Library Newsletter - January 2011
Vol. 15, No. 2
- Word from the Director
- Porter Henderson Library (Then) and the Learning Commons (Now): An Introduction to the Changes Inside
- SHW Group's Final Observation Concerning the Learning Commons Project
- Illustrated Glossary of New Terms You May Hear
- Not Your Mama's Library
- Want Priority? Library Instruction Priority Weeks
- RIP, Fulltext Periodicals Channel
- News from Access Services
- Government Documents Update
- ScienceDirect Freedom Collection
- CINAHL Database Upgrade
- Porter Henderson Library Calendar: 2010-2011
Word from the Director
Maurice G. Fortin
Library Director
Welcome back for the 2011 Spring Semester. I hope you had a great holiday break and enjoyed this wonderful season. Theresa and I did a little bit of traveling since Thanksgiving. I believe we drove close to 5,000 miles on four different trips. Although a native Kansan, I had forgotten how cold a Kansas north wind can be in December. I was filling up our vehicle at about 8 pm on a Saturday night when it was around 15° to 16° with a 30-40 mph wind howling out of the north. Despite winter jacket, heavy duty hat, gloves, and boots, it was still very cold. In the morning as we were leaving, it was 9° with the same wind blowing from the north. We just think it gets cold here in San Angelo.
The exciting news for the campus from the Library for the New Year and semester is the opening of the Learning Commons to users on January 10th. Although the official grand opening will be at a later date and time, students and other users will be able to use the remodeled First Floor at 7:30 a.m. on the 10th.
I encourage you to come by and see the facility, services, and technology available in the Learning Commons. The Library's main entrance will now be off the campus' central mall on the north side of the Library's First Floor. The old entrance (on the west side facing the University Center) is still available, but is now the site of the new Common Grounds coffee bar and café. In addition to coffee and other beverages, the Common Grounds will have pastries, salads, sandwiches, and other treats available throughout the day. I plan to be down as early as possible on the 10th to get one of the first cups of coffee.
The Learning Commons is a joint operation with the Information Technology department. Their crews have been very busy finalizing the installation, setup, and testing of all of the new technology. Staff members from the Library and Information Technology finished the set up and training the week of January 3rd.
The new Information Literacy Corner offers a technology-rich environment to learn how to retrieve information to complete classroom assignments and research projects. Later in the Newsletter, Mark Allan, Head of Library Reference Services, will provide additional details about this new service point. The Learning Commons also has two smaller "learning nooks" featuring a large flat screen panel display. There is a media cart available for faculty members to use in these areas with their classes.
The furniture for the Learning Commons arrived early in December. It was fun to watch people looking in the windows on the First Floor and listening to their favorable comments concerning the furniture and spaces in the Learning Commons. Throughout this issue of the Newsletter, you will find articles and features concerning the new services and technology available in the Learning Commons.
Please be aware, the Library will be using the spring and summer terms to gather reactions and feedback concerning the Learning Commons as well as suggestions for changes and improvements. My staff and I will evaluate this feedback and the suggestions to implement improvements for the fall semester. So consider this as a break-in or learning session over the next few months.
I particularly want to thank several ASU staff members for their work on the Learning Commons project. From the Library, Mark Allan, Angela Skaggs, and Margaret Alexander spent many long hours in planning, moving, coping with temporary service points, and finally seeing the finished product come to fruition. Elaine Beach, Chris Steele, and Jeremy Brake ably represented Information Technology and made sure our students will have access to the best technology resources available in the Learning Commons. The Library staff and ASU owe a great debt of thanks to Clay Smith and the other members of the Facilities, Planning & Construction unit who oversaw this project. Clay and his colleagues made sure the project was on budget and met the best possible standards in quality workmanship. They also ably liaisoned with the Systems Office to ensure compliance with all rules and regulations. Finally I want to especially recognize the work of the architects: the SHW Group. Deb Ebersol, Eric Miller, Alison Binford, and their consultants took our ideas (good, bad, and half-baked), hopes, wishes, and dreams and turned them into the reality of the ASU Library Learning Commons.
