Volume 2, Issue 2

Spring 2003

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Library Survey, April 6th-25th

By Gail Wood

As part of a grant to measure the effectiveness of library services, Memorial Library will administer a survey via the Library’s Web page, http://library.cortland.edu, from April 6th to 25th. Paper copies will be available upon request. The data will be compared to other academic libraries across the country.

The survey is aimed at measuring library users’ perceptions of service qualities and identifies gaps between desired, perceived and minimum expectations of service. The survey, LibQual+™, was developed and is administered by the Association of Research Libraries.

The survey measures users’ perceptions in four areas: Reliability; Affect of Service; Ubiquity and Ease of Access; and Library as Place. The questions are designed to measure users’ expectation and experiences and then identify service gaps. Memorial Library will have access to comparative data from all the participating libraries. More information can be found online at http://www.libqual.org

To encourage greater faculty and staff participation, those who respond to the survey will have their names entered in a national drawing for a digital personal assistant. Memorial Library will also be offering local prizes. Faculty first prize will be a $35 certificate for Jack Danielson’s and second prize a $30 certificate for Applebee’s. Student awards include two first prize $30 gift certificates, one to Applebee’s and one to Price Chopper, in addition to a second prize $20 gift certificate to the College Store and third prize $15 gift certificate for Jodi’s Hallmark.

SUNY Cortland is participating as a result of a grant from the consortium of New York State academic and research libraries. There are more than 70 academic libraries from the state participating in the survey including all of the SUNY University colleges. More information can be found at http://www.ny3rs.org/AboutLibQual.html

For more information, contact Gail Wood, library, at ext. 2221.

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Food for Fines

By Lorraine Melita

Memorial Library is celebrating National Library Week 2003, April 6th to the 12th, in a unique way. Many people in our local area are always in need of food. Hunger does not just happen during holidays. To encourage awareness of this need and to help local food pantries, Memorial Library is sponsoring a Food for Fines program from Monday, April 7th thru Friday April 11th. This program will give users with overdue fines a chance to "pay" their fines by contributing food items. For example, 4 packages of Ramen Noodles equals $1.50 in fines or 1 box of cereal equals $1.50 in fines.
If you do not have fines but wish to donate food, Memorial Library in conjunction with the Honors Program students will gratefully accept your generous donations.

Please note that the Library will only accept pre-packaged food in cans (spaghetti sauce, formula, vegetables, fruit, pudding etc.), boxes (cereal, pasta, potatoes etc.), and plastic jars (juices, salad dressing, mayonnaise etc.). Food will be accepted for fines only, not for lost book charges. All contributions will be donated to the Cortland County Nutrition Program.

Details of the program can be found by contacting Lorraine Melita, at 753-4009 or melital@cortland.edu or by viewing the Memorial Library webpage at http://library.cortland.edu/.

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Library Personnel News

Karen Coombs has been promoted to Senior Assistant Librarian. She also received $1,512 from the State of New York/UUP Professional Development Committee from the Special Projects Fund to complete courses in conjunction with her second master’s degree in Information Management at Syracuse University.

Amy Dembrosky has joined the staff as the Software Training and Support Specialist.

Gretchen Douglas is currently on sabbatical leave and will return on July 1st.

Gretchen Hermann was awarded $2,100 from the State of new York/UUP Professional Development Committee from the Special Projects Fund to complete interviews and data collection on the topic of neighborhood garage sales and the creation of community.

Ellen Paterson and David Ritchie have been granted sabbatical leaves for the next academic year.

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The Best Sunset in Town

By Marc Wildman

Do you know where the best view of the sunset in Cortland is? It’s from the new reading room in Memorial Library. Located across from the reference desk on the second floor, librarians have created a cozy space to sit and read or study while you enjoy the fabulous western view. Librarians have always enjoyed the sunsets while working the evening reference shift. Now students and faculty can enjoy the sunsets too.

Couches, comfortable chairs, and some tables have been placed in the area to provide comfortable seating. The Current Interest collection is located in the new reading area for browsing and recreational reading. The library also displays newly purchased books for one week before they are shelved in the regular shelves.

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Children's Author Visits

By Joy Mosher

Suzanne Bloom, noted author and illustrator, visited the campus on February 27th to make a presentation in the Children's Reading Area of the Library’s Teaching Materials Center. SUNY Cortland students and children from the SUNY Cortland Childcare Center were in for a treat as she read from her book The Bus for Us. She was assisted with follow-up activities by members of the ECE 435, Children's Literacy Across the Curriculum class.

Following the presentation, Bloom discussed her work in an informal meeting that was attended by students, faculty and community members.

Bloom also was a guest speaker in an EDU 478 Classroom Discipline for Personal and Social Responsibility class. Discussing her writing and illustrating, Bloom emphasized issues of diversity and educators' responsibility to build and sustain a classroom community of respect and appreciation for all.

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OED (Oxford English Dictionary) Online

by Ellen McCabe

You’re in the middle of that term paper, report or research tome and you need a different word to use in your work. Or your research into some aspect of literary criticism presents you with what you consider a bizarre usage of a particular term. In times gone by you would need to make a trip to the library to look up that term in the Oxford English Dictionary; now the OED (Oxford English Dictionary) is available online.

The OED deals with the complete history of words of the English language. Do you need to know when a term was first used? When the meaning changed to contemporary usage? All that and more will be found within its web pages.

You may access the OED in a number of ways from the Memorial Library website: under What’s New; in the alphabetical list of databases under O; or, in Subject Databases under English.

You say you’re not an English major; you have no need to know such complete information about a term? You would be surprised at the intricate changes in word meanings that affect every area of study. My favorite referral to the OED was in helping an engineering student answer a question for extra points.
So, whatever your field of study, the OED can be a useful companion to any research project. Click to the library web page and try it!

This database was made available thanks to funding from Memorial Library and from the SCAP (Student Computer Access Program) funding. Professor Ed McCorduck successfully petitioned the SCAP committee and it was made available from the library website.

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The New Faculty & Staff Trainer has arrived!

by Gail Wood

Memorial Library is delighted to announce that Amy Dembrosky has joined the professional faculty as the Faculty-Staff Trainer. She is enthusiastic and hard working and says that she has “a passion for using technology to enhance learning….I am a devoted educator that recognizes the various learning styles among people.” She emphasizes creativity and adaptability in her work. An example of her creativity is found in the logo she designed for the FTC (see illustration in this article).

Amy received her Associates Degree from Broome Community College. She has a B.S. in Education from Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania. She graduated Summa Cum Laude and is a member of Kappa Delta Pi and Phi Theta Kappa. She earned a M.S. in Instructional Technology from Bloomsburg University.

She has ’hit the ground running,’ by developing a training calendar for the month of April, cleaning up the training facility, and conducting a needs assessment to ensure that the training needs of the campus are met. She welcomes your comments and can be reached by email at dembroskya or by phone on ext. 4056.