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Criteria for Participation—Full Document
Criteria for Participation in Resource Sharing Services of the Minitex Library Information Network
Approved: February 28, 2008
The policy defines the requirements for Minitex participation for Minnesota academic libraries and
state government libraries. Criteria for libraries that participate in Minitex resource sharing programs
through other inter-agency contracts are identified by their appropriate State Library Agency. The
criteria described herein also serve as a model for contract-based agreements.
The Legislative intent for funding Minitex resource sharing services was to enable Minnesota libraries
to share their collections to support students, faculty and other users of Minnesota academic and state
government libraries. The Legislature has also provided appropriations to Minitex to operate a suite of
programs that enhances and supports resource sharing.
Eligibility Requirements
Eligible libraries meet all the following minimum requirements for participation in Minitex resource
sharing services:
-
a bibliographically organized collection of materials and resources such as print, electronic,
non-book materials, and computer software;
- a searchable network-accessible catalog that provides access to the collection;
- collections available to users and accessible to the public; and
- a commitment to providing adequate library services and cooperative resource sharing.
To be eligible for participation in Minitex services subsidized by the State of Minnesota, academic
libraries must be part of a Minnesota-based institution of higher education that is registered or
licensed by the Minnesota Office of Higher Education and has:
- 80 per cent of the enrolled student body comprised of Minnesota residents, or
-
80 per cent of its student body made up of Minnesota residents and residents of states with tuition
reciprocity with Minnesota, or
-
80 per cent of the student body comprised of Minnesota residents and students living on the campus
or physically resident in Minnesota.
Standards and Requirements for Participation
Participating libraries demonstrate a commitment to providing adequate library services and cooperative
resource sharing by meeting the following minimum standards for personnel and services:
- personnel
-
at least one full-time professional librarian whose responsibilities include administration of the
library and liaison with the shared cooperative interlibrary system of which the library is a member;
-
a sufficient number of qualified staff (i.e., with appropriate education or experience in library
and/or other learning/information resources) to support the mission of the institution or agency; and
- trained personnel to assist users in locating and securing resources and information;
- services
-
regular and timely user instruction in the use of library resources and other learning/information
resources, especially those provided by the State of Minnesota;
-
interlibrary loan services (i.e., borrowing for the library's users and lending its resources to the
Minitex Office and requesting libraries); and
-
adherence to standards and guidelines approved by the Minitex/Minnesota State Library Standards Review
Task Force.
A. Collection and Access Requirements
Each participating library develops and maintains its own collections, bibliographic records and personnel
to support its institution's or agency's programs, to serve its community of users, and to contribute to the
library community's resource sharing network.
Materials provided through the Minitex Document Delivery Program should not be considered a substitute for
local ownership of essential resources. As a general rule, 95% of a participating library's user information
needs, including use of licensed full-text resources, should be met by the local library and/or its local or
regional inter-library agreements. The remaining 5% represents infrequent and/or supplemental information
needs that are referred to the Minitex office. This benchmark was chosen to protect the value of the Network,
ensuring equitable sharing of resources and guarding against abuse of Network participation by any institution
or agency.
Participation in the Minitex Library Information Network does not diminish the responsibility of each library's
funding/appropriating authority to provide adequate financial support to meet current and ongoing needs for
information resources, staff, and operational infrastructure.
B. Staffing and Operational Requirements
Each participating library is expected to have a professional librarian whose responsibilities include
administration of the library and to designate a key contact with the Minitex Office. The library's staff
is expected to assume the following responsibilities:
-
Share resources consistent with library policies, including collections, bibliographic records, reference
support and staff expertise;
-
Update and maintain cooperatively developed Network information (for example, for OCLC participants,
current cataloging and up-to-date serial holdings information);
-
Abide by Minitex guidelines and protocols for interlibrary loan requests, such as using the correct procedures
and responding promptly to overdue and lost book notices. It is expected that libraries will maintain the
integrity of the request process by properly updating the interlibrary loan system that they use;
-
Follow Minitex policies, procedures and protocols, such as using approved forms for communication,
notifying Minitex of any changes in the names of contact persons or changes in IP addresses, and being
available to interact with the Minitex staff during regular business hours; and
-
Keep up-to-date with new developments and changes in the Network; read Minitex communications, including
having at least one staff member monitor the Minitex electronic news list; and participate in Minitex
training and continuing education opportunities.
Attachment A: Interpretation of Criteria & Compliance Process
A. Need for Professional Librarian
It is expected that the institution will have a full-time professional librarian whose responsibilities
include administration of the library. This librarian is responsible for training and supervising designated
library staff who interact with the Minitex Office and other participating libraries during day-to-day operations.
A full-time professional librarian should be available when courses are being taught and when the library's
host institution or agency is open for regular business. When it is not possible for professional librarians
to provide this support within a 40-hour work week, trained personnel should be available in the absence of
a professional librarian to assist users in locating and securing materials and information when the library
is open and to interact with Minitex staff during regular business hours.
For the purpose of these Criteria, a professional librarian is defined as follows:
One who has a master's degree from a program accredited by the American Library Association or a master's
degree in school library media from a program recognized by national accreditation organizations.
For combined technical and community colleges or consolidated community and technical colleges, the designated
administrative unit for the named college is responsible for ensuring that each campus offers a professionally
developed library program of services and provides a written summary of that service to Minitex, if requested.
B. Computation of the 95% Criterion
Currently, the criterion to measure whether an institution meets 95% of its users' information needs is measured
biennially by counting circulation as follows: the total number of in-house used materials on a 3:1 ratio (3
in-house uses to 1 circulation), circulated materials, reserve use, number of full-text downloads from licensed
electronic resources, and number of requests received from other libraries divided by the number of requests
sent to the Minitex office to derive the service percentage.
C. Compliance Process
Every two years, Minitex will examine participating institutions' responses to the Academic Library Survey (ALS)
and query libraries if there are questions about compliance with the Criteria. Libraries meeting the Criteria
will be listed on the Minitex Web site as such. Institutions whose libraries do not meet the criteria will be
sent a letter by the Minitex Director indicating the concern and requesting that they demonstrate their
commitment to a professionally developed library program. If a library is part of the Minnesota State Colleges
and Universities System, a copy of the letter will be sent to the library representative in the Office of the
Chancellor.