2013 Annual Report - Bethel University

A Day in the
Bethel University Library
2013 Annual Report
Table of Contents
A Letter from the Director
Letter from the Director........................................................................................................3
January 2014
5:15 am : Who’s using the Library at 5:00 in the morning?.................................................4
Dear Friends,
9:00 am : What can you do via Chat, Email, Phone or even in person?...............................6
I’m enthused to share with you this report from the Bethel University Library. It’s been an
illuminating process to work along with others in gathering the information we needed for this
report, and to consider how best to present it.
10:15 am : Where do English majors, social work faculty, and biology
researchers come together?.................................................................................8
11:45 am : Do you prefer an iPad or Kindle?.....................................................................10
12:13 pm : What’s happening at 1619 Dayton Ave. in St. Paul?........................................12
The Library in Pictures...................................................................................................... 14
2:30 pm : What does Mango juice have to do with learning Chinese?
Stewardship! ......................................................................................................16
1:00 pm : How does the BU Library help build bridges with alumni?..............................18
4:45 pm : “Uncommon Service”? In the “Information Commons”?................................. 20
6:30 pm : How do CAPS Nursing students survive their first research
assignment?........................................................................................................ 22
9:30 pm : Do you have a table for four?............................................................................ 24
The Library by the Numbers...............................................................................................26
The objective is very simple: to convey as vividly as possible not only a statistical description
of what the library does (how many items checked out, how many visitors, how many new
databases added, etc.) but especially to capture something of the life and the energy of the
library, through this panoramic view of how we serve and who we serve.
To fulfill this objective, we’ve adopted a “day-in-the-life” format, which is the best way we
could think of to map out the constant cycle of services and encounters that characterizes
our library. You will also notice that in the upper right-hand corner of each page the heading
“Values and Priorities” appears. We have included this in order to highlight the Values and
Priorities affirmed for the entire university by Bethel’s strategic plan (2010): the library’s
mission and commitments are consciously shaped by those of the community as a whole.
I’m confident that you will find this report vivid and enlightening, and that it will pique your
curiosity about Bethel’s library resources and services. Of course (we’re a library, after all)
your questions are most welcome.
With thanks and best wishes,
David R. Stewart
Director of Libraries
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5:15 am
Who’s using the BU Library at 5:00 in the morning?
At her home in Rapid City, South
Dakota, Doctor of Education (Ed.D)
student and middle school teacher,
Samantha Smith, is working on
a research assignment before her
children wake up.
Rhonda Gilbraith, Reference
Librarian, has shown Samantha how
to take full advantage of electronic
library resources to do her research
remotely. Samantha uses Bethel’s
access to the ERIC database to read
educational research, and she uses
a service called Interlibrary Loan
to request copies of dissertations
written by graduate students
at Texas Christian University
and George Washington
University. She has a question about
one of the education journals,
and decides to send an email
to the library staff to see if
they can help her locate it.
When a reference librarian
comes on duty, he will be
able to respond to Samantha’s
email.
Off-Campus Access to
Library Resources
Extending Bethel’s Reach
Interlibrary Loan:
BU Library looks beyond its own walls to help connect our
students, staff, and faculty with the information they need.
Through our Interlibrary Loan department, the library provided
the following service in FY13:
• BU Library borrowed 6,256 books and articles from
libraries across the country on behalf of Bethel users
through interlibrary loan.
• BU Library loaned 2,340 books and articles to users at
other universities.
• Though it is provided free of charge to students, the BU
Library incurs approximately $30,000 in costs every year
due to the copyright and delivery charges associated with
Interlibrary Loan.
Ed.D Outreach
Last July, Ed.D students were on campus for their “summer
intensives,” the only occasion some of these students visit
campus. During that week, Rhonda provided 7 group instruction
sessions to the Ed.D students, all sessions ranging from 1-2 hours.
She met with 12 students for individual research consultations, ranging from 30 to
60 minutes. In total, Rhonda provided 20 hours worth of library instruction in a
little over a week’s time.
Use the library from your home
office. Off –campus access to
materials and services is
especially important for
our adult and distance
students who might have
trouble getting to campus.
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Chat, Email, and Phone:
27%
of all questions at the Reference
Desk come from off-campus users.
