ALMA Training Dates & New GIL Find User Interface

Our new system, GILFind@Gordon State, will GO LIVE on May 26, 2017, just in time for the start of Summer School on May 31, 2017!

Student Training Dates/Times

Location: Library Classroom 226

Monday, April 24, 11a – noon & 2-3p

Tuesday, April 25, 11a – noon & 2-3p

Monday, June 12, 11a – noon & 2-3p

Tuesday, June 13, 11a- noon & 2-3p

Faculty/Staff Training Dates/Times

Location: Library Classroom 227

Tuesday, April 25, 11a – noon & 2-3p

Wednesday, April 26, 11a – noon, 2-3p

Wednesday, June 14, 11a – noon, 2-3p

1: new look for GIL Find@Gordon State (Note: This is test link only. Do not bookmark.)

2: Log into your personal account before searching. This will allow you to save searches and results to your eShelf, obtain the GALILEO password, check the status of your book requests, fines/fees, renew/recall books, and see items checked out and the due dates.

Select your login status

Enter GSC username and password (Note: No longer need pin number to login or make requests)

All library users must present their GSC ID when checking out materials! The new system will not allow us to use a state issued ID card or search by 929# to check out materials.

Voyager Favorites: Subject Searches and Book Titles

Did you know that you are able to save searches to your Favorites in your library account? If not, then yes, you can! Anyone who has saved any searches or title results as Favorites in their current library account will lose that information when we switch to Alma. They will need to print that information then re-create and save Favorites in their new library account using the new catalog, when it becomes available.

Faculty will be able to save and print their Favorites items from their current account until May 25, 2017. When Alma goes live on May 26, 2017, you will be able to (re)create and save Favorites in your new library account.

*More information on how to save and/or re-create Favorites will be forthcoming.

Your Personal Librarians

Each of our librarians are assigned specific subject areas to assist students and faculty with all of their library needs. Our personal librarians offer library instruction and collection development. They are always willing to help faculty with assignment structure and identifying the best resources for students.

Our librarians meet with faculty at the beginning of Fall semester and are available to attend department meetings throughout the academic year. They will also be glad to meet one-on-one with faculty and can provide assistance as needed.

Your Personal Librarians:
Beverly Eskridge - Education
Beth Pye - Humanities, Nursing & Health Sciences
Brenda Rutherford - Biology & Physical Science, History & Political Science
Jim Rickerson - Fine & Performing Arts, Business & Public Service 
Dr. Sonya Gaither - Mathematics & Computer Science

Education librarian, Beverly Eskridge, attends department meetings at the beginning of fall semester and new student orientations. She makes presentations about our personal librarian program and GALILEO. She is always on the look out for new education resources such as databases, books/picture books (early childhood development), and activities to add to the library's collection. Ms. Eskridge is always open to suggestions from faculty on collection development. Faculty, as well as students, can email Ms. Eskridge at any time with questions, or make an appointment for more in depth needs. She enjoys helping students with their portfolio assignments and interviews by speaking with them for an hour; and is always willing to assist students in any way. She provides library instruction in many ways including having provided bibliographic information for the Early Childhood Development Colloquium in the past, and informing students and faculty about the online databases GALILEO offers for education, and the Online Library Catalog. Ms. Eskridge is happy to assist with putting items on reserve as well. When faculty or students ask Ms. Eskridge for assistance with their assignments, she helps identify the best resources by informing them about specific databases and reads book reviews to consider the best ones for their topics. She also uses websites such as the Department of Education to stay up-to-date with news and changes in the education field, the teachers association and other professional websites to view statistics. Ms. Eskridge also recommends ILL & GIL Express for students, if applicable.

