The group further determined that it would continue to strive to be:

A new RIS web site emphasizes the blended nature of the new group and describes the work of the group thus:

Throughout the year, RIS planning was guided by the Plan for Mount Holyoke 2010, which highlights “information technology as a powerful educational tool and transformative force in the modern world” and states that “our graduates will be required to move, think, and act in a world that requires facility with both technological and traditional information tools.” In response to the Plan for Mount Holyoke 2010, and in collaboration with other LITS departments, RIS committed to the following goals as stated in the current LITS Strategic Plan:

Much work was done during the year to begin to make these goals a reality.

Learning Spaces:

The launching of the highly successful Information Commons in the fall afforded RIS the opportunity to begin to retool its service points and move toward providing the MHC community with an integrated technology/research service area. RIS collaborated with other groups in LITS to conduct a survey of student use of both the Information Commons and the other learning spaces in the library building in order to better define and deliver our services in those areas. At the same time, the group began the process of evaluating services offered in the Faculty Resource Center, the Video Resource Center, and at the Reference Desk. We conducted research on possible new services and visited peer institutions to view and discuss other spaces and services. The goal is to work with LITS Administration to produce a plan for the renovation of our current teaching/learning spaces to create an environment that will facilitate dynamic new research and instructional support services.

Highly-trained Staff:

Having a highly -trained and motivated staff is key to the success of RIS. It is imperative that all team members not only stay current with the state of instructional and information technologies, but also have a keen understanding of emerging technologies in the field. Last year, the group continued to enhance its technical skills by attending numerous workshops and classes during the course of the year. On a number of occasions, an individual RIS member attended a particular workshop and later conducted a training session on that topic for the entire group. In this way the team added Multimedia Narrative techniques, XML, XSLT, iMovie, and Final Cut Pro to its repertoire. Significant progress was also made in furthering the group’s knowledge of teaching techniques and learning styles.

Integration of Technology into the Curriculum:

In the summer of ’03, RIS retooled the New Media Grants Program as one way to facilitate the integration of technology into course offerings. This competitive grant funded 10 awards of 100 hours of student work to collaborate with faculty to develop curriculum-related multimedia projects. The RIS team provided the student workers with any necessary training for the projects and supervised the projects. The result was a collection of technology-enriched instructional materials that contributed to improved teaching and learning opportunities for faculty and staff.

Two of the many curriculum development projects undertaken during the past year illustrate the potential for successfully integrating technology into the teaching/learning environment of the College.

Information Fluency Program:

A new RIS information fluency planning group was created to help the entire team get started in its development of a plan for an Information Fluency Program. The planning group was asked to consider what areas we think such a program would touch, with whom we would collaborate and how (including other LITS depts. such as Archives, Faculty, SAW, etc.), and make recommendations for a plan to the larger team.

Team-based Approach to Curricular Projects:

Collaboration remains an important component of the work of RIS; both collaboration among the RIS staff, and collaboration with the MHC faculty. The proliferation of information technologies and information resources on the Mount Holyoke campus necessitates new approaches to the work of supporting research and instructional initiatives. The successful fusing of technology, pedagogy, and information will require a team-based approach to the development of curricular projects. RIS gained invaluable experience over the course of the year in developing as an effective group working in a team environment. The renovation of office spaces allowed for the entire department to work in close proximity, which in turn allowed for enhanced work and communications.

Tech Mentor Program:

RIS staff members conducted a very successful pilot of a LITS Technology Mentor Program during the Spring semester. The initiative was designed to evaluate the possibilities of offering additional creative and collaborative support to foster the effective integration of technology into the curriculum. The idea was to develop a Technology Mentor Program which would be a course-oriented, peer-based program modeled on the successful SAW Program. Paired with a particular faculty member, under the guidance of a RIS professional, student technology mentors work closely with a faculty member and the students enrolled in her course to support related technology needs. Four courses were part of the pilot conducted during the spring. Courses were chosen that offered an opportunity to provide slightly distinctive roles for each mentor so that we could gather the greatest diversity of experience to inform the shaping of a true program for the following year.

