Fall 2000
Off the Shelf - Fall 2000
McIntyre Library newsletter for the fall semester of 2000.
Music Listening Facility To Be Created
By Bob Rose, roserf@uwec.edu
I am very pleased to announce that funding has been identified to create a music listening facility in McIntyre Library, in response to a need that has been recognized for many years. In fact, the need for a UW-Eau Claire facility in which "scores, recordings, and listening equipment [are] located in close proximity to one another" has been identified in the National Association of Schools of Music reports since 1975. Until now scores and other music materials have been located in the library, while recordings and listening equipment have been located in the Haas Fine Arts Center. A joint committee of faculty from the Music and Theatre Arts Department and the library proposed that a listening facility that would meet the NASM requirements be created in the library. Thanks to a collaborative funding effort from the Planning Reserve, Academic Affairs, Arts & Sciences, Music and Theatre Arts, and McIntyre Library budgets, that resource is now on its way to being established.
The music collections and listening facility will be located in the Center for Reserve and Instructional Media. The initial collection will consist of 1,000 plus CDs identified primarily by Music and Theatre Arts faculty. Audio equipment will be housed in existing individual carrels in CRIM; portable CD players and two group listening rooms will be available. With the creation of this facility and collection, music students as well as the campus community will have greatly increased access to these resources.
Many units on campus have come together to resolve this problem and we're very grateful to the Chancellor, Provost, and Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, as well as the Music and Theatre Arts Department and the Library itself for the financial support being provided to make this a reality. We expect to have the new facility up and running by the start of the spring semester, although we do not expect the entire collection of recordings to be fully available until late spring.
Student Survey Results
By Bob Rose, roserf@uwec.edu
Last spring McIntyre Library conducted a student survey to gather data for its strategic planning process and also for the Audit & Review being conducted this fall. We were pleased that 1,057 students took the time to fill out the questionnaires. In an attempt to include library users and non-users, we distributed surveys in both the library and Davies Center. The survey was also mounted on the library's website. The surveys were distributed on weekdays, evenings, and weekends so both traditional and nontraditional students could participate. Our response rate was boosted by the food and drink coupons which Burger King generously donated. Following is a summary of the survey results. A graphical summary is available on the library's website.
A slight majority of the respondents (55.2%) were upper division students, and 2.5% were graduate students. Over two-thirds of the students classified themselves as on-campus, 31% as commuting, and 1.7% as distance education students. Of all respondents, 8.6% considered themselves nontraditional students and 1.6% were international students.
Students responded that their primary reason for using the library was group or individual study - closely followed by research use. We also asked the reasons why students did not use the library. The responses were interesting: 43.5% indicated non-use because their courses didn't require it, 22% did their research online, and 2.2% found departments not staffed when they needed, or had poor service (8 students).
Generally, students felt positively about the library. Just under 89% of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed that library staff is helpful (50% of the graduate student respondents strongly agreed). Nearly 82% of students who had had library instruction sessions considered them to be useful or very useful. Every international student found such instructional sessions useful or very useful, and nontraditional students were more likely to strongly agree that such sessions were very useful than were traditional undergraduate students. Nearly 85% of the students who used the library's Web pages agreed or strongly agreed that they were easy to use.
The vast majority of respondents found it easy to locate materials and services, although response patterns implied a need for improved signage. International students were the most likely group to experience difficulties in finding materials or services. Nearly 92% of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the library is a pleasant building.
Respondents felt more positively about the library's collection than we expected given our years of budgetary difficulties. However, a number of students commented upon perceived collection weaknesses in particular subject areas. Slightly over 75% agreed or strongly agreed that the collections met their needs. We also asked students if they felt the library should acquire more electronic products. While a little more than half agreed that we should, nearly 26% felt we should not. Numerous written comments highlighted the need for additional print resources.
