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Library News for the Faculty |
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Spring 2002
In This Issue
ORION2 UpdateSeveral new features have recently been added toORION2, the UCLA Library's World Wide Web-based information system, at <http://orion2.library.ucla.edu>. New Search Other New Features As the implementation of ORION2 continues, updates will appear in future issues of Library News for the Faculty. University Librarian Announces RetirementGloria Werner, university librarian at UCLA since 1990, has announced her retirement, effective June 30, 2002. Werner spent the majority of her early career at UCLA's Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library, serving in turn as reference librarian, head of reference, associate biomedical librarian for public services and biomedical librarian. She also served as assistant dean of the School of Medicine and director of the Pacific Southwest Regional Medical Library Service. Werner then made a mid-career change to serve as associate university librarian for technical services, with major administrative responsibility for the development of ORION, the UCLA Library's original online information system, and technical services functions. Werner was president of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) during and served on the initial steering committee for the ARL's Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resource Coalition. Other professional activities have included serving as editor of the Bulletin of the Medical Library Association from 1979 to 1983 and chairing the first policy committee of the national Coordination of Online Serials Program. At UCLA Werner has been actively involved in key policy groups concerned with information technology and computing. She also serves on a number of University of California systemwide groups. Chancellor Albert Carnesale has announced that a national search for Werner's successor has begun. Update on California Digital Library's Melvyl Catalog TransitionUsability testing on a prototype of the California Digital Library's replacement for the Melvyl Catalog will be taking place throughout the UC system during April, May, and June. UCLA has agreed to participate by conducting one round of user testing in April, then a second round in June. CDL plans to have the new system online during Fall 2002 and will operate it and the current system in parallel through June 2003. Updates are available online at <http://www.cdlib.org/news/transitiontimeline.html>. New Location for Arts LibraryWith the impending reconstruction of the Dickson Art Center into the Broad Art Center, the Arts Library will soon be moving to a temporary facility in the Public Policy Building formerly occupied by the Management Library and, more recently, the Law Library. The move is currently scheduled to take place immediately following the end of the spring quarter, and it is expected that the new facility will be open and fully functioning in early July 2002. More specific information on dates and any possible disruptions in access to collections and services during the period of the move will be posted on the Web site at <http://www.library.ucla.edu/news>. ORION2 Replacement UpdateData Research Associates (DRA), the company that created the software that operates ORION2, the UCLA Library's online information system, was purchased last year by Sirsi Corporation, another library technology firm. The integrated company completed analyzing its product lines late last year and decided to freeze development on the former DRA software that ORION2 uses and to migrate current users to another Sirsi software product. This market development means that the Library will need to move to a new system. However, the changeover will not take place before 2003 at the earliest because of the complexity of the decision-making and implementation processes. To understand the state-of-the-art in library information systems, the Library is taking a closer look at systems from three companies that are currently in use in many large university libraries. Library staff members are also working with a faculty group to formalize the process of selecting a new system and to structure user input into that process. Further information on the search for a new system is available on the Web site at <http://www.library.ucla.edu/otng/index.html>. Information Literacy Initiative at UCLAWhat do UCLA undergraduates have in common with historian Doris Kearns Goodwin? In a 1999 assessment of their information competency, more than one-third of the students surveyed indicated that they would not include a footnote even if they copied a whole paragraph from a publication into their term papers. Plagiarism, whether intentional or done in ignorance of ethical practices and the methods of scholarship, is only one area of concern for librarians at UCLA and, librarians hear, for faculty as well. The Information Literacy Initiative, first among priorities in the Library's strategic plan, represents the Library's commitment to work with faculty to assure that UCLA students demonstrate mastery of the information skills that are critical for success in their coursework, and their life work as well. One area of focus for the initiative is incorporating information skills that enhance learning and teaching objectives into class assignments already planned for a course, which is the most effective way for students to understand, apply, and retain such skills. Librarians are available to work with faculty to review course syllabi for inclusion of related information-building skills or to design a library-supported, one-credit curriculum integrated with the goals, lessons, and pace of a course. Such an adjunct credit curriculum would parallel the parent course, teaching students information-seeking skills directly relevant to class content and assignments. Another priority of the initiative is to work with faculty on a follow-up information competence survey of students. Ongoing, systematic assessment of the information skills of UCLA students will provide a useful picture for librarians and faculty of areas to address. Do student skills in information seeking and resource use meet faculty expectations? As students move into major and more specialized, demanding courses or seminars, are they using more sophisticated research methods and information resources? A survey that followed a group of freshmen through their academic careers at UCLA could assess changes in their abilities to identify, locate, and evaluate sources of information. During the spring quarter, faculty will be invited to meet with librarians about the Information Literacy Initiative. Faculty observations of and expectations about students' use of information will help shape the initiative's goals and agenda for the next two years. To participate in those meetings, consult about a one-credit information literacy course, learn more about the initiative, or discuss individual priorities, contact Eleanor Mitchell, director of the Information Literacy Initiative and head of the College Library, by phone at extension 63593 or by email at <emitchel@library.ucla.edu>. To read, visit Information Competence at UCLA (<http://www.library.ucla.edu/infocompetence>). Semi-Annual Loans Due for RenewalMaterials checked out on semi-annual loans and due May 1 should be renewed now. Users can renew their own materials by using the renewal feature within My Account on ORION2. Users can also renew materials by calling the telephone renewal number at 310/825-9188, by email at <yrl-circ@library.ucla.edu> (please include your library account number), or in person at any campus library. This applies to materials checked out from the Arts, East Asian, Music, and Research libraries and the Southern Regional Library Facility only. |
