Deborah Harnke Botanic Garden Technology Plan Emporia State University

Deborah Botanic Garden Deborah A. Harnke 10200 W 20th Ave. Denver, CO 80235 P 303-979-1419 F 303-720-1100 dbg@gardens

Deborahs Botanic Garden Information Technology Strategic Plan: 2012-2015

The mission of Deborahs Botanic Garden is to connect people with plants, especially plants from the Rocky Mountains. To fulfill its mission, DBG has embraced four core values: Diversity, Relevance, Sustainability, and Transformation. Not only do these four concepts relate to the natural environment and the care of living things within it; these four ideas also apply to people and relationships. The Gardens strives to preserve diversity of plant life, as well as engage diverse audiences. DBG speaks relevantly to local, regional, and national communities. The Gardens also strive to act as a catalyst for connecting individuals and their environment. We are devoted to the collection, cultivation, study and display of plan species and to research in plant systematics and evolution. Through our programs, the Garden strives to make significant contributions to the appreciation, enjoyment, conservation, understanding, and thoughtful utilization of our natural heritage. The technology vision of the DBG library is to utilize current technology to improve services and to cultivate relationships with the public and scientific world. The budget for the DBG is roughly $150,000 a year. $50,000 of the budget for each year is set aside for the upcoming technology budget.

The library has adopted the following objectives to achieve its information technology goals: 1. Training of staff. o Provide adequate training of staff and volunteers. A work group of staff will be created in 2011 to discuss the areas of improvement that should be addressed starting in 2012. Online classes will focus on technology, where face-to-face classes will help improve relationships within the group. Classes will focus on current technology, e-mail,
Deborah Botanic Garden Deborah A. Harnke 10200 W 20th Ave. Denver, CO 80235 P 303-979-1419 F 303-720-1100 dbg@gardens

calendaring, and career development. The budget for training staff will increase each year as a knowledge base is created. Individuals who participate in classes will bring one applicable piece of technology information to share at staff meetings. o Performance appraisals of all library staff will include a section on technology competencies. This will become effective starting in 2013 performance evaluations. 2. Collaboration with other botanic libraries staff. o Utilize Web 2.0 tools to foster relationships with other libraries. A member of each library department will work together to consider various Web 2.0 tools and implement one that will expand current staffs knowledge and enhance professional relationships with other members of the botanic garden community. The group will form in 2012 and decided on a tool within the year. In 2013 the Web 2.0 tool will be implemented. In 2014 the group efforts will be reevaluated in its effectiveness and the program will either continue or be modified. o A main website will be created detailing the work that is being done in various botanic libraries. This website linking all botanic libraries together has obvious collaborative benefits. This will be done in order to improve the quality, accessibility, and sharing information between contributing libraries and their patrons. IT Security will protect the availability, confidentiality and integrity of contributors resources. Communication with other botanic libraries will begin immediately in 2012 and design and uploading of site will be completed by 2013. Infringement testing will be integrated into the monthly assessment program for IT system to ensure potentially vulnerabilities are properly classified and corrected beginning in 2013 as well. 3. Share the automated library system with other libraries in the area. o Prospector is a unified catalog of academic, public and special libraries in Colorado and Wyoming, this consortium will be extremely valuable to our library. Through Prospector one can have access to 30 million books, journals, DVDs, CDs, videos and other
Deborah Botanic Garden Deborah A. Harnke 10200 W 20th Ave. Denver, CO 80235 P 303-979-1419 F 303-720-1100 dbg@gardens

materials held in these libraries. With a single search you can identify and borrow materials from the collections and have them delivered to your local library. By offering this service to DBG patrons and scientists they will have access to these resources. The new Prospector interface (http://www.coalliance.org/ prospector) has added a Google Preview link for books. This link appears at the full record for a book and will lead the reader to a preview of the book being offered by Google Editions. Viewers will be able to read portions of the book in a book reader and it will help determine if this book is worth requesting through Prospector. In some cases, if full access to the book is not needed this peek into the book may be all that is needed. To join Prospector there is an initial one-time cost of $30,000 to join the alliance. Annual maintenance is roughly $12,500. This cost can change each year due to the number of participants. The price above reflects the past years dues. The DBG will join Prospector beginning in 2012. This will take a considerable amount of the years budget to do this, but we feel it is a worthwhile cause that in the end will greatly benefit our scientists and patrons. We will continue to work with Prospector until 2019. We believe this will give sufficient amount of time for patrons and staff to become familiar with this service. If it is not utilized, we will reevaluate continuing this service. 4. Create a consortium of botanic libraries in order to share our printed and electronic resources. o A Digital Library network will be created with botanic libraries who want to participate. In order to provide materials to scientists and patrons across the country that are interested in viewing collections from botanic garden libraries across the nation a consortium of botanic libraries will be created. This consortium will be similar to that of Prospector, but specifically created for botanic libraries. An effective knowledge-sharing environment will be created while meeting information management standards and
Deborah Botanic Garden Deborah A. Harnke 10200 W 20th Ave. Denver, CO 80235 P 303-979-1419 F 303-720-1100 dbg@gardens

