2.9  

The institution, through ownership or formal arrangements or agreements, provides and supports student and faculty access and user privileges to adequate library collections as well as to other learning/information resources consistent with the degrees offered. These collections and resources are sufficient to support all its educational, research, and public service programs. (Learning Resources and Services)

RATIONALE FOR COMPLIANCE JUDGMENT

The Learning Resources Center (LRC) provides adequate library collections and information resources for students and faculty at Nashville State Technical Community College (NSCC) whether they are on or off campus.

The Kisber Library provides support for all the college's academic programs through its collections, which include the following:

• Five general journal databases that cover the humanities, sciences, social sciences, and technology,

• Specific subject databases including business, literature, health sciences, music, art, and Spanish [1],

• 50,000 books on the shelves,

• Four collections (totaling more than 38,000 books)  of NetLibrary ebooks,

• One online technical book collection, Safari [2], and

• Online reference books, including English and foreign language dictionaries, thesauruses, quotation books, atlases, and a comprehensive series of subject dictionaries [3].

The Kisber Library also provides interlibrary loan services for students and faculty. As a member of the Nashville Area Library Alliance (NALA), students may request books from neighboring libraries in the midstate area, which are then brought to the campus by courier [4]. Students from NSCC may borrow a NALA card that will allow entrance to Vanderbilt University and conduct research in any one of the University’s subject libraries. All NSCC students may also visit any of the other 28 Tennessee Board of Regents [TBR] libraries to conduct research with check-out privileges. At the Cookeville Center, librarians from Tennessee Technological University conduct orientations to research on request. At the Humphreys County site, one of the library staff members travels to Waverly once a semester to conduct orientations. The Kisber Library will also send any requested books to other sites by mail or courier.

There is a library orientation at the Library website for students who cannot come to campus or who need a refresher on library services [5]. There is also an “Ask the Librarian” link on the homepage so that students may send research questions to the library staff; these are answered within 24 hours [6]. NSCC students who are enrolled in the Regents Online Degree Program [RODP] also have access to the RODP Virtual Library website. NSCC fully participates with other TBR libraries to ensure that there is a solid core collection so that all RODP students have equal access to the same materials [7]. The virtual library allows students to access the NSCC databases through their course management site. It also provides a wide array of tutorials for the students to use. Each year, students and faculty are asked to rate the virtual library. At the beginning of the RODP program, students often found it difficult to log in to the databases, but this has become much more streamlined in the past few years.

The Kisber Library has several methods of insuring that its materials and services adequately support student and faculty needs. Every two years, there is a survey of full-time and adjunct faculty [8]. In the 2006 survey, 82% of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that the library’s collection of books and audio-visual materials is adequate for their teaching needs. Eighty-seven percent reported that the library’s periodical collection was adequate for their teaching needs. Seventy percent agreed that the librarians were helpful in assisting faculty prepare research assignments. Finally, 57% felt the library orientation was effective in helping students learn to conduct research while 71% felt the online library orientation was effective. One concern from this survey was the large percentage (50%) of respondents who felt that library services were not applicable to their courses. Therefore, the staff has made a major effort to reach out to faculty. In 2005 and 2006, the LRC was part of the inservices for new faculty, informing them of the collections and services. All new faculty were given a one-time stipend to add to the collection in their subject areas. The library staff began an outreach program to subject-area courses that usually did not come for library orientations. Librarians went to their classes and did a short orientation focusing on research in the specific subject area. This has been relatively successful. Librarians have conducted research orientations in psychology, sociology, history, philosophy, occupational therapy, and engineering technology classes. Once librarians convince faculty to take a few minutes of their class time, they are usually invited back each semester. Moreover, librarians report of students from these classes seeking them out in the library to ask further research questions.

Kisber Library staff use several techniques to ensure that the collection serves the needs of students and faculty. The dean of the LRC is a member of the Curriculum Committee and, as stated in the Curriculum Committee Manual, must sign all curriculum proposals, thereby keeping abreast of all course additions, modifications, and deletions [9]. According to Kisber Library policy, faculty requests are given first priority when making purchasing decisions. The Kisber Library staff also monitors faculty assignments in making decisions about new additions to the collection. In 2005, a new music instructor began placing CDs on reserve  for students to listen to in the AV rooms. It became clear that this was a key component of the new music program. The Kisber Library, therefore, subscribed to Naxos, a music database, which, subsequently, has become an integral part of the curriculum. In 2006, the Kisber Library subscribed to a second historical newspaper database after observing that the majority of history instructors made an assignment which required students to compare the coverage of an event in two newspapers from the 19th century. Furthermore, usage statistics are analyzed to ensure that the collection is serving the needs of NSCC students. One example is Safari Technical ebooks. In 2005-06, NSCC ranked second among all TBR community colleges in Safari Tech Book usage. Nashville State had 887 hits, three behind the leader, a positive sign that the collection is serving campus needs [10]. Recent accreditation reports from the areas of culinary arts, occupational therapy, and business affirm that the Kisber Library collection is adequate for the research needs of the students in those areas. As important as collecting new materials is the process of weeding the collection to ensure that sources are relevant and up-to-date. Faculty are encouraged to submit their research assignments to librarians in advance for an informal resource audit. A different part of the collection is formally weeded each year.

The Kisber Library periodically surveys students about their satisfaction with library services [11].  In fall 2005, 392 students who had attended a library orientation were surveyed. Ninety-one percent agreed that the library orientation provided them with useful information on finding sources. Seventy-eight percent said that they found better sources due to the orientation than they would have without one. Seventy-six percent stated that they were more likely to use a database rather than a general web search after the orientation. Seventy-eight percent said they were more confident in conducting research since the orientation.

Furthermore, to ensure that the library is meeting the research needs of the campus, the LRC area has developed an on-campus advisory committee, including faculty and staff from all areas of the campus. The committee meets annually to discuss issues and hear feedback from divisions about what is and what is not working.

The NSCC Learning Center also provides support for students in their subject areas. During its open hours, the Center maintains tutors in math and writing. Other subjects that are also available are accounting, computer science, and the natural sciences [12]. Furthermore, the Learning Center subscribes to Smarthinking, an online tutorial service. Students can have real-time sessions in a variety of subjects as well as having essays critiqued. [13] All Learning Center services are free of charge to students.