Polk Library News
December 2005 - Issue 31

From the Director: Supporting Scholarly Research Pat Wilkinson, wilkinso@uwosh.edu

An important part of the mission of Polk Library is to support scholarly research. In the past, that has been very difficult for libraries at comprehensive universities to do. They did not have the collection budgets, the number of staff or the amount of space to purchase, process or house the types of research collections held at major research universities across the nation.

Now, through a new method of interlibrary loan and document delivery, faculty at institutions such as UW Oshkosh can receive the scholarship of the world in a few hours to a few days. Consider some of the major changes in this area in the past few years:

• Not long ago, the average time for instructors to get a book or a photocopy of a needed periodical article was 10 – 14 days.
• Now, the average time to receive books is 3 – 5 days.
• The average time to receive a periodical article is 2 – 3 days.

In addition to a decrease in time, other improvements in getting materials not held on campus have been made.

• Universal Borrowing allows patrons of Polk Library to directly request materials from other UW libraries and have them delivered to the circulation desk for pick-up.
• Desktop Delivery of journal articles enables patrons to receive needed information electronically. This allows faculty to access these articles from their offices or homes. It also allows faculty to use this service when they are on research trips across the country or half-way around the world!
• Rush Article Service lets faculty, instructional staff and graduate students get articles faster than the 2 – 3 day average. The Rush Service allows you to receive articles in 24 hours or less. This is part of Polk Library's goal to get faculty and instructional staff any research article as quickly as possible.

In the future, the library plans to improve on these services. It is my hope that in Spring 2006, you will be able to access a new UW Libraries catalog. With this new catalog, it will be easier to search all UW Libraries with one search and clearly identify if an item is held by Polk Library and, if not, what libraries in System have it.

What is the big picture behind these changes and improvements? For a variety of reasons, it is clear that libraries at comprehensive universities cannot adequately support the wide range of faculty research interest with solely in-house collections. Frankly, most libraries at research institutions cannot do it either. Thus, libraries are increasingly seeing quick retrieval of materials that are not held locally as an integral part of library collection management – a basic way to provide the best information to its campus patrons.

Archives Moves Into New Digs Joshua Ranger, ranger@uwosh.edu

After years of moving around two buildings, four floors and two wings, the University Archives and Area Research Center (see inset box) has settled into a new, permanent and custom-made home on the 3rd floor, south wing of the Polk Library. In the very beginning of the program in 1951, archival collections were located in the “tower” of Dempsey Hall. Most recently the records were stored in a “cage” within the government documents section of the library. In these cases, and many in between, security and efficiencies of service were often found to be lacking. To correct this problem, Forrest R. Polk Library worked with Lane Earns, Provost and Vice Chancellor, and the Facilities Management division to build a dedicated archives reading room and two storage areas to allow for better security and preservation of collections and a great improvement in public services by bringing patrons and staff together in one research space and closer to the collections they need to use.

Need Help With Your Research? Use Librarian Checkout Marisa Finkey, finkey@uwosh.edu

Polk Library started a new service this semester: Librarian Checkout. Also known as the Research Advisory Program, or RAP for short, this service is designed to allow faculty, students and staff to schedule appointments with Polk Library's reference staff for individualized, in-depth help with research for papers and projects. In its first semester RAP librarians have done over 35 sessions, ranging from freshmen working on their first college level research papers to seniors researching semester-long projects.

Scheduling an appointment is easy. Simply select the "Schedule Research Help" link on the right side of the Polk Library homepage, and fill out the online form with the dates and times you are available (allowing two working days for scheduling) and what you are researching. RAP then contacts you with the date and time of your appointment and which librarian you will be meeting with. Sessions can be scheduled with individuals or groups and usually last from 30 minutes to an hour. RAP sessions can be scheduled from 8am-5pm Monday through Friday and nights and weekends by appointment.

For more information on the Research Advisory Program please contact Marisa Finkey, Library Instruction Coordinator, at 424-3436 or finkey@uwosh.edu.

Group Study Room - New Online Reservation Request Form

Are your students looking for a room to use for a group project? Polk Library recently created a group study room on 2nd Floor North for this purpose -- the room has seating for up to 15, two computers, a chalkboard, and a whiteboard. Check the Group Study Room information page for more details and photos. Now students can also reserve this room in advance using an online reservation request form. The room can be reserved up to 30 days in advance, for up to 2 hours at a time. Please pass the word to students in your classes who are working on group projects!

Online Exhibit Tells the Stories of Historic Homes on Campus Joshua Ranger, ranger@uwosh.edu

When a neighborhood grows up quickly around a small normal school destined to become a major state university, historic homes are ultimately sacrificed in the name of progress.  Some gems, however, remain on our campus to remind us of an earlier time.  To celebrate these and several homes that were once a special part of our campus, the University Archives and Area Research Center created the House Tour, an online exhibit that tells the stories of these historic structures.   It is the latest of a series of exhibits created by the archives to acquaint students, faculty, staff and all who are interested with our University's unique history.

