January 2013 Archives
The 2013 VCU Cabell First Novelist Award contest is underway! Help to select the finalists by checking out one of the books on the shelf next to the Circulation Desk in James Branch Cabell Library and returning a completed review form by March 30. New contest books flooded in during January. The Department of English, which administers the annual contest, reports a record number of entries--127. That's a lot of reading and reviewing before the winner is selected.
FEBRUARY HIGHLIGHTS
For the annual Black History Month lecture Feb. 5, Peter Neufeld, co-director of the Innocence Project, took the stage with Marvin Anderson, who was exonerated of wrongful conviction after serving 15 years in prison. Anderson, an Innocence Project Board member, and Neufeld explored the relationship between race and wrongful conviction. The 11th annual VCU Libraries Black History Month Lecture was sponsored by the VCU Friends of the Library and the Francis M. Foster African-American History Endowment Fund.
JANUARY HIGHLIGHTS
- University Librarian John E. Ulmschneider appeared Jan. 10 on WLEE's "Jack Gravely Show." He discussed VCU's hardworking students and how VCU Libraries serves them. Interview with John Ulmschineder.mp3
- VCU Libraries Moves to the Cloud, in University News http://newsletter.news.vcu.edu/newsletters/transfers-thrive-on-campus-vcu-libraries-joins-the-cloud-and-more-in-vcu-news-weekly/
- VCU is among the first major research institutions to develop a cloud-based
library platform. Today leaders in the library field, from across the
country, will dive into a discussion on how the emerging cloud-based
technologies are transforming research libraries. John Ogle interviews VCU Libraries Senior Associate Librarian John Duke, who led the technical team and talks about innovations with modern academic libraries with WCVE-FM's John Ogle. http://ideastations.org/radio/
archive/2013-01-09-vcu- libraries-hosting-high-tech- conference - January 2013 Richmond Magazine article about St. Philip School of Nursing, which operated from 1920 to 1962, features photographs and reference to Special Collections and Archives at Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences.
As one
of the first major research universities to launch a pioneering new cloud-resident
enterprise library platform, Virginia Commonwealth University hosted a Jan. 9 session designed to help other libraries around the world prepare
for the next generation of library technologies. VCU
Libraries went live in the fall semester with Alma, cloud-resident
enterprise library software from Ex Libris Inc
"Libraries have always been on the cutting edge of technology," said University Librarian John E. Ulmschneider. "Emerging cloud technologies are building blocks for the research libraries of the future--more accessible, scalable, secure and content-rich than ever to advance scholarly endeavor."
At the Jan. 9 event, industry leaders discussed how emerging cloud-based technologies are transforming research libraries.
VCU Libraries will open Friday on a delayed schedule due to icy road conditions in metro Richmond.
James Branch Cabell Library plans to open at 9:30 a.m. Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences plans to open at 10 a.m.
James Branch Cabell Library will close at 11 p.m. Thursday night. The plan is to reopen at 9:30 a.m. Friday morning unless VCU closes or adjusts hours.
Please continue to check VCU Alert website for information as the weather situation changes.
Please continue to check VCU Alert website for information as the weather situation changes.
James Branch Cabell Library will be open its regular 24-hour schedule Monday, Jan. 21. Most departments will be closed in honor of the national holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr.
Research questions sent by email to library@vcu.edu or left on the voicemail line 828-1110 will be answered as early in the day as possible Tuesday, Jan. 22, and Chat and Text services will operate as usual 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday.
Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences on the MCV Campus will be closed Jan. 20-21.
Research questions sent by email to library@vcu.edu or left on the voicemail line 828-1110 will be answered as early in the day as possible Tuesday, Jan. 22, and Chat and Text services will operate as usual 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday.
Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences on the MCV Campus will be closed Jan. 20-21.
Students and faculty can invest a few minutes on a tour of Cabell Library to save time later in
the semester.
Cabell Library tours meet inside the first-floor main entrance, begin promptly and last approximately 30 minutes. Participants will learn more about the facility, collections and resources, as well as how library services and staff can assist visitors in completing their assignments. No registration required.
