University Libraries
Planning Priorities for FY99



Increase the Library Materials Budget to cover inflation.

	The cost of books and journals continues to escalate.  It is anticipated that costs 
for FY99 will increase by about 10%.  Thanks to strong support from the University 
Administration, the Libraries enjoyed a healthy increase in FY98 that has allowed us to 
regain some lost ground.  However, as shown by the chart below, we have not recovered 
the purchasing power we had in FY90.  An increase of about $2,000,000 is needed to 
restore FY90 purchasing power.  If this is not achievable, then an increase of  10% of the 
FY98 budget or $775,000 is needed to maintain FY98 purchasing power.  At minimum, 
an increase of $330,000 to cover only the projected cost increases for scholarly journals 
is needed.

	Relation to Strategic Plan: All six themes are directly supported by this budget.

 



Cultural Diversity

	The Libraries’ contribution to cultural diversity in the University community is 
best demonstrated by its commitment to acquiring books, journals, and other materials 
that reflect a broad range of opinions and philosophies and that detail the history and 
development of all people and cultures.  Further, we are actively seeking outside funding 
to preserve and make more accessible documents and programs from our collections that 
reflect cultural diversity, including ethnic newspapers published in Georgia and programs 
from the Peabody Archive that focus on minorities.  

Relation to Strategic Plan:  Supports Theme 3.

Outreach and Cooperative Programs

	The Libraries contribute to the state and region by sharing our materials and 
resources with other libraries.  Also, we have a liberal policy for use of the Libraries by 
Georgia citizens.  For FY99, we plan to support the following programs:
  continued expansion of GALILEO into public and school libraries.
  development of cooperative programs with GeorgiaNet, the state agency responsible 
for the dissemination of information generated by Georgia state government.
  seeking outside funding for several projects to scan and make material available on 
the World Wide Web, including all Georgia newspapers, selected documents 
important to the history and heritage of Georgia, and a selection of the 100 most 
important books in Georgia history.  
  improve the presentation of Georgia State documents within GALILEO.

Relation to Strategic Plan:  Outreach objectives of Themes 1 and 2.

Cooperation with Other Academic Libraries

	The University Libraries will continue to play a leading role in the development 
of GALILEO, the statewide electronic library system.  The main platform for GALILEO 
and most of the programmers are housed in the University Libraries and directed by our 
staff.  GALILEO continues to expand into public and school libraries in the state.  At the 
same time, new resources are being added that are best suited to academic libraries.
	The Libraries have also been involved in cooperative efforts on the regional level, 
through the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries.  A recently concluded 
agreement with this group has resulted in favorable shared pricing for a Web version of 
the citation indexes offered by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI).  Other 
projects are in development.
	We will continue to explore increased cooperation with the other research libraries 
in the Atlanta area:  Emory, Georgia Tech, and Georgia State.

Relation to Strategic Plan:  Theme 1 calls for greater cooperation with other 
University System institutions.  
New Integrated Library System

Growing out of the success of GALILEO is a new effort in the University System 
that will provide a common integrated library system for all 34 libraries.  This project has 
been named COPERNICUS.  It will allow users in any library to consult a shared catalog 
for all University System libraries and request books online.  The Board of Regents has 
put COPERNICUS into its budget with FY99 being the first year of a three year project.  
Assuming it is funded, the University Libraries will be able to replace GALIN, our aging 
online catalog, with COPERNICUS.  As stated in previous years, GALIN needs to be 
replaced and the cost to UGA if we did it ourselves would be between $800,000 and 
$1,000,000.
	
Relation to Strategic Plan: Theme 6 calls for the use of advanced technology and 
Theme 1 calls for increased cooperation with University System institutions.

Media Preservation

	With the archives of the Peabody Awards as an anchor and the hiring of a very 
active archivist, our collections of television and radio programs are growing rapidly and 
are surpassed among university libraries only by UCLA.  The tapes and films included in 
this archive need continual care and preservation.  It is estimated that it would cost about 
$2,500,000 to take all the steps necessary to preserve this collection.  While it is not 
reasonable to expect funding of this magnitude from the University, an increase in the 
Libraries budget that would be directed toward preservation of at least those programs 
that are unique would be an investment in the future.  An increase to the Libraries budget 
in the neighborhood of $100,000, continued over a number of years, would allow us to 
address most of the pressing needs we face.  Otherwise, much of the material recorded on 
video tape will deteriorate and disappear over the next five to ten years.

Relation to Strategic Plan:  These television and radio programs are important 
documents of history and society and offer opportunities for scholarly inquiry as 
promoted in Theme 1.

