West Tennessee Academic Library Consortium
Spring Meeting, 2006
Rhodes College
March 11, 2006
The spring meeting of WeTALC directors was called to order by President Scott Cohen at 10 a.m. March 11, 2006 in the new Rhodes College Paul Barret, Jr. Library. Hope Shull moved, with Steve Rogers seconding, the acceptance of the minutes of the fall meeting. Those present for the directors’ meeting included Lynne Blair, Steve Rogers, Steve Baker, Annette B. Hunt, Lan Wang, Pam Walker, Priscilla Stephenson, Hope Shull, Scott Cohen, and Margaret Cardwell. Election of president for the next year was the main item on the agenda. Scott asked for volunteers and suggested Steve Baker because of Steve’s interest in consortial sharing of resources. When Steve declined, Scott nominated and Annette seconded, Pam Walker, who accepted. Margaret Cardwell will continue as secretary. The fall meeting is scheduled for Freed-Hardeman; the spring 2007 meeting at Crichton College. Bob Lhota was not present as he is in the process of building a new library at Dyersburg State Community College, Scott reported that they have broken ground for that building. Hope Shull reported that she is in the fund raising/planning stages of a new library building at Freed-Hardeman.
Steve Rogers reported on a recent dsicovery at the UT Martin library. It was brought to his attention that a number of books in their stacks still had book pockets and cards. For a period of about 10 years those cards included the patron Social Security number printed on the card. Working on “book maintenance project” over a period of two weeks the staff was able to pull and destroy all cards from about 250,000 books. He suggested that those of us with pockets and cards still in the books be certain that confidential information is not available on those cards.
Scott brought a question from Pam Dennis about how to handle members of the public who might want to use the licensed databases. A discussion of “Friends of the Library”, Alumni groups, etc. ensued regarding the legal use of the licensed products and how that might be handled and paid for. There was also a discussion of work other than library work being done on library computers and wireless access to databases which referenced the legal issues of authenticated users.
Other topics discussed by the group were the lack of a state union catalog, the lack of an active statewide academic library group, various consortia to which the private and public schools belong and the bargaining power therein, payment for Literature Resource Center now provided by TEL, interlibrary loan among the WeTALC libraries, bindery vendors, and microfilm(fiche) reader printers.
After a delicious lunch provided by Rhodes College and reports from each school, tours of the new Rhodes library were conducted.
Respectfully submitted,
Margaret Cardwell
CBU Report for Spring 2006
The good news:
After much work by Debi Babb Endeavor’s ENCompass and LinkFinder products are up and running. This federated search capability, together with the link resolver, provides seamless searching and display of results across databases and the catalog. It’s an excellent tool to begin research but by no means comprehensive at this point. LexisNexis is not yet compatible with the product. There are still some kinks to work out but generally students and faculty are impressed with the product.
Our new night circulation supervisor Melissa Verble will begin work before the end of the month. She come to us most recently from Northwest Arkansas Community College where she was a reference assistant.
The Inderdisciplinary Studies course that piloted in the fall has gone back to the drawing board and will be reworked for this coming fall to ensure consistency in the sections being taught. I have been asked to be guest at the curriculum committee meetings where the course is being redesigned. At this point it looks like the library will participate in at least 6 meetings of the class, either as part of the English class or the IDS class.
Suzanne Mangrum and Benjamin Head worked diligently throughout the fall and winter to write a proposal for faculty status and tenure for the librarians at CBU. The proposal has been presented to the President’s Council and will be sent on to the Faculty Assembly later this spring. Comments so far have been positive.
There was a fire in Barry Hall, our main administration builidng, in January which necessitated the relocation of many offices. The library is now temporary home to the Registrar’s Office. For a couple of weeks displaced faculty members were using the library as a temporary office. We were delighted to be able to offer space to our refugees and have enjoyed seeing faces we don’t often see in the library.
The bad news:
Our budget has been frozen until the beginning of the new fiscal year. Enrollment did not meet projections for this spring though it looks better for the coming fall. In a belt tightening mode we plan to review with the faculty our print subscriptions to see where we might be able to drop titles no longer of interest.
J.W. & Dorothy Bell Library
Crichton College
Report on Activities for WeTALC
March 11, 2006
The Library staff completed the Periodical Project begun last Fall. We eliminated 57 journals in print, 68 titles in microfiche, and stopped binding 29 titles as back issues to these titles are available on one of the two full-text databases in the library, ProQuest or Tennessee Electronic Library.
Last year the Library Director downloaded all the MARC records for NetLibrary collections I, III , and IV into the OPAC. By doing this, we have noticed an increase in the usage of the NetLibrary. We will soon make application to acquire the NetLibrary V collection which will add 3,600 new titles to the OPAC.
The directors of the various departments on campus are completing Budget Hearings this week, presenting their budget requests for 2006-07 to the Cabinet. In addition to the databases already subscribed to by the Library, we presented the request to add either the MLA Index or the LION (Literature Online) database to our ProQuest platform.
For the first time, the Library used the WebCT software for our Faculty Library Survey which closed in January. We are now analyzing the results in order to prepare our IER (Institutional Effectiveness Report) due in May.
We are beginning a weeding project of our Curriculum Resource Center’s samples of curriculum in order to weed out old materials and to be able to ascertain where we need to purchase/request new materials. This area is heavily used by our Teacher Education students and is in great need of updating. We will send out appeals to local private schools later this semester asking those that are adopting new textbooks to donate any samples they don’t want to keep to Crichton. We will also be working with the Teacher Education faculty to request “desk copies” of curriculum to donate to the CRC.
Union University
March 11, 2006
The recent renovation and reorganization of the library seems to have been received well. Our numbers are up significantly for the first six months of this academic year over same period a year ago. The gate count is up 19.3% for the first six months of the school as compared to same period a year ago. For the year we expect the gate count to be the largest since 1998-99. Circulation of books is also up 12.2% and may well also reach levels we have not seen in several years.
The Library is conducting its first ever University Services Review. This is a new comprehensive unit review process that was recently instituted to make strategic planning more intentional at the department level. Mary Platt, Melissa Moore, and Jenny Lowery have been leading the teams that are developing the review which will be competed at the end of May.
Union is preparing for its SACS visit in spring of 2007. The University is focusing its QEP on developing its honors program.
A team of three participated in the CIC workshop on the transformation of the college library in February. They returned with the outline of an agenda to advance information literacy on the campus in various ways. The library committee is taking this outline and developing it further for later presentation to the faculty.
In November the University dedicated the new Johnnie Shepard Archives and Genealogical Research Center. The center will serve as the repository for institutional archives and other special collections. It will also give special focus to family history research by offering access to selected primary and secondary resources on the Southwest Tennessee region.
The Library is developing a renewed emphasis on reading by providing a new collection of popular materials, encouraging staff to model habits of reading, and doing displays of reading material. Melissa Moore, who is giving leadership to this effort, is conducting a student survey of reading later this spring. Depending upon interest she may initiate some student and/or faculty reading circles next year.
The Library is developing a new website that is scheduled to debut in April. It is largely dynamic with the look and feel of a blog. It will allow the quick creation of special subject guides for a particular class or specific assignment and assist us in pushing content out to users. Jenny Lowery is providing primary leadership to this along with our marketing expert Valerie Howell.
The Library will receive a badly needed 18.3% increase in the materials portion of its budget for 2006-07. The materials budget has been flat for the past five years. Thanks to the input of Pat Morris and her collection development team we were able to make a strong case for a large increase not only for this one year but over several years to get us into a much healthier position in terms of resource materials.
Beginning in September the Library will have a new part-time staff position to help supervise the circulation area. Another current staff position is being upgraded to faculty level and will be assigned to reference.
