This report summarizes accomplishments during the 1998-99 academic
year for the public services’ departments within the Ohio Wesleyan
University Library System. The intent is to document use statistics
and highlight efforts to improve library services. For those interested
in more detail, in-depth reports are available for each public services
area.
The public services staff remained stable. The following staff members
composed public services: Paul Burnam, Danielle Clarke, and Joy He,
Public Services Librarians; Chuck Della Lana, Audio Visual Services
Manager; Deborah Carter Peoples, Science Branch Manager, Carol Hallenbeck,
Music Branch Manager, and Charlene Howison, Biology Branch Manager;
Bernard Derr, Chief of Circulation, and Chris Yates, Assistant Chief
of Circulation; Marsha Zavar, Interlibrary Loan Manager/Public Services
Office Manager; Tom Green, Associate Director of Libraries and Head
of Public Services; and more than seventy student assistants assigned
to public services areas. The hours of the following staff members
were adjusted: Chris Yates from 1650 to 1950 (full-time); Carol Hallenbeck
from 610 to 974; and Deb Carter Peoples from 610 to 850.
The new Director of Libraries, Dr. Theresa Byrd, arrived in the middle
of July 1998. She brought a new perspective and initiated many changes
in services. As the University participated in the accreditation process
throughout the year, it was appropriate for the library to take stock
of accomplishments during the past decade and begin the planning process
to prepare for the twenty-first century.
Audio Visual Center
Traffic in the Audio Visual (AV) Center increased 26.3% (see Appendix
A for exact use statistics) with increases in all months except
October through December. Students heavily used the multimedia workstations,
video editing facilities, and audio recording equipment. Equipment
checkouts, however, decreased 32.6% at least in part because more
students are bringing VCRs to campus and fulfilling required class
viewing in the residence halls. Total software checkouts increased
16.9%.
Total room usage increased 7.1%. Classroom use increased 9.3% and
Learning lab use increased 34.7%. Modern Foreign Language faculty
members Dagmar Grothe, Donald Lenfest, and Cheryl McGinnis each held
regularly scheduled classes in the AV Center. Study room use decreased
0.8%. The viewing rooms were used on a regular basis for assigned
videos for Dr. Robbins in Psychology and all of the Spanish courses.
Production services (audio and video duplication, format transfer,
recording, editing, and taping) were used 581 times, an 8.2% increase
over the previous year. Other services (delivery/pickup, operation,
purchase consultation, and repair assistance) were used 397 times,
a 2.1% increase.
In September, a new Faculty Multimedia Workstation was added to the
AV Center's inventory. The workstation included a flatbed scanner,
video and screen capture capabilities and the ability to store digital
projects on CD-ROM. The workstation was used extensively for departmental
web page production and library training. A second public use scanner
was added to one of the multimedia computers in the multimedia lab
along with additional memory and an upgraded processor.
Several other pieces of equipment were purchased and added to the
AV center inventory to replace broken/outdated gear as well as expand
services. Some of the purchases included a portable data projector
with a laptop computer for faculty circulation, 2 digital cameras,
3 TV/ VCR units, 3 classroom CD players, "photo-quality"
inkjet printer, 5 overhead projectors, 10 VCP's, 3 35mm Slide projectors
and a portable sound system.
More than 120 software titles were added to the collection, filling
requests from Black World Studies, Economics, Education, English,
History, Humanities/Classics, Journalism, Modern Foreign Languages,
Music, Physical Education, Religion, Sociology, Anthropology, Theatre/Dance,
Women's Studies. We also added titles recommended by students, including
several titles suggested by the Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual Resource Center.
A spring edition of Screenings, the AV Center newsletter was
produced and distributed on campus (see Appendix B). Also, two editions
of the "Media Software Catalog" were published, one for
1998/99 and another Spring/Summer 1999 edition. The AV Center presented
a series of independent film/video screenings, too.
