Library Director Garry Wilson
as Psych Info, Science Direct, Safari Books Online, and Reference USA.
The new online catalog will update a system that is already out of date at only six years old.
Two new, and very large, technology projects for McMillen Library are currently in the works. Another portion of the McMillen gift will be used to implement a virtual reference desk and a new online catalog.
“The current catalog offers no real-time data update capabilities for the remote campuses. Before I came to Indiana Tech, circulation at the remote campuses was mostly handled on the honor system,” Wilson noted.
“Virtual reference is a fairly new concept in librarianship that is being implemented in various forms by most libraries across the country,” Wilson said. “Research shows that most academic libraries have only implemented the e-mail aspect of it, and are continually working on systems that promise to offer some form of live interaction between the library customer and the librarian. “Our virtual reference desk will allow our students and our other library customers to e-mail questions to McMillen library’s reference staff, and when the system is fully implemented it will allow those users to get their answers via live real-time text chat with our reference librarian.” “The new system will also allow our library customers to see live video of our reference librarian, while getting Students can relax and study by the library’s fireplace. answers to their research questions,” Wilson added. “The advantage of live video is that the library school of thought suggests that for a library customer to trust an answer they The new catalog will use a district model, allowing the have to see the librarian face to face. Our virtual reference Academic Resource Centers at Indiana Tech locations across system, when completed, will possibly be the first such system the state to circulate their books and resources using the new to offer such seamless live interactivity between a library and catalog’s database. These transactions will be captured in the its customer. Some libraries have tried to offer live reference catalog’s database in real-time, using web server technologies. video and text chat, but have failed in their efforts. The This will ensure that all resource information contained in reason they have failed is because their systems required the the catalog for each campus is accurate at all times. library customer to install software on their computer, each and every time before the customer could use the library’s As technology and students change, the library will continue virtual reference service. Our system will utilize Java, and to virtually transform before the last chapter is written. JavaScript technologies, which automatically and seamlessly will install all software needed by our library customers without the need for their assistance.” If you have comments or questions about the library’s services, please hop online and visit www.indianatech.edu/OnlineResources/Library/Main.aspx
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