LSTA Innovative Library Program Grant Supposrt Second Life Library Project

An LSTA Innovative Library Program Grant award in the amount of $5,400 will be used to create a virtual reference area and exhibit. These will serve as a test bed for experimentation and innovation centering on provision of digital content and library services for the expanding user population participating in Second Life, http://secondlife.com, a 3-D virtual world. The prototype reference area will provide access to subject specialists and interactive exhibit modules focused on the University Libraries’ rich resources documenting Muncie, Indiana as “Middletown,” a representative American community.

The project will allow librarians to develop the skills necessary to provide rich library resources and services using state-of-the-art new media in this emergent digital environment. The University Libraries will support the work of students and faculty in Second Life while developing best practices for the provision of library services in virtual worlds for the benefit of libraries statewide.

Second Life is a compelling 3-D virtual world where library users can meet and interact in an immersive and collaborative environment. Participants access the world using a computer and are connected in the virtual environment where they create an avatar, a virtual representation of themselves, that they can control in the same manner that one might control a video game character.

Ball State University faculty and students are increasingly using the Second Life world as a virtual classroom. Lectures are conducted and group projects are being undertaken in it. There is great potential for Second Life to become a vehicle for distance education, allowing students to interact in virtual classrooms and library spaces.

For the project, Archives and Special Collections and the Center for Middletown Studies will collaborate to develop content for the exhibit. The central purpose of the exhibit will be to provide an overview of Muncie as Middletown, a representative American community. There will be a core module that will provide an introduction to the Studies. Additional modules will present the six subject areas covered by the Middletown Studies. The modules will include interactive elements such as click-through PowerPoint presentations and hyperlinks to external resources and streaming media such as oral histories and film clips.

The reference area will include a desk and a “drop box.” The desk will be staffed on a scheduled basis and by appointment for the provision of reference services. The “drop box” acts as a mailbox allowing visitors to leave messages and questions for staff when they are absent from the desk or to schedule reference interviews with an archivist.

For more information, contact John B. Straw, Assistant Dean for Digital Initiatives and Special Collections, JStraw@bsu.edu, 765-285-5078

Ball State's 152nd Commencement

by Arthur W. Hafner, Dean of University Libraries

On Saturday, May 3, 2008, Ball State University celebrated its 152nd commencement. Approximately 2,600 students received diplomas at the associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels.

As Dean of University Libraries, I would like to make some comments and share some observations.

Our graduating students have many people to thank for all of the help they have received along the way — significant others, parents, siblings, grandparents, in-laws, faculty mentors, and employers. And there is another group, too. They are the Ball State alumni who have gone before them since our graduates are the beneficiaries of our alumni’s earlier achievements.

Graduation initiates each of our students into the proud family of alumni who have offered their best. Now, because of what each of our students has accomplished at Ball State, each graduate is positioned to live a better life, to enjoy better opportunities, to hold better jobs, to have better choices, to achieve and build wealth, and to contribute to the communities in which each lives and works. In short, graduation from Ball State allows each of our graduates to claim his/her bliss and joy in the world.

Graduation marks the official completion of an important chapter in each student’s life. In leaving the Ball State campus and Muncie, a part of each student remains.

I urge each graduating student, as a proud new alumnus or alumna, to stay in contact with Ball State, to lend his/her voice and provide financial support for alma mater’s continued growth and development. The University's name recognition, the quality and reputation of its programs, and its success for recruiting and graduating leaders for tomorrow reflects directly upon each graduate and impacts the value of each graduate’s own degree.

As well, I urge each of our graduates to make the effort to stay in touch with fellow students, to develop a strong network of friends and contacts, and to commit one’s self to excellence and focus all creativity and time to make the world a better and more just place, influencing others to do the same.

I hope each graduate of the Class of 2008 will support important community resources, such as libraries that are open and available to everyone for self-education, since these facilities touch and enhance the lives of everyone within their sphere of influence.

As our graduates face tomorrow, my suggestion is that each quickly build on past achievements by setting new goals and seize opportunities that are waiting for you. Everything begins with an idea and happens through action.

I wish each graduating Ball State student abundant good health, happiness, and both financial and personal success.

Furniture Outside of Bracken Library Provides Additional Gathering Place, Expands Use of Library’s Two Plazas

The University Libraries recently purchased five outdoor lawn tables to enrich Bracken Library’s north and south plazas. Since mid-April, students and faculty have been able to enjoy the green next to Bracken for research, learning, and discussion.

Already the tables are proving popular with students and others who want to catch some sunshine while taking a break or socializing outdoors, or while they enjoy food and beverages al fresco from the Bookmark Café.

Of course, Bracken’s plazas offer full wireless connectivity so that students and faculty can access the Libraries’ resources through their laptops, Macbooks, notebook computers, and Wi-Fi enabled small-screen devices, such as PDAs, Palm/PocketPCs, or smartphones.

The tables are olive color, feature a 42” diameter tabletop, have perforated backless seats, and provide superior corrosion resistance because of their all-aluminum construction. Their recycled content is 68% and each table is 100% recyclable. An additional feature is that the tables do not require the use of cleaning chemicals to maintain their finish.

