Legislature(1999 - 2000)
04/12/1999 01:32 PM Senate HES
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SB 21-APPROP: UAA CONSORTIUM LIBRARY FACILITY
CHAIRMAN MILLER brought up SB 21, and stated that Senator Ellis
would present the bill.
Number 564
SENATOR JOHNNY ELLIS, sponsor of SB 21 expressed appreciation of
the committee for hearing the bill. Last year the legislature
passed an amendment by Senator Kelly during deliberations on the
capital budget that allowed the University of Alaska Anchorage to
take deferred maintenance monies of about $10 million to begin work
on this project. This bill proposes to appropriate from the
General Fund the balance of monies needed to complete the project.
Expansion of the library is essential for continued national
accreditation. Support of the project is widespread among
students, faculty and staff, and the general public. The UAA
Library operates the most active inter-library loan program in
Alaska. The project will provide new opportunities to train the
future workforce in the state.
SENATOR ELLIS said his true purpose is to get this on the agenda of
the Finance Committee as a project in the capital construction
budget and leave the exact appropriation amount and source of
funding to their wisdom and experience.
CHANCELLOR GORSUCH, on-line from Anchorage, spoke in support of SB
21. He said the UAA Library is 25 years old, and the student body
has doubled in that time.
TAPE 99-18, SIDE B
Number 588
CHANCELLOR GORSUCH discussed the issues of the expansion of the
library and the materials contained in it. ARILS is a collection
of 8 previously independent natural resource libraries of both
federal and state agencies located in a consolidated facility on C
Street. UAA plans to make ARILS an integral part of its expanded
library. He said UAA hopes to find other partners to join in the
library expansion. He pointed out the resolutions passed by the
Municipality, Anchorage Chamber of Commerce that indicate this is
a high priority project.
Number 556
SENATOR WILKEN asked if society is moving away from libraries. Law
offices are now being built without libraries, and instead use the
space for computers and offices for more attorneys. He asked, "Do
we really need a $30 million library?" Would the money be better
spent for a smaller building with greater distributive capacity for
access by people with computer terminals?
COMMISSIONER GORSUCH replied it's a good question. Steve Rawlins,
Dean of the Library, is very familiar with the emergence of the
electronic library, and would follow up on his comments. The chief
director of the Library of Congress informed the commissioner that
it was unlikely within the next 30 to 40 years that more than 30%
of the Library of Congress's hard copy holdings would be fully
digitized and available in electronic form. In the chief
director's estimate, the written book will not die, and we will
continue to have many of our historical materials in hard copy,
while seeing a continued explosion of information in electronic
form. COMMISSIONER GORSUCH said he has been cautioned about
digitizing library holdings because with every major computer
upgrade, data and information get lost in the conversion process.
For archival reasons, there's a strong recommendation for
continuing to have hard copy as a backup.
COMMISSIONER GORSUCH explained to Senator Wilken that a major
portion of the library includes study areas for students. The
current reference library facilities are undersized. The $40
million fiscal note would simply bring the library expansion up to
the maximum capacity standards at the time the library opens, and
would not accommodate needs for the next 20 to 30 years. He said
he is banking that some of the electronic holdings will diminish
the demands on the library.
Number 496
MR. STEVE RAWLINS, Dean of UAA Library, stated he likes to think of
the library of the 21st century as a place that holds "collections
and connections." Last year 65,000 books were published and very
few appeared on the Internet. In planning a library for the 21st
century you have to accommodate the people, the instruction
occurring in the building, the existing and growing print
collections, and the network connections.
COMMISSIONER GORSUCH asked Mr. Rawlins to discuss the collaboration
with the Municipality, the Rasmussen Library and the state library,
and how people outside the Anchorage area will be beneficiaries of
this project.
MR. RAWLINS explained that electronic connections are being
established as well as partnerships with other libraries. UAA teams
up with other university libraries to save money by jointly
licensing electronic library products. It will develop a joint
system with the Anchorage Municipal Library where people can access
the holdings from the UAA Consortium Library and all the extended
campuses of UAA on one database. It will also develop more
electronic access and digital formats through the Internet and
Worldwide Web.
Number 451
MR. JOSH HUNTER, UAA Student President, spoke from the students'
perspective. He said that since the first semester he attended
UAA, the students have complained bitterly about the current state
of the library. Depending upon the program, there is a lag time in
current research and available documents. Research documents for
medical and biology students have been cut off, and there have been
cuts in journal acquisition over the past four years. When
students go on with their education or go to work in their fields,
they are several years behind in knowing what's currently going on.
Faculty can only spend so much of their own money copying and
distributing important journal articles. MR. HUNTER said many
students have flown to libraries in Washington and Oregon and paid
to become members in order to obtain current research information.
He urged the committee to look further ahead and build for
tomorrow, not for today.
CHAIRMAN MILLER asked the wish of the committee.
SENATOR PEARCE moved SB 21 from committee with individual
recommendations. Without objection, it was so ordered. The
committee adjourned at 2:40 p.m.
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