The Gathering seeks to/is for:

• Identifying major themes/functions relating to "opening."
• Distribution of information.
• Identifying collaborative opportunities, problems and/or resolution.
• Sharing of key dates.
• Identifying how information is communicated to students, parents, faculty/staff

Download the Gathering Fall 2016 PDF here.

Since 2009, the MU Libraries’ have provided access to Summon (the default Search & Find box on the gateway).

With the subscription to Summon ending in the early fall, LMT appointed a small group to review current discovery tools, gather information and make a recommendation.

Our review process consisted of:

• A survey of libraries’ staff to gather feedback on experiences with Summon, features of importance in a discovery tool and the libraries’ need for a discovery tool;
• Product demonstrations open to all libraries’ staff for Ebsco Discovery Service, Ex Libris Primo and III Encore;
• A publicly posted trial of the Ebsco Discovery Service;
• Usability testing with faculty and students conducted by the Web Usability Committee to gauge the usability and ease of navigation of Summon, Ebsco Discovery Service and Google Scholar

Based on the information gathered, we recommended to LMT that the MU Libraries not renew the Summon subscription and move forward with the Ebsco Discovery Service (EDS).  EDS utilizes the Ebsco platform, which is very familiar to many students (given the MORENet Ebsco subscriptions provided to Missouri public schools), it is more intuitive than others and allows integration of our LibGuides and E-Reserves within the search results.  In addition, there is a significant cost savings in moving to Ebsco.

LMT accepted our recommendation and we are moving forward with the implementation of EDS.  We are targeting a go live date of the first week of August.

We will keep you updated on the process.

Our thanks to all who assisted us in this process – by providing feedback to the surveys/product demonstrations and conducting usability testing!

If you have any questions, please contact Rhonda (whithausr@missouri.edu).

Thanks,

Corrie Hutchinson
Judy Maseles
Kimberly Moeller
Jeannette Pierce
Rhonda Whithaus

MU officials will conduct two tests of an upgraded Emergency Notification System on Friday, June 24.

The first test will be in the morning and will send a message via text and email only to faculty and staff, and possibly some students. The second test will be in the afternoon and will activate the entire notification system, including text, email, computer desktop alerts, emergency beacons, social media and the web.

The text message will read: 
TEST   TEST   TEST   This is a test of the MU Mass Alert and Warning System.  In an actual emergency more information would be provided.   TEST   TEST   TEST

The email message will read:
This is a test of the MU Mass Alert and Warning System. The University of Missouri conducts periodic activations to test our entire range of alert and warning systems. The safety and security of our students, faculty, staff and visitors is the top priority of Mizzou and we encourage everyone to fully participate and take this test seriously by reviewing emergency plans and procedures. Mass email is just one of the multiple systems by which you can be notified in the event of any emergency. Refer to mualert.missouri.edu for additional details on any emergency condition that may arise.

If you are a faculty or staff member and do not receive the text messages, you can find information about registering your mobile device here: http://mualert.missouri.edu/whatToDo/update-faculty-staff.php

Central MarComm needs your help! Next week we are filming our image campaign, which will also serve as our SEC commercial spot, and we need volunteers to serve as extras from 4:30-7:30 a.m. Thursday, June 16 and Friday, June 17. I know this is early, but we’re hoping to get around 100 people to fill the shots, so please consider participating.

All you have to do is come bright and early to walk the quad and around other historic monuments on campus. Bring your family and friends; all ages welcome. FREE breakfast will be provided. Even if you can only join for a portion of the time slot, that’s ok too. We’ll take whatever we can get!

For more details and to reserve your spot(s), please complete this form. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to let me know.

Thanks in advance for your consideration,

Stephanie Kubas
Director of Internal Communications
skubas@missouri.edu
Phone: 573-882-8446

Marie Concannon traveled to Missouri State University’s Meyer Library in Springfield to honor Byron Stewart, MSU Libraries' Head of Research and Instructional Services, on the occasion of his retirement. Byron was instrumental in helping MU Libraries through its two disasters, particularly as they affected the Government Documents collection.  Marie gave a congratulatory speech and presented Byron with an MU lapel pin on behalf of MU Libraries.

Byron Stewart was at MU from 1968-1980. In the late 1970s, he worked as a graduate library assistant under Sally Schilling in Ellis Library's Government Documents office. It was there that he met his future wife. Sally Schilling, former Head of Government Documents and more recently president of MU Libraries' Friends Group, traveled with Marie to congratulate her former student.

If you wish to receive a 2016 Wall Calendar from Printing Services, please fill out the form at http://ps.missouri.edu/transactions/calendarRequest/app/calendarRequest2.php.

