Spring 2005
Volume 15 Number 2
CONNECTIONSı
a newsletter from the Libraries to The Claremont Colleges
D II '(" I'On",
(' OI. l" Jj. . Conversations with Faculty
Do you ever wonder why the Libraries don't have resources you need for that new course you just got approved? How electronic databases are selected?
Or why your students use sources that seem inappropriate to their papers? The ability of the Libraries staff to answer your questions and address your concerns is dependent upon our knowing and understanding the needs of the academic
programs of each college. To underline this point, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges ( WASC) Visiting Team stressed the need for greater communication and collaboration between
The Colleges and the Libraries in their Final Report ( January 2004).
The task of librarian subject specialists, who are charged with serving as liaisons with faculty in specific academic programs, is complicated by the uniqueness of serving the seven independent colleges
of the consortium. Depending on the campus
and the discipline, the ways students and faculty
members use libraries vary greatly. Expectations
that faculty have of the Libraries may vary dramatically. Furthermore, these expectations
Inside This Issue
Changes at
Honnold / Mudd
.,. 2
Staff News
2
Events
3
Collections
& Connections
4
, ~ l7he, LWranes
1( f1heCarenlontJ
Col~ es
have not been discussed or shared among librarians and faculty from the various campuses.
As a beginning point to better integration of library
programs with the academic priorities on each campus the Academic Deans and I are undertaking a new initiative.
It is designed to further our shared goal of enhancing
student learning and scholarship through faculty
and librarian collaboration. This initiative was launched in April with dinner sessions for librarians and faculty in history, music, and chemistry. These
three initial conversations were framed around these areas: faculty expectations of students in terms of research,
scholarship, and use of the literature; identification
of areas that need the most improvement: and plans for how librarians and faculty can work together
to address these needs.
The subject specialists participating in these conversations
are already using information gleaned from their faculty counterparts. We believe that faculty found the conversations equally useful and informative. In fact, initial participants have agreed on the desirability of continuing these conversations as well as including additional faculty next year.
With this successful beginning, we are looking forward to similar conversations with faculty in other disciplines.
If all goes as p'lanned, we will host sessions for faculty in six to eight additional subject areas during the next academic year.
Of course, you don't have to wait for your turn at a dinner conversation. Your subject specialist ( http:// libraries. claremont. edu/ about/ dirs/ subjspecs. asp) and I are ready at any time to discuss your needs and those of your students. Have a question or concern? Let's talk-
Bonnie Clemens Director ofLibraries bonl1ie. c1emens@ lihraries. claremorlf. edu Page 2
Changes at Honnold/ Mudd Library
In the last few months, we have made several changes at HonnoldfMudd Library, both in the ways we offer service
and the ways some of the areas are physically arranged.
You will see the first changes as you enter the building with the new " Welcome Desk" in place in the
lobby area. Some of the factors that motivated these
changes were comments from library users regarding
confusion as to which desk to approach for help, survey
and focus group comments regarding services and physi · ·
cal layout, library literature having to do with best practices
in meeting the needs of users, library staff's conversations
with colleagues about what works well and
what does not in terms of presenting our services and
our library space. A group of library staff was formed to
determine what changes would be feasible and best for
our users, and the results are now being put into place.
Some of the visible changes are as follows:
•
The Reference Desk and the Information Desk have now been combined into one Help Desk located just at the top of the stairs as one enters the library. The Database
Assistance Desk, formerly in the Search Center, has been eliminated, and an Information Technology staff member now works in an office adjacent to the Search Center where he is available to help users.
•
Several computer workstations have been relocated from the Search Center into the room just south of the Help Desk, thus expanding the Search Center area and providing semi- private opportunities for students to work.
•
New PCs throughout the Search Center have additional
multimedia capabilities such as DVD viewing.
•
Multimedia machines have been moved into the Search Center, where users may scan materials, view videos, use GIS ( Geographic Information System) and mulitmedia authoring software, etc.
We are always open to suggestions for
additional enhancements to our services and
resources and hope to hear from you.
•
A new multimedia room has been set up on Mudd 1" floor, where the Copy Center was formerly located. The Copy Center has relocated to the area just north of the Search Center.
•
The Welcome Desk has been established in the lobby and is staffed all the hours the library is open. The purpose
of this desk and its staff is not only to greet library users, but also to answer directional and informational questions, to refer people to the appropriate service points throughout the Libraries, and to monitor the security exit in the lobby.
•
The elevator in the lobby is now opened to all library floors. Previously, for collection security reasons, this elevator only operated publicly between tloors I and 2 of the New Library.
•
The ADA compliant gate and chairlift, previously opposite the elevator door on New Library 2nd floor, has been removed, along with the surrounding fence- like equipment, thereby opening up the floor to a more welcoming
layout.
We hope that these and other forthcoming changes will serve our users well. We are always open to suggestions for additional enhancements to our services and resources and hope to hear from you.
Linda Gunter Honnold/ Mudd Library linda. gunter@ libraries. claremont. edu
Staff News
Aida Gabaldon joined the Libraries' staff as Reference
Librarian ( part- time, Temporary). in February. Ms. Gabaldon provides reference and information services at HonnoldlMudd Library during weekends. She is also a project archi vist at The Huntington Library,
Art Collections & Botanical Gardens.
