LIBRARIES

By SAM WILKINSON
DA
STAFF WRITER

Appointed by West Virginia University Provost Gerald Lang to be the new dean of West Virginia libraries, Frances O’Brien comes to WVU in a time of change.

New facilities are being built and the budget is being increased. O’Brien is thrilled.

“I was impressed by a number of things,” O’Brien said. “The new building program, with the renovation of Evansdale, the all-site storage facility, the addition to expand the Wise Library, is a promise by the campus to support the library.”

O’Brien said she likes what WVU President David Hardesty and Lang say about being a student-centered University.

“I think it is a good setting for the students,” O’Brien said. “I hope it will be a responsive library with rapid access to information.”

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by Jennelle L. Harper
ATHENAEUM STAFF

Although some students are not aware of it, Colson Hall has made a leap into the 21st century by creating an electronic reserve system where students can access documents via the Internet, eliminating the hassle of making a trip to the library.
To access the system, students can go to the West Virginia University Libraries homepage (www.libraries.wvu.edu) and click on the link to the e-reserve.

However, not just anyone can access a professor’s reserved readings. The professor must first ask Colson to put his or her articles on electronic reserve and the professor must give their students the password to access the readings.

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By SAM WILKINSON
DA
STAFF WRITER

After being lead by interim dean Myra Lowe, West Virginia Libraries have a new permanent dean, Frances O’Brien.

Effective June 16, O’Brien will take over for Lowe, who has served in an interim role since last July. Lowe took over for Dr. Ruth Jackson, who stepped down in July of 1998.

O’Brien, who currently serves as the deputy university librarian at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has also served as director of administrative services at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, as well as working at the University of Tennessee Library, the University of Georgia, the University of Delaware and Virginia Tech

She is a member of the American Library Association, and has authored articles on library personnel issues.

O’Brien will be responsible to oversee the $30 million dollar expansion of WVU Libraries facilities, including $21 million to be spent on a new addition that will house paper volumes and information technology. It will also house computer centers. It will be built in front of Wise Library and will be completed in 2001.

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