*One calendar request per staff or faculty member.

Congratulations are due to Kathy Peters, Susan McCormack, Bette Stuart and Dustin Hoffmann as they’ve finished a successful round of testing and execution of the LSO Feeder System project. This project has been in the works for years, and these staff members have worked above and beyond their regular duties to accomplish this. The system is now in regular use, being monitored for any issues that may come up.

Kathy Peters and Bette Stuart comprise the Accounting Department in MU Libraries Tech Services, where they manage the payments for the acquisitions of library materials (monographs, serials, databases, etc.) from all over MU Libraries. Because of the large volume of these payments, a program called the Feeder System was implemented 10+ years ago. The Feeder System helps to automate the process of shuttling payment information between the MERLIN Sierra ILS (Integrated Library System) and the PeopleSoft Financial system run by MU Accounting. The Feeder System is a custom program that was written by a former MU Libraries employee, and is only in use by MU.

In 2012, Consortial Resources moved to MU from the former LSO at the UM System. This department, formerly known (and still often referred to as) the LSO eResources Team, manages library databases and other e-resources on behalf of the MERLIN consortium as well as two of the individual UM System campuses. It has been a goal since 2013 for these payments to be made through a similar Feeder System set up to work with newly-created LSO Accounting Unit in MERLIN.

Changing the Feeder System code to work with this new accounting unit turned out to be quite a complicated endeavor. The project has taken years of work to get to this point.

Many staff members were involved with this project over the last few years, and thanks are due to all of them. We apologize for missing any names, but we do appreciate your work!

Specifically:

Dustin Hoffmann of Library Technology Services (LTS) is responsible for the actual code changes to the Feeder System program.  He worked closely with Kathy Peters and Susan McCormack to identify needs and make the program work to fit those needs.

Susan McCormack of Consortial Resources, in addition to providing guidance for Dustin, has worked endlessly on Sierra training, populating the new accounting unit with all the required data, both current and historical.  Much of this was with great help by Kathy, Bette, and members of the Cataloging Department.  Susan has also been training as backup on the Feeder System workflow processes.

Kathy Peters and Bette Stuart of MU Libraries Accounting, have had to adjust their workflows and create new processes in addition to providing assistance and guidance for both Dustin and Susan.  Kathy Peters, in particular, is the undisputed expert on the Feeder System, and she has spent months on the testing phase alone, working back and forth with MU Accounting.

 

Great work to everyone involved!

 

This project now represents Phase One of a two-phase project with the Feeder System.  Over the course of this project, it became obvious that the current Feeder System is in need of significant improvement.  The current program is not just out-of-date, but it relies on quite a lot of manual wrangling of data by Kathy Peters and Bette Stuart.  This work, which is crucial to the function of MU Libraries, is done weekly, and much of it is intricate detail that is hard to master.  Current technologies could easily streamline and automate this workflow, reducing the learning curve required for new employees or backup training.  To that end, Dustin Hoffmann, along with others in LTS, will be working on creating and implementing a new version of the Feeder System.  Kathy Peters, Bette Stuart, and Susan McCormack will be closely involved with this project, helping to plan and to test the program in conjunction with Dustin and LTS.

 

 

Open Access Week is a global event with activities that promote and provide information on the advantages of
open access to academic and research communities. The 2015 Open Access Week theme is Open for Collaboration.
Join colleagues at Mizzou to learn more about the benefits of free, immediate, online access to scholarly research.

FREE INFORMATION AND EVENTS
All week check out our exhibit in the Ellis Library Colonnade. Learn about open access on Graduate Profession Council (GPC)
and Missouri Students Association (MSA) social media.

Monday, October 19, 11:00 to 1:00
Open Access Information at the Student Center Information Tables
Pick up literature and speak to MU graduate students and MU librarians about open access.

Tuesday, October 20, 1:00 to 2:00
Webinar: Faculty Perspectives on Publishing Open Access in Ellis Room 114A
Association of College and Research Libraries and CHOICE
http://acrlchoice.learningtimesevents.org/webinar-oct202015/

Wednesday, October 21, 4:00 to 5:00
Open for Collaboration at Mizzou: Open Access Panel in Ellis Room 114A
Hear from four MU faculty members involved in different aspects of making open access material available.

Thursday, October 22, 11:00 to 1:00
Open Access Information in Ellis Library Colonnade
Pick up literature and speak to MU librarians about open access.

 

Please stop by the second floor of Ellis Library to see the Census Research Data Center on Monday, September 21^st from 9 to 11 a.m.

Coffee and donuts will be served near the Data Center, in the hallway outside of 202 Ellis Library.

–Mark Ellis