We are particularly pleased that many students (approximately 20%) took the time to write additional comments. Comments fell along a broad spectrum from being very positive to very negative. As a result of student input the fifth floor of the library has been designated a "quiet study zone," areas of the collection identified as weak are being strengthened, and we have begun to offer general library tours.
We have incorporated many of the findings of the survey into our developing strategic plan and have identified items from the survey that bear additional, more in-depth investigation. We anticipate using the results of a recently completed faculty and staff survey similarly.
@your library
Be on the lookout for this logo. The American Library Association has unveiled a public awareness campaign and has made a five-year commitment to speak loudly and clearly about the value of libraries and librarians to our communities, schools, academic institutions, and businesses, as well as the library's value to our society, democracy, and the new digital age.
New Look @ Your Library
By Jill Markgraf, markgrjs@uwec.edu
When the cat's away...library faculty and staff work diligently to improve services for the upcoming semester. Among this summer's many projects was the revision of the library website. Armed with a year's worth of user feedback, library website usability studies, design guidelines, and plenty of opinions, the library's Web Committee undertook a redesign of the site developed a year ago.
Among the changes are:
- A more prominent "What's New in the Library" feature includes the latest breaking library news, such as newly added databases, current exhibits, student employment opportunities, new library services, survey results and more.
- A new Research Help & Tips button pulls together useful resources offering assistance for research and managing technology. Resources include email links to reference librarians, an online research tutorial, a library glossary, a research process guide, and a map that flowcharts the research process. The site also includes links to library guides on managing technology, to CNS Help Desk, and to the ITM Online Help Collection.
- A new Research Resources page replaces the former Online Resources page. This new page takes a comprehensive approach to library resources by integrating electronic, print and other media, rather than categorizing them by medium. Links to the ever-popular lists of indexes and databases are found on this page, which now includes not only electronic databases but also several current print subscriptions. This page also links to periodical lists, other libraries and a variety of subject resources.
New design features that attempt to make the site more attractive and easier to navigate:
- Annotations that provide a clearer picture of where links will take users.
- A new page layout that capitalizes on the most readable parts of the screen, such as the upper right, and reduces the need for scrolling.
- Buttons that link to frequently used information, such as Hours, Research Help & Tips, and the website's Master index.
- Attempts to minimize library jargon and replace it with terminology that is more understandable to our users.
- Incorporation of the new UW-Eau Claire wordmark and graphics.
- A library photo that clearly identifies the building and includes some of the campus hallmark landscaping.
The revisions and enhancements made to the library's upper level pages will gradually extend to all library web pages in an effort to improve the library's online presence and service to the UW-Eau Claire community. The library webpage can be found at https://library.uwec.edu/. Your comments and suggestions are welcome at libweb@uwec.edu.
Voyager Library Catalog Upgraded
A new release of the Voyager library system was installed in time for the fall semester. This latest version of the Web-based library catalog offers both a simpler search interface and greater functionality. The catalog is accessed through the library homepage. Introducing Voyager, a guide to using the Voyager catalog.
Connecting to Library Databases from Off-Campus
New to the Website: Connecting to Library Databases from Off-Campus -- the Proxy Server
By Jill Markgraf, markgrjs@uwec.edu
It is getting easier to do library research from beyond the library, from off-campus, and literally from anywhere in the world. Anyone with Internet access can visit the library's website, search the catalog, and use a myriad of resources, guides and online collections. In addition to the hundreds of publicly accessible resources on the library's website are more than 100 online indexing and full-text databases to which the library subscribes. Due to licensing agreements, only current UW-Eau Claire students, faculty and staff may connect to these databases from outside the library.
Access to these proprietary, licensed databases is based on IP (Internet Protocol) recognition. UW-Eau Claire has a range of IP addresses - much like a city or region has an area code - that is recognized by our subscription databases. Anyone connecting to the databases from a campus account (i.e. from anywhere on campus, as well as through the campus modem pool or Charter/UW-Eau Claire cable modem service) is recognized as a UWEC user and automatically has access to the databases.
