Here are the stats for the Tutorial Quizzes (based in Blackboard) for the 2008-2009 Academic Year:
Library Basics – 27 students took it 33 times with an average score of 8.15
Plagiarism – 356 students took it 520 times with an average score of 8.76
Music Tutorial – 25 students took it 33 times with an average score of 7.77
Faculty requesting data for their classes:
Fall: 14 classes, Spring: 10 classes
This is a slight increase from last year in students taking the Plagiarism Quiz, with the other two tutorials going down slightly. The number of faculty courses that had data requested was up from 18 to 24, an increase of 33% from last year.
The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) has launched a new
website, called the Federal Digital System (FDsys) where they will be storing
all government documents produced. The strength of FDsys is that documents will
not be replaced by newer versions, but will instead keep everything, so there
is a digital “paper trail” as it were with copies preserved and archived continually. Visit http://fdsys.gpo.gov
to check it out.
<pI’ve already updated the links on our website and in the
Quick Reference LibGuide. If you have any LibGuides that link to the GPO Access site,
you will want to update those links.
If you want more information about FDsys, visit http://www.gpo.gov/projects/fdsys.htm
Scott
In case you didn’t catch it in the Butler News Digest today, we can now access BUfiles from off campus! It’s using a program called BUconnect:
“BUconnect is a service that allows the Butler community to access
BUfiles and other Butler services from anywhere in the world. “
To get started, visit http://www.butler.edu/ir/?pg=7268
For more information on how it all works and how to set it up (it’s VERY easy), visit http://www.butler.edu/ir/cmsExternalDocuments/WebConnect.pdf
One question that gets asked rather frequently is about whether a certain program is installed on the library computers. I’m happy to say that BOTH libraries are on I.R.’s official list of “Departmental Labs” and have all the installed programs listed on the I.R. “Lab Locations” website: http://www.butler.edu/labs/?pg=2538
I have also included this information (with a link to that same “Lab Locations” page) in the FAQ list on our website.
The process of developing a new program for employing and training students to work at the Reference Desk is continuing and nearing complete definition. Here are some updates:
- The students who will eventually be working at what is now the Reference Desk will cover all the hours the Desk is open (10:00am – 10:00pm MTWR, 10:00am – 5:00pm F, 5:00pm – 10:00pm Sun) and will also work in the I.T. department from 9:00am – 5:00pm M-F. Julianne and I will be creating a pool of students who will work mostly either in Reference or in I.T., but will also spend some time in the other area.
- After much bandying of words and experimenting with titles, we ended up deciding that we preferred Information Commons Associate for the student position title. “Associate” makes the position sound much more professional than “Student Assistant” and the more we played with “Information Commons,” the more we liked it. Julianne has already been calling her space the “Instructional Technology Commons” and we came up with a vision for the Information Commons, while having a main hub in the library (esp. the Reference Dept.), being essentially a virtual space with various physical manifestations. Students can enter the Information Commons virtually from their dorm room, chat with Info Commons Associates online (or liaison librarians for that matter), browse the Digital Commons, or physically visit the Information Commons in Irwin or Jordan (or eventually other campus locations).
- Julianne and I plan on finalizing the job description and the program’s description and mission this week. This will allow us to start advertising and hiring students early in April.
- The Info Commons Associates will be coming back to Butler a week before classes start. We will spend that Thursday and Friday training them on basic tech support for the computers and software we have, research skills (info literacy), customer service skills, and how to recognize when to turn over a student’s research question to a liaison librarian.
- In the future we plan to involve the more experienced students in the training of their peers. Our goal is to create an internship style of program that will lead to students taking portfolios and local “certifications” with them when they graduate.
At the next librarians meeting, the details will all be in place and I will present more information on the program.
Comments Off on Tutorial Stats for 2008-2009 
Themocracy