v.5 no 4
December 2001
by Roy Gruver
During the past five years at Lehigh University there has been tremendous growth in the use of technology in the classroom to support enhanced instructional delivery. The number of Lehigh faculty who now use the Web, simulations, video projections systems, and other technologies in the classroom is greater than ever. Their need for appropriate rooms is expected to far exceed the present inventory of on-campus technology-enhanced classrooms, despite recent upgrades that have been made.
To meet this need, Information Resources submitted a 2020 Proposal for a sustained multi-year plan to improve and maintain classroom technology to enable Lehigh to keep pace both with faculty needs and the direction of other institutions. This proposal was met with great enthusiasm and was funded for the next two years at $365,000 annually. These funds will be used for acquisition, installation, on-going support, and maintenance for new classroom technology.
To determine which rooms would make appropriate candidates for new or enhanced technology, existing patterns of use were translated into future demand in consultation with the registrar, faculty, and Facilities. At any point in time some faculty will be using technology for the first time; a significant number employing relatively simple, yet effective technologies; and a considerable number pushing technology-enhanced classrooms to their limit. To accommodate this range of use a variety of technology options for the classrooms were developed. Some will be outfitted with "basic" technology (projection systems, laptop-ready podiums, network connections) and others will be high-end rooms with advanced multimedia projection systems, electronic podiums, Internet and Internet2 connections, wireless-ready rooms, and touch-screen electronic switching systems for easy-to-use technology operations.
The table below shows the schedule of work. Some projects have been
partially funded from other sources in the university as well as 2020.
| In-process | Whitaker 451 | new |
| Winter 2002 | Packard Lab 101, 258 | upgrade |
| Packard Lab 404 | upgrade | |
| Rauch 171 | upgrade | |
| Williams 301 | new | |
| Spring 2002 | Maginnes 483 | upgrade |
| Packard Lab 208 | new | |
| Rauch 141, 151, 251 | new | |
| Whitaker 303 | upgrade | |
| Summer 2002 | Chandler 230 | new |
| Iacocca 13, 23 | new | |
| Lewis 270 | upgrade | |
| Maginnes 475 | upgrade | |
| Rauch 184 | upgrade | |
| Rauch 260 | new | |
| Sinclair 106 | new | |
| Whitaker 207, 271 | new |
Friends Fund Science, Women Writers Online, Global Resources
This year, thanks to the generosity of the Friends of the Lehigh University Libraries, funding is being provided for new books in global studies and two electronic resources: Women Writers Online (WWO), and the journal Science, published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
At left Friends of the Libraries President Sharon Yoshida chats with English major Amy Burchand near the Special Collections exhibit "Women Writers Offline" in the Linderman Library Bayer Galleria.
Women Writers Online, produced by the Women Writers Project at Brown University, is a full text database of works by women from the 14th through 19th centuries. From the earliest listed work, Margaret Roper's A Devout Treatise Upon the Pater Noster (1526), up through A Legacy for Young Ladies by Anna Laetitia Barbauld (1826), this constantly growing electronic text database is a treasure trove of lesser known writing by women. The fully searchable collection is culled from original texts at 26 major research collections, including the Huntington Library, Bodleian Library, a variety of British libraries, and university libraries at Cambridge, Harvard, and Brown. English Professor Jan Fergus is using this resource this fall in her English 443 course, "Feminist Utopias". In addition Professor Scott Gordon is using WWO in his course on early modern women writers. WWO is available from the library databases Web page.
The exhibit, Women Writers Offline, features a number of works by women included in the WWO database that are also held by Special Collections. The exhibit, assembled by Curator Philip Metzger, can be viewed in the Bayer Galleria in Linderman Library from 1 pm to 5 pm weekdays.
The online version of the well-known journal Science is published by AAAS with assistance from Stanford University's HighWire Press. The new subscription enables readers to see supplemental data not available in the print version. It enhances the already extensive electronic coverage of Science for the period 1880-1996 through JSTOR, which offers a searchable electronic database containing the scanned images of the back issues of a large number of major research journals in a variety of academic disciplines. Both the new subscription and Lehigh's JSTOR edition may be accessed from the links on the library electronic journals web page. The Friends chose to support this acquisition because it is broadly representative of the fields of science and because it offers a "model" of electronic archiving. Lehigh also has print coverage of Science, extending back to 1883.
For information about Friends' membership, call 610-758-3039 or check the web site at www.lehigh.edu/ir/friends.