The AV Center supported individual faculty members and departments
in a variety of ways. In early November, for example, the AV Center
taped an interview by Professor Flamm with an OWU student concerning
her experiences as an East German citizen during the German reunification
of the 1980's. In December, eight students' political science presentations
were videotaped for a professor to review while on sick leave. In
the spring, five lectures were videotaped for the Economics Department
and six "Native Speaker Interviews" for the MFL department.
AV ordered and processed four 16mm print rentals for various campus
events. The AV Services Manger, Chuck Della Lana, held two Introduction
to Instructional Media workshops for Education classes and a Shooting
Video for Digital Projects Workshop for MFL faculty.
The AV Service Manager also assisted several students with the production
and editing of class video projects such as a student video production
of "1998 OWU Football Highlights." The AV Center staff videotaped
weekly CBS satellite news feeds for Journalism class projects. Again
this year, Commencement and Baccalaureate were videotaped, duplicated
and distributed.
The AV Center supported campus events and programming in a variety
of ways. Several National Colloquium presentations were videotaped
and later broadcast on the campus cable television channel. AV Center
staff assisted the Residential Life Cinema Series by airing approximately
200 film titles over the campus cable system. The AV Center also published
a monthly program calendar that was distributed to all students on
the first of each month. The AV Center provided P.A. equipment and
wireless mic systems for weekly aerobic workout sessions in Edwards'
Gym. AV Center staff set up and assisted Information Systems with
six digital imaging workshops and various presentations during Web
Camp '99.
The AV Center also aided community events. For example, the AV Center
staff coordinated and delivered audiovisual support for the 1998 Annual
School Business Partnership Conference held at the Hamilton Williams
Campus Center. Upward Bound and OWjL summer programs were again supported.
Chuck Della Lana provided audio production, editing and PowerPoint
assistance for a Methodist Theological School in Ohio multimedia project.
The Ohio Wesleyan community participated in several live videoconferences
with the assistance of the AV Center. The Early Childhood Center hosted
six education conferences at the AV Center presented by Ohio Winning
Team and RISE Communications. Three additional teleconferences were
held in AV for the Physical Education Department, Library Staff and
Greek Affairs.
In keeping with the library-wide effort, the Audio Visual Center
procedure manual was updated. Chuck Della Lana, Audio Visual Services
Manager, provided AV Center Desk cross training. He also scheduled
individual training sessions with public services librarians.
Circulation
The 1998-99 turnstile count of 263,487 represents a 9.4% drop from
the previous year in the number entering Beeghly Library (see Appendix
A for use statistics). Students checked out 14.2% fewer books
and the total number of book checkouts and renewals was 8.8% lower.
With the increase in materials available online, periodical circulation
continued its downward trend. Periodical checkouts decreased 16.4%
and microfilm, in particular, saw 32.8% less usage. Although faculty
members put more items on Reserve, student use remained constant.
For the first time, questions asked at the Circulation Desk were tabulated.
Beginning in August, Circulation staff members answered 914 directional
questions and helped with 603 OPAC questions. From December through
the end of June, 82 questions were referred to librarians.
Off-campus borrowing and lending has become a significant part of
Circulation work. The 9,177 items requested from CONSORT and OhioLINK
libraries equaled half the number of books checked out from Beeghly
by students, faculty and staff. We loaned an equivalent number of
books, 9,184, to CONSORT and OhioLINK libraries. Both semesters we
benefited from a Student Assistantship Program (StAP) position that
helped process inter-campus loans.
Circulation staff members maintained basic access services. We registered
patrons and circulated material from the general book collection,
periodicals and reserve. Some 600 personal copies were cataloged for
circulation through the Reserve Room. To keep materials available
to borrowers, overdue notices were sent out, books recalled, and $25,908
in fines collected for the repair and the replacement of books. 688
books reported missing were found. The circulation department continued
to target books not previously targeted for the "Knogo"
security system. Library photocopiers (five copiers in Beeghly, two
in branches, and two staff copiers in Beeghly) made 303,433 copies,
2.2% less than the previous year.
