iuPont-Ball Ubr
STETSON
pJN I V I R S 1 T Y
NEWSLETTER Fall 2011
Message from the Acting Director
As many of you know, Library Director Betty
Johnson retired on September 1st after 50 years
of Stetson service. Betty ('59, '62) started her
Stetson career in 1961 and soon became Head
Catalog Librarian and then Head of Technical
Services. In 1988 she was named Associate
Director for Technical Services and became
Library Director in 2002. Betty excelled in every
position and is largely responsible for shaping
our very good print and electronic collections
and also for making the library the inviting facility
it is today. The University recognized Betty's
deep commitment to Stetson by electing her to
the Board of Trustees where she will no doubt
continue to make a positive contribution.
While no one will be able to fill Betty's shoes, the
library will move forward and continue to
improve collections, services, technology, and
facilities. The University is currently searching
for a new Dean of Library and Learning
Technologies to lead the library through an
exciting time of transition in both higher
education in general and in academic libraries in
particular. Until that person arrives, the current
staff is working hard to maintain the high quality
library that our students, faculty, and staff have
come to expect. We will continue to rely
especially on the support, both moral and
financial, that our alumni and friends have so
generously offered in the past.
Members of
the Stetson
community,
along with
many friends,
honored Betty
(center with
President
Wendy Libby
and Richard Libby) at a retirement reception in
the library in August.
Susan Ryan, Acting Library Director
New Technology Initiatives
The library has long embraced the best of the
new technologies that help our faculty and
students with their research needs. Online
journals, e-books, and databases have been
fully integrated into our information collections.
The perennial need for updated computers is a
challenge, but the availability of faster, less
expensive hardware has allowed us to buy
twenty-nine 26" screen Vostro workstations this
semester that have been a big hit with the
students.
The library should
be the place
where information
can be received in
a variety of
formats and be
retrieved from a
variety of delivery
mechanisms. We
are beginning to explore the possibility of using
iPads in the library and have purchased our first
Kindle to provide on-demand e-books to our
faculty. Soon to be installed on the main floor
are two 60" flat screen televisions that will
stream close-captioned news. Technology is just
a means to an end - but all of these devices
make it possible to fulfill our role as the campus'
central source of information.
Janice Jenkins Music Collection
Over the summer, the Jenkins Music Collection
was moved from Presser Hall to the north Fine
Arts Wing in the duPont-Ball Library.
The collection now has
room to grow and the
School of Music
faculty and students
have many more
hours of access to the
material.
