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Blueprints: Falvey LibraryContents: April 2000
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His focus is on those continents which resulted from the breakup of Gondwanaland, or the Great Southern Continent. These include South America, Africa, India, Antarctica, Australia and New Zealand, along with some other Pacific isles. He is interested in how various species of the geckos have evolved, distributed and adapted since the breakup. Dr. Bauer has concentrated on areas in the south Pacific and southern Africa, and has made over fifty research trips to these areas alone. |
Dr. Bauer also provided insight into his gecko gathering techniques, which must be adapted to a locale’s characteristics. For example, in the African desert, Dr. Bauer noted that "there is a minimum (physical) size requirement for the collector, since you must be able to move boulders up to 200 pounds" to find the specimens.
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In more heavily forested areas, the researcher must often climb trees at night and wear a headlamp which reflects off the eyes of the geckos, making them visible. For those really fast moving geckos, the professor shoots a large rubber band to temporarily stun, but not injure, the subject for collection. |
It becomes obvious how dedicated Dr. Bauer is to his research when he notes the hazards he and his colleagues face when conducting their fieldwork. These include working in areas of civil unrest and those which still have land mines, as well as being exposed to diseases such as malaria, cholera and dengue fever.
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Geckos, or more specifically gekkotans, make good subjects for Dr. Bauer’s research because "they are highly diverse with over 1000 species, they are geologically old, dating back to the late Jurassic period, and they are geographically widespread." These characteristics make them ideal for study on a variety of levels. Dr. Bauer looks at several different aspects of their evolution, such as how their anatomical forms have adapted over time, how they are distributed throughout the continents, and the family relationships among the various genera and species. |
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He also leads surveys of previously unexplored areas and has had great results, identifying about 35 new species of geckos in New Caledonia over the last fifteen years.
Dr. Bauer has given many Villanova students, both undergraduate and graduate, incredible opportunities for travel and field research. He has received research funding from a variety of prestigious sources, including the National Science Foundation and the National Geographic Society. Dr. Bauer’s plans include traveling to Africa and later expanding his research into Sri Lanka and the Eastern and Western Ghats mountain ranges of India.
Teresa Bowden is a reference librarian at Falvey.
On March 1, the Enrollment Management team, which includes Admission, Financial Aid and
the Registrar's Office, took a well deserved break from their busiest time of year to
attend a presentation on the resources and services of Falvey Library.
After greeting the staff, who enjoyed box lunches in Viewing Room 3, Stephen Merritt, dean of Admissions, invited the directors of the three offices to share departmental news. Dr. James Mullins, University Librarian and director of Falvey Library, then welcomed the guests. He introduced Barbara Quintiliano, Information Literacy Coordinator, who gave a virtual tour of Falvey Library and its service areas via a PowerPoint presentation and demonstrated the wealth of information accessible through the Library's home page.
Besides learning about the Library's vast print, online and audiovisual collection, many of the attendees were pleasantly surprised to discover that they can access numerous subscription databases (some of which provide full text journal and newspaper articles) right from their office PCs and that they can get research assistance simply by calling the Reference desk (519-4273). Off campus connection to these databases via the proxy server was also highlighted. The visit ended with a brief walking tour of Falvey Library, conducted by Barbara, Kathy O'Connor, Susan Markley and David Burke.
Interested offices can request an information session by calling Louise Green at 519-4283 or e-mail louise.green@villanova.edu.
FLASH, Falvey Library Academic SearcH, is Falvey’s third automated library system.
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The acronym was chosen from suggestions by library staff members because it represents an important strategic goal of the Library: to provide an electronic search system that serves the academic needs of the Villanova community. |
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At the time of its unveiling in 1997, FLASH included the Web-based online public access catalog, VUCat, for Falvey’s book, journal and video collections, as well as the circulation and cataloging applications. By January 1998, the serials component was up and running, and by June, acquisitions was brought online. All of these applications have efficiently streamlined in-house operations. FLASH is a totally integrated and flexible system. We continued to install add-on products, such as electronic reserves in 1999, and to test the media scheduling application.
The company that provides the software, Endeavor Information Systems, is the number one academic library system vendor. Endeavor continues to respond to the demands of its customers and produces new software releases at least once a year, which include new functionality as well as the usual bug fixes. Presently, Endeavor is investigating an interlibrary loan package.
With the advent of FLASH, the number of public workstations in the Library quadrupled, and laptop connections were also made available. In one sense, Falvey became a public computing lab overnight. Falvey is dedicated to providing access to information regardless of format (print or electronic) or where that information resides globally.
Falvey has had other library systems. In the early 1970's we were one of only three libraries in the United States to embark upon the computer technology path with an automated inventory system that used barcode technology. By 1975, the Plessey System was in place and library materials could be checked out to library patrons for the first time in an "electronic environment." At that time, we even had the ability to generate computer library overdue notices as well as automate our bursar billing interface. We were ahead of our time!