But what if you're a UW-Eau Claire student, faculty or staff member working from home or some other off-campus location using a non-UWEC Internet connection? The library offers a solution through what's called a proxy server. The proxy server acts as a gateway to restricted or licensed databases by verifying that you are a current UWEC student, faculty or staff member, and then "lending" you a UWEC IP address that will let you access all subscription databases. To use the proxy server, you must adjust some settings on your web browser (i.e. Netscape or Internet Explorer), and supply your campus username and password or PIN.
While the proxy server has been a boon to distance education students and others doing research from a distance, it has, like many emerging technologies, occasional glitches. We have found that the proxy works better with Netscape than with Microsoft's Internet Explorer (sorry, Bill). And we have found that it works well with most private Internet Service Providers, except for America Online. If you experience problems with AOL or other providers, contact the Reference Desk for assistance.
New Databases
Finding the Resources
The simplest way to access these databases is to look them up by title from the library homepage Master Index. They are also linked in the alphabetical list of databases, as well as under the subject list.
The new databases are:
- Emerald Intelligence + Fulltext
- Arts and Sciences Databases
- Columbia Earthscape
- PiranhaWeb
Emerald Intelligence + Fulltext
Access to over 130 business and management journals is available to UW-Eau Claire users through the Emerald Intelligence database.
Journals are cataloged individually, so articles found through other databases can be easily located here as well. Within Emerald, you may access individual article issues and table of contents, or search by keyword, author, article title, journal title, content indicators, article type or date.
Contents: abstracts 1989-, full text 1994-
Searching the database:
- Open Emerald Intelligence. You may search all "libraries" but limiting to one of the seven particular subject areas listed, such as Human Resources, may yield more targeted results.
- Enter search terms and any limiters you wish to add.
- Results display the search terms and selected limits followed by article citations. You may view abstracts, full PDF, or html text. Save the html version. Emailing articles is not an option.
- As you view articles, notice that hyperlinks to many tables and illustrations may be available.
For additional information, examples and search help, use the library database guide or click the HELP button while searching.
Arts and Sciences Databases
by Linda Cecchini, cecchilr@uwec.edu
- AccessScience, the Online Version of McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology
The 8th edition of this leading science encyclopedia is now fully searchable online. Regularly updated with recent research developments, AccessScience provides such features as: biographies of scientists, late-breaking science and technology news, links to related websites, learning resources and study guides, and added illustrations. Also included are the 1998 and 1999 Yearbooks of Science & Technology which highlight the year's most important research. Once connected to AccessScience, begin a search by clicking on Subscriber Login in the upper right corner of the screen.
- Grove Art and Grove Opera on the Web
The prestigious Grove Dictionary of Art (Grove Art) and the New Grove Dictionary of Opera (Grove Opera) are now web-accessible to UW-Eau Claire users. Paid for by UW System shared electronic resources funds, these two reference works augment the library's humanities collections in the visual arts and music. At the Grove Art site, click Enter Site. At the Grove Opera site, click Login Here.
- Online Journal of Knowledge Synthesis for Nursing
The Library thanks the Delta Phi Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International for its purchase of a site license to provide campus-wide access to The Online Journal of Knowledge Synthesis for Nursing. According to the producer "this journal publishes critical reviews of research literature to guide nursing practice and research. The reviews include a statement of the practice problem, a summary of the research, annotated critical references, practice implications, research needed, search strategies, and references." Articles date back to 1993.
In addition to the journal, three databases are listed on the initial menu screen:
Registry of Nursing Research, Literature Indexes, and The arc© Knowledgebases on HIV/AIDS. The site provides online content descriptions and help for navigating each of these specialized databases.
To access the journal database, use the library's online catalog Journal Title search. Type in Online Journal of Knowledge Synthesis for Nursing. Click on the linked resources hotlink. On the Honor Society of Nursing homepage, click on Online Journal of Knowledge Synthesis for Nursing, then click Search. (Do not use the Logon, subscribers only option.)
