Annual Report
Annual Report
Director Lucy Holman Associate Director Jeffrey Hutson Edit/Design Adam Shutz
Letter Access Back cover: Construction of the Academic Center, 1961
Learning Resources Outreach Growth Future Numbers
The 2012-13 academic year
was an exciting one for the University of Baltimore’s Langsdale Library. We continued to improve Langsdale on the Go!, a cutting-edge website specifically designed for mobile devices. The site now features a listing of reserve items, an application to help patrons find books in our collection, and an app that shows students where they can find available computers. In addition, we developed a streaming-video service for DVD reserves and installed a new interface that allows users to more easily access books, journal articles and archival collections from a single search box. Furthering our commitment to greater access to technology, our digital services librarian expanded our computer labs to include three student computers that are replicates of the computers used in UB’s graphics lab, and three that are replicates of those in the simulation and digital entertainment labs. As you will see in the following sections, Langsdale’s faculty and staff have worked enthusiastically to lead and support the Maryland library community and the University’s academic mission. Fiscal year 2013 marks the first year of implementation of a new three-year strategic plan. We accomplished a number of strategic initiatives in the past year and look forward to greater progress toward our three-year goals in FY 2014.
2013 By the Numbers 7,990 2013
2,958 2009
104,503
average per day
430 21,091
visits this year
students who used
study rooms
7,751
students who
studied in the library
170% increase in services used
since September 2009
Langsdale is dedicated to making our services and collections easily accessible to patrons who visit the library either in person or online.
While doing research, one fact becomes abundantly clear: options for academic resources are wildly diverse and growing. Langsdale’s collections reflect this diversity of resources; contain everything from graduate dissertations to best sellers; from print books to e-books; from digital databases to digital copies of inter library loan articles; from textbook reserves to streaming-video reserves; from 19th-century genealogical records to hand-bound journals produced by our Master of Fine Arts students. With such diversity comes a problem: How do students find what they need when they need it? Langsdale has endeavored to make finding and using resources as easy as possible. In the past year, the library implemented many new programs designed to this end, including: a new discovery service, allowing users to search many different collections and databases from one search box; a mobile app, which, in addition to helping students find open computers and chat with librarians, offers a simple way to search our collection; an online streaming-video service, ShareStream, embedded into Sakai; the digitization of thousands of Special Collections documents and photos; and streamlined access to the interlibrary-loan portal, which makes accessing and downloading requested articles easier than ever. The library’s belief in ease of access continues to evolve and progress with such upcoming projects as radio-frequency identification (RFID), allowing staff and patrons to easily find and check out any book on our shelves.
As both the University and the breadth of 21st-century education expand, so does Langsdale Library’s role. It is our mission to provide the space, resources and instruction necessary for advanced learning.
A pile of books, a notepad and a pen just won’t do it anymore. Students need more than a few simple utensils to navigate the current environment of advanced learning. With the increased importance of digital technology and the capacity for information to be stored remotely and on ever-smaller devices, Langsdale has had the unique opportunity to reevaluate both how it uses its physical space and how it teaches the effective use of information and technology. With this in mind, we designated group-study spaces on our second floor that feature moveable white boards and tables that give students the ability and flexibility to choose how they’d like to work and study. On our lower level, we created a new computer lab with advanced capabilities in the areas of graphic design, video production, game research and game design.
“As I finished grading research papers ... I couldn’t help but think what a difference your library-instruction class made on the quality of student research!” -Merrick School of Business faculty
Beyond creating physical spaces conducive to learning, Langsdale remains committed to helping students navigate the barrage of information they inevitably encounter doing research. While fielding tens of thousands of questions during normal reference hours—some via text messaging, some via chat widgets imbedded into Sakai and the Langsdale app—our reference staff have also spent countless hours planning, preparing and teaching 2,203 students in 131 course-integrated instruction sessions. In these classes, Langsdale faculty stresses the importance of evaluating sources and effectively operating available databases. When possible, these sessions took place in class. But with distance learners in mind, our instruction librarians have, as just one example, worked with the Merrick School of Business faculty to create online information-literacy tutorials for business classes.
From the inventions of Johannes Guttenberg to those of Steve Jobs, from card catalogues to digital databases, Langsdale continues to find innovative ways to supply resources to our patrons.
+26% 66,644 from 2012
+24% from 2012
accessed eReserve docs
817,127 database searches
Despite the changes that have transformed the ways in which libraries operate, Langsdale’s central function remains relatively the same as when the very first libraries began to appear around the Mediterranean almost 5,000 years ago, namely, to provide the resources necessary to advance scholarship and learning.
“I just saw my movies on Sharestream. Amazing! It’ll change the way I teach.” -School of Comm. Design faculty
Over the years, though, the method and efficiency of delivering information has changed. This year, Langsdale collaborated with the University System of Maryland and Affiliated Institutions to create a demanddriven acquisitions program for e-books. Now, most e-book purchases will be triggered by a patron downloading a particular e-book. Similarly, we consolidated our collection of print journals to focus more on those titles available online, allowing for greater access by distance learners and on-campus patrons. This past year marks significant progress in our efforts to provide greater access to both physical and digital resources—a far cry from the Babylonian warehouses of papyrus.
A Symposium of Undergraduate Research & Creative Works
ALUMNI AUTHORS RECEPTION / READINGS / DISCUSSION / SIGNINGS
A great education requires the engagement of a community of learners. To foster that community, Langsdale has sponsored many events, for both educational purposes and just for fun—mind you, it can’t all be about work.
