• The Libraries for the first time since 1994 moved up in the rankings of the 111 academic library members of the Association of Research Libraries, from 45th to 39th position.
• New University President C. D. Mote Jr., and Mrs. Mote visited McKeldin Library on October 7, met with the Library Executive Council, toured the Service Plus area, and participated in an informal welcoming program with staff.
• For the third year in a row, the Libraries received a budget increase, the additional funds this year being used principally to purchase serials and other materials.
• The functions, activities and staff associated with reference, instruction, and collections management were successfully transformed into three discipline-based teams: Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences & Allied Professions, and Science & Technology.
• The remaining operations of the undergraduate library at Hornbake Library – the collections, processing activities, and public services – were merged with services at McKeldin Library.
• Planning an initial work on the renovation and conversion of Hornbake Library into primarily a Special Collections library continued. Retrofitting and upgrading of the air conditioning and heating system completed and architectural and engineering firms were hired.
• In January 1999, VICTORWeb, the Web browser version of the Libraries' online public access catalog, became accessible. Access to all the Libraries' electronic resources is now available through Internet browsers like Netscape and Internet Explorer.
• The migration of electronic resources from networked-CD-ROM to access on the Web continued at a rapid pace. Most database subscriptions were acquired consortially through the University System of Maryland.
• The 15 libraries at the 13 state-supported four-year colleges and universities in the University System of Maryland began a procurement process for a new, shared Library Information Management System (LIMS) to replace the current 10-year-old mainframe system.
• The Libraries partnered with the College of Arts and Humanities and Office of Information Technology in a $410,000 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Challenge Grant to establish the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities (MITH).
• Wireless technology was installed at McKeldin Library enabling patrons to gain access to the University's data network with wireless adapters and laptops.
• The Nippon Foundation of Japan awared the Libraries $477.000 and the NEH provided $300,000 to support the newspaper microfilming of the Gordon W. Prange Collection.
• Two exhibitions of the Prange Collection were held in Japan, the first in Tokyo and the second in Kyoto. Japanese interest in the Prange was further evidence when the NHK Japanese television network filmed at McKeldin Library and produced a news program carried in prime time throughout Japan.
• The preservation microfilming project involving the Katherine Anne Porter papers, funded by the NEH, was successfully completed by the end of the year.
• The Performing Arts Library (PAL) continued planning its relocation to a new facility in the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at Maryland, with opening slated for the fall 2000 semester.
• The International Piano Archives at Maryland (IPAM) and Friends of the Libraries cosponsored a musical celebration marking the establishment of The Walter Hautzig Collection as well as the gift of The Mieczyslaw Munz Collection to IPAM, both by Mr. Hautzig, a celebrated concert pianist.
• Nonprint Media Services successfully added DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) to the list of multimedia formats supported by the UM Libraries.
• The Libraries resumed the tradition of holding a used book sale for the campus community and the general public. Over 10,000 volumes were offered for sale and almost $10,000 was raised to support the Libraries.
• The Libraries produced a revised strategic plan that included new mission, value and vision statements and a number of updated goals and objectives. The plan also provided an assessment of the numerous accomplishments from the 1996 plan (see: http://www.lib.umd.edu/PASD/SPTF_March_99.html#ASSESSMENT OF LEVELS).
• The Libraries active participation in the SPARC (Scholarly Publishing & Academic Resources Coalition) initiative continued throughout the year. The Libraries subscribed to the first three alternative journals sponsored by SPARC which has as its goal the creation of partnerships with publishers, particularly scholarly and professional societies, who are developing high quality, economical alternatives to existing high-priced commercial publications.
• The first year of a successful mass deacidification program resulted in the treatment of 7,700 books.
• The Libraries entered into an agreement to catalog and provide access to the James McGregor Burns Academy of Leadership's Lucille Maurer Leadership Library via VICTORWeb.

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Last edited Wednesday, January 24, 2001

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Last Revised: 01/24/01