In this issue you will find some "before" pictures so you can see where we have been and, more importantly, "after" pictures that should entice you to come see for yourself what awaits. Mark Allan, Head of Library Reference Services, is responsible for the "before" pictures. Some of the "after" pictures were taken by Shannon Sturm, University Archivist. Paul Bardagjy, a professional photographer from Austin, photographed other "after" shots of the new spaces, especially those featuring students and staff.
So, without further ado, please come up the ramp to the grand new entrance off the pedestrian mall and enter the Library's new Learning Commons.
Porter Henderson Library (Then) and the Learning Commons (Now):
An Introduction to the Changes Inside
| When you step inside the double entrance doors, you will see the wide open space and expansive views in the new space, with the new Circulation/Reserves Service Counter in the middle of the room. The picture (right) of this desk shows the new entrance in the background. |
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| Now the entry is a bright, open space designed for casual conversations, watching TV, or checking your email. The pictures to the right give you an idea of what to expect when you set foot inside for the first time. |
 
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| This northwest corner of the building looks just as inviting from the outside looking in. |
 
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 The picture to the left shows the First Floor from the Reference Desk to the Juvenile Collection Room. Look at the picture to the right to see how that view has changed.
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Although additional "before" and "after" pictures will accompany the following articles, the best way to appreciate the new Learning Commons and the new services and activities available to students, faculty, and staff is to come inside when the doors open on January 10 and explore the space.
We're waiting to greet you.
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“By providing a collaborative learning environment that facilitates student interaction with other students, faculty, staff, technology and information regardless of its format, the purpose of the Learning Commons is to refocus the Library as the heart of learning on campus.” |
SHW Group's Final Observation Concerning the Learning Commons Project
"SHW Group is pleased to have been a part of the Porter Henderson Library's transformation," says Deb Ebersole, Project Manager at SHW Group. "The project began with a visionary Library Services staff who understands the changing role of a library on a university campus." After the Texas Tech University System hired SHW Group to lead the design and programming effort, the design team, including University and Library Services staff, worked collaboratively to envision what the resulting library would look like and how it would function. Student collaboration, interaction and study opportunities abound in the final library design and the transformation of the library will serve the campus well into the future.
Illustrated Glossary of New Terms You May Hear
- Pebbles: the little stools covered in red, green, blue, and other colors. These can be pulled into any area for use by one or more people. For instance, gather your group members, pull the pebbles around one of the white columns, check out some dry-erase markers, and discuss your assignment. (For more information on where to check out dry-erase markers, read "News from Access Services" below.)
- Coconut chairs: Coconut chairs: concrete examples of the saying, "if you wait long enough something will come back into fashion." The coconut chairs with the black metal bases, covered in the pale green fabric, are the only furniture in the Learning Commons from the original 1960s-era Library. They were refurbished with new covers and padding, with coordinating fabric for the new color scheme. (No more orange, yellow, or green vinyl!) The coconut chairs with the blue covers and chrome bases are new purchases for this 21st-century Library.
- Reading Nooks: think "Nook," as in the ebook reader of the same name, which (usually) can only be used by one person at a time to read a book. Reading nooks are designed for use by one or two people. There are two of these in the Commons.
- Study Booths: resemble booths at restaurants. Each booth is equipped with a flat panel display and a sound system. The four booths are located near the Research Assistance Desk on the south side of the Commons.
- Learning Pods: to distinguish these from the reading nooks, above, think "dolphin pods," which are composed of several members. Learning pods in the Commons are designed for small groups of people to work together and are equipped with flat panel displays. There are two pods in the Commons. Faculty can even reserve the pods for class use. (For more information on this possibility, read "Not Your Mama's Library," below.)
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"For librarians serve people of all ages and types—some who require more traditional formats and services, some who prefer new formats and services, and some who take what they want from old and new. The challenge is to keep the service end result in sight and don't let technology drive the service. Don't adopt technology because it is the latest fad, adopt it because it improves the ability to provide or improve services. What works, stays; what doesn't, goes away." -- Loretta Gharst. "Librarians Forever!" Computers in Libraries. 30(10) (Dec. 2010), p. 11. |
Not Your Mama's Library
The Library staff is proud to open the doors to the new Porter Henderson Library Learning Commons. In keeping with the Twenty-First Century, the emphasis of this space is on digital information and collaboration; print resources and quietude has been downplayed. Whereas the library of old focused on reading and contemplation, the Learning Commons finds an analogy in social media, nimble and interactive. We have a plethora of comfortable seating; a coffee bar & café; a presentation/practice room which students can reserve to practice and record their presentations for immediate play-back; study booths, learning pods and reading nooks; and a brand new Information Literacy Corner wherein library instruction will take place and which can be used for individual or group student projects at other times.
