Staff News
One of our Reference librarians, Kimberly West, will be leaving on January 5th
to take a position at Bentley College in Waltham. Kimberly joined the Library
Staff in June 1994 as part of the Reconversion team to reclassify the collection
and to automate the Library's catalog. In September 1999, she moved to the Reference
Department. Along with her Reference duties, Kim has been assisting with library
instruction, Interlibrary Loan and also has been reorganizing and assisting
with the redesign of the Library's web site.
Many thanks Kim for your many contributions!
D'Alzon Arts Series
We have had three art exhibitions in the library this past semester. During December, an Assumption College student exhibit of artworks can be seen throughout the Reference area of the Library. Our Art Department has truly excelled in developing some of our students' hidden talents. The show is a unique blend of paintings, sculptures, charcoal drawings and sketches.
Other programs presented in this series were recent works of Professors Nancy Flanagan and Elizabeth Meyersohn. Both artists gave informative lectures and slide shows about their artwork and styles. Receptions were held for all three events, allowing those who attended a chance to ask questions and to speak to the artists.
Please stop by to view the D'Alzon Arts Student Show at your earliest convenience.
From the Director's
DeskThis has been a terrific semester, one during which I have learned a great deal! I have had the opportunity to speak with many faculty members in my Library Discussion Groups and in several departmental meetings. Faculty have been gracious and generous in giving their personal and departmental time and in offering many helpful suggestions.
In my last column I expressed concern over the role that the d'Alzon Library should play in helping students to become scholars and life-long learners. As I met with different groups over the course of the semester I developed a better picture of the role the Library is playing right now.
Every group was concerned, first and foremost, with our collections-both print and online. There were questions about our collection development policies and how the library materials budget is allocated. Faculty members wanted to be sure that their individual information needs would be met, but they were also supportive of the librarians' responsibility to ensure a well-rounded collection. I believe that our collections support the curriculum very well, but I encourage everyone to be involved in building and maintaining them by continuing to suggest new acquisitions.
I had expressed concern that the Library is not integrated into the academic programs of the College to the extent that it could be. However, faculty members described interesting and innovative ways that their students do make use of our services and resources, alleviating my concern to a great degree. During the discussion group meetings, they shared these ideas with each other and expressed interest in working with librarians to develop a variety of library-based assignments.
Some faculty shared librarians' concerns over students' reluctance to use the print journal collection. One felt strongly that much learning takes place while browsing through a stack of journals-students get a better idea of a discipline and the issues being addressed by scholars in the field when they browse in this way. Despite the speed of today's computers, it is often faster to browse through a pile than to call up multiple online files, one at a time-even if the online search has been well constructed and the results are good. Personally, I believe that both methods can be equally effective. Our difficulty with using online resources comes from our attempts to try to approach them in the same way as we do books and journals. Students are not as print-oriented, and they approach online resources as they would video games or the Internet as it is offered through America Online. We need to find ways to take advantage of their non-linear, multi-tasking style of accessing information in order to help them find the best information-whether it is located online or in print. Many faculty here at Assumption are doing just that.
I've been a bit paranoid over whether or not students will use our physical library and printed resources as we continue to purchase more online databases and electronic journals, accessible from almost anywhere. Last year's usage statistics had dropped from those of FY1999. But I have been pleased to see that this fall our circulation (both general and Reserve) statistics are more than 40% higher than last year's, and our gate count also shows a monthly average increase of 17% in the number of library visitors. As expected, database usage has also increased, anywhere from 40% to 70%, depending on the database. This increase in library use could be a fluke, a blip caused by particular assignments given by only a few professors. Next semester or next year could see an equally impressive dip in usage. Still, I would like to hope that increased access to online resources will continue to be accompanied by increased use of the Library itself. We'll keep you posted!
