Enhancements to the Milner Library

Whether you visit the Milner Library in the physical or virtual environments, you will notice some exciting new services and enhancements.

The modifications to both the physical and virtual library are based upon a new support model that satisfies the changing teaching and research needs of our users. Disruptive influences within the scholarly community require new media, new technologies for communication, more intuitive and comprehensive search/discovery tools, Knowledge Management tools for organizing personal and institutional information, collaboration areas for group study and explorations, and online and TV news services for accessing the instant and 24/7 resources pushed to us.

Concentration has been on offering new services and reviewing and revising present offerings for both student-oriented and more in-depth researcher needs.

Physical

• The first thing you will notice is a significant improvement in building cleanliness and attractiveness: stairwells have been re-carpeted, lighting has been improved—and soon we will have a “living building” with interactive art and enhanced technology for teaching, research, and information exploration.
• The spaces within Milner are being re-purposed to better accommodate new research behaviors. You will notice purpose-based furniture on specific floors; individual seating has been placed on Floor Five—the Maximum Quiet area, and larger tables and configurable furniture have been placed on the other floors to encourage group work.  New collaboration workstations allow up to four people to connect and share their iPads or laptops. Future plans call for a TV news area on Floor Three, and additional Athenaeum-type group spaces with advanced projection capabilities.
• The library now offers better integrated Multimedia: (1) there is a new and pleasant area on Floor Two, the Multimedia Center, that offers modern media support—and open stacks for browsing the video collection, (2) the music collection is now open for browsing on the Sixth floor, (3) there are five GIS workstations in the Computer Lab for longer hours than those found in other departmental labs, and (4) four new Podcasting/Videocasting rooms for student mashing of media content. The library is continuing to explore support for other new media types and associated technologies.
• There is a Presentation Practice Room on Floor Five for groups wishing to test their multimedia presentations in advance of actual performance.
• The library has new self-circulation workstations at the Circulation Desk.
• New software will now allow you to discover available workstations before coming over to the library. See Library.IllinoisState.edu/library-information/computers/computer-availabilty.php
• Interactive maps will now help researchers find Call number areas, and there are information kiosks as you arrive on floors 2 and 4 for quick navigation using online floor plans.
• The library now loans iPads in addition to laptops for in-building use. In addition, digital cameras and accessories for computers and digital devices.
• Vending machines have been introduced in the basement for convenience.

Virtual

• Assistance: It is now possible to contact the library for quick or in-depth consultations using IM chat, email, or text messaging capabilities. The library also has Facebook and Twitter presences. Self-help Tutorials have been developed to provide targeted point-of-need demonstration-based help.
• Searching: While the basic Search Anything discovery tool located on the front door is good for general explorations, the library has developed Research pages for in-depth scholars. These subject pages now appear upon login to iCampus…with Quick Links to the most used tools for in-depth research, journal finding tools, the best book research interface, known journal citation options, and Course page links. Scholars can bookmark these pages as their starting point for subject-specific access.
• Search Anything is the best place for general discovery across many databases.  This service provides access to many secondary but important tools BEYOND GOOGLE. While there is a steep learning curve for complicated searching, this tool is certainly worth the effort if your discipline is covered by multiple databases—talk with your subject librarian for more information on when this might be the best tool for starting your research. Library.IllinoisState.edu/library-materials/subject-librarians.php
• Knowledge Management: With so much information at your fingertips, it is often important to know how to limit your results and re-purpose the best materials you have discovered and annotated with personal comments.  In many instances you may want to share this information with your friends and colleagues. Tools such as Zotero and diigo expand the capture of your information to media materials beyond the citations held in RefWorks and/or EndNote citation software.  The library also offers new iCampus channels for competitive advantage such as: new book lists, recent ISU faculty journal publications, and saved keyword and citation tracking autoalerts as your own RSS feeds.
• Scholarly Communications:  Keep up to date with changes in the scholarly network, follow the trends, address the legal requirements of (NIH) copyright and (NSF) data management plan grant materials, participate in the Open Access debates, and explore assistance that might make you a more effective author and editor.  See Library.IllinoisState.edu/library-materials/scholarly-communication.

Plans

• The library is always reviewing and revising operations and services.  Future enhancements will include the development of an Institutional Repository (IR), a data management clearinghouse, to store and retrieve published materials, supplementary research materials, teaching support materials, and institutional records.  They also plan to continue to incorporate new technologies that serve the teaching and research needs of the ISU population.

Feedback

The library would love to hear from you about these enhancements and any other suggestions you might have that would enhance the environment or services. You may reach the library through the subject liaisons http://library.illinoisstate.edu/library-materials/subject-librarians.php, the reference desk email or chat or the suggestions web page Library.IllinoisState.edu/library-materials/ask.