Month: January 2019

Coming Soon: Tipasa Interlibrary Loan

Great news! Our interlibrary loan service is moving to the cloud! We have started the migration from the ILLiad platform to OCLC’s Tipasa product. We hope to be totally up and running on the new system by the start of the Spring 2019 Semester.

Some of the big advantages to Tipasa are:

  1. You can login to the system with your R-MC campus network login (YES! One less password to remember!)
  2. You will be able to get interlibrary loan notices by text message and/or email.

Want to give it a try? Follow these directions to place a request.

1. Log into your Tipasa User Portal:

2. Click on the “Create Request” Button:

  • Create Request button in Tipasa is located under the Interlibrary Loan Requests bar

3. Select the appropriate request type

Image shows request type buttons under Submit an Interlibrary Loan Request text

Request types are:

  • Book Loan or Chapter Copy 
  • Journal Article
  • Other Material: this could be a music CD, DVD, microform, or anything else.

4. Enter as much information as you have about the item you are requesting.

Only some fields are marked required with an asterisk (*), but please enter any and all the information you have. If you have a URL from the website where you learned about the source, please include that (that can go in the new “Where did you learn about this item” box!).

There is also an “Item not needed after” field. Please know that we always try to get materials as quickly as we can. If you need something very quickly, it’s best to follow up your request with an email to ill@rmc.edu, and we will do what we can. 

The more information you can give us, the better our chances of being able to get the item for you quickly. 

5. When finished entering your request details, click the “Submit Request” button at the bottom of the form.

Go ahead and give it a try if you’d like. Please note that in this beginning stage of Tipasa you will only be able to enter your requests manually. We are working with our database vendors now so that soon request information will automatically populate the request form like you are currently able to do with ILLiad.

Please contact Kelli Salmon at ill@rmc.edu if you have any questions about using Tipasa!

2018-2023 Strategic Plan – Part 1, Mission & Vision

In May 2018, staff of the McGraw-Page Library finalized the Library’s new strategic plan. Intended to set the strategic direction for the next five years, the strategic plan includes new mission and vision statements, and outlines the Library’s top priorities. My posts over the next few months will introduce the strategic plan. 

McGraw-Page Library Mission

The McGraw-Page Library supports the mission of the College by providing quality resources and innovative services that foster lifelong learning through exploration, discovery, and creativity.  

The Library is an integral part of Randolph-Macon College academic success. We provide resources that support student projects and, to a somewhat lesser extent, faculty research, and those resources are vetted according to our professional standards. That means that we don’t just add the latest bestseller on a topic, but we evaluate publishers, authors, and platforms and read reviews to ensure that high-quality resources are available. Similarly, we look at our services, and at ideas for new services, in light of campus need and the value that a service can provide the library and the College.

The goal to foster lifelong learning is found on many college campuses, and in many library mission statements, because the value of a college education cannot be truly experienced until after graduation. If learning only happens for the four years a student attends classes, its ability to impact the rest of their life is severely limited. But if a student can continue to learn, and thus adapt to the changes that life brings, their potential for success is higher. So the mission of the library is not to serve up ready-made, easily-digested packets of information, but to provide the tools needed for students to find what they need, explore what they’re interested in, and broaden their horizons. This puts students in control of the process and prepares them for the complex information environment that exists in the “real world.”

McGraw-Page Library Vision

The McGraw-Page Library strives to be the intellectual center of Randolph-Macon College. We encourage multi- and inter-disciplinarity through active participation in the academic and creative life of the College. We create vibrant, welcoming physical and virtual environments that support teaching, learning, research, and discovery. We collect, preserve, promote, and facilitate access to the best scholarly and educational resources in a variety of formats, and excel at innovative and responsive services. We educate members of the campus community in the use of academic and technological resources in order to prepare them for a complex information environment. We foster a culture of inclusiveness that reflects and respects the diversities of our community.

As the intellectual center of the R-MC campus, the Library would like to be a neutral space in which members of different disciplines, both students and faculty, can meet to share ideas and projects. It is easy to focus on one’s own major or area of interest and to simply be unaware of the research or conversations happening elsewhere. The library would like to be a place where interdisciplinarity and multidisciplinarity can thrive, where projects can be showcased, where students can learn from one another’s work.

We have a vision that our physical space will be intellectually and creatively inspiring to those who use it, as well as easy to navigate and use.  We plan to continue investing in our physical and digital collections so that they support the College’s evolving curriculum, as well as faculty research, and so that they reflect the diversity of the campus community. We view the library not as a passive repository for resources that are available on-demand, but as a proactive organization that is reaching out to users, engaging with them, and educating them about the tools, resources, and processes that can help them succeed both academically and beyond.

Next month’s post will explore the McGraw-Page Library’s values and priorities, and in March and April, our five strategic goals will be introduced.

Three on the Third – January

Three on the Third is a monthly series in which we highlight three books new to the library collection. Summaries of the books are provided from publisher’s websites, along with shelf location and a link to the item in the catalog.  This month we have three exciting new additions to our POP collection.

The Mamba Mentality 
by Kobe Bryant 

Cover of the book The Mamba Mentality.

The NBA great nicknamed “The Black Mamba” shares his knowledge and understanding of basketball, outlining his detailed approach to preparing both physically and mentally to succeed at the game and revealing the core of his “Mamba mentality.”
GV884.B794 A3 2018
Catalog Link – The Mamba Menta

 

Girl, Wash Your Face
by Rachel Hollis 

Cover of the book Girl, Wash Your Face.

Founder of the lifestyle website TheChicSite.com and CEO of her own media company, Rachel Hollis has created an online fan base by sharing tips for living a better life while fearlessly revealing the messiness of her own. Each chapter begins with a specific lie Hollis once believed that left her feeling overwhelmed, unworthy, or ready to give up. As a working mother, a former foster parent, and a woman who has dealt with insecurities about her body and relationships, she speaks with the insight and kindness of a BFF, helping women unpack the limiting mind-sets that destroy their self-confidence and keep them from moving forward. From her temporary obsession with marrying Matt Damon to a daydream involving hypnotic iguanas to her son’s request that she buy a necklace to “be like the other moms,” Hollis holds nothing back. With unflinching faith and tenacity, Hollis spurs other women to live with passion and hustle and to awaken their slumbering goals.
BV4527 .H658 2018
Catalog Link – Girl, Wash Your Face 

Hindsight & All the Things I Can’t See in Front of Me
by Justin Timberlake

Cover of the book Hindsight.

In his first book, Justin Timberlake creates a characteristically dynamic experience, one that combines an intimate, remarkable collection of anecdotes, reflections, and observations on his life and work with hundreds of candid photographs from his personal archives that range from his early years to the present day, in locations around the world, both on and off the stage. Justin discusses many aspects of his childhood, including his very early love of music and the inspiration behind many of his songs and albums. He talks about his songwriting process, offering the back story to many of his hits. He muses on his collaborations with other artists and directors, sharing the details of performances in concert, TV comedy, and film. He also reflects on who he is, examining what makes him tick, speaking candidly about fatherhood, family, close relationships, struggles, and his search to find an inner calm and strength. Living a creative life, observing and finding inspiration in the world, taking risks, and listening to an inner voice–this is Justin Timberlake.
ML420.T537 A3 2018
Catalog Link – Hindsight