The Libraries empowers campus users to be active learners and critical thinkers. To support student success, we commit to providing the unique and equitable resources, tools, and spaces necessary for teaching and learning across the disciplines. We strive to support the diverse needs of our users and to contribute to the academic success of each student, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
Enrich the student experience and increase student success
Web work
Website UX redesign
In 2023, the Web Team completed a full overhaul of the structure and navigation used for the Libraries’ website. These changes were rooted in UX research with students on campus, who expressed some confusion about the previous structure. While it is difficult to assess the impact of these changes, pageviews are up 100 percent for the year, nearing 1 million views. for the year.
‘Discover University Libraries’ online guide and postcards
In August 2023, representatives from Marketing, Digital Services, and the @One Digital Media and Technology Center worked together to gather input from each of the other Library departments (RIS, SCUA, DLM, Basque, Computing Help Desk, etc.) on their basic FAQs, resources, and other information needing to be shared with with the public to be compiled into a ‘Discover the Libraries’ web guide. A corresponding postcard with connecting QR code was created and passed out at DWPI/NOW weekend and other Library events, as well as placed at all major Libraries’ service desks.
Collections
Prim Collections
Prim Library supports the Sierra Nevada University legacy students and faculty at University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe, as well as visiting scholars, the public, and the low-residency MFA program. The team at Prim cataloged and created access for more than 3,500 library materials as well as adding more than 200 Outdoor Adventure Leadership equipment items to our collection.
Basque Digital Collections
The Jon Bilbao Basque Library has prepared 14 digital collections to be processed by Metadata, Cataloging & One-Time Acquisitions (MCOTA) and Digital Services before ingestion into Islandora, the Libraries’ digital repository.
These collections include the first batch of 500 items from the Basque Library’s vast posters collection (6,000 items), a resource that will be of great value for students and faculty from various fields (Basque Studies, but also Anthropology, Arts, and Political Science) interested in Basque history and politics, diaspora community life, and cultural activities.
Access Services
E-books and streaming films licensed for reserves
The Libraries support reduction of costs for student course materials through licensing streaming films (453 videos in FY 2022-23) and e-books through course reserves (436 licensed e-books impacting 9,297 students). If the students purchased those books, they would have paid more than $1.1 million for the same materials.
Popular Reading Collection restart
Using data from the Measuring Information Service Outcomes (MiSO) survey, Access Services and Metadata, Cataloging & One-Time Acquisitions (MCOTA) worked together on restarting the Popular Reading collection, a collection beloved by students. Using a small amount of funds, the team created an automated influx of new release titles every month.
Book Arts coming full circle
After using SCUA’s impressive and browseable Book Arts collection in his undergraduate fine arts studies, Emiland Kray has become a book artist in his own right. This year SCUA, MCOTA, BERDS and Advancement worked together to add Emiland Kray’s book N is for Nightmare to SCUA’s Book Arts collection. Emiland Kray noted that SCUA’s Book Arts collection was very useful for him in his own studies during his time at the University. We are pleased to add Emiland’s own work to the collection he once browsed as a student.
Online access to scholarly resources
Provided online access to 1.28 million ebooks, 131,000 ejournals, and 326 databases, which students and faculty can access at any time, either on campus or remotely.
Outreach
Research and Instructional Services (RIS)
- Open Educational Resources
Research and Instructional Services (RIS) helped to save students money on the cost of textbooks by creating online training materials and administering an open educational resources grant for faculty, which is now in its second year. - Nevada FIT
RIS Librarians taught sessions to incoming students during NevadaFIT and TransferFIT (Freshman Intensive Training Program) that promoted research skills and reading for fun. - Dual Enrollment
The team visited with Nevada high school educators to encourage the use of library resources for the success of students in dual enrollment programs that allow high school students to get a head start on their college careers by taking university courses. - Events
Finally, RIS produced several fun events to help students learn about and enjoy library spaces and resources. Events planned included: trivia nights, an educational “escape room,” and finals “break stations” that enabled students to draw, play games, build puzzles, make things, and take a creative break in the midst of intensive studying for their final exams.
Finals Week Break Station Lounges and Care Packages
Student Success during Finals Weeks (May, December) was supported by well-attended Finals Break Lounges at MIKC and Prim. DeLaMare distributed Prep Day Care Packages at their location to students studying in the space. Students appreciated receiving snacks and ChocoRocks, giveaways including mini Wolfies, Libraries buttons and stickers, and activities such as origami art, coloring, and games. The Counseling Center partnered with the Libraries by donating stress balls and tissues and bringing the Take 5 to Stay Pawsitive therapy animals to the MIKC.
Banned Books Week and return of the Edible Banned Books Fair
September 2023 saw the return of the Libraries’ popular Edible Banned Books Fair and breezeway tabling event highlighting Banned Books and censorship. Students received information and shared points-of-view on challenged books, stickered their favorite banned books on a giant poster filled with banned book covers, wore banned book cover buttons, and voted on edible entries.
Twelve Libraries staff members contributed edible entries to the event, with each edible item representing a banned book. Prizes (and bragging rights) were awarded to winners in the categories: funniest/punniest category, overall presentation, and "I wanna eat it!"
@One
Wayfinding QR codes
In an attempt to ease wayfinding confusion inside the Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center at the start of the Fall 2023 semester, the @One Digital Media and Technology Center worked with Marketing and Digital Services to create wayfinding banners that were hung from the main MIKC stairs so patrons could easily identify what floor they were on.
Each banner, on each of the five floors in the library, contained a scannable QR code linking each floor-specific wayfinding banner to the matching floor map online.
There have been more than 200 scans since the banners were hung in August 2023.
Increased access to Personal Computing Devices for Lendable Check Out
- Digital Media Checkout added 150 iPads in 2023. That’s an increase of 82 percent.
- Digital Media added 70 new PC laptops in 2023. That’s an increase of 74 percent.
Self-Serve Studio
Officially launched the @One Self-Serve Studio (MIKC110). This space has become a popular service for students from various departments including Art, Psychology, CABNR, Journalism, History and Athletics. The self-serve studio features a DMX-controlled lighting set up and backdrops for a readily available studio setting.
Smallwood Multimedia Bootcamp
Smallwood had another successful production in June 2023, bringing students from 10 high schools from across the Northern Nevada region to the Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center and University Campus for a two-week multimedia bootcamp. The Smallwood Foundation grant, in collaboration with the @One Multimedia and Digital Technology team, offers current juniors in Washoe, Douglas, Carson City, Lyon, and Storey counties a chance to undergo specialized training in video production, audio techniques, and media editing skills.
DeLaMare Science & Engineering Library
- In 2023 the DeLaMare Science & Engineering Library and the Research and Instructional Services department collaborated to increase the libraries’ Business 101 course library sessions to reach 391 students over 26 sessions. New design thinking and IP curriculum were integrated into the course.
- By the numbers: Design thinking and IP library sessions – 26 sessions, 391 students.
- In 2023, the DeLaMare Science & Engineering Library extended student makerspace wrangler training, resulting in demonstrated users' engagement through more one-on-one research consultations.
- DeLaMare also expanded new courses using the Dataworks Lab South. This lab is special because of its unique software availability - CJR: Criminal Mapping.