On each plaza, one of the tables provides wheelchair accessibility. Each unit typically offers six backless seating positions; the wheelchair accessible units offer five. The tables were manufactured by Landscape Forms Inc., Kalamazoo, Michigan, a member of the U.S. Green Building Council.

The outdoor furniture and the new indoor chairs recently added to Bracken Library are part of the continuing transformation of the University Libraries as a destination for students and faculty for research, learning, and friends. We want to make the University Libraries an inviting, friendly space that students and faculty visit first for their research and learning.

University Libraries’ Personnel Contribute to the Midwest CONTENTdm Users Group Meeting

Personnel from the University Libraries contributed to the success of the Third Annual Midwest CONTENTdm Users Group Meeting held April 29-30, 2008, in Indianapolis, Indiana. CONTENTdm serves as the platform for the Ball State University Libraries’ Digital Media Repository (DMR). The Users Group meeting drew over 100 attendees from all over the Midwest.

The ] Libraries team responsible for building the Middletown Oral History Collections, funded in part by a LSTA digitization grant, conducted the pre-conference workshop, “From Spoken Word to Digital File: Making Oral Histories Available in CONTENTdm.” The presenters demonstrated how to plan, digitize, create metadata, and publish an oral history collection using CONTENTdm. Ball State presenters included James A. Bradley, Head of Metadata and Digital Initiatives, Amanda A. Hurford, Metadata and Multimedia Developer, Maren L. Read, Archivist for Manuscript Collections, and Jonathan M. Brinley, Metadata and Digital Initiatives Developer.

The workshop earned overwhelmingly positive feedback from the capacity crowd of participants. “[The workshop] gave us good ideas about the next steps for our oral histories” said Jane Kokotkiewicz of Indianapolis’ prestigious Park Tudor School. “The pace was very good. Just what I needed.”

Brad Faust, Assistant Dean for Library Information Technology Services, served as co-chair of the Users Group Meeting Program Planning Committee. His responsibilities included hosting the program proposal Web form, collecting program proposals from speakers, and communicating with speakers and other program committee members about session schedules, acceptance, and registration details. Brad also served as moderator for two of the presentations at the Users Group meeting.

Speakers in several sessions referred to CONTENTdm successes at the University Libraries. The 3-D rotating image process used at Ball State, which can be seen in the Doll Collection in the DMR, is being used as a model at IUPUI.

Technical advice and direction provided by Budi Wibowo, University Libraries’ Head of Digital Libraries and Web Services, was mentioned as very useful by the Keynote Speaker. The Architecture Image End User Copyright Agreement page, presented to DMR users before access to the Architecture Image collection is granted, was also hailed as a great example of digital rights management.

For more information, contact Bradley D. Faust, Assistant Dean for Library Information Technology Services, BFaust@bsu.edu, 765-285-8032

Student Artwork Adds Sense of Place, Enjoyment to Others at Bracken Library

Artwork enhances the physical environment and adds color and interest to the study spaces at Bracken Library. Each summer we look forward to meeting students from the Department of Art who agree to lend artwork to the University Libraries for the enjoyment of others. Recently, senior Joshua J. Chatwin decided to donate three oil paintings to Bracken Library.

Artist Study of Robert Delunay’s Champs de Mars, oil on canvas, measuring 24” x 36” shown at right, will find a new home in the New Books and Bestsellers corner of Bracken Library. Delunay was a French cubist painter and an inspiration to Josh.

“I think it is cool to know I have work hanging in Bracken Library and that it will be in the possession of the Ball State Libraries now that I have graduated,” he said.

Laura M. Hruska, a junior from Munster, Indiana, agreed to lend three paintings this summer. Laura plans to major in photography. My Factory, oil and mixed media, measuring 64” x 48” is a geometric design with shades of yellow, purple, and red and will hang in the Learning Center area on the west side of Bracken’s first floor.

“Students whose work is accepted in Ball State’s annual juried art exhibit are our main contacts. We welcome artwork from our students and faculty,” said Susan Akers, University Libraries’ Marketing Communications Manager.

Authors Speak on Churchill and RFK

Students, faculty, and community members attended programs in April 2008 sponsored by the Friends of the Alexander M. Bracken Library featuring talks by authors of recent books on Winston Churchill and Robert F. Kennedy.

On April 9, Dr. Jonathan Rose, the William R. Kenan Professor of History at Drew University, spoke on Winston Churchill and the Literary History of Politics in Bracken Library. The program was co-sponsored by the Center for Middletown Studies. Dr. Rose is the author of a recent book by the same title as his talk.

On April 21, Mr. Ray Boomhower, Senior Editor at the Indiana Historical Society Press, presented Robert F. Kennedy: The 1968 Indiana Primary, also the title of his book.

The cover of Boomhower’s recently published book features a photograph of Kennedy speaking at Ball State University on April 4, 1968, from the George Yeamans Collection in the University Libraries’ Archives and Special Collections. Other photographs taken by Yeamans are used in the book also.

Boomhower’s program was particularly appropriate during the 40th anniversary of Robert F. Kennedy’s visit to Ball State University when he was running for president. Kennedy learned of the shooting and death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. while in Muncie and then went on to give his memorable speech in Indianapolis about King’s death.

