Anyone who has doubts about the Library as an important space on campus should visit now, when the place is filled to the brim with students studying. Where else do they have that is fairly quiet, has great natural light, and most important of all, accessible and student-centered librarians to help with last minute completion of assignments?
Now is a great time for faculty to work with the library staff to plan Spring semester course materials. We offer electronic reserves, library instruction sessions, traditional collections of books and media, and the list goes on. Something new this semester is a pilot project providing access to digital media in conjunction with the Maryland Digital Library. A group of about 10 faculty sent specific titles to me to lease in digital format for this year, and they will give us feedback on how well it worked in their teaching.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Let it snow!
It's beginning to look a lot like winter around here! As I write this, the windows in the library that overlook the pond resemble a shaken snow globe. The view outside near the New Books area reveals a tree laden with scarlet berries dusted with feathery snow. Students are rushing around in the library completing their final projects. Holiday decorating in the display cases contributes to the festive atmosphere. It's my favorite time of year!
On a less whimsical note, Library staff hosted a visit from Steven Bell of Temple University who spent Monday December 3rd with us. Steven met library staff, college administration, and faculty to listen to their thoughts and concerns about the Stevenson campus library renovation. The next phase of planning will involve student input: we hope to duplicate the University of Rochester methodology, using anthropology techniques to learn how Villa Julie students use the library. It should be fun and informative.
On a less whimsical note, Library staff hosted a visit from Steven Bell of Temple University who spent Monday December 3rd with us. Steven met library staff, college administration, and faculty to listen to their thoughts and concerns about the Stevenson campus library renovation. The next phase of planning will involve student input: we hope to duplicate the University of Rochester methodology, using anthropology techniques to learn how Villa Julie students use the library. It should be fun and informative.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
That Time of Year...
It's November already, and my budget proposal for next year will soon be due. This year, I'd welcome requests from faculty and program directors for library databases, subscriptions, media, and books to support any new programs, especially those with a significant research component. If you are planning such, please get in touch with me or Steve Rouzer, or any one of my excellent library staff to list needed resources and estimate costs.
The Library has been bustling with many students working on research papers. I am delighted to make this observation: it confirms my sense that we are a central gathering place on the Stevenson campus.
The first Faculty Library Advisory Committee meeting was held on Monday October 22nd. The Committee chair is Christopher Reed, from Film, Video, Theater, and members are Esther Horrocks, David Nicholson, Charles Watkins, Charlotte Wolf, and Kathy Ullrich.
Topics discussed by the group included the planned Owings Mills satellite library, the creation of a library "pod" (i.e. workstation cluster) in the Caves building at OM, the planned use of anthropological techniques for observing how VJ students use the library, and shared consortial collection development. It was a productive and cordial first meeting. It is critical to our success to have faculty input.
The day after the momentous FLAC meeting just described, Library staff co-hosted a 1940's style tea to commemorate Villa Juli'es sixtieth anniversary. It was held in the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur dining room next door to the Stevenson campus. Carol Maxwell planned and created a wonderful exhibit featuring vintage mannequins wearing dresses, hats and gloves from the era when the School was founded. A photo from the tea appeared in the College web site, and additional photos were posted by me here on Picasa.
The Library has been bustling with many students working on research papers. I am delighted to make this observation: it confirms my sense that we are a central gathering place on the Stevenson campus.
The first Faculty Library Advisory Committee meeting was held on Monday October 22nd. The Committee chair is Christopher Reed, from Film, Video, Theater, and members are Esther Horrocks, David Nicholson, Charles Watkins, Charlotte Wolf, and Kathy Ullrich.
Topics discussed by the group included the planned Owings Mills satellite library, the creation of a library "pod" (i.e. workstation cluster) in the Caves building at OM, the planned use of anthropological techniques for observing how VJ students use the library, and shared consortial collection development. It was a productive and cordial first meeting. It is critical to our success to have faculty input.