However, technology outpaced this system, and it became obsolete by the mid 1980's. The Plessey database for library books formed the skeleton of the new Geac Library system, unveiled during the 1986 fall break. Several dedicated, daisy chained terminals were placed in the Library for the convenience of patrons. No longer did users have to consult the card catalog to locate books in Falvey. Although old habits (or search tools) die hard, the card catalog was eventually removed from Falvey in 1996.
Advances in technology again outstripped the character-based Geac. Falvey recognized the need for global access via one system with a Web interface, and acquisitions and serials needed to be automated. Geac could not handle these functions, as well as many others. The commitment to automation, which started so long ago, resulted in FLASH.
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The Systems office was officially created in 1987. The Systems librarian, Kathleen E. O’Connor, has been linked with Falvey automation since the beginning. She was involved in the final phases of the Plessey installation and was the project manager for both the Geac and FLASH implementations. Nevertheless, it was truly a collaborative effort involving the entire library staff and many UNIT employees that made all of the implementations so successful! |
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Presently, graduate computer science students play an active and vital role as Systems assistants. |
(Left to right) Supraja Punyamurthula, Kathleen E. O’Connor, Systems librarian, Durga Prasad Pondugula, Vasu Togari and Venu Bathala. |
Systems personnel oversee all the hardware and software running on staff and public machines as well as the servers running the various applications. We closely interface with all the library departments regarding software functionality and new hardware / software implementations.
In March 1995, a Library Web home page and various secondary pages were unveiled, and Systems was instrumental in their creation. Currently, Systems handles the technical administration of the Library’s Web pages. Like FLASH, Falvey is now employing its third version of its public Web home page. We have received comments from places as far away as France and Ireland complimenting the design and content of our Web pages.
Falvey Library is a dynamic organization that embraces technological advances. With University financial and technical support, we plan to continue to meet the challenges and needs of our community. We are committed to the Endeavor library system and look forward to new systems on the marketplace that will provide the functionality needed for an academic library situated in a fluid, technical environment.
Perhaps, we shall meet again for "Falvey Systems: The Next Generation" in a future Blueprints article.
This article by Kathleen O’Connor continues the series describing the various departments in Falvey Memorial Library.
by Michael Foight
"April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain."
T.S. Eliot, "The Waste Land."
This April marks the fifth National Poetry Month. A great place to visit on the Web to find out about local celebrations and poetry in general is the Academy of American Poets at http://www.poets.org.
Each day during this, the most poetic of months, will commemorate a unique historical event. In the spirit of "poetic license," I have selected a few of these events and have located a Web site that provides a unique context for remembering each one.
April first, or April Fool’s Day, is a well known and celebrated holiday. But many do not know that slick Jim Fisk, known as the "Barnum of Wall Street," was born on this day. Fisk, an early American railroad financier, was gunned down in 1872, but he and a host of other early shady dealers can still sell their tales at The Robber Baron’s home page at http://www.geocities.com/mrpizzuto/Robberbarons.html .
On April 2, 1792, the United States Congress established the very first Mint. The Philadelphia Mint, where over 30 million coins are produced daily, offers an exciting and free tour. For more information about a tour of the Mint look at http://www.ushistory.org/tour/_mint.html. Also on April 2, 1980, the United States prime interest rate hit a record 19.77%! While this event seems shocking given today’s prime rate of around 8.7%, interest rates over the long term are subject to cyclical fluctuations. To find out more about interest rates visit the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Interest Data page at http://www.stls.frb.org/fred/data/irates.html .
Let’s jump ahead a few days to the "Ides of April"! It all began in Des Plaines, Illinois on the 15 of April 1955: the very first McDonald’s restaurant opened, and hungry Des Plainesians streamed through the golden arches experiencing fast food for the first time. Fast forward to today. McDonald’s is one of the world’s largest corporations with billions of burgers served and that first McDonald’s is a museum. To learn more about the history of McDonald’s and even experience different versions of McDonald's advertising jingles visit McDonaldland at http://www.mcdonalds.com/countries/usa/merchandise/mcdonalds_shop/kidsstuff/index.html.
For the first time in history, on April 26, 1983, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above the lofty and ethereal milestone of 1200 points. Given the spectacular performance of the current American economy, a goal of 12,000 points may soon be reached. Thirty stocks currently make up the Dow; all are significant players in their industries and are widely held by individuals and institutional investors. Over time, however, the number of companies comprising the Dow and companies themselves have changed. To learn more about the history behind the Dow look at DJIA Facts located at http://indexes.dowjones.com/jsp/index.jsp .