The Yeamans photographs along with video and audio of Kennedy’s 1968 speech can be found in the Ball State Digital Media Repository, http://libx.bsu.edu/.

For more information on the Kennedy speech collection or the Friends of Bracken Library, contact John B. Straw, Assistant Dean for Digital Initiatives and Special Collections, JStraw@bsu.edu, 765-285-5078.

Sustainability Planning at Ball State Libraries

Ball State University’s Strategic Plan 2007-2012 (Goal 4 and Objective F) calls for the University Council on the Environment, through its representative members, to create sustainability plans for each university unit. The University’s vision and commitment are summarized by its Sustainability Statement, www.bsu.edu/sustainability.

To begin planning and establishing guidelines to encourage sustainability initiatives within the University Libraries, the Dean of University Libraries recently appointed a Sustainability Committee. The initial four members are Dixie D. DeWitt, Bradley D. Faust, Suzanne S. Rice, and Sharon A. Roberts. At a later time, the Committee may expand to include more personnel.

The Sustainability Committee’s purpose is to promote awareness of sustainability initiatives among the Libraries’ personnel and to take positive steps to incorporate greater environmental awareness into the operations of the Libraries. These include steps for energy conservation, enhanced recycling, and conservation of natural resources.

The University Libraries have made efforts over the past several years to “think green.” Some of the actions we have already taken include:

· Encouraging double-sided copying to reduce use of paper
· Encouraging students to save files electronically as PDFs rather than print documents
· Installing new energy-saving florescent bulbs
· Installing sensors in rooms so lights are turned off when rooms are not in use
· Providing recycle containers on every floor
· Recycling of photocopy toner cartridges; recycling paper as scrap paper and note pads
· Requesting students to limit printing to 30 pages per day
· Setting thermostats at 72° throughout the Libraries
· Using equipment that features the Energy Star or other power management functionality to conserve electricity
· Using teleconferencing in lieu of travel
· Encouraging the Libraries’ personnel to carpool to work

We are committed to these initiatives and look forward to achieving higher levels of sustainability.

Ball State's Bracken Library: The Place to go to Get Work Done

Bracken Library is commonly viewed by students as the place to go to successfully complete all types of projects and assignments.
Whether students want to study early or late, alone or together, whether they want multimedia tools or quiet space to just read or think about a project, we accommodate them. In addition to friendly librarians, we offer comfortable spaces for individual or group study and access to the best in print and digital collections. The hours are also great for busy students.

At the University Libraries, students have the latest and best technology, software, and equipment to create multimedia presentations, DVDs, podcasts, and blogs, just to name a few.

Students can scan images, create short videos, use geospatial datasets, and design creative projects. And technology specialists are never far away. Several hundred thousand digital resources are accessible through the Libraries’ digital media repositories and digital commons, including videos, photographs, and Web sites. These resources are also accessible to students and faculty from off-campus.

Technological tools are available for check out, including laptops, video and digital cameras, Web cams, and more. There are 350 public workstations that feature both Windows and Mac platforms, many with dual monitor configurations for multiple software applications.

The University Libraries merge 21st century digital resources with print collections and new media to provide all the common software used on campus to assist our students in achieving success.

Ball State University Libraries' Emerging Media Technologies

The landscape of educational technology is constantly and quickly evolving, and the University Libraries are fully invested in adapting to the fast-paced emergence of new media in order to provide our students and faculty with state-of-the-art information channels into the rich resources and products provided and produced by the University Libraries.

As the information hub of the university, the Libraries are continually re-imagining our services and collections to discover new ways to serve as the integrated information nexus for teaching, learning, and research in a future that demands a robust, physical library with relevant collections, user-centered services, and cutting-edge technologies as well as a widely-accessible library without walls available 24/7/365 from virtual worlds, online classrooms, and computer desktops.

The University Libraries have maximized a number of emerging media formats and technologies designed to increase student and faculty opportunities for knowledge discovery, synthesis, and creation:

· Second Life — The Libraries are working in partnership with the Center for Middletown Studies to create virtual archives of text, photographs, audio, and video to be made available in Second Life. Ball State University is establishing a more substantive presence in Second Life, and the University Libraries continue to develop content and services for the expanded user population in the virtual world.
· Blogs/RSS Feeds — The Libraries currently maintain nine blogs/RSS feed publications designed to inform students and faculty about collections, services, and library programs.
· Intensive Multimedia Computing — The Libraries have installed a pod of high-performance PC and Mac stations that are equipped with specialized features and software applications for data analysis, gaming, video editing, and animation rendering. Software includes Adobe Production Premium Creative Suite 3, Adobe Design Premium Creative Suite 3, and Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 8.0, and more.
· e-Books — The Libraries provide access to over 10,000 electronic books, including hundreds of reference titles.
· e-Journals — The Libraries provide access to over 13,258 full-text e-journals and their archives, and nearly 200 academic databases; almost all of these resources are accessible from off-campus, too.
· Mobile Library Project — The Libraries developed and support an icon-based Web site for mobile devices such as BlackBerry and other small screen smart devices that allow users to search the Libraries’ catalog and access electronic journal content.
· Online Communities/Social Networking — The Libraries maintain profiles in Facebook and MySpace, providing updated blogs as well as links to the Libraries’ services, online tutorials, subject guides, and more.
· Video Audio Streaming — The Libraries offer video and audio streaming of several collections in the Digital Media Repository (DMR), including World War II films and Middletown oral histories. An upcoming project with the University’s Teleplex Services will include the addition of thousands of streaming videos to the DMR.
· Wireless Internet Access — Building on the University’s extensive wireless infrastructure, the Libraries offer free wireless printing as a corollary service for students and faculty.
· Interactive Tutorials — The Libraries’ Informational Services unit offers a number of interactive tutorials on library collections, services, databases, and technologies.

