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November 3, 2017 Council Meeting @ Albany / Morrisville State College

« on: November 02, 2017, 09:21:10 AM »

Librarians

Librarians Angela Rhodes, Mandy Babirad, and Adam Saunders were at the Journey into Literacy conference at SUNY Potsdam alongside associate professor Wyatt Galusky, and presented a session titled Exploring Literacy Through a Video Game “Book Club”. The session went extremely well, with participants that were eager to learn about this unique new strategy to engage students with literacy techniques. Along these same lines the librarians also hosted their second Video Game Book Club in October. This time we explored the indie title Brothers a Tale of Two Sons.

Events

At the end of October to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the publication of the first novel in the Harry Potter series (Philosopher’s/Sorcerer’s Stone), the library hosted a read-a-thon of the first book.  The goal was to try to read the whole novel out loud in one night! A number of faculty and campus administration took on the task of reading 30-60 minute segments of the book, including the campus head brewer Micheal Coons and Dean/Associate Provost Paul Griffin.

The library is celebrating writing with National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and the National Academic Writing Month (PhD2Published) events and displays. In addition on Thursday, November 30th in the Morrisville Library Reading Room there will be a write-in: a night of camaraderie, sweat, and tears as local writers make their final push to finish their writing before midnight. A collection of writing guides, notable authors, and inspirational material will also be on display throughout the month.

An exhibit showcasing art created by veterans & their supporters will be on display November 9 - January 5. Titled Serving: Before, During and After, an opening reception will be held on November 9 from 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. in the library gallery.

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November 18, 2016 Council meeting at Albany / Re: Campus Updates

« on: November 16, 2016, 02:28:24 PM »

Morrisville library is proud to announce the hiring of John Coger as our new full time evening circulation supervisor. John was previously with us part-time and is even a Morrisville alum. He will be a great asset as we move our circulation services forward and make further changes on how and what circulation has to offer our students.

Circulation has also picked up some new unique materials for lending. Our new 3D anatomical structures, which include a set of lungs, a heart, and kidney’s/liver will be available for student check out soon. They will be used in the library only, and we look forward to see what kind of use they will get. If popular we plan on purchasing additional anatomical structures in the future.

Thanks largely in part to the efforts of OLIS and our local IT department working with the library, patrons now have the ability to renew their materials and place holds on materials online through the OPAC system!  This has been a slow project to become realized, but the library is excited to make the process of renewing materials or requesting materials that much more automated.

In addition to patron empowerment through OPAC we have also implemented a new study room reservation system. The library has been reviewing several different options to give our students more power over reserving study spaces. In the end we decided on LibCal, a Springshare product. LibCal allows us to set up study rooms and reservation limitations that mirror our needs. It allows students to book their own study rooms in advance and gives them notifications via email to confirm times. It, as many Springshare products do, gives us an adequate amount of analytics that will aid us in future decisions on staffing, hours, and library space.

The library gallery wall hosted several exhibitions over the course of the fall semester. In October we had our annual Lee Brown Coy display with an assortment of macabre oil paintings and black & white illustrations. A perfect collection for the season.

The second exhibit was in November and displayed the works of United States veterans. Largely made up of oil and watercolor paintings, this display coincided with a gallery reception on Veterans Day where several of the artists were able to discuss with visitors their inspirations behind each piece and their experience serving in our military.

As part of our STS (Science, Technology, and Society) Symposium on campus this year, the library played a large role in the formation of a video game book club. Developed by librarian Angela Rhodes, this “book club” played through the game Transistor over the course of four weeks with regular meetings each Tuesday in the library. As with any regular book club the themes, story, and characters were discussed in detail. Participants that attended each meeting were given a raffle ticket to be entered into a drawing for Transistor merchandise that was generously donated to us by the game developer SuperGiant. This event was well received, and it is likely that the library will be hosting additional video game book clubs in the future.

This fall Morrisville completed the newest version of the Rethinking Resource Sharing STAR Checklist. After review by the Rethinking Resource Sharing Policies Committee we were qualified as a Rethinking Resource Sharing STAR, earning the top spot of 4 STARS. It goes without saying that we could not have achieved this without our amazing library interlibrary loan specialist Marilyn Cook.