Statistical Snapshot:

Service Points

Training/Consultations/Orientations

Table 1: RIS Group Instruction

RIS held 3 New Faculty Orientation sessions attended by a total of 10 faculty. Six Library tours were given to a total of 68 users. Orientation sessions were held for FP students (3) and the 5 College Women Studies Program (11). RIS was represented at the Excelling at Mount Holyoke program, the LITS Open House, and the orientation for the Simmons program. 6 RIS staff worked on the Information Commons Open House.

Research and Technology Assistance

Table 2: RIS Research Assistance

Of particular note is the overall increase in the number of requests for in-depth research support received at the Library reference Desk.

Grants:

RIS wrote three successful grant applications during the course of the past year.

Together with colleagues at Wheaton College, RIS submitted a grant request to the Center for Educational Technology for support to host a 3-day workshop to explore application of the Text Encoding Initiative at Small Liberal Arts Colleges. During three full days at Wheaton College, faculty, librarians, and instructional technologists from six MANE colleges learned about and discussed potential uses of the TEI’s XML tagset. The days were full of hands-on sessions, talks, and lively conversations. Shaoping Moss conducted one of a number of hands-on workshops held so participants could gain some experience with the process of encoding before returning to their own institutions to work on their projects. Nicole Vaget of MHC’s French Department attended all 3 days with us

RIS submitted a successful request to the MHC Innovation Fund to host a series of faculty/LITS seminars exploring new ideas of technological practice and pedagogy in the humanities disciplines. A series of 4 seminars to be held during the 2004/5 academic year: 2 seminars in the fall and 2 in the spring. The goal of the project is to create a plan for integrating emerging instructional technologies across the humanities curriculum.

Another successful CET grant application will fund a five-day workshop at MHC, during January 2005, teaching 3D modeling to faculty and staff who propose specific curricular projects. The goal of the workshop is to foster the integration of three-dimensional models and animation into the curricula of the NITLE colleges. Participants in this workshop will be expected to collaborate in establishing a community of practice for mutual support, to share the expertise developed in this workshop on their home campus, and to contribute to the development of learning objects for sharing with other colleges. Mount Holyoke participants will develop a one-day introductory workshop to share with member colleges

Staffing Changes:

Two new positions were added to the RIS team during the course of the year: Instructional Services Coordinator and Academic Computing Support Specialist. We were delighted when Julie Boisselle accepted the Instructional Services Coordinator position, and immediately began to focus on the overall organization and development of RIS instruction programs and initiatives.

Academic Computing Support Specialist was developed after much discussion in RIS and other LITS departments, where it was determined that the organization needed a position that would be responsible for installation and ghosting of academic lab machines; routine maintenance of our academic computing lab spaces; and for providing training and support for departmental lab assistants. The person in this position will be the primary responder for support of the academic labs, and will work with faculty to troubleshoot and reconfigure specialized desktop setups.

We were delighted to welcome Aime Degrenier as she returned from parental leave in October and worked on a 3/5 schedule for the remainder of the year.

We were very fortunate to hire Erica Dean Glenn as a reference librarian on a temporary replacement basis for the fall semester of 2003. Erica contributed great energy and professionalism during her all too brief time with us.

Ellen Carey, our former Simmons Library School intern, joined the team on a part-time basis and worked 20 hours a week providing research assistance.

Conference Attendance & Staff Development

Staff from RIS attended the following conferences and training sessions this year:

Committee Service:

Conference Presentations/Workshops/Classes:

New Services & Resources:

Looking Ahead:

As we move into the new year, LITS users can expect to see continued development and enhancements of research and instructional support services, as the RIS group works diligently toward the goal of full integration of once disparate sources of information and teaching. For instance, technologists will participate in collection development activities; librarians will teach technology workshops. As an integrated group, RIS will continue to participate in discussions surrounding the creation of new and dynamic teaching/learning spaces. In tandem with the LITS Strategic Plan and the Plan for Mount Holyoke 2010, RIS will continue to develop new programs and services that facilitate the further integration of technology and research sources into the curriculum.