These users contact us by phone, email and
chat without having to visit the physical library
to receive our help.
Databases: Always On
Electronic databases that help students find research articles are
one of our most valuable resources.
These databases are available online at all hours, enabling research from anywhere at any time.
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9:00 am
What can you do via Chat, Email, Phone or even
in person?
Michael Mitchell, Reference Librarian, begins
his shift at the Reference Desk by answering a
question sent via email from a graduate student
wondering how to access full-text education journal
articles online. While he is responding to the
email, the phone rings with a call from a CAPS
student asking how to cite a book chapter in APA
citation style.
Shortly thereafter, Michael answers a question
sent via chat by a faculty member about using
RefWorks. Just as he is finishing the chat, a
Who asked the questions
during FY13?
panicked undergraduate student comes to the desk
asking for assistance with finding journal articles
and books for her paper on the impact of the
Industrial Revolution on women.
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Learners
Scholarship
Educational excellence
Retention
Life-long learning
How were the
questions asked?
Each Reference Librarian serves as a
liaison to multiple University departments/ programs
The Reference Desk
is staffed
hours per week
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“BU Library Rocks!”
“I can’t emphasize enough how helpful the Library was to me as I went through my
grad program. If it weren’t for the reference librarian service... I don’t know how I
would’ve ever been able to figure out how to do my first papers as a middle-aged grad
student whose last college experience involved typewriters and carbon paper... ”
—Laurie Sansom
Graduate School Alumna
Glossary:
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APA: Citation style developed by the American
Psychological Association and used by the majority of
BU’s departments/programs
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Full-text: The entire article is available for viewing/
downloading in an online index/database to which the
Bethel Libraries subscribe
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RefWorks: Program that helps individuals manage their
citations while conducting research
How are questions
answered when the
Reference Desk is not
being staffed?
Library users can submit their
questions to AskMN, a virtual
reference service staffed by
librarians all over the world, in
which the BU Library Reference
Librarians participate
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10:15 am
Where do English majors, social work faculty and biology
researchers come together?
2013 COMAP Mathematical Modeling winners
Assistant Professor Nathan Gossett and students Michael
Tetzlaff, Tony Burand, and Jake Smith are checking their
PowerPoint and mics. Students, faculty, and staff filter
in, grab some coffee and find a comfortable seat in the
fireplace lounge to hear about 96 Hours to the Perfect
Brownie Pan: Bethel’s Winning Math Modeling Team
during a Primetime presentation.
More students stop by to listen while on
their way to the printer. After 25 minutes of the
Does it make a difference?
“What I love about giving presentations
here in the Library: it’s a very comfortable
setting with everybody around the fireplace,
able to have good conversations…[it has]
been very productive about where to take the
project next.”
—Sara Shady
Assoc. Professor of Philosphy
presentation, there are a lot of questions: “Were you
able to verify your results?” “Did I understand this
correctly?” “How did your team prepare for such a
demanding competition?” Some folks linger to go
deeper with a question, while others browse related
materials displayed on the fireplace.
60%
of students
surveyed said the Library had
been instrumental in developing
an interest in learning beyond
course work.
Assessment Day Participants
2007 - 1,152; 2012 - 573
Primetime, Sponsored by Friends of the BU Library,
in collaboration with several departments on campus, is
a scenario that plays out most Tuesdays and Thursdays.
It provides the quintessential experience of a learning
community.
Whether it’s Black History Month poetry, a student
describing the profound effect of study in the Middle
East on his life and faith, or a discussion about the
importance of academic blogging, life-long learning
beyond the curriculum is modeled and practiced.
Most presentations are available publicly on the web
from the BU Digital Library, making this an opportunity
for Bethel to shine.
In addition to Primetime, Friends of the Library
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sponsor Forums on current issues, (such as“The
Affordable Care Act: Content & Perspectives”),
a Scholarship for a BU Library student worker; a
CAS Student Library Research Prize; and provide
supplemental funds for collections such as Travel,
Spiritual Life, Current Fiction, Cooking, Gardening,
Audiobooks, and DVDs of feature films.
