Category Archives: From the Dean of Library Services

Messages from the Library Dean

The Claire T. Carney Library Addition Arrives with a “Soft Opening” on Jan. 22nd – Join Us for Coffee, Hot Chocolate & Treats at the New Café

Claire T Carney Library & New Addition

Welcome Back – to Your New Library Space!

It’s bright, spacious, and warm, especially near the new fireplaces. Join us for the “Soft Opening” on the first day of the  spring semester, Tuesday, Jan. 22nd. We’ll be waiting for you in the new addition with hot chocolate, coffee and some treats at the new Café.

There is still work to be done, but after three years of construction, you’ve just got to come see it for yourselves. The new addition features a brand new space that serves as the new entryway for the Library. This “campus living room,” with its fifty-foot-tall windows, coffee tables, and low bookcases (and did we mention the two working fireplaces!) will make it the
campus’s best place to meet, talk, or study.

We’ll start at 7:30 a.m. and the Library Dean and Assistant Dean will be there to officially welcome you to your new library space.

** And please give thanks to the UMass Dartmouth Alumni Association for wanting to make your welcome back a little more special by sponsoring the hot drinks and treats. **

Note that the more formal grand opening of the fully renovated and expanded Library will be held on Tuesday, April 2 to kick off Chancellor Grossman‘s Inauguration festivities. A full schedule of the events focusing on the achievements of students, alumni, staff and faculty will be released soon.

See full press release at: https://www1.umassd.edu/communications/articles/showarticles.cfm?a_key=3085

Just for fun, check out a few of these before and after pictures and try to remember it as it was when you’re in the new space!

Center of New Addition - Before & After

Remember the moldy cement seating just outside the library. Looks a little different now!

Looking North from the old library entrance - Before & After

Now if you can remember looking straight ahead when you came out of the old library entrance … well, now you’re still inside, right near the new Circulation service point.

Circulation Desks - Old & New

And, speaking of the Access Services Circulation Desk … It’s now in the new space!

Looking Towards the Library from the Charlton College of Business

It’ll be a little different walking from the Charlton College of Business towards the new library entrance.

There will be a few more of these before and after pictures along with some views of the new library renovation and addition on the library’s “Library Building Renovation and Expansion Program” page. Look for them soon.

The Claire T. Carney and UMass Law libraries “Go Live” With New Next Generation Library Systems Alma and Primo – Jan. 22nd, 2013

Announcing the unveiling of Primo & Alma - a search box and results screen imageThe UMass Dartmouth Claire T. Carney Library and UMass Law library are pleased to announce the unveiling of the new library services platform Alma and the search discovery and access system Primo.

Selected to be part of an Alma Early Adopter Program, UMass Dartmouth Libraries join Boston College and Boston University in Massachusetts to become one of six libraries in the United State to “Go Live” with the cloud-based Ex Libris Alma library unified resource management system and the Primo discovery search and delivery services. The Alma and Primo systems replace the Voyager integrated library system, first implemented in 1999, and the separate SFX, MetaLIB and DigiTool systems.

Benefits to You, the Researcher:

On the front end, Primo is a new search tool that enables the discovery of a wide range of materials like articles, books, images and other forms of electronic resources from a wide variety of sources within one search. Without leaving a search, a researcher will be able to access the available electronic materials online or send the results to email or a citation manager like RefWorks. A short list of advantages include:

  • Faster: You search just once to find and access all different kinds of materials.
  • Easier: After-search filters let you start with a simple keyword search and then refine your results by simply clicking on the filters you wish to apply.
  • bX Recommender: Many citations point to related articles. Recommendations based on data mining and structured analysis of usage data obtained from hundreds of research institutions worldwide.
  • Save your research: Save items or searches in a personal e-Shelf, or export them to RefWorks or EndNote.
  • Discovery: An advanced researcher may still need to rely on specialized databases in their field. Primo’s multidisciplinary search allows them to quickly discover valuable scholarly resources and information from other sources that they may not have found otherwise.
  • Added features: Examples include book covers, material type images, and multiple limiting and sorting options.

On the back office side, Alma allows library staff to move more efficiently through acquisition and metadata phases of work allowing researchers to gain faster access to new materials and online resources purchased by the library. Alma’s internal business intelligence tools allow staff to better analyze such things as purchasing processes, collection usage, and other essentials important to collection analysis and development work.

More Information on the New Systems:

Alma is a library services platform that supports the entire suite of library operations for print, electronic, and digital resources. Located in a cloud-based community environment consisting of other academic and research libraries, Alma will provide new opportunities for a collaborative metadata management and back office work like collection analysis, acquisitions, fund management, cataloging, and maintenance of knowledgebases that work to connect search results with online access links and print resource inventories.  On the back end, this next generation library system will unify, simplify, and allow library staff to work in a much more efficient manner while allowing staff to take on new functions and efforts vital to future library activities.