The stacks were kept in good order with regular shelf reading during
the school year and through a systematic shelf reading of the entire
book and periodical collection during the summer. In the process,
books identified as oversized were transferred to oversize shelves
and books needing repair were mended. During the semester break, 15
sections of shelves on the 3rd floor were erected, adding 450 feet
of shelf space for expansion and relieving congestion in the literature
areas. The shift to occupy these shelves will occur in the summer
of 1999.
Several changes resulted from the WCSA Academic Affairs Committee's
survey of student opinion poll on library hours and noise in the library.
Those wishing to reserve or use one of nine identified group study
areas within Beeghly Library now fill out a "Room Reservation
Request" (Appendix C) at the Beeghly Circulation Desk. Signs
posted on the doors of these rooms indicate they have priority for
group study. During spring break the following changes were made to
lessen complaints about noise and to improve aesthetics:
- three tables in proximity to the Beeghly Reference Desk were moved
to other locations;
- the location of the Beeghly Reference Desk was adjusted;
- three consultation tables were better integrated within the Reference
collection;
- new Books and Historian Books were moved to a more visible location
near the OPACs;
- the Teaching & Learning Collection was moved to a more visible
location;
- a message board was installed in the Beeghly entry way;
- index tables, related bookcases, and a CD-ROM cabinet were shifted;
and
- carrels were added around the second floor balcony.
During the academic year, Beeghly Library was open 104 hours a week.
In response to concerns raised by WSCA, adjustments were made to the
closing hours the week before spring semester finals. Chris Yates,
Assistant Chief of Circulation, kept the library open until 1:00 a.m.
during this intense student study period. We continued our practice
of keeping the library open until 1:00 a.m. on the Reading Day and
through Finals.
At the beginning of the fall semester, management of the Periodicals
Desk and the shelving of current periodicals were taken over by Carol
Holliger, Serials Manager. Circulation staff continued to shelve back
issues of periodicals, to provide public service as requested during
hours of non-desk coverage, and to maintain the copiers and microfilm
reader/printers.
As a result of the shift in responsibility for the Periodicals Public
Service Desk, Circulation had a smaller student staff. 40 student
assistants worked an average of 300 hours per week during the school
year to tend the Circulation Desk and maintain order in the stacks.
A few students were assigned special jobs such as helping with fines
and fees. A former Circulation student assistant was employed in a
StAP position to help with the training of Circulation and Periodicals
student assistants. This initiative was successful and will be used
again. To motivate student assistants, the "Roamer of the Month"
was revitalized and now includes several "Roamer of the Year"
awards. Three Circulation student assistants were selected for the
1999 Outstanding Student Assistant Award.
At the beginning of the fiscal year, the Assistant Chief of Circulation
position was made full time. This allowed for more contact hours between
the Circulation supervisors and additional adult staff coverage at
Beeghly. In keeping with the library-wide effort, the Circulation
procedure manuals were updated. Bernard Derr, Chief of Circulation,
provided Circulation Desk cross training and demonstrated microform
equipment. Each semester he also scheduled individual training sessions
at the Beeghly Circulation Desk with public services librarians.
Ohio Wesleyan was selected as the OhioLINK training partner for the
library staff at Ashland University. Bernard Derr and Marsha Zavar,
Interlibrary Loan Manager, spent an afternoon with three of their
staff members explaining our procedures and preparing for testing.
The testing started in late December and continued through January
1999.
Branches
In the branches, Biology experienced a 5.5% decrease
in traffic from a year ago (see Appendix
A for use statistics). Total book circulation decreased 40.3%.
All circulation categories except "other" experienced declines,
but significantly fewer renewals, -71.7%, especially impacted the
circulation figures. Periodical circulation decreased 8.8%.