The University Libraries’ mission is to serve as a destination for research, learning, and friends. An essential part of fulfilling this objective is for the Libraries to provide a range of technologies through the adaptation and integration of new and evolving forms of multimedia communication and information dissemination.

For more information, contact Matthew C. Shaw, Ball State University Libraries’ Electronic Resources Librarian, MCShaw2@bsu.edu, 765-285-1302.

Goals for Ball State University Libraries' Digital Initiative

As the availability of digital content grows and expectations of the users of digital resources increase, the need for careful planning for the growth and development of the University Libraries’ digital initiatives is vital.

It is incumbent upon librarians, archivists, and information technology specialists involved in developing the digital future, or the Next Generation Digital, to build on achievements, continue current projects, and prepare strategies for accomplishing new and expanded initiatives.

The University Libraries’ digital initiative goals include:

· Providing global access to an ever-widening range of digital resources to enhance and enrich learning, teaching, and research
· Increasing the number and range of digital resources available for Ball State students and faculty
· Creating signature digital collections to meet the diverse needs and expectations of the Ball State community and scholars around the world
· Promoting and supporting the scholarly use of digital content by Ball State students and faculty

Libraries’ Current and Continuing Initiatives

Already, the University Libraries have come a long way in developing the digital resources to support these goals. Examples of current and continuing digital initiatives include:

· Cardinal Scholar: institutional repository to support the University’s research and publication distribution strategies by making faculty and student intellectual property globally accessible and searchable via the Internet
· Conferences: focusing on various aspects of digital activities, CONTENTdm, and initiatives dealing with issues relative to specific types of digital content (audio, video, newspapers, etc.)
· Digital Commons: providing access to thousands of digital resources, including signature collections of other institutions, videos, e-journals, Web sites, and other assets via the Internet
· Digital Media Repository: over 102,000 digital objects now accessible to support teaching, learning, and research
· Digitization Center and Mobile Digitization Unit: digital processing area and mobile digital equipment to allow off-site digitizing of materials from partner institutions
· e-Archives: providing access to the University’s records
· Grant-Funded Projects: Three Library Services and Technology Act digitization grants have been received; two LSTA grant applications have been sent out for this year; Institute of Museum and Library Services grant pending.
· Publications and Professional Outreach: articles in a forthcoming book on Digital Scholarship; conference presentations and papers on digital topics by University Libraries’ personnel
· University Libraries’ Second Life Project: ongoing development of Middletown Digital Library and Archives and a virtual interactive Middletown (Muncie) in the 1920s
· Virtual Press: digital online publishing of Ball State products by students, faculty, alumni, and others
· Workshops for librarians, archivists, and other information professionals on digital management topics

Exciting Future Directions for the Digital Initiatives

Plans for the future development of the University Libraries’ digital initiatives will include the expansion of these important activities. Future directions include development in the following areas:

· 3D Modeling and Data Capture: Second Life project; What Middletown Read project; 3D modeling to support instruction, simulation, and educational gaming
· Data Acquisition Technologies: expanding Cardinal Scholar as a data acquisition tool
· Development of Digital Media for Comodification of Cultural Heritage: transformation of cultural heritage artifacts into an educational commodity through digitization; packaging analog information and traditional paper-based documentation in digital format as a potential revenue generator
· Digital Visual and Oral History Project: expansion of this signature program for the University Libraries’ Digital Initiatives
· e-Learning Using Resources of the Digital Media Repository: online tutorials, lesson plans, workshops and other outreach activities to align digital resources with curriculum, academic disciplines, instruction, and classroom use
· Multimedia, Data Management and Archiving: acquisition and management of digital video in the Digital Media Repository
· Virtual Reality Applications: further development of Second Life and other virtual reality projects

For more information, contact John B. Straw, Ball State University Libraries’ Assistant Dean for Digital Initiatives and Special Collections, JStraw@bsu.edu, 765-285-5078.

Update on Cardinal Scholar Institutional Repository

Cardinal Scholar, Ball State University’s institutional repository, serves as a place where students, faculty, staff, and both academic and administrative units can deposit their intellectual and creative works and have the content accessible to a worldwide audience.

The Cardinal Scholar system stands poised to become an important element of the Ball State University’s research publishing distribution strategies. The service premiered in January 2008.

Representatives of the University Libraries have met with several faculty groups and administrative units on campus to publicize and explain the benefits, features, and options that the repository provides.

Anyone interested in more information about Cardinal Scholar or who wishes to discuss use of Cardinal Scholar, please contact John B. Straw, Assistant Dean for Digital Initiatives and Special Collections, JStraw@bsu.edu, 765-285-5078.

