New Posts, March 24-28

Posted on March 28, 2014 by Shannon Cary — No Comments ↓

Director’s Calendar March 31st – April 4th, 2014

Posted on March 28, 2014 by Shannon Cary — No Comments ↓

Notable meetings from the calendar of Jim Cogswell, Director of MU Libraries

Monday, March 31^st
3:00-5:00 p.m. – Council of Deans, Memorial Union

Tuesday, April 1^st
2:00-4:00 p.m. – Library Management Team, Ellis Library

Friday, April 4^th
10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. – MOBIUS Board Meeting, Columbia
5:30 p.m. – MU Capital Campaign Cabinet Reception, Gwynn Hall

You Are Invited to the Library Society Dinner on April 11

Posted on March 28, 2014 by Shannon Cary — No Comments ↓

Please note that tickets for MU Libraries employees are $35.

Information and Action Items from LMT 3/18/14

Posted on March 28, 2014 by Shannon Cary — No Comments ↓

INFORMATION ITEM: LMT welcomed guest Development Director Matt Gaunt and Grant writer Chris Montgomery to discuss the possibility of applying for foundation grants to fund an endowed Preservation Officer for MU Libraries.

· Discussion ensued about various foundations and specific details about their grants.

o All the grants include a required “match” of funds (typically from fundraising).

o The possibility of partnering with various University and/or external entities was explored and the pros and cons were weighed. (Brainstormed examples of potential partners that may be interested in such an effort include: Mizzou Advantage, Office of Research, UM System, MOBIUS, State Library, State Archives, etc.)

§ Pro: The creation of a high profile preservation lab or center that was a regional or institutional resource seems like it would embody the collaborative spirit that MU Administration wants to promote.

· Might be appealing to foundation to show broad impact potential.

· Could possibly offer services to the region for a fee (or as a member of a consortium) as a way of being financially sustainable.

· Better facility and higher profile might attract stronger candidates.

§ Con: Having to share a preservation officer who is badly needed within MU Libraries might dilute the goal and lessen the benefit of acquiring one.

· Also, generally speaking, donors like to see local impact.

o It was resolved that MU Libraries would plan to apply for various grants as well as consider making the Preservation Officer and well equipped preservation facilities a part of the upcoming capital campaign.

§ Topic will be revisited again in the near future.

o It was further agreed that the support of the Chancellor and System Administration will be crucial to meet the preservation needs of MU Libraries and to realize any potential for taking on a regional leadership role.

§ Buy in and support are needed to:

· Complete of the UM Library Depository.

· Create a state of the art preservation lab (possibly as part of UMLD facility).

· Make the creation of a preservation center a potential target of large-scale giving.

INFORMATION ITEM: Jim Cogswell and Ann Riley met with a Faculty Council Ad Hoc Committee to discuss the mold situation. A further expression of concern on the part of the faculty took place as well as a request to be informed and to have a chance to offer input for the solution/remediation decisions.

· Jim and Ann agreed to share with the group a calendar of when actions to address the mold infection will likely take place as well as examples of the lists that will be shared with the faculty to review the items that will potentially be “permanently de-selected”.

· They also agreed to share with the group the cost of destruction (per book) and also volunteered to share the calculation of the cost to not only remediate but to store and maintain items in the collection (per book).

INFORMATION ITEM: Renew Mizzou Update – the 20 computers that were in the 114 area that were scheduled to be moved to the Fourth Floor of Ellis Library have instead been removed all together by the Department of IT. The computers, which originally came to Ellis due to the closing of a DoIT computer lab elsewhere on campus, were already considered out of date and to soon be rotated out of use. The Library Technology Service will try to identify other computers to designate for student use and make available on the Fourth Floor as they can.

Roving Graduate Students in Ellis Library

Posted on March 28, 2014 by Shannon Cary

For two weeks following Spring Break (March 31 – April 12) three graduate students from Ellis Reference will be roving throughout Ellis Library several hours per day (and some night /weekend hours) assisting users in the stacks. These graduate students – who usually answer questions seated at the Reference Desk – will instead spend their Reference Desk shift “on the move!” This will be a two-week pilot project with the hope of an extended version during the fall semester. The graduate students will wear library badges and carry an iPad so they can answer questions quickly and efficiently. With changes from Renew Mizzou starting to occur, this seems like an ideal time to take Reference assistance into the stacks to the users!