In March Library and Technology Services will be conducting a web-based survey of all faculty, staff, and students. This survey is designed to assess important aspects of the Lehigh University libraries such as print and electronic collections, facilities, service, and convenience. It is approximately 25 questions long and takes an average of 13 minutes to complete. All responses are completely confidential.
The survey will allow LTS to compare service performance with user expectations and to make broad comparisons with other academic libraries since more than 220 academic institutions have conducted the same survey in recent years and an additional 312 institutions plan to do so this spring. Traditionally libraries have evaluated their performance mainly by counting volumes, transactions, and expenditures; LibQUAL is oriented to more direct measures of user satisfaction. Results will be available sometime during the fall 2003 semester.
Known as "LibQUAL+", the survey has been developed over a period of three years by the Association of Research Libraries and the Texas A&M Library. Their efforts have been supported by two grants, one from U.S. Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE) and another from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
LibQUAL+ derives from a more general survey instrument called SERVQUAL used by many large service corporations. Jim Maskulka, Professor of Marketing in the College of Business and Economics and Chair of the Library Users Committee, noted that "This approach to service quality assessment is well recognized and validated nationally; one of my Ph.D. students wrote her dissertation on the use of SERVQUAL to measure the quality of medical services to hispanics in the United States."
Lehigh faculty were surveyed in November 2002 on a very different
topic: their use of web resources and library materials in instruction.
Librarians can more effectively support faculty in instruction with
current information on the nature of assignments, how students make use
of electronic resources, and other use of resources by faculty. Results
are still being analyzed and will be shared with campus faculty groups.
Technology Classrooms and Wireless Access Expand
With the opening of a renovated Coppee Hall as the home of the Journalism and Communication Department, two new technology enhanced classrooms, 101 and 105, and one new 21-seat semi-public computer classroom, 103, are available to the campus. These three classrooms will be maintained by Library and Technology Services. Wireless access will be added to the building in the near future.
Other classrooms in Drown Hall (210), Maginnes Hall (475, 480), and Mohler Laboratory (444, 451, 453) were upgraded over the semester break. These rooms either had AV presentation systems installed for the first time or had computers installed. These projects are funded by the Provost's 2020 Classroom Technology effort.
Over the semester break, the network hubs were replaced with network
switches in five residence halls: Centennial I, Dravo, Drinker,
M&M, and Richards. Funded through the student technology fee, this
will improve connectivity throughout the buildings and will enable
wireless LAN access in all common areas of these halls by fall 2003.
Wireless LAN service was also installed in Campus Square buildings over
the break.
Recent Gifts Enhance Library Collections
Several groups and individuals have recently made important donations to the Lehigh Libraries. This year the Friends of the Lehigh University Libraries have contributed money for the purchase of one new digital resource, the JSTOR Language and Literature Collection, and one continuing print resource, the Juvenile Literature Collection used primarily by the College of Education's teacher education program.
The new JSTOR Language & Literature Collection contains a total of 47 journals, adding nearly 1.4 million new pages to the overall JSTOR archive. A special web page has been created by JSTOR with information specifically for this collection: http://www.jstor.org/about/langlit_release.html . This page includes links to a detailed list of Language & Literature Collection journals with title histories and handouts. As with other electronic journals, these titles are integrated into ASA, Lehigh's online catalog, and thus may be accessed either through the online catalog or the JSTOR listing under e-journals by publisher.
The new books in the Juvenile Collection funded by the Friends relate to the teaching of Social Studies such as selections from "Notable Social Studies Books for Young People," a list compiled annually by the National Council for the Social Studies and the Children's Book Council. These titles expand library offerings for preschool to high school readers in non-fiction treatment of history, global issues, citizenship, science, technology & society, culture, government and social relations. Biographies in the series include Harriet Quimby, the first woman to fly solo across the English Channel, and the composer Handel.
In November during one of their periodic prayer breakfasts on campus, the Lehigh Christian Alumni Association, headed by Richard Earl '79, presented Bruce Taggart, Vice Provost for Library and Technology Services, and Philip Metzger, Curator of Special Collections, with five books written during the last half of the 19th century by Episcopal Bishop William Bacon Stevens. Stevens was one of Lehigh University's founders and an advisor to Asa Packer. Metzger noted that these titles had not previously been part of Lehigh's collection and complemented other works by Bishop Stevens' in the Lehigh Authors Collection.
In addition, this past fall further donations from Rodale Press were received to enhance the Leisure Reading section in Linderman Library.
