Library News

The Falvey Print Center ceased operations over the summer months and will not reopen for the 2012-13 academic year.

We recognize that this closure will result in the loss of a number of valuable services in Falvey, notably higher end document production and a reliable alternative means of printing materials when the GoPrint printers are unavailable. We apologize for this inconvenience.

This is strictly a budgetary decision, as it has become increasingly difficult to support the cost of running two separate print services in the Library. Over the past two years, the GoPrint service has achieved a very high level of availability, and we are confident that it will be able to meet most in-house printing needs during the coming year.

Complete high-end printing and document services will continue to be available via the Bartley Print Center. Those services are accessible online 24/7 through iprint.villanova.edu

Thank you for your acceptance and understanding of this necessary change.

Joe Lucia, University librarian & director, Falvey Memorial Library
Michael George, director, Graphic Services

The upgrade to the E-ZBorrow system has been completed. If users encounter any technical problems, please contact Luisa Cywinski or Raamaan McBride at 610-519-4270.

Outreach by academic libraries can take on nearly as many meanings as there are libraries. Outreach Librarian Darren G. Poley addressed the Delaware Valley Chapter of the Association of Colleges and Research Libraries (ACRL-DVC) spring meeting at the Goodstay Center of the University of Delaware in Wilmington, Del., on April 20, 2012.

He talked about the path Falvey Memorial Library chose in its effort to navigate what it means to do outreach in the university setting.

Poley discussed the varied scholarly communication-related projects Falvey’s Outreach team works on, and how, at the same time, the team serves both the Library and Villanova University by reaching out to the scholarly community. Some of the team’s activities include developing academic and social event programs, mounting regular cultural displays, hosting online journals and encouraging digital publishing, and maintaining the institutional bibliography as it relates to both recording faculty publications and documenting University-wide intellectual contributions. (more…)

A new high-end scanner on the first floor has been installed on a trial basis.  We invite students, staff, faculty and visitors to help us test it out. The large flatbed (book edge) scanner and accompanying PC with touch screen interface are easy to use.  The software can even convert text to audio. You’ll find the trial scanner near the public print station on the first floor of the Library. Feedback forms are available. Give it a try and tell us what you think!

By Susan Markley

At the end of June Falvey Memorial Library will be losing one of our most experienced librarians with the retirement of Bente Loj Polites. Bente, Special Collections librarian and subject liaison team leader for Philosophy, Theology and Humanities, devoted 25 years of service to the University community. Under her co-leadership, Bente also helped implement many of the Digital Library initiatives.

She was born and raised in Denmark, in a small town along the Baltic Sea, and moved to Copenhagen to pursue undergraduate studies in philosophy at the University of Copenhagen. She followed this with a graduate degree at the Royal Danish School of Librarianship.

Bente actually came to Philadelphia for a one-year internship at the Philadelphia Free Library before returning to Denmark to work for several years in public library reference positions there.

Bente then accepted a position as a reference librarian at the European Parliament in Luxemburg where she was responsible for building a collection of Scandinavian materials in politics, social sciences and economics. During this ten-year period, Bente occasionally worked at the European Parliament’s satellite branches in Brussels, Belgium, and Strasburg, France.

With her husband, Bente moved permanently to Philadelphia in the mid-1980s. After a brief stint in reference at the Van Pelt Library, University of Pennsylvania, Bente joined Falvey in 1987 as a reference librarian. (more…)

By Joanne Quinn

Calling it a “reaffirmation of my love of Villanova and my work,” Research Support Librarian Susan Ottignon received the Facultas Award for spring 2012. Amid the clamor of the University’s annual faculty and staff community picnic on May 22, a “flabbergasted” Ottignon accepted the biannual honor from the Rev. Peter M. Donohue, OSA, PhD, ’75 A&S, University President, and Thomas Way, PhD, Computing Sciences professor and co-chairperson of the Awards subcommittee of the Committee on Faculty.

The Facultas Award was created in 1995 to focus attention on the “vital, yet often unnoticed, services essential to the smooth and efficient functioning of the Villanova community, especially the academic faculty.”

A Falvey librarian since 1992, Ottignon works closely with the Romance Languages and Literatures faculty, recommending books of interest, soliciting  requests, working with foreign language vendors and building a strong collection that supports the graduate and undergraduate curricula.

Ottignon also loves being the ‘good places to start’ librarian, as featured on the Library’s Subject Guide pages. As a generalist, she relishes the thrill of the hunt and theorizes that “students are the true specialists – they know what they are looking for – I just lead them to the water.”

University Librarian Joe Lucia says the award is a fitting tribute to Ottignon’s service to faculty over many years at the Library: “Sue is the consummate library professional who is always committed to going the extra mile in supporting students and faculty in their learning and research endeavors.”