New Web Site Simplifies Finding DVD/VHS Items from the University Libraries’ Collection

The University Libraries recently developed a Web site where students, faculty, staff, and other community members can search through over 16,500 DVD/VHS titles in the Libraries’ collections by 26 genres, title or date.

The online directory is due to the significant work of Robert L. Seaton, Web Developer, Caleb T. Mosier, student assistant, and Hank Gerhart, Statistical Data/Asset Control Specialist. They made creative use of Kelley C. McGrath’s Media Finders to search the Libraries’ online public catalogue, CardCat.

Since the Web site became available, it has become one of the Libraries’ Top 10 sites for hits, and circulation of both DVDs and VHS programs have greatly increased.

View www.bsu.edu/libraries/dvdlisting.

University Libraries: A Destination for Research, Learning, and . . . Facebook Fans

Ball State University Libraries have a presence on Facebook with the potential to connect with more than 25,000 members in the Ball State University network, including students, faculty, staff, and alumni.

After only a month of being live, the University Libraries “fan” base is growing. With the cooperation of several personnel in the University Libraries, official event photos, announcements of Libraries’ events, newly acquired items, and other relevant news and information are available from Facebook.

Visit Ball State University Libraries in Facebook,www.facebook.com/pages/Muncie-IN/Ball-State-University-Libraries/8631056252

Ball State University Libraries’ Innovators Share Knowledge at Local Conference

Several librarians represented the Ball State University Libraries’ commitment to technology at a conference entitled Reaching Digital Natives and Immigrants: Library 2.0 on November 2, 2007 at the Plainfield-Guilford Township Public Library. The program was hosted by Indiana Online Users Group (IOLUG), www.iolug.org/index.php, a local professional organization that aims to further the use of online systems, databases, computers and telecommunication systems in libraries. The conference was attended by 81 information professionals from around Indiana.

As a member of the IOLUG Program Committee, Amanda A. Hurford said that several librarians from the University Libraries brought a special dimension to the program by speaking about their Library 2.0 activities and social networking tools.

Jonathan M. Brinley, Metadata and Digital Initiatives Developer, presented a hands-on breakout session about creating a library wiki. Information Services Librarians Jason A. Fields and Eric B. Fisher and Amanda A. Hurford, Digital Initiatives Multimedia Developer, participated in the Blinded Me with Library Science Fair, a free form, high energy gathering in which conference attendees visited booths managed by librarians demonstrating specific implementations of Library 2.0 technologies.

Jonathan provided hands-on experience for participants regarding several popular open-source wiki software packages, including MediaWiki, TiddlyWiki, DokuWiki, and PmWiki. He assisted participants through the process of creating a wiki using the MediaWiki package, the same software used to power the University Libraries’ wiki. You can learn more about wiki administration from the MediaWiki wiki, http://www.mediawiki.org/, or by contacting Jonathan M. Brinley, JMBrinley@bsu.edu, 765-285-3341.

Wikis for Project Management
As attendees approached Amanda's booth, they were welcomed by informational posters describing how the Ball State University Libraries’ wiki helped to manage the Middletown Digital Oral History Project. Amanda also used a laptop to demonstrate how the wiki works and the kind of information that is organized there.

Participants learned how wiki technology allows a large group of people working on a project to collaborate and communicate their ideas in organized, centralized, and searchable forum. Amanda explained that the wiki used for the Middletown Digital Oral History Project is open to the public and retrievable by a simple Google search, so other institutions embarking on an oral history project can benefit from University Libraries’ documentation.

To view the Oral Histories page on the Ball State University Libraries’ wiki, visit
www.bsu.edu/libraries/wiki/index.php?title=Oral_Histories.

Second Life
The crowd that gathered at the Second Life booth watched as Jason maneuvered his avatar, Phenyks Winx, through the multi-user virtual environment. His demonstration, called Avatars, Objects, and Islands, included a tour through several Second Life landmarks such as Ball State's own Middletown island, Vassar's recreation of the Sistine Chapel, and Alliance Library System's Information Archipelago.

Observers received a brochure with supplemental information explaining the function of an avatar, a Second Life user's virtual representation, and the objects with which they interact while in-world. The brochure also touched upon concepts such as virtual land, currency, and the nature of library service, and there was a listing of references and informative Web sites. To view the complete brochure, visit http://jafields.iweb.bsu.edu/IOLUGSecondLife.pdf. For more information about University Libraries’ Second Life Initiative, contact Jason A. Fields, JAFields@bsu.edu, 765-285-3326.

MySpace
After their brief tour of some of the locations in Second Life, attendees visited the MySpace booth to see how Ball State University Libraries are using this popular social networking site to connect with students, authors, and other libraries. Visit www.myspace.com/brackenlibrary.

Eric demonstrated the University Libraries’ public profile as well as the user page where the profile owner can control the content of the public profile. He then showed the audience how different features such as the MySpace bulletin feature, public calendar, event manager, and blog can be used for promoting a library’s programs, services, and collections. He also presented how images and videos could be loaded onto the profile page.

A list of resources on social networking sites that were provided to conference participants is also available online at http://bsu.libguides.com/MySpace. For more information about Ball State University Libraries’ MySpace page, or to ask about promoting a library event or program on MySpace, contact Eric B. Fisher, EBFisher@bsu.edu, 765-285-3338.

