UNLV Libraries Articles from Inside UNLV for 2004


Millionth volume


Southern Nevada and Las Vegas: History in Maps

December 2004

In April 2004 the UNLV Libraries reached a landmark in its history, its one millionth volume. To celebrate and mark this event a significant volume was specially purchased, a vast historical work, published in Madrid in 1601-1615, chronicling the Spanish exploration, conquest, and settlement of the New World, Antonio De Herrera's Historia General de los hechos de los Castellanos en las islas I tierra firme Del mar océano. Desde el año de 1492 hasta el de 1531 [The General History of the Deeds of the Castilians in the Isles and Mainland of the Ocean Sea.]

The online exhibit explores the world of Antonio Herrera and the later history and exploration of the American southwest with books and maps from Special Collections. The originals, including Herrera's Historia, are currently on exhibit in Special Collections. This web exhibit is available for viewing directly at http://www.library.unlv.edu/millionth/index.html, or through the WDS webpage at http://www.library.unlv.edu/wds/.

“Southern Nevada and Las Vegas: History in Maps,” is a digital project featuring over 80 historical maps from the UNLV Libraries Special Collections Department, documenting the cartographic history of Southern Nevada, telescoping inperspective from Western Hemisphere to the streets of Las Vegas. Maps were selected to highlight individually important maps and the breadth and variety of the collection. These maps provide not only a history of the region through its changing political boundaries, but also a history of map-making and the development of the cartographic knowledge of this area. The website is available at http://www.library.unlv.edu/maps/index.html.
These projects were created by the UNLV Libraries Web and Digitization Services (WDS) Department in collaboration withthe Libraries Special Collections. Other current web, digitization, and digital projects can be viewed at http://www.library.unlv.edu/wds/

LibQual+
Thank you UNLV!



Libraries
open Nevada Day, Veterans'
Day and
Presidents' Day

 

November 2004. The UNLV Libraries would like to thank the UNLV community for its participation in the Libraries' 2004 LibQual + Survey in February and March. The LibQual Survey is a nationally administered survey developed and administered by the Association of Research Libraries. More than 200 libraries participated in the 2004 survey. It is based on the SERVQUAL instrument, a popular tool for assessing perceived levels of service quality in the private sector. The 2004 response rate at UNLV was approximately twice as high as that for the same survey administered in 2002. 622 faculty and students responded to the survey: 234 undergraduates, 273 graduate students and 115 faculty. The Libraries are currently analyzing the responses and developing strategies to improve its services to the university. Preliminary results show that undergraduates perceive the level of service as higher than their minimum expectations; graduate students find services above their minimum expectation in all areas except depth of the collections. Faculty find the level of service above their expectations in 14 out of the 22 areas surveyed, most concern being expressed in questions related to Information Control and the depth of the Libraries' collections. Compared to 2002 results the 2004 responses from undergraduates were very similar, graduate responses indicated a perception of improvement, while faculty responses indicated slight improvement in some areas, but continued concern with the depth of, and access to the collections.

The Libraries are also pleased to announce that Lied and the three branch libraries will be open regular hours and staffed to offer our full range of services on the following holidays: Nevada Day, Veterans Day, and Presidents Day. The Libraries will close between Christmas and New Year's. This change is designed to provide richer access to our resources and staff during the semesters rather than at the holidays when we are typically underutilized by students, faculty and staff.

 

Seminars

Hours

New faculty for Lied

 

October, 2004. The Libraries’ Faculty and Graduate Student Seminar Series is underway with just three sessions remaining. On October 14th, join the Libraries’ webmaster, Kyle Felker, for a discussion of copyright focusing on fair use. On October 20th, Diane VanderPol, Head of the Libraries’ Instruction Department leads the hands on session “Making movies @ your library” which will cover the basics of Microsoft’s MovieMaker digital video editing software. November 4th Humanities Librarian, Priscilla Finley leads a session ideal for graduate students on strategies for getting published in humanities journals and using a citation database.

In response to student, faculty, and staff requests, Lied Library is open later on Fridays and earlier on Saturdays than we have been in previous semesters. For the full listing of regular hours and holidays and exceptions, call the hours line at x52255 or visit http://www.library.unlv.edu/about/hours.html

The Libraries’ welcome two excellent new faculty members this fall. Sherri Vokey, Remote Services Librarian, comes to us from the University of Winnipeg. She coordinates the Libraries’ real time chat reference service and is a great resource for faculty teaching online classes. Sidney Watson is a 19 year veteran of the UNLV Libraries, most recently working in the Curriculum Materials Library. Having recently obtained her MLS, she’s moved into the role of Science and Engineering Librarian.

