News: October, 2003 - Vol. 8, No. 1
Table of Contents
Donor reception
Prof. Len Travers (left) and Vice Chancellor Don Ramsbottom of the Foundation Office at the June donors reception
The library's first reception for donors, held in June, was a success. More than forty people attended the event, which recognized those who have made donations to the library in recent years. Guest speaker Len Travers of the History Department described how he used items in the Archives and Special Collections to provide history majors with experience using primary and secondary source materials. Classical guitarist George Little '04 entertained guests before and after the presentation, and the Archives was open for informal tours of selected materials. Vice Chancellor Don Ramsbottom extended greetings and thanks from the Foundation Office. Many of our friends and donors expressed their delight with the event, which we hope to be able to offer annually.
Library quality survey
In spring 2003, the library conducted a survey of library users' satisfaction and expectations using the LibQual+ system. More than two thousand individuals in the three main user categories (undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty/staff) were contacted by e-mail and asked to complete the web-based survey. Of that number, 307 responded: enough to yield statistically significant results. More than one-third of the respondents also added written comments.
Data from the survey will help library staff evaluate the library's operations and plan for the future. Areas of consideration will include access to information, service, the library as a place, and users' personal control of resources and technologies. Interim Dean of the Library Ann Montgomery Smith said that the survey and the subsequent strategizing will "foster a culture of excellence in providing library service and help us better understand our users' perceptions of service quality."
Three hundred and eight academic libraries participated in LibQual+ this year, providing opportunities for the library to compare itself to institutions that are similar in size, funding and mission.
For detailed information about the LibQual+ survey, contact Interim Dean Ann Montgomery Smith at 508-999-8664.
Archives news
The Center for Jewish Culture recently raised $6,100 to benefit the Center's collections in the Archives and Special Collections. The money is being used to transcribe a portion of the 140 oral history interviews conducted in the Jewish community since 1982 and to reformat older recordings. It will also be used to purchase new recording equipment for the ongoing oral history project spearheaded by Cindy Yoken. The most recent project is interviewing Jewish war veterans and business leaders.
The Archives has signed on to be an official partner with the Library of Congress American Folklife Center's Veterans History Project. As a "Partner Archive," the library will preserve tapes and transcripts here at UMass Dartmouth, but contribute collection information to the Library of Congress' veterans database.
Museum passes
Funding for the library's museum passes program will be supported by a $725 grant from the university's Program Enhancement fund. Librarian Mary Adams submitted the proposal for the program, which makes museum passes available to current UMass Dartmouth students, faculty and staff. (Borrowers must present a valid UMass Pass when picking up a museum pass.) For more information, visit the Museum Passes page.
Wireless
Wireless service is now available throughout the library (as well in many other areas of campus). For information, visit Computing and Information Services' wireless page.
Remember that laptops and portable CD projectors are available for short-term borrowing through the Mobile Computing Lending Program. Stop at the Circulation Desk or visit the MCLP page.
Reserves now in Voyager
Jo-Ann Cooley of Access Services has converted Reserves (which includes both paper and electronic reserves) to work within the library's Voyager system. This provides additional ease-of-use for students searching for materials, and offers additional privacy to our library users. Student must have a valid UMass Pass with library bar code to search for reserve materials.
IT Classrooms
The campus offers ten IT classrooms that were designed and are maintained jointly by staff in the Library and Computing and Information Services (CITS). Each classroom offers a ceiling-mounted projection system with screen, a sound system, a document camera, a VCR, a DVD player, a personal computer, a wireless keyboard and two wireless microphones.
This summer and at the beginning of the semester, Paul Souza of Access Services offered interactive training sessions for faculty who wanted to use the full potential of these high-tech classrooms. If you would like general information about these classrooms, visit the IT classroom page, which also offers a PDF version of Paul's in-depth training materials. For additional information, contact Paul Souza at 508-999-8691.
The library's acquisition of ScienceDirect provides UMD faculty, students and staff full-text, online access to approximately 950 journals in the scientific, medical and technical fields. Library users can search for a journal through the Journal Locator, which will provide a link to the ScienceDirect holdings, or they can search within the list of subscribed journals. Titles are available online from 1998 forward, with some titles going back to 1993.
The library collaborated with the UMass Amherst and UMass Boston libraries to purchase the collection. Each library's level of participation in ScienceDirect is proportional to the print subscriptions it maintains. The joint purchase allows for the availability of many more journals than would be obtainable through a stand-alone purchase.
Although it focuses on the sciences, ScienceDirect is multi-disciplinary, with content in the arts and humanities, business, economics, nursing and the social sciences with such journals as Brain Research, Journal of Archaeological Science, Ethology and Sociobiology, Art Psychotherapy and Speech Communication. For more information, contact Susanne Andrews at 508-999-8676.
Journal Locator
The UMD Journal Locator allows users to find full-text online, print and microfilmed journals within the UMass Dartmouth print and online electronic collections. Users may search using a journal's title or use an alphabetical list to browse for a journal or magazine title. Depending on the journal you're looking for, you may be linked to the electronic full-text journal (where you can browse by volume, issue or title) or to a large database that contains the journal (where you'll use a search screen to find your journal by title and/or author and/or keywords from the article that you're looking for). Links for print and microfilm materials will go directly to the holdings listing in Voyager, the online catalog. For more information, contact Susanne Andrews at 508-999-8676.
Staff news
Interim Dean of the Library Ann Montgomery Smith is president of the Massachusetts Conference of Chief Librarians of Public Higher Education (MCCLPHEI ) for the 2003-2004 academic year. MCCLPHEI has 29 members including all of the state university, state college, and community college libraries. The group was established in 1968 as an informal advisory group to the Board of Higher Education for the purpose of coordinating the expenditure of a six-year, eleven-million-dollar Books for College Libraries project. Since 1974, MCCLPHEI has become an advocacy group for library funding, has implemented resource sharing in the electronic age, and provides member libraries with a forum for discussing trends and issues of mutual interest.
Science librarian Elizabeth Winiarz, treasurer for the Northeast Chapter of Women's Fisheries Network, awarded the chapter's $1,000 scholarship to UMass Dartmouth marine biology graduate student, Marja Roemer. Winiarz also hosted a meeting of Boston and Rhode Island chapters of the Special Libraries Association last spring. Speakers were Guy St. Clair, author of "Beyond Degrees: Professional Learning for Knowledge Services," and Ethel Salonen, future president-elect of the Special Libraries Association.
Acquisitions librarian Bruce Barnes has been named to the Boston Library Consortium's Central Buying Fund team. The purpose of this group is to determine appropriate databases to be purchased directly by the BLC for the entire consortium.
