Media Studies Department Meeting Minutes

Minutes of Media Studies Department Meeting

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Via Google Hangout

3:15-4:12pm

PRESENT: Wes Goldsberry, Rebecca Leonhard, Jan Lowman

1. In the interest of transparency, these minutes will be posted on the Library blog.
2. Rebecca inquired about whether Jan should attend Department Head meetings, since last year she (Rebecca) attended as Belle Époque librarian. We reached the consensus that Rebecca could represent both libraries. If she is ever unable to attend a meeting, Jan will attend in her stead.
3. Rebecca updated us on the textbook project, which has been on hold through the beginning-of-the-school-year flurry. She has an idea, which she plans to trial before introducing it to the faculty. At some point later in the school year, Rebecca will email department heads to attempt to get a list of texts.
4. Around 70 boxes of ACS books are changing location from the back Art room in Savoy to an alcove on the ground floor of Savoy. This solution/change has been done with the approval and support of Thom Padick and Neal Hanowitz.
5. Wes reported that Steve Dexter would like us to create an Action Plan for progress on the cataloguing of ACS books. Some discussion of the complexities and challenges of the task ensued. With two librarians, two co-ops, and two volunteers, we decided that we should be able to set a goal of one box a day catalogued. This is an ambitious goal, given the nature of the cataloguing process and the many judgment calls involved in determining whether or not some of the books should be added to the LAS library collections.
6. Rebecca gave us an update on the ID cards, which she had hoped would contain information for library check-out. According to C. Ott, faculty and staff cards presently being issued are not compatible with the library system. We concluded that it’s a matter of “too late/too early.” We need to find the optimal time to send an email revisiting the issue for the future benefit of the school libraries.
7. Rebecca also reported on the progress of the patron upload. Some faculty/staff/spouses were not on the initial list, so Stephanie Dormond will be sending an updated list so that all members of the LAS community can have library privileges.
8. In addition, Rebecca has deleted duplicate students records from the Mandarin system.
9. Rebecca has also received communication from WorldCat. We will have access to interlibrary loans.
10. As requested by the Health Center, Rebecca has ordered UpToDate, a medical database. There have been some glitches with log-ins, but Rebecca is working on it.
11. Wes is working with Alex Paz-Barreiras, who plans to organize books sales once a month. This will be a good way to move unwanted books out and raise a little money for the library.
12. Rebecca and Jan are working on the website.
13. Rebecca and her Savoy cohort are moving furniture and conducting the early stages of an inventory to determine how many books are missing from Savoy. We have noticed a sad pattern of missing books; all too often requests for Extended Essay sources from Belle Époque cannot be filled because the books are listed in the catalogue but not present on the shelves.
14. Wes inquired about whether we would continue the library lecture series. We plan to have at least one a month, possibly with our department head, Wes G., leading the charge. Rebecca hopes to enlist language teachers and Habitat for Humanity as lecturers. We discussed the possibility of Monday evenings once a month, alternating between Savoy and Belle Époque (the Petite Salle).
15. Wes also mentioned that he has been asked whether the Savoy Library would be open this year “like it was last year.” Rebecca reminded us that the library was merely unlocked last year, not staffed. She has been locking the library doors over the weekend because the library contains expensive equipment and valuable books. In addition, the library has been an illicit rendezvous point in the past. She realizes that the cost of staffing the library over the weekend may be prohibitive. A similar situation arose at Belle Époque last year, and having the weekend rovers stationed in the library solved it. We discussed the possibility of having the weekend AOC sit in the library to provide some coverage.

Submitted by Jan Lowman.