Welcome to the Kentucky Virtual Library's blog.
Posted: January 15th, 2010 | By: betsy
This month KYVL is sponsoring two training sessions covering all features, bells, and whistles of Grolier Online. These sessions are designed specifically for KYVL membership and are available free of charge.
We have two sessions available at this time:
Visit our Training Page for more information about available sessions and how to sign up!
Posted: December 15th, 2009 | By: Enid
National History Day Partnership Proposal
The Kentucky Historical Society (KHS) is seeking partner institutions that will help grow Kentucky’s National History Day (KNHD) locally by serving as a community program hub. As such an organization will use existing capacity to assist students, teachers and parents with KNHD projects and disseminate program information.
KNHD is the state affiliate of the National History Day program – a yearlong history research project and academic competition for students in grades 4-12 (full program description is attached). KHS administers the state National History Day program. Currently over 500 students across the Commonwealth participate in KNHD.
As a partner, your organization will serve as the local KNHD headquarters by:
As the KNHD administrator, KHS will provide each partner the following (at no cost):
National History Day is a strong and expanding program. While engaged in a meaningful, hands-on, and competition-based project, it exposes students to 21st century skills and importance of research and history. Kentucky has the potential to build a top tier, nationally-competitive program. Our students need the support of local institution to make this leap. Please consider becoming a local Kentucky National History Day partner.
If you have any questions or wish to become the KNHD headquarters in your community please contact Tim Talbott at 502-564-1792, ext. 4428, or tim.talbott@ky.gov.
Posted: November 23rd, 2009 | By: Enid
We are nearly finished with Phase I and II of our reV@10 or “reVisioning at 10 Years” strategic planning iniative.
We have new Vision, Mission and Values statements plus new Goals and Objectives.
Core Values
Equitable Access
We believe that all Kentuckians should have access to quality information regardless of economic status, geographic location or educational level or attainment.
Lifelong Learning
We believe knowing how to find, evaluate, and use information contributes to lifelong learning and improves the quality of life for all Kentuckians.
Collaboration
We are committed to working together to share resources and knowledge.
Efficiency
We are committed to maximizing the use of resources.
Professionalism
We are committed to high quality services delivered with integrity, accountability and transparency.
Vision
KYVL provides comprehensive and dynamic information resources for all Kentuckians.
KYVL is an essential component of Kentucky’s P-20 educational continuum and a valued partner in economic development.
KYVL is a model for innovative cooperation and best practices.
KYVL is known, sought, used and valued by all.
Mission
The mission of KYVL is to provide all Kentuckians with equitable access to library resources and to a common foundation of quality online information for lifelong learning, working and living.
Goals and Objectives
GOAL 1: To be valued as the preferred information resource by all Kentuckians
Objectives:
1. Increase visibility to all Kentuckians
2. Minimize barriers to access and use
3. Increase usage of KYVL resources
4. Implement a statewide training initiative
GOAL 2: To have a common core of quality resources and services for all Kentucky libraries
Objectives:
1. Restore previous levels of database content to serve the broad needs of the KYVL community
2. Improve resource sharing
3. Support the migration to the next generation library systems and tools for Kentucky’s libraries
GOAL 3: To be an effective leader for the virtual library community throughout Kentucky
Objectives:
1. Increase transparency of KYVL operations and decision-making
2. Identify and implement virtual library best practices
3. Establish a system for regular assessment of organizational effectiveness
GOAL 4: To achieve adequate funding and sustainability
Objectives:
1. Implement a continuous process improvement system for operations.
2. Increase effectiveness of organizational structure
3. Develop and implement a more effective funding model
The Virtual Library Advisory Committee (VLAC) endorsed these statements on Friday, 13 Nov. We presented them to the Council on Postsecondary Education Senior Leadership on 16 Nov for approval. The Senior Leadership is compromised of President King, the Vice and Associate Vice Presidents, the Marketing Director and Chief of Staff. Approval was given.
