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| navigate: home: magazine: spring 2001: article | |
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University Libraries embrace information technology Serving students, faculty and the public remains the key mission By Susan J. Burlingame | |||||||||||
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Where does anyone looking for information go? For 150 years, people have gone to the public library for books, reference materials, periodicals, research — peace. There is no other institution so accessible to the public. It costs its patrons next to nothing. Its boundaries are completely colorblind and bias-free, ageless. It is almost always open. And it is changing. Because of vast technological advances over the past few decades, the ways people get information have changed drastically. The World Wide Web, especially, makes accessing information easy to do from home. In fact, it might tempt people to stay away from the library. At Penn State, the University Libraries’ administrators have been carefully observing the direction the world is going and have keenly positioned the Libraries at the forefront of information technology. Penn State has augmented the role of the Libraries to embrace technology while making the Libraries more accessible and welcoming to the public, as well as to Penn State students and faculty here and abroad. Pattee Library and Paterno Library on the University Park campus are the hub of the University Libraries. They house eight subject libraries, more than 400 computer terminals offering an expansive suite of electronic services and Internet resources, hundreds of data ports for laptop computers, a 134-seat auditorium, works of art, instruction and seminar rooms and much more. There are six additional subject libraries at University Park, 22 other campus and college libraries at locations throughout the state, as well as readily accessible on-campus and off-campus storage facilities to house Penn State’s more than 4.3 million volume collection. Beyond the many “places” where libraries are located, the University Libraries are becoming involved with programs, outreach initiatives and collaborations that do not fit into the traditional library mold. Getting to know the University Libraries
There are two possible “first steps” for becoming acquainted with the University Libraries. Wandering casually into buildings as big as the Pattee Library and the Paterno Library may seem overwhelming and intimidating to the average person, especially someone who has not been in a university library for a long time. There is so much to take in and so much has changed because of a recent expansion and renovation. Merely walking in, however, is a good way to get to know the Libraries, where the staff is happy to offer assistance to anyone who needs it. Organized as well as informal tours are a regular part of library business and friendly staff at information desks throughout the Libraries put new visitors at ease. The Libraries’ faculty, staff and administrators have a strong commitment to make the library a welcoming place that meets the needs of anyone who comes to call.
Another way to get to know the Libraries is by using the Internet to visit the Web site: www.libraries.psu.edu. Here, you can take a virtual tour, learn how to explore the Libraries’ many databases, check out the CAT (the on-line catalog), take a tutorial on a number of library subjects or even explore holdings at other libraries in the Commonwealth through ACCESS Pennsylvania. Computer terminals located in the libraries also allow visitors to access this information with the advantage of having staff available to answer questions or help newcomers navigate the Web site.
Bonnie MacEwan, assistant dean for collections, explained that the mission of Penn State’s Libraries is aligned with the University’s land-grant status and has always been to provide information to as many people as possible. Anyone with a Pennsylvania driver’s license is eligible to get a borrower’s card.
“It is the library of the people,” she said, “and we are all very conscious of that. Taxes support this University, so ultimately this library is to serve everyone seeking information. We are all about building coherent research collections that support the work of the faculty and students at Penn State, as well as the residents of the Commonwealth.”
“We are here to educate the sons and daughters of the Commonwealth, as well as Penn State students at our 23 locations in Pennsylvania,” echoed John H. Sulzer, associate dean for campus college libraries. “In addition to serving students, the libraries are open to all Pennsylvania residents.”
Because he oversees the Libraries at other Penn State locations, Sulzer explained their unique outreach opportunities. Many Penn State campuses and colleges are located in remote areas, some with no public library other than the one provided by Penn State. “Our Libraries perform the function of being community libraries, as well as university libraries,” he said. “Penn State’s librarians work with community librarians to determine what is appropriate in terms of collection development beyond the curricular needs of the campus. They keep an eye toward the public need.”
Not only do the Libraries reach out to the residents of Pennsylvania, but they also provide information nationally and internationally. For example, Penn State’s World Campus enables students to study from just about anywhere in the world. The Libraries are finding ways to deliver information, using electronic as well as traditional “hard copy” methods, to those studying abroad, in addition to students who require information not readily available on their own campuses.
“We are about three years into our efforts to reach out to Penn State’s World Campus students,” Sulzer said. “We’re still on a learning curve to identify our students’ needs. We are also working on several initiatives to explore on-line instructional services by the Libraries to teach people [distance learning and remote campus students] how to use the library services,” he added, noting that current on-line tutorials teach how to access interlibrary loan services, do research projects and more. “It’s an exciting time to be a librarian. There’s always a challenge or an intellectual question to deal with.”