Primo is a web-scale discovery and delivery system that works with Alma to virtually transform the library’s ability to deliver better and deeper access to the wide array of information resources and databases licensed for access by the university libraries. These new systems will provide an enhanced user experience for UMass Dartmouth student and faculty researchers and dramatically expand the researcher’s ability to discover and access to scholarly publications and information resources relevant to research, work and creative needs.

Starting on January 22, 2013, access the new systems here:

Extended 24 Hours Opening for Library Computer Lab Rooms 225 and 226 Thru This Friday

Library Computer Lab 225 Open 24 HRs

We are pleased to announce that LIB 225 and LIB 226 (2nd floor computer labs) will remain open 24 hours through this Friday, 12/14/2012. They will return to their regularly scheduled hours Friday afternoon, closing at 5:00 pm.

Terrance M. Burton
Dean of Library Services
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
tburton@umassd.edu
508-999-8664

Additional Computer Study Available – Claire T. Carney Library

2nd Floor Computer Lab - Claire T. Carney LibraryLIB-225 and LIB-226 [Computer Labs on the 2nd floor of the Claire T. Carney Library] are now available as additional computer study space. The opening adds 64 computers to the 126 available in the first floor Learning Commons and the second floor Scholarly Commons. Laptops are also available for check out at the MCLP service point at the Learning Commons Information Desk.

Hours are:

  • Sunday, 12noon – 11:00pm
  • Monday – Thursday, 7:45am – 11:00pm
  • Friday, 7:45am – 5:00pm
  • Saturday, 9:00am – 5:00pm

Class reservations require that these labs be cleared 15 minutes before scheduled class time.

~Please check the posted schedule and plan your work accordingly.~

Terrance M. Burton
Dean of Library Services
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
tburton@umassd.edu
508-999-8664

Claire T. Carney Library Open 24/7 Starting Sunday, December 2nd at NOON!

Library Open 24 Hours

The Claire T. Carney Library will be open continuously from NOON on Sunday December 2 through 1:30 AM on Monday December 17.  This period covers the last days of classes and most of the final exam period.  Regular library services such as circulation/ reserve transactions will only be available on the same schedule as regular library hours.  IT assistance will be available at the Learning Commons service point on the 1st floor for all of the hours that the building is open.

Extended hours are for members of the UMD community only. Please have your UMass Pass with you as you ma be asked to present it during the overnight hours to verify eligibility for the extended hours.  If you need to obtain a UMass Pass, please go to their office located on the ground floor of the campus centerMonday – Friday 9 AM to 4 PM.

Personnel from the Department of Public safety and DART van service will be available.

These extended hours are sponsored by the Claire T. Carney Library, CITS, UMD Dept of Public Safety and Campus Services.

Please contact the Library Dean at tburton@umassd.edu for general information and the IT Student Services Center itstudentcenter@umassd.edu or 508-999-8884 for IT questions.

Terrance M. Burton
Dean of Library Services
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
tburton@umassd.edu
508-999-8664

Late Night Hours Adjusted – Claire T. Carney Library

Effective Sunday, November 4, the Claire T. Carney Library will close at 1:30 AM Sunday – Thursday.

Public Safety will clear the building starting at 1:30 AM. We ask everyone’s cooperation in order to accomplish this and allow Public Safety and Library student staff to end their shifts on time.

Standard Claire T. Carney Library hours will be:

Monday – Thursday 7:30 AM to 1:30 AM
Friday 7:30 AM to 11:00 PM
Saturday 9:00 AM to 11:00 PM
Sunday 12 Noon to 1:30 AM

End of semester 24-hour study schedule will be released soon.

Terrance M. Burton
Dean of Library Services
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
tburton@umassd.edu
508-999-8664

Update on the damage assessment, cleanup, repair and reopening efforts after Wednesday’s storm that affected the Claire T. Carney Library

Update on the Claire T. Carney Library

This is an update on the damage assessment, cleanup, repair and reopening efforts after Wednesday’s storm that affected the Claire T. Carney Library.

We have received results from additional air quality tests carried out by an independent firm working for the contractor carrying out renovation work on the Library. This is in addition to results of testing by the independent firm contracted by the University, which is also verifying the findings of the contractor’s firm.

Based on the results of all these tests, we continue to have confidence in our schedule to readmit staff as announced on Friday.

We will partially reopen the Library to senior staff tomorrow, Monday, August 20, and their role will be to assess the state of physical assets in the offices and ensure we are ready to reopen floor 4 to staff on Tuesday, August 21. All other employees assigned to the Library will not report to work on Monday.

Please note that we expect floor 4 to reopen to staff only on Tuesday, August 21, and will confirm whether or not we are ready to do so tomorrow, Monday, August 20. Floor 5 will remain closed to all but essential repair personnel until repairs are completed. Floors 1-3 are subject to ongoing construction, and we will announce their opening to staff at a later date.

–Deb McLaughlin
COO and Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance