Projects and Plans
Operational Plans
Projects
Clark College Libraries Drupal website
In 2009-10 Clark College Libraries began the process of developing and migrating the library website to Drupal (an open-source content management system). Each member of the Library Services department lent a hand in the creation of the site. A subcommittee comprised of Pavel Popov, Radka Ballada, and Kitty Mackey kept the project on track. Robert Hughes and many of his GRCP 210 (Interface Design and Interactivity) classes provided input on library interfaces and performed usability testing which gave the subcommittee with insight on what works for students.
Town Plaza Center Student Learning Center
Since fall 2010 students and Adult Literacy tutors at TPC can search for items in the the Student Learning Center (SLC) library collection. Through the cooperative efforts of Amy Waite, Nora Burmeister (VISTA volunteer) Radka Ballada, Sally Demos, Susan Harding, and Suzanne Smith (SLC Program Manager) students can gain experience in locating and borrowing library materials through the Clark College Library Catalog. Start-up costs were provided through a Clark College Foundation Funds Allocation grant.
Clark College Visual Resources Databases
- Clark College Student Newspaper Digitization (2010-11) - An ASCC Fund Balance grant provided the financial support for this project. Technical Services & Systems Librarian Radka Ballada supervised the project. The goal of this archival project is two-fold: to preserve Clark College history and to share the historical newspapers with the Clark community and the world at large. The first phase digitized and indexed the first three volumes of the Penguin’s Progress (1959-1962). A user-friendly interface for the newspaper database was also designed by Robert Schimelpfenig as part of this project.
- Clark College Visual Resources Collection (2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09) - An anonymous donation to the Clark College Foundation Excellence Fund provided the start up funding for this project. Faculty and staff from Cannell Library and the Clark College Art Department collaborated to digitize more than 5,000 images from the college's art slide collection. Many talented individuals made this project a reality, April Younglove, a Cannell Library intern provided indexing; Robert Schimelpfenig, archivist consultant created the database, digitized the slides and provided expert knowledge of the ContentDM platform; and Pavel Popov provided IT support. Their efforts made the images available to the entire college, particularly benefiting eLearning students and faculty.
IRIS 4-2
IRIS 4-2 (Information & Research Instruction Suite 4 for 2-year Colleges) is an Information Literacy project developed with a grant from the Distance Learning Council of Washington, 2007-2008. The site design was inspired by Clark College students of Robert Hughes' GRCP 210 (Interface Design and Interactivity) class. For several years these students have performed usability testing on library interfaces and tutorials and provided valuable feedback about what works (and doesn’t work) for students. Kitty Mackey managed and coordinated the project, built the site, and continues to oversee the modifications. Pavel Popov, IT Specialist at Cannell Library is entirely responsible for the programming, design, documentation and everything else associated with the quiz workings. Tyler Chen, Secretary Senior in the Office of Instruction at Clark College, took photographs that are used throughout. Several Clark College English instructors provided valuable proofreading.
Workshops
30 Clicks: Information Tools at Your Fingertips is a series of weekly drop-in sessions designed to explore new technologies, learn about information tools, and network with other interested Clarkers. Reference and Instruction Librarians coordinate the schedule and host the Library Instruction Lab for these workshops.
Events
WA Library Snapshot Day 2011: A Day in the Life of Washington's Libraries
On April 12th librarians and library staff across the state hosted WA Library Snapshot Day to demonstrate the integral part libraries play in our communities. Clark College library faculty and staff collected stories and pictures to show the impact that the library has on the college.
Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt and Clark College President Bob Knight took part in the celebration by snapping a few pictures of their own. Clark College Libraries (Cannell Library and the iCommons at CTC) welcomed over 1600 students, faculty, staff, and community members. Throughout the day the college community borrowed items, asked questions of reference librarians, and logged onto the library’s computers to access the Internet, conduct research, and use software applications. Patrons sought out space for group and individual study. 153 students attended library instruction sessions in the Library Instruction Lab and the Cannell Room. From the library website, our virtual branch 1500 visitors took advantage of online access to library resources and services. These individuals downloaded more than 1100 full-text electronic publications from subscription databases.
This is one of the many comments we received during the day, “I love the library! It’s one of my favorite places to study, hang out or learn from the amazing library staff. They have been extremely helpful in the past with essay formatting, research help and going above and beyond their job descriptions to help. If the library wasn’t here, my school experience would definitely not have been even half and enjoyable or successful.”
See snapshots from school and academic libraries across the state.
View Mayor Tim Leavitt's interview from WA Library Snapshot Day