University Libraries’ Outreach to Students in Residence Halls a Success

After students settled into their residence halls at the beginning of fall semester 2007, Ball State University residence hall directors met to consider a series of information literacy workshops, which would be developed by librarians at the Ball State University Libraries.

Based on standards developed by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), workshop topics were identified to include where to find reliable information and how to use information ethically. As part of the proposal, librarians worked with residence hall personnel to adapt workshops according to the needs of student residents.

The first workshop, held in late September 2007, covered the research process and provided information on developing skills for success in college. A reference librarian presented it in a floor lounge of a large residence hall.

Attendees were given handouts outlining steps in the research process, along with a listing of resources about student success in the collections of the University Libraries. The handout and resource list are available at this URL:
http://bsu.libguides.com/ResearchProcess.


The second workshop, held in mid-October 2007, covered advanced searching techniques in popular search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, and Ask.com. Students learned about basic search logic using Boolean operators and were provided with a list of common advanced search options, such as limiting searches to file type or internet domain. The 12-slide PowerPoint presentation is currently available at this URL:http://jafields.iweb.bsu.edu/FeedMachine.ppt.

Recently, the administrators of Ball State’s Honors College residence halls agreed to host a program regarding thesis research. A version of the University Libraries’ popular Thesis Research in a Nutshell workshop, which is regularly offered to graduate students by the Libraries’ Instructional Services unit, will be revised to meet the needs of undergraduates in the Honors College.

The presentation is set to take place in early November, 2007. Other workshops for Honors College students living in residence halls are currently under consideration and these may take place by December 2007 with sessions extending into spring semester.

For more information, or to share ideas regarding these or other types of residence hall outreach programs offered by University Libraries, contact Jason A. Fields, Information Services Librarian (Distance Education), JAFields@bsu.edu, 765-285-3326.

We Listen! Ball State Libraries' Intercept Surveys Provide Valuable Feedback

Students converged on campus six weeks ago and have settled into the routine of classes, projects, and other activities associated with collegiate life. The doors of Bracken Library are in continuous motion.

Centrally located on campus and offering five floors of space — about the size of seven football fields — Bracken Library is known as the place to study, get work done, or as the place to meet friends and grab a quick bite or a cup of coffee.

Administration at the University Libraries values feedback from the students, faculty, and community members who number, on average, about 4,500 daily. We understand the value in obtaining input regarding the services, collections and programs that are available.

Recently, we designed a short intercept survey with open-ended questions which are useful in providing respondents with opportunities to give candid feedback. Consumer intercept surveys, as the name suggests, aim to intercept consumers in their natural environment and deliver a short structured questionnaire on their habits, preferences, perceptions or behavior. The strategic advantages of consumer intercept surveys are the speed with which they can be conducted, their low cost, the ability to poll a large number of people, and the fact that results can be provided in a short period of time.

The disadvantage of the consumer intercept survey method is that it entails "convenience sampling" meaning that, especially in the case of small samples, results may not be as representative as samples developed through random or stratified sampling. However, intercept surveys remain a powerful technique, and in many cases can approach the reliability of much more expensive and objectively selected samples.

Intercept surveys were given in various locations at Bracken Library on September 18, 2007 in the afternoon and again on October 2, 2007, in the morning. A sampling of the responses follows:

1. When you think of Bracken Library, what immediately comes to your mind? One-half of the respondents mentioned studying, followed by research or help with research, good computers and books.
“I love to come here,” said senior Trent McFalls. “It’s my favorite place to be.”

2. If you were describing Bracken to a friend who has not been here, how would you describe it? The answers ranged from fast computers to citing where the quiet study areas are (3rd and 4th floors) to acknowledging assistance which is always available from friendly librarians.

“I would say to spend time at Bracken to prepare for classes,” said Sara Losin, a senior who is majoring in nursing.

“It is a good place to meet with a group because there is a lot of space. You don’t have to go anywhere else to find what you need,” responded Tara Dragoo, a junior in the elementary education program.

3. What do you particularly like about the library services and/or collections? This open-ended question was designed to provoke specificity. The answers were wide ranging and included the technological resources, the ability to check out laptops, the Libraries’ website, the helpful staff, great location, number of computers, books and resources, and even the floor plan.

Junior Molly Poor added that she appreciates receiving overdue reminder notices by e-mail because “… students are busy and often forget when something is due.”

When the respondents asked what could be changed or improved upon, three-fourths of the respondents could not think of a specific answer. One-fourth of the respondents made a suggestion that will be forwarded to the Dean of University Libraries for review.

For more information, contact Susan G. Akers, Ball State University Libraries’ Marketing Communications Manager, SAkers@bsu.edu, (765) 285-5031.

Bracken Library’s Study and Conference Rooms Offer Quality Space for Collaborative Study, Meetings

The Ball State University’s Bracken Library offers students, faculty, and Ball State Community Members a variety of comfortable study and conference rooms for collaborative study, learning, and small conferences. There are 17 rooms. Of these, 16 of them seat between 6 and 20 persons, and one room accommodates 90 persons. These small and large rooms must be reserved and are also available to staff and campus organizations for meetings, project discussions, colloquia, and planning.