Take the House Tour by visiting: http://www.uwosh.edu/archives/househistory/

"Country Studies" Series Returns Mike Watkins, watkins@uwosh.edu

"Country Studies", a popular government series among academic libraries, will again be published. The publication of the series was discontinued in the mid 1990's due to budgetary constraints.

The series, also known by the title "Army Area Handbooks", was originally created to assist U.S. military personnel in developing an understanding of the political, economic, social, and cultural environment in countries where they were stationed. Over 101 countries were covered previously with an emphasis on less developed and less well known countries. Reports were updated every 5-10 years. Most of the more developed western democracies and some African countries have been excluded from the coverage.

Polk Library's Government Documents division has a collection of the older reports. In the past, "Country Studies" were distributed through the Federal Depository Library Program. Despite the fact that the reports were discontinued they have remained popular among UW Oshkosh students, particularly those participating in the Model UN program. The older reports are also available online at http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html.

In 2004 Congress instructed the Department of Defense to earmark 2.5 million dollars to resume publishing the popular series. There is speculation that the resumption of publication is related to current U.S. Military operations throughout the world.

The actual publishing of the series will be done as it has been in the past by the Library of Congress in collaboration with the Department of Defense. It is not yet known what format the reports will be in. They will most definitely be available electronically. If the documents are made available in print, it is not known whether the reports will be distributed to depository libraries or if they would be "for sale" items only.

Renewing Polk Library Books Jeanne Foley, foley@uwosh.edu

Reminder for the end of the semester: Polk Library materials can be renewed in two ways.  You can bring them to the Circulation Desk in the library, or you can renew them on-line.  To renew online, see the instructions below.  Some restrictions may apply.  If you have any questions, please contact Jeanne Foley at x7315.

To Renew Items Online:

• Go to the library's web page ( http://www.uwosh.edu/library/ ).
• Select "Your Record" in the upper left box.
• Log into your account with your 16-digit TitanCard number and your last name.
• Select the titles you want to renew.
• Click on the renew button.
• Check the screen to see if all the titles have been renewed. (Important).
• Write the new due date on the card in the pocket inside the book's cover.
• Then log out of your account (top of screen).

Good luck with the remainder of the semester!

On a cold, rainy Saturday in October, several Polk Library staff members braved the elements to once again participate in the UW Oshkosh Homecoming Parade. Since this year's homecoming theme was "Titan Superheroes", what better group to participate than those "Incredible Heroes of Polk Library" who save (academic) lives on a daily basis? Library superheroes walking in the parade included Captain Circulation, the Fantastic Power-Instructor, Super Searcher, the Amazing Internet Girl, and Mister Incredi-book. The group was also joined by Superkids Batman and Wonder Woman. Thanks to all for participating in the 4th annual Polk Library homecoming entry!

Holiday and January Library Hours

Polk Library will be open 24 hours a day the final week of Fall Semester -- starting on Sunday, December 11 at 11:00 am until Friday, December 16 at 6:00 pm.

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Holiday Schedule: December 17, 2005 - January 2, 2006
Polk Library will be closed December 24, 26, 31, 2005 and January 2, 2006.
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Fall III (Interim): January 3 - January 20, 2006
Polk Library will be closed on Monday, January 16, 2006 for Martin Luther King, Jr. Observance.
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January Intersession: January 21 – January 29, 2006
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Holiday Books in the Browsing Room Sarah Koch, Student Coordinator, Browsing Room

With the holidays fast approaching, here are some books that may get you into the festive spirit of the season. These books are located in the Browsing Room on 2nd Floor North.

There's Something About Christmas, by Debbie Macomber

The Christmas Quilt, by Jennifer Chiaverini

A Christmas Guest, by Anne Perry

A Redbird Christmas, by Fannie Flagg

Silver Bells, by Luanne Rice

Spotlight on Reference Renée Büker, bukerr@uwosh.edu

The Europa World Year Book 2005
Ref. JN 1 .E852 2005 v.1-2

Looking for current background information and statistics for a particular country? The Europa World Year Book is an excellent starting point. For each country of the world, this resource starts with a summary of recent political history, then proceeds to provide current statistics such as population, unemployment rates, birth and death rates, and national budget figures; summaries of national structures for the government, economy, and education system; and names and contact information for important people and organizations, including governmental heads, foreign embassies, major publishers and broadcast corporations, and banking and finance organizations. Older copies of this reference resource are also available; copies from 1989 to 2004 are in the Main Collection, and copies from 1959 to 1988 are in Compact Storage (ask at the circulation desk for the copy you need).

Staff Highlights

• Joshua Ranger, University Archivist, was appointed by State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster to serve on the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction's Library Information Technology Advisory Committee. His term on the 24-member committee ends in 2007.
• Jeanne Foley, Head of Access Services, and Cynthia Huebschen, Reference and Collection Evaluation Librarian, attended the 2005 Wisconsin Library Association conference in LaCrosse October 25-28.