Care to toot your own horn?

Iowa Academic Libraries...What's the Scoop This Spring?

Grand View College

Change occurred during the past year in our library. There was a major renovation of the first floor. The circulation area was moved to a central location with all-new furnishings and wall colors providing a very open inviting look. A new information help desk with dual screen monitors was installed adjacent to the library lab. We have found it very convenient for students to have close access to assistance for technology and research. Every thing was moved either to a new setting or upstairs to allow space for the coffee shop to move in; not adjacent to but in the library. We are greeted with odors of fragrant coffees and cinnamon rolls and other goodies each morning. The activity in the library has increased twice fold. Students are much more at home using the library and interacting with the library staff. There can be very positive results from change.

Dan Chibnall is a new staff member who came to us via his first professional experience at the University of New Orleans , which was ended early by Katrina. We welcome him to our staff; he has been a great addition to our information literacy instruction and research help to students. Dan is a Cardinal fan; he received his MLS from the University of Missouri and his title is User Services and Instruction Design Librarian.

A library portal was introduced to the campus this month; the first on campus. We thank Pam Rees , Associate Director, for putting it together. It has an events section, a calendar, book clubs, and features such as Black History Month with links to websites and e-books. The faculty page has recommended web sites and e-books of interest. In the student section there are tutorials such as how to find journal articles and books, and how to cite references. A blog is planned for later this year.

--submitted by Sandra Keist

Hawkeye Community College

Hawkeye librarians feel that the college experience should include access to academic library resources and services no matter where the students take their college courses. Therefore, we have been “taking the show on the road” by providing library instruction to high school students who are enrolled in HCC contracted courses at their school. A contracted course is a college credit course taught by either HCC faculty or by high school teachers who qualify to teach college courses.

On-site library instruction has been given at four different high schools for the following courses: Composition I, Composition II, Fundamentals of Oral Communication, and Introduction to Sociology. During these sessions the instruction primarily focuses on developing search strategies and accessing information in eBooks and online periodical databases.

Since the computer labs at the high schools are “off-campus” sites, we work closely with the contracted course instructors to ensure that all of their students are able to login via the HCC proxy server. During the actual library instruction sessions, we occasionally experience minor technology issues such as slower connection speeds or the lack of a projection system. But, being able to “think on one's feet” and adapt to the situation has gotten us through any problem.

The instructors and students appreciate having the librarians come to their classes, and the librarians enjoy meeting the students who may eventually be taking classes on campus.

--submitted by Judy Mitchell

Luther College

At Luther College , the library has taken official responsibility for the College's Fine Arts Collection. This diverse collection of visual art includes paintings, drawings, sculptures, fiber art, pottery, pre-Columbian artifacts and pottery, carvings, and other special collections. Now numbering over 1,400 items, the collection has been growing since the late 19th century when a core collection of paintings was first donated to the College. The collection can be viewed on the Fine Arts Collection website.

Most recently, two items of news about the collection have emerged. First, the online searchable database of the Fine Arts Collection with images of each piece has been fully implemented on the FAC website. This was prepared in concert with the IT component of Library and Information Services at Luther College . Creation of the searchable database required over three years of work and refinement before it was ready for prime time. Secondly, a representative of the ASIANetwork recently visited the college and reviewed all the art from Asia which is part of the Fine Arts Collection. The final report from this representative indicated that a number of pieces from the College were starred for special consideration and further research. This will be followed up by a book which highlights the lesser known but significant Asian collections at colleges and universities throughout the United States .

--submitted by Jane Kemp

Maharishi University of Management

Maharishi University of Management Library has had a dynamic year.

• All of the computers in the reference area of the concourse have been replaced with the new 60 GB Acers.
• Faculty member Ken Daley has equipped the Library's Mac Lab with ten new, state-of-the-art computers with 160 GB Serial ATA hard drives and special features such as a built in video camera that allows videoconferencing.
• A new Work Station in the reference room has a CD burner, Canon Pixma 3000 Color printer, Adobe suite with Photoshop, and a new Epson Scanner. Student reaction: “This is really easy and wonderful!”
• New Security Gate will make easier access through the East Door, which faces the main campus and Highway 1.
• The Library Director has been able to get the full Reference budget reinstated, and reference resources are now more current.
• New Couches, which are very comfortable, are located in the newspaper reading lounge area and in the North Concourse Solarium. Students assembled the pieces and volunteer students carried the furniture to the right places.