Because the life sciences used web-based databases from faculty offices
and from any campus-networked computer, online searching through CLASSMATE
was not used. Near the end of the academic year the CLASSMATE workstation
was removed from the branch thereby providing some additional space
in this cramped branch.
In a joint cross-training session with Deb Carter Peoples, Biology
Branch Manager Charlene Howison gave interested staff a tour of the
Biology Branch Library. The Biology Branch Manager also serves as
the departmental secretary for Botany-Microbiology and Zoology. Four
student assistants provided coverage during the lunch hour, evenings,
and on Sundays.
Traffic in the Music Branch decreased 6.7% (see Appendix
A for use statistics). Total book circulation increased 6.5%.
This year's student and faculty checkouts returned near the level
of two years ago. Periodical circulation showed a 55% increase, but
the small number of checkouts makes the actual increase negligible.
In the listening room, overall use increased 18.8% with only the use
of lp records going down.
There was a shortage of student assistants, especially for morning
hours. Carol Hallenbeck, Music Branch Manager, frequently covered
these hours, but there were a few times when the branch closed because
no one was available. Eleven student assistants worked in the branch.
For one of the semester's cross-training sessions, Carol Hallenbeck
gave a tour of the Music Library and related rooms and offices in
Sanborn Hall. Carol Hallenbeck is the librarian liaison to the Music
Department. She worked about twenty hours per week during the academic
year in the branch and used additional hours for Dewey reclassification
projects in Technical Services.
Sanborn Hall experienced several power outages beginning with a violent
thunderstorm in July and continuing into the fall for one reason or
another (fried squirrels, fallen tree limbs, etc.). The frequent power
outages at Sanborn resulted in several temporary closures of the Music
branch because it is located in the basement and the emergency lighting
system lasts for only 45 minutes or so. Problems with heat and electricity
continued also. The time clock broke and was repaired three times.
Traffic in the Science Branch decreased 4.7% for the year
(see Appendix A for use statistics).
Total book circulation was down 28.1%. Periodical circulation decreased
37.7%, although in-house use of periodicals increased 82%.
Ten student assistants were employed at the Science Library during
AY98-99. For the first time, student asssistants developed their own
work schedules. They also selected sections of the stacks for shelf
reading and chose the weeks for which they are responsible for various
cleaning tasks. A new software program, LC Easy, was used to
train student assistants in shelf reading. Amanda Scott received an
Outstanding Student Assistant Award from the Friends of the Library.
After several years of problems with the door lock, a keyless lock
system was installed over the Thanksgiving Break. The new system allows
individualized combinations as well as the ability to view entry times
and codes used should a security problem develop. A water leak from
a Chemistry Lab required implementing preservation measures. A reservoir
was placed in the spot where the leak repeatedly occurs in an attempt
to reduce the impact of future leaks. In addition to ongoing problems
with water leaks, there are concerns about the lack of shelf space,
tacky carrels, collection security, and staff security during the
evening hours. Preliminary building plans for the construction of
a new Science Library continue to unfold. Library staff members were
not as directly involved in the Science Initiative planning activities
this past year as in the previous year. We hope to be more involved
in the coming year.
Students at the Science Library often use online databases. While
the number of campus-wide web-based databases continues to increase,
CLASSMATE continues to provide the only access to databases such as
Chemical Abstracts and Beilstein. The complexity of
chemical compound searching necessitated a significant amount of one-on-one
librarian/student interaction.
In a joint cross training session with Charlene Howison, Science
Branch Manager Deb Carter Peoples gave interested staff a tour of
the Science Branch Library. Deb Carter Peoples is the librarian liaison
to the departments of Chemistry, Geography/Geology, and Physics/Astronomy.
She was allocated additional hours, allowing for about 25 hours per
week during the academic year. In keeping with the library-wide effort,
the Science Library procedure manual was updated.
