D-4. Library Services
In addition to holding over 600,000 books, the Library subscribes to almost 50 full-text databases, and provides online access to over 225,000 unique online books and 80,000 online journals, as well as a selection of print periodicals and newspapers. The Library also houses several special collections, including a map collection of a K-12 Curriculum Materials Center, as well as the IU Southeast Archives, the archives of the IU Southeast Oral History Project, and those of ARS Femina, and the William L. Simon Sheet Music Collection. Additionally, the Library is a selective depository of U.S. Government publications.
Hours of operation, contact information, Library services, and other information are available on the Library's website or by calling extension 2485 for Circulation or extension 2489 for Reference.
IU Southeast Library operations are grouped into several functional areas, each of which is coordinated by a member of the Library faculty. The functional areas are:
- Public Services
- Library Instruction
- Technical Services and Electronic Systems
- Collection Development and Special Collections
- Electronic Resources
Access to the IU Southeast Library collections is through Indiana University's Online Library Catalog ("IUCAT"), IU's online public access catalog. The database includes the holdings of all eight IU campuses. Over 300 databases, online book collections, and journal packages are available from the Library's website. The IU Southeast Library webpage and all its features can also be accessed from anywhere on- or off-campus via the Internet and the Library's proxy server at all times. Public access terminals and printers are available in the Library.
General circulation policy provides for a student check-out period of 45 days. Electronic renewal and telephone renewals are accepted. Fines are 25 cents per day for each late item. The check-out period for faculty and staff is 120 days. The Library uses an on-line computer based circulation system. The CrimsonCard is required in order to check out materials. A book return box is located on the campus next to the bus stop shelter.
Special services offered to faculty and staff include placing materials on reserve, faculty and staff privileges at all Kentuckiana Metroversity and IU libraries, inter-library loan services, and other reference and bibliographic assistance.
To place materials on reserve, the instructor should complete the appropriate reserve request from which is available to faculty in the Library or on the Course Reserve website. The form should be brought to the Library or mailed, together with any personally owned materials which have been listed on the form, to the Circulation Desk at least one week prior to the time the material is to be available to students. Print Reserve materials are shelved at the Circulation Desk under the last name of the instructor. Electronic Reserves are available for certain materials. The IU Southeast Library follows U.S. Copyright law when placing materials on reserve.
Faculty privileges are accorded to IU Southeast faculty members who visit the libraries of any Kentuckiana Metroversity campus or any of the IU system libraries. Any IU student who visits any Kentuckiana Metroversity campus or any of the IU system libraries has borrowing privileges. Faculty and students may request books from any of the IU system libraries using the request delivery system via the online catalog. In addition, the IU Southeast Library can secure materials not available through the request delivery system - for faculty, staff, and students from these and other libraries through inter-library loan. Request forms for these services are available on the Library's website.
Reference services at the IU Southeast Library are provided by six full-time librarians. Services include individual consultation for patrons at the Reference Desk, collaboration with teaching faculty to provide instruction in information resources, strategies that can be tailored to any class or situation, telephone consultation for patrons, and Ask-a-Librarian e-mail access for students, faculty, and staff.
The Library has six group study rooms available for groups of two or more. These rooms may be reserved for up to two hours. Three of the rooms have wall-mounted monitors which can be connected to laptop computers.
The Library houses an Adaptive Technology Center ("ATC") which is equipped with computers that have large monitors, user-friendly mice and keyboards, and specialized software, all of which are on tables that allow simple electronic adjustments for the user.
Library Instruction
In September of 2003, the Indiana University Southeast Faculty Senate endorsed a revised set of nine General Education Goals and Outcomes, with the expectation that these goals and accompanying outcomes would be integrated into courses and experiences throughout the curriculum. Information literacy, which is Goal #4 of the revised General Education Goals and Outcomes, states that the campus should:
- Use appropriate tools and technologies to identify, access, evaluate, and use information effectively;
- Use information responsibly, in accordance with legal and ethical principles.
The Library proposed a model for achieving the information literacy outcomes which was endorsed by the General Education Committee, inserted into the General Education framework document, and approved by the Faculty Senate in 2003. The information literacy goal and outcomes should be "infused into the curriculum at three levels: freshman, entering the major, and capstone."
In this General Education context, the IU Southeast Library Instruction program provides the following instructional services in a three-tiered, course-integrated, learning outcomes-based approach:
- Tier 1: In the first year, students are introduced to information literacy concepts and skills in a First Year Seminar ("FYS"). The FYS Library Instruction experience consists of a 60-minute instructional session that addresses information literacy learning goals. Students complete a self-guided audio tour or a student-led tour on their own time.
- Tier 2: In an early class in the major, librarians consult with professors to offer an instruction experience to students, reinforcing basic skills and introducing discipline-specific tools and strategies. Librarians also create a "LibGuide" (online course guide) for this entering-the-major course.
