Mission Statement
In keeping with the University’s mission of teaching, research, and service, the mission of the University of California, Merced Library is to achieve excellence by meeting the diverse research, teaching, and public service needs of UC Merced researchers (students, faculty, and staff) with targeted, quality collections and relevant services which effectively and efficiently support the research lifecycle of finding, using, creating, and managing information.
Definition: A project is a temporary endeavor with a defined beginning and end undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives. Projects stand in contrast to operations, which are the permanent, repetitive efforts of a business or organization.
Goal A Projects - leverage physical resources
2012-2013
Goal B Projects - user communication & instruction
2012-2013
Goal C Projects - collaborations to increase usability & accessibility of resources
2012-2013
Goal D Projects - sustain information resources
Goal E Projects - positive work environment
2012-2013
Goal F Projects - digital curation and data management
2012-2013
Definition: Operations are the permanent, repetitive efforts of a business or organization. Operations stand in contrast to projects, which is a temporary endeavor with a defined beginning and end undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives.
Goal A Operations - leverage physical resources
Goal B Operations - user communication & instruction
Goal C Operations - collaborations to increase usability & accessibility of resources
Goal D Operations - sustain information resources
Goal E Operations - positive work environment
Goal F Operations - digital curation and data management
The library will leverage its physical resources (space, furniture, fixtures, equipment, and IT infrastructure) to provide for the common good of the UC Merced Library user community, with a non-exclusive bias towards meeting the needs of undergraduate students.
Outcome A1
Provide accessible, functional, comfortable, and productive spaces that support a variety of academic needs, including quiet study, group study, social interaction, exhibits, and campus meetings and events.
Outcome A2
Reduce physical barriers to information by providing easily navigated spaces, logically organized and maintained book stacks, robust networking, and clear self-service options for library services.
Outcome A3
Make all decisions about library spaces based on both user assessment and the professional judgment of library staff.
The library will sustain—in the face of a growing community of students and faculty—current levels and quality of user communication and instruction services by optimizing our resources, collaborating with partners, leveraging technology, and diversifying our instruction models.
Outcome B1
Increase undergraduate student research skills in a sustainable manner through consistent and effective information literacy instruction.
Outcome B2
Use the iPod Touch tour to provide effective and independent library instruction to incoming freshmen students.
Outcome B3
Provide library student assistants with the knowledge and skills to provide excellent customer service, including the ability to answer and refer questions.
Outcome B4
Increase faculty and graduate student awareness of the benefits of the open- access movement and the unsustainable nature of the current scholarly publishing model for academic institutions.
The library will actively pursue innovative solutions and worthwhile collaborations that increase the usability and accessibility of information resources.
Outcome C1
Place the highest value on improving the usability and accessibility of information resources, recognizing that achieving this involves both collaboration (with vendors, knowledge institutions, other UC libraries, etc.) as well as work that can be completed locally (e.g. improvements to our web site).
Outcome C2
Focus on changes to resource access that improve the search and retrieval experience for the largest percentage of our users while offering them extremely relevant and comprehensive results.
Outcome C3
Develop or acquire solutions that allow users to independently discover and access information resources as part of their course work, research, and service.
Outcome C4
Provide, when necessary, personal assistance via a triage system that relies heavily on well-trained student employees and, as necessary, career staff.
The library will sustain the current quality of library information resources in an environment of rapidly increasing numbers of users and growth of programs.
Outcome D1
Provide information resources–both owned and leased–that directly support the current research and instructional needs of the students, staff, and faculty of the university.
Outcome D2
Acquire information resources in any format as appropriate, though with a preference for resources in electronic format.
Outcome D3
Maintain current collection funding priorities:
- Materials purchased or licensed at faculty request
- All-campus licenses for e-journals, e-books and databases (Tier 1)
- Selected less-than-all-campus licenses for e-journals, e-books and databases (Tier 2)
- Locally licensed e-books available through patron-driven acquisition plans
- Strategic investments in response to changes in research and publication practices (e.g. open-access publishing, digital preservation)
- Purchase of print monographs through an approval plan
- Coverage of areas of emerging interest that may be included in future research and instructional programs.
Outcome D4
Maintain commitment to, and investment in, non-ownership-based information-access strategies, such as:
- Interlibrary loan
- Supplemental course resources
- UC systemwide strategies (e.g. UC Shared Print in Place)
- Regional/national/international strategies (e.g. WEST, HathiTrust)
- Transformative strategies (e.g. open-access publication)
The library will maintain a positive work environment for all employees at all levels, providing regular opportunities for both individual and organizational development.
Outcome E1
Recognize staff recruitment, training, and development as key elements in the success of the library.
Outcome E2
Continue supporting appropriate training and professional development opportunities and funding staff participation in these opportunities.
Outcome E3
Codify and further develop the student employment "work-life cycle" to include all aspects of the student employee experience from the initial interview to the exit interview and beyond.
The library will investigate digital curation, assess the data management needs of researchers at UC Merced, establish collaborative networks, and build expertise in order to define and develop library services.
Outcome F1
Define policies for archiving, delivering access to, and disseminating locally produced research data that are determined to be university assets or of value for future use.
Outcome F2
Identify and evaluate service offerings available within the UC system (e.g. UC3) or external organizations that may address local needs.
Outcome F3
Communicate to campus stakeholders regarding identified data curation services such as EZID and pilot/assess usage.
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