Humanities and Nursing & Health Sciences librarian, Beth Pye, serves her subject areas by attending orientations, providing collection development, and assisting with nursing accreditation. She will give orientations at the professors' request, as a group, or one-on-one for library instruction. To assist with collection development, Ms. Pye looks at circulars and catalogs that come out, and book, print, and database reviews. She will also look over any requests made by faculty members to add to the collection. She is always willing to help faculty with assignment structure, or help with research needs if the faculty member has an issue finding what they are searching for. One way Ms. Pye can help faculty members and students, is to point them towards specific libguides she has created. Faculty and students may make an appointment with Ms. Pye for help identifying the best resources for their assignments. Ms. Pye likes to prepare before her appointments by working through the assignment given and using her background knowledge and research skills to find resources. Once she has understood the assignment, she will use the online catalog, GALILEO, and, if time permits, the universal catalog and ILL. Once she has identified sources, she will find the best books and search terms to help guide the research. For example, if a student is writing a literary criticism paper, she will recommend literary criticism databases. For nursing students, she will recommend Ovid, Academic Search Complete, or JSTOR databases available on GALILEO.

Biology & Physical Science and History & Political Science librarian, Brenda Rutherford, provides information about Affordable Learning Georgia, which is an initiative by the Board of Regents to fund grants for faculty to adopt or create open educational resources and to promote student success by providing affordable alternatives to textbooks. Ms. Rutherford attends department meetings at the beginning of each academic year, where she informs faculty of available services our library offers. She also gives classes to discuss our resources and available databases. Faculty and students may make research appointments with Ms. Rutherford, where she will guide them through the process and inform them of available tools they can use to help. "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime." As far as collection development goes, if Ms. Rutherford finds something relative to her subjects, she will ask for faculty input before deciding to purchase; as well as reviewing requests from faculty. When helping a professor with assignment structure, she will ask for the syllabus and specific rules for the assignment, confirm her understanding, then guide them based on the criteria. Ms. Rutherford will have research consultations with students by appointment, where she informs students about resources available such as the GALILEO Discover Tool as a research starter, or helping history students find archival sources.

Fine & Performing Arts and Business & Public Service librarian, Jim Rickerson, is available at faculty request to provide bibliographic instruction for classes and to also meet one-on-one with faculty and students if they need help with their research. Mr. Rickerson will host bibliographic instruction classes in our library's classrooms, or in the professors' classrooms. He is also available for bibliographic instruction classes at our McDonough site. To assist with collection development, Mr. Rickerson downloads database trials to see if they will be helpful before purchasing; he will also look over other electronic or physical resources he feels will meet the needs of the students and curriculum. Faculty members can search and make recommendations for new materials using GOBI, email Mr. Rickerson to place an order, or sit and talk with him one-on-one. He will first make sure of the cost of the material and library's funds before purchasing materials. Mr. Rickerson receives the professors' syllabi at the beginning of each semester so he may look through the assignments to help with collection development and get an idea of what the students will be studying. To identify the best resources, Mr. Rickerson searches GOBI's lists of materials by subject area and reads reviews. He also likes to see what other USG institutions are purchasing. Mr. Rickerson prefers to purchase items that have already been reviewed, with good standing.

Dr. Sonya Gaither is your personal librarian for Mathematics & Computer Science. She serves these departments by attending their meetings at the beginning of each academic year and introduces herself not only as their personal librarian, but also as the Director of Library Services. During these meetings, Dr. Gaither gives an overview of our library's services and lets faculty members know she is available to help them put together their assignments and to work with students. Dr. Gaither is also available to teach library instruction classes. Feel free to contact her if you have any questions about our library's resources. Our library offers any technology a faculty member or student may need to conduct research and assignments, as well as individual and group study rooms, and other study spaces throughout the library. The study rooms have writable surfaces, providing plenty of room for those long equations and problems. Faculty members may email Dr. Gaither items of interest for their department to add to the library's collection. If the item is a book, she will look to see if it supports the current curriculum before she buys it. As far as databases go, Dr. Gaither will review their relevance to the curriculum before purchasing, as Mathematics and Computer Science are always updating and databases have an annual cost. Because of the importance of staying up-to-date with these departments, the library is constantly weeding through the collection. If an item is still desired, but not as current, it may be moved to Guillebeau Hall. Dr. Gaither is available to help with assignment structure and for help understanding the library's resources needed for students for specific assignments, and she provides the opportunity for collaboration with faculty. All of our personal librarians ask that faculty members send their course syllabi at the beginning of each semester so we may look over assignments and get familiar with what they consist of so we can better prepare for student needs. To identify the best resources needed per assignment, Dr. Gaither reviews the topic of interest and decides whether she needs a book or a periodical. She then searches by keywords or subject headings to see which online resources are relevant. Dr. Gaither will show faculty and students how to research and use key information. Like in Drivers' Ed, she will put the student or faculty member in the seat and sit beside them, watching and answering questions rather than doing the work for them. "Experience is the best teacher, it is no good if I do the work for them." Faculty members are more than welcome to meet with each other or students in our library. We offer a consultation room for faculty that seats 2 people, as well as plenty of available public seating space. 

