Advisory Committee Report
HUGH GUNZ

The U of T Mississauga Library's Advisory Committee has continued to meet this academic year to discuss Library operations and initiatives. In its final meetings of 2008, committee members learned about a range of activities completed to enhance the Hazel McCallion Academic Learning Centre, including:

• Replacing the wireless infrastructure, a library service essential to students' work
• Equipping and opening the Li Koon Chun Finance Learning Centre
• Enhancing the fourth level of the Library to address noise issues by adding acoustical treatments, selectively grouping furniture, and establishing and promoting Learning Zones – Silent Zone, Quiet Collaborative Zone and Conversation Zone.

Space continues to be a key point with students, according to the results of the Library's online survey, Tell Us What You Think. Ian Whyte, Coordinator of Public Services, shared survey results with the Committee, revealing high satisfaction and importance ratings for many areas of the Library, including the building itself, the online catalogue and access to electronic resources. And while the importance of space scored high, users' satisfaction with space scored low. 

Liaison Librarian Pam King provided a tour of the new U of T Library catalogue interface and encouraged committee members to submit their comments and suggestions about the new catalogue and discovery interface. She also reported on the recently completed usability testing with U of T Mississauga undergraduates. 

In her report, Chief Librarian Mary Ann Mavrinac relayed the results of her meeting with graduate students. These include free Inter–Campus Delivery services, partial subsidization of Inter-Library Loans, electronic back files of journals and discussions on library space needs.

Committee members supported establishing the Undergraduate Friends of the Library group proposed by the Mary Ann Mavrinac and Undergraduate student Joey Santiago. This group will be an arm of the Advisory Committee and provide valued feedback from the Library's largest user constituency. With the number of visits reaching 8,000 to 9,000 daily, the Library is certainly a popular destination for students. 

Full details of the Advisory Committee meetings are described in the more detailed Minutes.

 

Hugh Gunz, Chair, Advisory
With the assistance of Pam King, Editor, Foreword