DigitalKoans

Below is a table showing the comparative rankings of state-funded Texas ARL Libraries on 18 factors. This data is from the ARL Statistics 2005-06 (see the "Summary of Rank Order Tables for University Libraries, 2005-06" table on pages 66-70).

The state-funded ARL Libraries are:

• Texas A&M University (A&M)
• Texas Tech University (TECH)
• University of Houston (UH)
• University of Texas, Austin (UT)

There are 113 university libraries in ARL. In the table below, "1" is the best possible top rank for a factor; "113" is the worst possible bottom rank. The top-ranked value for a factor within a row is shown in bold italics; the bottom-ranked value is shown in bold.

Below is a summary of the number of top and bottom rankings of state-funded ARL libraries within their peer group on 18 factors.

Below is a table that shows the overall rankings of state-funded ARL libraries using ARL's Expenditures-Focused Index.

Library Journal has published its 2008 Movers & Shakers awards (see the March 15th issue table of contents).

It has also released a complete list of all Movers & Shakers award winners by state.

Special congratulations to current and former Texas winners (institutional affiliation listed at the time of the award):

• Lorely Ambriz, Pan American Health Organization, 2007
• Charles W. Bailey Jr., University of Houston Libraries, 2003
• Daniel Berdaner, Fort Worth Public Library, 2006
• Michelle Boulè, University of Houston Libraries, 2008
• Devo Carpenter, Austin Public Library, 2008
• Andrew Dillon, School of Information, University of Texas at Austin, 2002
• Jill Emery, University of Houston Libraries, 2004
• Michelle Gorman, Austin Public Library, 2003
• Cathy Hartman, University of North Texas Libraries, 2004
• Corinne Hill, Denton Public Library, 2004
• Roy M. Mersky, School of Information, University of Texas at Austin, 2003
• Veronica Myers, El Paso Public Library System, 2002
• Maria Redburn, Bedford Public Library, 2008
• Miriam Rodriguez, Dallas Public Library, 2005
• Loriene Roy, School of Information, University of Texas at Austin, 2005

Some award winners no longer work at the institutions listed above (e.g., all three of the University of Houston Libraries' winners have left).

Although there appears to have been no formal public announcement about its roll out, the DSpace-based Texas Digital Library Repository is available.

The TDL Repository contains some initial materials (mainly ETDs and Seventeenth-Century News) from three of the four founding TDL members (Texas A&M University at College Station, Texas Tech University at Lubbock, and the University of Texas at Austin; there are no materials from the University of Houston) as well as from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Using Open Journal Systems, TDL also provides access to the Journal of Digital Information, which is supported by the Texas A&M University Libraries.

The Texas Digital Library Shibboleth Federation has made progress in providing Shibboleth access to TDL for three of the four founding members (the status as of August 2007 was: Texas A&M University at College Station: fully deployed, Texas Tech University at Lubbock: agreement reached, and the University of Texas at Austin: fully deployed; there was no activity at the University of Houston). Progress was also being made for Shibboleth access for Baylor University, Texas State University, and the University of North Texas.

Michelle Boule, who recently authored the "Tips for High Turnover" posting about the high turnover rate at the University of Houston Libraries that DigitalKoans previously discussed, has herself resigned. In the 3 1/2 years that she has worked at the UH Libraries, Boule has become a well-known advocate for the Web 2.0 movement in libraries, most recently writing Changing the Way We Work. Boule was named as an ALA Emerging Leaders Program participant in 2006.

In her posting, she says, in part:

This post has been a long time coming. If all works out accordingly, this post will be published directly after or right before I hand the interested parties my letter of resignation from the University of Houston Libraries where I have worked for three and a half years. I am sad to be leaving my friends and colleagues behind, even though I will see most of them often enough. Those who know me or have been paying attention will not be surprised at my departure. I have needed, searched for, even longed for a change in work scenery for quite awhile.

With Boule's resignation, the University of Houston Libraries have, since May 2006, lost all three of their Library Journal Movers & Shakers recipients (Charles W. Bailey, Jr., Michelle Boule, and Jill Emery) as well as one ALA Emerging Leaders Program participant (Michelle Boule; Miranda Bennett is the remaining ALA Emerging Leader).

