Art Library
Anyone trying to get into Schneider Hall over the past few months knows how difficult it has been due to yellow police tape and chain link fences surrounding the front of the building. (It did give us a certain prison-chic aesthetic, though.) We're pleased to report that the work on the front patio and railings is finally done, and you can once again enter Schneider Hall through the front doors.
In order to satisfy students' requests for color copies, the Art Library installed a color scanner. Students can scan an image to the Fiery printer at IT and pick up their copy at the CopyIT Center. This means that we don't have to worry about printer jams, paper, ink, taking money and making change. We're still trying to work out the kinks and hope to have everything running smoothly soon.
Ekstrom Library
DADS
Interlibrary Loan at Ekstrom is changing the way it does business. For the past six months, we have been working on streamlining our procedures. Now we will begin trying some new things. We have added a staff position to ILL, decreasing the workload for both Borrowing and Lending. In October, we will be implementing Custom Holdings, which will choose automatically the lender string for each request, reducing the time it takes to request material and leaving us with more time to devote to our patrons. What we plan to do with this extra time is monitor the turnaround time for the institutions with whom we do business, moving those who respond the fastest up to the top of our preferred list of lenders. This should help us get materials to our patrons faster. Currently our turnaround time is at the average for research institutions, but we think we can do better! We should also be able to keep our patrons better informed as to the status of their requests. When a week has passed, if the material has not been received, we will determine the status of the request and pass this information on to our patron. Before we begin, we will be doing a patron satisfaction survey. Within the next 6-12 months, we will do another survey to measure our progress. Our forms have changed, too. We think they are clearer and easier to complete.
Media and Current Periodicals
Good News for Diversity Video Collection
The Diversity Video Collection can continue to grow now that funding has been reinstated. The libraries have identified $5,000 per year from endowments for the purchase of videos dealing with diversity issues. Funds were
originally provided through the Provost’s Office and the Faculty Development Fund, but have not been available for the past year. We look forward to expanding this excellent collection by working with faculty and others who are involved in incorporating diversity in the curriculum.
We are very happy to be processing mail again: Eric is the temporary new Chuck, and has begun to help check in about a month’s worth of new periodicals and journals. The transition to Voyager was made much easier for us than it would have been even a year ago, as the availability of the full-text databases on the Web provided patrons with access to much of the information that was temporarily unavailable in print form. We were also willing to locate periodicals if patrons had pressing needs, but did not have to do so very often. We are quite excited about using the system at the public service desk, and it has been going well so far. For instance, none of Wendy’s overdue books showed up on the new system! (Of course, neither did her current barcode, so this was a mixed blessing.) New Computers
New workstations for word processing will be available soon, perhaps even as you read this. The new computers will have Windows-based programs and a laser printer, a significant upgrade over the old stations. In the short period since the old computers were removed, we have had daily requests and cries of anguish and loss for the PCs, reinforcing our statistics about their heavy use. The new stations will not have network access until our new procedure for network printing is in place. High School Volunteers
We have been fortunate to have two students from Churchill Park School come to work with us twice a week. Different students come each week to work with us on the Lost Cause Press or with Don Dean in shelving.
Office of the University Librarian
New Hires
MARCIA CLASPILL has been hired as Library Assistant I, Grade 6, in the GE Library effective September 14, 1998. She has recently been doing this job on a temporary basis.
SHAUN DANIELS has been hired as Library Assistant II, Grade 8, in the Ekstrom Circulation Department, effective August 16, 1998. This represents a promotion from the rank of Student Assistant.
STEVEN HUFF has been hired as Library Assistant II, Grade 8, in Stacks Maintenance, as of August 27, 1998.
CAROL KOKOJAN (coca-john) has been hired as Administrative Associate II, Grade 25, as assistant to the University Librarian, effective September 21, 1998. Carol has served as assistant to the President of the Ursuline Campus Schools for the past three years.
DAVID LOEFFLER has been hired as Support Services Assistant, Grade 12, in the Administrative Office, effective September 2, 1998.
DARYL WALDROP has been hired at Kornhauser Library as Technology Consultant I, Grade 25. He began September 14, 1998. Daryl comes to us from Information Technology, where he has been a LAN supervisor.
