The Task Force on Communicating Directions and Goals of the University Libraries had its first meeting on Friday, January 12, starting at 1:30. Theresa Casad, Cameron Tuai, and Parker Ladwig were in attendance.

A. The Task Force discussed its internal communications. Minutes will be taken on a rotating basis alphabetically by last name. Once the draft minutes are approved, they will be distributed to the library faculty plus any

additional members on LAM (e.g., Theresa Casad, Sherry Veith). Between meetings information will be shared by e-mail to each member of the Task Force.

B. The Task Force reviewed its draft charge. Recommendations for changes will be discussed by Parker Ladwig with Jennifer Younger before the next meeting.

The charge is as follows:

"There are multiple documents currently existing within the University Libraries which speak to the vision, mission, goals, challenges and strategies, directions, renovation framework and objectives, and budgeting priorities for additional money of the University Libraries and its

departments. Parker presented a preliminary analysis of several of these documents to LAM on January 20, 2001 which revealed the complexities of using them to gain an overview of library directions and priorities.

1. Part one of the charge is to put these existing documents into the framework of a strategic plan to foster more effective communication of their contents, and to assist library staff in their interpretation and use of this information. The framework should define:

1a. types of strategic planning statements,
1b. organize these documents into these categories,
1c. identify the areas of interest represented in these documents and map the document contents to these areas, and
1d. present the results in a manner that will allow readers to more easily understand what is being presented.
 

Recognizing that these documents were written by different groups or individuals at different times, you do not need to reconcile their differences or choose among them.
 

2. Part two is to:

2a. assess the current state of strategic planning in the University Libraries. This should include:

2a1. a statement on the role of a strategic plan,
2a2. an evaluation of the conflicts between or among the existing statements as well as of gaps in what is usually included in a strategic plan,
2a3. an evaluation of the effectiveness of our current documents in communicating directions and goals within or outside of the Libraries, and
2a4. [added] an initial evaluation on the ability of these documents to form a strategic plan.

2b. [changed order] make recommendations for its improvement."

C. The Task Force then discussed its workplan.

1. Deadlines:

1a. March 7, a status report will be presented to LAM
1b. March 30, the Task Force's final report will be sent to J. Younger

2. Next meeting: Thursday, January 18, 10:15 to 12:45

3. Assignments before next meeting:

3a. M. Eiteljorge--gather existing documents, determine an appropriate location on the Libraries' Web pages, and provide links to all the documents from that location.
3b. T. Casad--determine which budget statements will be made available (and in what form) and discuss with LEC members the author, occasion, and purpose for each of the existing statements.
3c. C. Tuai--gather information for creating working definitions for strategic plans and the various statements. Identify sources of those definitions.
3d. P. Ladwig--discuss suggested changes to draft charge with J. Younger, and gather information for creating working definitions for the various library areas of interest. Identify sources for those definitions.

4. Meeting was adjourned at 2:30.

Parker Ladwig