CONNECTIONS 2017-18 Annual Report
MAKING CONNECTIONS A Message from the Dean Libraries are no longer storehouses of information. Modern libraries are all about making connections, and the Jerry Falwell Library (JFL) endeavors to make connections with students and faculty in a variety of ways. The JFL connects students with reliable, authoritative resources and then connects those students with highly trained staff and librarians who can teach them how to use those resources effectively and ethically. Angela Rice Jerry Falwell Library Dean
The library connects students with spaces that inspire them and that provide a place to focus and delve deep into their studies. The library connects scholars with one another and connects with the past through the preservation of archival materials. Librarians connect with the broader community through outreach activities and special events and connect with colleagues through professional organizations and service. During the 2017-18 fiscal year, the JFL made over 22.3 million* direct and indirect connections between library customers and information, resources, spaces, and related services. All of that was accomplished while being good stewards of funding with an expenditure per enrolled student of approximately $77.52, slightly less than the $80 average price for a new textbook. As you read through this annual report, you will see the breadth of services and the wealth of expertise that the JFL provides to the Liberty University community and beyond. From innovative acquisition models to point-of-need research assistance, the JFL strives to assist students in their academic pursuits while also supporting faculty in their teaching and scholarship. Unlike most academic departments that specialize in serving one segment of the university community, the library serves all faculty, staff, and students — part-time or full-time, undergraduate or graduate, residential or online — while also serving the local community and the larger academic landscape through the preservation and open-access distribution of LU scholarly works on a global level. *Total of research and instruction services, virtual and physical space usage, resource usage, and InterLibrary Loan services to the LU community. All data in this report encompasses fiscal year 2017-18.
Mission The mission of the Jerry Falwell Library is to support teaching, learning, and research by providing information, resources, spaces, and related services for the Liberty University community.
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CONNECTING WITH CUSTOMERS Providing Spaces and Resources During fiscal year 2017-18, JFL connected students and faculty with reliable, authoritative information sources by providing access to over 1.3 million physical and electronic items and 535 databases containing millions of articles. The library implemented innovative, cost-saving strategies such as evidence-based acquisitions (EBA) to provide access to materials. Ten recently established EBA contracts enabled the library to provide access to more than 200,000 e-books valued at $35 million while paying less than 2% of that cost annually. JFL also supported the Inclusive Access initiative by providing unlimited access to some e-books being used as Research Guide Views Instructional Video Tutorial Views Research Questions Answered textbooks for online undergraduate students.
223,653
19,466
12,784
Virtual and7,427 Physical Spaces Students in 281 Instructional Sessions and Workshops
455,321 JFL Facility Visits 1,552 Guests on 164 JFL Tours 6,692,621 Library Webpage Views 1,897 Event Space Reservations for a Total of 6,143 Hours of Use 35,653 Group Study Room Reservations for a Total of 85,759 Hours of Use
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I just wanted to tell you that all the books that I requested were obtained by the library. They were a great benefit to my students and me. In short, my students were very successful this past year beyond my expectation.”– Department of Biology & Chemistry professor, email
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The more databases the better! Also, a big shout-out to how well the InterLibrary Loan staff have been in helping me track down sources when I need to find those oddball or hardto-get sources!” – Undergraduate student, anonymous survey
Total Resources
913,211 69%
Resource Usage
Electronic Articles
409,275 31%
E-books
Physical Items Physical 1,322,486
14,886,224
Physical materials include print books, DVDs, CDs, printed sheet music, and other physical items.
Items
Physical Electronic Physical Physical materials include Electronic materials include Physical materials include printe-books, books, DVDs, digital CDs, video, print books, DVDs, CDs, printed sheet music, and digital audio, digital sheet printed sheet music, and in other physical music, anditems. other items other physical items. electronic format.
Digital Audio & Video Files
Uses of Materials
Archival & Special Collection Items
Scholars Crossing Documents
Electronic Electronic Electronic materials include Electronic materials include e-books, digital video, e-books, digital video, digital audio, digital sheet digital digital sheet music, audio, and other items in music, andformat. other items in electronic electronic format.
