Responding to an invitation from David and Flo Wilson, Owen's Dean Bradford joined the WML staff members at a meeting around our conference table for an early morning meeting on January 26th. Flo and Tracey Ford (architect at Everton, Oglesby Architects) joined us for the meeting. Although the primary purpose of the meeting was to discuss the proposed library renovation project, Dean Bradford responded to a number of questions from library staff members about his immediate and future plans for the Owen Graduate School of Management, in addition to providing thorough and thoughtful answers to questions about the renovation project. We all agreed that the meeting was very useful. Dean Bradford asked if he could come back again for a future meeting with library staff, as he also found the discussion and interaction with library staff helpful.

The Factiva database is now available campus-wide. Access to this useful resource was formerly limited to only those individuals affiliated with the Owen Graduate School . Central Library's Electronic Resources Committee approved the purchase of additional user "seats" for Factiva in order to make this change, while preserving ready access to Factiva by Owen users. Non-Owen individuals will find a new link to Factiva from the Heard Library Articles & Databases webpage. A description of Factiva there notes that the database "provides comprehensive coverage of business news and information from over 9,000 sources. Coverage includes newspapers, newswires, business journals, trade publications, and company reports. International in scope; content is provided in over 20 languages."

Congratulations to Rachel Vacek, who had her review of the Bschool.com website published in the Journal of Business and Finance Librarianship , volume 11, issue 1, p. 43-52. Deb Sommer learned in January that her proposal to create The Vault Career Guide to Library and Information Science Careers was accepted, and she signed a book contract with the publisher. Vault is an important publisher of career information. Deb will submit the book manuscript to Vault in 2007, and it will be published later the same year. Congratulations to Deb!

For January, we received a total of 287 questions at the information services desk. This is down from the 429 questions that we had during the same time period last year. However, it is very important to note that last January there was a Strategy class assignment involving the entire first year MBA class that dramatically increased the number of reference questions we received during that time period. The Strategy assignment has changed somewhat this year and will be taking place in March, so we are expecting any increases in the number of reference questions to take place during that time. Of the 287 questions from this January, we had 83 directional questions, 170 reference questions, and 34 faculty research requests.

At Rachel's suggestion, we asked to be included on the Heard Library webpage for "Librarians by Subject Specialty." We have listed subject areas for business, accounting, finance, marketing, and management. The contact person is listed as Management Librarian. The email is directed to AskLibrarians@owen.vanderbilt.edu and the phone number listed is the reference desk phone number. The librarian working at the reference desk will work on any questions directed to our reference email account. Thanks to Jason Battles for doing this.

In January, WML had our first look at the proposed renovation plans drawn up by the architect. These plans would have a significant impact on the collections housed on the second floor of the library. David formed the SEMAT (Stacks Emergency Management Taskforce) group of Amia, Deborah, Brent and himself to determine the data that needed to be gathered and analyzed and to write a report to Dean Bradford that addressed WML's needs and some concerns staff had with the plans. The group had their first meeting in January.

We are looking into the possibility of a leasing program for our audio book collection. We believe that with a leasing program, we would be able to provide our students with access to the latest popular business titles that tend to be more of a fad and that we may not want to buy as print books to keep in our regular collection. Rahn has researched many potential vendors over the past couple of months and contacted Mary Beth about contacts she may know. While at ALA Midwinter Meeting, Amia spoke to a vendor in the Exhibits hall that sounded promising.

The WML collections team would like to thank Julie Loder for working with us to change the checkout period for our career planning collection to 14 days for all patrons. Thanks for being patient with us as we worked our way through all the decisions that needed to be made with the circ maps.

BIS contacts: 9 (seven Owen alumni and two corporate clients)
BIS client research requests: 4 (two from Owen alumni) 

For BIS marketing purposes, Rahn updated cover letters for renewals for BIS clients to accompany invoices; and organized the BIS annual client renewal list by month to begin outreach and reminders of services offered.

