Polk Library News
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In April, Polk Library will be asking faculty, instructional academic staff, and students what their perceptions are of the library in terms of information services, collections and physical facilities. It will be using a “rigorously tested web-based instrument” called LibQual+. Polk Library and most of the libraries within UW System will be participating in this survey with over 200 academic libraries worldwide. Polk Library's goal is continued improvement. Assessment is vital to this effort. The results and comments from the survey will help library staff see where the library is successful and where it needs improvement. The survey will compare the library with its peer institutions. Importantly, the results will help establish library priorities for the future. Polk Library conducted the LibQual+ survey in 2004 and found it very useful. We implemented several improvements based on the results. For example, we opened a group study room and added an additional quiet study area for students. For faculty, academic staff, and graduate students, we initiated the desktop document delivery service of journal articles and began to purchase articles from commercial vendors when it was critical that information was received in 24 to 36 hours. Your help is crucial to the success of LibQual+ 2008! Later in the semester, you will receive an email from me with a link to the online survey. Please take a few minutes to complete the survey and use the comments section to express your opinions. Your individual responses and comments will be confidential. The survey is managed by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). When Polk Library receives the statistical data and list of comments from ARL, we will make them available on the web site, discuss them with all interested groups or individuals, and make needed improvements as possible.
In Spring 2008, Polk Library will be test-driving a new way to search for print and online journals. The OCLC e-Resource Pilot Project is what you will be searching when you use the section of our website "Know the name of a specific journal and want to know if we get it?" You can use this search tool to see if Polk Library subscribes to a newspaper, magazine or journal. The list will also link you to some free open access content from sites such as Highwire Press, MIT Press Journals, Blackwell-Synergy and more. A unique feature of this product is the Citation Look Up Form that you can use to input Article Title, Author, etc., and the system will try to retrieve the location of that article in our print/online holdings. Try it and see how it works for you!
Mental Measurements Yearbook, a well-known reference work for finding and evaluating a variety of tests and assessment tools, now has a new online interface at Polk Library. Mental Measurements is now searchable online, both on- and off-campus, through the familiar “Ebsco” interface. This full-text reference work covers a wide variety of standarized tests, including topics such as foreign language proficiency, dyslexia screening, and behavior assessment; and each entry includes details such as the purpose of the test, intended test population, amount of time required to administer the test, and publisher and price of the test. Entries also include expert reviews of the test, addressing the development and validity of the tool. Please let library staff know if you have any questions about the new interface of this reference classic.
In January 2008, Polk Library worked with Academic Computing to install Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel & Access) on all the computers in the Reference Area (1st floor South). Polk Library did a survey in Fall 2006 and asked students various questions about the Reference Room. One theme that came through to us was that students wanted to be able to work on research projects using library resources and bring projects to completion using products such as Word and PowerPoint. Students are also increasingly using D2L to access class resources, and many of those class sites link to Word documents and PowerPoint presentations. The installation of the Office Suite should ensure easier access to these types of files. Now students can use the General Access Computer Lab on the 1st floor North or the Reference Room to work on class projects that require the Microsoft Office software.
Polk Library has recently added online access to the American Society for Microbiology Journals. Access is available from the first volume to the most current issue for all 11 titles published by the Society:
Links to the American Society of Microbiology Journals can be found from the library home page under the "List of Library Search Tools" menu, or in the Biology or Medical Technology search tool subject pages.
Wisconsin has more to be proud of than just being the “Dairy State”, or the home to “Cheeseheads”. Wisconsin is also home to a wealth of outstanding current authors. Starting in 1996 with the first book featured on Oprah Winfrey's book club shows, Wisconsin authors have had a major presence in today's publishing world. The Browsing Room has a number of books by these excellent Wisconsin writers. Below are just a few, please check them out.
Enjoy the Read!
Spring Semester Hours, February 4 - May 16Building Hours Reference Service Wisconsin Area Research Center and University Archives |
Spotlight on Reference |
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Graphic Novelists
Ref. NC 1305 .P46 2007 v.1-3
Entries in this new, three-volume reference set provide biographical information about author/artists in the growing field of graphic novels. The 75 novelists included vary widely in their styles, audiences, and themes covered; examples of author/artists covered include Yoshihiro Togashi, a well-known Japanese manga author/illustrator; Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, Futurama, and Life in Hell; Marjane Satrapi, author of Persepolis, an autobiographical graphic novel about her experiences living through the Iranian revolution; and Art Spiegelman, author of the Holocaust memoir Maus. Entries not only include biographical information about the novelists, but also photographs, lists of popular works by each novelist, references to other interviews or reviews, and often sample panels of the novelist's works.
Staff Highlights
- Joshua Ranger, Archivist, gave a presentation about streamlining digitization procedures during the "Innovative Ideas" section of the OCLC Members Council Meeting in Dublin, OH on February 11th and 12th, 2008.
- Mark Gajewski and
Gus Heinecke, Polk Library custodians, were awarded the December and January Star Awards, recognizing "performance above and beyond the expectations of their position and responsibilities for classified staff" on the UW Oshkosh campus.
Read current issue of Polk Library News
Read past issues of Polk Library News
March 2008 issue, printer-friendly version (pdf)
Articles in this issue:
~Find that Journal! A Pilot Project
~A New Look for Mental Measurements Yearbook
~Microsoft Office Now on More Computers!