2001/2002 - University College Cork Library

CUSTOMER SERVICES DIVISION 1
Head of Division: Ms. Valerie King
REPORT OF THE LIBRARY POLICY COMMITTEE 2001/2002
The Customer Services Division offers the first level of customer support through the
services of the Information Desk, Lending Services, Inter-Library Loans, LibraryPlus
(external readers and fee-based service) Security Services, UCC Library News, patron
care and customer surveys.
The year saw continued diversification of the user community and a demand for
greater access both to UCC collections and to other national collections. A number of
new initiatives and developments were undertaken during the year.
Activity 1999/2000 2000/2001 2001/02
Issues 302,030 268,466 316,345
External (fee-paying) readers registered - borrowing
rights
418 287 319
New external (fee-paying) readers registered -
consultation only
47 81 82
Short Consultation 229 170 157
Corporate members 26 13 34
Staff tickets issued 548 660 686
External fee income
Figure 1 - Table of circulation and related statistics
£11,708
(€14,866)
€18,597 €19,976
The Information Desk continues to be a focal point and “first port of call” for
students, particularly non-traditional students who require guidance through the
challenges of using a modern library. The trend towards independent learning has
heightened the need for this service. An extension of the service to Saturdays was
very welcome and allowed staff to plan targeted Information Skills Training and
guided tours to many groups of part-time and distance users. Average monthly
enquiries during the year (term time) was 820.
Inter-Library Loan applications show a small increase over this period. The British
Library, UCC’s main supplier of ILLs increased its charges by an average of 60%
without warning in August 2001, forcing the Library to plan for an increase from €8 to
€13 per request from early 2003. In view of the size of increase (and the probability of
more to come), a review of ILL services was initiated. This will identify areas of
potential cost saving and will recommend a more equitable allocation of funding to
academic departments.
Activity 1999/2000 2000/2001 2001/2002
Applications received from UCC staff and students 15,331 11,853 11,862
Applications received from the CUH Library 935 979 1,389
Successful requests 14,159 (92%) 11,177 (94%) 11,111 (94%)
Items supplied from UCC stock to other libraries 492 488 530
Figure 2 - Table of inter library loan statistics
Staff continued to investigate alternative automated ILL management systems.
1 A more detailed report of the activities of this division is available
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