Course No.	Description	Instructor	Requestor	Attendance	Date
MGMT 195	Entrepreneurship	Huber	Prof. David Furse	35
MOT 221	Introduction to Management of Technology	Sommer/Sappenfield	Dr. Bers	45	01/18
MOT 221	Introduction to Management of Technology	Sommer/Sappenfield	Dr. Bers	34	01/19

In other instruction, marketing, and/or outreach activities, Deb Sommer:

• Updated Powerpoint and Resource Guide for MOT 221- both placed on Dr. Bers' Blackboard (OAK) site
• Put together a "help" sheet for librarians on finding League Tables
• Met with a student (OGSA committee & HOP concentrator) about Human Resources library resources
• Met twice with her EMBA Strategy group for consultation on their major project
• Performed two faculty citation searches
• Worked with Janet Hirt on a citation search of law literature
• Worked with Roberta Goodman, Health Care Professor on resources for her class. Developed a specific handout on finding 10-K's then gave them a handout on reading SEC filings as well as placed the information in Blackboard. Worked with Access Services Staff on identifying complex resources--primarily analyst reports.
• Worked on a BIS Trademark Search. Did initial research, reported to client, and consulted Jon Erickson, the Patent Librarian at Science and Engineering Library. Referred patron to Jon Erickson.
• Provided Susan Strayer (1st Year MBA student) with handouts for Workshop on Internships she organized
• Developed and distributed "draft" Faculty Research Services Policy
• Developed a draft survey for Communications Committee (still underway)

In support of Faculty Research Services, Deb completed:

• Updated or made additions to 15 Faculty Research Database profiles
• Worked with six Owen faculty members on in-depth research projects

Amia met with an adjunct professor to demonstrate how to use Bloomberg and Reuter's Research on Demand for an assignment for his class. She also had one research consultation meeting with an MBA student during January. Deborah, Rahn and Laura worked on a research request from Teresa Stephens in the CMC office to update a list of International Job Search resources.

At the beginning of the month, Access Services staff members were busy with Blackboard (e-reserve) and hard copy reserve requests as Owen faculty prepared for the beginning of MOD III classes. Processing of both types of reserve material occupied a great deal of Jeff and Laura's time during the first two weeks of the month. Three books needed for MOD III reserve were not received by the start of the term, even though the orders had been placed well in advance. Laura did an excellent job communicating with the faculty regarding the delays, and little inconvenience resulted. All of the books were received and placed on reserve by the second week of the MOD.

The workload at the circulation desk skyrocketed by mid-January. On some days, two staff members and a student assistant were needed at the desk to handle all of the requests for color copies and transparencies. The fast-paced, high volume atmosphere caused one staff member to remark that he felt as if he were working at Kinko's! Our thanks go out to members of the Information Services staff who pitched in to help as well. This was definitely an example of a great team effort!

With all of the added use, the color printer needed service during the month. The color drums had to be replaced, and the technician also cleaned and adjusted the machine for us. Needless to say, staff, student workers and the color printer had quite a work-out during this period!

Monthly meetings of the Access Services staff resumed at the beginning of January. These meetings had to be temporarily discontinued during the fall as we struggled to fill vacant positions and maintain adequate service. Meetings will usually be held on the first Monday of the month.

We received approval to begin accepting applications for the vacant Library Assistant III (term weekend supervisor) on January 3. A search and selection committee was formed with Brent, Jeff and Laura serving as members, and David as ex-officio member.

Due to Jeff's Sunday through Thursday evening schedule, he and Brent met separately to review applications on Thursday, January 19th. The remaining committee members met the following morning for a final review of the applications, and everyone was in agreement as to which candidates should be interviewed.

Four candidates were selected and Brent began scheduling interview dates and times with each person. Interviews were held on Tuesday, January 24th, Wednesday, January 25th, and Tuesday, January 31th. The search and selection committee met on the afternoon of the 31st to discuss the pool of candidates. A final decision was pending at the end of this reporting period, with the expectation that an offer would be made to the successful candidate in early February.

We learned of proposed renovation plans for the library mid-month, and much discussion and planning ensued. Access Services staff participated in meetings with the architect and Dean Bradford to discuss the proposals.

Circulation staff assisted with the last few requests for Vendacard refunds prior to the January 30th deadline. Glenn Waters had posted signs announcing the end of the refund program early in the month, and a few people took the opportunity to recoup remaining funds on old cards. Vendacards were used for photocopying in the VU Libraries from the late 80s until 2005, and were replaced by a VU Card activated system for the 2005/06 academic year.

