{"id":132,"date":"2013-07-16T20:36:51","date_gmt":"2013-07-16T20:36:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ccvhistory.wordpress.com\/?p=132"},"modified":"2013-07-16T20:36:51","modified_gmt":"2013-07-16T20:36:51","slug":"eileen-chalfoun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/history.ccv.edu\/index.php\/2013\/07\/16\/eileen-chalfoun\/","title":{"rendered":"Eileen Chalfoun"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Director, CCV Library<\/strong><\/p>\n

With A Little Help From Our Friends<\/p>\n

There is a fire burning not far from my home in Prescott, Arizona and the prospects for near-by homes are not very good.\u00a0 Ironically, it is a reminder that once it was ice, not fire, that provided the challenges to life and limb in the fair state of Vermont.<\/p>\n

\"eileenC\"<\/p>\n

Some say the world will end in fire,
\nSome say in ice.
\nFrom what I\u2019ve tasted of desire
\nI hold with those who favor fire.
\nBut if it had to perish twice,
\nI think I know enough of hate
\nTo say that for destruction ice
\nIs also great
\nAnd would suffice.<\/p>\n

With a nod to Robert Frost
\n\u201cFire And Ice\u201d<\/p>\n

When I joined the staff as a Coordinator of Instruction in Brattleboro in 1976,there was, indeed, an icy chill in the air when it came to Considering Community College of Vermont a legitimate college. For one, the College provided no library and research service to students and instructors.\u00a0 Instructional sites were far from each other and during a typical Vermont winter, it was virtually impossible to share information resources in a timely manner. No internet, no e-mail, no databases, but most of all no cooperative agreements with college libraries in the state to provide all Vermont students\u00a0 access to information sources on an equal basis.\u00a0 The challenge:\u00a0 get it together, get people to talk and plan, just get going.\u00a0 Build a state library network.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow does a campus-free college, which is spread all over the state of Vermont, provide its students with library services? To a large extent, it\u2019s done with wires.\u201d (Dennis Lindberg, Addison County Independent, March 11, 1987) The planning for a state-wide automated library system had begun in 1982 when a system-wide assessment group was assembled by the Vermont State Colleges Chancellor to conduct a detailed assessment of Vermont State College library and information services.\u00a0 How to provide library services to CCV was one of the driving forces in this joint planning project. Membership consisted of representatives from each of the five state colleges, and the assessment process took into consideration the quality and quantity of collections as well as ratings of how they supported each college\u2019s general education program.<\/p>\n

The assessment took nearly a year, and in July 1983 the Group produced a 38 page report for the Board of Trustees proving that Vermont State College libraries were weak when compared to ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries) standards. (Dennis Lindberg, Vermont State Colleges Library Assessment Report, Waterbury, VT., 1983).\u00a0 The\u00a0 next step was for the Chancellor to appoint a system-wide Task Force on Library Development in the Fall of 1983 to address the following recommendations:<\/p>\n

There should be parity between on-campus and off-campus<\/p>\n

Programs in requirements for and use of library\/information
\n<\/i>Resources;<\/i><\/p>\n

The system will have a single, joint on-line catalog as one n<\/i>ode in a network also including the University of Vermont,\u00a0<\/i>Middlebury College and the State Department of Libraries;<\/i><\/p>\n

Increased reference services will include reference librarians
\n<\/i>for the Community College of Vermont (CCV);<\/i><\/p>\n

A joint serials list will be developed;
\n<\/i>
\nThere will be a five year coordinated collection catch-up program to add 15,000 volumes per year to system holdings, including small reference collections for CCV site offices.<\/p>\n

<\/i>Costs were projected to be $2.6 million in one-time (capital) funds, and increments to the annual operating budget to total $561 thousand.<\/p>\n

Four years later, Community College was able to offer an unusual variety of library services to its patrons.\u00a0 Twelve site reference collections were begun in the spring of 1985, and further developed during the following year bringing the volume total to approximately 7,000 in 1987.\u00a0\u00a0 These collections were never designed to be mini-libraries to fill all the research needs of students.\u00a0 Instead, they were laboratories for learning library\/research skills. (Eileen Chalfoun, \u201cOff Campus Library Services Community College of Vermont,\u201d The Off-Campus Library Services Conference Proceedings, <\/i>Reno, Nevada, 1986:61).\u00a0 Classes in research and writing skills were held in these reference library spaces.\u00a0 \u201cI saw a student sitting cross-legged on the floor of the resource room studying and thought \u2018a real college.\u2019\u00a0 (Pres. Barbara Murphy, nd) Internally, CCV created small resource rooms in each site with basic reference collections, part-time resource librarians, bibliographic instruction (now called information literacy skills), and soon after computers to access information to SCOLAR (database of College resources.)<\/p>\n

