HELPING STUDENTS SUCCEED

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1 HELPING STUDENTS SUCCEED Patrick Power Library, Saint Mary s University Annual Report 2017 There is growing evidence of a direct correlation between use of the university library and both improved academic performance and student retention. Fortunately, the continued popularity of this Library s resources, services and varied study spaces among Saint Mary s students is a source of encouragement as we continue to pursue Our Mission Through the provision of excellent services and resources, we support the academic mission of the University by fostering an environment that stimulates teaching, learning and research. Our Vision The only thing you absolutely have to know is the location of the library. - Albert Einstein As an integrated, user focused organization, we continuously work to improve our resources and services. What s Inside? Access Services & its Contributions University Librarian Community Connections Faculty Author Series Grows Research Help Special Collections The Year in Numbers

2 Access Services One of our most highprofile services, this department continues to look for ways to improve its relationships with the University s students and faculty alike. Among its many achievements this past year: It continued to provide part-time jobs to a great number of Saint Mary s students Its conscious efforts to employ students with disabilities led to the production of a short film entitled, Education & Skills in Action Bookings of our group study rooms doubled last year Food for Fines once again raised lots of donations for the campus food bank A major inventory project was begun in order to obtain a more accurate record of our book & journal holdings Remembrance Day honoured African-Nova Scotian veterans Spotlight on the University Librarian In addition to ably meeting the many demands of this position, Marie DeYoung also... Was a recipient of the 2017 SMUSA Literary M Served as Past Chair of the Council of Atlantic University Libraries Mentored at the Northern Exposure to Leadership Institute held in Jasper in December Was elected a member of the OCLC Global Council and appointed member of the Americas Regional Council Executive Committee Was a member of the planning committee for the 2017 International Association of University Libraries annual conference Announced her intention to step down at the end of

3 Visits with therapy dogs just what students need at exam time Active on Campus and in the Community Heather Sanderson gave a presentation entitled, Library impact on Student Learning and Success. Peter Webster helped administer a survey comparing student borrowing with GPA s which showed a strong correlation between the two. He also presented a number of workshops on the growth of predatory journals. Once again, the Library was an active participant in the University s Research Expo. A large number of faculty took advantage of our Information Literacy Program. We learned a lot at our annual Staff Day, especially about the great research being done by our faculty. A display on loan from the Canadian Language Museum proved very popular. Amy Lorencz took over as head of Cataloguing & Metadata Systems. Lou Duggan had left to become head of the library at St.FX. Long-serving administrative assistant Brenda Bentley retired. 30 New Course Proposals and 5 Program Reviews were completed. FACULTY AUTHOR SERIES The poster above was for one of the thirteen presentations offered by Saint Mary s professors as part of the most successful series yet. Eight departments, from all three of the faculties, were represented. 3

4 Research Help We continue to look at ways of improving and expanding upon the many ways in which we meet the research needs of Saint Mary s students and faculty. In addition to critically assessing our means of service delivery, hours and collections, the Research Help desk itself was given a new look, with prominent visual aids added to better illustrate the kinds of assistance available. Encyclopedias, dictionaries or handbooks on every subject Our e-reference Sources Continue to Grow Taylor & Francis - Members of the Saint Mary s community are now able to access the content in more than 1,400 scholarly journals in the social sciences and humanities, all via the library s homepage. We believe it will prove a great boon to our University s research capacity. National Film Board of Canada - This renowned collection of more than 1700 documentaries and animated films was made available for use in Saint Mary s classrooms. FIAF International Index to Film Periodicals brings together institutions dedicated to rescuing and preserving films. This database contains FIAF's Treasures from Film Archives, a detailed index of the silent-era film holdings of archives from around the world, a selection of reference volumes and the linked full-text of over 60 journals. 4

5 The Lynn Jones African-Canadian and Diaspora Heritage Collection... documents the lives of Lynn, her family, and over 50 years of African, African Diasporic and African-Nova Scotian heritage and history. Key parts of the collection include materials on: civil rights and social justice struggles in Halifax, Canada and beyond Lynn s career as an athlete, politician, union activist, and work as an election observer for the 1994 South African Presidential election of Nelson Mandela the activism of Lynn s brother, Burnley Rocky Jones and many others thousands of news clippings, programs, reports and other material on local Black communities and institutions, an obituary collection, news coverage of local and international racial segregation and apartheid, prominent athletes and environmental racism. Salzinnes Antiphonal Returns To Saint Mary s A mid-sixteenth century choir manuscript, this antiphonal contains the text and music for the Divine Office. The striking illuminations reveal unique insights into the spiritual and cultural lives of the nuns from the Cistercian Abbey of Salzinnes, Belgium. Written by hand in Latin on vellum, its 480 pages feature vibrant Biblical and non-biblical scenes and full length portraits of 34 nuns. The antiphonal was brought to Nova Scotia by Bishop William Walsh, the first Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Halifax in the 1840s or 1850s. In 1975 it was donated to the Patrick Power Library by Archbishop James. M. Hayes. It recently underwent extensive conservation and is now on exhibit at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. (Photo credit: Judith Dietz) 5

6 Social Media The Patrick Power Library connects with the Saint Mary s and wider community via a variety of social media. Find Out More Phone or visit: We invite our users to: Read Our Blog Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Visit our Pinterest page smu.ca/library facebook.com/ patrickpowerlibrary twitter.com/ SMUHfxLibrary Library Funding and Usage (5 years) (1 year) % change to % change to Questions at the Reference Desk 11,047 7,182 6, % -9.30% Students taught in Library Instruction sessions 3,278 3,276 3, % 7.57% Visits to the Library 569, , , % 3.07% Full text downloads n/a 325, ,953 n/a 18.11% Interlibrary Loans: Borrowing 1,827 1,863 2, % 23.89% Lending 2,220 1,886 1, % -4.19% Novanet Express: Borrowing 3,636 2,484 2, % % Lending 3,263 3,044 2, % % Total circulation 76,932 50,117 45, % -9.65% Monographs purchased from acquisitions budget (excludes grants) 6,181 3,203 3, % 20.86% Journal subscriptions renewed % % Journals as percentage of total acquisitions budget 17.3% 18.2% 12.6% % % Electronic resources as a percentage of total acquisitions budget 54.5% 65% 66.2% 21.49% 1.38% Book titles added to collection (excluding subscription e-books) 7,019 7,573 6, % % E-book titles added via subscription n/a 83,764 21,261 n/a % Subscriptions to streaming media n/a n/a 6,668 n/a n/a Average cost of a monograph $61 $92 $ % 6.52% Average cost of a journal $384 $717 $ % % Acquisitions budget $1,369,721 $1,727,025 $1,771, % 2.55% Print volumes purchased/ student % % Print and electronic volumes purchased per student n/a n/a %