About the Library: 2021-2022

Accomplishments
In order to meet the needs of students, inventory on laptops increased from 50 to 100 and 25 new hotspots were added to what is now called the Technology Lending Service. Aside from the summer session, all devices are claimed by students as soon as they are available for each check out period, demonstrating the need for this service and the need for the increase in the number of devices that are available. Circulation staff have worked tirelessly to develop this new and growing service which has becoming one of the most popular library services available to OCCC student. 

Group study rooms were reopened in the spring of 2022 after their closure due to the pandemic and each of the study rooms were set up to be reservable online ahead of time. Prior to the pandemic, only first floor study rooms were reservable while second floor study rooms were first come, first served. Study rooms without existing reservations can still be requested in person without a prior reservation.

Color printing was made available to both students and the public after the biennial library survey was completed in the spring of 2021. Survey participants indicated the need for this service and the library worked to upgrade the existing printer to include a color printing option. 

The "Email-A-Librarian" (EAL) ticketing system as well as Reference Analytics was configured by the Instruction and Virtual Services Librarian and rolled out for the spring 2022 semester. The EAL service allows students to submit a ticket when in need of research assistance and their inquiry is delivered to a ticketing queue that librarians monitor. A librarian claims the ticket and is then assigned to the student and their research question. Instructions were provided to faculty to embed an EAL option within their Moodle course in order for students to submit a ticket directly from their course page. Reference Analytics tracks EAL usage as well as chat statistics and allows for manual entry of a transaction when librarians work with a student in person, over the phone, or through email. 

In order to address the changing needs of students who began working more online than ever before, the library upgraded database subscriptions and added other new resources as well. Upgraded databases included moving from Academic Search Premier to Academic Search Complete and Art & Architecture Complete to Art & Architecture Source. Additional access to current and historical news was provided with the addition of U.S. Dailies. Increases in eBook offerings has also continued to be a focus for collection development. 

In order to update the library space and provide more modern options for studying, the library purchased new chairs for the entire public area of the library as well as added laptop bars. This has helped provide a much needed facelift to the aesthetic of the library.

In late spring of 2022, the library hired a digitization consultant on a short term contract. This consultant analyzed the materials that were being considered for digitization and created a recommendations document that provided best practices for work flow, metadata input, and software and equipment recommendations. This was completed in June of 2022 and allowed for digitization projects to begin very quickly after the contract was complete. 

In fall of 2021, the College submitted the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) accreditation narrative for the 10 year accreditation renewal. The Systems Librarian was asked to be the Writer for the narrative and the Library Director co-chaired a criteria committee. Both worked together to created evidence documents and link all required evidence to the narrative within the HLC accreditation platform. OCCC passed reaccreditation with no findings. 

Goals
Due to the success of the Technology Lending Service and the demand by students, the library hopes to double the inventory of both laptops and hotspots, as well as begin to offer access to other devices such as DSLR cameras, camcorders, and podcasting kits. In addition, the library would like to begin to provide training workshops for students to be able to learn how to use the equipment. 

As part of another stage for updating library spaces, the library will be adding private individual study carrels to the quiet area of the second floor, looking into updated computer stations, and adding more soft furniture to the second floor lobby area for group study and lounging. 

With the completion of the digitization consultation, the library looks forward to beginning digitization projects for FY 2023. This includes supporting the College's 50th anniversary celebration by digitization a large collection of print photos and making them accessible and searchable online, as well as beginning other projects such as digitizing back issues of The Pioneer (OCCC's student newspaper) and The Absolute (a publication of student works by the Arts, English, and Humanities Division) that are not already available online. 

In the summer of 2021, the OCCC webpage changed to a new platform and new logos and color schemes were developed. In an effort to have a more consistent look between the OCCC webpage and the library webpage, the library will work to update the library webpage, incorporating the new logos and color schemes for the College. Feedback will be requested through usability studies that will be provided to staff, faculty, and students at OCCC.