The Liberty Champion https://www.liberty.edu/champion Student-Run, Student-Written, Student-Produced Thu, 14 May 2015 20:55:47 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.5 Library reboots website https://www.liberty.edu/champion/2014/09/library-reboots-website/ https://www.liberty.edu/champion/2014/09/library-reboots-website/#comments Tue, 09 Sep 2014 20:16:20 +0000 http://www.liberty.edu/champion/?p=26093 Continue reading

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New search abilities offered in digital domain amidst physical expansions
REDESIGN — The new Jerry Falwell Library website includes search functions designed to streamline the research process. Photo credit: Courtney russo

REDESIGN — The new Jerry Falwell Library website includes search functions designed to streamline the research process. Photo credit: Courtney Russo

After the doors of the Jerry Falwell Library opened earlier this year, students flocked into the new building to explore the computer labs, the 24-by-11-foot media wall and the Automated Storage and Book Retrieval System. One of the most recent additions to the library is the new website, which has been up and running
since Aug. 13.

The home page (liberty.edu/newlibrary) includes the hours of operation for that day, a search bar and various links to blogs, research tools and library contact information. According to Cynthia Schmidt, head of communications and customer service, the new website was designed with students in mind.

“The website was completely redesigned in response to student feedback on surveys in the spring of 2011 and 2012,” Schmidt said. “The concept behind the redesign was to create a more Google-like search experience with a cleaner, more simplified interface while still enabling customers to find what they needed within just a few clicks.”

Study - Worker organizes

Study – Worker organizes. Photo credit: Courtney Russo

Liberty student Adam Shull expressed his thoughts on the new website, talking of its improvements over the old one.

“I had heard about the new website from some friends recently,” Shull said. “I looked at the home page and I thought it was very different and much better than the
previous website.”

Despite taking students into consideration when redesigning the site, the library still wants more feedback.

“Student feedback has been very helpful so far,” Schmidt said. “It has revealed a few things that we have tweaked to make the site even better. Many seem to really love the redesign, while others have expressed a preference for the previous site.”

With all the upgrades, the new website will welcome discovery for researchers and those who wish to utilize its resources.

“As with any new endeavor, there is a learning curve involved, but we feel that customers who take the time to explore the site and perform some searches will be pleased with the new design,” Schmidt said. “Of course, if help is needed, it’s only a visit, call, email or chat away. We really strive to provide excellent customer service and support to our residential as well as our online students, faculty and staff through our website, but also through our faculty and staff in the library.”

The old Jerry Falwell Library home page is still accessible through a link at the top of the new website, but it will be retired Dec. 31, 2014. In order to help with the website’s transition, a tab located at the top of the page labeled “Assistance” enables students to chat live with a research assistant, review frequently asked questions, look at what the library offers for both residential and online students and more.

“While the Search Anything box provides a simple search interface that searches approximately 70 percent of the library’s available resources, students and faculty with specialized or advanced topics will likely want to perform a more focused search in our specialized databases,” Schmidt said. “Our totally redesigned research guides provide top resources for various subject areas, making it easy to find the best resources for any given topic in a variety of formats.”

Shull expressed his desire to take advantage of the new website.

“I will definitely be using the new and improved website this year to do research for all of my classes,” Shull said.

Try out the new website at liberty.edu/newlibrary.

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Cafe attracts students https://www.liberty.edu/champion/2014/03/cafe-attracts-students/ https://www.liberty.edu/champion/2014/03/cafe-attracts-students/#comments Wed, 05 Mar 2014 20:48:50 +0000 http://www.liberty.edu/champion/?p=24884 Continue reading

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Jerry Falwell Library food court offers increased dining options

Students are flocking to the Jerry Falwell Library, but not necessarily for books. The Tinney Cafe is drawing in the students with its four new dining options, according to Todd Reynolds, Sodexo’s retail manager.

One of the dining options, Brioche Dorée, is “a Parisian-style cafe bakery, specializing in French urban cuisine,” according to the company’s website. Liberty University has the only retail site of Brioche Dorée in the state of Virginia, according to Reynolds.

OPTIONS —  Students can now choose from several new dining locations. Photo credit: Courtney Russo

OPTIONS — Students can now choose from several new dining locations. Photo credit: Courtney Russo

“Brioche Dorée has some nice sandwiches and salads that are healthy and made with whole grain breads and lots of veggies,” Robin Quay, registered dietitian at Liberty, said. “You can choose carefully at Brioche Dorée and get something healthy and yummy.”

Reynolds also mentioned the food court’s new coffee shop.

“Starbucks is completely new because this is a full store,” Reynolds said. “The other Starbucks in the Tilley is much more condensed than a regular retail Starbucks.”

