflecting the Libraries' importance to the Institute is the strength of interest exhibited by the Faculty Committee on the Library System. Their work, which is documented separately in the annual report of the Chair, engaged key issues of importance to the future of academic research libraries; including facilities design, methods of scholarly communication, copyright in research publications, and journal pricing.

The MIT community was once again gratifyingly responsive to every outreach effort made by the Libraries. For example, the Libraries' instructional program has now grown by over 160% over the past five years. And the use of both online and physical facilities grew in AY 2004, despite the fact that financial and staffing constraints obliged the Libraries to emphasize outreach activities that could be accomplished largely through information technology and partnerships. In AY 2004 the Libraries welcomed successful collaborations with the Office of Career Services and Pre-professional Advising, as well as with faculty and staff charged with implementing the Communication Requirement. With the help of Academic Computing, a Data/GIS workstation was installed in Dewey Library, and a sadly outdated Athena cluster in Building 14 was redesigned to meet the needs of today's students.

Research collaborations with individual faculty, laboratories, programs and departments were key elements in the Libraries' progress toward 21 st century solutions. In AY 2004, the SIMILE project brought together the MIT Libraries, CSAIL, W3C, and HP Labs to introduce semantic web technology into the real-world domain of library metadata and DSpace. CMI funded the DSpace@Cambridge initiative, which will contribute to the DSpace system in the areas of preservation and educational technology. CMI also funded LEADIRS, a workshop series developed to support technology transfer through the deployment of Institutional Repositories in UK universities. Microsoft iCampus funded a project to investigate the standards and protocols necessary to the long-term archiving of educational material produced under the OpenCourseWare initiative. The OpenCourseWare project itself became a key client of the Libraries' new Metadata Services unit.

The limitations of the Libraries' physical spaces continue to present operational challenges to the Libraries' staff, as well as barriers to students and faculty in their use of the Libraries facilities and services. Students are deeply appreciative of any efforts to upgrade the work and study spaces in the Libraries, and vote with their feet when facilities improvements are introduced. Increases in occupancy - often dramatic - have occurred whenever student workspaces and access to collections have been improved. Most recently, in AY 2004, the development of decent student study space in Barker Engineering Library produced a 30% increase in visits to that facility - despite the fact that journals, handbooks, and databases are increasingly available on the network. More than ever, we look forward to the day when students and faculty have a new Science and Engineering Library designed to support their work in the 21 st century, and the Humanities Library can become a facility that better reflects the important role of the Humanities and Arts at MIT.

As in every year, the Libraries can point to the strength of its staff as the source of its accomplishments. Recruiting and retaining an outstanding staff will always be a central priority of the Libraries. Essential to this goal are competitive salaries, adequate career development opportunities, and a supportive organizational structure. The Libraries are grateful to MIT's administration, Corporation, and Human Resources personnel for their understanding and support of this priority. So although we said farewell to several key staff, including Jim Mullins (Associate Director for Administration) and MJ Miller (Director of Development) as their careers advanced beyond MIT, we have enjoyed strong candidate pools for every vacancy. We are most fortunate to be able to fill our positions with exceptional individuals, including the new Assistant Director for Administration, Keith Glavash.

The reports of the individual directorates that follow this overview detail the exceptional accomplishments of the MIT Libraries in AY2004. In these reports is a fuller flavor of the intellectual and professional contributions the MIT Libraries make to MIT's dynamic mission. It is my personal privilege to be a part of such a vibrant, relevant organization, and to work with the many individuals, both inside and outside the Libraries, whose energy, commitment, and support have made possible the accomplishments of academic year 2004.

Ann J. Wolpert
Director of Libraries

More information about the MIT Libraries can be found on the World Wide Web at http://libraries.mit.edu/