requirements. This will be done by designing, developing and implementing a botanic garden network. After the botanic website has been created it will be easy to let users know across the nation of the resources available to them. Much information must be gathered first in order to move forward with this major step. Recourse and information sharing will begin between libraries in 2012, advertisement for the upcoming consortium will begin in 2013, and the network of physically sharing materials will not begin until 2014. 5. Maintain and Improve the Telecommunications Infrastructure. o Telecommunications infrastructure needs to include data, voice, video, and radio networks in order to serve the science mission of the DBG. There are networks currently that will transmit not only data but also voice and video. Many developments and technological advancements will occur in broadband infrastructure, Internet architecture, wireless communication, and mobile applications. These and other emerging technologies will be critical in improving telecommunication effectiveness, efficiency, and reliability. Beginning in 2013 Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) as the preferred solution for communication to other botanical libraries. o Ensure current technology is effective and being utilized. Make sure e-mail and calendaring technology is being utilized and is appropriate for staff. Reevaluate effectiveness and viability of software available to staff.

Deborah Botanic Garden Deborah A. Harnke 10200 W 20th Ave. Denver, CO 80235 P 303-979-1419 F 303-720-1100 dbg@gardens

GOALS 1. Training 2. Collaboration using Web 2.0 tools 3. Implement Prospector 4. Create Botanic Libraries consortium 5. Maintain & Improve Telecommunications

2012 Budget $6,000 $0 $42,500 $0 $1,500

2013 Budget $10,000 $0 ~$13,000 $27,000 $10,000

2014 Budget $17,000 $0 ~$13,000 $10,000 $10,000

Total Technology Plan Budget

50,000

50,000

50,000

Statement of training: DBG will ensure that the staff acquires training and maintains an optimal level of knowledge of technology. Much value is placed on training of staff. After the implementation of Prospector a large portion of the budget funding goes to training and career development. Statement of evaluation: As mention above, efficiency with technology will become a competency in performance appraisals beginning in 2013. As many of these programs are implemented they will be reevaluated within a year or two of execution. If the outcomes of the goals are not working, adjustments will be made by the committee or library director and another trial run with begin. After this point if a goal is unsuccessful it be reevaluated and may be abandoned completely.

Deborah Botanic Garden Deborah A. Harnke 10200 W 20th Ave. Denver, CO 80235 P 303-979-1419 F 303-720-1100 dbg@gardens

Appendix: I chose a special library for my technology plan project. I am more familiar with public and academic libraries since I have worked in both settings and wanted to pursue something different and gather more information on a special library. During the blog assignment where we were to find a technology plan of a library we were interested in working in, I began searching for one from a botanic library. I contacted four different botanic gardens: Denver, New York, San Francisco, and Chicago. None of which had a technology plan. For this assignment I decided that I would create my own library with a similar mission statement to the Denver Botanic Gardens and create a technology plan that I would like to see done. The library I created is a combination of the Denver Botanic Garden, other garden libraries, and the USGS library. Botanic gardens seem to be limited in their use of technology. In my search for information I saw a need for libraries to organize and collaborate their information. That is why I choose for them to join Prospector here in Colorado and to create their own botanic Prospector across the nation. I didnt see a large need for them to follow in the footsteps of many public libraries in ways of computer use and circulating materials. Those visiting the botanic garden library have a specific field of interest. Items also do not circulate as frequently through their libraries so implementing RFID or a new ILS did not make sense. Ideally I would have preferred to view a technology plan that a botanic library had created. This would have allowed me to have their perspective of what they valued and what needs improvement in their field. I was able to draw upon the USGS technology plan, other public libraries, and personal experience to create this plan. As mentioned above I contacted several botanic libraries and asked about a technology plan and their overall budget. New York and Denver libraries contacted me back and I roughly took their numbers to create a total budget of $150,000 for my library. I also contacted George george@coalliance.org from Prospector and discussed the costs of joining the consortium.

Deborah Botanic Garden Deborah A. Harnke 10200 W 20th Ave. Denver, CO 80235 P 303-979-1419 F 303-720-1100 dbg@gardens

References

The Library of Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden. Retrieved Monday July 4th, 2011, from http://www.rsabg.org /documents/visitorservices/ LibraryBrochure 2008.pdf. Denver Botanic Gardens. Retrieved Friday July 1st, 2011, from http://www. botanicgardens.org/. George from Prospector, personal communication, July 6th, 2011. Prospector. Retrieved Monday July 4th, 2011, from http://www.coalliance.org/ prospector/. USGS Information Technology Strategic Plan Fiscal Years 2007-2011. http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/2006/1304/pdf/Circular%201304.Frondorf.pdf. WebJunction - Technology Planning. Retrieved July 4th, 2011, from http://www.webjunction.org/techplan

Deborah Botanic Garden Deborah A. Harnke 10200 W 20th Ave. Denver, CO 80235 P 303-979-1419 F 303-720-1100 dbg@gardens