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Langsdale Library Annual Report

FY 2012

Table of ContentsDirector’s Message

Goal 1. Information Literacy

Goal 2. Resources Goal 3. Service to the Baltimore Region Goal 4. Marketing Plan

Goal 5. Intellectual Commons

Goal 6. Funding

Goal 7. Professional Growth and Development

Langsdale by the Numbers

Looking ahead to 2012-2013

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http://langsdale.ubalt.edu/

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Director’s Message

Lucy Holman

2012 was an eventful and productive year for Langsdale; we focused on many of our online services with a new website, and ubonline interface, streamlined services for off-campus access to resources and developed a new Langsdale on the Go! mobile application.

Langsdale also initiated a number of new services, including iPad kiosks, student single sign-on for library resources, and expedited our interlibrary courier service. In addition, we fully integrated our electronic reserves into Sakai, allowing students direct access from their online classrooms. With a UB technology grant, librarians created a gaming collection to support the Simulation and Digital Entertainment program and automated scheduling of the presentation practice rooms. As part of our effort to celebrate the intellectual life of the university, we offered a number of programs for the UB community and recognized the scholarship of both faculty and students.

Special Collections has expanded access by integrating collection records into the library catalog and creating new digital collections and online finding aids; the department has also partnered with the Baltimore Heritage Foundation to develop a Baltimore history mobile application and collection website.

Langsdale faculty and staff continue to be leaders in the Maryland library community with six librarians serving as officers in state and national organizations, eight librarians presenting at ten state or regional conferences and four publishing articles and book chapters.

We are committed to aligning initiatives to Langsdale’s strategic plan; this report outlines our initiatives relative to our FY2009-2012 plan. We spent the latter half of this fiscal year crafting a new strategic plan, which was completed August 2012 for fiscal years 2013-2015. Our FY 2013 goals at the end of the report reflect the first phase of that strategic plan.

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Goal 1: The library will improve and expand its information literacy activities.

• Instruction librarians taught seven sections of IDIS 110, Introduction to Information Literacy.

• Librarians were embedded in 44 sections of WRIT 300, Advanced Expository Writing, as well as other courses throughout the

year.

• Course-integrated instruction rose 28% to 109 sessions with 1,678 students attending.

• Librarians drafted a curriculum proposal for information literacy intensive courses, modeled after writing-intensive courses,

which librarians will pilot in the Merrick School of Business Fall 2012.

• Catherine Johnson led the instruction librarians in a course review of IDIS 110.

• Mike Kiel served on the General Education working group; Michael Shochet served on the UB21 learning committee; and

Catherine Johnson served on the search committee for the director of the UB writing program.

• Pete Ramsey participated in the Cyber Security camp for Baltimore high school students at UB as a faculty member focusing

on information literacy skills.

• Special Collections offered instruction regarding the use of Special Collections, primary resources, and unpublished materi-

als to almost 100 students in six courses and through internal and external workshops and presentations.

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Goal 2: The library will provide the necessary resources and materials to support the curricular, cultural, and intellectual needs of the university community.

• Successfully launched the redesigned website: http://langsdale.ubalt.edu;

• Developed and launched a beta version of Langsdale on the Go! mobile web app: http://langsdale.ubalt.edu/m;

• Developed library maps for print, desktop and mobile web;

• Launched the redesign of the Langsdale Sakai interface;

• Partnered with e-Learning to integrate electronic course reserves into instructors’ courses in Sakai;

• Implemented a presentation practice room reservation system with online user interface and scheduling calendar;

• Stationed iPad search kiosks on every floor for quick catalog searches and book locations;

• Launched a single sign-on system, whereby students may access library resources using their UB ID and password, instead

of having a separate library account number;

• Collaborated with the Division of Science, Information Arts and Technology (SAIT) to loan mobile devices for SIAT students

allowing them to develop applications;

• Led the effort for an RFP and contract for the Baltimore Regional Expedited Interlibrary Loan courier service resulting in cost

savings and faster delivery;

• Became a Maryland AskUsNow referral partner. The AskUsNow network will provide reference services to UB patrons 24/7.