InterLibrary Loan and Document Delivery
5,620
Borrowed Items
9,545
Loaned Items
6,986
Delivered Items
Borrowing to Lending ratio=0.6 to 1
The InterLibrary Loan Department connects students and faculty with resources by borrowing items from other libraries, purchasing relevant requested items through the Purchase on Demand acquisitions program, and delivering materials from the JFL collections to the LU community. For the past two years, the JFL has been a net lending library, currently borrowing 0.6 items for every one item loaned. Being a net lending library is significant because it indicates that the library is not only meeting the immediate information needs of the JFL community, but also that other institutions recognize the value of the materials in the JFL collections.
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CONNECTING THE DOTS Preparing Students for Today and Tomorrow The library not only connects students with the resources they need, but it also works to help them acquire the information skills they need to be successful today and in their future careers. Students are constantly bombarded by all types of information, and learning how to determine the best and most reliable sources is not only an academic skill but a life skill. The Research & Instruction Department uses a variety of approaches to help students learn how to find the right resources and how to use them appropriately by: • Creating over 90 instructional videos. • Collaborating with Liberty University Online to offer a variety of webinars for online students. • Providing Research Smart Workshops. • Creating an app-based library activity to support the UNIV 101 course. • Teaching Inquiry 101 library sessions. • Expanding hours of service to provide research assistance any time that the library is open. •
Embedding librarians in some academic areas several hours a week to increase accessibility to students and faculty.
• Maintaining discipline-specific Research Guides to help students quickly find resources they need. • Providing services to faculty such as assistance with their research, collaboration on research projects, classroom instruction, and subject specific research guides.
Making a Difference The Research Support Center is making an impact on the success of students and faculty. This is just a sampling of the anonymous feedback received through chat and email research assistance satisfaction surveys.
“
You rock! I teach at two other schools and you run circles around their library services...so blessed to be teaching at Liberty.”
“
“
[He] helped me by inspiring and calming me down. He has no idea, but by asking just a few questions, I was redirected to the right location. He followed up by giving me two names of librarians who can help me as well.”
[She] was very helpful and patient with my questions. I let her know I was a new (old) student, and she even offered to stay on the line while I figured some of her suggested site options out.”
Research and Instruction Services
223,653
Research Guide Views
12,784
19,466
Research Questions Answered
Instructional Video Tutorial Views
7,427 Students in 281 Instructional Sessions and Workshops 455,321 JFL Facility Visits Librarian in the Making
1,552 on 164 JFL Tours SeveralGuests JFL student workers have become librarians as a result of their work study experience.
“Working in the Curriculum Library 6,692,621 Library Webpage Views was amazing!
I loved my co-workers and supervisors. I tell people all the time that working in the Curriculum Library Event Space Reservations for a Total Hours of Use with has been my favorite jobofso far. I loved working the students and staff to help them find what they needed. The job encouraged me to get my Masters Group Study Room Reservations for a Total of Hours of Use in Library Science!”
1,897 35,653
6,143
85,759
– Sarah T., Elementary School Librarian in North Carolina, Class of 2014
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CONNECTING SCHOLARS Supporting Student and Faculty Research The library works to connect student and faculty researchers with each other and with the larger academic community. One way that this is accomplished is through Scholars Crossing, an institutional repository of student and faculty scholarship that is discoverable through popular search engines such as Google. The Scholarly Communications Department maintains this archive of scholarly works, which includes undergraduate honors theses, graduate theses and dissertations, universitysponsored journals, and an Expert Gallery that consists of faculty pages with book chapters, conference presentations, journal articles, course materials, and other forms of scholarship. In addition to Scholars Crossing, the JFL highlights student and faculty research in other ways including: • Supporting Research Week and the Big South Undergraduate Research Symposium (BigSURS). • Creating faculty author book displays. • Hosting semiannual Faculty Author Series talks. • Co-hosting Scholars Series talks. • Featuring research activities on the Media Wall. • Displaying class projects. • Sponsoring the Creative Upcycling Contest to highlight creative scholarship.