The Libraries also have capitalized on advancements in technology by becoming a part of larger systems. For example, Penn State is involved in a cooperative resource pool with the other Big Ten universities, known as “VEL” for “Virtual Electronic Library,” to offer nationwide access to participating university collections. Each Big Ten university has particular strengths. For example, the University of Wisconsin has an excellent African American Studies collection, and Indiana is well known for its technology and science collections. Penn State has an outstanding agricultural collection, as well as a highly touted labor studies collection. Through VEL, people doing research at Penn State can take advantage of a huge research university information pool. Penn State is also part of ACCESS Pennsylvania, a statewide initiative to offer comprehensive access to information by combining Commonwealth libraries on a database.
The Penn State Libraries’ head of access services, Cordelia Swinton, believes the mission of the Libraries is evolving. “We had a captive audience when we first started, but that’s not the case any more,” she said, noting that many people are turning to their computers to do research nowadays. “I think, for the most part, people in the Libraries see the need to become more customer-oriented. We are in a service industry.”
Swinton, who oversees circulation, interlibrary loans, reserves, storage facilities and more, has worked for the Libraries for more than 30 years. She says she is somewhat concerned about a day when people will do the majority of their research on the Internet and not want to use the library. “So we have to make it worthwhile for them. We have to do a selling job.”
In keeping with this mission, the Libraries have embraced new technologies yet have focused energy and resources to create physical spaces that welcome patrons and make the Libraries places to visit and enjoy. Pattee Library and Paterno Library boast pleasant reading rooms, even two floors with extended hours. There is a listening room, a café and museum-quality special collections, such as Fred Waring’s America Archives and the Henisch Photo-History Exhibit Rooms. There are newspapers to read from all over the world and computer terminals for Internet browsing. The entire building is accessible to people with disabilities. Reaching out to the community and Commonwealth
Then there are initiatives that create new ways of looking at the Libraries’ mission of “providing information to the public.” The Public Poetry Project, the Center for the Book and the Partners in Public Service project (see story below), to name a few, take this mission to a new level. These projects are helping to recreate the role of the Libraries as they reach out to the public — particularly to the young — with the lofty goal of educating, exciting and stimulating minds.
The Public Poetry Project, for example, which began last April, honored the memory of Penn State librarian Kim Fisher by placing poetry in public places. The project selected poems by poets with a connection to Pennsylvania and printed them as posters, which were designed as a gift to the University by Penn State designer Gretl Collins. Eight posters printed in the first year of the Public Poetry Project were distributed all over the community, on campus and in coffee shops, doctors offices, bookstores, hotel lobbies and to other Penn State locations throughout the Commonwealth. To augment the project, the Libraries organized a public poetry reading by five of the featured poets.
“Kim loved the collections,” MacEwan recalled, noting how happy she was with the project and how pleased she believes Kim Fisher would have been had he lived to administer the Public Poetry Project himself. “He loved getting literature into the lives of people.” Though it is hard to measure the project’s success in terms of how many people’s lives were touched by the poetry posters, the project will continue under the auspices of the Center for the Book — another Libraries initiative that is breaking the mold.
According to the director of the Penn State Center for the Book, Dr. Steven Herb, who also is head of the educational and behavioral sciences library, Daniel Boorstin of the Library of Congress first introduced the Center for the Book concept in 1977. Its object is to celebrate books and to emphasize and promote print culture, libraries, literacy, writing and reading. All states were asked to be part of the national Center for the Book, and Pennsylvania’s initial location was in Harrisburg. Herb and University Libraries Dean Nancy Eaton later presented a proposal to the Library of Congress to bring it to Penn State. Their proposal was approved and funding issues were resolved.
Pennsylvania’s Center for the Book includes setting up a Pennsylvania-based Web site (http://www.pabook.libraries.psu.edu) to be filled with all sorts of information about books, reading and literacy. For example, it will contain book news, a clearinghouse for information about anything related to writing and information about writers. It will also introduce a Literary Map that will allow people to browse literary information that originated in different counties in Pennsylvania — perhaps an author who was born in the state or a town that became the setting for a book or story. Eventually, the Literary Map will include authors talking about or reading their own works, videos on many subjects and more.
“We are trying to build a foundation to make this a permanent outreach arm from the University Libraries into the homes of Pennsylvanians,” Herb explained. “The Center for the Book has great potential to help people. After safety, shelter, water and food, I think literacy is next. The Center for the Book will be poised with the ability to offer access to everyone.”
The Center for the Book has other outreach components, as well. For example, the center is giving books to disadvantaged children and is taking the Public Poetry Project to new levels by presenting the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award to the best book of children’s poetry published in the previous year. The center will also participate each year in one nationally affiliated project with the Library of Congress. Last year, children were able to enter a writing contest by submitting a letter to their favorite author, living or dead, whose books had the greatest influence on their lives.
