Former Dean of Libraries Michael B. Wood Retires

Dr. Wood began his career at the University Libraries in 1979 as a Periodicals Reference Librarian. From that position, he quickly advanced to Dean of University Libraries. Under his stewardship, the libraries moved to the world of automation beginning with the introduction of online bibliographic search services and the replacement of the traditional card catalog in favor of an online version, and progressed from there.
Dr. Wood expanded Ball State University’s participation in state library organizations and initiatives. As a library advocate he served in many capacities, meeting with the state legislature, writing reports for the Indiana Conference for Higher Education, serving on state task forces, and at the Governor’s request, acting as delegate to the Indiana Conference on Libraries and Information Science.
Dr. Wood was also in demand as a library consultant, especially regarding library automation, and he delivered many conference presentations on library automation and managerial issues.
Throughout, Dr. Wood was committed to the principles of higher education and maintained high standards. He instituted scholarships to support library staff pursuing graduate degrees in librarianship and was recognized for leadership in providing services to disabled library users. He was very successful in extramural fund-raising to support library programs and collections.
After serving 20 years as Dean, Dr. Wood returned to a more scholarly side of librarianship and used his many skills as Librarian in the Archives and Special Collections Research Center.
We thank Dr. Wood for his many contributions as librarian, administrator, and scholar, and we wish him the best in the future.

This article was published in The Library Insider May 2006, pg. 1.

Bracken Library's Newly Named Forum Room

The popular meeting room on Bracken Library’s second floor now has a name. Formerly called “Bracken 225,” the room is now called the Bracken Library Forum Room.

The Forum Room is ideal for larger group meetings because it offers a comfortable meeting space for up to 100 people. It is popularly reserved by Ball State administrators for candidate presentations, such as those hosted recently for Provost candidates. Often, these types of events are streamed for remote viewing.

The faculty reserves the room for lectures, conferences, and public presentations; staff reserve it for assembly meetings, workshops, and similar activities.

The Forum Room offers amenities such as

• An overhead Epson projector for digital video and PowerPoint or other presentations
• A large pull-down screen
• Internet access in Bracken Library’s 100% wireless environment
• Worldwide videoconferencing capability
• A podium, microphone and sound system
• Two large monitors for participants to easily view video or television programming provided through the University’s video information system
• Chairs for seating 100 persons, or computer tables and chairs for 24 persons
• Refreshments are permitted in the room if arranged through Banquet and Catering Services.

For information on reserving the room or equipment options, contact Denise Kinney at DKinney@bsu.edu or call (765) 285-1307.

This article was published in The Library Insider May 2006, pg. 7.

Libraries' Turnstile Counts at an All-time High

Our turnstile counts at the end of April 2006 are very strong – 1,151,432 visits. This means that we have already surpassed our 12-month count for last fiscal year by 13,917 visits, and the months of May and June remain in the fiscal year to add to this count.

We all remember July 2004 when we finished the first year of Project Destination Libraries, an initiative we envisioned as a three-year undertaking to reinvigorate, reenergize, and build community in the University Libraries as a place for students to research and learn. We increased attendance by 117,721 visits or 14.6%. This lead us to set what seemed to be an unachievable goal: attaining ONE MILLION visits by the end of the next fiscal year 2004-05.

This goal required us to attract an additional 74,673 visits. Without any new personnel and no additional budget allocation or space, we were challenged to do more with what we had.

Our solution was to employ the Rachesky Effect of finding value around us that had been ignored or underutilized, to find ways of capturing it to bring added value to our customers, and to offer services that would make our customers become repeat customers. We repurposed space and equipment, realigned personnel and programs through organizational development, and rethought the Libraries’ programs, services, and collections. We finished our second fiscal year of the project by greatly surpassing our ONE MILLION goal by 137,515 visits or 22.9%.

The current month of May and the coming month of June remain in our fiscal year 2005-06, and we have every reason to believe we will achieve a turnstile count of over 1,250,000 by the end of June 2006. This accomplishment is significant because it means that our students and faculty are choosing to come to the University Libraries to consult with our librarians and technical personnel, to use the University Libraries’ print and digital resources for their research and learning, to make use of the excellent technology of hardware and software that we offer our community, and to study individually and collaboratively in the ample differentiated space we provide ¬in a customer-friendly environment. Daily, we are excelling at making quality convenient for our customers.

Project Destination Libraries – a focus for developing community by making the Libraries a destination for research, learning, and friends – is approaching its third anniversary with the end of the current fiscal year. Our librarians and paraprofessional personnel are engaged in developing strategies for the Libraries to provide an even larger role in the academic life of the University, to offer programs, services, and collections for the Libraries to be the most important place on campus for learning outside of the classroom. View www.bsu.edu/library/article/0,,43179--,00.html for a listing of our major accomplishments for 2005-2006.

The University Libraries have a virtual side, too, that has not been mentioned in this article yet will be the focus of future Library Insider pieces. Our virtual services have greatly grown and expanded with changes to our e-collections of academic databases, e-journals, e-books, and other digital products including those in the rapidly growing Digital Media Repository.

For information, contact Arthur W. Hafner, Dean of University Libraries, at AHafner@bsu.edu or (765) 285-5277.

This article was published in The Library Insider May 2006, pg. 2.

University Libraries Receive LSTA Digitization Grant

The Indiana State Library has informed the Ball State University Libraries of a grant award of $25,125 through the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) to fund creation of a digital repository of oral history collections. The project is called "The Middletown Digital Oral History Collection." More information will be forthcoming.

For information, contact Dr. Arthur W. Hafner, Dean of University Libraries, at AHafner@bsu.edu or (765) 285-5277.

LSTA Grant Awarded to University Libraries

Indiana State Library’s Interim Director, Roberta Brooker, recently notified Dean Arthur W. Hafner that the LSTA grant application submitted by he and co-PI Suzanne Rice had been funded. The $2,000 grant is for the purchase of a SmartBoard.

The SmartBoard will increase the effectiveness of Bracken’s group study and meeting rooms for enhanced learning opportunities.

Examples of participating populations using the group study rooms include students working collaboratively on team projects and presentations, small-scale tutoring including special needs students, graduates in seminars, student organization meetings, and selected high school students. Rooms vary in size, accommodating between 4 and 18 persons.

Bracken group study rooms are multi-functional facilities, available by reservation to students and faculty and on a drop-in basis to all library users whenever Bracken is open. These rooms are heavily used, being reserved an average of 38 times a day. They are also used spontaneously by students at other times.

For more information, contact Dr. Arthur W. Hafner, Dean of University Libraries, at AHafner@bsu.edu or (765) 285-5277.

This article was published in The Library Insider April 2006, pg. 2.