When asked what she said to Father Peter that elicited such a large laugh from the University President while he was presenting her plaque and gift certificate, Ottignon laughed: “I have no inkling what I said!  But it was a joyful, sweet moment!” (more…)

by Laura Hutelmyer

You’ll never step into the same library twice at Villanova University. That’s because the Library constantly adds new titles to its collection to keep up with new research and new interests.

But how does an ordinary book actually become a Library Book?

The Library receives book requests in many formats and from many sources. Requests can come from a librarian, a faculty member, staff or a student. They are routed to the Resource Management Center (RMC) via the online request form or regular email. Sometimes we even receive requests on Post-it notes, post cards, scrap paper or napkins.

Most requests must first be routed to the designated subject librarian for purchase approval. Once approved, the order is forwarded to the Acquisitions group and is ordered, either from our book vendor, Yankee Book Peddler, or from another source like Amazon.com.

When the new book arrives, it goes directly to be cataloged. This process includes assigning the book a unique barcode and then establishing its record in our online catalog. Some books can be cataloged in just minutes; others take much longer.

Christine Bochanski, RMC student aide, processes the Picasso book.

Once it’s cataloged, RMC student employees insert a security device into the book, stamp the library name on it in several locations, and apply a call-number label to its spine. RMC students process hundreds of books every week, and their attention to detail is crucial. The book has now become a Library Book.

Finally, the Library Book is put on a cart with other new books and taken to the sorting room, ultimately to be proudly shelved in its proper location.

The patron locates this new Library Book through the library catalog and checks it out at the Circulation desk!

This process explains how a print book becomes a Library Book. The Library also purchases e-books, but that’s a different story!

The Library is a good place to find quiet study areas — but sometimes you need to work on ideas out loud. We can accommodate this too! Work on group projects or hold study sessions with your classmates in one of our group study rooms, located on the third and fourth floors.

Falvey has six study rooms available for groups of two or more. All rooms have network connections for laptop use and a chalk board.

To use a group study room, ask for a key at the Circulation Desk. You will need to present Villanova Wildcards from at least two group members. Rooms are available on a first come, first serve basis. Reservations are not taken.

The study room may be used for up to 2 hours per group while others are waiting. In consideration of others, we ask that you leave the room in good condition.

Priority for study room access is given to Villanova University students, staff or faculty. Please note that eight weeks prior to final exams, the Library adjusts the group study room policy to restrict use only to undergraduates and non-law graduate students.

For further information, contact Circulation Desk staff at 610-519-4271 or via e-mail.

Four of the 6 rooms are officially known as the Kolmer Group Study Rooms.  The family of John H. Kolmer, III, funded renovations of the rooms in honor of his memory.

Find other Quick Tips.

By Laura Hutelmyer

Intrigued by an article that appeared in the October 2008 Rolling Stone Magazine by David Lipsky about the life of the novelist David Foster Wallace, I decided to check out one of Wallace’s books. I was looking forward to having some extra reading time over the long Thanksgiving weekend, and Lipsky’s description of Wallace’s life, works and early death were enticing.

I was late leaving work that Tuesday night but made a quick trip to Falvey’s fourth floor to retrieve Wallace’s The Broom of the System (PS3573 .A425635 B7) and, on a whim, Girl with Curious Hair (PS3573 .A425635 G5).  I was especially interested in reading The Broom of the System (named after a saying from Wallace’s grandmother about the benefits of eating an apple) because Wallace had written it in 1984 to fulfill a thesis requirement for graduation from Amherst College, and it was good enough to be published as a novel in 1987. I also knew Wallace had written this following a period of depression that had caused him to withdraw from school to be institutionalized for a while.

I took the books to the first floor circulation counter, hoping not to have to wait since I was already late for a scheduled appointment. There were seven people ahead of me, doing things like checking out laptops, requesting study rooms, asking for help with microfilm and even checking out books needed to complete assignments over the long holiday weekend. I almost put my books on the counter, prepared to leave empty handed, when I spotted the Self-Check machine. Wildcard in hand, I proceeded to the machine to see if I could save some time. (more…)

by Alice Bampton

Matthew (Matt) Ainslie recently joined Falvey in a newly created position, Research Center intern. He reports to Jutta Seibert, coordinator for Academic Integration.

Seibert says, “Matt will work with the Academic Integration and Information & Research Assistance teams during his time here at Falvey. He will work on a variety of projects, which will give him valuable experience in research support, instructional design and collection development.”

Matt will provide additional coverage in these areas until Kristyna Carroll, coordinator of the Communication, Education, Psychology and Sociology liaison team returns at the end of the summer.

Matt grew up in nearby Swarthmore and currently lives in Philadelphia. He is enrolled in Drexel University’s Master of Library and Information Science program, which he will complete this year. Matt has a bachelor’s degree in archaeology from Washington University in St. Louis, Mo.

He completed an internship at the Marple Campus library, Delaware County Community College, and was an assistant librarian at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. He is interested in history, antiques and reading.

Photograph by Alice Bampton