LeMoyne-Owen College
Hollis F. Price Library
WeTALC Report
The Hollis F. Price Library staff has engaged in research efforts to compile reading lists and bibliographies in remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and African American History. The staff has also designed exhibits and displays to celebrate the theme for each month.
Our Annual “Koffee Hour” with faculty, staff and student was held December 12, 2005. We provided tours and hands-on demonstration of the online catalog, electronic resources and a preview of new acquisitions. We distributed recommendation forms, flyers, brochures, and bookmarks.
Melia Tate Oliver has been hired as a full-time Library Assistant to assist with reader, public and technical services. Jackie Williams was hired to replace Mrs. Oliver as a part-time evening and weekend library assistant in January 2006.
The Staff conducted a “Video Marathon” the week of January 16-20, 2006. We also showed the video “Hallelujah” on February 21, 2006. The attendance at this showing was exceptional.
Dr. Clifton Johnson a noted historian and lecturer conducted a lecture on the Lemoyne-Owen connections to the Amistad and the American Missionary Association February 21, 2006.
We continued our African American History Challenge the month of February. Stuart Grinnel and Outback Steakhouse donated prizes for our first and second place winners.
Mrs. Rita Mabry, a member of the Memphis Area Library Council is serving on the Program Committee. She assists with the “Continuing Education” workshops and “After Hour” programs.
Rita Mabry and Annette Hunt participated in the SACS CASI guided self-study for the Hollis F. Price Early Middle College High School March 9-10, 2006
We were awarded $26,500 for book acquisitions. We are working with book vendors to purchase the best book for LOC and the Middle High School students. More faculty and students are requesting resources to support course offering. New acquisitions are displayed on the second floor near the Circulation Desk.
A flat screen monitor was donated to the Circulation Desk.
The staff continues to search for ways to improve and enhance library services.
Submitted by,
Annette B. Hunt
Luther L. Gobbel Library, Lambuth University
Reported to West Tennessee Academic Library Consortium
Spring 2006
This semester has been devoted to special events. We began the semester with an exhibit commemorating the 250th anniversary of the birth of Mozart, including a party with cake. It was followed the next day by a WebHealth for Senior Adults workshop led by Priscilla Stephenson of the UT-Memphis Health Sciences Library. Over 20 people registered for the class, and we were pleased to have to offer an additional section for the overload.
In February we had an excellent Black History Month exhibit by John Nolen of McKenzie, Tennessee, including books, posters, timelines, and memorabilia from his personal collection. We were able to encourage English professors to come to the library to see the Langston Hughes part of the exhibit.
Two events were held in March, including the combined meetings of the West Tennessee Historical Society and Tennessee Historical Society, with speaker, Dr. Gary Edwards from The University of Memphis. Memphis and Nashville historians were in attendance as well as a number of our history students. The Traditional Skills and Fiberworks Guild took over the Reference section last Saturday and demonstrated the spinning wheel, loom, bobbin lace making, knitting, tatting, and basket making. Our own acquisitions librarian, Jackie Wood, is a member of the guild.
On April 11 at 6:30 p.m. in Wisdom Parlor, the library will sponsor a World War II panel discussion by alumni who have written books about their experiences in the war. The public is invited, and we hope to have a great turnout by local veterans.
In addition to these events, we have hosted a book discussion with 10 faculty members attending and a professional development session on the many aspects of Google. Our final professional development session will be this month on using government documents statistics in research papers. Our accounting students are doing free tax consultation on Saturdays in the library as community service and have had a thriving business for the past four weeks.
We are seeing increased usage of laptops in the library now that we are wireless, and our website hits have increased by 33% in the last month. Circulation was up 47% this month over last month and 17% over the same month last year. Interlibrary loans have increased greatly over the last two months, and archival research questions have more than doubled in the past two months. Laura has begun authority work and is doing an excellent job making this long-needed improvement to our OPAC searching.