The type of equipment available in each room depends upon the room itself. All of them offer wireless connectivity, and many offer projection screens, chalk boards, and bulletin boards. All of the rooms have tables and chairs and many of the rooms offer a computer monitor for laptop presentations. Visit www.bsu.edu/library/studyrooms to view an equipment inventory for each room and to see a photograph of the space.

Laptops, iBooks, digital projectors, pc microphones, digital cameras, media card readers, a SMART Board, and other equipment are also available for use in these rooms. Items can be checked out from the Libraries’ Educational Resources Collections (Bracken lower level) as aids for group and/or personal study.

Bracken Library’s hours are good, too, since we are open 120.5 hours a week, including until 3:00 a.m. Sunday through Thursday. With wireless connections throughout the library, students can get on-the-spot reference help using instant messenger clients such as AOL, MSN, and Yahoo. The Bookmark Café provides a great place to take a study break with a variety of snacks and beverages.

In the near future, Bracken Library’s study and conference rooms can be reserved online. While this module is being developed, students and faculty and members of the Ball State Community can reserve a room or ask questions through personnel at the Periodicals desk, in person or by phone, (765) 285-5146.

The Ball State University Libraries as Third Place after Home and Classroom

The library as place has been a frequent topic of discussion and scholarship over the past few years. As librarians continue to apply powerful information technologies and to integrate their print and digital collections, their new focus is to design library spaces that attract students who will perceive and use the library as the best place for learning after the classroom.

A discussion of library as place naturally progresses into a deeper inquiry about how people use libraries to solve their informational and research needs as well as how libraries meet our students’ social needs. In Nancy Kalikow Maxwell’s 2006 book, Sacred Stacks: The Higher Purpose of Libraries and Librarianship, she writes that in this time of virtual community, humans need and long for a physical space to gather. In chapter seven, entitled, “Librarians and Libraries Promote Community,” she identifies and promotes libraries as a third place — a place after home and work, with the library as a place that allows people to be in the presence of others to gather informally. In the academic community, these places are the dormitory/home and classroom.

With these first and second places in mind, it is evident that the Ball State University Libraries are fast becoming recognized as the learner’s third place. The number of persons who visit the Ball State University Libraries daily, in all student segments from freshmen through graduate and including faculty, continues to increase. This traffic is measured by turnstile count and data analysis of visitors’ use of our computer workstations, public printing resources, and collection circulation. There are very good reasons why these increases are happening. In part, they are due to the positive experiences and association of our students and faculty as they engage academically and socially in our Libraries.

Our students report that they come to the University Libraries for help from librarians with research papers, to study individually or collaboratively with others, and to use the technologies and software applications that the Libraries make easily accessible. Students speak about the Libraries as a place to read and study, attend a variety of library-sponsored workshops and classes, engage in educational simulation software, or just to be here in the Libraries.

They also mention how they value the Libraries’ popular Bookmark Café as a place where they can grab a cup of coffee or tea, or talk with friends and colleagues. Students see the University Libraries as a place to develop their skills for scholarship and their soft skills that involve community, communication, and creativity. These and other reasons are tangible recognition of the Libraries’ important contribution to the academic community as a learning laboratory and an integral part of campus life.

Libraries, both academic and public, will continue to evolve, adapt, and improve the accessibility of their resources for research, learning, and classroom enhancement. Librarians and the library’s paraprofessional personnel will be found at the forefront of these exciting changes. They will work to expand their library’s collection access and develop new ways for their libraries to contribute to the intellectual pursuits of students and faculty. Libraries will continue to be characterized as providing a rich array of uniformly gracious and friendly services to all users.

In these ways, academic libraries, as a third place, will serve as an extension of the home and classroom, as a laboratory for research and learning, and as a gathering place for academic and social pursuits.

Librarian Liaisons Use Technology, Face-to-Face Communication to Share Information with Faculty

Librarian liaisons are creatively using technology to assist them in their efforts to encourage and facilitate communication between and among the University Libraries and academic departments. The 12 librarians in the program employ blogs, websites, online newsletters, Instant Messaging (IM), and email to communicate with faculty members in the 23 participating academic departments.

Since librarian Stacy B. Chaney-Blankenship began posting to her “Journalism Liaison Blog” in February 2006, her blog has received over 1,800 visits. Her posts to the blog are a mix of library news, information on journalism resources in the University Libraries, and the occasional news item on resources farther afield. “I use the blog as an opportunity to alert journalism faculty and staff to the Libraries’ resources and services that they can use in their research and in support of classroom activities,” Chaney says.

Science Librarian Kevin E. Brooks posts a similar mix of Libraries’ news and resources on his blog with a focus on topics in the sciences and health science. A recent planetarium program inspired Brooks to post an entry about stargazing to the blog and earned him the thanks of planetarium director Ronald H. Kaitchuck for helping to promote the planetarium.

Faculty members in the Department of English receive email newsletters from librarian Matthew C. Shaw several times over the course of the year. In addition to drawing attention to Libraries’ news, Shaw uses the newsletter to highlight information resources as they relate to a wide range of topics in literature and writing. Inspired by the work of the other liaisons, new liaison Erin S. Gabrielson has a newsletter in the works for the Department of Anthropology.