Michelle Boule, who joined the University of Houston Libraries in September 2004, has written an interesting posting about coping with the high turnover rate at that library, where: "In the past year and a half, over half of the librarians and all of the staff (except one) in my department have left, for various reasons, including all three of our managers."

While your library is unlikely to be experiencing a turnover rate as high as the UH Libraries (out of a professional staff of 41, 11 departures or announced departures since July 2006, including 3 assistant deans, 2 department heads, 1 coordinator, and 5 line librarians), she offers some good advice on riding the turbulent waves of change that are useful in less severe situations.

Dr. Renu Khator, Provost and Senior Vice President at the University of South Florida has been named as the "sole finalist" being considered as University of Houston System Chancellor and University of Houston President.

Here's a list of her predecessors back to 1983.

• John Rudley, Interim President, 2007-present
• Jay Gogue, Chancellor/President from 2003-2007
• Arthur K. Smith, Chancellor/President from 1997-2003
• Glenn A. Goerke, President from 1995-97
• James H. Pickering, Acting President and President from 1992-95
• Marguerite Ross Barnett, President from 1990-92
• George W. Magner, Interim President, 1989-90
• Richard L. Van Horn, President from 1983-89

John Lehner, Assistant Dean for Personnel and Planning, has been given permanent responsibility for information technology support at the University of Houston Libraries. In this capacity, he assumes systems and digital library responsibilities. Prior to their departures in mid- and late-2006, Marc Truitt, former Assistant Dean for Systems (now Associate Director of Information Technology Resources and Services at the University of Alberta Libraries and Editor of Information Technology and Libraries) and Charles W. Bailey, Jr., former Assistant Dean for Digital Library Planning and Development and author of the Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography, performed these duties. Lehner had been in an acting capacity after those departures under the title Interim Assistant Dean for Library Systems. Lehner will retain his personnel and planning responsibilities in his new position. His new title is Assistant Dean for Library Systems, Planning, and Personnel.

Lehner worked as a city planner prior to receiving his MLS in 1994. Before joining the UH Libraries in 1998, he was a Research Support and Liaison Librarian at the Fletcher Library at the Arizona State University West Campus.

Library Journal contacted me about my resignation. I declined an interview, but I did issue the below statement for their article about this topic ("In Surprise Move, Bailey Resigns from U. of Houston") in the November 9, 2006 issue of Library Journal Academic Newswire:

During my thirty-one-year career, I have always viewed myself as a technological change agent. In the current environment, academic libraries must make difficult resource allocation choices between maintaining print collections, supporting ever-growing collections of licensed electronic resources, and fostering new modes of scholarly communication. There is no universal "right" choice. Each library must realistically make its own decision about what the right mix of these activities is in light of unique local circumstances. At this stage of my life, I believe that I can best serve my particular passions in the realm of scholarly communication and digital libraries elsewhere, although I am grateful for the support I have received at the University of Houston Libraries from many colleagues, both past and present, and I am especially grateful to Robin. N. Downes, former Director of the UH Libraries. For those interested in following my continued digital publishing activities, they can do so at www.digital-scholarship.com.

That's all I have to say on the matter at this time.

I have resigned my position as Assistant Dean for Digital Library Planning and Development at the University of Houston Libraries effective 1/31/07.

Effective immediately, there are several important changes to the Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography (SEPB), Scholarly Electronic Publishing Resources (SEPR), and the Scholarly Electronic Publishing Weblog (SEPW) that users should be aware of:

1. These publications have been moved to my domain:

• SEPB
• SEPR
• SEPW

2. While the UH Libraries will archive SEPB versions up to version 64, no new versions will be published on their Website. If you maintain a catalog record for SEPB, I would ask that you update it with the new address. Next Monday’s SEPW will be published at the new site.

3. A transition version of SEPB (65) has been published at the new site. There are no content changes. This version simply makes a number of HTML coding adjustments needed for the new location. A Google Custom Search Engine replaces the prior search capability. Once Google starts indexing the new site, search results will be from that site.

4. The SEPW mailing list will be discontinued at the end work today. You can continue to get an e-mail version from FeedBurner. I’m sorry for the inconvenience of your having to sign up again; all that is required is your e-mail address.

5. The SEPW RSS feed remains the same.

6. You can continue to follow my digital publishing activities at my domain and at DigitalKoans.

Thanks for your patience during this transition.