Author Archives: Nancy Turner

On Inquiry, Innovation and Leadership

Say the word innovation, particularly in libraries, and we tend to think of technology. At the Ginsburg Library, this association is explicit — the space set aside for technology-rich services like 3-D printing and virtual reality application is called the … Continue reading

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The Year in Assessment at TULUP: A Celebration

This week I submitted the Libraries’ annual report on assessment activities to the University’s Office of Assessment and Evaluation . It’s a requirement that I don’t particularly relish, as I often feel our approach to assessment at the Libraries is … Continue reading

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Working Together for Improvement: The Digital Access Workflow

When the library closed its physical doors in March, new doors of the digital sort opened up. Yet the disruption of access service for physical materials, lasting several months,  has yielded a re-working of processes for how we get our … Continue reading

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Steering Straight: Continuous Improvement and the SSTs

It’s been almost four years since we established the first Strategic Steering Teams at Temple University Libraries/Press. Those first two groups, Research Data Services and Scholarly Communication, are now part of a group of six including: Outreach and Communications, Learning … Continue reading

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The Future on Pause: Reflections on the “How We’re Working at Charles” Project

Last week the Assessment Community of Practice gathered virtually to hear more about the Envisioning our Future project. The session was hosted by research team members Karen Kohn, Rebecca Lloyd, Caitlin Shanley, and myself.  The project was conducted as part … Continue reading

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What Counts as Reference?

Last month I completed six years of service on the editorial board of ACRL’s Academic Library Trends and Statistics Survey. Our meetings involved much discussion on how best to provide clear instructions to survey participants, debates over wording of trends … Continue reading

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Supporting Online Learning and Research: Assessing our Virtual Reference Activities

Today’s post is contributed by Olivia Given Castello, Tom Ipri, Kristina De Voe and Jackie Sipes. Thank you! The sudden move to all-online learning at Temple University presented a unique challenge to the Libraries and provided a great opportunity to … Continue reading

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We All Make Mistakes

Last week I learned a lesson about making mistakes, and it was both humbling and helpful. Just one day before the deadline for locking the University’s numbers into the IPEDS system (Statistics for the U.S. Dept of Education) for FY18-19, … Continue reading

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Using Social Media to Engage Library Users

Today’s very special post is authored by Kaitlyn Semborski and Geneva Heffernan, from Library Outreach and Communications at Temple Libraries.  At Temple Libraries, we use social media to build and maintain relationships with library stakeholders. Daily, our Instagram, Twitter, and … Continue reading

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A New Day for Assessment Practice?

It is difficult to believe that in early March we convened the Assessment Community of Practice, joining Margery Sly and Matt Shoemaker to talk about changing needs for assessment measures as we develop new library services. The new Charles Library … Continue reading

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