Langsdale is dedicated to preserving Baltimore’s cultural and intellectual heritage, while continuing to nurture and support the creative spirit of today.
In the spring, the marketing committee hosted the second annual Alumni Authors Celebration, which highlights the creative and academic achievements of UB’s graduates. The evening began with a meet-andgreet, followed by a few words from Joseph Wood, UB provost, and concluded with a panel of alumni editors, publishers and authors who discussed the publishing process. Also in the spring, Langsdale held the Inspired Discoveries Symposium. Students throughout the university submitted their best work for a chance to present it to our highly qualified judges who awarded one prize each for research and creative work. This past year, Langsdale participated in the One Maryland One Book program, hosting the event, “The Intersections of Art and War in The Cellist of Sarajevo.” A few months prior, the library co-sponsored— with the Creative Writing & Publishing Arts M.F.A. program—“Central Booking: A Handmade Book Showcase and Reading,” an event that featured creative works of fiction, poetry and nonfiction written and bound by UB’s M.F.A. students. And, finally, Langsdale played host to “Late Night Game Night,” an evening showcasing our newly created video- and computergame collection. Beyond the immediate UB community, our Special Collections department engaged with Baltimore residents in a number of ways. For example, archivist Aiden Faust conducted interviews with local artists living in the Station North Arts and Entertainment District; the resulting transcripts will be held in Langsdale’s collection and featured on Station North Oral History Project website.
By engaging with the academic and University communities, Langsdale staff and faculty aim to advance the study of library science and improve the efficiency of our library.
Because the field of library science now follows an unfamiliar path, it is crucial that the faculty and staff continue to engage in regular conversations with other staff members and library professionals throughout the state and country. We continue to grow and hone the skills needed to deliver important services to our patrons. Our faculty and staff displays a great desire to grow in their profession, as is exemplified at the numerous staff development events on topics ranging from Photoshop to e-readers to radio-frequency identification. But Langsdale’s growth doesn’t stop there. Many members of Langsdale’s faculty hold leadership roles in state and national organizations. This past year, they delivered presentations at conferences from Ocean City, Md., to Monterey, Calif.; published articles and contributed chapters to books; and won awards for their service and commitment to the field of library science. Just one example is instruction librarian Natalie Burclaff’s receipt of the 2013 Maryland Library Association’s Emerging Leader Award. (View a full listing of publications, awards and offices held.)
Perfection can be boring. To reach it is to be done with the whole, to become complacent and stagnant. How do you improve on perfection? While we don’t claim perfection, we certainly do stride towards it. New devices are created, new technologies, new systems, new books, new subjects of inquiry, and with them we adapt, collect and grow. We change. As stated in the prior chapters, we changed substantially over the course of this past year, and the future of Langsdale will indeed bring with it much more change. Our strategic plan, adopted this year, outlines the direction of change we predict, yet it is built with the flexibility to adapt to the times. To keep up with the various directions technology takes, and the opportunities they create, we designed study areas with flexible workspaces, that take the focus away from Langsdale as a building housing books, and puts the focus Langsdale as a building that houses ideas. There is much more to come in this vein. Early spring of next year will find Langsdale temporarily housed in the new learning commons at UB. There students will benefit from having many of the vital services required to succeed housed under one roof: OTS, Honors, academic advising, and Langsdale. In the Learning Commons, we will continue to give our patrons excellent service, while continuing to grow as an institution and planning for the future remodeling of our old building—dreaming up what a library could be in the future.
Building Use Year-to-Year Comparison
7,500
6,500
5,500
4,500
3,500
2,500
2009 2012
2009 2012
2009 2012
2009 2012
2009 2012
2010 2013
2010 2013
2010 2013
2010 2013
2010 2013
2010 2013
500
2009 2012
1,500
July
Aug
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
March
April
May
June
Individual study Group study Computing
Group Study
1,113
172 September 2009
54 7% change
April 2013
Computing
3,964
1,948
September 2009
104% change
April 2013
Langsdale Faculty & Staff ADMINISTRATION
CIRCULATION
Lucy Holman, Library Director Jeffrey Hutson, Associate Director Adam Shutz, Administrative Assistant Bill Helman, Integrated Digital Services Librarian
Tammy Taylor, Circulation Supervisor Erin Toepfner, Library Technician Laura Melamed, Library Assistant Adele Marley, Library Technician
REFERENCE
Carol Vaeth, Book and Document Delivery Supervisor Brian Chetelat, Reserves Delores Redman, Inter-campus Delivery
Michael Shochet, Head of Reference Catherine Johnson, Head of Information Literacy Initiatives Mike Kiel, Reference/Instruction Librarian Pete Ramsey, Reference/Instruction Librarian Natalie Burclaff, Reference/Instruction Librarian
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS Ben Blake, Director of Special Collections John Mealey, GSCW Executive Director Aiden Faust, Archivist for Digital Collection
BOOK AND DOCUMENT DELIVERY
TECHNICAL SERVICES Betty Landesman, Head of Technical Services & Content Management Susan Wheeler, Electronic Resources Librarian Nicholas Richard, Library Technician Jessica Reeves, Library Technician
University of Baltimore Langsdale Library 1420 Maryland Ave. Baltimore, MD 21201 410.837.4260 http://langsdale.ubalt.edu