Columbia Earthscape
Columbia Earthscape
by Mary Hayden, haydenm@uwec.edu
Columbia Earthscape is billed as "an online resource on the global environment". The database was created to share interdisciplinary research and teaching resources in the field of Earth-systems science. The four sections of Columbia Earthscape are:
- research reports - working papers and online conferences worldwide
- curriculum models - modules, tutorials, and virtual labs at the undergraduate level
- Earth Affairs online magazine - commentary, analysis and background
- links and resources - access to databases, classification systems, and other models essential to research on the Earth sciences and the environment
News features during October 2000 included a "campaign eco-update", earthquake reports from Japan, a mini-course on climate change, and calendars of conferences in astronomy, ecology, geology, meteorology and oceanography.
Piranha Web: Additions to Company Financial Information
by Dan Norstedt, norsteda@uwec.edu
Company financial information is still found under Global Access on the McIntyre Library webpage, but we have purchased PiranhaWeb, a more extensive file that provides easy downloading of data into an Excel Spreadsheet. After connecting to Global Access, click the "PiranhaWeb" tab to find a wider choice of company financial reports, comparisons of like companies, and the Excel downloading capability. PiranhaWeb also offers the current status of American stock markets and trends in the most active shares. Under Piranha's "Research" tab, SEC reports may be retrieved.
New on the Website: A Web Research Tutorial
New on the Website: A Web Research Tutorial for Students Here and There
By Betsy Richmond, richmoeb@uwec.edu
"Slight not what's near through aiming at what's far"
The University of Wisconsin librarians who created the Research Tutorial were not thinking of Euripides when the project began, but the quotation is a good fit. The tutorial is intended for those near to and far from campus library resources. The Research Tutorial is a flexible and generic research-oriented instruction tutorial for students of the University of Wisconsin who are new to the research process. It is geared toward students taking courses at a distance who might not have convenient access to in-person library instruction.
Tutorial Background
The Research Tutorial was developed by a working group of the Council of Wisconsin Libraries Distance Education Committee. The working group was composed of librarians from five University of Wisconsin campuses, and included Jill Markgraf and Betsy Richmond from McIntyre Library.
The tutorial design focused on two criteria:
- technical sophistication of the users: a tutorial that ran easily on a low-end computer (one without high speed, video or audio capability) because many returning students do not have high-end computers.
- a generic approach to the tutorial content, that is, a research process not dependent on any one library. The goal was to teach principles, not train keystrokes.
The Tutorial is flexible; component modules (Table) may be used independently of one another.
Tutorial contents include:
- Information Basics
- Recognizing What You Need
- Research Problems
- Searching Tips
- Evaluating Information
- Troubleshooting Tips
- Research Ethics
The module Recognizing What You Need begins: "Recognizing what information you need is based on understanding your research objective and its level of complexity and requirements. Different resources have varying combinations of information depth, currency accuracy, authority, and quick accessibility and ease of use. Determining which types of resources have the best combinations of these characteristics is one of the keys to effective research. The importance of each factor will vary according to your research problem."
Recognizing What You Need includes questions a student might consider, such as:
- Am I looking for a quick answer or overview, or do I need to study this issue in depth?
- Do I need to use scholarly literature such as peer-reviewed journals, or can I use popular magazines or newspapers as well?
- Is the topic area changing so rapidly that I need the most current information available (example: medical research), or are older materials just as valid (example: literary criticism)?
- Do I need to use primary sources, where I look at original research and interpret it myself?
- Or can I use secondary sources where others have already evaluated and summarized the research in this area?