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The Jerry Falwell Library is unparalleled in quality and efficiency. I could not function in my academic endeavors without it.” – Graduate student, anonymous survey
Scholars Crossing The worldwide distribution of Scholars Crossing downloads is shown on the map below, demonstrating the global impact of the university’s research.
100k+ 25k
10k
1k
<1k
Downloads by Country
Scholars Crossing Documents
1,165 documents added for a total of 9,313, including 425 new Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) for a total of 3,235 ETDs 1,343,545 downloads, including 892,462 ETD downloads Most downloaded: Lee Sitkowski’s doctoral dissertation, The Effects of Participation in Athletics on Academic Performance among High School Sophomores and Juniors, with 35,908 downloads
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Wow. Thank you all so incredibly much for having a place that is filled with many resources & is always a place where I can come study & do work. The staff here is very helpful & always kind and professional.” – Emily, comment card
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I can’t imagine not being able to find an answer to any question or enough research material for assignments! The library gives me much more peace than Google in regards to accuracy.” – Undergraduate student, anonymous survey
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CONNECTING WITH HISTORY Preserving the Past for Future Generations The JFL connects students and researchers with the past through the preservation of university-related historic materials and various special collections. The Archives and Special Collections Department has expanded access to these resources by: • Maintaining digital collections that were viewed 3,381 times. • Acquiring an additional 456 volumes for the James and Shelly Lutzweiler Hymnal Collection. • Processing 296 items in the Sunday School Collection donated by Dr. Elmer Towns. • Recording an additional 23 veterans’ stories in the Military Oral History Project. • Processing almost 70 linear feet of materials and 478 books.
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I absolutely love the JFL! The ease of use and access to what seems like unlimited resources makes my academic pursuits seem less daunting. I have never had difficulty finding the resources that I need, and the library subscriptions to academic journals is phenomenal. Having such access makes life easier when studying a discipline that requires a great deal of research for success in the classes.” – Graduate student, anonymous survey
Work Study Leads to New Career Path Berkley Simmons (pictured below) became a student worker in the Archives and Special Collections Department in August 2016. She recently shared how working in the library changed her career path. “Working [in the archives] has inspired my love for history and encouraged me to take on a different career path than I originally intended. I am currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in history, and I thought that being a historian meant I could be little more than a teacher or researcher. Through working with the archivist, Ms. Sattler, I have discovered that I can help be a part of preserving history for future generations. The Jerry Falwell Library Archives and Special Collections Department helps create a picture of not only how much Liberty has grown but also of where it started. I am thankful that I have been able to be a part of preserving its history and that it has inspired me to pursue a career in archival work.”
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The whole Archives staff is superb! Very kind, fun, and helpful.” – Evelyn, comment card
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CONNECTING WITH THE COMMUNITY Reaching Beyond the Classroom The JFL connects with the campus community by hosting events and participating in campus activities, such as College for a Weekend, ExperienceLU, Welcome Back Block Party, Health Fair, and IT Services Fair. The library also seeks opportunities to partner with other departments to co-sponsor events, such as a talk on the topic of the experiences of African-American veterans in February in partnership with the Center for Multicultural Enrichment. A semiannual event that the JFL hosts is De-Stress for Exams. This event includes a variety of activities designed to give students a study break, and the therapy dogs are always the most popular attraction. Another event, the annual Library Services Fair, gives students and faculty an opportunity to connect with librarians and learn more about how the library can support them on their academic journey. Additionally, the library hosts an Instrumental Inspirations series featuring music students providing soft background study music.
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I just wanted to say how much I enjoy the live music program! The soft music is so peaceful and relaxing to listen to!” – Madison, comment card
Beyond Campus JFL faculty and staff reached out to the local community by distributing flyers about the Veterans Oral History Project at the Veterans Day Parade in November and by hosting School of Education students in the Curriculum Library for after-school tutoring of local elementary school students. Library faculty and staff participated in service activities such as ringing the bell for the Salvation Army in December.
