HIGH POINT, N.C., March 16, 2012 – The innovative research technology that High Point University’s Smith Library and UC Commons Library offers to students was recently spotlighted by The Great Library Road Show, an online documentary project that features some of the most cutting-edge libraries in the country.
Three representatives from the show, sponsored by OCLC and the American Library Journal, came to HPU on March 12 to tour the HPU libraries, record interviews with library staff including David Bryden, director of Library Services, and capture students in action as they utilized the technology.
To view their documentation of the HPU libraries, go to:
http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2012/03/great-library-roadshow/follow-our-story-on-storify-great-library-roadshow-visits-high-point-university/
Last year, HPU became the second college in North Carolina to implement a new library catalog with Web-based services in an effort to increase access to a wealth of information and streamline library workflows. The new catalog, OCLC Web-scale Management Services, allows students to access data on a fast search platform while accessing Web and library-based content. This includes content held in both libraries and School of Education Library that will open this fall.
The implementation is part of a $100 million investment that the university has committed to technology.
Other tools, such as live online chats with librarians from any location on campus, have been added to the library’s offerings as well as “Ask Us,” an online chat service where librarians are available 24 hours a day from any location on campus, have recently been implemented and heavily used by HPU students.
“We were honored to be visited by these members of the greater library community and grateful for their efforts to share the technological advances in our libraries with the world,” says Bryden. “They loved our campus and talking to our staff, and we’ll use this experience as motivation to continue to implement new technology.”
Following the trip to HPU, the Great Library Road Show headed to Richmond and then Philadelphia.
At High Point University, every student receives an extraordinary education in an inspiring environment with caring people.℠ HPU, located in the Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina, is a liberal arts institution with over 4,200 undergraduate and graduate students at campuses in High Point and Winston-Salem. It is ranked by US News and World Report at No. 3 among Regional Colleges in the South. Parade Magazine lists HPU in the top 25 private schools in the nation. HPU was selected in the 2010-2011 list of “Colleges of Distinction,” as well as one of the top green schools in the country by the Sierra Club. The university offers 44 undergraduate majors, 40 undergraduate minors and 10 graduate degree programs. It is a member of the NCAA, Division I and the Big South Conference. Visit High Point University on the Web at highpoint.edu.
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Pam Haynes
Communication Specialist
336-841-9055