Kudos to Special Collections Librarian, Jim Schnur

James Anthony Schnur, associate librarian for Special Collections at the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library and a member of the USF St. Petersburg faculty since February 2002, received the 2013 Award of Excellence from the Society of Florida Archivists (SFA) on May 9 at the organization’s thirtieth annual meeting, held May 7-10 in Tallahassee. A member of SFA since 1992, Schnur was recognized “for years of dedication to the archival profession in Florida and outstanding contribution to the preservation of Florida’s documentary heritage.”

Schnur received recognition for his work as a librarian at USFSP, his teaching and mentoring as an adjunct member of the faculty in the School of Information at USF Tampa, and his various efforts to promote and preserve local and Florida history. Often, these categories overlapped.

In the Poynter Library, Schnur manages Special Collections and University Archives, an area of the library that includes signature collections in local history, rare books, and the print and digital archives of the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. Since the fall 2003 semester, Schnur has supervised more than twenty-five fieldwork and independent student experiences for graduate students in the USF School of Information (formerly the School of Library and Information Science) as well as USFSP’s Florida Studies Program. With the Dean and several library faculty colleagues, Schnur has been instrumental in building the USFSP Digital Archive (http://dspace.nelson.usf.edu/xmlui)

Schnur has regularly taught a graduate-level course in Archival Management in the School of Information since the fall 2008 semester. This course, an elective in the program, teaches students practical methods for preserving and managing archival collections in cultural heritage institutions. Schnur’s teaching and mentoring extend beyond the classroom. In addition to supervised fieldworks, four students have co-presented with him at regional conferences in Jackson, MS, and in Las Vegas, NV, since early 2012, and three of the six poster sessions offered at the SFA conferences in 2012 and 2013 were presented by students whose presentations were based upon projects completed in Schnur’s class.

The official historian for Pinellas County’s centennial (1912-2012), Schnur maintains an active involvement in many local and state cultural organizations, including the Pinellas County Historical Society. He is pleased that many of his students have not only gained practical experience in archives, but also have assumed leadership roles in such organizations. One of his former students, Sandra Varry, presently serves as vice president of SFA.

Kudos and congratulations to Jim for serving as such a strong role model and for playing such a pivotal role in preserving Florida’s documentary heritage. The Poynter Library is honored to have Jim as a member of its faculty.

Scholarly Support Services and Special Projects Librarian

I am delighted to announce that we will soon have a new librarian joining us in mid-September as the Associate Librarian for Scholarly Support Services and Special Projects.

Anthony (Tony) Stamatoplos received his M.L.S from Indiana University Bloomington and a M.A. in Anthropology from Washington State University. He has been a librarian at Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) Libraries since 1994. He is also an instructor in the Indiana University Department of Information and Library Science and has been active in the Indiana Library Federation, the Association of College and Research Libraries of the ALA, the American Anthropological Association, and the Council on Undergraduate Research. He has an extensive list of publications and presentations and has co-authored several grants (including a successful $435,000 NSF CCLI grant) at IUPUI. When Tony interviewed here, we were all impressed with his vision, energy and creativity and we can’t wait for him to join us in the fall.

New Record Set

2500 people came into the library between 8 a.m. Monday and 8 a.m. Tuesday. The previous record for a single day was 1600. It appears we are doing SOMETHING right.

Come in, study, connect, get help. That’s what we’re here for!

Library as Social Space

Back in November 2012, I gave an update on some of the changes taking place in the library. I outlined the work that a Library Space Allocation Committee had undertaken to interview students, conduct focus group meetings with students, visit other libraries, and research trends in academic library design. I and several library faculty and staff have attended workshops where the redesign of library and instructional spaces have been the sole or a primary focus.

The work is still underway. The new carpeting for the first floor is due to be installed between Spring semester and Summer A. Because of the carpet installation, the library will be closed to the public for that week.

Later in the summer, glass walls are due to be installed around our new Scholars’ Lounge area, thereby providing a quiet study zone on the first floor.

Not everyone is happy, however. Earlier this week I received a statement of “concern” from one or more anonymous faculty that the “Library [is] becoming more of a social center for students rather than the emphasis continuing to be on research resources.”

