Faculty Activity Report
1997 Academic Year
Submitted 2 February 1998

1. Academic Activities

a. Teaching - Duties as Described in Job Description

1.Maintenance of the Government Documents Collection

Watson Library is a 30% Selective Depository for Federal Government Documents. As Government Documents Librarian, it is my primary responsibility to oversee the maintenance of this collection in accordance with the guidelines set by the Government Printing Office in Instructions to Depository Libraries. In 1997, this maintenance included submitting a Biennial Survey and a Depository Library Self Study as well as the regular annual updating of the Item profile. Copies of all of these crucial documents are enclosed. Maintenance of this collection also includes overseeing of and participating in the shelf preparation (labeling and recording), filing, shelving, and organizing the Government Documents Collection.

As part of the maintenance of the Government Documents Collection, I do a great deal of database management. The project, started in November 1997, is a verification of existing written records with newly added computer records. As seen in the included statistics for this project, I have made significant progress. The statistics for this project are:

The compilation of statistics is an important function in the maintenance and promotion of the government documents collection. I compile and report statistics on the circulation and in-house use of government documents as well as the number of documents added and removed from the collection. These statistics for the last half of 1997 are:

2. Public Service

Providing general reference service and specialized reference service for Government Documents is the most visible and enjoyable part of my job. It gives me the opportunity to work one-on-one with all patrons including NSU Faculty, Staff and Students and LSMSA Faculty, Staff and Students as well as members of the general public.

To quantitatively measure Reference activity, counts of all questions asked are kept at the Reference desk. The breakdown of these statistics for the second half of 1997 is as follows:

Of this grand total of 10,274 questions asked in the second half of 1997, approximately one-fifth, or 2054.8, questions were answered by me.

3. Promotion of the Government Documents Collection

During the month of August 1997, I was given the opportunity to promote the Government Documents Collection by creating a display for the lobby display case in Watson Library. The topic of my display was "Government Documents - Multimedia". For this display, I included documents in all formats including paper, microfiche, compact disc, floppy disc and the Internet. Photographs of this display are included. in designing this display, I intended to draw attention to the wide variety of information available in this collection.

I also serve as library liaison with Life Sciences and Veterinary Technology.

4. Library Instruction

As part of the reference staff, I participate in Library Instruction as much as possible. During my time so far at Watson Library I have participated in Library instruction for general courses as well as ones needing specific instruction in government information.

Library Instruction sessions I conducted included:

In summary, this adds up to 10 classes and 304 students attending library instruction sessions which I conducted.

5. Supervision of Student Employees

In accomplishing the task of maintaining the Government Documents collection, I supervise approximately 4 student assistants in the preparation and maintenance of the collection for public use. Once student workers are assigned to my area, I am responsible for their training and daily tasks. I devote several hours to orientation and general training in addition to the time spent training the students in Government Documents activities. I also evaluate these students on a regular basis at the end of each semester.

To assist the students I supervise, I have created and implemented a new Student Assistant Training Manual and Training Checklist. Copies of this documentation are included with this report.

6. Cooperation With Other Depository Libraries

Open communication between Federal Depositories is very important on a local as well as a national level. To that end, I am subscribed to BAYOUDOC (a listserv for Government Documents Librarians in Louisiana), GOVDOC-L (a nation-wide listserv for Government Documents Librarians) and DocTech-L (a nation-wide listserv for the discussion of technical processing of Government Documents).

I have also participated in an online survey conducted by another member of GOVDOC-L concerning differing library policies on the handling of CD-ROMs in depository collections.

7. Goals and Objectives for 1997-1998

1. Complete Depository Library Self Study

8. Library Committees

I am currently a member of the Serials Review Committee chaired by Dr. Martha Henderson and the Internet/Homepage Committee chaired by Catharine Cebrowski. For the Serials Review committee, I am working with Dr. Henderson on revising library policies governing government documents which are added to the serials collection. A meeting of the Internet/Homepage Committee has not been called.

3. Research/Creative Professional Activities

a. Publications

1. Publication (World Wide Web)

As a Government Documents Librarian, I see everyday ways in which valuable Government Information could be made available to the general public. In an attempt to promote access to Government Information to the general Internet public, I have designed a web page devoted to this valuable source of information. On this page I have included all the documentation I have created for Watson Library as well as an html-ized version of the Self Study. Also included is a custom designed page of links to other web sites where Government Information can be found. It was my intention in creating this page that a site on a public server rather than a university one would make this information less intimidating to those unaccustomed to using Government Information.

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