The Research Problems module provides four scenarios with widely different research purposes, providing examples and steps for different research needs:
- Casual Research - Finding a Recipe
- Formal Research - Pollution Paper
- Personal Interest - Learning about Bats
- Oral Report - Internet Gambling
The Research Ethics module begins: "Plagiarism! Naughty, naughty... BAD RESEARCHER!" Ethical researchers respect the intellectual property rights of others. This means that they:
- avoid plagiarism
- respect copyright laws
Trouble Shooting Tips includes technological considerations as well as research skills. The "Access to Resources" tips ask the student to figure out which resources they have access to and how to find them. They need to ask:
Does my library have the journal in which this article is published? (The database may provide this information). To find the exact location of a journal in your library, check the library catalog. Be sure to search the library catalog for the journal title, not the article title!
Does the database provide the article in electronic format? If so, can I print, save, or email it to myself?
Have I allowed time for interlibrary loan if a source is not available in my library?
Trouble Shooting Tips also reflects the generic quality of the Tutorial. Students may be using any library to complete their research.
Try it! And please give feedback to Jill Markgraf at markgrjs@uwec.edu or Betsy Richmond at richmoeb@uwec.edu. Suggestions are appreciated.
New Acquisitions: New Journals Purchased
By Linda Cecchini, cecchilr@uwec.edu
The 1999/2000 fiscal year budget brought welcome relief to the decade-long drought in funding for library materials. The legislature targeted $7.4 million to UW system libraries for print and electronic resources. McIntyre Library distributed its share of the new money among all areas of its collections, including journals in print.
Subscription costs for academic journals continue to inflate at about 10% annually, mandating that we continue to exercise judgment when acquiring new titles to support our curriculum. The main criteria for selecting journal subscriptions were interlibrary loan activity, the number of majors in a discipline, and content coverage in heavily-used indexing and abstracting services.
The journals listed below were ordered last spring. They are shelved by title in the current journal shelves on the second floor. Consult the library catalog for holdings information.
- AIDS education and prevention
- Aphasiology
- Biological conservation
- Brain & language
- Child and adolescent social work journal
- Fitness
- Health psychology
- Home healthcare nurse
- Icarus
- Der Islam
- JONA'S healthcare law, ethics, and regulation
- Journal of gerontological social work
- Journal of head trauma rehabilitation
- Journal of legal pluralism and unofficial law
- Journal of medical speech-language pathology
- Journal of pediatric health care
- Journal of psychosocial oncology
- Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners
- Journalism and communication monographs
- Men's journal
- Natural areas journal
- Nurse practitioner forum
- Nursing case management
Around the Library: Library Tours Added to LIBRA
Around the Library: Library Tours Added to LIBRA (Library Research in Action)
By Betsy Richmond, richmoeb@uwec.edu
Library faculty and staff are now giving regularly scheduled tours of the library. The new tours were initiated in response to student requests. Comments from the library student survey indicated some difficulty in locating various types of materials in the library. In addition, a student library assistant suggested that tours would be helpful for all students, not just those who work in the library. The suggestion was passed on to the library director, Bob Rose, and work on tours commenced this summer.
Librarians Betsy Richmond and Leslie Foster developed a "script" so that library tour guides include the same information on all tours. The tours start in the grand corridor outside the library entrance and cover the main library, as well as the Special Collections Department and the BITS/PALS classroom in the old library. The tour takes about 30 minutes and covers topics such as:
- Where are magazines (or journals, books, government documents, rare books)?
- Where can I get help?
- How are the books arranged?
- Does the library have photocopy machines? Can I use my Blugold card?
- How can I get a group study room?
- Where are the current newspapers?
- How do I find the Library web page and the online catalog?
Library tours were held every week in September, and during the first week in October and November. We are planning tours for the first 5 weeks of the spring semester at the following times:
Mondays: 5:30 PM
Tuesdays: 3:00 PM
Wednesdays: 10:00 PM
Thursdays: noon
Ask at the Reference Desk or consult the library website for details.
How are the Library Tours different from LIBRA classes? Tours do not substitute for library instruction.
