Program Goals and Marketing Plan for The Ball State University Libraries

The Ball State University Libraries serve to support the vision and mission of Ball State University as a national model of excellence for learning-centered academic communities to advance knowledge, improve economic vitality, and enhance the quality of life.

The vision of the University Libraries is recognition as a destination for research, learning, and friends. This statement reflects our strategy for the libraries’ technologies, programs, services, and collections. Our fundamental service objective is to support students’ pursuit of academic success and faculty endeavors in the creation of new knowledge, classroom instruction, enhancement of academic outcomes, and greater personal awareness.

The University Libraries’ Goals for 2007-2008
Our goals identify the outcomes that our professional and paraprofessional personnel strive to achieve in providing a wide-range of sophisticated library and information services to our students and faculty. These goals include the following:
Increasing access to informational resources for students and faculty
Maintaining and enhancing a student-faculty friendly, comfortable environment supportive of teaching, learning, collaborative student endeavors and research
Continual improvement of information technology service levels for student learning
Maintaining and expanding the Digital Library Initiative
Providing increased customer service for the Ball State community
Enhancing technical training opportunities for faculty and staff, and providing training opportunities for students

Technologies, Programs, Services, and Collections of the University Libraries
Librarians and other specialists to help students and faculty with research projects and papers
Access to rich digital and print content for scholarship and research
Physical and digital space for pursuing research and learning projects
Computers, software, and other technology for completing classroom assignments and conducting both research and creative projects
Individual and collaborative spaces for study and group learning and great hours

Elements of the University Libraries’ Business Plan for Increased Emphasis, 2007-2008
Distance education outreach through webpage design and online chat with librarians
Establishment of a presence in Second Life, a 3-D virtual space
Greater collection access through enhanced graphical interface
Implementation of an online reservation system for study and conference rooms
Incorporation of facilitators into discussion groups for books, films, readings
Intensive computing for data analysis, gaming, video editing and animation rendering
Outreach to students who are living in University housing
Providing academic database access for alumni
Targeted immersive learning opportunities using the Archives and Special Collections, including data storage
Virtual Press expansion to include publication by faculty, students, alumni, and other academic organizations
Web-based video tutorials for library instruction