ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 2 6 0 /C&RL News Request forms fo r extended In n ovation s campus lib ra ry services By Therese D. Baker Using the right fo rm improves information service I n response to the needs o f an ever-increas­ ing num ber of students enrolled in courses away from the main cam pus in Bowling Gre W estern Kentucky University (WKU) Libraries initiated E xtended Cam pus Library Services (ECLS) in the fall o f 1987. Extended cam pus students m ay call a toll-free num ber to order copies of journal articles and books from the circulating collection to be sent to them by mail, or by courier to the Glasgow Campus Library (a branch of WKU Libraries, about 35 miles away), o r to the O w ensboro Center, 75 miles from the main campus. Telefacsimile service is also available. Since the inception o f ECLS re­ sponse has b een enthusiastic: docum ent deliv­ eries have averaged a total of well over 10,000 items p e r year. The ECLS on-cam pus staff consists of one full-time faculty librarian, one 20-hour-per-week library assistant, and student assistants assigned for 30-42 hours p er w eek. Staff in the adjacent Circulation Services desk area serve as backup for answ ering the toll-free extension phone. Because reference assistance is included in ECLS u p o n request, librarians from other areas in the university libraries participate in fulfilling ex­ ten d ed cam pus students’ research needs. Personnel in the Glasgow Campus Library and in O w ensboro also take requests from stu­ dents. With so many different persons handling requests, it early becam e evident that a clear and comprehensive docum ent to facilitate com­ munication am ong all involved had to be d e ­ vised. D esigned by form er colleague Dana Boden, the ECLS request form in its present format evolved after several rudim entary ver­ e sions had been in use, and staff input sought (see figure 1). At the beginning o f each semester, a two- page information sheet outlining ECLS in d e ­ tail is mailed to every WKU student registered for extended cam pus courses. With the aid of this handout, callers should be prepared to pro­ nv, ide the information that will be requested of them w hen they call. The many spaces to be filled in on the ECLS request form prom pt the staff answering the p h o n e to rem em ber to ask the right questions. Key elem ents on the form include: refer­ ence assistance log #, date, time, name, social security number, address, hom e phone, w ork p h o n e, time zone, subject o r topic, location of course, course, professor, staff m em ber taking request, date results n eed ed by, and how to sen d materials by (mail, courier, fax, other). Lines for bibliographic citations to ten journal articles and five books follow the preliminary information to be filled in on the front of the form. Unless otherwise specified, docum ent de­ liveries are fulfilled in chronological order as requests are received. As seemingly inconse­ quential a detail as recording the time of day w h en a request was m ade can b e crucial to placing requests in priority order, as well as to scheduling staff to answ er the toll-free phone. Students’ names and social security num bers are checked against a list to verify eligibility for service. The ECLS form also facilitates work flow. As student assistants carry the forms with them to retrieve journals and books from vari­ ous floors o f the library, notations are m ade in the margins of the forms about availability. Any incom plete requests are then placed in stacks for additional w ork and completion. A photo­ c o p y o f th e re q u e s t form , n o te s d en o tin g progress tow ards com pletion included, acts as a packing slip w hen it accom panies docum ent Therese D. Baker is extended campus librarian at Western Kentucky University April 1 9 9 2 /2 6 1 deliveries. All request form originals are k ep t on p erm an en t file in the ECLS office. M onthly statistics are com piled from th e re­ quest forms. Not only are th e course num ber, location o f class, an d professor’s nam e required to verify legitimacy of the request, b u t statis­ tics o f use by classes in specific disciplines, different grade levels, geographic locations, an d by certain professors can be helpful w h e n tar­ geting for prom otion o f the service. O ver 200 extended cam pus classes are taught e a c h se­ mester. T he program area covers 27 counties in Kentucky. A p redom inance o f reference as­ sistance requests from a certain course m ay in­ dicate a n e e d for bibliographic instruction in that area. C om parisons o f periods o f p e a k u s­ age can b e draw n, as w ell as of preferred m eth ­ ods o f d o cu m en t delivery. Original co m p leted request forms are filed by m onth, th en g ro u p e d w ithin each m o n th b y the four ex ten d e d cam ­ p u s centers (Fort Knox, Glasgow, O w ensboro, an d Russellville). Usage o f ECLS by centers can b e exam ined an d com pared. Requests for ref­ erence assistance are forw arded to librarians w h o assign a reference assistance log n u m b e r and take the requests to reference to search indexes for citations to req u ested information. Clear explanations o f stu d en ts’ subjects should b e tak en w h e n the call is received, b u t som e­ tim es a call-back m ust b e m ade by the librar­ ian for clarification. Even a small detail like the tim e zone o f th e req u esto r’s address is im por­ tant, b e cau se m ost o f th e retu rn calls take place in th e evenings. W estern K entucky University w as o n e o f the first institutions in K entucky to establish sp e ­ cial library services for e x te n d e d cam pus stu­ dents. O th er libraries in the state have since b e g u n similar program s. We have b e e n asked to share copies o f o u r ECLS req u est form an d to h e lp others create their ow n. A u th o r’s note: For additional information about WKU Libraries extended cam pus services consult: Michael B. Binder and others, “The Developm ent of Off-Campus Library Services at W estern Kentucky University,” in Off-Campus Library Services Confer­ ence Proceedings (M ount Pleasant, Mich.: Central Michi­ gan Press, 1988), p. 43-50; and Sally Ann Strickler and others, Report o f the Task Force on Providing Li­ brary Services to E xtended Campus Students, Report No. 1R 052 668 (Bowling Green, Ky.: Western Ken­ tucky University, 1987), available as ED 304 159. ■ Figure 1. This part o f WTO's request form show s key data needed.