Book Request Process

Each year our library has money set aside to purchase books. To request books, faculty members must fill out the New Library Material Request Form. The library will not purchase textbooks, only materials related to the curriculum being taught. All submissions will be reviewed and materials ordered accordingly until funds run out. The selection of materials will be purchased in GOBI- our electronic service to select and purchase from Yankee Book Peddler (YBP). Once the ordered books have been received, they will be processed and shelved. The requesting faculty member will be notified. Faculty members may contact Jim Rickerson or Lisa Millican for details. For questions about your subject area, please contact your personal librarian.

If you have any other questions or concerns please contact Jim Rickerson or Dr. Sonya Gaither.

New GIL-FIND Library Catalog Coming Soon!

Good afternoon Highlanders!

Every library has a system to select, purchase, organize, search, and lend library resources. These systems have many features and capabilities and like other systems they can become obsolete over time. The current library system, Voyager, also known as GIL-Find (used to find books and periodicals in the library and Guillebeau Hall) is currently 15 years old. All of the University System of Georgia (USG) libraries has this system. Two years ago the USG approved and paid for a system-wide upgrade to a new system called Alma for all academic libraries. The Hightower CLC & Library staff has been working hard alongside our USG library colleagues to make this implementation and transition as smooth as possible. The new system will receive a new user interface and logo but continue with the same familiar name GIL-Find. The library staff look forward to the new functionalities that will help us provide resources more effectively and efficiently using updated cloud technology.

Searching GIL-Find, the library catalog, will be more user friendly. Making requests from Guillebeau Hall, Interlibrary Loan, and GIL Express will be more seamless and hopefully easier. With a new user interface and logo, you will have a search experience similar to that of searching the GALILEO online resources. Our new system also allows us the opportunity to review, revise, and add new library procedures and services. More information to come but here are a few changes we are implementing using Voyager and/or Alma:

-         Place holds and recalls on library materials that may be checked out [now]

-         No limits on number of items checked out per subject [now]

-         Streamline check-out procedures for our users [now]

-         Total item check-out per student [15] and Total item check-out per faculty/staff [30] {at a time] [now]

-         Allow community users & emeritus faculty to check-out library materials with library card [May]

-         Provide continuous reminder notices for ALL users regarding item due dates, overdue materials, & lost items [May]

-         Utilize the book self-checkout machine more [May]

-         Ability to communicate with Banner easier for record keeping & collecting replacement cost for lost items [May]

-         Merge book purchasing process with vendors and streamline data reporting & collection [May]

-         Add electronic (databases and open access) resources into catalog [now]

The Hightower CLC & Library staff will attend a mandatory 3-day USG libraries training in Athens on February 14-16. The library will be opened during this time but with very limited staffing available. More information will be provided soon.

The Hightower CLC & Library staff look forward to introducing the new GIL-Find to you. So mark your calendars for the following dates:

February 14-16            library staff GIL-FIND training in Athens

April (TBD)                  new GIL-FIND training for students and faculty/staff

May 26                         new GIL-FIND Go Live date!

