Overview and Participants (3rd Edition May 1990)

Procedures and Commentary (3rd Edition May 1990)

Open Access Policy

Procedures and Commentary
(3rd Edition May 1990)

Definition of Open Access
Open Access, as defined in State University of New York Policy Handbook, No. 130 (Revised Edition 1981), is a policy under which the library of any of the State University units will provide direct service, including in-person loan of unrestricted and available library materials to any eligible member of the State University community. Reserve collections may be considered restricted material. Library materials are defined as those materials that are under an individual library’s administration.

Eligibility
Eligible library users are those persons currently enrolled in or employed by the institutions in the State University. Members of the State University who are continuing their association with the University in the next full semester are also eligible for Open Access privileges.

Commentary. Eligibility is extended to faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, and to staff of participating campuses, included Empire State College. The purpose of the second sentence is to make available access to libraries of the University to students during vacation periods, particularly if they are living away from their home campus. The State University of New York Office of Institutional Research has a publication called Geographic Origins of Students, 2-88 v. 1,2,3 which records the enrollment of students county by county. This publication will assist librarians to assess potential use of campus libraries during vacation periods.

Identification
Identification of the borrower will be established by the lending library. The lending library will maintain adequate records of its Open Access registrants.

Commentary. The host library is responsible for accepting requests for service, including borrowing privileges, on the basis of the presentation of a valid State University I.D. card. The Chancellors Committee recommended that a uniform University-wide I.D. card be developed but in the absence of such a card any form of card issued by any campus is acceptable.

The host library may need to supplement the information presented on the card such that the applicant for service can be readily contacted, particularly if materials are borrowed.

Conditions of Loan
The borrower is subject to such rules and regulations as are established by a lending campus for its own community, including those rules which govern access to and the availability of library materials, loan periods, recalls, and delinquency fees.

Commentary. The applicant is, after acceptance by the library, entitled to exactly the same services and borrowing privileges as those offered to the host campus. As noted in I. above, reserve collections may be considered restricted material for borrowing purposes.

Return of Library Materials
a. The borrower is expected to protect borrowed materials and return them directly or via the borrower’s home library, or any State University of New York library, to the lending library by the due date.

Commentary. A borrower may return borrowed materials either to his or her own library, or directly to the library from which the item was borrowed, or to any other participating State University library. The library that receives the material is responsible for the prompt transmission of the returned material to the lending library. The incorporation of a mailing label by the lending library will greatly facilitate this return.

The borrower is expected to return the material to a library in time to allow its return to the lending library by the due date, and should be so appraised of this when borrowing material.

b. Notices of overdues, recalls, and unremitted charges will be sent by the lending library to the borrower. The home campus will intercede on behalf of the lending library, on request. The home library has ultimate responsibility for the return of tardy materials and for payment to the lending library of unremitted delinquency fees and lost item charges.

Commentary. Notices will be sent directly to the borrower based on information taken when registering the borrower as a valid user of that library. If difficulties are encountered with a borrower, a library may request the home campus to intercede. A request that the home campus should intercede should not be the first approach to a borrower. Requests to intercede should be made to the Head of Circulation of the borrowers’ campus.

Upon receipt of such a request, the home library should pursue such procedures as it normally follows on its own campus in conjunction with the campus administration.

c. Replacement costs for library materials will be determined by the lending library in accordance with its existing policies.

Commentary. No additional or separate replacement or delinquency fee schedule may be developed for users of the Open Access system.

d. Open Access privileges will be withdrawn from any user, given evidence of abuse.

Commentary. If a user consistently abuses the Open Access system, privileges may be withdrawn by the home campus, following the receipt of complaints from other campuses.

Notification of such withdrawal of privileges will be passed to the Office of the Director of Library Services for distribution to all participating institutions. Such notification will contain sufficient information for adequate identification of the borrower. Privileges may be reinstated by the home campus at its discretion, and reported for distribution as above.

Evaluation
Statistics will be maintained and reported by the lending library for Open Access loans indicating:

a. Number of items borrowed by users from other State University of New York libraries listed by library.

b. Status of borrowers by library.

c. Broad subject classification of items borrowed, grouped by the library of the borrower, to be collected on an occasional basis, upon request of the SUNY Office of Library Services.

These statistics will be reported to and reviewed by the Office of the Director of Library Services each month. The Office of the Director of Library Services will report on the statistics periodically.

Commentary. The collection and reporting of adequate use statistics is an essential part of the implementation of Open Access. The Review Committee will need to chart the patterns of movement from campus to campus, by campus and status of borrower, both to discern the effect on collection usage at host libraries and to examine the general pattern on a University-wide basis.

The section on classification numbers serves two purposes:

1) to measure the perceived subject strengths of the lending library, and

2) to provide, upon request, information to home campuses on the classes of material that are being sought elsewhere. The classification mark is, of course, a gross measure; even the division of the schedules leaves much to be desired. If, however, it is noted that one campus is being heavily used in one area, e.g. QB-QR, it will be possible to initiate a closer look on a one-month sample basis.

The monthly summary reports should reach the Office of the Director of Library Services no later than the 7th of the month following that month’s report. The statistics will be collected and compiled in the Office of Library Services and reported periodically.

Implementation
The Committee recommends implementation of the Open Access procedures by all State University units on February 1, 1974. The Committee will work with the Director of Library Services to design forms and to draft leaflets, etc., as are necessary for the implementation of these procedures. The Office of the Director of Library Services will distribute information and materials regarding implementation of the program.

Periodic Review
These procedures will be subject to periodical review and modification in response to changing conditions and circumstances, with an initial review to be made not later than fifteen months after implementation.

Commentary. The reviews will be based on reported statistics and received reports.