3.8 Library and Other Learning Resources

3.8.1 The institution provides facilities, services, and learning/information resources that are appropriate to support its teaching, research, and service mission.

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Trinity Valley Community College provides facilities, services, and learning/information resources that are appropriate to support its teaching and service mission. The College provides a learning resource center (LRC) on each of the four campuses.  Students who attend classes at any of the campus locations have access to all materials from the LRC, as requested learning resources are transported freely between the College campuses.

The facility on the Athens campus contains approximately 21,500 square feet and opened for operation in 1998.  This facility has a computer room with 30 computers with Internet access for student use, a library classroom for use during orientations and library tours, and individual study rooms. Additionally, the Athens LRC includes a large circulation area, reference area, technical processing area, media room (for video storage), and space for staff offices.  Study tables and seating are available for approximately 80 students in a large open area which is very conducive to study. Eight study carrels are available for individual study and for viewing videos. The Athens LRC houses a microfilm collection of approximately 150 titles. The local newspaper, The Athens Review, is available on microfilm and in bound volumes dating back to 1900. This resource is heavily used by members of the local community.

The M.L. Risinger Learning Resource Center on the Terrell campus opened in spring 2006. It contains approximately 9,680 square feet with a circulation area, a large workroom, media room, and office space.  In addition, there are 12 computers with Internet access for student use, individual study carrels, and study tables and seating for approximately 64 students. The LRC on the Palestine campus, which is 2,880 square feet,  houses the collection,  23 computers with Internet access for student use, a circulation area, study tables and chairs, a leisure reading area, and an office area.

The Health Science Center (HSC) in Kaufman is a campus devoted specifically to health occupations; therefore, primary materials in the LRC on that campus support only those types of courses that are offered at the Health Science Center.  The HSC has a small branch library (672 square feet) with materials related to health occupations, 10 computers with Internet access for student use, study areas, a circulation area, office space, and a collection of materials specific to health-related topics.  TVCC leases the building and is limited in the improvements that can be made.  Students at the Health Science Center may request materials from other TVCC libraries through inter-library loan, as well as utilize access to online materials through TexShare databases.  Materials contained in the HSC library are also available on the other campuses.  

LRC orientations and library tours are provided each semester as requested by instructors.  In addition, individual and group instruction is provided at each library at the point of need.  The LRC in Athens is open an average of 61 hours a week during the long terms, the LRC's at Terrell and Palestine are both open an average of 52 hours a week, and the LRC at the Health Science Center is open an average of 47.5 hours per week.  Statistics gathered at each library for the LRC Strategic Plan (available in the LRC director's office) for the 2004-05 academic year are as follows:

TVCC Learning Resources Center Activity by Location, 2004-2005 

To accommodate students enrolled at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) prison units, instructors may check out books, reference materials, videos, or any other LRC materials from any campus library for use in their classes or for use by their students. Instructors either pick up materials at the library or arrange to have materials delivered to them via intercampus mail.

Resources available at every library include reference materials, circulating books, print magazines and journals, newspapers, instructional videos, and electronic databases. Current counts of these materials taken from the 2004-05 LRC Strategic Plan include the following:

TVCC Learning Resource Centers Holdings by Location, Fall 2005 

According to statistics taken from the National Center for Education Statistics, TVCC’s collection is comparable with peer institutions in the East Texas area.

Library Holdings Per FTE, Comparison to Peers, 2002

A spring 2004 survey of students revealed that 89.77% of students thought that the LRC had an adequate supply of books, magazines, journals, and web-delivered materials for their class assignments, and 92.45% said that the available online databases were adequate and helpful for class assignments (LRC Student Survey).  A spring 2004 survey of instructors indicated that 82.86% felt that the LRC had adequate books, magazines, journals, and web-delivered materials for class assignments (LRC Faculty Survey).  

Faculty and staff on all campuses have access to the professional collection, which contains books, periodicals, and other resources that are available specifically for TVCC faculty interested in information on enhancing teaching and student learning. The professional collection is housed at the Athens campus; however, they are accessible to any faculty or staff member.  

For details on the availability of and instruction in the use of computers, see Comprehensive Standard 3.4.14.

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3.8.2 The institution ensures that users have access to regular and timely instruction in the use of the library and other learning/information resources.