• Added more than 853 gift books to the collection, valued at $23,107;

• Created a new gaming collection at Langsdale to support students in the Simulation and Digital Entertainment (SDE) pro-

gram;

• Weeded more than 16,000 books, print journals, and government documents to create more student study space and to

move to greater electronic delivery of articles and documents;

• Added 260 new e-books, bringing the total number of e-books in the collection to almost 10,000 titles;

• Initiated a campus delivery service whereby faculty and staff may request delivery of intercampus and interlibrary loan

materials to their office.

Langsdale faculty and staff:

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• Created a system of standardized descriptions for Langsdale’s archival collection on the new website. Special Collections has also expanded access to resources by integrating collection records into the library catalog, and has created five new digital collections in a national archival database, CONTENTdm;

• Partnered with Baltimore Heritage, Inc. in developing a Baltimore history mobile app and collection website, Explore Baltimore Heritage: http://explore.baltimoreheritage.org. The digital collections librarian identified and digitized historic images of Baltimore from the library's archival collections;

• Stood with representatives from Baltimore's civil rights, historical, and cultural institutions to support a resolution to create a Baltimore City African American Historical Civil Rights Commission, which seeks to identify, collect, and preserve historic resources related to the civil rights struggle in Baltimore City;

• Hosted six student archival interns from: University of Baltimore, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, Trinity Washington University, and Goucher College.

Goal 3: The library will strengthen its service to the Baltimore region, develop ongoing relationships with local and regional organizations, and expand its resources related to Baltimore and the region.

Special Collection archivists:

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• Hosted receptions for departmental advisors, administrative staff, new faculty, and adjunct faculty to introduce them to library resources and services;

• Hosted welcome back cupcake socials for students in September and February;

• Hosted end-of-semester coffee breaks for students in December and May;

• Expanded the library’s social media presence with regular postings on its blog, Facebook, and Twitter pages, as well as displaying announcements on the library’s closed-circuit television feed;

• Developed a social media policy to guide staff postings and contributions to social media outlets;

• Participated in monthly new employee orientations, as well as campus-wide and school-wide new faculty orientations;

• Contributed to the monthly UB Post column “Library Insider.”

GOAL 4: The library will develop a marketing plan to increase campus awareness of its services so that students, staff, and faculty may make use of library resources.

Langsdale faculty and staff:

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GOAL 5: The library will become an intellectual commons for the university by providing in-house and virtual opportunities to share information, knowledge, and perspectives on issues of interest to the University community.

• Hosted UB’s Publisher in Residence program, to assist faculty in the publication of their scholarly work.

• Collaborated with the MFA program to host the Library Basement Reading Series throughout the year, where selected students read fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. The success of the series inspired the literary publication classes of the MFA program to use the venue to showcase their book-making projects on May 3.

• Sponsored the second Faculty Authors celebration in November, recognizing the achievement of those authoring books in the last two years.

• In collaboration with the Merrick School of Business, Enrollment Management, and Student Affairs, sponsored MoneySmart Week, a week-long series of financial literacy workshops and seminars in April.

• In collaboration with the Helen P. Denit Honors Program, the Office of Sponsored Research, and the Office of the Provost, co-sponsored the third annual Inspired Discoveries Symposium of Undergraduate Research and Creative Works.

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GOAL 6: The library will work with university administrators and faculty to establish a reliable funding mechanism for the library’s activities.

• Added 853 gift books to the collection with an estimated value of $23,107.

• Raised almost $15,000 in sales of surplus books and gift books, including $1,902 from the annual November book sale.

• In collaboration with Division of Science, Information Arts & Technology, received a Provost Technology Investment Grant of $6,100 to develop a gaming library for students in the Simulation and Digital Entertainment program.

• Received a Provost Technology Investment Grant to assess the need for a mobile application, and to develop subsequent mobile applications and interfaces.

• Submitted a grant proposal to the Ben Snow Memorial Trust to digitize local Maryland footage from the WMAR-TV news collection.

• Submitted grant proposal to the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to fund a major digitization project with the WMAR-TV news collection.

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GOAL 7: The library will foster a culture of professional growth and development for all staff.

Library faculty and staff were recognized by the university, the University of MD system, or state for their commitment and contributions:

• Carol A.Vaeth, Book and Document Delivery supervisor, received the UB Outstanding Service Award.

