With the virtual library plan approved, our next challenge has been to seek approval for and implement on a priority basis the teams and project groups specified in the Blueprint. Once approved by the Library Directors, these teams and project groups must each be integrated into existing Library workgroups. The first two teams to be approved were the Virtual Libraries Implementation Team (VLIT) and the Electronic Collections Team (ECT).
As a result of meetings within the VLIT, faculty and staff presentations were created and charges developed for the nine teams and groups outlined in the Blueprint. The ECT has convened and is working on an "Electronic Collections Policy and Procedures Statement". To date that Team has recommended the acquisition of electonic databases such as Bibliography of the History of Art and Engineering Village. Two more electronic databases in the final stages of approval are ERL (Silver Platter) and JSTOR.
This team has developed an electronic resources evaluation form and a "Works in Progress" web page to keep faculty and staff informed of upcoming decisions. Beyond the specific tasks of choosing appropriate electronic resources, this team has recently played a very important role in representing the USF Libraries during state and regional initiatives. Without the benefit of knowledgeable ECT members, the Libraries would have a less-coordinated approach as to what electronic resources to purchase at the state or regional level.
Results to date are viewed against a sweeping horizon of what we know is before us: a vision of superior electronic collections and content, an interface and infrastructure that exceeds today's standards and will benefit from tomorrow's standards, an organizational structure that is flatter and built on loosely coupled teams that form, solve problems and then dissolve, and finally, a vision of services that will enable USF students and researchers on campus and at distant locations to retrieve on time and with ease a wide range of exceptional resources.
CITATION: Metz-Wiseman, Monica; Grohs, Kim; Hanson, Ardis; Neville, Tina, and Ed Sanchez (1996). A Blueprint for Development: The USF Libraries Virtual Library Project. Poster session presented at the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Annual Meeting, Nashville, Tennessee, April 1997. [http://www.fmhi.usf.edu/library/projects/acrl/usfview.html