State-of-the-art technology includes large flat panel displays to which students can connect laptops and other devices; digital senders to scan and send documents to students' e-mail accounts; laptop computers for checkout; enhanced wireless connectivity; and traditional personal computers and scanners. Electrical outlets are practically ubiquitous and will be available for students to utilize and recharge digital devices. A media cart will be available to be reserved for occasional faculty and librarian use within the Learning Commons and could potentially be utilized in conjunction with a faculty-reserved learning pod.
Technical assistance will be available from a brand new Information Technology service point where students can check out the laptops, get assistance trouble-shooting and configuring their own laptops, as well as getting help using the technology throughout the Learning Commons. The old-fashioned Reference Desk has been replaced with a Research Assistance Desk, emphasizing the use of online and other digital technologies for research and instructional purposes. Some of your old favorites will be available as well—a remodeled Circulation Desk to check out print materials available on other floors of the Library, photocopy machines, and a new RamBucks Deposit Station.
The Juvenile and Curriculum Collections have been relocated to the basement, as have the Government Documents and Maps/Atlases Collections. The Reference Collection has been vastly down-sized, with only the most relevant and current reference material remaining near the Research Assistance Desk. On the bright side, we have additional plans to make the Juvenile Collection and Curriculum Collection area even more inviting, and the government document assistant's workroom is located next to the relevant collection where assistance using documents may be requested. Many books formerly located in the reference collection have been relocated to the second floor where these titles are now available to be checked out. Finally, the Head of Library Reference Services and the Reference/Government Information Librarian's offices are located in the Commons area near the Research Assistance Desk. This will assist Library users by having information professionals where they can be easily reached in a time of need.
While Library Staff expect the Learning Commons to be a busy and noisier environment than many of our users are used to, there are still opportunities for quiet study elsewhere in the Library. Students and faculty may choose to take advantage of seating in the Basement or the Second Floor of the Library. Enhanced wireless access means that a laptop as well as print material may be utilized in a secluded library spot. Group study rooms are still available in the Basement and the Second Floor, and the Quiet Study Area is located on the Second Floor.
As a picture is worth a thousand words, here are some relevant images of the new Porter Henderson Library Learning Commons, 11,000 words worth.
The Information Literacy Corner, in the southwest corner of the Learning Commons,
in the area formerly known as the Reference Area/Alcove (inset).
To see larger images: picture on the left, picture on the right, the inset
Here are some of the other spaces and resources available in the area of the former Reference Room (the two smaller insets show this area before the renovation). Moving clockwise from the top left: 1) computers for research use near the Research Assistance Desk; 2) the space on the south side of the Learning Commons, from the Information Technology desk in the foreground to the Research Assistance Desk in the background (the study booths can be seen midway, just past the students sitting on the "pebbles"); [inset of previous Reference Room], 3) two students sitting in a reading nook, while two others use one of the study booths in the background; 4) the interior of a learning pod; 5) the Research Assistance Desk; [inset of previous Reference Area, looking into the Reference Room] and 6) the presentation practice room.
Want Priority?
Library Instruction Priority Weeks
With the opening of the Learning Commons, the Library is beta-testing "Priority Weeks." These will be a two-week period where the Library encourages faculty who want their students to have hands-on training to schedule their class library instruction sessions. The Information Literacy Corner (ILC) that will be used for instruction is laptop dependent, and will generally be used by students for their own projects most of the time when sessions aren't booked. Therefore, the laptops used during instruction sessions will have to be set up and taken down by Information Technology to accommodate subsequent student use. In order to keep this to a minimum, the weeks of January 31st and February 7th have been designated as a time wherein the laptop setup will remain the entire two-week period, and when the ILC will otherwise be unavailable to students. Therefore, faculty who desire their students to have interactive sessions are advised to take a look at this time period and to make arrangements for instruction sessions as early as possible. Librarians will still provide instruction outside of this window of opportunity, but such instruction may be limited to "lecture/presentation" style sessions in this space, or possibly hands-on instruction at another agreed-upon location on campus.