- Tier 3: At the capstone, or senior seminar level, librarians and professors ensure that the seniors have a thorough understanding of the information context of their discipline. Librarians provide an instruction session and work individually with students as requested.
In addition to the three tiers, library instruction sessions can be provided for any course at any level at the request of the instructor. The instruction program has an assessment plan to measure student learning and instructional effectiveness. All library instruction sessions take place in the library classroom.
Selection of Library Materials
The importance of wise selection of library materials has grown in proportion to the increase in quantity of available materials, the cost of these materials, and the expense of acquiring, cataloging, housing, and servicing them. Faculty members are largely responsible for recommending the acquisition of materials in their special subject fields. Any faculty or staff member may request that an item be added to the collection by completing an electronic purchase request form on the Library's website. Faculty members are encouraged to submit requests for library materials directly to the library staff via the web-based request procedures and will be notified when materials are received. Processing, receipt, and cataloging of materials can take at least three months.
Priority Ranking Requested Materials
In order to meet users' needs and take advantage of resource sharing, faculty are asked to assign a priority ranking to each item requested. The ranking criteria are as follows:
- Essential - Requires that an item must be owned by this campus to be immediately accessible on this campus for research or instruction.
- Important - Indicates that the item must be readily available for delivery within the IU system.
- Recommended - Indicates noteworthy titles and should be added to the collection as fiscal resources permit.
The Purchase Request Policy and form can be accessed on the IU Southeast Library website.
The Technical Services staff is responsible for maintaining the online public access catalog ("IUCAT"), print acquisitions, cataloging, processing periodicals and other serials, and binding. Electronic resource selection, acquisition, and maintenance are handled by the Coordinator of Electronic Resources.
Library General Collection
The objectives of the Library General Collection are to support the curriculum with adequate materials in those subject areas taught by the university. This involves supplying books, periodicals, and online resources for required, supplementary, and ancillary reading for courses, and a broad based reference collection. To provide a basic collection aimed at the development of the humane and liberally education person in addition to curriculum requirements. This involves a collection of standard authors and works, representative collections of the best modern fiction and non-fiction, and a collection of outstanding current periodicals and back files.
Library Policies and Procedures
In striving to meet its objectives within the limits of its resources, the Library will be guided by the following policies and procedures:
- To meet the needs of students with differing levels of ability, the Library will acquire materials ranging in difficulty from those for junior college to those for graduate students.
- In the acquisition of new titles, the major emphasis will be on current publications, and among those, works which promise to fulfill future as well as current needs.
- If materials are judged to be of marginal use to the collection, the holdings of IU system libraries will be consulted to avoid unnecessary duplication. Highly specialized materials needed for research can be obtained through inter-library loan.
- Electronic resources are included in the collection as necessary tools in the research process. The inclusion of these resources will be based on curriculum requirements and financial considerations.
- Multiple copies of titles will not be purchased.
- Materials in foreign languages which are used for teaching and exercises in language courses offered at the university are desirable purchases for the Library. Foreign language materials, other than reference tools, will be purchased for non-language subjects only when there is evidence of their immediate usefulness to students and faculty.
- No materials will be excluded from the collection because of the race, gender, sexual orientation, or nationality of the authors; or the political, moral, or religious views expressed.
- For back files of serial publications, an electronic format will be selected over microforms or paper copies when all are available.
- Gifts of either library materials or money to purchase them will be accepted provided they fit into the above policies and provided there are no restrictions attached. The library must be free to dispose of any materials which are not needed.
- The removal of obsolete materials for purposes of de-selection is considered an integral part of the total organized effort to develop the collection. Badly damaged copies will be withdrawn and items will be weeded if they contain outdated or inaccurate information.
IU Southeast Library Curriculum Materials Center ("CULAB")
The objective of the Curriculum Materials Center is to provide a collection of K-12 print and non-print materials for students in Education to support their practice teaching, methods courses, and research.
To meet its objective within the limits of its resources, the Curriculum Materials Center will:
- Build a collection of children's and young adult literature including the winners of Newberry and Caldecott awards. This includes picture books, easy readers, intermediate and adolescent fiction, folktales, and fairytales.
- Collect dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other reference sources such as those used by K-12 students.
- Collect non-print media representative of those currently used in K-12 classrooms, including video materials, audio recordings, multimedia kits, games, and manipulative.
- Maintain a collection of commercially published textbooks for grades K-12. Presently, these texts are acquired through donations from publishers as part of the Indiana Textbook Adoption Cycle. IU Southeast is one of ten regional Public Textbook Review sites in the state.
- Acquire high-quality non-fiction trade publications to supplement the textbook collection, or to be used independently for instruction. (Materials which cover the history or theory of education are located in the IU Southeast Library General Collections.)