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NARRATIVE:

Trinity Valley Community College ensures that users have access to regular and timely instruction in the use of the library and other learning/information resources by offering students various opportunities for training in the use of the learning resource centers.  LRC orientations and tours are conducted every semester on the Athens, Terrell, Palestine and Health Science Center campuses at the request of instructors.  According to the compiled  LRC statistics, the following numbers were reported in the area of bibliographic instruction (LRC Strategic Plan available in the LRC director's office on the Athens campus): 

TVCC Bibliographic Instruction by Campus, 2001-2002 to 2004-2005

Athens

Terrell

Palestine

Kaufman-Health Science Center

*Prior to 2003-04 academic year, students at the Health Science Center were required to watch a library orientation video explaining the use of library resources. More formal presentations were given beginning 2003-04.

In addition to formal presentations, librarians also instruct students in the use of the library and materials at the point of need.  Individual instruction in the use of the online catalog, finding information, use of electronic databases, location of materials, and other functions takes place on a daily basis.  Further point-of-need instruction is provided through various handouts prepared by the library staff members and made available in the LRC at each campus.  These handouts include guides on locating information, using the Library of Congress classification system, user guides for various resources, instructions on using the online catalog, information for remote access, and instructions in the use of various online databases (LRC Handouts). In addition to the print handouts, several instructional tutorials are available online (LRC Website). Electronic instructional tools include a library orientation and tour, a subject guide for nursing students, information on using the library's online catalog, and instruction in the use of various databases [Literature Online (LION), Ebsco databases, and Health Source]. A spring 2004 survey indicated that students thought "instructions on how to use the library [we]re adequate" (LRC Student Survey).

While online resources are available to all students, they are especially useful to students enrolled in distance education classes. All TVCC students and students taking classes through Virtual College of Texas (VCT) are given remote access to the LRC resources through a proxy server using a combination of their student identification number and name.  Support is provided through an email account that is linked to the login information for the online LRC proxy server.

The LRC's on the Athens, Terrell, and Palestine campuses also serve as testing centers for students enrolled in distance education classes (Testing Center Information for Distance Education Students).  LRC staff proctor online tests in accordance with the testing policies set up through the testing center, which involves providing secure access to online tests and monitoring testing activities to ensure integrity in the testing process.  VCT students are given the instructions and information on this service by their instructors.  Any VCT students who are on site are also welcome to use any of the available LRC resources.

The above resources are available to students on the Athens, Terrell, Palestine, and Kaufman Health Science Center campuses, dual credit students, and VCT and distance learning students. Due to constraints and security issues, TDCJ students receive instruction on the use of library resources from their instructors. TDCJ instructors may take materials from these libraries to the TDCJ campus directly to their students, or they may place materials on reserve at the unit libraries. TDCJ students do not have access to electronic databases. An explanation of library resources available to TDCJ students can be found in the TDCJ Guidebook (p. 9).

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3.8.3 The institution provides a sufficient number of qualified staff--with appropriate education or experiences in library and/or other learning/information resources--to accomplish the mission of the institution.

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NARRATIVE:

Trinity Valley Community College provides a sufficient number of qualified staff--with appropriate education or experiences in library and/or other learning/information resources--to accomplish the mission of the College. The director of learning resources, has a Master's degree in library science and has been at TVCC since 2001.  She has 26 years experience as a librarian and library program director.  The Librarian at the Palestine campus has two Master's degrees in library science,  and a Master's degree in education with a reading emphasis.  He has been employed by TVCC since 1987 and has 31 years experience as a librarian. The Librarian at the Terrell campus has a Master's degree in interdisciplinary studies.  She has been employed by TVCC since 1994 and has 14 years experience as a librarian. The Health Science Center library is staffed with a technical assistant/computer technician, who has been employed by TVCC since 1990.  She has an AAS degree in computer science and 19 years of experience.  Additional personnel on the Athens campus include a paraprofessional reference librarian, who has been at TVCC since 2001. She received her Master's degree in library science in August 2005.  Four people are also employed as LRC technical assistants to provide the library with clerical support. They have a total of 19 years library experience.  Approximately 10 students are hired each semester to help with non-professional and non-technical duties.

By using the library comparison tool from the NCES Academic Library Survey, a comparison of TVCC with similarly sized community colleges in the East Texas area reveals that the number of professional staff and total staff per 1,000 FTE is consistent with peer institutions. Total fall 2005 enrollment for TVCC was 5,660.

A spring 2004 survey indicated satisfaction with LRC staff, as 94.7% of students and 91.4% of faculty indicating that that staff were professional, courteous, and helpful . Librarians continue to evaluate services by following an annual LRC Strategic Plan (on file in the LRC director's office), which involves an analysis of student use of learning resources, as well as stakeholder satisfaction gathered from feedback on surveys.

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