Curriculum Resource Center
Danielle Clarke continued to supervise the Curriculum Resource Center
(CRC) by working on site three hours per week, maintaining the shelf
list, weeding the collection, managing the periodicals accounts, instructing
student employees in library services, training the Library Assistant,
and assisting the faculty.
Late in the Fall semester, Janet Young was hired as a Library Assistant.
She worked 20 hours from 1:00-5:00 p.m. daily. She was instructed
on library management, personnel supervision, and collection development.
She also toured Beeghly Library and was introduced to library staff
members.
While not a branch of the Ohio Wesleyan University library system,
Dr. Byrd and Danielle Clarke worked with Education Department Chair
Dr. Gary DeCoker to include the CRC book collection in CONSORT. This
will be implemented in the next year.
Interlibrary Loan
Interlibrary Loan (ILL) borrowing and lending patterns seem to be
stabilizing as our users adapt to direct patron borrowing through
CONSORT and OhioLINK. The total number of filled traditional ILL book
and periodical requests was 7.9% less than the previous year (see
Appendix A for use statistics). We
borrowed 184 monographs and 1,194 periodical articles, including 370
through the Index to Journal Articles (IJA). (The IJA requesting service
was an experiment in direct patron borrowing through CONSORT that
was available from January 1998 through May 1999.) Only 80 ILL requests,
5.5%, went unfilled. Book requests declined significantly four years
ago with the introduction of direct patron borrowing through CONSORT
and OhioLINK. As more full text journals become available through
OhioLINK's Electronic Journal Center and web-based databases, traditional
ILL requests for periodical articles continue to decline. At the end
of the academic year, online ILL request forms were added to the library
home page. 20 ILL requests were received by e-mail.
Other libraries requested 2,863 items, 4.1% less than a year ago.
However, we filled 1,710 of those requests, 14.9% more than the previous
year. There were 657 filled book requests and 1,053 filled periodical
requests. The increased fill rate came primarily from IJA requests.
Missing and checked out books, reference books not available for circulation,
and books not owned accounted for most of the unfilled requests.
Three student assistants provided support in the ILL office. They
sorted and checked-in all incoming CONSORT and OhioLINK items,
collected items for photocopying and shipment, and prepared and packaged
all outgoing items. Senior Kevin Bach received recognition from the
Friends of the Ohio Wesleyan University Libraries as an Outstanding
Student Assistant for the second consecutive year.
As one of the cross training events, Marsha Zavar, ILL Manager, oriented
public services staff to Interlibrary Loan. She was elected to the
Inter-Campus Services Committee of OhioLINK and will serve a two-year
term. In keeping with the library-wide effort, procedure manuals were
updated.
Public Services Office
The Public Services (PS) Office supported the public services librarians
by doing various tasks: statistics for the three Branches, Library
Instruction, Online Services, and Reference; scheduling av rooms;
and desktop publishing of informational tools, flyers, handouts. Other
duties performed by PS Office Manager Marsha Zavar included scheduling
room reservations in Beeghly.
Beeghly Library was heavily used as a meeting place. Of special note,
the Bayley Room was booked for many National Colloquium programs and
the regular meetings of the Ohio Wesleyan University Board of Trustees.
Also, professors Spall, Wolber, and Fikes made use of the seminar
rooms as classrooms and for tutoring.
Chris Yates, Assistant Chief of Circulation, accepted responsibility
for library displays. He determined a location of John Slavonic's
sculpture, "The Large, Long Armed Miner," acquired by the
Friends of the library for the main floor of Beeghly. With the assistance
of Danielle Clarke, he developed an exhibit on "one Hundred Best
Books of the Century" and "Banned Books." With Kay
Schlichting, Curator of the Ohio Wesleyan Historical Collection, he
created a display for the National Colloquium on "OWU and Gender."
There were also displays for Black History Month, library staff book
recommendations, Federal Income Tax Sources, Women's History Month,
and the Student Art Show.
