ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


8 /C&RL News

around the library, operate by way o f touch
screen technology.

The five-floor building was designed by Evan
Woollen, a nationally recognized architect base
in Indianapolis. The Grainger Foundation o
Skokie, Illinois, donated $18.7 million to erec
the library. The gift honors W. W. Grainger, a 
of I. College of Engineering Class of 1919 alum
nus and founder of W. W. Grainger Inc.

ACRL collects information literacy d ata
This fall ACRL was approached by two of th
regional accrediting agencies— Middle States A
sociation and Western Association of School
and Colleges— to enter a cooperative researc
project for the purpose of collecting data o
existing information literacy programs in highe
education institutions across the U.S. The ACR
Executive Committee approved a proposal 
its fall meeting to implement the project. At th
request of the accrediting agencies the mai
ings went to their campus contacts (usually pr
vosts and deans) with instructions that the i
struments were to be distributed on campuse
to the units best suited to respond. In som
cases the campus will identify the library as th

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appropriate unit to respond to the survey. As 
this study develops, further reports will be pub­
lished in C&RL News and the ACRL Forum.

STS discussions a t Midwinter
The ACRL Science and Technology Section 
invites you to attend the following lively dis­
cussion groups at the ALA Midwinter Meet­
ing in Philadelphia. STS General Discussion 
Group meeting, Sunday, February 5, 8:30-11:00
a.m. Topic: “Integrating Internet Resources into 
Sci-Tech Libraries.” STS Science Databases Dis­
cussion Group, Saturday, February 4, 2:00-4:00 
p.m. Topic: “Electronic Pre-print Databases and 
the World Wide Web.”

Getting the 1 9 9 2  library d ata
The data on 54 variables in academic libraries 
in the United States reported to the National 
Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and dis­
cussed by Mary Jo  Lynch in the November 1994 
C&RL News a re  now available to the public. To 
obtain a copy o f A c a d e m ic  L ibraries: 1 9 9 2
(NCES95-031) for $3.75 from the Government 
Printing Office (stock # (S/W) 065-000-00717- 
7) call (202) 512-1800.

 

Overdue notices: Cutting costs and saving time
Many libraries in these tough economic 

times have had to reduce staff, services, and 
acquisitions. Given moderate downsizing, ex­
amination of some long-held procedures may 
free resources that can be used to sustain 
other, more desirable services. Evaluation of 
procedures may also result in unexpected 
benefits, such as those from an evaluation of 
postage costs and overdue notices at the Uni­
versity of Oklahoma.

The existing overdue notice schedule in­
cluded three overdue notices and a bill. The 
notices were spaced at 7, 21, and 45 days 
past due. Billing occurred at 90 days. An ex­
amination o f other libraries’ procedures re­
vealed many libraries billed earlier in the cycle, 
and past research suggested a shorter billing 
interval would reduce overdues. Further con­
siderations included an analysis of the num­
ber of items turned in after each overdue 
notice was sent.

The following changes were made: a) the 
second notice was reformatted and labeled 
“FINAL NOTICE” and the wording of the no­

tice clearly pointed out the impending finan­
cial penalties; b) the third notice was elimi­
nated; c) the libraries eliminated the bill and 
relied on the University Bursar to notify pa­
trons of billing costs; and d) mailing intervals 
were shortened. The second and final notice 
was mailed at 15 days and billing was for­
warded to the University Bursar at 30 days.

Results
The change reduced the number of notices 
mailed by approximately 20%. This amounted 
to a savings of about $800 in postage for the 
first seven months. The most important result 
o f the change, though, was the freeing of bill­
ing staff from notice-related duties. As a re­
sult, ten hours of staff time/week were real­
lo ca te d  to interlibrary loan op eration s. 
Shortening of the notice and billing cycle also 
improved book return rates among library pa­
trons, as the total number of items outstand­
ing at 30 days fell by two-thirds.— Steve H orn 
a n d  P at Weaver-Meyers, University o f  O kla­
h o m a  Libraries, N orm an