The Center for the Book, Herb concluded, “is an excellent example of using the history of what libraries are about at the same time we’re celebrating the future of what libraries can be. We are looking forward at the same time we are looking back. Ultimately, our success will be tied to how we get into the hearts and minds of library users. We are hoping to make something so useful that people will want to bookmark it [the center’s Web site] as close to their homepages as possible.” A place for everyone
With an advanced infrastructure in place, Penn State University Libraries continue to expand services and access to technology. An enhanced system, created with SIRSI Unicorn, will integrate and centralize every one of the libraries’ functions — catalog, reserve functions, interlibrary loan, acquisitions, inventory, etc. — for seamless management of the growing volumes of information. People will be able to register as library patrons on-line and to access multiple library systems at locations throughout the world.
As information technology becomes more sophisticated, Penn State librarians are expanding their fundamental role to organize and maintain information for public access to include these vital new resources.
“We have to be very aware of the information resources that will need to come together 100 years from now,” MacEwan said. “What we collect, what we preserve, is an important part of our role.”
Librarians also seem universally to believe that technology is enhancing, but will never completely replace, the traditional library setting and that people will always want to visit libraries. Penn State University Libraries are enormous, making the Libraries one of the largest lending institutions in the country. They are divided, however, into convenient, welcoming spaces with various subjects and purposes. Their mission — even with the assimilation of technology into their function — remains key to promoting literacy and knowledge in the 21st century, just as it was in the 19th century.
“The library will stay open as a ‘place’ as long as we need to preserve a working research collection and as long as there is a segment of the population that does not have electronic access,” Sulzer emphasized. “We haven’t gotten to the point where we can work as communities on-line. Given the fact that, as human beings, we seem to need to be physically with other people, libraries will continue to provide space for face-to-face human interaction.” Penn State University Libraries will continue to serve this need. | ||||||||||
| University Libraries team up with Public Broadcasting and Palmer Museum | |||||||||||
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One way the Penn State University Libraries are reaching out to the public is through a new initiative called PIPS, for Partners in Public Service. The Libraries are teaming up with Penn State Public Broadcasting’s WPSX-TV and WPSU-FM and the Palmer Museum of Art to offer a high-tech museum experience that is part of a Penn State-driven national initiative to encourage collaborations among nonprofit entities. PIPS is funded mainly by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, as well as the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which will host conferences to discuss the outcomes of Partners in Public Service projects throughout the country. Locally, PIPS will bring together the University Libraries and Penn State Public Broadcasting to use technology to make the content of a current Palmer Museum exhibit, “History Past, History Present: The Daguerreotype Portrait in America,” more accessible to the public. A major portion of the project will be the development of a Web site by the University Libraries, the Palmer Museum and Penn State Public Broadcasting that will house the virtual exhibit, as well as specific linkages between the museum and the Libraries. An outreach component called “Developing History” has planned learning opportunities for school children complete with lesson plans and a regional photography activity that will exhibit the children’s photographs on-line, on WPSX-TV and at the Children’s Literature Matters conference at Penn State. The Palmer Museum’s exhibit will be augmented to include a variety of items from the Libraries’ special collections, such as contemporary scholarly studies and 19th century publications and objects. In addition to helping develop the Web site, Penn State Public Broadcasting plans to use its media to advertise the project and eventually to turn the project into a documentary. The concept for Partners in Public Service came out of a 1998 national conference that examined new technologies and the ways technology helps nonprofit agencies and organizations collaborate with others. Because of the World Wide Web, organizations such as the University Libraries, the public television and radio stations and the museum can work together to offer a unique experience to a larger audience. Collaborations are not limited to university entities, however. “There is a common mission as to what we are all trying to do,” said Ted Krichels, assistant vice president for outreach and general manager for Penn State Public Broadcasting, noting that technology is becoming more ubiquitous in all segments of the nonprofit world. “We are all bringing information to the public, but we deliver it in different ways.” Penn State’s project is one of several being planned at other test sites in the United States, with the intention of developing models for future collaborative efforts. “What if All Kentucky Reads the Same Book” is a project involving eight different nonprofit groups in Kentucky. “Science for Kids: Marsville” brings together NASA, the Discovery Museum, the Science Center of Connecticut and the Greater Hartford Academy of Math and Science to construct a virtual colony on Mars that is scientifically sound and culturally inspiring. These exhibits and others reach out to communities and educational institutions for curriculum development, quality programming and benefits that cross organizational lines. Dr. Steven Herb, Penn State’s Center for the Book director and head of the educational and behavioral sciences library, is part of the PIPS project team. He sees PIPS as a great way for Penn State organizations to co-sponsor programs and make them better. “We are trying to put all of our attention and efforts into a project that we couldn’t do individually,” he said. The interesting and unexpected outcome of projects like PIPS, explained Krichels, is that campus entities learn to cross the “cultural boundaries of other entities and help us learn to work together,” he said. “We learn to speak each other’s language.” Partners in Public Service will conclude with a conference to be held at Penn State. Project organizers from the eight test sites will share ideas and develop guidelines and recommendations for future collaborative projects. | ||||||||||
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