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Nov. 13, 2015 Council Meeting @ Cobleskill / Re: Campus Updates

« on: January 11, 2016, 09:10:40 AM »

Morrisville was awarded the Sheila Johnson Grant. The purpose of the grant is to encourage the reading of and inform patrons about the diversity of literature available today. By making these titles available, the Library hoped to encourage reading among our patrons and provide them with a constructive activity for their free time within a diversity focused framework.

Morrisville students got a big surprise during finals in the fall semester when the library invited therapy dogs to campus. This event ran for a couple hours on December the 8th and 10th where students could come into the library classroom and unwind from their studies with some very friendly lap dogs. The therapy dogs were a huge success with lines out the door before they even arrived. Other events in the library included our regular yearly Lee Brown Coye art exhibit during the month of October. This year’s exhibit was titled “Dance Macabre”. Multiple book displays were featured that time of the year including one for Banned Books Week and Halloween horror reads.

At the end of the semester in conjunction with the inauguration of Morrisville’s 8th president a display on the history of Morrisville was set up in our art exhibit. In addition to images and article reproductions; two poems recited during the inauguration ceremony by Alex Arruda and Devon Branca were on display in large format.

The library saw several improvements to study spaces as the semester progressed in the fall. Our first addition was a large enclosed group study with a ten foot dry erase board. It has become one of our most popular study spaces with the whiteboard being heavily utilized for planning group projects and reviewing study materials. In the same area as this study room we are also in the final planning process of adding additional computing space. There will be several divided cubicle like spaces each with its own computer and room to spread out materials. We are slated to have these installed by the end of January. In addition we also purchased several new individual study pods. These modular units each have individual desk space, power plugs, and storage for books and bags. They, just like our new group study, have become extremely popular and many students have inquired if we will be purchasing more.

There were several changes and additions to our reference services towards the end of the fall semester. First we have picked up the Ask Us 24/7 chat service in order to give our students a reference service to use remotely and during afterhours. Many students and faculty were shocked that such a service existed and were enthusiastic knowing that no matter the time of day there was now an option to speak with a librarian for research assistance. We have also started pilot testing two satellite reference services on campus. One of these was located in our CSTEP (Collegiate Science & Technology Entry Program) study hall which is on the first floor of one of the dorms. This study hall that can only be accessed by CSTEP students was our first attempt at bringing reference services to student spaces outside of the library. A second satellite reference location was set up during Sports Study Hall in Crawford Hall. Sports Study Hall is a mandatory study session for student athletes who do not have games scheduled the following day. We will be continuing these satellite reference locations into the spring semester and after assessing usage may add additional locations in the semesters to come.

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Sept. 25, 2015 Council Meeting @ Monroe Community College / Re: Campus Updates

« on: September 25, 2015, 10:10:45 AM »

Morrisville State College
Adam Saunders

Library Space

The space at the Morrisville library has been changing as we make improvements and additions to our front entrance and study areas. The front entrance of the library has always been a point of contention among students and faculty, as it did not allow for easy traffic flow through the space. The main issue was that we had a single gate counter which was set up as an exit, which meant traffic had to be funneled through two points in order to get accurate counts. Removal of the gate allowed for traffic to flow with ease while entering or exiting the library. Our people counter was replaced by two ceiling mounted sensors operating through a cloud based system. The response to these changes has been overwhelmingly positive from students and faculty. One concern we had with removing our gate was that it also acted as a security system. Now with the front entrance open there is little we can do to stop materials from walking out. Therefor during the course of the fall semester we will be conducting a study to assess the walking rate of materials. We will be using our Sheila Johnson collection on the first floor as these are some of the higher circulated materials.

In addition to this we shifted some of our back periodicals and removed 700 linear feet of shelving from the first floor to make room for a new group study and computer space. On the second floor in our quiet study zone we have ordered several new Agati POD workstations that will occupy one of our more sun soaked corners of the library and give our students a new option for single study.