Prime Time 2010-2013
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10 Offices & Organizations
22 Academic Departments
138 Presentations
4,425 Guests
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Learning
Diversity
Reach & Reputation
Life-long learning
Delighted with the
partnership the Library has
with Academic Affairs …as
part of Edgren Scholars and
Faculty Excellence Award
winners.. It’s much more of
a community event, which
is a high value at Bethel.... I
do have the sense that this encourages life-long learners,
because it’s often people coming together to learn about
topics that are dramatically outside of their discipline. I
hope it’s a model for students as well.
—Deb Harless
University Provost
I’d say one of the very special
opportunities that the library has
to offer during the Primetime
presentations is because it is open
to not just faculty and staff. I think
it gives us an extra opportunity to
engage with students about these
conversations (Sankofa).
There have been several students who were introduced
to the program itself by attending the Primetime library
event and the following year went on the trip and had their
own experience, and some of them even came back to share
those experiences as well.
—Edwin Gonzalez Class of 2013
I think that it’s
one of the few,
probably the one
exception, where we
can come together
around issues that each other are working
on. We need such places to share ideas.
—Sandie McNeel
Adjunct Professor of
Organizational Leadership
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11:45 am
Do you prefer an iPad or Kindle?
Professor Wrobel is excited because she has just
received an email from Amy Reinhold, Material
Services Librarian, informing her that the DVD she
requested, A Justice that Heals, is now available
for her to use in her Orientation to College
Studies class for a unit on reconciliation. Dr.
Wrobel comes to the BU Library’s Check Out
Desk to pick up the DVD. Standing behind
What Faculty, Staff, and
Students Check Out
Professor Wrobel is a student needing to check out a
flip camera. He is student teaching this semester and
needs a videocamera to complete a comprehensive
assessment.
Items in the BU Library
Collection
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Learners
Strengthen human and
financial resources
Library’s Top 5 Circulated Items:
Books:
Ethnicity and Family Therapy / edited by Monica McGoldrick,
Joe Giordano, John K. Pearce.
The Climax of the Covenant / N.T. Wright.
The Cry for Myth / Rollo May.
Created in God’s Image / by Anthony A. Hoekema.
Readings in Rhetorical Criticism / edited by Carl R. Burgchardt
DVDs:
Equipment:
LutherTripod
Little Miss Sunshine
Headphones
Saved!LCD Projector
Amazing Grace
Macbook power supply
Pan’s Labyrinth
Mini DVI to VGA Dongle
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Did you know?
The Bethel Student Association has donated over $1,500
for feature film purchases since 2011.
The BU Library has a Great Courses collection with over
100 courses on art, history, philosophy, etc. to continue
lifelong learning.
Since 1999 the Friends of the Library has raised $91,670
to enhance the quality of library collections, facilities and
services.
IPads, Dongles, and
Cameras, Oh My!
The BU Library provides a onestop place to check out various
equipment for class and personal
use. Funds and input provided by
academic departments allows the
BU Library to house a variety of
equipment including flip-cameras,
projectors, and laptops.
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12:13 pm
What’s happening at 1619 Dayton Ave. in St. Paul?
Earleen Warner, Reference Librarian, heads to the
Cooperating Libraries in Consortium (CLIC) office
to meet with colleagues from other Twin Cities
private colleges and universities to discuss nextgeneration library systems. The goal is to have a new
library system that meets the needs of 21st century
users. This multi-library taskforce has met regularly
over the past year to evaluate library system
vendors, receive input from the CLIC community,
and plan demonstrations for selected vendors.
The taskforce will make a recommendation to the
CLIC Board in August 2013 and implementation
will begin January 2014.
Cooperating Libraries in
Consortium
14 BU Library staff participate in 17 various CLIC
committees and/or task forces ranging from Digitization,
Reference, and Cataloging, to Student Employee, System
Administrators, and Collection Development.
CLIC provides professional development opportunities; the
focus for this fiscal year is assessment. Last year’s focus was
on improving teaching and learning.
As a member library of OCLC,
Bethel partners with over
25,000 libraries to improve
access to information held in
libraries worldwide.
Minitex is a publicly supported network of
academic, public, state government, and special
libraries working cooperatively to improve library
service for their users in Minnesota, North Dakota
and South Dakota.