One hundred years ago, on April 30, 1900, Casey Jones, the legendary railroad engineer, was killed at Vaughan, Mississippi trying to save his Engine #382. Read the Official Accident Report on the Web at http://www.trainweb.org/caseyjones/report.html. To learn more about the current railroad industry in America take a look at Railroad Retirement Board's Railroad and Union Links at http://www.rrb.gov/rrlinks.html .
"O, how this spring of love resembleth
The uncertain glory of an April day."
William Shakespeare, "Two Gentlemen of
Verona."
Michael Foight is Business Information Specialist and Special Collections Cataloger.
by Lorraine Williams
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April is an important month in Falvey Memorial Library. National Library Week falls within the month, and April 24, 2000 is the Library of Congress’ bicentennial. Our display windows on the first floor of the Library will center on these two important events. One display highlights many interesting and important facts about the Library of Congress, as well as many photographs of the beautiful artwork and interior of the Thomas Jefferson Building, the oldest and most ornate building of the three making up the Library of Congress. Our other display window will present Falvey’s celebration of National Library Week. To mark this celebration we asked the staff members of Falvey to select a favorite or influential book and to write a few sentences about that book. The response was excellent. |
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The books selected represented a wide variety of styles. Lee Murphy, in the Reserve Room, sent us Maeve Binchy’s Circle of Friends : "I felt as though I had new friends . .." from reading this book. Lee enjoyed the way Binchy presents relationships in this story of young adults in Ireland.
Michael Foight, in Reference, chose his favorite poet, Kenneth Rexroth. For Michael, Rexroth's Collected Shorter Poems is Rexroth’s most accessible work, and he "found much beauty and truth in this book."
A student staff member in IMS Graphics, Jim Dion, selected The Great Escape by Paul Brickhill. For Jim, the book, "a story of courage, determination and brotherhood," also affected his life. While reading this book about a prisoner of war’s escape from a prison camp during World War II, he developed an interest in history, and now has a dual major in communication and history.
Luisa Cywinski, Circulation department, submitted The Velvet Room by Zilpha Keatley Snyder: "This book gave me a feeling of security and peace when the young migrant worker in the story found a quiet place to call her own." The girl in The Velvet Room found a perfectly preserved library in an old mansion and spent hours reading in that secret room. Luisa added that reading this book when she was young must be one reason why she loves being surrounded by books now.
Darren Poley, Reference, chose the Bible as the book that greatly influenced his life: "As a single piece of literature it has been published, analyzed, transmitted and translated more than any other." On a more personal level the book informed him theologically, but, even more, strengthened him spiritually.
There are many more books that were submitted for our display, all equally as fascinating as these. Please take the time while visiting Falvey Library to stop and see our displays. Learn more about the Library of Congress, learn about new and interesting books, and learn how important books still are to us.
Lorraine Williams is a graphic artist in Instructional Media Services.
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March brought a number of staff changes to Falvey Library. Janet King, secretary for the past four years to library director James Mullins, assumed a new secretarial position in the College of Arts and Sciences. Janet’s service to Falvey Library was appreciated by all, and she is wished much success in her new endeavor. |
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Mary Heyman, serials database technician for ten years in Falvey’s Technical Services department, moved to the director’s office to assume the Secretary II position vacated by Janet. Mary will assist Betty Ruddock, coordinator of services, with library administrative duties. |
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Donna Chadderton, monographic database technician for ten years in Technical Services, assumed the serials technician position. Donna, who also supervised student labelers, will now catalog both print and online journals. |
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Page Flannery, formerly a shelver in the Circulation department, recently became the evening library assistant in the Reserve Room. She will enforce reserve room policies and help maintain reserve materials. |
Best wishes to all in their new positions!
Three Falvey librarians presented a talk at the annual spring meeting of the Tri-State
College Library Cooperative on March 29 at Immaculata College. "Happiness is
Discovering You Have Skills You Never Knew Existed!" was discussed by Dr. James L.
Mullins, University librarian, Susan B. Markley, head, Periodical department, and Barbara
Quintiliano, reference librarian and information literacy coordinator. The meeting focused
on "Job Agility in the Age of Adobe Acrobat."
Steven Dixon (Instructional Media Services, Falvey Library) and his wife Julie welcomed their new son, Pierce, on March 13.
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You can order interlibrary loan articles electronically: Since Falvey does not subscribe to the journal she needs, Staci Pribush places an order for a journal article through the electronic interlibrary loan form available through "Request forms" on the Library home page. |
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Also contributing to this issue of Blueprints: Donna Chadderton, Louise Green, Judith Olsen, Susan Ottignon, Barbara Quintiliano, Jacqueline Smith and IMS Graphics, Bernadette Dierkes, Lorraine Williams and Steven Dixon. |
