Author Archives: Jefferson Harbin

Meet our new Librarian Assistant!

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JACK

Please join us in welcoming Jack Weinbender, our new Librarian Assistant, who began work with us on June 15th.

Jack is a first-year student at Emmanuel School of Religion.  He recently graduated from Johnson Bible College in Knoxville with a B.A. in Biblical Studies and a minor in Audio & Radio Production.  Following his junior year at JBC he married his high-school sweetheart— the former Tiffany Mathews—and, in his words,  “dragged her from her home in Salem, Oregon to the hills of Tennessee.”  Tiffany is enrolled in the Milligan College nursing program.

Jack hopes to earn his M.A. in Religion within the next few years, then earn a Ph.D. in order to teach.  According to Jack, he loves his “wife, the Greek langauge, J.R.R. Tolkien, Apple computers, bluegrass music, anything by Larry Hurtado or James Dunn, the X-Files, and barbeque sauce—in that order.”

He notes, “I hope to help in analyzing statistical data to aid in understanding the present state of the Library to foster an informed decision-making atmosphere.”  In addition to working with library statistics and reports, Jack will staff the library reference desk one night per week once the Fall semester begins.  He will also organize and maintain library invoicing and communication with the Business Office.

Library Director Gary Daught notes, “I am very excited by the complexion of the Library Staff. I feel like we have been able to construct something of a ‘dream team’ as I consider the skills, professional dispositions, and high level of engagement [staff] bring to the Library and its mission among the Milligan College learning community. I cannot wait for us all to get started working together. It’s going to be fun!”

Our new Information Services Librarian/College Archivist, Meredith Sommers, joined us July 13th, completing our library staff.  We’ll post a profile on her next week!

What we did on your summer vacation, Part 1

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“So, what do you, like, DO at the library all summer?” is one the most frequent questions students and faculty ask library staff as one school year ends and another begins.  I mean, it’s only reasonable to expect that library staff  play Scrabulous and Minesweeper in an empty library all summer while kindergartener-sized tumbleweeds roll past the periodicals racks.

Well, it may surprise you to learn that we do quite a bit!  Though we still have plenty of summer students, faculty and staff, and camp kids to keep us company, we still find time both to carry out our normal duties and to work on bigger projects and initiatives.  Here’s a taste of what we’ve done between graduation and today…

  • Our biggest news first…we completed our library staff by hiring two new library staff members:  Jack Weinbender, our new Library Assistant whose first day with us was June 17, and Meredith Sommers, our new Information Resources Librarian/College Archivist, who will begin  July 13.  We’ll post profiles of both of them soon on this blog so you can get to know them better!
  • Mary Jackson tagged dozens of new web resources for the library’s del.icio.us page
  • Ordered, cataloged, processed, and shelved hundreds of new books, DVDs, and CDs
  • Gary Daught, Mary Jackson, and Jeff Harbin attended BCLA Shared Catalog Committee meetings at Maryville College at the end of May
  • Jeff cleaned up and shifted photography lending shelves
  • Jeff shifted S-Z section of lending books
  • Gary presented on the peer review process to two Scholarly Communication classes in Milligan’s M.Ed. program
  • Jeff refreshed new book display with over 150 new books, not one of them published before 2008
  • Jeff attended two online Interlibrary Loan tutorials and exponentially expanded pool of potential DVD and CD lenders
  • Gary attended a webinar on WorldCat Local, and implemented Milligan’s “quick start” WorldCat Local environment
  • Readied reserve shelves for next year, removing many outdated items and adding course-relevant materials, and moved out empty shelving unit to create more space in reserves area
  • Gary closed out the fiscal year, reconstructed acquisitions fund code hierarchies, and reallocated funds in the library management system
  • Gary initiated a review of current periodical/journal subscriptions with faculty
  • Added extra shelving unit to provide more room for growing DVD collection, shifted current items and moved furniture to create more space in DVD room
  • Jeff cleaned up and organized both the circulation desk and the Interlibrary Loans area
  • Gary and Jeff wrote a grant proposal for the library’s “Librarians Bearing Gifts” faculty outreach project
  • Worked with faculty to improve our lending collection of music books
  • Gary and Jack organized receipt of and binding requests for M.Ed. theses
  • Gary and Jack eliminated backlog of periodical check-ins
  • Obtained ten additional circulating student-use laptops, bringing our total to twenty.

Whew!  And though the days of summer are quickly sifting through our fingers like so many grains of Myrtle Beach sand, the library staff has much more to accomplish in the 5 1/2 weeks (!) before the fall semester begins.  Be sure to check out Part 2 of this update as the new school year draws closer.

Photography books moved to better location

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So you’re in the library looking for photography books, and in the place they’ve always been (the creepy yet curiously well-lit downstairs dungeon), you find this:

trs-have-moved3

“What are these books?” you ask.  Pageant of the Gun?  Basket Pioneering?  The Romance of Textiles?  “Where have my precious Atget, Friedlander, and Weegee gone?”  Then, you notice the sign.  The one with the big arrow.  You walk in the direction of the arrow toward the back wall, and there you find:

new-photo-shelves3

Eureka!

Yes, we’ve moved the photography and design books (the entire TR section, actually) to new shelving units that are kinder to both the books and the people who use them.  The shelves are double-deep, so there are no books hanging off the ends of the shelves, and they’re taller, so we’re able to display more of them spine-out.  You’ll find that browsing the shelves and finding what you need is much easier than before.

We’d like to hear what you think of the new arrangement, so come on in and take a look.  And, of course, if you have questions, we’re here to help!

Academic Tutoring Sessions in the Library

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The Spring 2009 tutoring schedule has been posted to the Milligan website.  The Library is pleased to host nearly 40 regularly-scheduled sessions–all of them in the first-floor Welshimer Room (immediately to your right as you walk through the front door).

Tutoring is free, and is available to all students at all levels of understanding.  If you would like tutoring assistance, please contact your advisor, your mentor, or Traci Smith, Director of Student Success, at tjsmith (at) milligan.edu, or 423.461.8981.

NEW local alumni borrowing privileges

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Milligan Library is now providing extended library borrowing privileges to local alumni. Alumni may now borrow media—DVDs, videos, and CDs—in addition to books. These privileges extend beyond those of community patrons, who may check out books only.

Local alumni may check out DVDs, videos, and CDs for a period of three days, with one renewal per item. Both alumni and community borrowers may check out up to 20 items at one time.

In order to encourage the prompt return of items for Milligan students, faculty, and staff, we have also begun charging daily fines for overdue items on both community and alumni accounts–$0.25 per day per item, with a $5.00 maximum fine per item. The Library Handbook has been edited to reflect these changes.

We hope to see you soon!