Connors State College Libraries 2013 2014 State of the Library Westbrook Library, Warner, OK CSC-NSUM Library, Muskogee, OK Prepared by Karen Harmon, MLIS
Connors State College Libraries 2013-2014 State of the Library Table of Contents Welcome.. Page 3 Library Overview. Pages 3-4 Resource Changes.. Page 4 Grants and Programming... Page 4-5 Statistics and Assessment Overview Page 5-6 Fall 2013 Library Survey Results.Pages 6-14 Faculty Survey. Pages 6-10 Student Survey. Pages 10-14 Our Staff Page 15 Conclusion Page 15 Page 2 Connors State College Libraries 2013-2014
Welcome The year 2013 2014 brought about several changes to the Connors State College Library system. With the retirement of Mrs. Margaret Rigney, our dedicated library director for 18 years, came the opportunity for us to spread our professional ability to both campuses. Jolene Armstrong has stayed in the Westbrook Library as their librarian, and Karen Harmon came on board as the librarian in the CSC-NSUM Library. We both want to welcome you to our facilities, and to encourage you to review our 2013 2014 State of the Library Report covering our services, statistics, assessments, and discussion of what our libraries provided for the Connors State College campuses this year. Library Overview The mission of the Westbrook Library and CSC- NSUM Libraries is to provide instructional materials, information services and collections to support the curricula offered by Connors State College and to meet the informational and research needs of students, faculty, staff, and administration. The libraries also promote the cultural, recreational, personal and professional development of the Connors State College Community. Our libraries have made the commitment to optimize the services and resources provided to our communities. Kelly Cook helps a student find databases We are constantly evaluating the resources we provide: print, online, and services. This year we have made changes to our website and added online services such as Interlibrary Loan in order to reach more students. We have expanded our catalog services by implementing Summon in January and call slips. Facebook has become a regular communication avenue to keep our patrons informed. We continue to reach out to the community through Let s Talk About It, Oklahoma! Grants including Not for Children Only in the Spring 2013 and Oklahoma Private Investigations for Spring 2014. In addition, the CSC-NSUM Library and Northeastern State University (NSU) Library Broken Arrow, were awarded the Bridging Cultures Bookshelf: Muslim Journeys Grant from the American Library Association (ALA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). With this grant the CSC-NSUM Library enjoyed the addition of 25 books and 4 DVDs to our collection. In November 2013, CSC-NSUM Library and the NSU-Broken Arrow Page 3 Connors State College Libraries 2013-2014
Libraries teamed up again to apply for the Scholastic Library Publishing National Library Week Grant. This will provide the opportunity to reach out to our libraries communities by making our patrons aware of the helpful resources we have and by holding a community fair of area organizations that provide assistance to those in need. Becky Rayborn, library technician, in the CSC-NSUM Library has viewed these grants as an opportunity to give back to Connors what they have given to me over the years of my schooling and employment here. They provide the chance to highlight the school and library and their efforts to improve our community; even the ones we don t get awarded. It still highlights our efforts. Resource Changes Summon-LASSO We installed our Summon discovery service in January, 2014. Kelly Cook named it LASSO since it ropes all of our holdings together and stays with the rodeo subject many of our students enjoy. Databases In May, 2014, we assessed the cost per use of our databases and used this information to make decisions to keep or discontinue subscriptions. We discontinued the subscription for one database. Brodart-McNaughton In April, 2014, we adjusted our McNaughton contract to include more DVD s, less Audiobooks, and fewer Warner Books. We kept our Muskogee library books request the same. These changes allow our library to meet the demand for current DVD s. Grants and Programming Let s Talk About It: Oklahoma! Provided by the Oklahoma Humanities Council, this $1,000 grant pays Honorarium and Mileage fees for Scholars to present and lead discussion of books from a chosen topic. In the Spring, 2013, the topic was Not for Children Only. This proved to be a popular season with an average of 10 attendees at each of the five events. Partnering with Northeastern State University Library, Becky Rayborn was instrumental in securing this grant and has adopted Let s Talk About It: Oklahoma! as a biannual event enjoying not only the events themselves but also their planning and execution. Page 4 Connors State College Libraries 2013-2014