Several library faculty and staff held offices and positions in state or national organizations, including:

• Natalie Burclaff, co-chair of the Maryland Library Association’s (MLA) Marketing and Membership Committee;

• Bill Helman, communications officer, American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T), Potomac Valley Chapter;

• Lucy Holman, president of the Maryland Library Association (MLA), and USM representative to the Congress of Academic Library Directors (CALD);

• Catherine Johnson, member of the Instruction Section Research & Scholarship Committee of the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL);

• Mike Kiel, treasurer of the Maryland Information Literacy Exchange (MILEX);

• Pete Ramsey, member of the ACRL 2013 Panel Sessions Committee.

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GOAL 7: The library will foster a culture of professional growth and development for all staff.

Librarians presented at state library associations and organizations:

• Natalie Burclaff gave a presentation on Maryland Library Association’s (MLA) social media policy to the Maryland Public Library Marketing Team;

• Bill Helman co-presented with Alison Cody, “Keep it Simple Stupid: Free and Easy-to-Use Tech Ideas for Your Library” (Salis-bury, July 2011);

• Bill Helman presented “Langsdale Mobile: A User Centered Design Approach” at the Society for Scholarly Publishing Fall Symposium (Washington DC, November 2011);

• Thomas L. Hollowak presented his research on Maryland Polonia to the Baltimore County Genealogical Society (September 2011);

• Thomas L. Hollowak presented “Digital Initiatives at UB” at the Law Library Association of Maryland Annual Conference (March 2012);

• Thomas L. Hollowak was interviewed by Lisa Morgan for WYPR’s The Signal, with Jessica Elfenbein and Betsy Nix, about their book, Baltimore ’68: Riots and Rebirth in an American City; (October 5, 2011);

• Lucy Holman presented “Through the Users’ Eyes: Discovery Tool Usability” with two of her graduate students at the MLA Conference (Ocean City, May 2012);

• Catherine Johnson and Natalie Burclaff developed and taught a 3-credit class on social media as part of UB’s new certificate program on library technology;

• Mike Kiel participated as a panelist for two films in UB’s “West Meets East Film Forum: Chinese Films and America” (January 2012);

• Michael Shochet presented “PowerPoint Doesn’t Have to Suck” at the Law Library Association of Maryland’s Annual Confer-ence (March 2012), and at a staff development event for librarians at Towson University (September 2011);

• Michael Shochet and Susan Wheeler presented on Langsdale’s use of Serials Solutions at the USMAI Electronic Resources Management Forum (October 2011);

• Carol A.Vaeth presented on changes in the consortial ILLiad implementation at the USMAI Interlibrary Loan Annual Forum (May 2012).

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GOAL 7: The library will foster a culture of professional growth and development for all staff.

Librarians published in professional journals or contributed book chapters or reference entries, including:

• Burclaff, N., & Britz, J. “Alumni Access Policies in Public University Libraries.” Inkanyiso: Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences 3.1 (2011): 1-12.

• Burkhardt, A., Johnson, C. R., & Tomlinson, C. “In the spirit of Benjamin Franklin.” College & Research Libraries News 72.8 (Sept, 2011): 450 -467.

• Hollowak, T., “First Polish Evangelical (Lutheran) Congregation of Christ The Lord: A Testament to Faith.” Polish American Studies (forthcoming).

• Holman, L., Darraj, E., Glaser, J., Hom, A., Mathieson, H., Nettles, D., and Waller, A. “How Users Approach Discovery Tools.” Planning and Implementing Resource Discovery Tools in Academic Libraries. Eds. D. Dallis and M. P. Popp. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

We welcomed Philip DeLoria, university archivist, to Langsdale in January 2012. He has greatly contributed to the library’s success throughout the year.

We also said farewell to Ted Kruse, who retired in February 2012 after more than 20 years of service to UB.

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Langsdale by the numbers

Our users:

• Visited Langsdale 95,258 times (400 visitors on an average weekday during the semester);

• Made 137,792 visits to Langsdale’s website and viewed 362,644 pages, averaging almost 409 visits per day;

• Conducted 659,846 searches in Langsdale’s subscription databases;

• Borrowed and renewed almost 39,000 UB and USM materials;

• Accessed 52,923 electronic reserves and checked out 2,564 reserve books for a total of 55,487 items accessed;

• Requested 5,201 items through intercampus borrowing, including 2,960 through the expedited courier service, and 3,453

items through Interlibrary loan;

• Asked 37,254 reference questions (including questions directed to Circulation and Special Collections).

