Librarians Participate in Ball State’s Diversity Research Symposium

Brenda Yates Habich and Lisa Jarrell presented a workshop at Ball State’s first Diversity Research Symposium: Exploring Diversity Research and Writing Across Disciplines held on Saturday, November 14, 2009. The session, entitled “Publishing Diversity-Related Research,” described ways to identify journals for submitting manuscripts for publication. The librarians highlighted the many useful resources provided by the University Libraries to support scholars’ diversity-related research.

Habich and Jarrell discussed strategies for identifying journals that publish diversity-related research and described methods for determining the relative importance of a given journal in a discipline. They provided lists of impact scores for journals in a variety of fields, as well as other indicators of journal quality. “We wanted to provide people with a sense of what journals are out there and how to identify the best possible places for publication,” said Lisa Jarrell, Instructional Services Librarian.

The session was repeated twice throughout the day-long conference and attracted a number of participants. The audience members represented various universities, including the University of Louisville and the University of Cincinnati. Many Ball State faculty members also attended, representing various areas of study such as Architecture, English, and Social Work.

University Libraries Collaborate with Honors College Peer Mentor’s Program

Recently, the Ball State University Libraries took part in the Honors College Peer Mentor’s Program by conducting 25 instructional sessions during September and October for new Honors College students and their mentors.

The Honors College is made up of freshmen through seniors who have met specific admission requirements, take a rigorous selection of Honors classes, and write a thesis. This year, more than 300 new students are enrolled in the Honors College.

Besides being assigned to specific advisors as freshmen, students also take part in the HONRS 100 course that provides a peer mentor for new students and an opportunity for students to work in small groups. The beauty of this design is that it provides for an in-depth orientation to the Honors College curriculum and expectations, and to Ball State’s campus. This semester, Library Information Services’ librarians had an increased role in helping these new Honors students learn about the library for important resources they are likely to need for their courses and various personal interests.

With the support of Dean James S. Ruebel, Associate Dean John W. Emert, and Dr. Laurie K. Lindberg, Coordinator of the Honors Peer Mentors Program, mentors coordinated with Brenda Yates Habich, Information Services Librarian and Lisa J. Jarrell, Instructional Services Librarian to arrange a time for their groups of new students to come to Bracken Library. The session was planned with individual mentors as a time for students to have a physical tour of the main library, followed by a “computer tour” in order for the students to learn how to locate various materials they will need for their research and learning. The librarians introduced students to different locations in Bracken where they can find CDs or DVDs, print posters for presentations, check out books and laptops, and find realia for use in their studies and presentations. The librarians also familiarized the students with the numerous academic databases available for their research.

This partnering enabled the honors students to become familiar with librarians who can assist them with their research. Several of the participating students commented that the tour and orientation helped them to feel more comfortable using Bracken Library and that they felt better informed about the resources available to them.

For more information, contact Brenda Yates Habich, Information Services Librarian, BHabich@bsu.edu, 765-285-3324.

Dean of Libraries Expresses Appreciation to the University Libraries’ Personnel for their Work and Service during Fiscal Year 2006-2007

I want to express my thanks and appreciation to everyone who works in the University Libraries providing library and information services — professional and paraprofessional personnel, graduate assistants, and student assistants. Each of you, individually and collectively, has provided another year of thoughtful, caring, and creative service for the Ball State University Community.

Over the course of fiscal year 2006-2007, our turnstiles counted 1,301,390 visits to the University Libraries. This is an increase of 2.5% over the previous fiscal year. Thousands of students take advantage of the programs, services, and collections that our personnel manage and provide for research, learning, and classroom instruction.

Over the past 12 months, many times your specific work made a difference in the lives of our customers. Through using the University Libraries, our customers receive many benefits:
• Librarians and other specialists to help them with their research and papers
• Access to rich content for knowledge building and creation
• Physical and digital space for pursuing research and learning projects
• Computers, software, and other technology for their creative use
• Individual and collaborative spaces for group learning, study, and classroom enhancement

We are now in the first few weeks of the new fiscal year. Each of us is busy implementing various plans for excelling again during the academic year to further delight and serve our students and faculty through library and information services. Our objective is to increase the role of the Libraries in the academic life of Ball State University.

As Dean of University Libraries, each day I am grateful for the privilege to serve our students and faculty, and I hope you are, too. Our work — yours and mine — is an opportunity for us to be part of a great university like Ball State and to help others to pursue academic success and achieve their dreams.

As we move into the new fiscal year 2007-2008, I look forward to all of the spectacular happenings that are ahead as we develop and promote the University Libraries for the benefit of our students and faculty.