ELM helps support the Bethel community by
providing over 60 research and information databases
such as Academic Search Premier, Expanded Academic
ASAP, and ProQuest Newsstand.
Partnerships through CLIC and
MINITEX help Bethel strengthen financial
resources by sharing the costs of major expenses
like the online catalog, research
databases, and lending collections.
Professional development
opportunities strengthen staff
resources by staying on top of
latest library developments and
trends.
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Learners
Extend reach and reputation
Strengthen human and financial
resources
CLIC Member Libraries:
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Augsburg College
Bethel University
Concordia University
Hamline University
Macalester College
University of Northwestern
St. Catherine University
University of St. Thomas
AskMN is a live
interactive chat service
that allows anyone to
converse with a librarian
in real time. A librarian is
available 24/7 to answer
questions and direct you
to various websites if
needed. There are 30
participating libraries,
with BU Library joining
in FY12.
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The Library in Pictures
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2:30 pm
What does mango juice have to do with learning Chinese?
Stewardship!
How do BU Library Staff Enhance Bethel’s
Reach & Reputation and Contribute to
Academic Excellence & Governance?
Verena Getahun, Acquisition Supervisor, is leading
the BU Library Marketing Committee in an animated
brainstorming session to promote Mango Languages,
which is provided in partnership with International
Studies.
Because Mango offers anytime/anywhere opportunity
for learning 49 languages, the committee wants to make
sure that students and faculty, headed off for Interim
travel abroad, know it’s available, and especially how to
access it on their iPads.
BU Library staff are very involved in presenting at conferences, serving on BU, CLIC Consortium, and
professional committees, in addition to publishing, presenting, acquiring grants, and collaborating with other BU
departments. Here’s a brief sampling:
At the end of their discussion they decide to
participate in an open house and offer Mango punch and
trail mix while they demo Mango languages.
Lyndi Fabbrini, Reference &
Instruction Librarian, chairs the
BU CAS Honors Committee,
serves on the Minnesota Library
Foundation Board, is a regular
presenter at Minnesota Library
Association conferences,
and led the BU Library’s
ethnography research in 2011 &
2012.
A Marketing Committee
in the BU Library? Yes!
For example, the Space Committee
actively responds to student concerns
by creating group study spaces,
adding outlets for mobile devices, and
downsizing print collections to provide
more computer space and multimedia
production labs.
How Does the BU Library Keep Up with the
Digital Revolution, Pedagogy, & Service?
2012
12 Librarians participated in a year-long series on Reflective Teaching,
Effective Learning to sharpen their teaching skills.
2013
8 attended the Library Technology Conference.
And many more!
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Diversity
World Citizenship
Reach & Reputation
Kent Gerber, Digital Library Director,
received a “Minnesota Historical and
Cultural Heritage Grant” for $3,800
from the Minnesota Historical Society,
and $3,000 from the Bethel Alumni
Faculty Grant; has published in
College and Undergraduate Libraries,
and regularly presents at the Library
Technology Conference among others.
Karen Dubay, Reference &
Instruction Librarian, initiated
and developed the Library’s
connection to AskMN, a
partnership that allows our clients
to access 24/7 chat reference
service, serves on the Graduate
School Academic Affairs
Committee, and presented at the
Academic and Research Libraries
Day.
It is just one of the ways the staff go
beyond their specified assignments to
support and enhance learning.
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David Stewart, Director
of Bethel Libraries, is the
Managing Editor of Theological
Librarianship: an Online Journal
of the American Theological
Library Association, regularly
contributes to Choice Reviews,
and makes presentations at
American Theological Library
Association conferences.
Earleen Warner, Reference & Instruction
Librarian, indexes issues of Interpretation
for the Christian Periodical Index, serves
on a variety of CLIC committees including
the search for a new Integrated Library
System (ILS) for the entire consortium,
teaches in the MBA program, offers indepth workshops on RefWorks for the
entire BU community, and serves on the
CAPS Academic Affairs Committee.
Will Keillor, Reference &
Instruction Librarian, in
addition to teaching College
Writing, continues to learn new
computer applications that he
uses to enrich online instruction
materials, as well as assisting
the Academic Enrichment &
Support Center tutors to create
grammar and writing podcasts.
