From the Library Dean

This Fall students and faculty will find three new exciting developments: the opening of the Center for Teaching & Learning Excellence; the implementation of the Innovative Interfaces online public catalog and integrated library system; and the naming of the Friends of the Weinberg Library Distinguished Author Award.

 

The University began a new initiative this past year to enhance the teaching and learning of both students and faculty. The Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence (CTLE), which will offer support services to both faculty and students, is housed on the fifth floor of the Harper-McGinnis wing of St. Thomas Hall. The initiative merges the services of the University’s Learning Resources Center, its Office of Instructional Development, and its Academic Technologies Center into a single unit under the direction of the Weinberg Library.

 

The CTLE will allow us to combine Library and CTLE resources and services and to join together the learning and teaching needs of students and faculty. The outcome will be a comprehensive resource center that takes a synergistic approach to learning. It will enhance and expand its services to the academic community to help create an environment that encourages and supports student learning, faculty enrichment, instructional design, and the use of technology. The Center will assess student and faculty academic support needs and monitor and evaluate its effectiveness at meeting those needs. The CTLE will also provide support for research and scholarly activity that involves faculty and students.

 

Innovative's Web OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog) sets the industry standard because the Millennium system is Web-based. Library users have global access and need only a standard Web browser with Internet access to remotely browse the Library's catalog from any place at any time. Regardless of physical location, information is always at the fingertips of students and faculty, whether they are in the Library, a remote user, or whether or not it is during library hours. Fully customizable using HTML, the Web OPAC brings our Library online and into the future.

 

Another important development was the naming of the Distinguished Author Award for the late Royden B. Davis, S.J., who served as the first president of the Friends of the Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Library. Best-selling crime novelist Linda Fairstein has been named as the recipient of the 2003 Royden B. Davis, S.J. Distinguished Author Award. Ms. Fairstein will be honored at a dinner sponsored by the Friends of the Weinberg Memorial Library at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2003. Ms. Fairstein is the author of a series of crime novels featuring Manhattan prosecutor Alex Cooper. Her most recent novel is The Bone Vault. Please join us for the event.