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I have been at other schools both online and residentially as a student, and LU has by far had the best library services (both on the physical campus and online). I teach and am a student here, and I enjoy the library from both sides.” – Faculty, anonymous survey
Donors Making an Impact Library donors are an important part of helping the JFL to make an impact and achieve goals, whether the gift is large or small. For instance, an anonymous donation funded the purchase of rocking chairs for the library’s many balconies as shown in the photo below. Those wishing to donate to the library can use the attached giving envelope or contact the Donor Services Department at 1-800-368-3801.
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Christian Library onsortium
CONNECTING WITH COLLEAGUES Serving the Professional Community
JFL faculty members often connect with colleagues within the university and in the broader academic community. As an example, in June 2018, the library hosted the Virginia Scholarly Communications Group where JFL faculty collaborated with other academic librarians from across Virginia. Library faculty also served in professional associations and university-wide committees and shared their professional expertise through conference presentations.
Professional Organizational Memberships
Professional Organization Service and Presentations
JFL is an organizational member of a number of professional associations:
JFL faculty shared their professional expertise through professional association committee service and conference presentations through these organizations:
Christian Library Consortium
®
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I think you are doing a great job serving Liberty University. I love how nice and helpful each member of the JFL team is.” – Tracy, Comment card
New Library Faculty
Michael Macasa Acquisitions Librarian; Liaison Librarian to the School of Communication & Digital Content
Jeremy McGinniss Coordinator, Research & Instruction; Liaison Librarian to the Center for Research & Scholarship, Center for Applied Studies & Academic Success, College of General Studies, and the Office of Equity & Inclusion
Josh Waltman Coordinator, Learning Commons; Liaison Librarian to the School of Business
30 Years Serving in the Library In August 2017, Kim Day marked 30 years of continued service in the library at Liberty University, beginning work on her first day as a student in August 1987. She served as a student worker for four years and then became a fulltime staff member upon graduation in 1991. After serving in various positions, she decided to pursue her master’s in library science to become a librarian. She became the Resource Sharing Librarian in 2005, and she continues in that role. Kim is shown in 2018 and in 1991 with Liberty’s first library dean, Dr. Ernest Liddle. Kim shared, “While a college student, I did not plan to be a librarian. But over the years of working in the library, I realized how much I enjoyed assisting people with locating what they needed for their research and class assignments. Because of my experience working in many areas of the library as a student worker and staff member, I was encouraged by LU librarians to pursue my degree and become a librarian, too. As a Resource Sharing Librarian, I find items for our customers within our own collection or locate and obtain what they need from other libraries. Often I need to figure out mysterious citations, locate missing books, or track down rare items. It is kind of like being a detective every day!”
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CONNECTING WITH US Listening to Students Whether it is through social media, customer comment cards, surveys, email, or other feedback channels, the JFL strives to listen to customers and implement changes when needed. In April 2018, the JFL conducted a triennial LibQUAL+® survey to assess perceptions of library service quality, achieving target scores for 25 of 27 survey items. Based upon the feedback, the library has committed to the following action plans for fiscal year 2018-19:
As shown in the graphic below, 97% of customers who submitted comment card feedback indicated the library’s resources and services had an impact on their academic success, with 57% indicating an extensive impact.
• Improve the discoverability of resources. • Continue to partner with faculty. • Increase emphasis on quick and accurate referrals. • Coordinate efficient use of library space.
Extensive Impact
Library Hours Sunday Monday-Thursday Friday Saturday
1-11:45 p.m. 7:30 a.m.-11:45 p.m. 7:30 a.m.-10 p.m. 9:30 a.m.-10 p.m.
*Closed during Convocation
Moderate Impact
(434) 582-2220 Research@liberty.edu Liberty.edu/Library Liberty.edu/Library/Chat-FAQ instagram @LibertyULibrary Watch.Liberty.edu/JFL
Slight Impact
No Impact