Information Technology

	The use of advanced technology grows more important each year.  For FY99, the 
Libraries have the following planning priorities:

Copernicus -- The Libraries will continue to make significant investments and advances 
in the use of information technology.  As mentioned above, GALILEO will 
continue to grow and COPERNICUS should replace GALIN over the next two 
years.  
Web Resources -- Increased attention will be focused on resources available through the 
World Wide Web using standard browsers like Netscape or Internet Explorer.  
While there exists a popular belief that most information needs can be met on the 
Web for free, the truth is that the most valuable and important information is not 
free.  Indeed, an increasing portion of the Libraries’ budget will be used to pay for 
site licenses that permit University students, faculty, and staff to use proprietary 
resources on the Web.
Redesign Libraries’ Web Site -- Given the importance of resources on the Web, the 
redesign of the Libraries Web site is critical because it is becoming, in many 
ways, a third facility whose appearance and presentation is as important as the 
Main Library or the Science Library.  Efforts will be focused on bringing as much 
information together in one place as possible with an efficient and understandable 
interface.
Digital Library -- The Libraries will also invest increasingly in the development of a 
digital library of historical resources.  Efforts are underway to secure outside 
funding for several projects, including the scanning of all Georgia newspapers, the 
development of a digital collection of important Georgia historical documents, 
and the conversion to electronic form of the 100 most important books in Georgia 
history.
Electronic Journals -- Over the next year or so, it will become possible to provide 
electronic versions of between 2,000 and 3,000 scholarly journals, primarily in the 
Sciences.  We already provide the journals of Academic Press, the American 
Mathematical Society, and Johns Hopkins University Press.  Other publishers are 
working to provide their journals as well.  The emerging pricing model for these 
electronic journals calls for a surcharge of between 3% and 4% above the print 
version.  Planning is needed to determine how to pay this surcharge and then how 
to offer these journals in a uniform, coherent manner.

Relation to Strategic Plan: Theme 6 calls for the use of advanced technology.

Controlling the High Cost of Journals

	The single biggest problem facing research libraries today is the high and 
escalating costs of journals.  Ten years of increases averaging 12% per year have ravaged 
budgets, reduced our ability to purchase books, and cut into our ability to use technology.  
Most of the intellectual content of these journals comes from faculty at American 
universities who sign away all rights to their articles.  Elsevier, the largest commercial 
publisher, reports that it realizes a net profit of between 30% and 40% on its scientific 
journals.  One must wonder if there might be a better way to disseminate knowledge.
	Alternative means of publishing need to be explored and exploited.  Efforts are 
underway in the Association of Research Libraries, in the AAU, and in NASULGC to 
determine if there might be a more economical and more efficient way to report research.  
Supporting these efforts may take the redirection of some funding within the Libraries’ 
budget and understanding from the faculty and administration.  However, the return on 
the investment could be significant.

Relation to Strategic Plan:  Theme 1 calls for efforts “…to shorten the elapsed 
time between the acquisition of new knowledge and its application…”  A more efficient 
system of scholarly communication would support this theme.

Space

	Space continues to be a major problem, both for reader space and for collections.  
The following projects are most important:

Student Learning Center -- Funding may be approved for FY99 to begin planning the 
Student Learning Center, the large classroom building slated for the Stegeman 
Hall site.  A portion of this building will house an Electronic Teaching Library, a 
facility that will provide electronic resources tailored to the curricular needs of 
undergraduates.  If planning funds are approved, library staff will be involved in 
planning this new facility.
Special Collections Building -- A Special Collections Building that would house the 
Hargrett Rare Books and Manuscripts Library, the Richard B. Russell Library, 
and the Peabody Archive is currently fifth on the campus list of capital projects at 
a cost of $26M.  Efforts are underway to raise a significant portion of this money 
privately.
Library Repository -- For every new book we buy, we send an older one to the 
Repository.  Growth is approaching 80,000 volumes per year.  At this rate, the 
repository will be full in about seven years.  It should be kept in mind that the 
Repository was intended as a temporary solution. The proposed Special 
Collections Building would have a permanent Repository attached to it.  Planning 
must continue to anticipate and meet the need for more shelving space.

	Relation to Strategic Plan:  Construction of new library space that is designed to 
support advanced technology would relate directly to Theme 6 and would support the 
other five themes as well.

Continue Library Reorganization

	Efforts will continue to increase efficiency and productivity.  A search is currently 
underway for an Associate University Librarian for Collection Services.  When this 
position is filled, the new organization of the Libraries will be in place and major 
planning for the future will begin.

	Relation to Strategic Plan:  The Libraries provide support, either directly or 
indirectly, to all themes in the strategic plan.  Greater efficiency in the Libraries would 
serve to support all areas of the University.


wgp 12/2/97



University Libraries’ Planning Priorities FY99 – Page 3