Direct reference service was provided to students scattered around the state by means of a WATS line into the office of its library coordinator.\u00a0 No fees were charged to students for this service.\u00a0 Telefacsmile transmission of information from seven site offices to four state college campus libraries was also provided.<\/p>\n

IRIS (Instructional Resource and Information System) was a computer program designed to assist the College\u2019s instructors in sharing successful and exciting teaching techniques, classroom materials, exercise, books, videos, films, filmstrips, journal articles, bibliographies, and guest speakers.\u00a0 Each site office library was equipped with a microcomputer, printer and software to enable instructors to access at their convenience.<\/p>\n

Of special interest was the bibliographic instruction manual, Biblio-Tech, <\/i>planned and written by CCV staff in 1985 especially for students in a non-campus setting.\u00a0 The book covered topics such as retrieving and using information, helpful hints for conducting research, information search strategies, computers in the library, research terminology, and library research facilities.\u00a0 The book was addressed to students, and allowed them to follow the steps to doing careful research without the strict guidance of an instructor.\u00a0 In retrospect the strategies introduced the skills now described by ACRL as Information Literacy Standards.<\/p>\n

During the academic year orientations and workshops were held to explain the College\u2019s library system.\u00a0 Specific courses in research and writing were listed in the college catalog, and arranged for students.\u00a0 Staff development days were held on a yearly basis.\u00a0 Site Coordinators worked with instructors to incorporate research objectives into course descriptions, and panned formal library instruction periods for students each semester.\u00a0 Information literacy standards remained as the largest goal in library planning, and the staff continued to experiment with ways of providing information electronically without sacrificing\u00a0 the value of close human interaction, and the serendipity of traditional library browsing.<\/p>\n

In December of 1986 Vermont\u2019s governor, Madeleine M. Kunin, officially cut the computer ribbon which activated the state\u2019s Automated Library System.\u00a0 This momentous occasion marked a milestone in the joint planning efforts of the Vermont Department of Libraries, VermontStateColleges, MiddleburyCollege, and the University ofj Vermont to bring the on-line catalog and automated circulation to the citizens of the state of Vermont.\u00a0 The governor noted that the \u201cmachine age has [sic] begun in earnest.\u201d (\u201cGovernor Cuts Ribbon On Computer,\u201d Department of Libraries News, 1987:1<\/i>).\u00a0 The truth of the matter is that the College could not have come very far without a little help from friends.<\/p>\n

In an attempt to improve cooperation among the Vermont State Colleges, CCV\u2019s Library Director served as Interim Library Director of Vermont Technical College. A plan was developed to create a central library in Randolph with a Central Librarian to provide service to CCV students around the state.\u00a0 A well written plan with assessment, goals and intended outcomes was presented to the presidents of CCV and VTC, and tabled for a number of years until implementation became feasible. (1994)<\/p>\n

Your droll humor and style
\n<\/i>Are a fact plain to see;
\n<\/i>You make it fun working;
\n<\/i>Filing cards at CCV.
\n<\/i>I\u2019m sure you can\u2019t guess
\n<\/i>Who wrote this corny rhyme.
\n<\/i>(HINT:\u00a0 I\u2019m in the Resource Room
\n<\/i>Having a great time!)
\n<\/i>So keep those cards and books coming
\n<\/i>\u00a0And the C.O. at bay
\n<\/i>And have a fantastic Valentine\u2019s Day!<\/i><\/p>\n

Anonymous (to this day!)<\/p>\n

And this is why CCV is dear to so many, in times of both fire and ice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Director, CCV Library With A Little Help From Our Friends There is a fire burning not far from my home in Prescott, Arizona and the prospects for near-by homes are not very good.\u00a0 Ironically, it is a reminder that once it was ice, not fire, that provided the challenges to life and limb in … Continue reading “Eileen Chalfoun”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-staff-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/history.ccv.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/history.ccv.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/history.ccv.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/history.ccv.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/history.ccv.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/history.ccv.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/history.ccv.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/history.ccv.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/history.ccv.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}