Another opportunity available to faculty when time is at a premium is BIDs: Brief In-class Demonstrations. A Librarian will be happy to drop by a class and provide a quick, ten- to twenty-minute session on library-related topics that the faculty member deems are most important. Generally, a "smart" classroom with a PC and projector is required, but we can attempt to work around obstacles!
To schedule a session within (or out of) Priority Weeks as well as BIDs, please contact Mark Allan at (325) 942-2511 or mark.allan@angelo.edu.
RIP, Fulltext Periodicals Channel
In the past, students and faculty wanting to discover if a journal was available fulltext online used the Fulltext Periodicals channel on the Library's RamPort and Blackboard tabs. However, this did not include data regarding whether the Library owned a journal in a print format. In order to provide comprehensive data with "one-stop" shopping, the Library has now incorporated data about online, fulltext journals into RamCat. The Fulltext Periodicals channel has subsequently been removed from its former locations in RamPort and Blackboard and has been replaced with information regarding the Library's tutorials (see picture to the left). From now on, please search in RamCat to determine whether a journal is available in either a print or an electronic format.
Alternatively, one can use the 360 Link to Full Text service which will appear in most Library online databases when an article is not available fulltext online. Clicking this link will search ninety percent of the Library's databases (only Open URL-compliant databases), and will display whether that article is available fulltext online in any of the majority of online resources. However, if fulltext is not located using 360 Link, one should always double-check RamCat to make sure that the item is really not available in the Library's print holdings or the other ten percent of databases.
News from Access Services
After more than a year, we've finally returned to our First Floor home, and things certainly don't look the same! The main entrance isn't even on the same side of the building! Common Grounds, our new coffee bar, occupies the space that used to be the entry. There is now a grand new entrance on the north side of the building, along the mall. And for easy access, there is a long, sloped approach from the mall sidewalk to the Library.
The Circulation/Reserves Service Counter is easily located, whether you enter through Common Grounds or the new main entrance. It's the massive mesquite desk, right in front of you! The book return slot is stylishly located on the northwest corner of the desk [hint: look low].
We've added a new exterior book return drop box on the west side of the building, between the door to Common Grounds and the door to the 3rd floor elevator. AND we've added new outside media return drop boxes on the east and west sides of the building, alongside the book return drop boxes.
The Curriculum and Juvenile Collections, formerly located on the First Floor in the northwest quadrant of the building, are now housed in the southwest corner of the basement, on brand new shelving.
The Library is proud to offer students the opportunity to use a "presentation practice" space in the new Learning Commons. This is a room with a 42-inch flat panel monitor and digital recording capability so that students can record themselves as they practice their presentations, and then review their efforts before the real event. Because these features are expected to be very popular, patrons are asked to reserve the room to be sure it is available when they come to use it. The staff of the Circulation Desk will be happy to make those reservations, so just call 942-2051 for assistance. The room may be reserved for a period of 2 hours, and the key must be checked out at the Circulation Desk.
Have you wished for more dry-erase boards in the Library, where you and your group members can gather and work on a project? We've added a new large dry-erase board in one of the group study rooms on the 2nd floor, but we've also got you covered in the Learning Commons. The interior columns on the main level have been treated with a special coating that allows them to act as dry-erase boards. Just be careful to use only the very square interior columns with the slick coating. Better yet, ask before you mark! Dry-erase markers can be checked out from the Circulation Desk. For example, in the picture above right, of the south side of the Learning Commons, the white columns have the special coating for use with dry erase markers. The "pebbles" can be moved around and placed where needed.
