University Library Blogs

This month, Lyrasis honored Georgia State University Learning Commons Librarian Sarah Steiner with the 2009 NextGen Librarian Award for Outreach. Lyrasis is a library network formed in 2009 after the merger of well-established library groups PALINET and SOLINET. It presents the awards to five NextGen librarians each year. They selected Steiner this year because of her significant publications and presentations, her activity in the Georgia Library Association, and her initiative in developing better virtual research support at Georgia State University.

Steiner reaches out to Georgia State students through a variety of technologies, including Facebook, YouTube, blogging and instant messaging. Under her guidance, the online chat service at the Georgia State University Library has seen a surge in users. Throughout the school year, Steiner also conducts information literacy classes for students online.

Along with her devotion to virtual reference, Steiner is very active in the Georgia Library Association. In 2008, she was the chair of their New Members Round Table. She is also the founder of the Atlanta Emerging Librarians, an organization that provides library, information and media science students the opportunity to network with their future colleagues. Since many of these students are in distance learning programs, this organization helps them develop peer relationships with other emerging librarians. It has been extremely successful, with almost one hundred people attending their meetings at various metro Atlanta libraries.

Finally, Steiner already has significant publications and presentations under her belt. Most significantly, Steiner co-edited a book titled The Desk and Beyond: Next Generation Reference Services. This collection deals with innovative approaches to in-person and remote reference services in academic libraries. She has also co-authored an article on wiki usage in academic libraries, as well as performing several presentations on how wikis and other Web 2.0 applications can affect library services.

Sarah Steiner is truly a rising library leader, with her multiple publications and presentations, together with her activity in the Georgia library community and her improvement of online library services. She well deserves the NextGen Librarian Award, since she is constantly developing new ways to communicate with the next generation of students and librarians.

April 15, 2009 marked the First Annual Student Employee of the Year Award. The library’s own, Miranda Rhynes was the campus winner out of 26 nominations. Miranda has been with IS&T Department for almost 4 years in various student positions and now supervises the technical student assistants in the University Library and other computer labs on campus. Nominated by Daniel Bragg with glowing comments from several library employees, Miranda’s professionalism and respect that she shows to others was noted.

Congratulations to Miranda for receiving the First Annual Student Employee of the Year Award.

We now have two “All Region” DVD players in the media center in Library South 2.  These can be used for playing foreign films that are not Region 1 encoded.  The players are labeled.  One is located in Group Room #2.  The other one is located in station #28.

Frustrated when you go to the bank or the post office, only to find that they are closed for the day? Just so you won’t be frustrated with us, we at the Georgia State University Library want to understand your need for hours of operation that will coincide with your busy schedules.

The Library and the Student Government Association have partnered and are asking for your assistance in evaluating our hours.  There are now two ways you can cooperate with us:

First, if you go to http://tinyurl.com/b7xvsb you can fill out a quick survey about the library’s hours.

Second, the library will be hosting several focus groups this semester to hear your voices directly. To participate in one of these groups, please contact Jennifer Jones at jlink@gsu.edu.

It is the library’s mission to ensure that we meet the needs of the university community. We hope that with your cooperation we can identify ways that we may be able to better serve you.

The library will be closed Monday January 19th for the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday but will reopen Tuesday January 20th. Please see the hours page for the complete semester schedule.

Hello all,

 The Spring 2009 schedule for the Write Right tutoring service has been finalized:

Monday and Wednesday from 1PM - 6PM

Tuesday and Thursday from 9:30AM - 2:30PM

For more information about the Write Right service, click here. 

Marketing First Impressions: Academic Libraries Creating Partnerships and Connections at New Student Orientations

Academic libraries look for successful marketing strategies to promote positive perceptions among students. To do this, librarians need to find venues and partnerships outside the library. Florida State University Libraries discovered that participating in new student orientation networking sessions creates opportunities to generate lasting first impressions among incoming freshmen and their families. After analyzing three years of successive student and family evaluations, which measured presentation rankings and attendance, the library was able to determine the utility and effectiveness of participating in the orientation program. Related literature and an analysis of the evaluations both indicate that universities and students benefit when libraries participate in new student orientations.

 Access LPP here or here.

2008 Table of Contents

The University Library is now open until 8:00 p.m. on Fridays.