Resignation STEPHEN NOBLE has resigned his position as Coordinator of Music Library Media Services, Grade 23. His last day was September 9, 1998. Steve has accepted a position as Manager of Product Development for Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic. Congratulations and best wishes, Steve!
Special Collections
One of Barbara Crawford’s photographs is being published on the cover of Shattered Subjects: Trauma and Testimony in Women’s Life Writing, by Suzette Henke. The estimated publication date is December 1998. Suzette Henke is Thurston B. Morton Professor of Literary Studies at UofL. She is the author of James Joyce and the Politics of Desire and Joyce’s Moraculous Sindbook: A Study of “Ulysses.”
Technical Services
We are proud to welcome our new student worker Tina Messer. Tina is a sophomore here at UofL and is pursuing her degree in Communications.
Kersey Library
News from Carol Brinkman, President-Elect, KLA
The Kentucky Library Association 1998 Conference will be held at the Galt House in Louisville. The dates are Wednesday, October 21 through Saturday October 24. This will be a joint conference with the Kentucky School Media Association.
As President-Elect of KLA, and the Conference Program Chair, I'd like to invite all of you to attend the conference. Many people from UofL will be involved: including Alice Abbott-Moore, Rebecca Maddox, Krista Newcom, Barbara Whitener, Mark Paul, Rae Helton, and David Ensign, Melissa Laning, and Hannelore Rader. There are fun events and sessions, as well as the informative, job related sessions.
I'd particularly like to encourage staff members to become involved in KLA. The Support Staff Roundtable has been established to address your concerns and continuing education needs. But it needs your participation to get organized. The Support Staff RT will have a business meeting, where a Chair and Chair-Elect will be elected (anyone interested call me!), and a program by the Virginia Library Association Paraprofessional RT Co-Chairs.
Brown Bag lunches on Wednesday and Friday will provide an opportunity to meet colleagues from other libraries and discuss a topic of interest (ILL, assessment, fund raising, Web design, etc. ) over a box lunch.
The full conference program and the registration form are available on the KLA Web page: http://www.kylibasn.org
If you have questions, or would like a print copy of the registration form, please contact me by email or call 852-1008.
If you would like to volunteer to assist at the registration desk during the conference, please contact one of the Registration Co-Chairs - Lois Severt and Alan Ashman.
New Students
Kersey is proud to introduce three new students this semester. Ramkishan Gupta Chhowdarapu, an engineering major, comes to us from India. Yukiko Kojima comes to us from Japan and is a CSS major. Brandon McGarrell is an engineering major (EE) and is from Fort Thomas, Kentucky. Last but certainly not least, is John Shelton. John is really not a new student. He worked for us a few semesters ago and just couldn't stay away...he had to return!!
Kersey wishes our very own Pat Randle a Happy Birthday! We also extend birthday wishes to all of the University Libraries celebrating a birthday in October!
Kornhauser Library
Welcome to Daryl Waldrop, Kornhauser’s new Technology Consultant. Kornhauser would also like to welcome our new student assistants: Tamara Sluss in Circulation, Stephanie McDonald and Kelly Wooden in Interlibrary Loan, and Heather Hebron in Technical Services.
Judy Wulff recently returned from the 10th IAIMS Consortium Meeting in Columbia, Missouri. Gary Freiburger attended the Leadership in Information Resources Professional Development Conference put on by the Association of American Medical Colleges in St. Louis.
Crystal Humphrey vacationed at Niagara Falls over Labor Day weekend. Carol Vitzenty won six ribbons at the State Fair. Congratulations!
University Archives and Records Center
Mary Margaret Bell, Kathie Johnson, Margaret Merrick and Bill Morison attended the annual conference of the Society of American Archivists in Orlando from September 1 through September 6. Mary Margaret also attended a preconference workshop on Encoded Archival Description.
From the Information Delivery Team
We would like to thank and show appreciation to all of our staff volunteers at the Information Desk. They are: Delinda Buie, Lee Caruthers, Jodi Duce, Mildred Franks, Erea Marshall, Eric Neagle, Amy Purcell, Margo Smith and Jean White. Thank you so much for making this a successful point of information service.