More than 50 people filled Room 104 of the Downtown Campus Library to hear Bill Sleeman, Chair of the American Library Association’s Government Documents Round Table, speak about the importance of Federal Depository Libraries. Following, Ted Priebe, Director of Library Planning and Development for the U.S. Government Printing Office, presented a commemorative plaque to Libraries Dean Frances O’Brien, Associate Dean Myra Lowe, and Christine Chang, government documents librarian.

Ted Priebe, Director of Library Planning and Development, US Government Printing Office, presented a commemorative plaque to Christine Chang, government documents librarian. Picture here are Bill Sleeman, chair of ALA’s Government Documents Roundtable; Libraries Dean Frances O’Brien; Chang; and Priebe.

Bill Sleeman talks to about the future of government documents in libraries.

Ted Priebe talks about government document libraries.

The celebration included an assortment of cookies, chocolate covered strawberries, and punch.

Hilary and Jo.

Cassie and Natelle

Alyssa and Penny

Joe, Dante, and Ginger

Bill Sleeman and Linda

Ted Priebe; Christine; and Dr. Majed Khader, government documents librarian for Marshall University Libraries

Eleanor McDonald and Natelle

Joe and Jo.

Myra presents a gift to Christine to mark her time as government documents librarian

Myra and Christine admire Christine’s new mantel clock

Nalisa Robinson, an exercise physiology sophomore, and Emily Corio, a journalism graduate student, each netted a Red iPod Nano for their efforts. They were among 230 students, staff, and faculty who participated in an information scavenger hunt the Libraries hosted in conjunction with the launch of their revamped Web site.

Pictured are Associate Dean Myra Lowe, students Nalisa Robinson and Emily Corio, and Web Service Librarian Beth Toren.

Contest participants were required to use the Web site and the Libraries’ online resources to answer five questions. Names of those with correct responses were included in the drawing.

One task was to name two electronic journals about Earth and Environmental Sciences. Another was to chat online with a librarian. Many students were pleased to learn that they could get instant help from a real person through the Ask-a-Librarian page.

“I thought the instant messaging with a reference library was very neat. I can see how that would be very helpful for students,” Corio said.

That service is offered from 2-9 p.m. Sunday, 9 a.m.-midnight Monday-Thursday, and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday. It can be accessed from the Libraries’ home page by clicking on the “Ask-a-Librarian” icon or directly at www.libraries.wvu.edu/ask/.

“I thought that the contest was a real creative way to get people to start using the Web site,” Robinson said.

The redesigned page, which looks cleaner and easier to read than the old site, is the handiwork the Libraries’ Web Team. Visual Arts student Andrew Carnill and Division of Arts professor Eve Faulkes used the team’s plans to design the graphics for the page.

The new site includes the Virtual Reference live chat service “Ask-a-Librarian”; E-Z Search, a Google-like search engine that searches Library resources; the current day’s library hours; Eliza’s Coffee Shop hours, menus, and prices; centralized library computing information; faculty information; and prominent links to find books, articles, and popular services.

Beth Toren, web services librarian, received many comments about how easy it was to use the new site to find the answers and that students liked the new graphics.

“We’re very pleased to hear such positive feedback from the university community,” Toren said. “Our goal is to provide a quick and easy-to-use site, and we strive to be user-friendly.”

To visit the new pages, go to www.libraries.wvu.edu.

The team studied three years of survey results for the WVU Libraries and presented their analysis during a session at the American Libraries Association’s mid-winter conference in Philadelphia in January. Their efforts won applause from about 50 academic library administrators from around the country.

“The students did an incredible job from start to finish,” WVU Libraries Dean Frances O’Brien said. “They did a thorough job analyzing the data, and they impressed a roomful of deans and directors with their presentation at the conference. Both are difficult tasks, even for professionals in the field.”