Bridging Cultures Grant This grant was awarded for the Fall, 2013, by the National Endowment for the Humanities and included material for our collection supporting a Muslim theme. We partnered with the Oklahoma Humanities Council to provide Let s Talk About It: Oklahoma! events during the Fall semester. Becky Rayborn of Connors State College Library and the Northeastern State University Library were partners for this series as well. Career and Financial Planning Resources Brunch and Learn Karen Harmon, CSC-NSUM Librarian, teamed up with Kenard Booker, Director of Student Support Services, and offered instruction as to the use of our Career Planning Databases and financial planning. There were 14 students in attendance and they enjoyed pastries while learning about our resources and financial planning and discussing concerns they had regarding these topics and their futures. Muskogee Area Service Organization Fair Becky Rayborn dreamed of offering Connors State College students and the area public a place to find services to help all types of need. Along with Karen Harmon, she planned the first Muskogee Area Service Organization Fair held in the Northeastern State University Administration Building foyer on the Muskogee West campus. With 17 service organizations in attendance the over 40 attendees discovered many ways to find help and had numerous concerns addressed during the fair. It was so successful that future fairs are already being planned. Statistics and Assessment Overview Statistics about the Connors State College Libraries are brought up to date semi-annually and create a picture of useful information to assist in the library s strategic planning and assessment efforts. CIRCULATION Our circulation figure includes attendance at orientations, library website hits, interlibrary loan, circulation check outs, renewals, material use in the library, tests proctored, computer use, group study, and database searches. Our total circulation for the 2013/2014 school year was 311,628. COLLECTIONS Our collection use is divided into circulation check out, renewals, circulation books used in the library, reference book use, periodical and reserve material use. Check outs totaled 2,788 and renewals of those check outs were 1,090. Materials used in the library included 248 circulation Page 5 Connors State College Libraries 2013-2014
titles, 30 reference items, 1,826 periodicals, and 694 reserve items were used throughout the year. BUILDING USE The number of patrons entering our libraries varies from campus to campus. Our Warner campus library welcomed 22,075 patrons through its doors. The Muskogee West campus library opened its doors to 37,301 patrons. Our Port campus enjoyed hosting a librarian 5 hours a day, one day per week for the fall semester only and helped 151 patrons by answering questions or checking out books at the library table in the rotunda. REFERENCE Our average reference numbers for each month equaled 1,339. INFORMATION LITERACY We held a total of 97 database orientations in 2013/2014. The total number of students attending those classes was 1,461. Fall 2013 Library Survey Results Faculty and Staff Survey We conducted an online faculty survey of our library resources in December, 2013. Of the 48 responses, 60.4% were Faculty and 39.6% were Staff. While we did not separate the questions into the different campus libraries, we did ask which campuses they were based out of and 41.7% were Warner, 45.8% Muskogee, and 29.2% Port. The total of these percentages reflects those few employees who are based on more than one campus. Students work in the computer lab in the MW Campus Library Page 6 Connors State College Libraries 2013-2014 The largest majority, 50.0%, spend 1-2 hours per week using our library and its resources. 37.5% reported they do not use the library. Hours equaling 5 or more are spent by 8.3%, and 3-4 hours are spent by 4.2%. While we are glad to see 62.5% of respondents use the library and its resources, we would truly like to see a larger percentage in the coming years. We have increased our online presence and hope that this will make our resources more available to the faculty and staff. We are also determined to advertise our services more. We included a flyer regarding our services in the In-Service folders this year. We instructed faculty in the use of our online services at In-Service on January 8, 2014.