Public services staff members were involved in cross training activities
to enable staffing diversification and to guarantee excellent service
to students and faculty. The following sessions were held:
- Bernard Derr, Chief of Circulation, shared circulation basics;
- Chuck Della Lana, Audio Visual Services Manager, oriented us to
the Audio Visual Center;
- Paul Burnam, Reference and Online Services Coordinator, demonstrated
Dataware, OhioLINK’s database software interface;
- Joy He, Government Publications Coordinator, highlighted government
publications, especially GPO Access;
- Deb Carter Peoples, Science Branch Manager, explained how to use
the list feature in CONSORT;
- Marsha Zavar, Interlibrary Loan Manager, introduced Interlibrary
Loan;
- Bernard Derr, Chief of Circulation, demonstrated microform equipment;
- Paul Burnam, Reference and Online Services Coordinator, updated
the features of OhioLINK’s database software interface, Dataware
Phase II;
- Carol Hallenbeck, Music Branch Manager, gave a tour of the Music
Library and related rooms and offices in Sanborn Hall; and
- Deb Carter Peoples, Science Branch Manager, gave a tour of the
Science Branch Library, and Charlene Howison, Biology Branch Manager,
gave a tour of the Biology Branch Library.
Head of Public Services Tom Green established a library intranet
as a means to improve communication and collaboration and to increase
productivity. This experiment to support the day-to-day work of a
dispersed staff included gathering and organizing information for
library staff use. A calendar of meetings, the Beeghly Reference Desk
schedule, committee minutes, reports, policies and procedures, the
names of student assistants and their department assignments, and
Ohio Wesleyan library staff consortia committee assignments were representative
of the information posted. We also tested DISCUS, an interactive World
Wide Web discussion forum.
Danielle Clarke, Public Services Librarian, purchased books to support
this year's National Colloquium, "Decoding Gender." In order
to make its purpose more clear, the name of the library user feedback
tool, "The Opinion Poll," was changed to "Suggestions
and Comments." Tom Green, Associate Director of Libraries, drafted
a North Central Association accreditation library self-study that
reviewed the past decade’s progress in providing quality services
during a period of increasing user demands and changing technologies.
Tom Green prepared "A User's Guide for The Friends of the OWU
Libraries" (see Appendix D).
A Book Discussion Club, coordinated by Public Services Librarian
Danielle Clarke, met in the library for a third year. The theme for
fall semester reading was young adult novels dealing with adult issues.
During spring semester, short, short stories by different authors
were read. The students also conducted a poll of the top 50 favorite
works of fiction at OWU.
Members of the Ohio Wesleyan library staff participated in a joint
meeting, lunch and tour of the Delaware District County Library with
librarians from the public library and Methodist Theological School
in Ohio. This meeting was a networking opportunity for the staff of
all three libraries.
At the end of the semester, several instances of theft were reported
to Public Safety. The reported incidents occurred on the second floor
of Beeghly involving students with unattended backpacks.
Planning is underway with the Fine Arts Department to establish an
art exhibition space in the area east of the Beeghly Circulation Desk.
Over the summer, the Fine Arts faculty will build display panels.
This initiative will be officially launched in the fall.
Library Instruction
Teaching others how to make the most of library resources took many
different forms. A total of 1,800 persons in 117 sessions received
some form of library instruction this year. English 105 accounted
for 63 of these sessions; the remaining 54 sessions were course-related.
Additionally, we provided three Beeghly Library tours for student
tour guides, ten tours for new students and their parents. Library
information packets were prepared and distributed to new faculty members
during their orientation prior to the start of the fall semester.
For the first time the library participated in the Academic Open House
during New Student Orientation. Public Services librarian Joy He prepared
a flyer on how to use the "1998 World Development Indicators
on CD-ROM" (Appendix E).
Teaching experiences to non-OWU students included such groups as
twenty visiting Japanese middle and high school teachers, a Delaware
Brownie (Girl Scouts of America) troop, an Upward Bound class, Big
Walnut High School and Marysville High School AP English classes.
