Blueprints: Falvey Library

	All first year students in the Core Humanities seminars learn advanced searching techniques in their first semester Quest Strategies instructional sessions conducted by Falvey librarians. These students were searching for articles written about the performance of Shakespeare's plays, as Dr. Sheryl Forste-Grupp notes search results. In the background Merrill Stein assists another student.
	Susan Ottignon, Falvey reference librarian, points out a relevant record to two students searching the electronic database Humanities Abstracts.

        This fall, Falvey Library welcomed two new employees to its staff.

	On October 25, Lois Dickinson joined Access Services as a shelver. Lois previously had worked as a staff nurse at Integrated Health Services in Broomall.
Lorraine Williams joined Instructional Media Services as assistant graphic artist on November 15. Lorraine assists with the production of visual material that will appear both in print and online, and which will be used for instructional and promotional purposes throughout the University. Prior to joining Falvey, Lorraine worked for several years as a freelance artist in the Philadelphia area.

               Welcome, Lois and Lorraine!

by Susan Markley

As we approach the year 2000, our focus in the Periodical Department has shifted from the comfortable world of the print journal to the dynamic, ever changing environment of the electronic periodical. Although the time devoted to maintaining the paper collection is still considerable, our concentration has turned toward setting up licensing agreements, evaluating online packages from publishers and aggregators, checking fluctuating URLs, collecting electronic usage statistics, entering contractual purchasing arrangements, and just trying to keep up with emerging developments in the field!

However, the Periodical Department does more than just provide access to electronic publications. A dedicated staff of three full-time (William Greene, Laura Hutelmyer and Natalie Tomasco) and nine part-time employees (William Bell, Julia Canonica, Sue Connors, Mimi Dilenge, Ginny Doyle, Jim Fox, Betty Lane, Jim Martin and Vince Mostardi) still provides full service in the Current Periodical room, the bound stacks and the bindery. Such service includes answering many questions about print, electronic and microform materials, checking in the paper subscriptions, updating records in the system, and preparing journals for binding.

Some familiar faces in the Periodical Department include Natalie Tomasco, Susan Markley, department head, William Greene, Laura Hutelmyer, Jim Fox and Betty Lane.

Fortunately, the age-old process of manually checking in the issues of the print journals has been replaced in the last two years with the implementation of the Voyager automated serials system. Instead of all holdings information residing on small Kardex cards behind the service desk, patrons can now access the latest data from any terminal in the library or from their dorms and offices.

Faculty requests for new journals in print are still welcome as the library recognizes that electronic titles are only a small, although rapidly growing, segment of available periodical resources being published. These new requests are evaluated on a title-by-title basis in the late summer and subscriptions are placed with our vendors in the fall. Presently, the library subscribes to 3000 print journals and provides additional access to several thousand electronic titles.

Another important component of the Periodical Department is our bindery, located on the ground floor of the library. Hundreds of volumes are bound or repaired here, with several thousand others processed for shipment to a professional bindery off-campus. A two-week rotation period assures quick access to desired materials. Along with these volumes, the department processes over 270 graduate theses for professional binding each year.

Once materials are bound, they are stored in the bound periodical stacks on the far side of the library's main floor. The stacks are closed to all but graduate students and faculty, but approximately 25 student assistants work the service area, retrieving and re-shelving requested volumes. Copiers are located nearby, as is the microfilm collection. A supervisor is available to assist patrons with the retrieval of micro materials and with the use of the micro equipment.

Periodical Department student employees Bridget Wadzuk and Kristie Gersley set up a microfilm reader for a patron doing research.

As the 20^th century winds down, the Periodical Department is gearing up for the 21^st century and all it has to offer. We were the last department in the library to bid farewell to a 19^th century manual system and the last to see computer technology play a part in our daily workflow. At the same time, our comfortable world of print journals was disrupted by the explosive force of the electronic revolution. The department has attempted to respond boldly to these new challenges while continuing our traditional roles of selecting journal titles, assisting our patrons with their use, and providing access to previously published resources.

Hopefully, we will accomplish this mission with a good dose of humor and grace.

 

Susan Markley is head of the Periodical Department. This article continues the series highlighting the departments in Falvey Memorial Library.

Christopher Foster, media specialist in Instructional Media Services, has been appointed to the Endeavor Media Scheduling Enhancement Committee (EMSEC). Endeavor Information Systems, developers of the Voyager library database system utilized by Falvey Memorial Library, sponsors EMSEC. Chris will be working with representatives from Wake Forest University, the University of Alabama and Red River College to formulate and present changes and improvements to Endeavor for future releases of the Media Scheduling database/module.

The Media Scheduling module itself was developed in a partnership between Villanova University and the Endeavor Corporation, and is currently in the testing phase within IMS. Once fully implemented, it will be capable of computerized scheduling, inventory control and maintenance, with potential future developments in the areas of media production, billing and non-print collection requests.

On November 5, David Burke presented "Cataloging ProQuest Journals with Sitebuilder" at Paley Library of Temple University, as part of the fall program of the Association of College and Research Libraries, Delaware Valley Chapter. He discussed how 800 journals from the ProQuest database were added to Falvey Library's Web-based catalog. Each title received a unique URL so users with citations could click on a hotlink within the catalog's record display to find their articles full-text. David is the serials cataloger at Falvey. 

Also contributing to this issue of Blueprints: Donna Chadderton, Louise Green, Michael Hoffberg, Judith Olsen, Susan Ottignon and Jacqueline Smith. Photography by Bernadette Dierkes, Steven Dixon, Judith Olsen and the IMS staff.