The purpose of the new McIntyre Library tours is to:
- orient tour-takers to the physical design of the building and briefly describe library services and service points
The purpose of the continuing LIBRA instructional program is to teach search methods and/or provide a detailed orientation to the catalog and databases to meet the information needs of students and others. LIBRA classes are usually held in a library classroom, are scheduled by a class instructor for a regular class period, and may focus on a particular class assignment or research project.
The emphasis is:
- finding print and electronic resources on a topic
- developing research strategies
- applying critical thinking skills and evaluation methods
- effectively using online resources such as the Voyager catalog, and the 100+ indexes and databases to which the library subscribes.
View from the Third Floor
View from the Third Floor
by Bob Rose, roserf@uwec.edu
The following represent a miscellany of current topics affecting our library.
- Collections Budget
- NetLibrary
- Voyager Universal Borrowing
- Building Improvements
- Audit & Review
Collections Budget
The library's materials budget is in significantly better shape today than it was two years ago, as a result of passage of the UW System Library Decision Item Narrative for this biennium. Funding was provided for three initiatives: expanded access to electronic resources system-wide, expansion of courier service between UW libraries from three to five days a week, and additional funding for individual campus libraries. Expanded courier service for McIntyre Library will begin in January 2001.
This funding has made a significant difference in the resources available through McIntyre library. The collective purchasing power of the UW libraries has brought students and faculty such additional new electronic resources as Web of Science, Biosis, Columbia Earthscape, and Academic Universe. Increases in local funding have allowed subscriptions to such databases as Annual Reviews, the Cochrane Library of Clinical Research, and Early English Books Online. Because of the cooperative efforts of the UW libraries, our students and faculty have access to electronic resources that rivals or exceeds that available to students and faculty at some research libraries.
As a result of the DIN, $106,000 was added to our base collections budget during each of the biennium years. This money represents a significant increase, especially when compared to a decade or more of zero increases. Nevertheless, the total of $212,000 represents only a fraction of the amount of money we needed simply to keep pace with inflation during the 1990s.
So how is that additional money being spent? During each of these years, departmental allocations were increased significantly. Money was set aside to address collection needs - such as rebuilding the Reference Collection, money went to acquire electronic resources in specific support of the UW-Eau Claire curriculum, and some new journals have been ordered. Although we have added new journal titles, we are being very conservative in doing so. A straight-line projection of periodical inflation costs for just those periodicals to which we subscribed prior to the DIN indicates that the first $106,000 will be eaten up by inflation in about 3 1/2 years.
The Regents have proposed an additional library budgetary increase for the next biennium, based on a request submitted by the United Council, in which UW students asked that the part of the Library DIN not funded in the current biennium be funded in the upcoming budget cycle. Additional information about this proposal will be shared as details emerge.
NetLibrary
The UW System has subscribed to NetLibrary, a collection of full-text electronic books that cover a variety of disciplines. These e-books are available to UW-Eau Claire students and faculty. Library users may check them out just as they would print books, but for 24 hours at a time. The books selected by the UW libraries from the NetLibrary collection are available to all authorized UW users; only one user may use an e-book at any given time. Once checked out, users can download or print sections of interest. Watch for additional NetLibrary information on the library homepage "What's New" section as the semester progresses.
Voyager Universal Borrowing
Sometime during spring semester 2001 it will be possible for UW-Eau Claire students, faculty, and staff to borrow books directly from UW campus libraries without using Interlibrary Loan. Initially we will be participating with UW-La Crosse and UW-Stout in a Beta test, making it possible to borrow books directly from these libraries. We will make a campus-wide announcement when this is available. Serving as a Beta test site means additional work for library staff - and may mean some difficulties for library users as the system is tested and refined. On the positive side, it does mean that the experience garnered at McIntyre Library can help shape the direction in which Universal Borrowing develops and we will be well prepared for UW system implementation.
