Peabody Library
December 2005
Statistics.
17,207 patrons entered library (5% increase over December 2004)
686 items circulated (27% decrease over December 2004)
417 questions answered (3% decrease over December 2004)
116 reference questions answered (2% decrease over December 2004)
21 funding announcements distributed
2 research consultations
1 tour for 1 participant
21 electronic reserves requests
920 pages scanned
3 articles linked
320 articles imported
The Library Advisory Committee met on December 9.
Staff attended celebrations of the holiday season including the Peabody College Hanging of the Green, the Dean's Holiday Party, the Dean's Staff Lunch, and the Peabody Library Holiday Lunch.
Assessment.
Survey of library patrons.
We conducted a survey of library patrons to determine what categories of people use the library and for what purposes. Some of the results were:
65% of the respondents were undergraduates
27% of the respondents were graduate students
56% of the respondents were in the library to write a paper, do homework, use the computers, work on a thesis, or compile research
38%
of the respondents were in the library to study
3% of the respondents
were in the library to work on a group project
54% of the respondents were affiliated with Peabody College
28%
of the respondents were affiliated with the College of Arts and Sciences
6% of the respondents
were affiliated with the School of Engineering
3% of the respondents
were affiliated with VUMC or the School of Nursing
2% of the respondents
were affiliated with the Law School
2% of the respondents were affiliated with the Owen School
5% of the respondents
indicated no affiliation
Recommendations include:
- Allocate funds to ensure that the facility maintains its attractive, clean, well-kept appearance
- Focus on marketing the library's consultation and instruction services since none of the respondents indicated that they came to the library to use them
Instruction Needs Assessment.
Leslie Boyd conducted a needs assessment to determine what library instruction programs would best serve the needs of the Peabody students. She interviewed ten faculty.
Faculty who work with undergraduate students indicated that the students need:
- To learn how to find appropriate information
- To learn the difference between practice-based, popular, and research journals
- To understand how to prevent plagiarism
- To learn software applications such as email, Word, Powerpoint, and Excel
- To use APA citation format
Faculty who work with graduate students indicated that the students need:
- To know about Interlibrary Loan
- To know how to find obscure data
- To know how to use data sets
- To learn how to stay current with the literature in their field
Recommendations include:
- Develop online tutorials and web pages for library instruction
- Market library instruction to Peabody departments
- Schedule the library liaisons to attend the 1000-level courses early in the fall to reinforce the library's presentation at freshman orientation
- Develop a generic PowerPoint presentation that highlights library services
- Conduct a needs assessment with students about their instruction and library service needs
Staff.
Congratulations to Eli Moody, who had a lead role in the Belmont Church 's Lamp Post Theatre Production of the musical "The Gifts of the Magi" this month! Here are some photos of our library "star":
Leslie Boyd, who has been the very capable Editor of the Peabody Library Columns newsletter, ceded this responsibility to Stacy Owens and Karen Swoopes for 2006.
Sharon Weiner will be a member of the Editorial Board of Tennessee Libraries in 2006.
Services.
Cindy Franco attended the Library staff meeting on December 6 to discuss how the library staff can provide support for Blackboard at Peabody.
Licensed massage therapists were at Peabody Library during exam period for chair massages.
Facility.
At the request of one of the Peabody departments, we will install a phone in Room 303. This will be used for conference calls during dissertation defenses.
We ordered whiteboards and equipment for the new group study room and for the Dunn Room.
Collection.
We received reassessment funds to purchase backfiles of the Journal of Marketing in Higher Education and the Journal of Social Service Research.
Bryan, Lee Ann, and Sharon developed a plan for short and long-term space for the collection. The government documents will be moved to the main floor and interfiled with the government documents in the Reference area. Bryan will oversee shifting of the areas of the stacks that are crowded. Lee Ann will weed the books that are classified in Dewey Decimal system (the oldest books) and send the ones that we want to keep to the Annex. The census books that are in the Reference area will be moved to the Dunn Room.
Professional Development.
"GIS Info Session," 12/2 (Swoopes)
"The Master's Degree: A Critical Transition in STEM Doctoral Education," Learning Sciences Institute Visiting Speaker Series/Minority Scholars Program, 12/6 (Weiner)
Meetings.
Heard Library Committee on Collections, 12/21 (Lannom)
Heard Library Directors, 12/12 (Weiner)
Heard Library GIS Task Force, 12/5 (Weiner)
Heard Library Research Services Committee, 12/1 (Boyd)
Peabody College Freshman Commons Committee, 12/15 (Weiner)
Peabody College HOD Coordinating Committee, 12/15 (Weiner)
Peabody Executive Committee, 12/7 (Weiner)