September 2019
On September 19, I attended University Libraries Student Advisory (ULSA) Committee Meeting at Sterling C. Evans Library, which is the first formal meeting for the academic year 2019-2020. There are two main reasons why I put my effort participating in it. The first reason is that during this semester I was selected for the joint appointments between ULSA and the Academic Affairs Division (AAD) in Student Government Association (SGA), and our division leaded by Vice President Sven Lohse would focus more on the exploration and implementation of open access resources. The other reason is that I would love to try my best and show up in person to give feedback and support for the development of our libraries on which my study, research, and career path improvement strongly depend.
Surprise to me, this first ULSA committee meeting was not only productive but also had tons of fun. The discovery journey with the theme of “Space” successfully let us five student representatives involved actively. The journey was arranged and divided into two parts. Firstly, the committee equipped us with a fancy polaroid individually, and each of us was assigned to take charge of the certain floor by exploring and paying attention to find the bright sides, issues and concerns as well. We were required to take three instant photos noted with specific locations correctly, spotted on the prepared floor map, and recorded with detailed explanation. Secondly, we returned back to the conference room and presented our experience combining with photos and record sheet, put the founded issues and our concerns on the table, discussed the situation and proposed some solutions with peer and committee members. In this delightful journey, I volunteered for Evans Floor 5 and 6, which offer space specifically for prayer & meditation, and graduate students, respectively. I was enthusiastic to realize Evans Library’s effort for the sustainable and environmentally-friendly development because more recycling bins have been provided to make recycling more accessible and practicable for individuals. It is exciting to find libraries’ outreach and connection with other organizations and associations, such as white boards labeled the Association of Former Students of Texas A&M University. In sum, this refreshing journey brings the brainstorming among us student representatives for our new roles to improve the overall campus climate.
Here I would like to take the chance to say thank you to gracious Associate Dean Ms. Susan Goodwin for providing delicious, balanced and healthy lunch, to Mr. Patrick Zinn for leading the discussion on collateral development through exploring multichannel content, to Ms. Michele Doyal, Ms. Elizabeth German, and Ms. LaQuanda Onyemeh for organized coordination, kind consideration, all of your effort and caring! Thanks to the other four students for sincere discussion, unique solution ideas to make libraries' distinct service offerings clear, and to create awareness about the libraries' leadership in activities such as open educational resources, special collections, and preservation. I would like to invite you for your comments below, and for your feedback to our library system if possible in the future, which would facilitate the libraries being included in conversations about the university at large, and enhance our amazing libraries' reputation and perceived value.
Even while staying in Aggieland for over three years, there have always been updated resources, fascinating events, and appealing technology waiting for me to explore and utilize. Some personal tips on how to enjoy and make full use of our libraries. Some textbooks required for coursework could be checked out for some time as reserve materials which are those things faculty set aside in the libraries so that many students can share class materials. Copying or scanning certain chapters by digital devices equipped in libraries could help you arrangement. Book the appropriate room for different purposes, all five libraries in the system could offer you privacy and quiet space in individual study room and group discussion room. Besides coursework, entertainment yourselves borrowing classical and new movies or enhance photographing skills using the digital devices offered in Annex. The Texas A&M University Libraries are proud to announce that Assistant Professor Beth German has been elected as the Vice President/President Elect of American Library Association (ALA)’s Reference & User Services Association (RUSA). RUSA serves all types of libraries in reference, user services, adult readers advisory and collection development as well as resource sharing, genealogy and archives, business reference and reference technology. If you are interested in coming and enjoying activities like this, one of which is arranged in October, please schedule time with Beth German.
---Kaiyi Zhang
Kaiyi Zhang is a doctoral student in the department of Environmental and Occupational Health
Surprise to me, this first ULSA committee meeting was not only productive but also had tons of fun. The discovery journey with the theme of “Space” successfully let us five student representatives involved actively. The journey was arranged and divided into two parts. Firstly, the committee equipped us with a fancy polaroid individually, and each of us was assigned to take charge of the certain floor by exploring and paying attention to find the bright sides, issues and concerns as well. We were required to take three instant photos noted with specific locations correctly, spotted on the prepared floor map, and recorded with detailed explanation. Secondly, we returned back to the conference room and presented our experience combining with photos and record sheet, put the founded issues and our concerns on the table, discussed the situation and proposed some solutions with peer and committee members. In this delightful journey, I volunteered for Evans Floor 5 and 6, which offer space specifically for prayer & meditation, and graduate students, respectively. I was enthusiastic to realize Evans Library’s effort for the sustainable and environmentally-friendly development because more recycling bins have been provided to make recycling more accessible and practicable for individuals. It is exciting to find libraries’ outreach and connection with other organizations and associations, such as white boards labeled the Association of Former Students of Texas A&M University. In sum, this refreshing journey brings the brainstorming among us student representatives for our new roles to improve the overall campus climate.
Here I would like to take the chance to say thank you to gracious Associate Dean Ms. Susan Goodwin for providing delicious, balanced and healthy lunch, to Mr. Patrick Zinn for leading the discussion on collateral development through exploring multichannel content, to Ms. Michele Doyal, Ms. Elizabeth German, and Ms. LaQuanda Onyemeh for organized coordination, kind consideration, all of your effort and caring! Thanks to the other four students for sincere discussion, unique solution ideas to make libraries' distinct service offerings clear, and to create awareness about the libraries' leadership in activities such as open educational resources, special collections, and preservation. I would like to invite you for your comments below, and for your feedback to our library system if possible in the future, which would facilitate the libraries being included in conversations about the university at large, and enhance our amazing libraries' reputation and perceived value.
Even while staying in Aggieland for over three years, there have always been updated resources, fascinating events, and appealing technology waiting for me to explore and utilize. Some personal tips on how to enjoy and make full use of our libraries. Some textbooks required for coursework could be checked out for some time as reserve materials which are those things faculty set aside in the libraries so that many students can share class materials. Copying or scanning certain chapters by digital devices equipped in libraries could help you arrangement. Book the appropriate room for different purposes, all five libraries in the system could offer you privacy and quiet space in individual study room and group discussion room. Besides coursework, entertainment yourselves borrowing classical and new movies or enhance photographing skills using the digital devices offered in Annex. The Texas A&M University Libraries are proud to announce that Assistant Professor Beth German has been elected as the Vice President/President Elect of American Library Association (ALA)’s Reference & User Services Association (RUSA). RUSA serves all types of libraries in reference, user services, adult readers advisory and collection development as well as resource sharing, genealogy and archives, business reference and reference technology. If you are interested in coming and enjoying activities like this, one of which is arranged in October, please schedule time with Beth German.
---Kaiyi Zhang
Kaiyi Zhang is a doctoral student in the department of Environmental and Occupational Health