NIMITZ LIBRARY| U N I T E D S T A T E S N A V A L A C A D E M Y |
| NIMITZ LIBRARY |
| HOURS LIBRARY CATALOG RENEW BOOKS LIBRARY INFORMATION CONTACT US LIBRARY HOME USNA HOME |
Because of continuing increases of about 8% in the cost of subscriptions (a national phenomenon of long standing), along with relatively flat funding, the Library's budget last year was alarmingly inadequate for purchasing the books, journals, and other library materials required to support the Academy's academic program. Consequently, as most faculty are aware, the Library and the academic departments conducted an extensive subscriptions review during the spring semester, to identify the most essential journals and other subscriptions. As a result, the Library is in the process of cancelling approximately $300,000 worth of subscriptions, effective in fiscal year 2010.
Even before contacting the faculty about this review a few months ago, the Library was continuing to pursue cost-cutting measures. These included eliminating some subscriptions where we held duplicate formats, renegotiating some database costs, reducing the number of simultaneous users for certain databases, and continuing to work with other libraries through purchasing consortia such as the Maryland Digital Library (MDL) and the National Research Library Alliance (NRLA).
More information, including copies of previous communications with the faculty, is available at the 2010 Subscriptions Review Project and Proposed Cancellation List page.
Your involvement in recommending new books for the Nimitz Library is always welcome and is an important part of our collection-building process. Sometimes faculty are reluctant to suggest new titles because they're aware of periodic budgetary constraints. We prefer to receive any suggestions throughout the year, as soon as they occur to you, so that we can build up the request file. This practice enables us to order books quickly when funds do become available. Moreover, we usually have a modest amount of funding on hand, sometimes from small gift funds, to order a few urgently needed titles.
Book requests can be submitted to the reference librarian who works with your department. An alternative online form for submitting requests is Recommend a Title for the Library's Collection.
Users of the Library's online catalog who encounter a promising-looking title, and click on the link for more information, periodically encounter this response: "One Copy Under Consideration for Bookstacks." This means that the book has been identified as a candidate for purchase and prioritized by a librarian; the bibliographic record is in the system, and our Acquisitions Department is awaiting the arrival of sufficient funds before ordering it.
If you receive such a message and would like the Library to order the book, please contact the librarian who works with your department and indicate that this title is a high priority. Assuming the availability of at least some funds, we'll order it right away.
A related point: a title that is noted in the catalog as being "in process" can be expedited and held for you by contacting a reference librarian.
The Nimitz Library posted its first digital collection this past spring. The Somers Affair comprises nine documents pertaining to the alleged mutiny aboard the brig U.S.S. Somers in 1842, and its immediate aftermath. The documents include military court proceedings, correspondence, and contemporary reprints of official reports and proceedings. Originals of all nine documents can be found in the Special Collections & Archives Department, Nimitz Library. Seven of these items were digitized by Nimitz Library staff for use in this collection, comprising 170 pages of scanned text and nine pages of transcriptions. The two remaining items, the Proceedings of the Court of Inquiry and the Proceedings of the Naval Court Martial, were digitized previously for inclusion in Google Books and the Internet Archive respectively.
The Library has under development an electronic subject index called “Reference Universe” which provides access to specialized encyclopedias and reference books from our collection. Included are both print and electronic, with linking to the latter. Such reference works can provide students with useful introductions to academic topics, and often some initial bibliography, as one avenue into a research project.
Parts of the Nimitz Library have undergone some much-needed renovation this summer. The 36-year-old building received attention in the following areas:
The Special Collections & Archives Department has become increasingly involved in scanning photographs for both internal and external requests. SC&A has provided images for display in various buildings on the Yard (including The Alley at the Naval Academy Club), for illustrations and dust jackets of publications, and for the Naval Academy Athletic Association.
The Blue Goose, the barge Admiral Nimitz used at Pearl Harbor as CinCPac (and later Fleet Admiral) from 1942 to 1945, has joined the other ship models on display in the Annapolis Room. Built from scratch by Kenneth E. Folsom, the scale of the model Blue Goose is 1 inch to 1 foot.(See Photo)
The Nimitz Library publishes a list of books which faculty and others who interact with the midshipmen in an academic context have recommended to them.
The list has been in place since 2004, and we always welcome additions to it.
The following suggestions are provided to assist you in submitting new recommendations or updating existing ones:
Your recommendations can be submitted in electronic format to Richard Werking.
Librarian subject specialists are available to conduct course-related instruction in the use of electronic and print resources available for research in various subject areas. Instruction sessions are usually tailored to specific class assignments and are developed in cooperation with the faculty. They are usually conducted in a Library classroom where students will have hands-on experience with electronic resources as appropriate. Sessions can be scheduled by contacting your department's reference librarian.
Barbara Breeden, reference-bibliographer for Economics and Political Science, retired in May 2009 after 21 years of dedicated service to the Naval Academy.
David D'Onofrio, Special Collections Librarian, was recognized at the April meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference for outstanding achievement in the preparation of a finding aid. He was awarded third prize for "The Inventory to the Lenox, Incorporated records, 1889-2005", a finding aid he prepared while employed at Rutgers University shortly before coming to the Naval Academy last year.
Donna Goda, International Studies & Foreign Languages Librarian, published an article in Public Services Quarterly, Vol. 4 (2008), entitled "Frequency and Content of Chat Questions by Time of Semester at the University of Central Florida: Implications for Training, Staffing and Marketing" (with Corinne Bishop). She also serves on the Research Planning and Review Committee of the Association of College & Research Libraries, the academic division of the American Library Association.
Michael Kardos, Cataloging Technician, was awarded scholarships to attend the annual conferences of the Potomac Technical Processing Librarians in April and the North American Serials Interest Group in August. He also received his Masters degree in Library Science this past summer at the University of Maryland.
Barbara Kemp, Head of Reference & Instruction, was appointed chair of the Campus Administration and Leadership Discussion Group in the University Libraries Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries.
Katherine Lang, Cataloger and Reference Librarian (and Major, USAF (ret)), has been serving as Acting Head of the Library's Circulation Department since February.
Alexis Linoski, Electronic Access Librarian, was appointed recently to the Policy & Publications Review Committee of the Instruction Section, Association of College & Research Libraries.
William Murray's review of Peter Hernon and Ronald R. Powell, eds., Convergence and Collaboration of Campus Information Services appeared in the May 2009 issue of the Journal of Academic Librarianship.
Patti Patterson, Associate Library Director, is serving this year as the elected chair of the Buildings & Equipment Section of the Library Leadership and Management Association, a division of the American Library Association.
Richard Werking, Library Director and Associate Dean for Information, recently accepted an appointment to the Standards and Accreditation Committee of the Association of College & Research Libraries.
Last updated: 23 Oct 09
 |
| Nimitz Library -
USNA Comments and suggestions: Web Systems Management Librarian |