Online Newsletter of
February 2010
AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY
MONTH
· PRESIDENT OBAMA PROCLAIMS NATIONAL AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH.
See here for text.
· AFRICAN AMERICAN QUILT EXHIBIT. This is the 5th year that Prof. Michelle Howard Harrell of the Early Childhood Education program and her “quilting sisters” have loaned the library a new collection of African American quilts. Quilting is an important part of the folk heritage of those of African descent living on this continent. Come see these 17 beautiful quilts, hanging in and near the library stairwell until March 15. For pictures of this year’s exhibit and those of previous years, click here.
· TIMELINE. For the 6th year, the library-created Timeline of African American History is on display in the front windows. The 2009 additions are for the inauguration of Pres. Obama and the naming of Eric Holder as U.S. Attorney General.
· At the library entrance, take a look at the large commemorative color album of the Obama inauguration featuring front pages from the African American press from around the country.
· Also, look at the revised RCC Library Research Guide to African American History. This guide was put together by the library staff and suggests books, reference books, databases and excellent web sites. The premier database on the subject available at RCC is The African American Experience, accessed 3,200 times last year by the RCC community.
· While in the library, browse the book display of new additions on African American history.
·
Finally, if there is one book you might read
this year on the topic of African American history, consider Slavery By Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans From
the Civil War to World War II by Douglas A. Blackman. RCC library call number: E185.2.B545 2008. Click here
for a New York Times book review or here for a 
interview between Bill Moyers and the author.
STUDENT ART WORK
Nineteen paintings are on display on the library’s lower level until March 5. They are student creations from Prof. Belezos’ Painting I course, Fall 2009 semester. Come and see them before they come down. Works displayed are by students Merissa Bedard, Alisha Johnson, Charlotte Somiah, Higinia Castillo, Franchesca Castro, and Iesha Williams.
COMPUTER UPDATES
There have been several recent improvements to the
technology infrastructure in the library, thanks to
· The number of computers in the library classroom has been increased from 18 to 23, now accommodating most classes.
· Software has been added to the 10 library laptop computers so that students can now print from them for the first time. Students can also download this same software from the library website and print in the library for the first time using their own laptops. All of this is a big improvement since it effectively doubles the number of computers that students can print from.
MANY LIBRARY STATISTICS UP
IN 2009
·
Highest Gate Count in History of Library
The gate count for the library reached 139,617 for 2009, up from
127,032 in 2008, 122,799 in 2007 and 101,512 in 2005. (The gate counter was not working correctly
in 2006.) This is a 38 percent increase
in four years. Gate count is the measure
of the number of people entering the library.
This is the highest count since mechanical gate counting was installed
in 1990 and in all probability, the highest in the history of the library. The week with the highest gate count for the
year was that of September 14 when 5,524 entrants were recorded. This was up 28 percent over the highest week
for 2008.
*Note: Gate counter not working correctly in 2006.
·
Library Database Searches Up 42 percent.
One of the things that
students learn in library instruction sessions is how to find quality online
articles in library databases. The
number of online searches for these articles by students went up an amazing 42
percent during 2009, from 41,877 to 59,451.
Fully half of that increase came in November and December when the much
larger RCC student body were doing research papers.
The dramatic and
continuing increase over the last eight years in students accessing quality
articles for research papers also hints at an increase in information literacy
skills, at least in this one area. There
were two times as many database searches in 2009 as in 2007 (29,627) and almost
four times as many as in 2005 (15,531).
·
Circulation Up 25 percent
The year 2009 posted a
19,236 circulation figure, a 25 percent increase in the circulation of books,
videos and other materials over 2008.
This was nearly double the figure four years ago.
o
2009: 19,236
o
2008: 15,334
o
2007: 12,900
o
2006: 10,697
o
2005: 9,922
o
2004: 11,208
o
2003: 10,720
o
2002: 8,278
·
Reference Questions Answered Up Slightly
The number of
reference question answered increased about 2 percent but was basically the
same for the last three years.
o
2009: 6,029
o
2008: 5,899
o
2007: 5,836
o
2006: 5,031
o
2005: 3,266
o
2004: 1,748
·
Huge Increase in Use of Online Research Guides
In September 2007,
library professional staff started creating Online Research Guides to
supplement instruction sessions. These
have proved to be one of the most successful and popular of new library
services. They were accessed 2,466 times
in 2007, 16,209 times in 2008 and 35,141 times in 2009. In 2009, selected faculty began adding
content to the online research guides keyed to their courses. This successful experiment in collaboration
between faculty and instruction librarians will be expanded in 2010. Also in 2009, the librarian instructors gave
a well received presentation at the annual Massachusetts Community College
Conference, explaining the success of the online research guides program at
RCC.
To build a better
college library and provide superior customer service, we need your
comments. Send both praises and gripes
to mlawrence@rcc.mass.edu.
If you missed earlier issues of Welcome to the Library,
click on “Read the Library’s newsletter” on the library website http://www.rcc.mass.edu/lib.
Welcome to the Library, published by Roxbury Community College Library,
Mark
Lawrence, Library Director