The University is here for the students. And if students tell us they want a space where they can connect with their peers and study in groups, as well as conduct individual research, we are going to try our best to give them a variety of spaces to meet their varied needs.

The books are still here. The access to over a million electronic books, journals and databases are still here. Dedicated librarians and other library staff are still here to help people do whatever they need to do for their research and study. Special Collections where students can work with primary source materials are still here. Even the microfilm cabinets and the microfilm readers are still here – although they no longer take up half the space on the first floor of the library as they used to. But the first floor is definitely looking different.

And, according to an article published last week in the Crow’s Nest, we seem to have gotten it right for at least some of the students: Not Your Grandmother’s Library. As the article says:

“Ricky Cherry, a junior majoring in marketing, comes to the library five days a week for about four hours. He said the library’s ambiance is one of the reasons he stays on campus between classes, even though he only has a 12-minute commute.

“This is perfect, looking at the water, like you’re at home on your own couch,” Cherry said. “It’s relaxing and doesn’t make studying as big of a chore. It’s nice, a place to get away or get some work done. This illustrates that they care, and that we have a voice. I feel that students must have recommended this.”

Yes, Ricky, you are right. Students did recommend it. We listen and we care and we will keep listening and caring, no matter how much some people disapprove of how “social” our space is becoming.

Part of USF but Autonomous

In the April 1 edition of the student newspaper The Crow’s Nest an article by staff columnist Frank Kurtz addressed the issue of USF System membership and the benefits.

While the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library reaps numerous benefits from USFSP membership in the USF System, we are an autonomous library reporting to the USFSP Regional Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Dr. Norine Noonan. The Poynter Library has no reporting relationship to USF Tampa, except through our Regional Chancellor who reports to the President. Mr. Kurtz incorrectly stated that if the University of South Florida St. Petersburg (USFSP) were to leave the USF System “all of the volumes in the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library would have to be returned to the main campus. So would the desks and chairs and computers.” This is not the case. The books, furniture, and computers have been purchased by funds specifically allocated to the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library, either through private donations or through USFSP budget allocations. They are the property of USFSP and the autonomous Poynter Library.

However, one of the greatest benefits that we derive from USFSP’s membership in the USF System is the access to over a million electronic resources that President Genshaft has declared to be System resources. Through agreements reached between the libraries of the USF member institutions, we pay a share of the cost of licensing and providing access to these resources. Our share of the costs is determined based roughly on the numbers of students who attend USFSP, along with the academic courses and programs that USFSP offers. USF Tampa shoulders the labor costs associated with acquiring and making these resources available and is also currently susidizing the costs of access to electronic books. Were we to try to “go it alone,” the Poynter Library could never afford to provide access to the same set of electronic resources. We are fortunate that USF St. Petersburg is part of the USF System and we would not want it to be otherwise. But we wouldn’t lose our books, furniture and computers if USFSP withdrew from the USF System.

If you want to know more about the the benefits of USF System membership regarding electronic resources, I encourage you to read the Library’s report  at http://dspace.nelson.usf.edu/xmlui/handle/10806/4783

British Library Sets an Example

In a recent press announcement, the “British Library  has announced its intention to join the UK’s MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) platform FutureLearn Ltd, offering participants of its online courses access to the Library’s unique digitised resources. The Library will be the first non-university research institution to join the initiative, and is among five university partners…”

The press release goes on to note that FutureLearn Ltd was the first MOOC in the UK and it “was launched by the Open University last December and includes partnerships with eighteen UK universities. Existing Library digital resources will be made available on FutureLearn, complementing plans for large-scale participation in online lectures and courses which are due to start later this year. The Library’s freely available digital collections include over 800 medieval manuscripts, 40,000 nineteenth-century books and 50,000 sound recordings, and continue to grow each year.”

The UK has a tradition of providing government support to higher education and digital initiatives. In 1966, the Labour Party’s general election manifesto contained a commitment to establish what they were calling the University of the Air. Prime Minister Harold Wilson won re-election with an increased majority and in September 1967 his Cabinet set up a Planning Committee ‘to work out a comprehensive plan for an open university’.