Amy Reinhold, Material
Services Librarian, initiated and
coordinated with the Education
Dept. the development of
a dedicated curriculum and
children’s literature library, and
frequently presents workshops
for CLIC librarians.
Michael Mitchell, Reference &
Instruction Librarian, coordinated ,
edited, and analyzed the Library’s 2012
Assessment Day survey completed by
573 students; has published an article
in the Baseball Research Journal,
and a book review in Theological
Librarianship.
Betsy Dadabo, Library Digital
Services, chairs the CLIC Web
Community of Interest, served on
the Google Transition team, and
often leads workshops on topics such
as Google docs, flip cameras, and
Microsoft Word.
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1:00 pm
How does the library help build bridges to alumni?
An elderly Bethel alumni couple is in town for a
former classmate’s memorial service. Their curiosity
has been piqued by seeing recent photos in Bethel
Magazine, so they decide to visit campus for the first
time in years.
After lunch at the Dining Center, the couple head
to the BU Library to inquire about archives. Could
someone possibly provide anything to help remember
their friend? Could there be something from an old
yearbook?
They’re directed to Kent Gerber, Digital Library
Manager, who welcomes the guests, and asks some
basic questions about their classmate: his name, the
year he graduated, etc. Within minutes, he’s been
able to show the couple several yearbook photos, and
clippings from the Clarion student newspaper. The
couple had anticipated having to spend hours leafing
through old yearbooks, but the Digital Library offers
them web resources and PDFs that they can share with
friends and family. They also get a quick demo on
how to access the Digital Library from home, which
enables them to relive Bethel memories from the
comfort of their own living room.
By the time they leave campus, they’ve been
reconnected to the Bethel community in a way they
hadn’t known was possible.
May 8, 2012
“Today the alumni office received a call from an
alumnus [whose] father and half brother attended
Bethel.
Someone posted on Facebook about the archives
that Bethel has online that includes the past Clarion
issues and rosters. Our alum saw this and checked
it out.
He lost his father while he was still quite young and did not get to share in his
father’s memories. When he searched [the digital library] for his dad, he was able
to find a couple of football pictures, his father’s roster page, along with a few of
his father’s classmates that they knew. One picture in the roster had his father’s
signature.
He also looked up his half brother. He was able to find things of his as well.
[The alum told us] that this was a treat, and that it meant a lot to him and his
family. He just wanted to call and share his thanks. So, thanks to you for all the
hard work you’ve put into making this resource available to our alumni!
Blessings,
[Bethel alumni office]
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Enriching connections
with key constiuents
The Bethel University
Digital Library
is a program of the Bethel Libraries for the discovery,
development, and preservation of Bethel’s scholarship, history,
and culture.
Organized into collections, these materials are openly available
for research, teaching, and learning needs of faculty, staff,
students, and the community at-large.
www.bethel.edu/library/libraries-collections/digital-library/
“Why I love what I do”
“This photo of the Bethel student, from the early 1950s,
excited to receive her mail, is one of the first items that I worked
with when I began working in the Digital Library. It still strikes
me as it did then how excited she is and how it draws me into
the picture as I wonder who she is and exactly what she is
excited about. This is often how I feel about my job and about
the things I am constantly discovering about Bethel’s history
and scholarship. I am often in a state of delighted anticipation
of what the next discovery will be. It is a privilege to serve the
community in this way.”
—Kent Gerber
Digital Library Manager
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4:45 pm
“Uncommon Service”? In the “Information Commons”?
The Information Commons in the BU Library is
buzzing with activity: Teaching and Learning Technology
(TLT) instructional technologist Lisa Prudhomme helps a
CAS faculty member prepare to teach an online course for
the first time and configure an online grade book.
Next to her, Reference Librarian Lyndi Fabbrini works
with a Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership
(MAOL) student on choosing a topic for an upcoming
paper.
After working with Lyndi, the MAOL student had
questions about how to connect her computer to the
library’s wireless printing network. Lyndi referred the
student to the BU
Library’s Information
Commons technology
student worker, sitting
just a few feet away,
who was able to help
her set up her laptop for
printing.
Computer Use in the
BU Library
31%
In a 2012 study of the library, over
of
students observed were using a library computer
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Develop a culture of
innovation through our
service model.