Pam attended the Music Library Association national conference this month, and we hope to use that information to work on electronic reserves and music streaming. We also hope to hire a new circulation person in the next couple of weeks to bring our staff back up to full strength. It has been an extremely busy semester for us, and we have enjoyed support by our faculty, staff, and students as we continually look for ways to improve service in our library.
JACKSON STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE LIBRARY WETALC NEWS
NEW REFERENCE AND INSTRUCTION LIBRARIAN
Jason Fetty, a 2004 graduate of the University of Washington School Of Information has joined the library as Reference and Instruction Librarian. He will maintain the JSCC web page and coordinate Information Literacy instruction. Jason taught English for several years in Japan, Taiwan and Korea.
Jason is working on improving the JSCC Library web site and updating the look of the online Information Literacy tutorial.
SACS REACCREDITATION
The JSCC Library received one recommendation during its recent SACS reaccreditation visit. The team recommended that the JSCC Library do something about having personnel available when the Learning Resource Center Assistants at its Lexington and Savannah Centers are at lunch or on break.
To respond to the recommendation, the JSCC Library has trained the front office personnel at its two centers in finding information and checking out materials.
In addition, a cameras and microphones have been purchased which will allow students at the two centers to speak directly with the library staff in Jackson.
TENNESSEE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION MEETING
Joyce Johnston is working as a Programs Planning Committee member for the TLA meeting this Spring in Memphis. She will be introducing several speakers. She will also be making a presentation of her own: “I Just Need Five Sources: Students, Research, and the Technology Trap. It is a discussion of the ways in which technology can be a hindrance as well as a benefit for students doing research. The presentation will concentrate on traps students fall into when using resource databases and the Internet for research and will suggest several ways by which these traps can be avoided.
DIGITIZATION
Gloria Hester, Acquisitions and Circulation Librarian, is involved in a project which would digitize faculty conference papers, workshop materials and make them available through the online catalog or a web page.
ACQUISITIONS
Gloria Hester is also working with University of Memphis faculty on campus on a collection development project.
PRESERVATION
Barbara Casey, Library Technical Services Assistant, continues to repair many of the damaged and worn books in the library, thereby saving many dollars of binding costs.
CLASSIFICATION OF VIDEOS
Debra Mayer has finished the classification of all the videotapes and DVDS. This completed project allows students to browse the shelves where the materials are kept and search by subject. There were over 1000 video materials that were classified.
PROJECTS
The JSCC Library is involved with several possible projects:
Freed-Hardeman University, Henderson, Tennessee
Loden-Daniel Library
Spring 2006
Recent developments at the FHU Library include:
A Library Lunch/Orientation for New Faculty—an hour-long, informal library orientation program for the school’s newest faculty members. It was the library’s first time to facilitate such an orientation, with lunch included. It was well-attended and will likely become an annual opportunity for library staff to welcome new professors and orient them to library resources and services.
Collection Development for New Nursing Program—a program that was officially approved last month (February 2006). With the assistance of the nursing program’s current director, the serial and book holdings of the library have increased significantly this semester.
Collection development using Bibliographies from Course Syllabi—a system started in the Fall for the purchase of book titles. Using the bibliographies found in this year’s Fall and Spring syllabi, many new and used titles have been purchased for the collection. The focus of the effort has been to ensure that all books recommended to students by professors are on the shelves and ready-to-use when needed.
Fall 2005 redesign of library website—a large behind-the-scenes task, motivated by the desire to make the site more user-friendly. Most of the frequently asked questions regarding Reserve materials, Renewing books, Inter-Library Loan requests, and Citing Online resources (to name a few) are now clearly answered with the library’s new online look.
Forthcoming events include:
A Summer 2006 inventory—the first one since the library’s conversion from Dewey to LC in 2004.
A New Server—a replacement for the current one which we’ve had since 1999. This replacement—scheduled for late Spring—is the library’s main server which houses all catalog and circulation data.
Hosting the Fall 2006 Meeting of WeTALC—something we’re hoping you all can be a part of.