Lehigh's librarians have gone live with a chat reference service using software from InstantService.com. After several months in test mode, hours for the service have been expanded to 1:00 to 7:00 pm Monday through Thursday, and 1:00-5:00 pm Friday. Librarians are experimenting with conducting chats from home computers in the evening, as well as from library offices.
The service is reached from the Live Reference icon found on the Library Services, Infodome Research Advisor and Databases web pages. Users are also able to initiate a chat while they are in the midst of searching a few databases, such as Lexis-Nexis and Proquest, offered by vendors that have enabled direct links to local help. When the live service is not active, users are automatically invited to submit email queries to library staff.
The new service, based on live chat, adds a personal element in real time to digital reference services for students, faculty, and staff. Live Reference Services are designed to respond instantly to a "caller," much like popular instant messenger services. The service will appeal especially to undergraduate student users who are accustomed to chat communication and to remote users who can simultaneously conduct library database searches and seek help on one telephone line.
While advising a client about effective search strategies and appropriate databases and resources, librarians will "converse" with the caller and show web pages relevant to the caller's question. The service targets questions about library services, databases, and electronic resources, as well as advice on beginning research. Referrals for in-depth research consultations can also be made. Users are e-mailed a complete transcript of the session for further reference.
Libraries around the country are implementing real time online reference systems. High profile projects at Cornell University undergraduate libraries and the Los Angeles and Orange County public libraries kicked off the trend, but Bowling Green, Wharton, Temple, and North Carolina State soon followed suit. One website lists over 60 academic libraries that have implemented online real time reference.
A librarian writing in a recent issue of American Libraries, noted that: "In this next-generation digital reference service, librarians can talk in chat areas, demonstrate Web sites, provide useful links, and "escort" patrons through elaborate searches-the crucial pedagogical role that is the sine qua non of reference. ...You can e-mail transcripts of sessions, store information about patrons' interests, see who's in line, find out who else is on duty, refer a question to a subject expert, and display links to Web sites related to the sessions. Despite the inevitable kinks to be ironed out, it works."
Author, journalist, and Atlantic Monthly national correspondent James Fallows will speak at Lehigh University on April 11, 2002. Mr. Fallows writes on a wide variety of topics such as aviation, education, technology, the media, and politics. At Lehigh he will focus these diverse and passionate interests on recent events. Sponsored by the Friends of the Lehigh University Libraries, an evening with James Fallows will include a dessert buffet at 7 pm. The cost is $20 per person and reservations can be made by calling 610-758-3039.
James Fallows authored cover articles for the Atlantic Monthly in June and September 2001. The first story, in June, was an excerpt from his most recent book, Free Flight: From Airline Hell to a New Age of Travel, in which he advocates a new model of commercial air travel based on a decentralized system utilizing smaller, safer airplanes. The September article, featuring "The Early Acceptance Racket," argues that elite colleges exploit early acceptance to reinforce their reputations as highly selective institutions.
A native of Philadelphia and graduate of Harvard University, Fallows served as principal speechwriter for Jimmy Carter in the 1970s, published several other books, and has often been a commentator on National Public Radio. He lived for several years in Japan in the late 1980s and early 1990s, writing on Japanese business and culture, and spent 1999 at Microsoft Inc. in Seattle. He is a licensed pilot.
At the 2001Conference in Oregon, the ACM Special Interest Group for University & College Computing Services recognized IR Director Sue Cady and IR Team Leader Stacey Kimmel for the publications IR Connection and Get Connected@Lehigh respectively. These publications were awarded 2nd & 3rd place in a national competition for best computing newsletters and general reference guides.
IR welcomes new computing consultant David Morrisette. David will be serving on the Engineering and Applied Science College Team and has many years of experience with AT&T.
In October James Brown, Director of Distance Education, was invited to participate in a roundtable discussion on distance education held before the Pennsylvania State Board of Education's Council on Higher Education as part of its planning process. In November he served as a member of a National Science Foundation committee convened in Washington D.C. to explore NSF's possible role in funding master's degree programs.
IR Director Sue Cady was recently elected Vice President/President Elect of the Pennsylvania Library Association College Library Division.
At the ACM SIGUCCS 2001 Conference in Oregon, IT Consultant Grace Chiang and Team Leader Robin Deily were members of a panel discussing how IT consultants could more effectively complete projects working together as a team.
