ArrowDynamics: Besse Library Learning Commons News

Welcome to 2025! A year that once felt so distant is now upon us. Every semester seems to go faster than the last, yet we accomplish so much. We all have a number of things we are juggling or plates we are spinning to keep this mighty campus moving forward. The Library and Learning Commons staff are very familiar with this feeling, and we felt it was time to develop a way of sharing what is on our spinning plates to allow the Ursuline College community to take advantage of the fruits of our labor. We also have things happening in our professions that weigh us down, and we want to share our thoughts with our community. Here, I present the first article of our newsletter, ArrowDynamics.

Why ArrowDynamics? Well, you will see articles from some dynamic individuals who make up the various Library and Learning Commons departments. Voices will be heard from our campus experts in research, writing, tutoring, advising, college archives, instructional design and technology, audio and video creation, and information technology (IT). Here are just a few things you can expect to see in the coming months.

Updates on the new Ebsco interface
Progress on the library’s migration and implementation of Exlibris’s Alma and Primo VE
IT is on the move
The college archive goes public
Who’s getting a badge on their course
Tips on writing
Training, training, training…….
And more

This year, like those of the past, is about new beginnings. I invite you to follow us and witness the ArrowDynamics of the Library and Learning Commons team.

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Upcoming Enhancements to Ebsco databases

EBSCO Launches "Citation Discovery" Features in Ebscohost Databases Citation Discovery is a new set of features designed to help users uncover connections between published works:The Citations feature helps researchers understand the impact and relevance of a given work, showing how often it has been referenced by other researchers. Citations are calculated based on title-author matches to forward citations in other articles based on data in the EBSCO Scholarly Graph.The References feature allows researchers to easily identify sources used within a work, which can then be sorted by published date or citation count.The Retractions Indicator feature (expected in November) clearly marks retracted articles in search results, detailed records, and citation lists to help users avoid citing flawed work, boosting their confidence in the quality and integrity of their research.These tools will be rolled out to all EBSCOhost databases. For any questions, contact any of the Besse Librarians....

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Library Learning Commons Newsletter October 2025

It’s Fall Break! We are all in need of a break to recharge or tackle those reminders on sticky notes that have been on our monitors since the beginning of the semester. What a great feeling to crumble those once completed. The Library Learning Commons has a few updates to share as we move into the second half of the semester.LibraryThe librarians continue to implement the library’s new library services platform (LSP). URSearch is up and running with its modernized search capabilities. We are continuing to implement features to enhance the user experience and adjust when we see things are not providing the expected results. Training has begun on our new platform that will hold our digital collections, and to ring in the new year we will begin training and implementing a tool that will integrate the library into the D2L. More information will be forthcoming.Over the summer an inventory was conducted on the rare book collection in Haessly Boardroom. Items were identified that can be digitized, and they will be made available once our digital collections platform goes live.Tutoring and Supplemental InstructionTutoring services began using Navigate at the beginning of the Fall semester. Students can now schedule time with a tutor through Navigate by accessing it through MyUrsuline or downloading the app. If a student does not see an opportunity for tutoring that matches their needs they are encouraged to talk with Tiffany Mackie about a solution. Faculty and advisers are now able to log in to Navigate via MyUrsuline to track their students’ participation in these activities and more.Instruction Design & TechnologyInstructional Design and Technology has been working hard on elements to discover ways to integrate with Gannon. Over the summer we evaluated our video streaming platforms, Panopto and Kaltura, to find the best fit for Gannon and Ursuline. After talks with both companies it was found that Kaltura was our best option. We are currently working with both companies to establish a timeline for migrating our content and training users. We also looked at our course evaluation systems Anthology and Watermark to identify a common platform. Applying the same strategy used for video streaming, we landed on Watermark. More information will be coming on our plan for migration. While we were working through these items, we also developed an RFP to identify a common LMS. The RFP was provided to five vendors. Anthology (Blackboard), Desire@Learn, and Canvas expressed interest and will be presenting demos in late October and early November. ITC membership will be participating in the demos and providing their input towards a recommendation. Connect with a member of this group if you have any questions.The Fall semester is flying by. Enjoy the break, and we will see you back on campus soon....

ArrowDynamics

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