Circulation Services

The circulation desk under the guidance of our new Circulation Coordinator Elizabeth Marcella has added charging cables to the list of lending materials. We now provide cables to cover most requested devices including student issued Lenovo YOGA and T430 laptops, Apple devices with Lightning and 30 pin connections, and a mini USB charger for Android phones and other devices. We have also updated the lending policy for our very successful iPad lending program. iPads for this program having been lending as overnight loans, due to the frequency of loans we decided it would be in our best interest to increase the loan period to 1 week.

Library Art Exhibit

The Morrisville library usually always has an art exhibit on display, and the start of the fall semester was no different. Between August 1st and September 20th the library hosted the works of Gerard H. Gaskin's photography. The exhibit titles “Legendary” features striking portraits of African American and Latino members of urban house and ballroom communities. Cast out by their biological parents, these "children" form support networks of makeshift families to redefine their sense of self-worth and their own systems of social rewards. On Thursday, September 10th Mr. Gaskin attended a reception at the library showcasing his works.

Library Marketing

We have been pushing for new methods of marketing library resources in order to reach a greater percentage of the student body. Working with Kelly Gardner Williamson in public relations we have turned to social media and will be posting major library events on the campus Facebook account and have set up a library Instagram account which all librarians have access to. Through the Instagram account we will be posting images of library gallery exhibits, displays, new materials, and random daily and weekly highlights. There have also been new and creative methods of marketing that developed over the summer. Olivia Cronn, our library secretary, has offered to publish a monthly library newsletter to be posted in bathrooms. This fun newsletter contains highlights on library events, new resources, helpful tips and fun facts.

The librarians and library staff also had a bit of fun at the end of the summer during Welcome Weekend as students moved into the dorms. A lemonade stand was set up just outside the library entrance, run by our librarians and staff Angela Rhodes, Laura Ryan, Adam Saunders, Olivia Cronn, and Marilyn Cook. This extremely well received event allowed us to interact with incoming students in a less formal setting while still providing them with information on what the library offers in terms of services and resources. We also provided a large map of the campus for direction questions, samples from our new book shelves, copies of Welcome Weekend schedules, library contact information, and some fruits and cookies provided by public relations.

Blackboard Integration

This summer also consisted of a push for more library integration onto the Blackboard Course Management System. The inclusion of Curriculum Builder, a system adopted across SUNY, while be a means to not only give faculty a simple option of adding articles to their course pages from our databases, but will also play a role in the beginnings of phasing out our current electronic reserve system in favor of Blackboard. Over the course of the summer we also developed a top level library tab on Blackboard, giving students direct access to online library resources on the course management system. There were several modules created for this tab: a general library information module with contact information and hours, an EDS search module with links to an advanced search page and course reserves, a Libguide module with a dropdown menu for all our subject and course guides, an online library chat module, and several other search boxes for Google, a dictionary, and thesaurus. We have also advocated that faculty can take any of the modules and to add them to their own course pages, granting even easier access to library resources.

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March 13, 2015 Council Meeting @ Purchase / Re: Campus Updates

« on: March 10, 2015, 04:29:25 PM »

Morrisville State College
Adam Saunders

Update to GNED course

Morrisville library has been working hard on updating our 1 credit Basic Research Methods course, offered every spring semester. GNED104 is a required course for our natural science students and has been in need of revisions for some time. We approached this course update taking into account the new Framework for Information Literacy and developing learning outcomes that matched basic General Education requirements. Below is the new course title and catalog description.

GNED 104: Critical Information Literacy
A course designed to cultivate metaliterate citizens.  This course will provide lifelong skills that will enable students to become confident and independent consumers and creators of information.  Students will learn how to recognize their own information needs, and how to locate, evaluate, and effectively use that information.  Topics include plagiarism, publication styles, searching and retrieving information in controlled and uncontrolled environments, and becoming conscientious participants in information creation and dissemination.

Library Assessment Projects

Over the course of the spring and fall 2015 semesters our librarians will be conducting studies on several facets of library services.

Angela Rhodes – Study of Equipment Usage and Need in the Library

• The purpose of this study is to track turn-aways and equipment usage to make a strong proposal for the installment of more machines and printing/equipment services in the library (provided there is funding and support to implement these changes).  At the end of the semester, an analysis of usage of the library and the Cyberlab will be done, showcasing equipment usage by head counts, printer usage through print logs, and equipment services required to maintain the equipment services provided.  Part of the study will hopefully give some insight into why students select to come to the Cyberlab over the library or vice versa, as well as a longitudinal look at who is using the library and Cyberlab and when they are using it.  These analyses will hopefully present a picture of what can be done to improve the equipment and services rendered at both locations.

