Greetings everyone and welcome to a brand-new semester. The momentum and energy of our campus continue to thrive, and each new semester continues to promise new endeavors. Before jumping into what is new, I would like to take a minute to reflect on the Fall 2019 semester. The library is proud of several accomplishments, three of which I would like to highlight as representative of our vision and our future.
First, the library has been heavily involved, along with many other campus partners, in the development of a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) designed to weave digital information literacy into the academic careers of our students. The goal of the I-Know QEP is to prepare students to find, evaluate, create, and communicate knowledge using digital technologies so that they can successfully and responsibly navigate the increasingly complex modern information landscape as global citizens.
Second, the Library, partnering with the Office of the Provost and with Division of Research and Innovation, launched the first Open Access Publishing Fund. This fund supports open publishing by underwriting the costs associated with article processing charges (APCs). The goal of this fund is to increase access to research and scholarship produced by researchers at TAMU-CC; support and encourage innovative models of scholarly publishing that take advantage of digital and networking technologies; and help cover costs for TAMU-CC faculty and researchers publishing materials in Open Access venues.
Third, on July 2, 2019, the Library flipped the switch, after 6+ months of planning and testing, on our new library management system. The Library moved from Sierra to Alma, a next generation library management system that meets the workflow needs of a modern library that is rich in digital resources. This move will improve operational efficiencies, but most importantly, should improve the experience of our end users. Rather than searching a catalog and a discovery platform with differing results, patrons will be able to search in a single location to fulfill their information needs.
Spring 2020 proves to be an exciting semester as well, and we continue to look forward to accomplishments that will represent our vision and our future. This semester will finalize the QEP plan, including feedback from the SASCOC onsite review team. In addition, the Library is excited to begin planning for expanded space in the new downtown venue, which offers the opportunity to grow our special collections and archives and to better engage with the local community. Lastly, we look forward to working with campus partners to advance conversations about OER (Open Educational Resources) efforts campus wide, a data science learning lab, and opportunities to help further the scholarship and the research of the TAMU-CC community.
Please have a wonderful semester. We hope to see you around the library.
Cate