We began a blog post linked to from our home page and several of the inner pages of our website to announce programming and new services giving our patrons access to these announcements where they are. We have implemented QR Codes in several of our flyers to advertise our services and programming. With these changes we hope to see an increase in faculty use of our services and resources in our next Faculty and Staff Survey. In addition, the survey results reflect that many of our faculty and staff are very satisfied or satisfied with our resources. These include books, DVD s and VHS, equipment, newspapers, magazines, periodicals, databases, computers, interlibrary loan, and the ITV space in our Westbrook Library in Warner. The survey did show one response showing dissatisfaction with the DVD s and VHS collection, databases, computers, and ITV space. For our Connors State College Library features such as library staff, furniture, computer access, website, hours of operation, study space, noise level and atmosphere, many of the responses were very satisfied or satisfied. Of the 41 who answered this question, four responders were dissatisfied with the noise level, one dissatisfied with computer access, one dissatisfied with the website, and one very dissatisfied with the furniture. These were all from the Muskogee West Campus. One responder was very dissatisfied with the Warner Campus Library hours of operation. We asked for a text response providing suggestions for improvement of any of our library resources and received several suggestions which include: I would like to see the library offer either the JSTOR or Project Muse databases. Also, it would be helpful to students if the libraries were open at least a few hours on Saturday or Sunday. This would be very helpful for those students who have busy class/work schedules during the week and need library time on the weekend. Too loud in the library, although I know it is used for classes at times. Add DVD movies for checkout in Muskogee. Add some sort of noise barrier to keep the noise level down between the counter and study area. I know when I speak with the staff I feel like I am bothering students on the computers and those who are studying. Overalllove the Library and staff! When a class is using the library, there should be another area designated for students who need to test or study, rather than tell them to come back after the class is complete. I m glad you are available. Maybe longer hours. I would like more computers in the library in order to not have to send students away when there are classes. I don t use the library at this time. I work full-time in another town and drive to Port Campus on Tuesday and Thursday nights. We asked whether the faculty would find a group collaboration space created in the Westbrook Library useful for themselves or the students. Of those who responded, 32.5% said Page 7 Connors State College Libraries 2013-2014
yes, 7.5% said no, and 60.0% said they had no opinion. We also asked for suggestions and received a few text responses: GearUp Student educational activities. I would use the space for students to make a video. Being able to make videos. Great idea! Intensive studying in the Warner Campus Library In regards to databases, we asked if the faculty require students to use online library resources. The responses were divided as yes (30.0%), no (30.0%), and not applicable (40.0%). While discouraged that more of our faculty do not have their students use them, we are glad to have been able to show our new LASSO discovery tool to the faculty at in-service. This service has simplified our resource search into one function and we have been making it the priority in our orientations. We also asked if faculty request a library orientation presentation in the early part of the new semester. Of those responses, 22.5% said yes, 40.0% said no, and 37.5% said it was not Page 8 Connors State College Libraries 2013-2014
applicable. For those who said yes, we asked them to rate their satisfaction and all were either satisfied or very satisfied. We had a few responses and they include: I have done my own in recent semesters. What we need is a simple, direct explanation of the databases used by our students nothing more. Kelly does a great job. Another question we asked probed the professional opinion of the faculty as to whether they have confidence in their students ability to find authoritative information resources. The results broke down into 19.4% with a high level of confidence, 52.8% with a moderate level, 22.2% with a low level, 2.8% with a very low level, and 2.8% with no confidence at all. As you can see, faculty is reasonably confident with most of the students ability to discern authoritative resources. This may increase the probability that our students will successfully complete library orientations and walk away learning the techniques necessary to be successful in this task. Even the best of students need quiet moments When asked whether faculty would use online tutorials to learn themselves, or to teach students how to research databases, they answered with 60.0% saying yes, 12.5% saying no, and 27.5% answering with no opinion. This caused us to create a tutorials page on our website. Page 9 Connors State College Libraries 2013-2014