Laura Ryan – What Students Learn: A Pre/Post Test Assessment Study

• Assessment is a critical aspect of a successful instruction program.  As the new Instructional Services Librarian at Morrisville, Laura decided to start small and grow from there.  She is administering a pre-test and post-test assessment for the GNED 104 Basic Research Methods Class that she is teaching this semester.  It is her hope that it will provide a good starting point to see where students are in terms of Info Lit skills, as well as provide a way of seeing what they learned over the 10 week course.  This assessment project will also serve as a kind of “Intro” to assessment for Laura and will be a stepping stone to more involved methods of Information Literacy Instruction assessment in the future.

Adam Saunders – Library Website Navigation and Usability Study

• The purpose of this study is to analyze the behavior and strategies used by students navigating the Morrisville State College Library website. Student volunteers will be given specific tasks to carry out, as their actions on the computer will be recorded using screen capture software. Data collected will then be used to assess how students conduct searches for finding books, articles, subject guides, and finding library hours.  It is our hope that this data will provide insight that will allow us to make necessary adjustments to the webpage both navigational and the phrasing of resource labels. It will also provide useful information for instruction purposes, as we will be able to address weak or inefficient search strategies being used.

Oscar Display & Contest

The library once again ran its very popular Oscar Movie Display and contest. In the past we had asked students and faculty to submit their votes on which movies would win in each of the Oscar categories. This year we wanted to take the contest a step further and make it more involved. We have asked the campus community to submit a movie review for any of the 86 previous Best Picture Oscar winners. A drawing was held selecting one winner out of all submitted entrees. Additionally reviews we received will be used for next year’s Oscar display, which will allow students and faculty to read what their peers thought about a particular movie title.

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November 14, 2014 Council Meeting @SUNY Albany / Morrisville State College

« on: November 10, 2014, 01:47:04 PM »

This semester one of Morrisville’s long standing circulation staff members retired. Nellie started as a part-time circulation clerk in September 2000. Nellie previously worked as a Library Clerk at the village of Hamilton Public Library. In 2008, after successfully completing the Library Clerk 2 Civil Service exam, she was reclassified from a Keyboard Specialist 1 to a Library Clerk 2 status. In 2009, Nellie became the fulltime, weekday circulation clerk.  She has always been a kind and nurturing presence at the circulation desk, genuinely interested in the students and helpful to faculty.

Morrisville was awarded the Sheila Johnson Grant. The purpose of the grant is to encourage the reading of and inform patrons about the diversity of literature available today. By making these titles available, the Library hoped to encourage reading among our patrons and provide them with a constructive activity for their free time within a diversity focused framework.

This semester we also implemented several changes to how students print in the library. For some background context students at Morrisville currently do not have a print balance and there have been no limitations on how much a student can print out. This has resulted in significant increase every year of how much gets printed, especially at the library where 80% of the printing on campus is conducted. To combat this we have implemented a 50 page limit per print job, reduced toner use per print, and implemented a login/release system. This login is now allowing us to retrieve data on who is printing and how much, vital information that we can present to campus. While these changes have already been active for a month we are already seeing print volumes decreasing by 20%.

Mustang weekend 2014 took place during the weekend of September the 27th. During this event the library presented yearbooks and other display materials for the class of 1964 alumni. We were also open to all visitors to the campus as an unwind location and hosted the MSC Gaming Guild for an afternoon of board gaming and fun.

A new standing exhibit is on display at the library. Titled Ways of the Woods: Perspectives on History this exhibit focuses on the history of conservation, industry, and lives of the people at Northern Forest, New Hampshire. It will be at the library for the remainder of the fall semester.

Several art displays were showcased in our gallery.
- September – Central New York Landscapes by Morrisville Grants Coordinator Lisa Iannello
- October – Art after Midnight by macabre artist Lee Brown Coye
- November – In the Time of Flood by instructor and artist Leigh Yardley