Building Improvements
Improvements in the research and study environment in the library include creating a "lobby" area in the grand corridor that we hope students will use as a meeting space. We have replaced and re-upholstered almost all the furniture in the public areas of the library. In response to student requests, we have designated the fifth floor as a "quiet study zone". The lighting in the stacks will gradually improve as the semester progresses, and additional artwork will be hung. If you've not been in the library in the past month or so, I invite you to come in and take a look. I think you'll be pleased with the changes.
Audit & Review
The library is undergoing its five-year audit and review this fall. While it was sometimes a "painful" process, developing the self-study was well worth the time it took, to see where we were five years ago and just how far we've come during that period. The pace of change in libraries since the last audit and review has been truly remarkable. It will be interesting to see just what changes the next five years will bring.
Information Literacy: Why Should You Care?
By Karen Pope, popejk@uwec.edu
Last week a colleague forwarded to me the following Lycos WIRED NEWS advertisement for several "electronic research services" and pay-per-use-texts offered by commercial enterprises ebrary and Questia:
"DO YOU STILL NEED A LIBRARY CARD? It used to be that students would wander dusty library stacks, sifting endlessly through volumes of ancient books in search of pithy quotes and facts. Today, students are abandoning the card catalog and turning to the Web to do research. They can write an entire paper without ever visiting the campus library or cracking open a textbook."
Do pain, inconvenience and dust make for good research? Must students "suffer to be smart"? What are our responsibilities as faculty and staff in assisting students to do thoughtful, thorough, careful and creative researching and writing? What does an information literate student look like? Act like? Think like? Grow up to be?
Many universities now require students to demonstrate information literacy as part of a complete undergraduate university education. College graduates should be able to:
- Determine the extent of information needed
- Access the needed information effectively and efficiently
- Evaluate information and its sources critically
- Incorporate selected information into their knowledge base
- Use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose
- Understand the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information, and
- Access and use information ethically and legally
The answer to the first question above, by the way, is still a resounding YES. It's true that the Internet is making the world of scholarly information more widely accessible to average students, but it is also changing the very nature of active scholarship. Students still need guidance, practice and critical thinking skills, regardless of the medium.
Follow these electronic links with standards and practical ideas worth integrating into your course offerings:
- Association of College and Research Libraries Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education (www.ala.org/acrl/ilcomstan.html)
- Wisconsin Association of Academic Librarians Information Literacy Competencies and Criteria for Academic Libraries in Wisconsin (http://www.wla.lib.wi.us/waal/)
In Brief
- Members of LIBRA (Library Research in Action) worked throughout the summer to update the Guide to McIntyre Library, a self-paced library skills workbook. Changes reflect the new release of the online catalog, new online databases, and new worldwide web sites and searching techniques. The new 9th edition of the Guide to McIntyre Library is available at the University Bookstore for $3.00.
- Would you like to be able to see what you have checked out at the library and when it is due? How about placing your own renewals, holds, or recalls? You can view your own patron information through the Voyager system. Instructions for accessing and managing your library account can be found at: www.uwec.edu/library/guides/patron.html
- Faculty and academic staff may now authorize up to two representatives to check out materials on their behalf. Details of this "proxy service" were reported in the May 2000 issue of Off the Shelf, p. 13. Copies of the authorization form are available at the Circulation, Reference, and CRIM desks. Contact Cleo Powers, CRIM/Circulation Librarian (call 715-836-5820 or email powerscj@uwec.edu) with questions about the service.
- Students, faculty, and staff may now login as themselves at the public terminals in the library. This will make it easier to save articles/citations to their personal directories and make it unnecessary to "map" to a special directory or email search results. Community members and visitors may still login as libguest with the password library. They will need to bring a diskette or paper to save or print search results.
- Due to popular demand, we have installed printers linked to the public workstations in Reference and CRIM. Users bring their own paper, just as they do in the labs. It is important to check the print queue before loading paper, since the printer accepts print jobs from all the terminals and will not begin printing until paper is loaded.