U.S. AGRICULTURE AND RURAL
LIFE
Report Date: 25 September 1999
Reporting: Erich Kesse for the University of Florida’s George A. Smathers Libraries.
Project UPN: 9808211
University Proposal Number: 99061862
Agency: Cornell University (U025), Agency Number: 33219-5910
On Campus Account Number: 550148214
Administrative
Consideration:
The University of Florida
Libraries (Unit A55) requests acknowledgement of revised assignments.
Erich Kesse (284-68-9243) has been reassigned to duties outside the Preservation Department and away from the grant, “Preserving History of U.S. Agriculture and Rural Life.”
Cathleen (Cathy) Mook (044-60-9114) has been assigned new duties inside the Preservation Department, including the grant, “Preserving History of U.S. Agriculture and Rural Life.”
Other Changes.
Cecilia Botero, who had been serving as project serials cataloger, left the Smathers Libraries in August 1999. Her duties have been temporarily picked up by Susan Constantineau, a junior serials cataloger, and will be reassigned to an incumbent senior serials cataloger when hired.
Targets:
Year 1 (Ending 1999 June 30)
Titles (cataloging and filming completed)........... 230
Volumes (cataloging and filming completed)........... 700
Expenditure ($57.50 per volume; excluding cost-share).... $40,250
Year 2 (Ending 2000 June 30)
Titles (cataloging and filming completed)........... 343
Volumes (cataloging and filming completed)......... 1000
Expenditure ($57.50 per volume; excluding cost-share).... $57,500
TOTAL (Ending 2000 June 30)
Titles (cataloging and filming completed)........... 573
Volumes (cataloging and filming completed)......... 1749
Expenditure ($57.50 per volume; excluding cost-share) $100,567.50
Status as of 1999
June 30 (12 Months = 4th Quarter): Cumulative (life-to-date)
Target Volumes.. 230
Represented as/In Titles. 700
Represented as/In Expenditures $40,250
Volumes Cataloged and Queued for Microfilming........ (171% of target) 394
Represented as/In Titles. (55.6% of target) 389
Volumes Filmed. (0% of target) 0
Film Reels Stored. (0% of target) 0
Revenues
Released. (83.3% of target) $33,521.70
Expenditures (9.1% of release; 7.8% of target) $3,055.65
Balance $30,466.05
Notes:
· The Bibliography (completed in a previous project phase/grant) continues to be problematic. Current phase/grant planning was based on the content of the bibliography, which lists items (e.g., federal publications, titles already filmed or no longer extant, etc.) out-of-bounds for filming. The Bibliography has been mined completely to the depth of titles ranked by bibliographers as most important (ranks 1 and 2 on a scale of 5). Mining to the depth of 5 was initiated and was continuing at the end of this period. Titles in this class, once out-of-bounds materials are removed, however, were not sufficient to meet completed project targets; a process to augment the bibliography was initiated during the last half of the fiscal year ending 1999 June 30. This effort is coordinated in part by Vernon Kisling, agrarian history bibliographer, who coordinated compilation of the project bibliography.
· The difficulty of cataloging was under-estimated by planners of the current phase/grant. It has proven to be more difficult. The Resource Services Department, which oversees project cataloging, has not been inclined to use staffing budgets as allocated for their needs. It is their contention that the skills required are greater than those budgeted; they have opted to increase their cost-share contribution, leaving the cataloging allocation untouched.
· Expenditure to end of term has been used almost exclusively for bibliographic searching and other microfilming preparations. As such, the expenditure has been lower than budgeted. Concomitant with “savings” in cataloging, it is now our projection that the project will complete, if not on-time, under budget.
· Microfilming was strategically deferred. The volume of materials cataloged and ready for filming in-house as budgeted and the flow of additional materials into the microfilming queue has been inadequate to justify the hire of a camera technician at this time.
Status as of 1999
September 16 (15 Months = 5th Quarter): Cumulative (life-to-date)
Target Volumes.. 302
Represented as/In Titles. 919
Represented as/In Expenditures $52,842.50
Volumes Cataloged and Queued for Microfilming........ (197% of target) 595
Represented as/In Titles. (64.2% of target) 590
Volumes Filmed. (0% of target) 0
Film Reels Stored. (0% of target) 0
Revenues
Released.. (152% of target) $80,727.52
Expenditures (5.8% of release; 8.9% of target) $4,718.35
Encumbrances for Services. (19.9% of release; 30.5% of target) $16,130.00
Balance $62,934.82
Notes:
· The Bibliography (completed in a previous project phase/grant) continues to be problematic. Mining the bibliography to the depth of 5 (on a scale of 5 in bibliographer’s rankings) has continued. The effort to augment the bibliography was also continued.
· Cataloging continues to be difficult. However, it now appears to be gaining speed. The Resource Services Department, which is responsible for project cataloging, has made plans to begin using a portion of the cataloging allocation.
· Microfilming continued to be strategically deferred. The volume of materials cataloged and ready for filming in-house as budgeted and the flow of additional materials into the microfilming queue has been inadequate to justify the hire of a camera technician at this time. Currently, in-house microfilming equipment is experiencing correctable failure; failure has created a backlog in all microfilming queues and is anticipated to delay filming somewhat. Funds have been encumbered for processing and duplication of exposed films.
· Expenditure to end of this quarter term has been used almost exclusively for bibliographic searching and other microfilming preparations. As such, even with plans for planned use of the cataloging allocation, the expenditure has been lower than budgeted. The Preservation Department, which is responsible for the microfilming component of the project, now is examining commercial microfilming options as a means of dealing with both current in-house equipment failure and an anticipated end-of-project filming backlog.