Instant messaging is another tool in the librarian liaisons’ kit. Librarian Stephen K. Duecker hosted IM sessions in Professor Kay E. Hodson-Carlton’s Nursing 605 class so that students could ask questions about library research. “The students were thrilled to find out about all the Libraries’ services available to them as distance education students,” says Duecker.

Librarian Jason A. Fields, liaison for Distance Education, has also found that online communication is essential for the program as a whole. Fields uses the Libraries’ website for distance education, a blog, and IM to stay in touch with both faculty and students in the program. “Promoting the University Libraries’ services to students and faculty becomes easier if you open up multiple points of access to them,” says Fields.

The librarian liaisons also value face-to-face communication with faculty by visiting them in their departments. The liaisons may attend departmental meetings to showcase new information services or they may stop by faculty offices to discuss a faculty member’s research needs.

Liaisons also make an effort to attend the events or lectures sponsored by a department. Librarian Brenda Yates Habich, for example, attended Women’s Studies Week events this past spring. “It was a positive experience for me,” she says, “to meet women across campus and to interact with them and to see students involved with the Women’s Studies programs.”

Public presentations are also useful for the librarian liaisons’ work. Librarian James A. Bradley interacts with many academic departments while promoting the Digital Media Repository (DMR). He has found public presentations that showcase the DMR are an effective way of demonstrating the repository’s capabilities and of meeting faculty who might be interested in contributing a collection.

Face-to-face communication between liaisons and faculty also takes place everyday in the University Libraries. Our librarians who work with subject collections frequently work with faculty members in the Libraries. In the Architecture Library, for example, I have found that chatting with faculty members who stop by the Library can easily lead to a purchase suggestion or an instruction session for a class.

Library instruction sessions for students offer another opportunity for librarian liaisons to work in academic partnership with faculty. Already this semester Librarian Diane E. Hill has worked with Professor Nancy J. Clevenger to prepare an instruction session for Clevenger’s course in Planning for the Elementary and Early Childhood Classroom.

Suzanne Rice, the acting Music Librarian, Assistant Dean of Public Services, has also been working with the College of Fine Arts’ School of Music to arrange instructional sessions. “Liaisons and teaching faculty can work together to develop workshops that introduce students to resources in their field,” says librarian Lisa J. Jarrell, liaison to Fisher Institute for Wellness & Gerontology and the Department of History. “The librarian-faculty relationship benefits the instructors’ teaching and student learning.”

Both in person and online, the librarian liaisons are available to share information, answer questions, and encourage feedback about the University Libraries.

For more information about the Libraries’ Librarian Liaison program, contact Arthur W. Hafner Ph.D., M.B.A., Dean of University Libraries, AHafner@bsu.edu, (765) 285-5277.

The Ball State University Libraries Begins to Explore Second Life for Its Promise as a Virtual World of Opportunities for Learning, Research

In the July 2007 issue of the Ball State University Libraries’ newsletter, The Library Insider, Dr. Arthur W. Hafner, Dean of University Libraries, reported about a Working Group to explore a Library foray into the multi-user virtual environment of Second Life. A recent continuing education session for library staff provided an overview of companies, organizations, and libraries with a presence in this multi-user virtual environment.

Consider, for a moment, the possibilities that engagement with a virtual world could afford the Ball State University community. Imagine an interactive special collections exhibit featuring rare and archival materials that is available 24/7/365. The exhibit explains the scope and content of the collections and how to use the materials to conduct research and create new knowledge.

Interactive displays link to external web pages and digital resources, and they serve as portals to an expanded universe of information. In-world avatars act as docents and reference assistants to orient patrons to what they encounter there. Professors and instructors lead virtual field trips to the exhibit and assign coursework supported by the archival materials made available in this virtual environment.

The exhibit area would act as a meeting place, classroom, and digital repository. Learning opportunities like this and more are possible in Second Life, allowing libraries to reach their users no matter where they might be in the physical world.

The University Libraries are working to offer reference and instructional services and to mount virtual exhibits in Second Life. The Information Services unit is developing a reference area, promotional displays, interactive tutorials, and an instructional environment. Much like the Reference Desk and library classrooms in Bracken's physical space, these areas will serve the users of University Libraries' virtual resources.

Archives and Special Collections are working on a Middletown Archives & Library that will provide access to digitized archival materials documenting the use of Muncie (as Middletown) as a representative American Community. Some of the digitized resources to be made available include photographs, maps, newspapers, and oral histories.

Through development of such resources, the University Libraries hope to explore the role of academic libraries in the virtual environment. Several questions arise regarding this role, including:
Who are our patrons in such an environment, targeted and unexpected?
How are reference and instructional services to be delivered to avatars?
How do those transactions differ from real life reference and instructional transactions?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of delivering library services to avatars?
How do librarians promote teaching, learning, research, and public service in a virtual environment?


The University Libraries are actively seeking students and faculty as partners to collaborate with University Libraries’ personnel to create opportunities such as those outlined above.

For more information or to express an interest in participation in this project, contact Philip James Deloria, Assistant Archivist for Digital Projects and University Archives, PJDeloria@bsu.edu, (765) 285-5078.