In October IR Director Tim Foley presented a poster session at EDUCAUSE 2001 on, "Implementing Wireless on Campus: A Collaboration", in collaboration with staff from the University of Delaware. He also presented and published a paper at the Syllabus 2001 Conference in July entitled "The Clipper Project Takes Off" which was co-authored with Stephen Bronack.
Gale Fritsche, Team Leader for Computing, presented a session on the perfect mobile communication device in November at Syllabus Fall 2001 in Boston.
Librarian Jenne Heise and Team Leader Stacey Kimmel published an article entitled "Being There: Tools for Online Synchronous Reference" in the November issue of Online.
IR Team Leaders Jean Johnson and Sharon Wiles-Young were invited to present Lehigh's InfoDome project to Penn State librarians at a state-wide staff development event in July. They also met with Technical Services and Collections staff at the main campus to discuss Lehigh's electronic resources selection and cataloging processes. Sharon conducted a US MARC Holdings format training session for the Pennsylvania Library Association Technical Services Roundtable meeting in September.
In October Jerry Lennon, Senior Analyst, made a presentation at PABUG (Pennsylvania Banner Users Group) in Harrisburg with Development Officer Willa Ostrosky to demonstrate the benefits of enabling staff to access Banner via Web for Development Officers. At the same meeting Phil Lawrence made a presentation on "Using Perl in the Banner Environment," and co-presented with Bob Siegfried on "Re-Occurring Entries in Banner Finance." John Early and Ron Wagner assisted Registrar Bruce Correll in demonstrating a DAR's/Banner Web for Student product interface and Randy Wambold gave a presentation on Human Resources Reports.
In June IR Director Joe Lucia was elected Chair of the SIRSI Users Group, an international organization of libraries using the SIRSI automated library system.
Librarians Kathe Morrow and Judy McNally presented a workshop in October at the Pennsylvania Library Association Annual Conference on "Electronic Resources: User Needs and Technical Challenges." Science Librarian Brian Simboli presented a poster session at the same meeting on "Use of EndNote at Lehigh University."
IT Consultant Neil Toporski and IR Director Tim Foley co-authored a paper entitled "Design Principles for Online Instruction: A New Kind Of Classroom" which was presented by Neil at the 2nd International Conference on Technology in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in June.
Help Desk Assistant Val VanBilliard presented a paper at the COLT (Council on Library/Media Technicians) Conference in San Francisco.
by Berry G. Richards, Director Emerita, Lehigh University Libraries
Jim Mack '38 was Lehigh University's 5th Director of Libraries and served Lehigh with high distinction for over a quarter of a century. Jim brought the Library into the 21st century by initiating modern concepts of library science. He improved the quality of reference services; provided more liberal access policies for both students and faculty; upgraded Linderman Library; built the Mart Science & Engineering Library; and increased the collection to half a million volumes. A loyal alumnus, he raised money for the library and for Lehigh.
Most important, Jim was a pioneer. He introduced one of the first automated circulation systems in the very early 60's. Visitors from all over the world came to Lehigh to view the libraries' automation programs. Jim had a keen interest in the then developing concept of documentation, precursor to the emerging field of information retrieval. He subsequently became editor of American Documentation and published in library and non-library sources on information retrieval.
When he drafted the program for the Mart Science & Engineering Library, Jim envisioned the facility as a model library for the Center for Information Science. Thus the library was able to offer one of the country's first information retrieval programs to its community when it opened in 1968. Lehigh was also one of the first libraries in Pennsylvania to participate in the fledgling OCLC program. As a Trustee of the Union Catalog of Pennsylvania, he was instrumental in encouraging other Pennsylvania libraries to explore these resource-sharing options.
Jim viewed the Lehigh Library as part of an international community. In the 50's, he initiated the exchange of Commonwealth Librarians. He was a very active participant in the programs of the International Association of Technological University Libraries, serving twice as President.
But Jim was also a historian and bookman. He had a great rapport with Robert B. Honeyman ('22), and it was through Jim's efforts that part of the great Honeyman collection of rare books came to Lehigh.
I was privileged to serve under Jim from 1969-1976. He was my mentor, friend, and confidant. He was quick to grasp and implement ideas, or to say, honestly, that a program was not viable. He was witty, erudite, charming. I was also honored to enjoy, frequently, the warm hospitality of Jim and Midge. They were my first friends at Lehigh. They will ever be missed.
Note: James D. Mack and his wife Helen S. Mack passed away this fall.