The day after the momentous FLAC meeting just described, Library staff co-hosted a 1940's style tea to commemorate Villa Juli'es sixtieth anniversary. It was held in the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur dining room next door to the Stevenson campus. Carol Maxwell planned and created a wonderful exhibit featuring vintage mannequins wearing dresses, hats and gloves from the era when the School was founded. A photo from the tea appeared in the College web site, and additional photos were posted by me here on Picasa.
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| Anniversar |
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Welcome to The Library is the Heart...
This will be my way of keeping the Villa Julie Community apprised of what is new in the library. I hope you find it useful and will visit regularly. My plan is to update it weekly, though I may need to change that as I see how much material I have, as well as how much time!
Library staff are very busy, as you might imagine, teaching classes and responding to reference inquiries, reserves requests, and the need for laptop and data display loans, while working to keep things in order and problem-solve. So far, library staff have delivered 38 orientations, workshops, and instruction sessions, and there are many more booked. We've reached about 547 people in those sessions.
Sue Bonsteel's recent Web 2.0 Faculty Workshop was a success. About 10 faculty learned about social networking tools such as blogs (you are reading one now!), wikis, and more, and discussed how they might be used in teaching and professional development.
You may have noticed that the library is in the midst of adding technology tools to the Maryland Room: the most obvious addition is the 50-inch plasma screen, which will be primarily used for Film, Video and Theater film viewing. Students will be able to see feature films with the correct aspect ratio and get a taste of a large screen experience on campus. Also under construction is a nursing pod cluster, simply workstations that will feature programs specific to the nrusing program, e.g. NCLEX review software and the like. This cluster is the brainchild of library friend Dr. Judy Feustle. We hope it will be up and running in the next few weeks.
Last but not least, John McNally, whose office is located in the library, has set up an Instructional Technology Resource Center. This Center will be a place for faculty to go to create tools for teaching with technology. Available software includes Adobe Photoshop Elements, Dreamweaver MX, Flash MX, Microsoft Office 2007. All of these programs can be used to create web pages, create or enhance graphics and create or edit podcasts or audio files for use in BlackBoard and/or traditional courses. Four computers have network access.Limited assistance and training is provided on from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday thru Friday, although appointments for training can be arranged. To set up an appointment or request assistance with using a program, contact John McNally in LRC 10A in person, by phone or email John McNally. Library staff member Sue Bonsteel and I will be helping with the ITRC after we get some training from John.
Library staff are very busy, as you might imagine, teaching classes and responding to reference inquiries, reserves requests, and the need for laptop and data display loans, while working to keep things in order and problem-solve. So far, library staff have delivered 38 orientations, workshops, and instruction sessions, and there are many more booked. We've reached about 547 people in those sessions.
Sue Bonsteel's recent Web 2.0 Faculty Workshop was a success. About 10 faculty learned about social networking tools such as blogs (you are reading one now!), wikis, and more, and discussed how they might be used in teaching and professional development.
You may have noticed that the library is in the midst of adding technology tools to the Maryland Room: the most obvious addition is the 50-inch plasma screen, which will be primarily used for Film, Video and Theater film viewing. Students will be able to see feature films with the correct aspect ratio and get a taste of a large screen experience on campus. Also under construction is a nursing pod cluster, simply workstations that will feature programs specific to the nrusing program, e.g. NCLEX review software and the like. This cluster is the brainchild of library friend Dr. Judy Feustle. We hope it will be up and running in the next few weeks.
Last but not least, John McNally, whose office is located in the library, has set up an Instructional Technology Resource Center. This Center will be a place for faculty to go to create tools for teaching with technology. Available software includes Adobe Photoshop Elements, Dreamweaver MX, Flash MX, Microsoft Office 2007. All of these programs can be used to create web pages, create or enhance graphics and create or edit podcasts or audio files for use in BlackBoard and/or traditional courses. Four computers have network access.Limited assistance and training is provided on from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday thru Friday, although appointments for training can be arranged. To set up an appointment or request assistance with using a program, contact John McNally in LRC 10A in person, by phone or email John McNally. Library staff member Sue Bonsteel and I will be helping with the ITRC after we get some training from John.
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