In interviews with library users, computer access and
printing capability were the most widely-cited services
that bring people into the library.
The BU Library has more computers for students to
access than any other spot on campus.
Extensive Service Hours:
What is the Information Commons (IC)?
The IC is a major point of service located in the BU Library. It is a place
where faculty, staff, and students can receive all sorts of help conveniently,
without being referred to different offices on campus.
The IC is a partnership between the BU Library, the Teaching and
Learning Technology (TLT) team, and Information Technology Services
(ITS).
The IC is staffed by a reference librarian, an instructional technologist
from TLT, and a student worker fluent in troubleshooting library technology
issues. The synergy of these components helps improve the service
provided at the IC as a whole.
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Teaching and Learning Technology help is
available
44 hours
59 hours
per week
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Research help is available
per week
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Library Technology student workers are available
95 hours
per week
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6:30 pm
How do CAPS Nursing students survive their first
research assignment?
Will Keillor, Reference Librarian, meets in one of
the BU Library’s computer classrooms with a new
cohort of anxious CAPS Nursing students, many
of them tired after putting in a full day of work. As
he teaches them how to locate and use the research
resources needed to complete their history of nursing
paper, Will begins to calm their fears. They leave the
session feeling empowered to begin college level
research after being out of school for a number of
years. One comments, “Now I know someone to call
if I have more questions.”
How Many Group Libray
Instruction Sessions were held
in FY13?
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Learners
Scholarship
Educational excellence
Retention
Life-long learning
How Many Individual Instruction
Sessions were held in FY13?
While most Library
Instruction Sessions are held
on Bethel’s main campus, some are
conducted online, at the Red Fox building,
North Hennepin Community College, at
Normandale Place, or even in Pine City
3,100
220 hours
97 hours
During FY13 over
students, faculty, and staff attended a
Library Instruction Session.
Reference Librarians spent over
of teaching time and
time during FY13.
of “tutoring”
Library Instruction happens 24/7
via Research Guides (e.g. Business Research Guide)
and online tutorials (e.g., Intro. to the BU Library/IC
(Information Commons)
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Throughout the year, Earleen Warner, a Reference Librarian,
conducts workshops on RefWorks for the Bethel community to
assist them in managing their citations while conducting research
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9:30 pm
Do you have a table for four?
A student signs into a BU Library computer on the
third floor and finds the link on the Bethel Libraries web
page that says “Reserve a Group Study Room.” She
clicks the link to browse the spaces that are available for
that evening.
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The room she wants—which seats eight—is not
available until tomorrow. In fact, none of the six group
study rooms are available this evening, so she and her
group will have to work in the BU Library’s public
space.
Strengthen facility resources
while still working within existing
space and budget
Student Input on BU Library Space:
Surveys of students in recent years gave us suggestions for things to improve,
including:
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Adding outlets: The BU Library added new outlets in 2011 to make it easier
for students to plug in laptops
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More group study rooms: One space was adjusted in 2012 for group study
use; more group study rooms are not possible with existing funding and
space
Why Come to the BU Library?
In interviews with students, two of the most common reasons for
coming to the BU Library were:
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It’s a place where students can focus
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It’s conveniently located
Library Ethnography Project:
In 2011 and 2012, the BU Library did a project
to measure the study habits, space use, and
characteristics of students in the Library. These
results help us make strategic decisions about our
space, better serve our users, and understand the
BU Library’s role in Bethel’s community.
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Late Nights:
This graph shows the “rhythm” of the activity in the BU Library during finals week of the Spring 2011
semester. Extended hours meant more time for students to use our space.
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The BU Library by the Numbers
CAS students were “significantly
more satisfied on the item “Library
staff are helpful and approachable”
compared to the national sample of
students at 4-year private colleges.
… Bethel student responses to
this item are a little unusual. Bethel
students actually have higher
satisfaction rating compared to
importance ratings on this item.
That is rarely seen in this survey.“
—Prof. Joel Frederickson
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Compiled by the Annual Report Group:
Carole Cragg
Michael Mitchell
Amy Reinhold
David Stewart
Earleen Warner
Graphic Design and Layout:
Ann Gannon
Bethel University Library 2013