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Services to Faculty

G.B. Vick Memorial Library

Services to Faculty

There is little question that the Faculty bear the primary responsibility for instruction at Mission U. However, the Library is a partner in the educational process as well. This is not only true of academic learning but also of character formation. Principles shared in classroom, church, and chapel are reinforced by the Library as it encourages students to develop methodical study habits, respect for other members of the campus, and personal accountability. It follows logically that the Library and the Faculty are interdependent. They cannot fulfill their mission apart from mutual cooperation, for their mission is shared. Communication and cooperation are the keys to their mutual success.

Book Acquisitions

Contacts:

  • Jon Jones, Director of Library Services, (417) 268-6049

Building an academic library’s collection is a cooperative process involving staff, faculty, and students. The Library’s collection development policy states:It shall be the responsibility of the faculty of each academic department to recommend to the library the purchase of materials for their respective subject areas and for general curriculum support.The librarian is in the best position to observe the quality and balance of all subject areas. Therefore, the librarian is ultimately responsible for the overall quality and balance of the total collection. The librarian will have final approval authority for materials purchased. Further, he will select and purchase additional materials in areas to support interdisciplinary and reference holdings.

To facilitate this relationship, the Library maintains regular communication with faculty regarding book acquisitions. Currently, the library is coordinating with faculty to help coordinate the completion of Core Collection lists, whether in relation to Periodicals, eBooks, Physical Books, or other support materials.

Through the course of the year, faculty may receive announcements about new materials added to the collection in their areas of interest. Updates concerning encumbered and available funds may be obtained at any time.

Circulation of Books & Materials

Contacts:

  • Jon Jones, Director of Library Services, (417) 268-6049

Circulation periods for Faculty are as follows:

  • Books in the Mission U library: 90 days – renewal will be granted unless the books are on hold for another patron
  • Most Other materials: 14 days – renewal will be granted unless the books are on hold for another patron

Longer circulation periods may be arranged when needed with prior approval by the Director of Library Services. Short-term circulation of reference books and other non-circulating materials (e.g., microforms) may be arranged as well.

Information Services

Contacts:

The Public Services staff provides a variety of information / reference services to Faculty, including the following:

  • ready-reference (looking up the answer to a specific question)
  • bibliographic verification (finding the publication information for a source which is to be listed in a bibliography)
  • bibliographic research (compiling a brief one-page list of sources available on a specific subject)
  • research assistance (helping the professor, who will come to the library, to use catalogs, indexes, bibliographies, and other finding aids to locate desired information)

Reference questions may be submitted in person at the Circulation/Information Desk, by telephone (ext. 6048) or via e-mail library@mission.edu. Service is provided with the goal of training the faculty member to become an independent researcher over time.

Reserve Collection

Contacts:

  • Jon Jones, Director of Library Services, (417) 268-6049

Faculty may request to have high-use materials placed on Reserve, where they can be tagged for either 3-day circulation, electronic, closed (for use in the library only), overnight, or permanent reserve. Placing materials on Reserve is particularly useful for large classes that must share materials over the course of a semester or smaller classes that must access the same materials in a short period of time. Reserve materials are returned to the General Collection at the end of each semester.

Bibliographic/Library Instruction

Contacts:

  • Jon Jones, Director of Library Services, (417) 268-6049

The Library assists in instruction in two specific ways:

  1. teaching class sessions regarding research, bibliographic formatting, and the intelligent use of information
  2. hosting classes that are carrying out research projects

Arrangements for either of these types of classroom support should be made in advance. Your presence is requested unless unforeseen circumstances exist.

    Article Requests and Reciprocal Borrowing

    Contacts:

    •  Jon Jones. Director of Library Services (417) 268-6049

    The library partners with the Association of Christian Librarians (ACL) to provide several resources for the research community. Articles that Mission U does not own can be requested from ACL libraries by the Library Director and will be delivered to you within about 48 hours unless the item is not available. The library is also a member of ACL’s Reciprocal Borrowing group which allows students (especially online) in other areas to borrow books. For more details, click HERE.

    Periodical Subscriptions/Electronic Resources

    Contacts:

    Faculty are invited to recommend periodical titles for subscription. New titles are carefully selected according to criteria listed in the Library’s collection development policy:

    1. Importance of the recommended title to specialized and general curriculum requirements
    2. Number of journals currently received in the subject area
    3. Accuracy and objectivity of content
    4. Accessibility of content through indexes
    5. Cost of the subscription in relation to its use
    6. Recommendations found in professional publications such as The Christian Librarian

    Library Web Site

    Contacts:

    • Jon Jones, Director of Library Services, (417) 268-6049

    The library’s website is https://mission.edu/gb-vick-library/. The front page will provide you with a link to the various services and resources.

    Library’s Online Catalog – SWAN

    Contacts:

    • Jon Jones, Director of Library Services, (417) 268-6049

    The URL (website address) of the library’s online catalog is: https://us.accessit.online/BPT00/#!dashboard This is where you can also access your account to renew material online. Please note that this system is brand new and we are still working on fixing issues from our system migration

    Feedback from Students

    Contacts:

    • Jon Jones, Director of Library Services, (417) 268-6049

    The Faculty member can play a valuable role in channeling student feedback regarding the adequacy of Library collections and services to appropriate personnel in the Library. This kind of communication is requested.