Peggy Rhoades will retire from the Libraries of The Claremont Colleges on April 29, 2005, after more than 16 years of service. She first worked in the Circulation
Department at Honnold/ Mudd Library and then moved into the Interlibrary Loan unit. Peggy has had oversight for the Lending operations, providing Claremont materials to our ILL partners at other libraries
throughout the country. We will miss her' Events at the Librariesı
Library Exhibits, Spring 2005
Eyewitnesses to War: Personal Narratives of the American Civil War
Honnold/ Mudd library, r d Hoor January 24 - May 15, 2005
And the Winner Is... Nine decades of Oscar history
Honno~ d/ Mudd Library, 2nd floor February 25 - May 15, 2005
Playwright of American Life: Arthur Miller, 19152005
Honnold/ Mudd Library, r d floor, through May 15, 2005
' let me Count the Ways: Love, Courtship and Marriage
from Denison Library's Collections
Denison Library February 7- March 31, 2005
The M. S. Slocum Award for Student Libraries
Denison Library April 7- May 15, 2005
Claremont Discourseı Spring 2005ı
" Ripping the Veil," Weaving Meaning: the TEXTureS and Therapeutics of African American Expressive Culture
Vincent Wimbush, Professor of Religion, Claremont Graduate Unicversity and Director, The Institute for Signifying Scriptures
Wednesday, March 9th
At Joyce's Tomb: Mourning, Scholarship, and PostMortem
Copyright
Paul Saint- Amour, Associate Professor of English, Pomona College
Wednesday, April 13th
Becoming Paul M. Churchland ( 1' 942-): NeuroPhiiosopher
Brian Keeley, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Pitzer College
Wednesday, April 27th
Page 3
Collections, CON'r']) frvm p, 4
Questions like these have made me realize that, no matter how many people use our collections and visit us in person and virtually
via our web site and by email, special collections continues to be mysterious and maybe even. intimidating, especially to undergrads. So as I think about how to represent our, indeed, special collections to current and future users, I offer the following
fun facts about special collections at the Libraries ( numbers approximate):
Number of volumes: 160,000 Amount of manuscript collections: 9,000 linear feet ( including college archives) Number of separate collections: 140 Number of digitized collections: 7, amounting to 2,300 digital objects Number of coin collections: 3 Number of manuscript Koran: 4 Number of medieval manuscripts: 100 ( including separate, single
leaves) Number of Edward Weston photographs: 3 Number of books made out of shoes: I Number of jeweled bindings: I Number of books made of silk by a jacquard loom: I Number of original William Blake engravings: 7 Number of round books: 6 Number of collections owned by a U. S. president: 1 Number of old postcards: too many to count Oldest " book":
• ˇ
Non- codex form: Cuneiform tablets and Egyptian papyri
• ˇ
Codex form: lOth century Chinese printed book, 12th
century manuscript Most valuable book: If you need it, it has value. Special collections items that may surprise you •
ˇ
1920s " flapper" dresses
• ˇ
Porcelain, silver and ivory objets d'art
• ˇ
Confederate money
• ˇ
Toy tbat belonged to Orville and Wilbur Wright
• ˇ
Robert Browning's mortarboard from Oxford
• ˇ
Diary of an Alaska gold miner
Carrie Marsh Honnold/ Mudd Library carrie. marsh @ libraries. claremont. edu Page 4
Collections & Connectionsı
It's fun to meet The Colleges' tour groups that stop
by Special Collections wben they visit Honnold/
Mudd Library, especially when prospective students and their parents are present. Special Collections
must seem very comforting to parents who are anticipating
sending their children to college Away From Home. The Reading Room has a traditional studylibrary
feeL and you only have to see their eyes light on our book- lined walJs and antique furniture to know that parents are thinking to themselves, " Now this is college. My kid's gonna do great here."
Parents always ask about doing research and writing term papers, and are glad to know that, yes, undergraduates
are encouraged to use Special Collections materiaJs
for their coursework, and no, we do not restrict to only faculty and graduate students. They like that a lot.
To their credit, the touring students also seem impressed when they're in the Reading Room. They nearly always have a particular author, historical period, or subject that interests them. While I don't comment on the amount of homework and research they'll face once they arrive at college ( and they ask about it), happily, I usually can tell them about a collection that we have that meets their interest.
I also remind them that additional special collections are held at other Libraries of the Claremont Colleges. For example, at Denison Library students are amazed by
red shoe reader, by Gaza Bowen. Cackling Crones Press, Santaı Cruz, California, 2004. ı Photo by Darby Carl Sanders, Scripps College. ı
fanciful and complex book structures in the artist's book collection. Erupting volcanoes are depicted in beautiful geology books at Seeley G. Mudd.
Despite our quintessential library- ness, what impresses new visitors to Special Collections the most- and I don't know why it continues to surprise me- are our vital statistics. The top three questions I am asked by everyone? " What's your oldest book?" ( Well, it depends;
what do you mean by ' book'?) " What's your most expensive book?" ( Don't ask; don't tell.) and " What's the weirdest thing you've got?" ( Weird?) And in the last couple of years, this question probably tops them all: " Isn't everything on the web?" ( Urn, no.)
Collections CONT)) p. 3
CAMPUS MAIL
Library Research, Publications and Events at The Claremont Colleges
