Midterm is upon us

   

      It hardly seems possible, but midterm is upon us. First seven weeks courses have wrapped up their finals and second seven weeks courses will soon be under way. For classes that run the full semester, this is often a time when a major project, paper, or presentation is at hand. Now might be a good time to remind your students about all of the resources the library has to assist with these assignments. It is also a time to reflect on the research process and how it is not always linear.

      Jessie Daniels at the London School of Economics and Political Science reminds us that in the 21st Century, scholarly research does not follow the logical path that it once did. She explains how an article she wrote on race and racism in the Internet began as a Tweet, became a series of blog posts, and then finally developed into the peer-reviewed article published in New Media and Society. As educators and scholars we are all familiar with each of these types of communication and understand the merits of each form. However, this is not always the case with our students. The library is here to help in that regard, and we can guide your students towards an appreciation for research and an understanding of how to develop their thoughts beyond posting on social networking sites. In reference to the quote above, imagination is powerful and it is our job at BRCC to maximize this potential in our students.

Research Skills in Action

BRCC poster presentations at the LUC conference 

Librarians Peter Klubek, Kathy Seidel and Shereen Marx represented BRCC at poster sessions during the 21^st annual LOUIS Users Conference (LUC) held on October 3-4 at the West Baton Rouge Conference Center in Port Allen.  Klubek’s poster depicted his study of “Dedicated Study Space Within the Library and the Impact on Grades,” which demonstrated that students who used the dedicated study space succeeded in passing the course at a rate 13.6 percentage points higher than the students who did not use the dedicated space.  

Peter Klubek presenting his poster at the LUC conference

The poster produced by Marx and Seidel, “Attack the Slack in the Stacks: Shelf-shifting Simplified,” showed the plan the two librarians developed to quickly move more than 60% of Magnolia Library’s circulating collection to make way for the possible construction of two new rooms within areas currently occupied by stacks.

Kathy Seidel presenting her poster at the LUC conference

Shereen Marx with her poster at the LUC conference

      LOUIS is the centralized support staff of the Louisiana Library Network, a consortium of academic libraries, state and private libraries, and museums and archives.  Located on the LSU campus, LOUIS sponsors an annual conference for its members to address their research, learning, and teaching needs. 

Research Services Available

Sample LALINC card

      Many BRCC faculty and staff may be unaware of a great benefit that is offered through Magnolia Library – a LALINC borrowing card – which gives card holders a way to borrow materials from private and public academic libraries at Louisiana colleges and universities other than their own.  In Baton Rouge alone, this makes the collections at Southern University and LSU accessible.

LALINC cards must be renewed from semester to semester, and possession of a card does not guarantee borrowing privileges from all Louisiana academic libraries. Also, policies differ from library to library.  For example, LSU requires presentation of a valid VISA or Mastercard to borrow items.

For more LALINC borrowing information or to request a card, ask your librarian at the reference desk or contact Shereen Marx at marxs@mybrcc.edu.  To obtain a LALINC borrowing card, your BRCC library account must be in good standing, with no outstanding overdue items or library fines.

More information about the Louisiana Academic Library Information Network Consortium (LALINC) can be found at the LOUIS website: here.  

Louisiana Book Festival

      The Louisiana Book Festival is opening in a few short weeks. This is a one day event, on November 2nd from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. It is sponsored by the Louisiana Center For The Book and features food, music, poetry, and of course books! It is located on the grounds of the State Capitol, Capitol Park Museum, and nearby locations. This fun festival provides an opportunity to meet authors and enjoy book related activities and presentations.

Traditionally your BRCC Magnolia librarians have participated in this event by volunteering.

Book Festival 2011
Back Row: Peter Klubek, Kathy Seidel, Brenden McAdams, Eric Stewart
Middle Row: Hunter Anthony, Lauren McAdams, Bea Gyimah
Front Row: Jenny Wong, Shereen Marx, Laddawan Kongchum, Joanie Chavis

The book festival is always looking for more volunteers. If you are interested in participating, click here to volunteer. Be sure to sign up as a group with BRCC Library.

@ your library

Students making use of the library.

      The semester is now off and rolling! We have been very busy in the library assisting students and helping them locate pertinent information for your assignments and projects. Even before the semester started we were active participants in all of the preparation activity. There was a librarian present at each of the orientations including Tiger Bridge, New Student, Dual Enrollment, Adjunct Faculty, Nursing, and VTEC. 

Lauren McAdams speaking at the Nursing Orientation.

        

      Many of you have made library assignments that have had your students tour the library, use the databases, learn about e-books, reference books, and reserve items. All of these things are great ways to increase information literacy and get your students to apply what you have been presenting in the classroom. But, did you know that there are more options available to you?

      A recent article by Hubbard and Lotts looked at information literacy and how libraries can help with the discovery and significance of primary vs. secondary sources.  The authors had students from a college success course break up into five groups. Each group was given a unique item from the library special collections. Instructions were provided, and then the students were invited to personally examine the object their group had been given. After an appropriate amount of time, each group had to present their object to the rest of the class. Each time this lesson was presented, the cultural significance of each of the objects was not readily apparent to the participants. As a result, more instruction was required of the librarians. The authors stated that with this additional instruction, the provided context of the objects took on more meaning and gave the students an experience to see history come alive.  With particular emphasis on primary sources, Hubbard and Lotts wrote that the active learning that resulted from these lessons gave students the unique opportunity to express thoughts and gain an understanding of the variety of information sources available to them.

      Librarians bring unique experiences and open new avenues to the learning in your classrooms.  Here at BRCC, Magnolia Library can assist you with this. Why not take this opportunity to meet with your subject liaison  to brainstorm and discuss possible lesson plans?  Did you know we feature an archive and three special collections (The Louisiana Collection, the Earle Collection, and the MCRC Collection)? An exercise similar to the one described here could be custom created for you and your class.

Peter Klubek at the Port Allen site.

     

      Work is progressing on the development of library services at each of the former CATC campuses. A librarian will be present at each location at least one day a week. For a complete schedule of hours of operation click here. Please note that at our Mid City campus, hours on Monday and Tuesday have been extended to 9:00 PM.

Peter Klubek addressing nursing students at Westside

    

      Students have met this new service with enthusiasm, and are looking forward to working with the librarians. Durring the introductions students asked a variety of questions, and instructors at these sites were encourged by our visits. Plans are already underway for the librarian at Jackson to visit the class for a bibliographic instruction session that will demonstrate some of the services the library offers.
         

Welcome!

Back row from left to right: Shereen Marx, Dean Joanie Chavis, Peter Klubek.

Middle row from left to right: Associate Dean Jacqueline Jones, Lauren McAdams, Jenny Wong.

Front row from left to right: Laddawan Kongchum, Kathy Seidel.

                             

Welcome! Welcome to a new semester, a new BRCC, and to this, the inaugural newsletter/blog of your Magnolia Library.  Here you will be able to find out about all the news, events and activities happening in your library. It is a collaborative effort of all the librarians and will be a great resource to not only follow what is happening in the library, but will also afford you another outlet to get involved and participate in developing the collections, resources, and programming you require in support of your courses.

This raises an interesting question: What is required of an academic library in the 21st Century? The Association of College and Research Libraries is an organization that has examined this issue, and Larry Hardesty wrote about it in 2000. Although over 10 years old, this article is still very relevant today. Hardesty outlined the worth of a college education and explained that if one of the outcomes is to be able to identify, locate, and use information as lifelong learners, access to a library and the services of librarians is critical. He explained that students need to not only know and understand how to use electronic resources, but that they must also develop a knowledge of the physical items and resources available to them. The author stressed that these resources are selected by both librarians and their instructors, and therefore offer a more in-depth perspective of the very issues discussed in classrooms. The physical library in combination with electronic material helps to paint a fuller picture and can aid in getting your students to think beyond completing an assignment and develop a more global perspective.

To this end, we need your help! Please continue to support your library and communicate with your subject area liaisons regularly (liaison list is here). If there is something we can add to your library or our services that we do not have, let us know. Remember that in addition to assistance with resources in the library we have library tours and bibliographic instruction sessions, which can be customized to your class/assignment.        

Librarians have already been busy adding new resources to serve you better. Recently we have added to the support for students with disabilities. A wheelchair-accessible study table has been made available on the second floor. The height of the table is adjustable with the push of a button and ranges from 25 to 33 inches. The table is located on the second floor of the Library, adjacent to the windows that face Government Street. Priority for use of the table is given to students in wheelchairs and other students with disabilities. In addition, the screen reading software JAWS installed at computer station 206 on the second floor is designed to make electronic resources accessible for students with visual impairments.  Please contact the library at (225) 216-8555 if you have questions about the library or its resources.

Wheelchair-accessible study table on 2nd Fl. 

                            

Librarians have also been busy preparing to meet the needs of students at our new satellite facilities by creating libraries in these spaces. Over the last two weeks visits were conducted at New Roads, Jackson, Plaquemine, Port Allen, Acadian, and Hooper Road.

 Librarians touring Airport Facility.

                                       

Librarians touring Airport Facility.

                                                                     

Librarians touring Plaquemine.

                                                    
The libraries in these spaces will not be complete before the start of the semester, but library services will be available the first week of classes.

In addition to these exciting developments, your BRCC librarians have also been representing our campus out in the community. Bernard Terrace completed a renovation prior to the start of the new school year, and Magnolia Librarians were present to assist with moving teachers back into the classroom.

 Librarian Group photo in front of Bernard Terrace elementary.

                                       

We are looking forward to another great semster and academic year!