Nearly 500 people have given their input, over 50 of them representing all the partners and constituents – KDE, KDLA, CPE, universities, public libraries, KCTCS, K12, hospitals, were involved in the “heavy lifting” of analysis and creation of the Values, Vision, Mission and Goals.
The Core Team and Full Planning Team have been invaluable and exceptional in their providing their time and expertise in creating these statements which will be the foundation of KYVL work the next three years and beyond.
What are the next steps? Core Team meeting on 14 December. Core Team will plan next steps.
Also, KYVL will post compiled feedback and other documentation.
Details and updates will be posted to the reV@10 wiki page on the KYVL website.
Thank you to all who participated.
Have a safe and relaxing Thanksgiving holiday,
Enid
Posted: November 20th, 2009 | By: Enid
Hello KYVL users,
In my last post, I told you about the budget deficit, and the KYVL Collections Workgroup Database Reduction Report presented to the Virtual Library Advisory Committee. The Collections Workgroup recommended that KYVL members be charged a one-time additional fee to cover the deficit, rather than make cuts to the research databases. A subcommittee was formed to determine possible fee scenarios.
The subcommittee ran 20 different scenarios, rated five as possibilities with two brought forward as the most viable. The subcommittee reviewed the formulas and specifically the two presented to the Virtual Library Advisory Committee. VLAC discussed many of the scenarios, with special attention to the two presented. The two formulas presented were:
Scenario R – Tiered FTE & Collections (Option H), $350 to Special Libraries [Minimum $100; Maximum $16,000]
Scenario S – 33% split based on Academic & Public Libraries FTE, Collections Budget, & Usage, $350 to Special Libraries
Many will remember when we had to reduce courier service by about $85,000 in fiscal years 03-04, 04-05 and 05-06. We cut the service to about 300 pickups per week compared to the previous level of 445 stops. This was devastating to our members. Governor Fletcher helped to restore KYVL’s courier service back to its original level in FY06-07 and we were able to take the service back to 445 stops. Since then, we have avoided making cuts to the courier service, despite $40,000 annually in increases, and have allowed KYVL’s research database collection to absorb the budget cuts.
Courier usage and ILL transactions increase each year, but the same is true of research database usage. Without additional fees, KYVL would have to cancel PscyINFO for everyone but postsecondary and we would also lose the two ProQuest databases: Alt-Press Watch and Career & Technical. Therefore, VLAC members selected Scenario R and voted to implement that formula in invoicing members an additional amount to cover the deficit and keep the research database collection intact.
Because our largest contract (EBSCO) spans two fiscal years, we can allow members some time to pay the FY2009-10 invoice. EBSCO and ProQuest both have indicated they would work with us on billing and payment plans to allow members time to process the KYVL invoice. All vendors have been great to work with and all but EBSCO staying at the 30% reduction they applied last fiscal year. EBSCO has been able to keep their charge the same as last year and even APA has reduced the PsycINFO amount, an unprecedented action for both these vendors.
Today, members received a spreadsheet detailing all scenarios presented, as well as base data of FTE, collections budget, searches, FY08-09 KYVL fee, the 2009 addtional fee, and the new FY2009-10 KYVL fee. If you are the director, dean or manager of a KYVL member organization or library, and you have not received the recent emails, please contact me.
The public universities, the community & technical colleges and the public libraries have typically been billed by OCLC/Lyrasis for their KYVL membership. Since KYVL inherited the old KLN fee structure, we have kept that process the same. KYVL invoices our partner agencies, special libraries and academic members and the independent K12 members.
The Deficit Subcommittee met many times over the few weeks between VLAC meetings and put in a considerable number of hours together and independently to do the analysis and create the scenarios. They are:
Charlene Davis, KDLA – Chair, Collections Workgroup
Leoma Dunn, Thomas More College – Collections Workgroup and AIKCU
John Stemmer, Bellarmine University – FoKAL and AIKCU
Enid Wohlstein, KYVL
We are excited about the future as we develop our strategic plan to guide us through the next three years. The new strategic plan will likely contain several recommendations regarding evaluation of the cost recovery and member contribution model. As always, feedback from members and users is appreciated.
If you have any questions, please let me know. Also, you may wish to contact your VLAC representative. The member list is located at http://www.kyvl.org/wiki/vlac/vlacmembers/
Thank you,
Enid
KYVL Director
Posted: November 13th, 2009 | By: Enid
We have a shortfall in our budget this fiscal year. That’s the bad news upfront. Recently, the KYVL Collections Workgroup presented a report to the Virtual Library Advisory Committee with recommendations regarding our licensed database collection in anticipation of response to budget cuts. I would like to provide you an update on the current state of our budget, talk about the Collections Workgroup report, and tell you about next steps.
As a reminder, in Fiscal Year 2008-09, KYVL resources were reduced by 30% due to budget cuts over two fiscal years and the indirect impact of the cuts leading to the contribution reduction of the Ky. Dept. for Libraries and Archives. Through negotiations and some vendors dropping fees by 30% and unfortunately, the cancelling of licensed resources, we met the shortfall of FY08-09.
For Fiscal Year 2009-10, the Commonwealth had a reported $1 billion shortfall. When the fiscal year began July 1, 2009, it was as yet unknown what the budget impact would be to state agencies and subsequently, to KYVL. In anticipation of reductions, the KYVL Collections Workgroup was put into service in May to begin their analysis. When the Collections Workgroup began meeting, it was undetermined if KYVL would be allocated the full 4% as that is at the discretion of CPE, since KYVL is a department of the Council on Postsecondary Education.
The reduction was announced Aug 28, effective retrospective to July 1, 2009 (the beginning of our fiscal year), but we didn’t know exactly what that meant for KYVL till mid-October. On 16 October, we determined that the 4% reduction to the Council on Postsecondary Budget would result in a deficit of $148,514. Around that same date, EBSCO/APA came back with a further reduced amount for the PsycINFO product.
What occurred at the VLAC meeting on 19 October?
Sheree Williams gave an update of the reV@10 (reVisioning at 10 Years) Strategic Planning initiative. Information on the planning can be found at http://www.kyvl.org/wiki/revisioningat10years/ or you can contact me directly.
Charlene Davis, as the workgroup chair, presented the Database Reduction Plan from the KYVL Collections Workgroup. Charlene reiterated, on behalf of the Collections Workgroup, the difficulty of the charge and gave an overview of the report, and outlined the recommendations. [A public version of the report will be posted to our website with the VLAC meeting minutes.]
Quotations from the report are marked by **** at the beginning and end of each excerpt.
**** “This is very first time that we have even entertained the possibility of disenfranchising user communities. It was extremely painful to witness even a hint of dismantling our long held belief and philosophical foundation commitment to a true core collection of databases available to everyone in Kentucky regardless of who they were or how they were identified. It should also be noted that during the KYVL rev@10 process that the databases were consistently and overwhelmingly identified as a strength of KYVL.” ****
The Recommendations are:
**** “The Work Group recommended that KYVL retain all databases in the core collection and increase fees to the members to make up the possible $150,000 shortfall.
Should this recommendation be unacceptable to VLAC and should the vendors not reduce their fees further to meet the needed reduction, the Work Group under extreme duress would offer the possibility of canceling the ProQuest AltWatch and Career and Technical databases with the knowledge that doing so during the semester will cause students who are relying upon them for projects great hardship. Because canceling these databases…will not be adequate to meet the $150,000 target, the only other option left to the Work Group was to actually entertain the option of disenfranchising user communities. ….Access to PsycINFO would be restricted to Postsecondary Institutions Only (includes state supported, AIKCU, and Special Academics.) This is an exceptionally onerous option and a clear violation of the tenets upon which KYVL was founded; e.g., in this instance access to all databases by all citizens. These two actions… (result in the savings needed.)” ****
To generate discussion and gauge interest, I presented a few potential scenarios for one-time allocations, based on the primary recommendation from the Collections Workgroup that member fees be increased to cover the funding deficit. I also pointed out some highlights from the “Review of Consortial Funding and Member Fees/Oct 2009” document I had sent to VLAC regarding other consortia handling of member and resource fees, deficits and funding models.
Member fees, cost-sharing and cost-recovery have been discussed at length during the strategic planning process by members, the Full Planning Team and the Core Team and has been a recurring theme in survey and focus group feedback. I stated that we should anticipate the new strategic plan will contain several recommendations regarding evaluation of the cost recovery and member contribution model with the intent of increasing revenue collected by KYVL. Addressing the deficit with analysis of existing fees and introducing a scenario for a one-time premium would be a first step towards a future change in our member fee structure.
The Virtual Library Advisory Committee needed additional time to digest the Collections Workgroup report and requested further investigation of scenarios for deficit coverage.
What are the next steps?
On 19 October, VLAC created a subcommittee to review the example scenarios, validate or create scenarios and bring back recommendations for VLAC’s next meeting on 13 November.
Virtual Library Advisory Committee’s Deficit/Fees Subcommittee is as follows:
Charlene Davis, KDLA (Collections Workgroup, Chair)
Leoma Dunn, Thomas More College (Collections Workgroup)
John Stemmer, Bellarmine University (FoKAL)
Enid Wohlstein, KYVL
The subcommittee report was sent 9 November to VLAC to give them time to review it. The report contained 20 different scenarios, five (5) of which were recommended with two (2) brought forward as the most viable for consideration.
KYVL/CPE will cover the subscriptions as is through Dec. 2009. Should VLAC accept a scenario to increase member fees, consideration would be given for members who need time to rework budgets, reallocate funds, etc..
The Collections Workgroup is to be commended for their expertise, for the hours committed and given with full attention and consideration, and for taking on such a difficult task.
Collections Workgroup:
Charlene Davis, Kentucky Dept. for Libraries and Archives, Chair
Linda Bartnik, Murray State University
Charles Brown, Sullivan University
Bryan Carson, Western Kentucky University
Ida Cornett, Lexington Public Library
Leoma Dunn, Thomas More College
Lesley Jackson Centre College
Betsy Hughes, KYVL
Tom Kmetz, Morehead State University
Margaret Foote, Eastern Kentucky University
James Manasco, University of Louisville
Lois Schultz, Northern Kentucky University
Lynda Short, Paul Laurence Dunbar High School
Debbra Tate, Kentucky State University
Cecelia Tavares, Jefferson County Public Schools
Mary Beth Thomson University of Kentucky
Sheree Williams, Jefferson Community and Technical College
Enid Wohlstein, KYVL
About the Virtual Library Advisory Committee meetings:
Every meeting is public. You are welcome to dial in to participate or attend in person. For the 13 Nov. meeting, contact us for the dial-in number. We will meet in Room A, at the Council on Postsecondary Education office in Frankfort. Directions and the address can be found at http://cpe.ky.gov/about/directions.htm. Meeting minutes from the 10/19/09 meeting are not yet available as VLAC will accept the final minutes at their next meeting, which is the 13th of November.
You can also contact your representative on VLAC. Each member represents not only their institution or library but also a particular user group. The VLAC wiki lists meetings, members, etc. at http://www.kyvl.org/wiki/vlac/
Any KYVL member is welcome to a copy of the report, with the stipulation that vendor contract amounts and database costs be kept confidential and not posted or disclosed publicly. Please contact me.
Thank you for your time. We value our members/partners, their participation in KYVL, and support of the ideals which drive us and the efforts of the workgroups. I am always open to your feedback, comments and requests.
Best regards,
Enid
Posted: November 5th, 2009 | By: Enid
Periodically, I provide updates on KYVL activities to various constituent groups. We’ve had a busy summer and fall. I would like to highlight some projects and activities.
Fall conferences – KLA/KSMA and Convergence Conference
reVisioning at 10 Years [reV@10] Strategic Planning
Courier and Database Usage Statistics:
Collections Workgroup:
Kyleidoscope – http://kdl.kyvl.org/kyleidoscope.htm
Kentuckiana Digital Library – http://kdl.kyvl.org/
There will be more information coming shortly regarding the KYVL budget and collections [ie. the core databases]. A public version of the Collections Workgroup report has been created and will be emailed to the membership this week. The Deficit/Fees Subcommittee will be presenting their recommendations to VLAC on 13 November.
Feel free to contact us with questions on any of the above, or if you need training, have “how to” questions and so on. As always, please share your stories with us — How do you use KYVL?
Have a great day!
Posted: October 8th, 2009 | By: betsy
After spending a wonderful several days at the Fall KLA/KSMA conference last week, Enid and I are off to Somerset for the 2009 Kentucky Convergence Conference. KYVL has two sessions as part of the Convergence program this year: one showcasing the new KYVL website and another about the Kentuckina Digital Library’s K-12 tool Kyleidoscope.
For folks unfamiliar with Convergence, this fantastic conference is focused on p-20 educators working collaboratively towards a better future for Kentucky. Conference themes include: Information Technology, E-Learning, Library Information Services, Faculty Development and sessions that are Cross-Track involving more than one theme.
For more information, please visit the conference website.
Posted: September 29th, 2009 | By: Enid
Good afternoon everyone!
Tomorrow is the 1st day of the KLA/KSMA Fall Conferenec at the Galt House in Louisville. Betsy and I are involved in 8 different presentations on a variety of subjects, not least of which is KYVL.
KLA/KSMA Fall Conference 2009
Being Green, an “Energy Star” or a LEED-er: A Workshop on Smart and Sustainable Building — a pre-conference, Wednesday, September 30, 2009 from 8:30am – 1pm at Oldham County Public Library
Educational Uses of Second Life in Kentucky –Wednesday, September 30, 2009 from 3:30 – 4:20pm [Beth Kraemer, Virginia McClure, Miranda Hines, David Horrar, Cheri Daniels, Enid]
Extreme Makeover: KYVL Edition — Thursday, October 1, 11:00-11:50am [Betsy & Enid]
The Past Goes Digital [discussion panel] – Thursday, October 1, 2:10 – 4:00pm [Enid will talk about Kentuckiana Digital Library]
An Introduction to Kentucky Resource Sharing – Friday, October 2, 11:00-11:50am [Charlene Davis & Enid]
A Kentucky Kyleidoscope: Digital and Delightful — Friday, October 2, 2009 from 2:30 – 3:20pm [Eric Weig, Mary Koegel & Enid]
Interviewing for a Library Job – What to Expect [discussion panel] — Friday, October 2 from 3:30 – 4:20pm [Paul Lanata, Michael Steinmacher, Melissa Laning & Enid]
Extreme Makeover: KYVL Edition — Saturday, October 3, 8:00-8:50am [Betsy & Enid]
KYVL Advanced: Database Training – Saturday, October 3, 9:00-9:50am [Betsy & Enid]
Please come see us and learn about KYVL, our Ground Courier Service and relationship with Ky Dept for Libraries & Archives, the Kyleidoscope, Kentuckiana Digital Library, and more.
If you are going, hope everyone arrives safely and has a great conference!
Posted: September 22nd, 2009 | By: Enid
We still have 9 slots open for the Focus Group in Louisville on 9/24, Thursday, 4-6pm.
Location:
Jefferson Community & Tech College
Learning Resource Center/Library – 2nd floor (old Assessment Room)
Southwest Campus
1000 Community College Road
Louisville, KY 40272
Please help inform our new strategic plan with your comments and insight. This is the last Focus Group scheduled — help us make it count.
Sign up please!
Posted: September 18th, 2009 | By: Enid
I received this note yesterday regarding the 9/16 Focus Group session in Hazard. We still have openings for the Louisville [2 sessions] and Lexington Focus Groups on 9/22 and 9/24. Please help KYVL with its strategic planning and get registered!
“The KYVL focus group session yesterday was fabulous! The facilitators were wonderful and the location was more convenient than Lexington or Louisville. Thanks so much for not canceling it, despite the low attendance numbers. We are very appreciative that an effort was made to solicit input from those of us in southeastern Kentucky.”
Chamayne Metcalfe Johnson, NBCT
Library Media Specialist
Harlan County High School