At the October library staff meeting, Barbara MacAdam, the Head of
Educational and Informational Services at the University of Michigan
and the 1996 Miriam Dudley Instructional Librarian Award winner, spoke
on "Information Literacy: An Issue for all Library Staff."
This was an opportunity for library staff members to gain a common
understanding of information literacy from a leading practitioner.
At the end of the academic year, the librarians met with the English
Department. Many ideas were shared, among them more workshops on topics
such as electronic citation styles, popular versus scholarly periodical
articles, and evaluation of Internet resources. Library instructors
continue to lobby faculty for more opportunities to teach information
literacy (research skills) in each discipline. The meeting with the
English Department was illuminating: the librarians explained what
they could teach -- English faculty members explained what they don't
have time to teach. Workshop plans for the coming year address some
of the discovered needs.
The Five Colleges of Ohio consortium received a $50,000 AT&T
Learning Network Teaching and Technology Grant. This project, with
Danielle Clarke representing Ohio Wesleyan, will develop Web-based
interactive modules to improve significantly student information literacy.
Online Services
At the beginning of spring semester we sent faculty members a six-page
annotated list of the more than 60 Web-based databases available for
campus-wide use (see Appendix F). Throughout the semester we featured
individual databases by posing a question in the Daily Bulletin
and then indicated where the answer could be found. Also, we widely
announced when Patron Authentication became available so that our
students, faculty and staff could use many of these databases from
anywhere in the world. Prior to the March Faculty Meeting, librarians
demonstrated eight of the new Web-based databases. Five faculty members
took advantage of this opportunity.
Through our membership in OhioLINK, the following web-based databases
became available: ABI/INFORM Global, AIDSLINE, America: History
and Life, Anthropological Literature, Applied Science and Technology
Abstracts, ArchivesUSA, Art Abstracts, ARTFL, Avery Index to Architectural
Periodicals, BioethicsLine, Biography Index, Biological Abstracts,
Biological & Agricultural Index, Book Review Digest, Business
and Industry, CancerLit, CINAHL, Compendex, Contemporary Women’s
Issues, Cumulative Book Index, Education Abstracts, ERIC, Essay &
General Literature Index, HarpWeek: the Civil War Era, HealthSTAR,
Hispanic American Periodicals Index, Historical Abstracts, History
of Science and Technology Databases, Index to Legal Periodicals and
Books, Library Literature, A Matter of Fact, MLA Bibliography, Newspaper
Abstracts, Ohio Capitol Connection, Oxford English Dictionary, PAIS
International, PsycINFO, and Statistical Universe.
For many of these titles, OhioLINK implemented a new search interface,
Dataware. Paul Burnam, Coordiantor of Online Services, demonstrated
this new software in one of the fall cross training sessions. During
a spring semester cross training sessions, he updated interested staff
on the Dataware Phase II features. Another cross training session
led by Joy He highlighted government publications, especially GPO
Access.
During the semester break it was decided to terminate the ProQuest
CD-ROM and ProQuest Direct services because we now have access through
OhioLINK to UMI's Periodical Abstracts and Newspaper Abstracts. At
the end of academic year, we decided not to renew the Five Colleges
of Ohio subscription to Cambridge Scientific Abstracts because of
the high subscription cost ($5,200) and availability of similar web-based
databases through OhioLINK
CLASSMATE, the library’s long-time online service, generated
251 searches this past year. This was almost half of last year's searches
(467) and considerably fewer than the 1,320 completed during 1994-95.
As more searching is done on OhioLINK web-based databases, we still
rely on CLASSMATE and OCLC’s FirstSearch as "databases of
last resort."
