FY2000 (10 ∏  months)  2,022,858
FY2001                         2,318,257
FY2002                         2,082,674
FY2003                         2,743,737
FY2004                         2,411,738
FY2005                         2,223,239
FY2006                         2,104,846
FY2007                         2,153,400
FY2008                         2,029,587

There are a couple extenuating circumstances:  (1) some search categories were blanked out during an upgrade in December, 2000, so the FY2001 figure is slightly deflated; and (2) during late FY2002 and during FY2003, there was a separate ejounals catalog (rather than their being integrated into the main OPAC) that produced 128,723 searches in FY2002 and 586,227 in FY2003;

The grand total so far thus is 20,090,336 searches in 8 years, 10 ∏ months (plus some of the missing ones from the 2000 upgrade).  The current year’s total is about 74% of the highest year (FY2003), but not much different from FY2002 and the past three years have been fairly consistent.  There seems to be a very gradual downward trend overall, but even competing with the  multitude of databases and other resources that we have added in the past 8 years, catalog use still seems fairly strong.

As historical perspective, back in calendar 1988, the full first year of our first online catalog (pre-Voyager), there were approximately half as many searches.  But the catalog database then contained only about 500,000 bibliographic records and did not yet include serial holdings.  It now contains well over 3.3 million bib records of all types and full serial holdings.

One added item that might be of interest.  Of the 20+ million searches, the most frequent, in terms of percentage of all searches, have been the following:

Keyword                        30.80 %            (combo of Keyword Relevance + Keyword Boolean)
Title                              25.54 %
Journal Title                   14.53 %
Author                           12.10 %
Subject                           6.60 %
Call Number                    2.52 %
ISSN                               2.14 %
Title keyword                   1.47 %
Author keyword                1.10 %

All others are under 1 %.

As a clarification, these statistics are only for searches performed within the online catalog, not those within the other Voyager modules.  Going along with the 20+ million OPAC searches are 427,630 searches within the acq/serials module, 515,248 within the circ module, and 5,401,985 within the cataloging module.

The recent announcements regarding the state budget shortfall and Denise Stephen’s memo have undoubtedly raised questions from staff throughout the Libraries. While much information is yet to be determined, I can assure you that we are committed to supporting our primary operational mission and core programs to advance research, teaching and learning on campus. Rest assured that despite budgetary adversities, we will continue basic operations while pursuing new strategic initiatives. I am also pleased to report that the recent merit increases are secure.

We are fortunate to approach this challenge from a very positive position. We have, for the most part, solid staffing resources in all units, creating a very stable environment for continued quality in service delivery. Additionally, we have a commitment from the Vice Provost’s office to protect existing funding for our collections.  We believe that with careful financial planning and continued efforts to build new campus partnerships and strengthen existing ones, we can still move forward.

Your fiscal year 2009 library budget requests will be reviewed with the new budget directives in mind. In the meantime, we are aggressively pursuing other avenues for income, including expanded private support. We will also continue to explore grant opportunities.  As always, we must be responsible stewards of the Libraries’ budget, constantly evaluating the most prudent use of funds.

We know there will be questions about the Libraries’ role in the assessment process identified by the Provost. I am committed to providing you with regular, transparent communication and input opportunities.

I am confident that we are well equipped to handle this challenge. Thank you all for your continuing hard work and dedication to KU Libraries.

I encourage you to attend the Concept Review scheduled this morning, Thursday, July 10, 10:30-noon in the Computer Center Auditorium to hear more about the IS Budget Reallocation.

Lorraine
7/10/08