The institution provides facilities, services, and learning/information resources that are appropriate to support its teaching, research, and service mission. ( Facilities and Instructional Support Services )

  X    Compliance         Partial Compliance         Non-Compliance

Narrative: The Gressette Learning Resource Center Library provides facilities, services and other learning and information resources which appropriately support teaching at Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College (OCtech), the College’s mission, and the Library’s own mission statement of service. In this report, “facilities” refers to the physical plant of the Library. “Services” refers to the resources provided, as well as the activities performed within the Library.

OCtech provides a site for the Library and related learning resources at two locations on campus. These resources are sufficient to meet the educational and informational needs of its students. The main Library is located in the center of the campus on the second floor of the Gressette Learning Resources Center (Building B). The Virtual Tour of the building provides evidence of its adequacy for teaching, research, and learning. The Library has three study/viewing rooms equipped with TV/VCR units, ten study tables with a seating capacity of forty, three reading areas that will seat fourteen, three catalog access terminals, and twelve computer terminals. One study room is equipped with two-way video conferencing equipment that is utilized for administrative meetings and faculty professional development. Adjacent to the Library is a fifteen station instructional lab. The lab is used for bibliographic instruction and professional development classes. There is also a faculty instructional lab which consists of four computers. This lab is used for small faculty workshops and faculty production of instructional materials; it also serves as the View Testing Center. The View Test Center provides access to industry certification exams for students, instructors, and employees of businesses located within the service area.

Located adjacent to the library is the Tourville Learning Lab. This facility houses eighty-eight computers. Remediation materials and supplemental classroom materials are loaded on these computers. Tutoring and counseling services are also located within the Tourville Learning Lab. The Library maintains a cart of thirteen laptops, which is available for checkout by faculty and staff for workshops and off-campus use. All computers are equipped with Microsoft Word and are connected to the Internet for catalog access, general research, online resources, campus email, and distance learning offerings from OCtech. Library patrons have access to and/or assistance with all computers during the hours that the Library is open. At the close of the 2004 fiscal year, the collection consisted of 16,583 books, 117 periodicals, 21 databases, approximately 54,000 electronic books, 687 instructional videos and 67 audio books. The Library also supports the information needs of OCtech students who are participating in distance learning courses both here or at other state technical colleges across the state.

The Library catalog and physical collection is shared with nine other South Carolina technical colleges. This consortium is called South Carolina Information and Library Services (SCILS). The database for this consortium is housed at Spartanburg Technical College and is administered by a systems manager hired by the Consortium. The SCILS system administrator creates and maintains the SCILS web site. The OCtech Library maintains a web page that provides access to its own online catalog, electronic resources and purchased databases. These databases contain full-text articles from journals, eBook, and other resources that support the specific needs of OCtech students. These databases are accessible to faculty and students from any location with Internet access, as long as they have the current passwords. All resources are accessible through any computer on campus. A system for administering and distributing passwords has been established. The library web site also contains access to additional Internet resources that supports the instructional program of the College.

The OCtech Library has established formal reciprocal lending agreements with South Carolina State University and Claflin University that allow students from these three institutions to borrow and use materials from any of the three libraries. The OCtech library participates in OCLC’s Interlibrary Loan System, which allows students to borrow materials from participating libraries across the country. The Library borrows materials through interlibrary loan with the South Carolina State Library in Columbia, South Carolina. Students may also request a Library Borrowing Card that gives them access to the libraries of all two- and four-year institutions within the state.

Materials are selected based on recommendations by faculty, staff and students and recommendations from library journals. Faculty members are provided catalogs and Choice magazine selections (Choice contains reviews of books, websites, and media). Faculty are then asked to make independent recommendations for any medium for addition to the Library collection. College departments also purchase materials with departmental funds. Video materials are routed through the Library for cataloging. The Library manages these materials and any other materials when requested to do so.

Each Library staff member provides general assistance, assists with technology, and circulates materials to library patrons. The professional librarians develop and present individual reference assistance and formal library and information literacy programs to students and faculty. Professional staff members also provide workshops for professional development during the College’s Fall and Spring Conferences. Orientation sessions which focus on specific subject matter resources are provided for each departmental area of the College. Librarians also conduct information sessions for individual faculty members and departments, informing them of new technologies, services and databases provided by the Library as those resources are acquired. The Information Resources Consultant provides Help Desk services for the entire campus. This service provides technical assistance on all software programs used on campus on an as-needed basis. The Information Resources Consultant provides frontline troubleshooting for technical problems. She evaluates all calls received, addresses the calls she is able to handle, and makes referrals to the IT department when further assistance is needed.

The Library provides campus-wide media services which include

• Supplying audio visual and multimedia equipment for classroom instruction
• Providing instruction in the use of classroom equipment
• Providing assistance in the selection and purchase of the most appropriate technology for the intended use
• Providing coordination for viewing University of South Carolina distance education classes on campus
• Managing booking of two-way teleconferencing system
• Providing multimedia services for outside organizations
• Filming of interview sessions for administration
• Maintaining and troubleshooting classroom audio visual and multimedia equipment
• Managing equipment loans for off-campus use
• Providing equipment setup as needed for all on-campus College functions
• Providing Information Resource Consultant services for a variety of distance education needs of instructors and students.
• Administering WebCT courseware for distance education classes
• Assisting with creation and maintenance of WebCT courses
• Assisting with creation and maintenance of faculty web pages
• Conducting faculty workshops for software used at the College
• WebCT orientation classes for distance education students
• Maintaining of the View Testing Center
• Creating and maintaining the Library web page
• Providing Help Desk service for college students and faculty
• Serving as backup assistance for Campus Cruiser system used by the College

Evidence of Support: