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Libraries, They are a Changin' Display

 

Did you Know That???

The CCC Library has Facebook and Twitter pages and a blog. E-books are available online. With LibraryThing, you can write reviews for items in the online catalog. Assistance with reference questions can be found online with Library Answers, Meebo chat, and our text-a-librarian service. Find these features by going to our library home page.

With the new world of technology, times are a changin.' The CCC librarians strive to stay on the cutting edge of these changes for the benefit of our administration, faculty, and student library community.

Stop by the CCC Library Blackwood to view the interesting display on libraries then and now! Check out a book on library history, higher education or the many advances in Web 2.0 technology.

 
 

Graphic Novels on Display

Graphic Novels on Display at CCC Library Blackwood

Graphic novels are on display in the Reading Room of the CCC Library Blackwood. Check out a title for your summer reading. Search for more titles in the library online catalog using the subject heading "graphic novels."

 
Graphic Novel Display

Among the titles on display, you will find Watchmen by Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, & John Higgins, Barefoot Gen v. 3 by Keiji Nakazawa, and The Beats: A Graphic History with text by Harvey Pekar et al., art by Ed Piskor et al.

 

Save My New Jersey Library! Governor Proposes to Eliminate Statewide Programs

 

    Gov. Christie's budget calls for a 74% decrease in funding for statewide library services. This cut, about $1 for each New Jersey resident, means the elimination of all statewide library programs and services. It will affect all types of libraries – school, college and university, public - in New Jersey. The impact will be multiplied because when state funding is eliminated, New Jersey will lose $4.5 million in federal funding for libraries as well.

 

    What does this mean to New Jersey residents? Everyone will feel it. Visit www.savemynjlibrary.org for more information, and a link to send an email to your legislative representatives. Here are a few details:

 

1. Access to many online research databases will cease.

     At Camden County College, library staff will recommend that the College find other funding sources to continue those we feel are essential to student success, such as Academic Search Premier from EBSCO or RefUSA, but community college funding is being cut too. (estimated price for A.S.P. is $12-15,000/year)

2. Statewide interlibrary loan via JerseyCat and delivery of library materials will cease.   As a member of OCLC, the College library can opt to use another interlibrary loan system and pay for delivery. The staff must consider whether to devote several thousand dollars to this, or to database access.
3. Public libraries will lose 50% of state aid at a time when demand for services is increasing dramatically.

4. More than half of public libraries will lose access to the Internet; many will lose email service; many will lose their websites or access to them.
    People who do not have Internet access at home are using public library computers to apply for jobs. Others attend seminars and workshops sponsored by the library to improve job skills. Governor Christie is wrong when he says that libraries will not close; some will.
5. The Talking Book and Braille Center (known as the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped) will close.
6. Group contracts which bring down the cost of other electronic resources purchased by libraries will cease.

    When each library – those that can afford it - must make its own deals with vendors of online resources, the cost per user is much greater than when contracts are negotiated for an entire state. In the end, these budget cuts will cost residents more for the same (or probably less) service.

 

Sharing resources and services is what libraries are all about. No public entity makes the public dollar go further. Please talk to your library staff, then visit the website above and let your legislators know that your libraries – public and academic – are valuable to you.

New! Text a Librarian

 New Text-a-Librarian Service Starts This Week!

  Now you can get in touch with a Camden County College librarian by using your cell phone. Text a message to (856) 677-8983 and a librarian will reply during Wolverton Library hours.

  Also check the question bank to see whether your question has already been answered! http://libanswers.library.camdencc.edu/

  These options are offered to make things easier for you! Remember, we still like to answer your questions face to face too.

  Please let us know how this new service - or any of our ongoing services - works for you.

Student Library Advisory Group to Meet March 9, 2010 - Still time to Sign Up

  The Student Library Advisory Group will convene Tuesday, March 9, in the Mauke Community Center, Room 200, at 1 p.m. All interested students are encouraged to contact Joan Getaz, jgetaz@camdencc.edu, or Jackie Tenuto, jtenuto@camdencc.edu, to reserve a seat. Lunch will be served. The library administration will be looking for feedback on this semester’s new services, Library Answers and First Fridays, as well as other feedback/suggestions about library resources and services. Tell us what you think!

Library Gets Website Feedback from Student Library Advisory Group

Camden County College Library staff welcomed the many suggestions concerning its website (at http://library.camdencc.edu) offered by participants at the Student Library Advisory Group meeting on November 11, 2008. A few minor changes have already been implemented; more are on the way!

If you have any suggestions to improve the library website, please post a comment here, or use one of the email addresses at the bottom of each page on the site.

Making an Impact: Action Plan 2008-2010

Amid staff vacancies, injuries, illness, famine and pestilence, librarians at Camden County College struggled valiantly through the spring and early summer to produce an Action Plan to guide our activities for the next two years. We'll report our progress here and in our newsletter, available on the website, http://library.camdencc.edu. Our Top 10 Goals are these:

1. The librarians will produce an online Information Literacy Tutorial.

The most efficient way to introduce information literacy to as many students as possible is to develop an online tutorial aimed at teaching students how to find, evaluate and use information. The tutorial will directly address the College’s strategic initiative to “promote information literacy through technology deployment, and integration of library activities with course goals” (Camden County College 16).

2. The librarians will align resources and services with Student Learning Outcomes.

The College’s mandate to list information literacy as an outcome for all general education courses has major implications for the Library. The librarians will work with faculty to ensure that the Library has the resources and services in place to achieve this goal. Librarians will conduct faculty workshops through the Teaching Learning Center to update faculty on key library resources needed to achieve desired information literacy outcomes.

3. The librarians will select and implement a Federated Search Tool.

Federating searching is a new development in information technology that allows the researcher to search multiple online resources using a single search interface. This tool will make searching library resources more Google-like and should have much appeal to students.

4. The librarians will acquire and make available New Collection Resources using funds gained by canceling items that are no longer needed.

Items to be acquired through leasing arrangements include a College-wide online subscription to the Chronicle of Higher Education, a College-wide online subscription to the Wall Street Journal, the PsycArticles full-text journal article database, and the McNaughton Leased Leisure Reading Collection.

5. The librarians will introduce real-time Online Reference Services.

Students will be able to use the library web site to ask questions via an online chat session with a librarian. This service is intended to match preferred student communication styles.

6. The librarians will use a new software application to transform traditional resource guides into more dynamic web-based LibGuides.

Librarian-authored LibGuides will be added to the library web site as a way to help students use library resources. Some guides will be directly related to course assignments and others will be subject related. Podcasts and screencasts will be incorporated into the guides. Each guide will also allow users to ask questions and to make comments.

7. The librarians will plan and implement a Library Liaison Initiative.

At least one librarian will be assigned to each Academic Division and will attend division meetings to better understand the needs of each division and to share information about Library resources and services. The Liaison will also be available to work with Division faculty in smaller groups or on an individual basis as needed. This will be another way for librarians to assist with information literacy student learning outcomes.

8. The librarians will establish Faculty and Student Library Advisory Groups.

This outreach effort will be used to generate dialogue about how the library can best serve students, faculty and staff and to gather feedback about what works and doesn’t work in the delivery of library services.

9. The librarians will refine the Library Web site and Library Catalog by incorporating new technologies and conducting usability studies.

The library web site and library catalog serve as the gateway to the College’s academic information resources. The librarians will take advantage of new developments in information technology to keep the web site and catalog accurate, well designed and user friendly. Usability studies will be conducted to get user feedback regarding the success of these efforts, and the feedback will be used to continue refining the web site and catalog.

10.       The librarians will gather and analyze statistical data regarding library services and resources to help with planning and decision making.

The library’s licensed subscription resources offer access to detailed usage statistics that will be used to generate reports to help determine which resources are most useful. The librarians will also generate statistical reports about requests for library cards, web site usage, circulation of materials, and activity at service desks.

--From “Making an Impact: Action Report 2008-2010”, Camden County College Libraries, August, 2008.

Looking back at the past year

At the end of each academic year, the library staff sit down and make two lists: what worked and what didn't. We pat ourselves on the back for those things that worked, that resulted in good service. During the coming year, we seek solutions to those things that didn't work, in order to improve service.

What do you think we should place on those two lists this year? We welcome your comments at any time, and particularly now. Thanks!

Notes from Student Library Advisory Group meeting

Six students - ranging from those in their first semester to those in their last semester at the College -gave us their thoughts on library services at last week's meeting. We asked them to rate the value of the college library to them in their studies on a scale of 1 to 10, and the ratings ranged from 1 to 10! In general, the low ratings were from the newer students, but some advanced students reported that their classes and professors had not brought library resources and services to their attention.

Among the comments made were these:

The new explanatory podcasts were found to be very useful to those who have low or no vision.

Some had used the 'request' feature in CamCat to have books and other materials delivered to a pick-up location convenient to them

The ability to use online resources from off-campus was also viewed positively.

It was suggested that the library blog be made more prominent on the library website to encourage more feedback from library users. We'll work on that!

Meanwhile, don't hesitate to use blog comments, or Ask-a-Librarian via email, or talk to us in person, to let us know what you think.

Podcast Explains "Browse Periodical List"; more podcasts planned

Ever wondered what "Browse Periodical List" on the library website means? Now you can listen to a podcast that explains how you can use it to locate issues of magazines, newspapers and journals among the library's print and online subscriptions.

If you have ideas for other podcasts the library could make to help you use our resources and services, please make a comment to this post.