We are more than a halfway into spring semester! Time has passed quickly.
I would like to thank our supporters for helping us make our 2021 Tiger Giving Day a successful event. It is thanks to you that we will be able to preserve over 200 Auburn-produced U-Matic video tapes by having them converted to current digital formats for all members of the Auburn Family to enjoy. I am most grateful to all our supporters for making it possible to preserve the video records of so many wonderful Auburn experiences for generations to come. Thank you!
This Spring, the AU Libraries have continued to provide the valuable services, resources, programs, technologies, and spaces to all students and faculty while ensuring the safety of our employees and users by keeping a protected learning environment during the pandemic. At the beginning of the semester, with the support from the provost’s office, a few more personnel were added to assist in monitoring compliance with the University’s pandemic protocols. The compliance rate on these protocols, such as the requirement for face-coverings while in the Libraries, has greatly increased from 80 percent to over 90 percent. It has indeed eased the concerns for those studying and working in the Libraries.
The Libraries has listened to the needs of students, especially from freshman students and the second-year students, regarding our operating hours. Since November 2020, the RBD Library extended its opening hours. Most days RBD is open from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. during academic semesters. This extension puts the Libraries among only a few research libraries in the nation offering longer library hours in the midst of the pandemic. This change is well received by the students who often stay in the RBD Library until late for their studies. Not yet returning to 24 hour operations also gives building maintenance staff time to clean each night.
The Libraries’ signature program to support graduate students, the Savvy Researcher Boot Camp, was once again a great success this semester. Close to 100 of Auburn University’s graduate students attended 23 virtual sessions on using research tools, including highly demanded topics like Introduction to R, Data Analysis with Python, Intermediate Excel: Pivot Tables, and Data Management Help session. The feedback from graduate students attending these workshops indicates that these topics are very timely and are greatly needed for their research projects and theses/dissertations.
War Eagle!
Shali Zhang
Dean of Libraries