We also have a new partner in the Learning Commons—Information Technology. IT will be staffing a service counter behind the Circulation Desk (left) where ASU students, faculty and staff can check out laptops for two hours of in-house use, with a one hour renewal available. They will also be checking out headphones and VGA cables for both MACs and PCs. All of these items will be subject to the same fine structure as materials on Course Reserve (meaning that fines accumulate by the minute), so pay attention to the loan period when you check out your equipment. Although IT equipment is checked out at the IT service desk, any fines are to be paid at the Circulation Desk.
So what else is new? You'll just have to come and see for yourselves! We can't wait for you to check us out.
Government Documents Update
We've Moved – You'll Find Us in the Basement
During the past Spring semester, the Government Documents section was moved from the First Floor into a more comfortable area in the basement near the maps and down from the Media Department. We have a couple of tables that are suitable for studying and we will also have an internet-connected PC for students and members of the public to use for access electronic government documents. Other public access computers will be available on the first floor for non-student patrons.
Come down to experience our new space and to see the government documents staff for assistance with your research needs.
New Databases for Business and the Sciences from the Government
As a Federal Depository Library, we receive useful publications for free from the government in many different forms. We recently have received access to three new databases that business, life science, and physical sciences students will find useful. Each one of these databases will appear in RamPort. You'll find them in the respective area for the "find databases by discipline" drop down menu and also in the alphabetical listing of databases. They are:
- Entrez – Entrez is a megasearch engine that allows you to find information within or across various databases created by the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Through it you can find various types of specialized biochemical and genetic information as well as access other relevant biomedical databases, like PubMed Central and online medical books available through the National Library of Medicine.
- PubChem – PubChem is a database of chemical structures of small organic molecules and information on their biological activities. Through PubChem, you can find the chemical structure, chemical properties, and a literature review of various compounds, as well as a literature review chemical structures and compounds.
- Market Research Library – Market Research Library is an excellent resource for researching overseas markets for various industries. The database was created by the U.S. Commercial Service and it has interesting market research reports for a wide variety of industries in various countries throughout the world. Some reports will ask that you register with USCS, but for students and researchers, the registration is free.
PIGWAD (Yes, that's the name)—A Great Way to See a Planet
We have also received access to PIGWAD (US Geological Survey Planetary GIS Web Server). PIGWAD is a Geographical Information System that has been produced by the US Geological Survey that allows you to view the geography of various planets and moons through a browser. You can access PIGWAD in the same way you can access any electronic government document—by searching for it in RamCat and then clicking on the link within the record that you retrieve.
Retrospective Cataloging: Congressional Hearings
Like many depositories, we do not have every government document available in our online catalog, RamCat. Although everything that we receive now is in the catalog, before the 1990s records for very few documents were placed in the catalog. Over the years, we have made some strides with catching up and cataloging important items so that they become visible to patrons searching RamCat who may need to check out a document for their academic or other interests.
Earlier this year, the Government Documents staff finished a multi-year project of getting all of the paper Congressional hearings (from the 1970s) that the Porter Henderson Library owns into RamCat.
Although we still have older hearings from the 1980s and 1990s on microfiche that we have not yet cataloged, this has been a huge step forward for the library—and for researchers. These hearings are fascinating primary sources that record the testimony of experts of the day on a wide variety of topics that Congress wrestled with to enact legislation, such as science, social conditions, economics, environmental issues, and foreign policy from the 1960s through today. These hearings show that many topics dealt with in the 1970s are still important and being debated today. Many hearings also include documents, maps, memos and other printed matter that were included along with testimony.
Because of this project, you can search RamCat to find out if we have a paper version of a hearing on something of interest and then locate it in the government documents section in the basement and check it out for your research. Other items you may find by searching RamCat are available for checkout but stored in our Third Floor Storage Room. The folks at the Circulation Counter will retrieve them for you to examine or check out.
Special thanks go out to Janetta Paschal, the former Government Documents/Reference Librarian and current Head of Library Technical Services, who came up with the idea and saw the project roughly half-way through. Special thanks also go out to our Government Documents Assistant, Cindy Belden, who worked on this project when she was a volunteer intern with the Library and then completed the project after joining the Library staff last summer.
