Category Archives: Collections

New “Life” for the Library News blog

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Welcome to Milligan Library Life, the new name for the Milligan College Library blog. The name change is the result of a decision to differentiate the way we use various communication and social networking media in the Library.

In addition to a website, the Library maintains a Facebook page, a Twitter feed, targeted email, and this WordPress blog. Up to now, we have tended to view these various mediums as multiple ways of getting a single message out to our user community–namely, letting you know what’s happening in the Library. The more channels of communication we utilize, the greater our exposure. Right?

This is true to a point. But as we live with these online mediums we realize that maybe we have more than one message to share–or at least, we may have more than one way to share our message. Now that Facebook has become nearly ubiquitous in the Milligan College community (as it has practically everywhere else), we have decided to push most of the Library’s news and event-type posts in that direction. We have also found it convenient to utilize Twitter as a quick way to post schedule and informational alerts to Facebook and the Twitter widget on our website home page.

What do we do with the blog? The blog format is not really appropriate for short bursts of news information. We discovered that what looks perfectly appropriate on the Facebook wall appears as a cluttered mess in a blog. The blog format lends itself to longer form articles–and invites reading at a more engaged and leisurely pace.

Of course it takes more time to write in a form that invites reading at a leisurely pace. Do we have the time? Do we have anything worth saying using this format? Would anyone be interested in reading it?

These are legitimate questions. But rather than give up on the blog I encouraged the Library staff to experiment with me with this other form of communication in the way it works best. Enter Milligan Library Life. We are fairly competent and interesting folk who make it our business to stay informed about the rapidly evolving information environment impacting all our lives. I think it would be valuable to have us report and reflect periodically on such things as trends in library and information resource technologies, copyright and intellectual property issues, concerns about online freedom and privacy, etc. We could also tell you about developments in the Library or Archives, offer tutorials for using information resources more effectively, tell you about new books and media added to the Library, or review an interesting book we read or a movie we watched.

So here we go. We won’t have any set publication schedule, but we would hope to have at least one or two new posts per week. I will be functioning as the editor, with other Library staff participating as contributing editors, writing on items of interest from their particular areas of expertise. If you are inclined, we would also welcome your comments as a way of generating a conversation. I think it will be fun!

Gary F. Daught, Director of Library Services

Photography books find new home

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Many of you know that the first floor of the library has reopened–if not, stop by the library and take a look, or check out the photos on our Milligan College Library Facebook page.

In addition to our DVD and VHS collections, the new space now boasts one more circulating collection than it did last week.  We’ve moved our photography lending books (in fact, the entire TR section!) into tall, wide wooden double shelves between the two entrances.  These shelves allow us to display every book spine-out, which makes for much easier browsing and nicer presentation.  We hope you appreciate the difference!

Come on in and take a look, and as always, let us know if you have any questions.

TWO new articles featuring Milligan College Library!

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The May 1 issue of Library Journal features an article by Barbara Fister on the future of academic libraries entitled “Academic libraries, a view from the administration building.”  The article features input from  Mark Matson, Milligan’s Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean, who is an enthusiastic supporter of our library and its approach to information literacy  and the digital environment.  From the article:

“When asked about how their libraries support teaching and learning, administrators seemed knowledgeable about the library’s role. ‘There is a total focus on information literacy—in classes, helping faculty, teaching students,’ according to Mark Matson, VP for academic affairs at Milligan College in northeastern Tennessee. ‘This focus has had a radical change across campus. And the use of our library has simply skyrocketed the last three years.'”

“While I agree that over time print collections might decrease, […] the digital collections will continue to increase at phenomenal rates. And with this shift, the role of librarians to help other patrons negotiate this world will be critical. In fact, I see skilled modern librarians as being even more important in the future, provided they are partners with faculty in designing courses.”

The article is an excellent read, and anyone concerned about the future of academic libraries should take a look!

The Milligan College Library in general, and our Million Pennies Campaign in particular, is also the subject of an editorial entitled “Wii don’t need no education” in the Milligan Stampede, the college’s student newspaper.  Check out the article and let us know what you think.

And of course, keep those pennies coming!

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!