J. Edgar and Louise S. Monroe Library
Annual Report, 2008-09
Summary of Activities in 2008-09

• The library planned, raised money for, and implemented the Learning Commons. Billed as the “Roctober Makeover,” the project brought new, flexible, comfortable, colorful furniture to the library’s first floor. The change was an instant hit with students.
• The Provost accepted the recommendation of the Standing Council for Academic Planning (SCAP) to approve the library’s proposal for a new course for academic credit entitled Research and Technology 2.0.
• The library supported the creation and introduction of 40 online courses in summer 2009, double the number of courses offered the previous summer. The library met with faculty and staff in the College of Social Sciences to plan for the development of online programs in Nursing, Criminal Justice, and the Loyola Institute for Ministry. It also discussed the prospects for the development of online courses in the College of Business with the Assistant Dean and initiated a discussion of possible online programs in the College of Music and Fine Arts with the incoming dean of the college.
• The library expanded the scope of Blackboard through the installation and implementation of Learning Object’s campus pack, which includes the ability to create blogs and wikis directly into the Blackboard framework, as well as several other Blackboard building blocks (safeassign, scholar, sync, turning point, etc.)
• The library expanded Blackboard training to include summer student orientation and faculty training on new Blackboard functions. The library trained and supported faculty in use of media resources such as Audacity, Screenflow, Powerpoint, and A/V equipment.
• The library met with the director of the School of Nursing to discuss the planned online Doctor of Nursing Practice program and did a careful analysis of existing and additional resources needed to support the program, based on comparisons with library resources at peer programs and usage patterns of nursing resources at the Monroe Library. This process could become a template for analyzing and developing support for other online programs at Loyola.
• The library organized an exhibit on the History of Loyola Athletics. The exhibit was very well received and was the focus of several alumni events.
• The library began a project to digitize and conserve 44 field notebooks from the Cornet Collection. The project is funded by a grant from the RosaMary Foundation.
• The library initiated several blogs, including the Blackboard Center Blog, the Learning Commons Blog, and the We Recommend Blog.
• The library filled two library faculty positions (Outreach and Development Coordinator, Information Literacy/Learning Commons Librarian) and initiated a search for a third library faculty member (Online Learning Librarian).
• The library initiated space planning intended to expand the Learning Commons, co-locate library faculty and staff who perform similar or complementary work, address the space needs of the Center for Teaching and Learning, and create enhanced teaching and meeting spaces.
• The library initiated an annual lunch for honors students that gives librarian liaisons a chance to meet honors students in their disciplines and offer assistance as the students begin research for their honors theses.
• The library began a comprehensive review of collection development data, including circulation data, data on expenditures, and interlibrary loan statistics, which will help in making informed decisions for future collection development.
• The library upgraded the instructional technology in 29 classrooms. Thirteen of these rooms have new projectors or plasma televisions with laptop hookups, enabling professors to display PowerPoint slides, webpages, or other information from a laptop. Now virtually all the pool classrooms are “smart.”
• The library conducted research on classroom response systems, formed a “Clicker Workgroup” that included faculty from the Colleges of Humanities and Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, and Music and Fine Arts, organized demonstrations and conducted analysis of three different products, and provided the leadership to choose the i>Clicker system for Loyola.

The full 2008 - 2009 Annual Report report is available here. [PDF]