According to Reynolds, from a sales standpoint, Starbucks is the most popular retail location on campus. Quay said the best drinks for your health at Starbucks are the non-sweetened ones, such as a latte.

The two other stores in the Tinney are Tsunami Sushi and Pizza Hut Express. Both of these stores were available to students in the Hangar before the Jerry Falwell Library opened.
According to Reynolds, the retail locations in the Tinney Cafe have been successful.

“We have exceeded our sales goals in everything so far,” Reynolds said.

The Tinney stores took extra precaution at the opening to ensure good service, Reynolds explained.

“We scheduled extra staff because we knew we would be very busy initially,” Reynolds said. “We made sure we had plenty of product in so we didn’t have any issues with running out.”

Reynolds said there was a little bit of an effect on sales at other retail locations on campus, but since then, everything has gone back to normal, and they have not felt any long-term consequences.

“I think the hype has actually started to die down already,” Reynolds said. “We are seeing sales growth in Brioche Dorée, Pizza Hut and Starbucks. We have settled in a slow, growing trend in sales right now in all three locations.”

Freshman Brayden Hogan said he enjoys being able to chose from several locations.

“The thing I like the most about the Tinney Cafe is the variety,” Hogan said. “If I want to get a full meal, I like the sandwiches at Brioche Dorée, but if I just want a cup of coffee, I go to the Starbucks. I’m in here at least once a week.”

According to Reynolds, because the restaurants are in the library, students are more likely to go to them while they are studying.

“I think it is a very convenient location for folks who are coming to do work in the library,” Reynolds said. “They can just come downstairs and get something to eat.”
For more information on retail and residential dining options, visit libertydining.com.

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JFL offers interactive seminars https://www.liberty.edu/champion/2014/02/jfl-offers-interactive-seminars/ https://www.liberty.edu/champion/2014/02/jfl-offers-interactive-seminars/#comments Tue, 25 Feb 2014 20:25:25 +0000 http://www.liberty.edu/champion/?p=24771 Continue reading

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Library hosts events covering available resources, implements new technology

The Jerry Falwell Library offers a variety of resources to facilitate student learning from books and articles to group study and librarian assistants.

Research workshops in the Active Learning Classroom offer an interactive resource for students and faculty through screen hub technology. The interactive software system allows the speaker to view other screens in the room and even project them for the audience to see, according to Rory Patterson, coordinator of undergraduate and online research assistance.

research — Students adjust to new technology. Photo credit: Courtney Russo

research — Students adjust to new technology. Photo credit: Courtney Russo

According to Cynthia Schmidt, head of communication and customer services for the Jerry Falwell Library, research sessions are one of the ways the library supports Liberty’s information literacy core competency.

“Our goal is to help students and faculty be successful in meeting their information needs in the most efficient and effective way possible,” Schmidt said.

The research workshop schedule can be found on Liberty’s website. Some upcoming sessions are Use Summon to Find Just About Anything and Using LEXISNEXIS.

“People from the writing center come over and run research sessions to teach student and faculty about different writing styles,” Patterson said. “There are sessions on APA, Turabian and other. Most students like going to those sessions. They’re pretty popular.”

According to Schmidt, the most attended sessions so far this semester were the MLA, APA and Turabian research workshops. She said she predicts the general interest sessions, scheduled in April, will draw the largest crowd.

General interest sessions include CLEP, NCAT, GRE, Oh My: Preparing for Professional Testing, Helping You Get a Job: Company Research, Citing and Ebooks: Summer Reading.

Schmidt explained that students and faculty have an impact on which sessions will be held each semester. This year’s topics were created by the research assistance librarians based on categories of questions customers asked most over the previous year.

“As we develop future topics, we will also consider which were best attended as well as customer suggestions such as those provided on our library’s social media pages, customer comment cards and customer surveys,” Schmidt said.

According to Liberty’s website, research workshops are held in the Active Learning Classroom, room 171, and are entitled Bring Your Own Device.

“The Active Learning Classroom has been a great success with 38 sessions scheduled for the first four weeks it has been available,” Schmidt said. “We anticipate even higher usage as more professors become familiar with how the collaborative technologies available can improve student learning.”

Patterson explained the personal aspect of holding research workshops in the Active Learning Classroom thanks to the screen hub technology present in the room.

“The students seem to be appreciating all of the new technologies and are quickly mastering their use. The library technologies have a large ‘wow’ factor, but they are also providing multiple ways to help students learn,” Schmidt said.

According to Patterson, students who want to learn more about the screen hub software featured in the Active Learning Classroom can do so outside of research workshops. Six group study rooms in the library are equipped with the software, allowing students to work collectively on one screen from their own personal laptops.

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