Over the last three years members of the Lehigh University community
have provided cash gifts for the purchase of books for the Lehigh
Libraries. These have included books to mark retirements, to celebrate
the birth of children or grandchildren, to memorialize deceased members
of the Lehigh community, to express appreciation for library service
and collections, and as a way to utilize awards. The Friends of the
Libraries Bookmark program provides a structure for making these
donations, including suitable bookplates. More information is available
by calling 610-758-3039 or on the web at: www.lehigh.edu/lts/admin/friends/bookmark.html.
Cybertools Scheduled for May 20-24
by Dina Wills
The third annual “summer” opportunity to improve teaching with technology skills (now known as the Cybertools Symposium) will have as its theme “Going Online Real Time: Learning with Synchronous Tools.” All programs are open to LVAIC faculty and instructional technologists. The opening day (May 20th) will feature faculty presentations on the theme, a keynote speaker, and a panel discussion. A call for proposals for this portion of the event has been sent to all LVAIC faculty and instructional technologists.
The remaining three days offer two options. The first is an
“Institute” devoted to intensive work on a collaborative project that
instructional designers and faculty develop together using tools like
Centra or Horizon Live. The second is a sequence of sessions on a
variety of topics related to using technology in teaching effectively.
For more information, check the web site at www.lehigh.edu/cybertools.
Torrents, Tunnels, Turbines, Technocrats, Trips
"Torrents, Tunnels, Turbines, Technocrats, and Trips to the Moon: An Historic Look at Niagara's Natural and Engineering Wonders Powering the 20th Century" is the title of an added 125th Anniversary event scheduled for Tuesday, March 25th. It is co-sponsored by LTS and the Science, Technology Society program at Lehigh. The talk will take place in Room 200 of Linderman Library at 4:00 pm. Presented by University of Buffalo Librarian Judith Adams-Volpe, the talk provides context for the novel City of Light by Lauren Belfer, the selection for the "On the Same Page Lehigh" reading program. (See www.lehigh.edu/samepage for details.)
When the waters of four Great Lakes were harnessed to produce electrical power at the turn of the 20th century, the world was transformed. The wonders of Niagara created the "City of Light" in Buffalo and still power your computers and light up your life in Bethlehem, Pa. in 2003. This presentation will illuminate the massive civil and electrical engineering feats that inspire the novel, City of Light; view the miraculous manifestations of electricity at the 1901 Pan American Exposition (from nurturing tiny tots to `trips to the moon'); and consider the social and economic impacts of the emergence and eventual demise of inexpensive electric power on Buffalo and the Niagara region over a century. Graphics will portray the sublime power of Niagara then and now, document the historic engineering projects, as well as bring alive the novel's Buffalo scenes and locales.
Judith Adams-Volpe is a librarian and full professor at the University at Buffalo. She is author of The American Amusement Park Industry: A History of Technology and Thrills, articles on electricity at world expositions, and other publications addressing technology and society issues. She became engaged in the STS field through the Humanities Perspectives on Technology Program while a librarian at Lehigh University in 1974-79. She holds an M.A. in English from Lehigh, and an M.L.S. from Syracuse University.
Frances Mayes to Speak February 26th
Frances Mayes, author of three best-selling books about Italy, will speak on the Lehigh University campus on February 26th 2003. Under the Tuscan Sun, written by Mayes, remained on the New York Times bestseller list for over two years. It was followed by the memoir, Bella Tuscany, also an international best seller. Most recently Mayes published a novel, Swan, set in Georgia. Mayes will speak at 8 pm in Packard Auditorium and will autograph books at the end of her talk.
The Treasure Room Exhibit Features Lehigh "Jewels"
In the first decade after Linderman Library was built, Lehigh University acquired rare books actively, utilizing a special endowment provided by Asa Packer at the same time he donated funds for the building. As part of the celebration of the 125th anniversary of Linderman, many of these "jewels" from those early days are on exhibit in the Bayer Galleria in Linderman, 3rd floor west.
The exhibit includes books notable for their art such as a fifteenth century illuminated manuscript, hand colored early maps, and the first volume of the James Audubon Birds of America elephant folio opened to the mocking bird and snake drawing. Important texts in the history of scientific and world discovery are displayed: Captain Cook's Voyages (1773), Ptolemy's Cosmographia (1475), and Copernicus' De Revolutionibus Orbium (1543). William Shakespeare's First Folio (1623) is exhibited as well as several significant works of Americana: the Laws of Pennsylvania printed by Benjamin Franklin (1742), and Thomas McKinney and James Hall's beautifully illustrated History of the Indian Tribes of North American (1838-1844).
The Special Collections Flyer included with this newsletter describes in more detail various facets of these "jewels" such as their historic significance and most notable attributes. The Bayer Galleria is open from 1 - 5 pm Monday through Friday. Please feel free to make an appointment by calling 610-758-4506, if these times are not convenient.