2012 Spring Newsletter

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fROMyour LIBRARY spring 2012

description

Library and Learning Service 2012 Spring Newsletter, Marymount University

Transcript of 2012 Spring Newsletter

Page 1: 2012 Spring Newsletter

fROM your LIBRARY

spring 2012

Page 2: 2012 Spring Newsletter

Welcome .......................................... 3

Meet your Librarian ........................... 4

Little Sisters Handbook ..................... 5

Information Literacy ......................... 6

Something New ................................ 8

L&LS in Pictures .................................. 9

2807 N. Glebe RoadArlington, VA 22207

Inside the Issue

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Welcome

Library & Learning Services is constantly working toward improving our services and spaces in order to meet the needs of our patrons. In order to do this, first, we hire the best qualified faculty and staff. Our most recent hires are: Karen Stephanites, Library Circulation Evening Manager; Kathleen Brown, Library Associate; Erika Davis, Librarian; and Mariana Hodges, Library Promotions Associate. Each of these members of L&LS were carefully selected to help serve all of you.

In addition to selecting the best possible employees, we also make every effort to stay current with library trends. Two of our Librarians, Marcia Dursi and Gail Flatness, are working to develop an Information Literacy Plan that will ensure that Marymount students will be able to access and critically evaluate information. As a part of this initiative, a new space will be created on the first floor of the library to provide a comfortable, well-equipped Information Literacy Room where Librarians can provide MU students with Library Instruction sessions.

Please enjoy this newsletter. I hope it can provide some insight into some of the recent occurrences and what is still to come for Library & Learning Services.

Dear Marymount Community,

Best Regards,

Zary MostashariDean and Professor

Library and Learning Services

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Meet your Librarianby Mariana Hodges

I'm friendly, approachable and I enjoy connecting people with the information they seek. ”“

Erika Davis is our newest Reference Librarian. She joined the L&LS team in early December and we are proud to say that Erika is a great addition! As a member of the Education Services Group, she provides learning assistance by teaching research skills to the students in a variety of subjects.

Before Erika joined Marymount University, she held the position of Medical Librarian at Inova Alexandria Hospital.

With Erika’s background and experience in the medical field, she will be a valuable resource to our Health Science students. Additionally, she will also serve as the liaison to the Physical Therapy department, where she will be working with faculty and students to ensure we have the resources to support research needs.

You can find Erika at the Reference Desk or call her at (703)284-1644.

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Little Sisters Handbookby Sarah Holland

Those few months between the end of high school and the beginning of college are an exciting and frightening time. Will my roommate like me? What should I bring to wear? Where can I go on the weekends to have a good time? Who will I meet? These age old questions, now answered by Freshman orientation weekend and social networking sites, rattled the brains of your predecessors here at Marymount University just as they caused you sleepless nights before arriving to campus.

Marymount University Archives is creating an online exhibit to showcase some of these unique handbooks. These handbooks will be accompanied by images from the University Photograph Archives to highlight important events, clothing styles, campus scenes, and functions.

Before Skype, iPhones, Google Chat, and countless other ways to get in touch with your new roommate and find out what to bring to decorate your room, Marymount University published the “Little Sisters Handbooks.” These handbooks, created and distributed to incoming freshman between 1950 and the late 1970s, were a guide on what to bring

to wear, special events on and off campus, and a way to make incoming freshman feel at ease. New students weren’t just mailed a handbook, but instantly assigned a friend. Each Little Sister was assigned an upperclassman Big Sister to “show them the ropes” and be your first “college friend.”

The Handbook

Archives InitiativeLook for our announcements when the exhibit is launched and know that as your year comes to a close, finals are finished, and you get ready for summer - another generation of students is preparing for the great adventure of college at Marymount University!

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Why Information Literacy and Why Now?by Marcia Dursi

“Information literacy is a set of abilities requiring individuals to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.” American Library Association. Presidential Committee on Information Literacy. Final Report.(Chicago: American Library Association, 1989.)

Dr. Mostashari, Dean of Library & Learning Services (L&LS), has appointed two librarians, Associate Professors Gail Flatness and Marcia Dursi, to head the Library’s Infor-mation Literacy Taskforce.

Marymount University considers information literacy a university requirement and fundamental competency that will assure that students know how to locate, evaluate, and effectively use needed information when they graduate.

Information literacy is now a critical skill needed in the workplace. The ability to separate fact from fiction is in great demand.

The word is out that there is something exciting brewing in the library, and it’s not just the coffee...

“In 2008, Americans consumed information for about 1.3 trillion hours, an average of almost 12 hours per day. Consumption totaled 3.6 zettabytes and 10,845 trillion words, corresponding to 100,500 words and 34 gigabytes for an average person on an average day. A zettabyte is 10 to the 21st power bytes, a million million gigabytes.”

How Much Information? 2009 Report on American Consumers by Roger E. Bohn and James E. Short

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For more information please visit the Association of College and Research Libraries website at http://www.ala.org/acrl/ and click on the Guidelines and Standards tab on the left side of the screen. Read the Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education located at http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/standards/standards.pdf to find out how you can become information literate.

How can people possibly locate, evaluate and then use the information they need when there is so much information to sort through?

Through careful planning, Professors Flatness and Dursi will create and implement an information literacy framework for students that will help them develop the needed competencies. The framework will embed information literacy skills throughout each program and major at Marymount.

Sharing in the planning, implementation and assessment will be librarians, department chairs, teaching faculty and various other program chairs and coordinators.

Information Literacy Room made possible by Dr. Peter Gomatos that will be used for Library Instruction, located on the main floor of the Library. Construction is planned to begin summer 2012.

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Hot coffee, cool tutors — you’ll find the old standbys at the Learning Resource Center this spring. But the winds of change are blowing, so check out what’s new for us and for you!

Something (New) for Everyone

English as a Second Language

The LRC is piloting a new staff position: ESL specialist. This spring Dr. Hugh Kottler holds the post. Born in Argentina, Hugh studied in the United States and served in the U.S. foreign service. He’s taught composition at a number of universities and most recently EN 90 at Marymount, so feel free to bring him reading and writing questions. Hugh works nine hours a week, mostly Mondays and Fridays. He’s also joined the drop-in International Writing Hour in the ISS lounge on Fridays, 2-3pm. To make an appointment with him at the LRC, use our usual schedul-ing system: stop by the front desk (ground floor of the library) or call 703-284-1538.

New neighbors

With the Rowley Hall renovations scattering offices across campus, the Academic Success Center (ASC) has landed next to the LRC.

As a result, we have…

New testing roomTesting coordinator Robert Miller has moved one door down to make way for the ASC. Testing now takes place off the main LRC room. Because of space constraints, the LRC offers testing only for students with ADA accommoda-tions. For makeup tests, please make arrangements with your professor.

New opportunitiesThe Few. The Proud. The LRC. We’re hiring tutors and writing consultants for fall 2012. If you’re a strong student, good listener, and people person, fill out the application posted with Student Employment:

http://www.marymount.edu/stu-dentLife/services/studentEmploy/appProcess.aspx.

by Sylvia Whitman

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Something (New) for Everyone L&LS in Pictures

Love Books With a New Look. Valentine’s Day this year was all about e-books! Our staff and faculty answered questions about our e-book collection while handing out sweet chocolate kisses.

New additions: Two iMacs and L&LS mouse pads.

Your Library. We have so much to offer students: computer area, printing, several databases and, of course, books!

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Questions?

703.284.1649 www.marymount.edu/ academics/lls

www.facebook.com/pages/Reinsch-Library-Marymount-University/146779065389246