April's visiting lecturer Ed Holtum of the John Martin Rare Books Room at the University of Iowa thoroughly enjoyed his visit to M.U.M. and is eager to return and have a longer look at the Maharishi Stapathyadic® building projects.

Stan Stansberry of KHOE radio conducted a one-hour interview of Martin Schmidt and Suzanne Vesely last April about our efforts to make the library a user-friendly place. The program played a number of slots that week on KHOE, and Stan has asked us to return with future interviews.

--submitted by Suzanne Vesely

North Iowa Area Community College

The North Iowa Area Community College Library hosted its first National History Day workshops on December 18 and 19. A total of 70 middle school students and their teachers from four area schools attended one of the two workshops, which included tips on historical research, lunch, and an opportunity for free research time in the college library. As they were leaving, one young student's final comment was, "I had the best time!". (So did the librarian!)

--submitted by Karen Dole

Northwest Iowa Community College

Our online consortium, Iowa Community College Online Consortium (ICCOC) offers WebFeat Enterprise Edition for its federated search solution to students enrolled in online classes. In addition, each member library of ICCOC now has WebFeat Express available for all students.

--submitted by Molly Galm

St. Ambrose University

Cassandra Moon has joined the staff of O'Keefe Library as Head of Technical Services. She replaces Jennifer Davis, who retired in December.

O'Keefe Library rolled out its new blog, "The O'Keefe Brief" in January. The blog contains upcoming events, book and movie reviews, and "fun" stuff. Anyone is welcome to contribute to the blog. It can be found at: http://okeefelibrary.wordpress.com/

Heather Phillips has been hired as a part-time archivist/curator for the Library Archives and the Catich Art Gallery on campus. She splits her time between the two locations, as well as overseeing the digital Catich Collection.

--submitted by Mary Heinzman

University of Iowa

Exhibits

In celebration of Valentine's Day, the University of Iowa Libraries unlocked the archives to expose love letters, love poems, and other romantic artifacts from its collections of rare books, manuscripts, and ephemeral publications. Librarians from Special Collections, University Archives, and the Iowa Women's Archives discussed highlights from their holdings at a lunchtime presentation titled "Love in the Stacks" on Wednesday, February, 14th. An online exhibit of additional artifacts, including a collection of antique valentines, is currently featured on the UI's Iowa Digital Library website.

The "African American Women in Iowa Digital Collection," on the web at http://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/aawiowa, is a collaborative project coordinated by the Digital Library Services department of the UI Libraries. Featuring digitized material from the Iowa Women's Archives and the African American Historical Museum and Cultural Center of Iowa, the collection includes items dating between 1924 and 1970 that were formerly owned by Iowans ranging from sorority girls to civil rights activists.

People

Carlette Washington-Hoagland, Assessment and Staff Development Coordinator at the University of Iowa Libraries , is among 20 librarians selected for the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Leadership and Career Development Program. The selected librarians represent a diverse combination of library experience, cultural backgrounds and research interest areas.

Christopher J. Shaffer, Assistant Director for Public Services at the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences has been selected for a NLM/AAHSL leadership fellowship for 2006-2007. The leadership program is jointly sponsored by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) and the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL).

Grace Fitzgerald, Music Cataloging Specialist, was recognized for outstanding leadership in the face of a natural disaster during the University's 2007 Martin Luther King Jr. Human Rights Week. Fitzgerald led an effort to raise funds for the Red Cross and the American Kennel Club Companion Animal Recovery Program in the months following Hurricane Katrina.

Mary White has been appointed Education & Outreach Librarian for Hardin Library for the Health Sciences. Mary holds an M.S. in Health Informatics from Johns Hopkins University and an M.L.S. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill .

--submitted by Randy Roeder

Waldorf College

The Luise V. Hanson Library on the campus of Waldorf College has been open for one year and has been well received on campus. Over 150,000 patrons have visited and students often comment on the flexible study space and availability of the coffee shop. In the coming year we plan to add more stack space, upgrade the technology in our classrooms with addition of plasma TV's and Smart Boards, and expand our faculty research room into a center for faculty teaching and learning.

--submitted by Jim Kapoun

Page 3 edited by Jeff Dodd