Cabell Library tours meet inside the first-floor main entrance, begin promptly and last approximately 30 minutes. Participants will learn more about the facility, collections and resources, as well as how library services and staff can assist visitors in completing their assignments. No registration required.
Thursday, Jan. 17, 2 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 18, 11 a.m.
Friday, Jan. 18, 1 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 22, 3:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Jan. 23, noon
Wednesday, Jan. 23, 4 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 24, 3:30 p.m.
For more information about these tours and other VCU Libraries events and workshops, visit the events page.
International students can receive special library tours and research workshops designed for them this spring. Language challenges and cultural differences can present barriers to academic success for some international students. Libraries in their home nations may be vastly different from academic libraries in the United States.
- Tours of James Branch Cabell Library: Jan. 16, 4 p.m. and Jan. 22, 5 p.m.
- Introduction to Research: Feb. 6, 7 p.m.
- Finding Information in the Library I: Feb. 25, 5 p.m.
- Finding Information in the Library II: March 19, 6 p.m.
These workshops are a partnership between VCU Libraries and the Global Education Office. No registration is necessary. Workshops and tours are free and open to all.
For a detailed description of the workshops and additional helpful information, including foreign language dictionaries, see VCU Libraries' International Students Guide.
Building on its history of improving services through assessment of users' expressed needs and preferences, VCU Libraries will conduct such a survey in 2013. A full report on the 2011 survey is now available online. Many improvements have been made based on that data.
"It is a best practice for libraries to seek opinions of their users by tools
including surveys and focus groups," said Michael Rawls, budget and assessment director for VCU Libraries. The trademarked LibQUAL survey, developed by the Association of Research
Libraries and Texas A & M University, is used by many top research
libraries. "It's the gold standard," said Rawls.
VCU Libraries uses LibQUAL-gathered information to assess and improve operations and collections. In the 2011 survey, students and faculty from all
disciplines rated the customer service and professional knowledge of
librarians highly. Perceptions of facilities and spaces improved
significantly from the previous survey period. Heightened satisfaction can be largely attributed to improvements to the second floor of James Branch Cabell Library.
In the 2011 report:
- Patrons continued to think the facilities are crowded and sometimes noisy and insufficient to meet their study or research needs.
- Graduate students and faculty, groups who care most about the depth and breadth of collections, reported that adequacy of the collections have improved since 2008. But, faculty still see much room for improvement.
- Accessibility of information remained an issue for users in varied disciplines.
- The Web site was perceived by some users as difficult to navigate for finding information on their own.
VCU Libraries staff worked intensively to improve services, collections and spaces based on 2011 data. Highlights include:
- Design work is well underway to construct a new library building on the Monroe Park campus.
- Hours the libraries are open have been expanded on both campuses.
- Substantive renovations at libraries on both MCV and Monroe Park campuses created additional user space with improved furnishings and study conditions.
- A new one-button search function was introduced in 2012 to expedite online discovery of library materials.
- Alma, new technical infrastructure, was adopted in 2012 to add speed and efficiencies.
- Collections in all formats were expanded.
- A task force is working on a redesign of an improved Web site to launch in 2013.
The 2013 LibQUAL survey will be conducted online during the spring semester.
In January 1917,
the institution that became Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Social Work was founded by a small
group of Richmond citizens interested in improving the social conditions of Virginia's
urban and rural poor. Their efforts led to a training school for social workers,
the first of its kind in the South.
VCU's School of Social Work is celebrating its 95 years of service
during the 2012-2013 school year. An
exhibit on the history of the school is on display at James Branch Cabell Library. The fourth floor exhibit shows rare materials from Special Collections and
Archives.
To learn more about the founding of the school, see "History of the Richmond Professional Institute:
From Its Beginning in 1917 to Its Consolidation With the Medical
College of Virginia in 1968 to Form Virginia Commonwealth University" by Henry H. Hibbs Jr. (1887-1977), long-time leader of Richmond Professional Institute (RPI).
(The photograph: First class of the School of Social Work and Public Health pose with Dr. Henry H. Hibbs Jr. in front of the monument to Dr. Hunter H. McGuire, former professor of surgery at the Medical College of Virginia.)