Retrospective Cataloging: US Geological Survey Documents
We also are currently working on getting older documents from the US Geological Survey (USGS) Bulletins and US Geological Survey Professional Papers into RamCat. These documents cover a wide variety of geological subjects from a variety of locations across the US. They should be helpful for researchers and students in the new Geosciences major. We will finish with retrospectively cataloging the USGS Professional Papers very soon, and should finish the USGS Bulletins sometime during the Spring semester.
Retrospective Cataloging: Electronic Documents for the Center for Security Studies
We are also cataloging defense- and national security-related online books published by various Department of Defense agencies that will be useful for Center for Security Studies students and faculty. You will be able to access them by clicking on a link found in the description of a particular book or monograph in RamCat.
Moving Publications to Government Documents
In the past, before government documents could be checked out for use, some documents were cataloged and shelved in the Second Floor Stacks. Now we have moved all USGS Professional Bulletins and USGS Survey Bulletins back into the Government Documents area to consolidate them into a single place and to open up space on the Second Floor. We will also be moving the USGS Water-Supply Papers and the USGS Water Investigations Reports to the basement near the other USGS documents.
We have also moved the publications in two other series, Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology and Smithsonian Contributions to Botany, into the Government Documents Collection in the basement from the Second Floor Stacks.
Interactive Census Map
The Census Bureau has created an interactive map that enables users to view the history of apportionment and our country's changing population through the past century. You can access the map through this link: http://2010.census.gov/2010census/data/
Note: This data is summary data for states and the nation. Don't expect detail either in geographies or topics. Also, this is NOT the data that will be used for redrawing Congressional Districts.
Federal Depository Survey
Finally, the U.S. Government Printing Office and the Federal Depository Library Program have created a brief 16-question online survey to learn how people are using government documents available through depository libraries, like the Porter Henderson Library at Angelo State University. This survey will help the Porter Henderson Library better understand how local students, faculty, staff, and community members use government documents available in print at this library and online through RamCat.
The survey will be available through February at this link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HSLCRRB.
Your answers and comments will remain confidential and will be aggregated in an anonymous format. This compiled data, though, will help us understand how to better serve our users.
Please take a few minutes to complete this survey. Your participation is very much appreciated!
ScienceDirect Freedom Collection
The Texas Tech University System Libraries (the University Libraries, the Health Sciences Center Libraries, and the Porter Henderson Library) have entered into an agreement with Elsevier for access to the ScienceDirect Freedom Collection. Under normal circumstances for academic libraries, Angelo State would not be eligible to subscribe to this collection because our total Elsevier subscription base is not large enough; however, as a member of a consortial group such as the TTU System Libraries, ASU is able to subscribe to this Collection at a substantial cost saving. This offers the Library the chance to obtain access to all non-subscribed Elsevier journal content, with some exceptions, at a significantly reduced rate.
The access-only model starts from the date of our existing ScienceDirect subscription, with a minimum of four backfile years plus the current year. The backfile access increases the longer we maintain our subscription. Because ASU is a long-standing customer of Elsevier/ScienceDirect, through our previous membership in the Texas State University System subscription group, our users have access from the year 1995 for many titles. For journals which began after 1995, our access begins with the initial date of publication.
About now you may be thinking, "But we already have access to ScienceDirect titles." That statement is correct; we have had access to about 600 ScienceDirect journals through the TSUS/ASU group and we will retain access to these titles up through 2010, for those we do not subscribe to. Contrast that level of access to what we have now: over 2,000 titles in the Freedom Collection. Bibliographic records for these titles appear in RamCat, with links to the E-Journal Portal (the results you were accustomed to seeing when you searched "Fulltext Periodicals" on the Library tab in RamPort). If you want to see if an Elsevier title is available now, search RamCat. You may be pleasantly surprised at what you see.
CINAHL Database Upgrade
Late in the fall 2010 semester, the Nursing and Physical Therapy departments agreed to share the costs with the Library to upgrade the CINAHL database. "CINAHL with Full Text" is now available to Library users through the Library tab in RamPort. Nursing and Physical Therapy students may be the most appreciative of this change, but others will find it helpful, as well.
Porter Henderson Library Calendar: 2010-2011
[The current Calendar, and the one that will be kept up-to-date, can be found on the Library and WTC Hours of Operation web page.]