May 31                         1^st Day of Summer School using new GIL-FIND

June 12-14                   new GIL-FIND training for students and faculty/staff

As always, we THANK YOU for being patient and understanding with us as we complete another transitional project. We especially want to send our appreciation to the GSC Administration and Information Technology staff for helping us make this possible on our campus. We look forward to serving you while using the new GIL-FIND. This Is Your Library!!

If you have questions or need additional information regarding the new GIL-Find or this transition please contact the Hightower CLC & Library Alma Institutional Leads: Ms. Beth Pye (bethp@gordonstate.edu) and Mr. Jim Rickerson ([jrickerson@gordonstate.edu]jrickerson@gordonstate.edu), or the Director of Library Services (Dr. Sonya Gaither, sgaither@gordonstate.edu). More information can also be found online - http://gil.usg.edu/alma.

Operating System Transition

This academic year, we are in the process of transitioning our operating system, Voyager, to a new system. The new system has two sides: Alma, in which the library staff will be able to do maintenance and daily upkeep, and Primo, the public user interface of the new system. Gordon State isn't the only school to make the switch to Alma/Primo. In fact, the entire University System of Georgia will be making the switch this academic year. With technology advancing every day, Voyager has become outdated. Alma/Primo provides new and more efficient ways of handling our day to day operations, here in-house and as we connect with other schools via ILL/GIL Express.

     Technical Services Librarian Jim Rickerson is our institutional lead on this transition with our college archivist and Reference Instructional Librarian, Beth Pye, as our back up administrator. We have five different teams working on different aspects of this transition. One of the more difficult aspects during the transition, according to Rickerson, would be reevaluating our work flows. In order to prepare our system for the transition, we had to look at the way we configured our data in the old system and adjust so that it would fit in the new system. This includes system configurations for check out periods, fines, books on reserve, and notices. Pye believes that one of the biggest obstacles we have faced is time, specifically that we do not have enough. Ex Libris also provided us with a lot of cleanup tasks in order to prepare our library for the transition. This included weeding through our collection, pulling unused or duplicate books, and cleaning up our GIL-Find Database.
     With Alma/Primo, we will no longer have multiple zones housing our GIL information. Currently, each institution has their own institutional GIL-Find zone as well as their own zone within GIL-Universal. Under the new system we will have one shared community zone between the schools in the university system in addition to their own institutional zone. This will improve GIL sharing.
     Our next step in the transition process is testing our institutional sandbox. This is our opportunity to test out the new system within our institution to check for any bugs, issues, or inconsistencies. Our sandbox will essentially be a beta version with our institutional records that we will use to get more hands-on experience before the system goes live throughout the University System of Georgia.
     Both Rickerson and Pye, as well as the rest of the library staff, feel good about the transition and agree that it will be a great next step for The Hightower Collaborative Learning Center & Library. Staff training will continue through the end of December and the University System of Georgia will role out the new system in May 2017.

ALMA Training with Dr. Gaither

The Ex Libris® Group, a world leader in the provision of library automation solutions announced in July 2015 that the University System of Georgia selected the cloud-based Alma® library management service and Primo® discovery and delivery solution to create a new shared library system.

Using Alma collaborative networks for acquisitions, cataloging, resource sharing, and analytics, the University System of Georgia will be able to streamline its processes across the entire network and support new consortium-wide initiatives, with the goal of enhancing library and user services (Ex Libris, http://gil.usg.edu/alma_implementation/announcements/P21, 2015).

Library staff at each USG institution including Gordon State are divided into functional teams related to the collaborative networks for acquisitions, cataloging, resource sharing, and analytics. These teams meet biweekly, and receive training online and face-to-face. Dr. Sonya S. Gaither, Director of Library Services serves as the USG Alma Analytics Team Lead. The Analytics Team will receive online training on November 1 and 15, 2016 and face-to-face training at Gordon State on November 15-16, 2016.