For the question regarding which databases were used the most, 33.3% responded that they do not use the databases. The database with the greatest percentage was Academic Search Premier at 33.3%. Education Research Complete took second at 30.6% and Films on Demand took third at an even 25.0%. Most databases reflected some use. There were five that did not and they included Consumer Health Complete, Health Source: Consumer Edition, MAS Ultra, Professional Development Collection, and Psychology Collection. We did not have 100% participation from faculty so it would not be proper to base database decisions on these results, but it will help in noting the few in which many faculty rely on the most. We also wanted to get a feel for the opportunity to teach a one hour credit course covering indepth information research skills. When asked if faculty and staff would encourage students to enroll in a one credit hour course the responses reflected 57.9% yes, 7.9% no, and 34.2% had no opinion. Our final question covered the best way to communicate and 97.5% said that e-mail was the best way. They also find the website as a useful way to communicate at 30.0%, print brochures received 15.0%, and Facebook 7.5%. No other communication options were offered as ideas by the responders such as Twitter or Instagram. Student Survey Our 2013 Student Survey gave us insight into what we are doing well and gave us suggestions for changes. Of the 123 persons that filled out our online or paper student surveys, 104 were full-time students, 16 part-time, and 3 were non-students. The participants class locations vary from Warner, Muskogee, and Port to a combination of the two or three. 89 students answered the question as to how often they use our resources and 17% responded with the use of 5 or more hours per week. 48% use the library and its resources 1-4 hours per week and 7% indicated they do not use the library. Our next question asked about the use of our resources and the level of satisfaction for those resources. Our computers and the databases showed the greatest response. 95% participants were either very satisfied or satisfied with our databases. 5% of the respondents were either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied. Our computers also received positive remarks with 97% of respondents being very satisfied or satisfied. Only 3% of participants are very dissatisfied with our Student checks out library books at the Port Campus Library Table Page 10 Connors State College Libraries 2013-2014
computers. An overview of the response to our books, DVD, VHS, print newspapers, print magazines, and periodicals shows 46% of the respondents did not have an opinion, but of those who did 97% were either very satisfied or satisfied with these resources. 3% were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied. The response to our available equipment for checkout revealed that 48% had no opinion. Of the respondents who did have an opinion, 97% were either very satisfied or satisfied, 3% were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied. Finally, the response to our interlibrary loan question showed 56% of the respondents had no opinion. Of those who did, 95% were either very satisfied or satisfied and 5% were dissatisfied. Even more enlightening were the responses to our question regarding satisfaction with library staff, furniture, computer access, online resources, website, hours of operation, study space, noise level, and atmosphere. Beginning with the library staff, 89% of the respondents were either very satisfied or satisfied with the library staff, 2% were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied and 9% had no opinion. We asked for suggestions to enhance the library s collections, resources, or its atmosphere and received quite a few responses. We have those responses broken down by campus in order to be able to address the issue or praise the library where the praise is due. Warner responses: I would greatly appreciate the library being open on the weekends for more study time. I am a full time student, with a job on my off hours, and rodeo practice 4 out of the 5 week days. I live off campus and come to the library to study and use the internet it s very hard for me to fit sufficient hours in during the week to study there. Opening on the weekends would make it much more efficient for me to keep up with all my classes. Millers crossing is always open for internet access but it s just not the same as all the resources and it is much to loud to concentrate with all the washers and dryers going in the back ground. I love the library feel and my only complaint would have to be that not being open on the weekends and I would love to see that changed in the next semester. couch good as is. Keep up the good work more up-to-date fictional books needs to be bigger and more loved with space enough for it to be loved/used to its fullest. Needs to be lively more quiet areas to study, with computer preferably. Later times on Fridays would be nice or Saturday mornings. Newer books for some of your non-fiction: Histories, Humanities, English Great! It s doing pretty good I think. Page 11 Connors State College Libraries 2013-2014