To follow up on some of the discussions with faculty relating to library- or resource-based assignments, I would like to publish a booklet of best practices of Assumption faculty. This booklet of classroom-tested assignments will help to provide examples of library assignments (using either/both print and online resources) that other professors may wish to try. At the same time, it will serve as an assessment of how library resources are being used -whether or not librarians are involved in the instructional activity. In addition, librarians will include their own suggestions for good library-based assignments. The assignments included need not result in major research papers; smaller assignments are often necessary to build the skills needed to complete a successful research project.
I invite all faculty members to submit their favorite or most effective library- or resource-based assignments. If you would like to suggest an assignment to be included in our booklet, please fill out the form below and return it to me at the Library. We know how busy you are, so if it is easier for you, we would also be happy to work with the assignment sheets your students receive, or descriptions included in your syllabi. Thank you for supporting your library by encouraging your students to use it effectively!
Each academic department has a copy card available at the Library's Circulation
desk. Faculty can use their departmental photocopy card to copy library materials
for use in their courses or faculty research. Individual professors or departmental
designees simply ask for their departmental copy cards at the Circulation desk.
Once the photocopying is finished, the number of copies is recorded in a notebook
and the card is returned to the Circulation desk. Each time money is added to
the card, the department is charged $5.00. Although the card is debited $.10
for each copy, the department actually receives $6.20 worth of copies for their
$5.00. In other words, the average cost per page is $.08. Library staff can
add more money to the card as needed and will bill the department for the amount
added.
As always, feel free to ask library staff for further details about this service.
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BOUND JOURNALS If photocopying articles in the Library drives you crazy, Faculty members may now borrow bound journals for up to three days. |
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WHY CERTAIN BUILDINGS ARE NAMED AFTER PLACES By Larry Spongberg |
You may have noticed that Salisbury, Worcester, and Wachusett residence halls are named after geographical locations. This results from the solution to a problem that arose several years ago.
When Salisbury Hall was built, it was known as New Dorm. The idea was to have that building available to name after a future benefactor or president. For a similar reason, another building was known simply as the Campus Center. By delaying the naming of that building, it became possible later to name it in honor of then President Joseph Hagan.
The problem with New Dorm developed when another residence hall began to be constructed. This structure was called New New Dorm in the earliest reports. Rather than allow this to become more ridiculous, the decision was made to use geographical names as placeholders, leaving the option open to name affected buildings after people at a later time. Thus, New Dorm became Salisbury Hall, while New New Dorm became Worcester Hall. This procedure later allowed a third structure to be named Wachusett Hall. All three buildings remain available to honor individuals at appropriate future dates. Meanwhile, residents of Wachusett should be grateful that they are not living in New New New Dorm. Residents of South and North residence halls should be even more thankful, considering what the names of their places might have become.
Library Director Dawn Thistle and Reference/Catalog Librarian Liz Maisey recently presented at Metadata and CORC: Organizing the World of Online Resources, a conference held at Holy Cross for NELINET (New England Library Network). Their presentation, Workflow Issues with Current Practitioners, demonstrated how the d'Alzon Library is integrating the selection and cataloging of web sites into our workflow.
Please send the URL for web resources you would like to recommend for inclusion in our catalog to emcdermo@assumption.edu.
PLOUGH MONDAYNo, it's not a special day President Plough has commanded but an ancient English holiday that marked the end of the Christmas season and the return to work. Started in England during medieval times, the first Monday after Epiphany, before plowing of fields began, was put aside for villagers to collect money to pay for "plough lights". Plough lights were candles kept burning in churches before the images of saints for the farmers or "Ploughmen", as they were known. The practice diminished when the Reformation of the 16th century gained influence in England, discouraging this homage to saints. Plough Monday was again practiced in the 19th century with music, dance and processions of farmers collecting money for food and drink the way children collect candy on Halloween today. One man, called "The Bessy" would dress up to look ridiculous in women's clothing and another, called "The Fool," would adorn himself in animal skins, fur cap and tail. If a home refused to make a contribution the homeowner's front lawn was plowed up. The practice of blessing the plough is still observed to this day, except now it is done on Sunday instead of Monday.