Librarians and staff:

• Withdrew 4,148 books, 3,364 print periodical volumes and 8,677 government microfiche from the collection;• Taught 1,952 students in 171 course-integrated instruction sessions or workshops;* • Processed 2,689 electronic documents and 1,179 books for course reserves, up by 43% since FY2011;• Processed 7,543 interlibrary loan requests; • Scanned 1,098 documents for patrons, increasing volume by 17% from 2011.

*These numbers no longer reflect Langsdale participation in orientation.

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Looking ahead to 2012-2013

Langsdale has developed a new strategic plan for 2013-15, which can be found at: http://langsdale.ubalt.edu/strategic_plan. The following are the goals addressed in the plan for FY2013.

The library will improve access to our collections as well as our face-to-face and virtual services through better wayfinding, technology, and communication.

• Offer easier access to electronic resources through new, integrated search functions (i.e. consortial discovery service).• Link UB’s netID login/password with the interlibrary loan system for easy access to borrowed articles.• Upgrade scan and print services by creating a new print station on the first floor.• Determine if the library is providing sufficient building hours to satisfy student needs and recommend course of action.• Provide streaming video through Sakai and conduct user testing on new streaming platform and interface.• Review and revise guest services policies.• Begin evaluation process for new consortial library catalog system.• Research implementation and costs of RFID self-checkout system.• Improve language and service links currently used on Langsdale web page.

Langsdale will forge strategic partnerships with other University of Baltimore units to develop spaces and resources that support learning and knowledge creation. Langsdale will provide flexible learning spaces with access to current technologies and instructional support to users.

• Contact affiliated campus departments to find partners willing to establish a presence within Langsdale.• Create a technology petting zoo with several types of e-readers for use within the library by both staff and users in order to

assist them in choosing devices and downloading content.• Provide new workstations for game development and multimedia design.• Observe and analyze student use of the library in order to make design recommendations that will provide more flexible,

purposeful user spaces.• Observe and analyze staff use of office space in order to make recommendations for space designs.• Explore ways to use space available from consolidating and reducing the print collection.• Develop signage standards and create new location and general purpose signage.

The library will improve its instruction and reference services to reach more students and improve student learning outcomes related to information literacy.

• Develop a mission plan for UB’s information literacy program at UB that includes goals and learning outcomes.

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• Create a series of online tutorials explaining how to use library services and information literacy skills.• Conduct an assessment of the types of reference questions received.• Develop and advocate a scaffolded approach to information literacy skills.

The library will provide needed resources to support the curricular, cultural, and intellectual needs of the university community and will give priority to materials that allow for the greatest access and flexibility.

• Conduct an annual assessment of the collection and decide what can be made available electronically. • Develop a plan for reviewing and revising spending on resources with the goal of making more available online.

The library will strengthen its service to the Baltimore region as well as the university community by expanding access to its unique resources related to the history of Baltimore and the region.

• Improve access to its digitized collections by integrating descriptive metadata into the catalog and developing new digital content in CONTENTdm.

The library will facilitate effective dialogue amongst its staff, across the university, and in the greater Baltimore area to engage with Langsdale’s initiatives and challenges, while promoting broader community building efforts.

• Establish communication channels to elicit input from the university community in order to anticipate needs and share information about its resources and services.

• Sponsor biennial event to showcase UB alumni authors.• Co-sponsor annual Inspired Discoveries Symposium of Undergraduate Research andCreative Works.• Use variety of marketing tools to promote ongoing services and events.

The library will foster and encourage professional development among all staff.• Develop an online forum for faculty and staff to post professional development opportunities.• Develop a series of workshops and training for library faculty and staff to provide internal professional development.

Lucy Holman - DirectorJeffrey Hutson - Associate Director for Public Service

Ted Kruse - Associate Director for Technical Services & BudgetThomas L. Hollowak - Associate Director for Special Collections

Bill Helman - Integrated Digital Services LibrarianMichael Shochet - Head of ReferenceTammy Taylor - Circulation Supervisor

Carol A. Vaeth - Book and Document Delivery Supervisor