A team of WVU marketing seniors shined during their presentation at the American Library Association mid-winter conference in Philadelphia. Pictured are Frances O’Brien, Dean of the WVU Libraries; Angela Julien, marketing senior; David Hughes, marketing senior; Martha Kyrillidou, Director, American Research Libraries Service Quality Programs; Amanda Benson, marketing senior; Ryan D’Souza, marketing senior; and Dr. Paula Bone, marketing professor.

Those accolades go to marketing seniors Amanda Darby, Bruceton Mills; Ryan D’Souza, Morgantown; David Hughes, Skippack, Pa.; and Angela Julien, Bear, Del., who were recruited by Dr. Paula Bone for the project. O’Brien approached Bone, a marketing professor in the College of Business and Economics, last spring about finding a few students to transform pages of survey data into a useable report and then deliver their results to library administration. As the project developed, it came to the attention of the Association of Research Libraries, which invited the group to give the national conference presentation.

Despite a few initial butterflies, the students left the stage feeling good about their performance and their research.

“It went fabulously,” Darby said. “It was a bit intimidating, but once we got started they were all interested in what we had to say.”

Several people took copious notes, and the students fielded nearly two dozen questions from the audience about their work and how to replicate it at other universities. The team also won a few laughs when talking about people using cell phones in the library. Apparently, rampant cell phone use is a universal problem in public spaces.

“It was exciting for other people to see our work and be excited about it as well,” Julien said.

She also believes the team returned to Morgantown feeling more comfortable speaking in front of large groups and more proficient in their field of study. Although they have made presentations to companies as part of class assignments, Julien said, this time their efforts felt different.

“We actually did something that people are able to take away,” Julien said. “We really got feedback, and we’ll see if they’re going to do the things we recommended, which I think is more rewarding than a grade because it’s ongoing. We can see the results and we feel like we made an impact.”

That sense of accomplishment is the result of months of work that began near the close of the spring 2007 semester.
They spent about a month acquainting themselves with the LibQual survey before they read and categorized thousands of the comments and analyzed more than 100 pages of charts, graphs, and numbers. They also talked with O’Brien and spent more time studying in the library to observe and learn more about its offerings.

The students give a lot of credit to O’Brien for being available for questions and to Bone for being a great mentor. They praised Bone for encouraging them to try new things and to not be afraid to make mistakes.

“That’s how we learned a lot,” Julien said. “There was a lot of trial and error.”

Bone expected a positive result from the start when she first learned of LibQual’s connection to ServQual, which is internationally known for service quality and customer satisfaction research.

While she typically enjoys doing projects for the University and non-profits, she especially liked that this project gave the group a rich experience by introducing them to a standard practice in the industry.

“That gives the student an entrée into any service marketing job. They can say, ‘I really understand how to measure quality,’ ” Bone said. “That’s what really struck me.”

LibQual is an online survey that asks participants about their desired, perceived, and minimum expectations of service from the WVU Libraries. During the spring semesters of 2003, 2005, and 2007, the Libraries randomly selected 4,000 students, faculty, and staff to complete the survey.

During that time period, the responses led the Libraries to make several changes including extending library hours to 2 a.m. and adding Eliza’s, a coffee shop, to the Downtown Campus Library.

With three years worth of results compiled, O’Brien wanted to dig deeper into the data and develop a clearer picture of what users think about the libraries’ offerings and recent enhancements.

The report affirmed the enhancements the Libraries have already made and suggested a few additional changes.
Their top recommendation was to increase the number of journal holdings for each discipline. Along with that, it was suggested to work to increase awareness of existing offerings. Many people voiced frustration in the survey over materials that they didn’t know the Libraries already owned.

A second recommendation addressed computer access. It called for designating a cluster of computers for 15-minute intervals that would allow students to complete tasks such as print papers or check emails. A third recommendation was to do more to promote the Libraries’ cell phone policy, which directs people to stairwells to talk on phones.

“We all understand more about LibQual now, thanks to the students’ work,” O’Brien said. “The strategy grids were especially useful to see the effects of changes we made. I think the important thing about the survey is to track the results over time, and see if library users continue to be satisfied with our new programs and services.”