A DIALOG sales representative demonstrated a Windows version of the
DIALOGLINK software and Web versions of its databases. Although DIALOG
ceased support of the DOS-version of its software January 1, 1999,
we continued using the DOS-version because of our familiarity with
it and hardware limitations supporting the new software. During the
summer of 1999, however, the Windows version of DialogLink was installed
on the Beeghly Reference Desk workstation. This upgrade made it possible
to use the Internet as the telecommunications carrier for CLASSMATE,
which will insure better connectivity and lower searching costs.
Through OhioLINK, we added 47 web-based electronic journals from
John Hopkins, referred to as Project MUSE. Members of the Ohio Wesleyan
community downloaded 1,058 articles as PDF files from OhioLINK’s
Electronic Journal Center.
When a change was made to the campus telecommunications system early
in fall semester, there was a failure to consider the ramifications
on library services. Consequently, library staff members were unable
to access CLASSMATE for Chemistry and Zoology instructional sessions.
Once the problem was identified, it was easily resolved. Paul Burnam
drafted a set of procedures for staff to follow in the event of telecommunication
or network failure.
We added the following items to the home page:
- Internet Resources for Mathematical Sciences, Philosophy, Psychology,
and Women's Studies;
- a form for the ASK-A-LIBRARIAN e-mail Reference service;
- forms for Interlibrary Loan book and periodical requests; and
- a list of books added to the collection during the previous month.
Three focus groups -- one composed of students, one of faculty members,
and one of administrators -- evaluated the library home page. Dr.
Paul Kostyu, Associate Professor of Journalism, served as the moderator
for the focus group sessions. Chuck Della Lana and Chris Yates joined
Paul Burnam, Tom Green, and Joy He as members of the Library Home
Page Group. A major revision of the library home page is currently
underway.
By the end of the fiscal year, Dr. Byrd had succeeded in ordering
upgraded computers for all public services staff members. This will
allow us to take advantage of Microsoft Office, the new campus standard
software suite.
Reference
Reference and directional questions asked at the Beeghly Reference
Desk decreased 21.9% from the previous year (see Appendix
A for use statistics). This is the lowest number of questions
asked in the last ten years, but consistent with what other libraries
are reporting in library literature and e-mail discussion groups.
The World Wide Web, especially with the increasing number of web-based
databases offered through OhioLINK, may be having an impact. Library
users are finding, or think they are finding, the information they
need independently online.
To better serve Internet savvy campus users, "ASK-A-LIBRARIAN,"
an e-mail Reference service was introduced in February. The service
was advertised on the University's front page and over the campus
cable TV network, and featured in a Transcript article (see
Appendix G). 40 questions were received from students, faculty and
staff of Ohio Wesleyan as well as from the wider community. We received
several positive comments from satisfied users, including the following
e-mail message:
"I am a student as OWU, and would not survive any of my
writing courses without this service! Please continue it -- and
send a big thank-you to all those wonderful librarians who answer
all my questions -- you are lifesavers!"
Reference staffing during the academic year was adequate. Dr. Theresa
Byrd received reference services training during the summer. She provided
four hours of Beeghly Reference Desk coverage per week as well as
participating in weekend coverage. Carol Holliger and Marsha Zavar
each covered the Beeghly Reference Desk four hours per week, including
during faculty meetings. Throughout spring semester, under a supplementary
contract, Bernard Derr answered queries at the Beeghly Reference Desk
from 5-7 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Previously this time slot was
without Reference Desk coverage.
We started recording directional questions received at the Beeghly
Circulation and Periodicals Desks. An ad hoc committee composed of
Carol Holliger, chair, Paul Burnam, Bernard Derr, and Marsha Zavar
reviewed and revised the statistical forms. New forms were in place
for the beginning of Spring semester.
The reference librarians reviewed reference standing book orders.
Due to the increased costs of these titles, limited funds remained
for purchasing general reference titles. We agreed to put one title
on a four-year cycle and cancel 13 titles saving $4,499. In addition,
Financial Information Services (the parent company of Moody’s)
granted us a 50% discount for the next year on the package of reference
titles received from them.