41	Articles linked in Blackboard for e-reserve
49	Hard-copy items placed on reserve
5	Hard-copy items removed from reserve
11	Books delivered to faculty
3	Interlibrary loan requests for faculty
440	Items charged
789	Items discharged
462	Reserves charged
27	Items renewed
43	Study rooms reserved for faculty and special occassions

In working with Rahn, Deborah processed 58 withdrawals from the Career Planning Collection. Once the items were sent to Library Maintenance, the markings were removed and selected titles were put in the book sale. Sylvia began the process of removing the labels from the current shelves for the print titles that have been converted to electronic format. Sylvia will continue with binding the last of the 2005 issues. Once this is completed, we will shift the current periodicals. We have discussed the need for signage alerting our users to the change.

Deborah also updated the funds spreadsheet and distributed it to David, Amia and Rachel.

285	Periodical issues processed
36	Reference serials processed
18	New Books processed
55	Pages of Looseleaf materials filed
272	Microfiche filed
80	Volumes processed for the Bindery
0	Volumes processed for the Library Annex
23	Table of Contents packets compiled
8	Claims processed, Ebsco titles claimed on Ebsconet

4	Orders placed
2	Renewal invoices for electronic databases
28	Orders for WetFeet titles placed with publisher
0	Regular Orders sent to Order Services
25	Item maintenance records edited by Deborah

Although patrons seem happy to have two new high-speed, duplex printers, rumors started spreading throughout WML about Kilimanjaro possibly being a lemon. There were paper jams in trays that weren't even being used, and lots of mysterious messages. Danny Sulkin and Rachel have been investigating the matter.

On January 5th, the VUprint Task Force was called together by Bill Hook to provide an opportunity to reflect on how VUprint has worked this semester as well as to talk about establishing a structure or process for making decisions about future VUprint enhancements and policies. Bill emphasized that although the library is seen as the implementer of VUprint, the library shouldn't be, or seen as, the only advocate for VUprint. Also, VUprint seems to be working rather smoothly in almost every location, including here in WML, since its implementation. Part of the reason our printing volume has not been going down is because the Owen community isn't participating in VUprint, i.e., Owen students print for free, but only in Owen. VUprint is installed on the 10 public workstations, so visitors are still being charged for printing.

Rachel and Stephan Wininger of Owen IT installed SDC Platinum and ATLAS.ti software in some faculty offices, on WML public workstations, and on computers in the 2nd Floor Computer Lab. Dennis Boswell removed some old computers from the basement so Rachel wouldn't have to reformat the hard drive and drive them to storage herself. This was much appreciated.

Rachel met with Mary Beth Blalock to get a better understanding of how the Central Library manages its electronic resources, and look at the online tools they use. She also met with Dale to learn how to use the administrative interface for SFX and learn a little more about what the SFX Project Team does.

On January 24th Rachel met with David and Barry Dombro (Director of Information Services at Owen) to discuss concerns about the impending renovation to Owen, and how she felt that they had not yet fully taken into consideration the technological needs of the community. She prepared a several page document with information on various services, including printing, scanning, multimedia, faxing, cell phone usage, electronic resource access, security, etc.

Rachel attended the Campus Web Developer's Forum in late January along with about eight other VU Library staff members. Many topics were discussed, including the search engine used on Vanderbilt's homepage, layout and links on the main page, new technologies being implemented throughout campus, and an introduction to all the nifty things on VUCast, which is Vanderbilt's new news site. There was great discussion on RSS and podcasting, and Tim Moses from Sitemason was also there to demonstrate all the new, neat features in Sitemason. The meeting concluded with a discussion on what topics people would be interested in seeing, sharing, or learning, for upcoming 2006 Spiders (Vanderbilt Web Developer's Group) meetings.