Sometimes it gets too noisy for a library atmosphere when taking tests or trying to study Maybe get more computer work stations, and more DVDs in the collection Open on weekends Stay open longer I m very pleased with the staff, as well as the resources and atmosphere. Muskogee West responses: Often times I go into the library and a class will have it reserved and I can not do my homework. I would like to see more computers or another computer area for those who aren t in that class. The noise is often loud because it s near the entry of the building. The library is already comfortable and easy access to any information needed. Separate computer lab would be nice, others on campus are only for nursing students. Some students misuse the success center. Sometimes classes require all computers for typing papers which should be done on student s own time. Those with online or blended classes are at the mercy of open computers. Computers users also add to the noise for studying and traditional library use. I would like to have some more comfortable seating similar to those found at bookstores. I think the library is a great asset to Connors. The staff are all wonderful and very helpful. I hope they receive the recognition they deserve. Need semi/private rooms to have study groups in that will not create noise in library. Lower the noise from staff and students alike. Provide more hours of operation. Need more computer space for classes Port responses: The library needs a few more Bibles Need more computer space for classes I would like to see a full library at the port campus but other than that I am very pleased with the library. Some of the chairs with desktops aren t really usable to take tests on, I would like to have more tables/chairs for when I have to use my laptop or take tests. More books current to classes, force quiet, and make website more user friendly/fix html and coding. I think the library is great how it is when I go it s very quiet and have a relaxing atmosphere and I enjoy it. Page 12 Connors State College Libraries 2013-2014
It is sometimes frustrating when the library is used for classes which make the computers unavailable. The college should have more classes with computers so the library is available for study. Need more computers. Open earlier during the school year. There are none. Please increase the number of fictional titles in Muskogee Honestly, you all do a great job. I really appreciate all of your hard work. You all have helped me a lot. Thanks We asked if the students would use a collaboration space in the Westbrook Library on the Warner campus. Of the respondents, 28% had no opinion. Of those who did, 86% stated they would use the space and 14% responded they would not. New bench seating purchased as a result of the survey. When asked whether the students have attended a library orientation and whether they helped the students to understand the library and its resources, 46% stated they have not attended a library orientation session. Of the respondents who have, 97% either strongly agreed or agreed that the orientation session helped them to understand the library and its resources. The other 3% disagreed that the orientations were helpful. Our next question asked whether students would use online tutorials to learn how to research databases. Of the respondents, 15% had no opinion. For those who had an opinion, 73% stated they would use online tutorials and 27% did not think they would. We asked two questions directly related to our databases. One was a statement as to whether the students get enough information to meet their class needs when they use the library databases. Of the respondents, 7% stated they do not use our databases, 91% either strongly agreed or agreed they do get enough information, and 2% either disagreed or strongly disagreed. Our other database question listed all of our subscribed databases and asked which ones the students chose to use. Here is a breakdown of the responses: Name of Database Name of Database Name of Database Funk & Wagnals New Nursing & Allied Health Academic Search Prem. 42 World Encyclopedia 3 Collection 12 Page 13 Connors State College Libraries 2013-2014
Agriculture Collection 9 Gale Virtual Reference Library 5 Agriculture Journals 8 Green File 16 America s News 34 GreenR 2 Nursing & Allied Health Source 12 Opposing Viewpoints in Context 36 Professional Development Collection 6 Business Source Premier 70 Health Source: Consumer Edition 21 PsycARTICLES 8 CINAHL Plus with FT 2 Health Source: Nursing 19 Psychology Collection 13 Consumer Health Complete 5 Learning Express Library 5 Small Business Reference Center 4 CREDOreference 21 MAS Ultra 6 SIRS 25 Education Journals 17 MasterFile Premier 3 Teacher Reference Center 8 Education Research Complete 49 MEDLINE 9 TOPICsearch 17 ERIC 16 Military & Gov Collection 6 Films on Demand 17 Newspaper Source Plus 14 We did have a few text responses which stated: Not sure which ones I ve used Google Use some but not sure Nursing Resources Owl 28 responded by stating they do not use the library databases. Our next question asked if students would consider enrolling in a one credit hour course covering in-depth information research skills. 26% of the respondents had no opinion. Of those who had an opinion, 55% stated they would enroll in the course and 45% would not. Our final question asked the students what the best way to communicate with them would be. The results were as follows: Print brochures 12% E-Mail 51% Library Website 18% Facebook 15% Other 4% (suggested were bulletin board, phone, signs, texts, twitter and face to face) Page 14 Connors State College Libraries 2013-2014
Meet the Staff Jolene Armstrong, Librarian, Warner Campus Linda Reid, Library Technician *Sarah Kite, Library Technician Callie Connolly, Library Technician Karen Harmon, Librarian, Muskogee Campus *Kelly Cook, Library Technician Becky Rayborn, Library Technician Majic Fink, Library Technician *Denotes those no longer with us at time of publication. Conclusion Connors State College s mission is to be committed to building futures one at a time by providing quality learning, service and leadership experiences designed to promote excellence in a global society. In our effort to support the college and its mission, we strive to keep up with the constantly changing nature of library services and needs of the faculty, staff, and students. We look forward to serving our patrons and being an asset to our community. Page 15 Connors State College Libraries 2013-2014