By David Brunell
BCR Executive Director
BCR staff recently began the process of critically re-examining this library network's
strategic plan. The current strategic priorities were established by the Board of
Trustees in 1996, after several surveys and a number of meetings with librarians from
across the BCR region. They focus on three areas:
- Helping the library community develop services based on an evolving
electronic information infrastructure.
- Developing new approaches to training and use of the Internet for the delivery
of library services.
- Improving BCR communications and publications.
The services developed by BCR in response to these priorities have fundamentally
changed the way we have done business over the last three years. New group
contracts for web-based services such as Britannica Online and CIS Academic
Universe are now used by more than half of BCR's member libraries, while well over
a thousand smaller institutions have gained access to OCLC FirstSearch databases
through statewide consortia arrangements in Colorado, Kansas, Iowa, Nevada and
Wyoming. These large-scale group subscriptions to web-based information resources
have substantially reduced the per-search cost of database use for libraries of all types
and sizes across the BCR region.
The BCR training program has also been dramatically altered by the emphasis on
Internet-related workshops and seminars. In 1996 less than a quarter of BCR's
training sessions covered Internet topics. Last year more than half of our training
covered one aspect or another of Internet use. And last year more than 2,000 library
staff members attended one of our sponsored teleconferences. We have also been
conducting experiments with NetMeeting software, which has the potential to allow us
to start using Internet conferencing for some training and administrative activities.
The communication initiatives have also changed how our members interact with us.
BCR's web site was accessed nearly 300,000 times last year, and most BCR
members now use our web enrollment forms to sign up for classes or new database
services. BCR staff now get considerably more messages via e-mail than by
telephone, although the workload for our telephone support services has also increased
dramatically. The voice-mail system has improved our efficiency and allowed us to
respond to these telephone inquiries without an increase in staff.
While we are proud of these new BCR services developed in response to the strategic
priorities established three years ago, we are also aware that the needs of the library
community have changed considerably since 1996. So the BCR Board of Trustees and
management team have begun the process of gathering the input and information we
need to update our strategic priorities. In the next few weeks we will be sending out a
short e-mail survey to the directors of 200 BCR member
libraries. The responses will be compiled and discussed in focus group meetings
planned for the spring and summer in each BCR member state. The focus groups will
make recommendations for the BCR staff and Board of Trustees to use in revising
BCR's strategic plan and setting goals for the next three years.
I know that we can depend on your continued help and support in this process to
improve and expand BCR's services.