Founded in 1969, the Open University was the world’s first successful distance teaching university. Open University admitted its first students  – 25,000 – in January 1971. Its name Open University refers to the fact that it was wide open to anyone and did not require any prior educational qualifications. It did require students to take two foundation courses before moving on to higher level courses and eventually a Bachelor’s degree. Read more of the history of the Open University on its web site here: http://www.open.ac.uk/about/main/the-ou-explained/history-the-ou

Even today, under a Conservative Party government, support for the Open University, online education, and digital initiatives continues in Great Britain. Speaking in India, Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron said: “Britain boasts some of the best universities in the world. This innovative new offer led by The Open University will mean that Indian students can access some of the best teaching and learning online from their home in Mumbai or Delhi. I’m delighted that Futurelearn is expanding to include more British universities and the British Library. I hope it will encourage many more Indian students to take the next step and study with a UK university.”

Through its example in joining FutureLearn, the British Library is solidifying the role of libraries in supporting the development and success of online education around the world – an example that the Poynter Library, in its own modest way, is following.

For more information, read the Library’s Press announcement: http://pressandpolicy.bl.uk/Press-Releases/Prime-Minister-welcomes-the-growth-of-the-UK-s-mass-participation-learning-platform-FutureLearn-as-t-60d.aspx

Library Hours

One of the ongoing issues we hear from students is that the Library is not open enough hours. We agree. Library hours are kept updated on our website at:  http://www.nelson.usf.edu/npml/hours.html

We are currently open 79 hours a week, with highly trained faculty and staff being available to help:

• find print and electronic information;
• check materials and equipment out for use in and out of the library;
• with printing, scanning, and photocopying;
• use software programs on the computers and laptops in the library;
• access and interact with online classes;
• schedule a research session with a librarian;
• get set up to use a group study room or one of the new technology-enhanced collaboration stations;
• request materials through interlibrary loan;
• use the equipment and software in the ADA workroom;
• and much more.

In the evenings and on weekends, our regular staff is supplemented by a security guard to ensure that students and staff are safe.

In addition to all the normal things that most libraries do, we also run the Campus Digital Archive; we provide support to teachers in creating and managing their online courses and students in accessing them through the efforts of our Distance Learning Team; we create USF IDs; we run our own computer and technical infrastructure separate from Campus Computing; we maintain our own Web site; we design and renovate our physical space to keep up with changing needs and much more.

 We provide more services than most academic libraries  – including a wider range of services than those offered by the Library at USF Tampa. And we do it with only 21 permanent staff and a few additional temporary staff and student assistants. 21 people to serve 6000 students and hundreds of faculty.

What’s my point? We are stretched very thin and we don’t have staff to keep the building open longer hours. We don’t have the same level of staffing that the Library in USF Tampa has. I wish we did.

This week  on the Facebook Group USFSP The Know It All’s Guide To Knowing It All! a student asked: “I have a question…. Why is our library open only till 5 pm on Sundays? Tampa’s main library is open all night and even the Sarasota library is open till 1 am. I feel our library should at least be opened later then 5pm. They could even adjust the hours and open at noon instead of 9am like the other libraries.” Several people responded with incorrect information, including one person saying that the Library was not “owned by the school, hence the short hours.”

One of our librarians then responded with the correct information noting that: “The Poynter Library, which is an official unit of USFSP (not at all connected with the Poynter Institute across the street), is regularly open from 1:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. on Sundays. Opening the library for additional hours requires more library staff, a security guard, and additional building expenses. Like other USFSP units, the library had to absorb its share of reduced funding from the state last year. For the past several years we have also had extended hours during final exam week but we have seen only a handful of people using the library from 10 p.m. to midnight during exam periods. Unless more students use the extended hours during exam periods, we are unable to make the case for more money to the University administration so we can keep the building open longer.”

So, here’s the deal: when the Library is open extended hours during this semester’s exam period, students need to be in the library from 10 p.m. until midnight and demonstrate that more than 30 people need and will use the extended hours. If we have the data to prove that the building will be used, then we might be able to convince the University to give us the funding to keep it open more hours. Until we have some hard data to prove that students really want this and will use it, we will not be able to keep the building open more hours.

Feel free to contact me at hixson@usfsp.edu to voice your concern or offer your suggestions.