 

Website
Changes

 

Summer, 2004. The University Libraries have been making changes over the summer to improve our services and resources in support of research and teaching. Check out our new website at http://www.library.unlv.edu . The new design, developed in response to usability and card sorting tests taken by students, faculty, and staff last year, makes navigation more intuitive and showcases new news and important services, such as our �Ask a Librarian� options at the top of every page. You can now contact a librarian for help with research by phone, email and, for limited hours each week, live via our new chat service. The Library Catalog still offers access to the over one million volumes in our library collection, and our collection of databases that provide access to journal, newspaper, and magazine articles in a variety of disciplines is growing all the time. New �get text� buttons can be found in many of our databases. Clicking on a �get text� button will link you to the on-line full text of the article if it's available through our subscriptions, or if it's not available in full-text, give you other options to track it down. To learn more about our new resources and services, attend one of our faculty seminars. The complete schedule can be found at http://www.library.unlv.edu/inst/seminars.html . Your students may need help with the Libraries' services and the research process as well. We offer drop-in sessions for individual students, or we can tailor a session for your entire class. Contact the Instruction Department at 52123 for more information.

Chat online with a Librarian

 

May, 2004. Have you ever had search engine trouble? Ever wanted an expert guide to finding things online or in the library buildings? UNLV Libraries are pleased to introduce a new way to get immediate help with finding information. Now UNLV students, faculty and staff can follow the Ask a Librarian link on the Libraries' website to chat online with a librarian. Between 1 and 5 p.m. on weekdays, clicking on the Ask a Librarian link will offer users a way to communicate instantly with an information-finding expert who can help you identify relevant and reliable resources, locate the full text of a journal article online, or answer questions you have about library services and collections or almost anything else. UNLV librarians are familiar with a wide variety of resources that are not freely available on the WWW. SO when you don't know where to begin, or when your search engine fails you, you can choose to get expert advice by telephone (895-2200), by email (http://www.library.unlv.edu/ask/), or by using the new online chat reference service.

UNLV’s Academic Recognition Week

 

April, 2004. The University Libraries have several events planned for the week of April 19-23, which is designated as both National Library Week and as UNLV’s Academic Recognition Week. On Monday, April 19th, the Subject Librarians will host an informal forum for graduate students, giving the students a chance to meet library staff with expertise in their disciplines and to become familiar with key resources. On Tuesday, April 20th, a ceremony marking the acquisition of the Libraries’ millionth volume will be held in the Special Collections area. On Wednesday, April 21st at 3:30 p.m., the Libraries will honor UNLV faculty and staff who have authored books during 2003. President Carol Harter and Dr. Kenneth Marks, Dean of Libraries, will make brief remarks, and books by the recognized authors will be on display. Faculty, staff, and students are invited to join the festivities in the Lied Library Amargosa Room. As these two celebratory weeks converge, the Libraries are pleased to recognize the milestones of our campus community.

LibQual+ survey

February, 2004. The Libraries seeks suggestions and comments on our services and resources. This Spring we are engaging in a couple of efforts to actively solicit input.

We are participating for the second time in the Association of Research Libraries-endorsed national LibQual+ survey (we last did this survey in 2002). We will be one of 163 academic libraries to participate in this service quality instrument, which asks respondents to indicate their minimum, desired and perceived levels of service in 22 different areas. Faculty will be contacted by email – please participate!

The Libraries will also be conducting faculty focus groups to engage in more extended conversations. There will be three focus groups, one each for sciences faculty, social sciences faculty and humanities faculty. Thanks go to the faculty who have agreed to join in a focus group. If you would like to participate in a focus group but were not contacted, please email Jeanne Brown, chair of the Libraries Research and Analysis Committee, at jeanne.brown@unlv.edu.

Of course comments and suggestions are welcome any time. Our website's “comments” button is one mode, and working through the subject librarian for your discipline is another. A list of subject librarians is available at http://www.library.unlv.edu/about/biblio.html.

New Technology:
Plasma screen and
Multimedia Design Studio

 

January, 2004. The University Libraries are proud to announce two notable technology acquisitions, funded by the Libraries Advisory Board through its total participation in the Libraries Dean’s Associates program. The first enhancement is the connection of a new 42” plasma television screen, located next to the Circulation Desk in Lied Library. The plasma screen displays library information and events, and has dual–screen capability for television broadcasts, and top screen closed captioning. The Libraries also unveiled the Multimedia Design Studio, which provides hardware and software for digital video creation, editing, and export to DVD and VHS formats, as well as a scanner and a variety of software for still image handling. The Multimedia Design Studio is located on the first floor of the Lied Library, near the Library’s Automated Storage and Retrieval (LASR) system. For more information on the use of the Studio, contact Diane VanderPol at 895-2126. The Libraries Dean’s Associates membership program, which starts at $1,000 per year, provides for unrestricted support of the libraries through curriculum-supporting resources, training programs, and technology enhancements.

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