• Amia, Sara Beutter, and Molly Dahl had lunch with a gentleman considering pursing a degree in library science. They gave their perspective on specializing in music, business, and cataloging and offered advice about graduate programs.
• Amia attended the ALA Mid-winter conference in San Antonio . As a member of the BRASS Membership Committee, she met with that group to report on their progress with reaching out to SLIS programs and made plans for their marketing efforts for this spring. Amia also attended the BRASS reference services discussion forum and the publishers open forum for a discussion of fee versus free financial information. In the exhibits area she spoke to many vendors, picked up many catalogs for business books, saw demonstrations of the new search interfaces for some business products, talked to a vendor about the new historical annual reports database being offered by ProQuest, and found a vendor who leases business audio books to libraries.
• On a fun note, Amia and an Owen faculty member were treated to lunch by a group of students they helped prepare for a case competition back in the fall. The group had won first place in the competition and said they wanted to show their appreciation.

• David was involved in a number of activities in January which included meetings focused on: developing a proposal for a Learning Commons facility in the Central library; presenting and discussing (with Flo Wilson) the Management Library's proposed 2006/2007 budget with Dean Bradford and Tricia Siegfried (Owen Administrative Officer); discussing library renovation proposals with an architect, along with providing alternative space allocation diagrams; and, forming a task group to launch a brief, focused collections analysis and use study to generate information needed to support library renovation proposals.

• Both Rahn and Rachel devoted considerable time to working in support of the Staff Development Committee (SDC). They met with Pam Brown (VU Human Resources) and an SDC sub-team on the learning organization, and Nancy Hyer ( Associate Dean for Academic Programs in Owen) about project and meeting management. These "expert" meetings were to brainstorm on how to identify the most effective ways to bring these initiatives forward to the library organization in an effective way. These are the primary charges for the SDC. Rahn also worked on the SDC Survey, which will be sent out shortly to committee leaders and library directors. She organized and led a SDC session to assist the Staff Development Committee members in understanding the nature of the learning organization.
• The reference desk was busy in January and Rahn worked quite a few hours on in-depth research. She responded to three very time-consuming faculty requests.

• In addition to activities noted previously, Deb is also currently mentoring two library school spring graduates as they navigate their job searches.

Grateful thanks to Laura Norris, who documented the discussions from a variety of WML meetings in January, including our weekly staff meetings, the Access Services meeting, and our special meeting with Dean Bradford. Laura's meeting minutes are meticulous and especially helpful for staff members who must miss a particular meeting because of a schedule conflict, as well as documenting decisions, action items, and other meeting contents.

• Learning Commons Group Meeting (01/06) - David
• Research Services Committee (01/12) - David
• Dean Bradford’s Briefing in Averbuch Auditorium (01/12) - Sylvia, David, Rachel
• SEMAT (Stacks Emergency Management Taskforce) (01/30) - David, Amia, Deborah and Brent
• VUprint Task Force Meeting (01/05) - Rachel
• Staff Development Committee Meeting (01/12, 01/26) - Rachel and Rahn
• Electronic Resources Management Meeting with Mary Beth Blalock (01/12) - Rachel
• Architect's Proposal Discussion (01/13) - All WML staff
• Staff Meeting Management Discussion for SDC with Nancy Hyer (01/13) - Rachel and Rahn
• SFX Overview Meeting with Dale Poulter (01/16) - Rachel
• Learning Organization Discussion for SDC (01/19) - Rachel and Rahn
• Meeting on Individual Professional Development (01/20) - Rachel, David, Celia Walker, and Jody Combs
• Meeting with Celia on behalf of SDC (01/23) - Rachel and Rahn
• Technology and the Owen Renovation Meeting (01/24) - Rachel, David, and Barry Dombro
• Forum for Campus Web Developers (01/27) - Rachel
• Circulation and Access Committee Meeting - Brent
• Collections Committee Meeting - Amia
• Interview Sessions with Four Candidates for the Weekend Circulation Supervisor position - All WML staff
• LibQUAL Meeting - Amia
• Reserves Task Force - Laura
• Meeting to discuss accounting procedures and deposit uploads - Elaine and Brent
• Search and Selection Committee Meetings for Weekend Supervisor Position - Brent, Jeff and Laura
• Heard Library Directors' Council (most Mondays at 2:00) - David
• WML Weekly Information Services Meetings (Thursdays at 10:00) - All Information Services staff
• WML Weekly Staff Meetings (Wednesdays at 3:30) - All WML staff
• WML Weekly Acquisitions and Technical Processing Meetings (Fridays at 2:00) - Deborah and Sylvia