ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 20 / C&RL News ■ January 2004 College & Research Libraries news Campus kudos for a unique library newsletter by Pat Van Zandt W h o w o u ld h a v e th o u g h t th a t a p u b ­ lic a tio n m o u n te d o n ly in b a th ro o m sta lls in th e m a in lib r a r y w o u ld b e c o m e th e m o st p o p u la r lib ra ry p u b lic a tio n (a n d o n e o f th e m o s t p o p u la r p u b lic a t io n s o v e r a ll) o n c a m p u s? B u t th a t’s w h a t h a p ­ p e n e d w ith “T ire T h r o n e ,” a n ir r e g u la r n e w s le tte r is s u e d b y th e staff o f S w e m Li­ b r a r y o f th e C o lle g e o f W illia m a n d M a ry in W illia m s b u rg , V irg in ia. T h e id e a fo r “T h e T h r o n e ” w a s s h a m e ­ l e s s ly b o r r o w e d fro m S t a l l T alk o f th e U n iv e rsity o f V irg in ia L ib raries. A S w e m lib r a r ia n a tte n d in g a m e e tin g th e re d is ­ c o v e r e d a c o p y in th e la d ie s ro o m a n d to o k th e id e a b a c k to h e r su p e rv iso rs, w h o g a v e h e r p e r m is s io n to g iv e it a try. A fter m u c h b ra in sto rm in g , th e sta ff c a m e u p w ith th e title o f th e p u b lic a tio n to h o n o r K in g W illia m III a n d Q u e e n M a ry II, w h o c h a rte r e d th e c o lle g e in 1693 (m a k in g it th e s e c o n d c o lle g e in th e A m e ric a n c o lo ­ n ie s ). A lo g o o f W illia m a n d M a ry o n th e ir r e s p e c tiv e th ro n e s g r a c e s th e m a s th e a d o f e a c h issu e . “T h e T h r o n e ” a l w a y s s h o w c a s e s o n e o r tw o in t e r e s t in g p r in t o r e le c t r o n ic r e ­ s o u r c e s a v a i l a b l e to W i l li a m a n d M a r y s t u d e n t s . O th e r f e a t u r e s h a v e i n c l u d e d b r i e f ( a n d a l w a y s h u m o r o u s a n d l i g h t ­ h e a r t e d ) a r t ic le s o n f a m o u s lib r a r ia n s in h is t o r y , i n c l u d i n g th e B r o th e r s G rim m , C a s a n o v a , a n d St. J e r o m e , a s w e l l a s l i ­ b r a r ia n s in t h e m o v ie s ( a s in P a r t y G i r l a n d D e s k S e t ) . O n e i s s u e in v it e d r e a d ­ e r s to r e s p o n d to a n o n lin e s u r v e y a b o u t t h e ir f a v o r it e b a t h r o o m r e a d i n g , w it h r e s u lt s f e a t u r e d in t h e n e x t is s u e . T h e p r e s e n c e o f a f u ll- tim e g r a p h ic d e s ig n e r o n S w e m L ib r a r y ’s s ta ff a s s u r e s th a t e a c h c o lo r f u l i s s u e o f “T h e T h r o n e ” is v i s u ­ a l l y a s w e l l a s i n t e l l e c t u a l l y a p p e a l i n g . W e k n e w th a t “T h e T h r o n e ” w a s b e ­ c o m in g p o p u l a r w h e n o n e o f t h e e d i ­ to r s w a s c o n d u c t in g a b ib l i o g r a p h i c i n ­ s t r u c t io n s e s s io n . W h ile w a i t i n g f o r th e o n l i n e c a t a l o g to b r in g b a c k s e a r c h r e ­ s u lt s , s h e a s k e d t h e s t u d e n t s if t h e y k n e w h o w m a n y it e m s t h e c a t a l o g h a d to lo o k th r o u g h . W h e n o n e s t u d e n t t e n ­ t a tiv e ly a n s w e r e d , “A b o u t a m illio n ,” s h e a s k e d h o w h e k n e w th a t f ig u r e . T h e a n ­ s w e r : “I r e a d it in ‘T h e T h r o n e !”’ O th e r s tu d e n ts in th e c la s s c h im e d in w it h “W e l o v e ‘T h e T h r o n e ’!” S in c e t h e n , a s t u ­ d e n t n e w s p a p e r s u r v e y h a s v o t e d t h e S w e m L ib r a r y b a t h r o o m s t h e b e s t o n c a m p u s , s t a t in g t h a t “w h a t r e a l l y s e t s th e s e p a r t ic u la r b a th r o o m s a b o v e a ll th e r e s t is t h e i n c l u d i n g o f a . . . n e w s le t t e r , About th e a u th o r Pat Van Z and t is science librarian a t the College o f William and Mary, e-mail: pxhaus‹Swm. edu “ The Throne” C&RL News ■ January 2004 / 21 ‘T h e T h r o n e ,’ th a t c o v e r s a ll so rts o f h y g ie n e a n d lib r a r y tr iv ia ” ( T h e F la t H a t, F e b r u a r y 14, 2 0 0 3 , p. 14). “T h e T h r o n e ” is a n e x c e ll e n t e x ­ a m p le o f h o w a s m a ll i d e a , g iv e n e n c o u r a g e m e n t , c a n p a y b ig d i v i ­ d e n d s . “T h e T h r o n e ” is o n ly d is tr ib ­ u t e d w i t h i n l i b r a r y b a t h r o o m s , so a c t u a l p u b l i c a t io n c o s t ( p a p e r a n d p la s t ic w a ll- m o u n t e d c o v e r s ) is le s s t h a n $ 3 0 p e r m o n th . H o w e v e r , t h e v a l u e o f p o s it iv e p u b l i c i t y f o r l i ­ b r a r y s e r v i c e s a n d s ta ff, c o m b in e d w it h th e o p p o r tu n ity to p r o v id e e n ­ t e r t a in m e n t a n d e n l ig h t e n m e n t to p a t r o n s , is p r ic e le s s . “T h e T h ro n e ” b e g a n p u b lic a tio n in J u n e 2 002 a n d c o n tin u e s o n a m o re- or-less bim o n th ly basis. Current editors a n d w rite rs o f “T h e T h r o n e ” a r e P at V an Z andt a n d C yn d i M ack (re p la c in g J e s s ic a F isc h er); g r a p h ic d e s ig n e r is K aren M cC lu n ey. O th er staff co n trib ­ u te articles o n o cc asio n . ■ Hot off the press from ACRL: New publications on digital reference and assessment D ig ita l Reference Research Agenda T h e D i g i t a l R e f e r e n c e R e s e a r c h A g e n d a , P u b ­ l i c a t i o n s i n L i b r a r i a n s h i p n o . 5 5 , a c o m p ila tio n o f t h e p r o c e e d in g s o f th e D ig ita l R e f e re n c e R e s e a r c h S y m p o s iu m h e ld in A u g u s t 2 0 0 2 , is n o w a v a ila b le fro m ACRL. I n c lu d e d a r e d e ­ ta ile d c h a p te rs o n s p e cific asp e cts o f th e a g e n d a , in c lu d in g h o w d ig it a l r e f e r e n c e r e la t e s to d ig i­ ta l lib r a r ie s , e d u c a tio n fo r d ig it a l r e f e r e n c e , q u e s t io n n e g o t ia t io n o n lin e , a n d th e u n iq u e c o s ts a n d b e n e f its o f d ig it a l r e f e r e n c e . C u rre n t t h in k in g a n d r e s e a r c h in d ig it a l r e f e r e n c e a r e d r a w n t o g e t h e r to c r e a t e a b r id g e b e t w e e n re se a rc h e rs a n d p ra ctitio n ers. E dited b y R. D avid L a n k e s, S c o tt N ic h o lso n , a n d A b b y G o o d ru m . $ 2 4 .0 0 , 1 9 5 p . ISBN. 0 -8 3 8 9 -8 2 3 1 -X , 2 0 0 3 . Assessing S tudent Learning Outcomes W e ll d o n e a s s e s s m e n t is e s s e n tia l to d o c u m e n t­ in g th e e ffec ts o f in fo rm a tio n lite r a c y p ro g ra m s a n d th e d e g r e e to w h ic h t h e y a r e m e e tin g th e ir o b je c tiv e s . T h e a s s e s s m e n t p r o c e s s c a n a ls o a s s is t a n y o n e in v o lv e d in in fo r m a tio n lit­ e r a c y in stru c tio n b y g e ttin g th e m a c tiv e ly in ­ v o lv e d in th e p ro c e s s a n d e n g a g e d in c la s s ­ ro o m activ ities, g iv in g th e m f e e d b a c k a b o u t stu­ d e n ts ’ th in k in g a n d le a rn in g , a n d h e lp in g th e m fo cu s o n g o a ls a n d o b je c tiv e s o f th e c o u rse . A ›- s e s s i n g S t u d e n t L e a r n i n g O u t c o m e s f o r I n f o r ­ m a t i o n L i t e r a c y I n s t r u c t i o n i n A c a d e m i c I n s t i t u ­ t i o n s b y E liz a b e th F u s e le r A v e ry g iv e s lib ra r­ ia n s th e to o ls n e e d e d to c r e a te b a s e lin e d a ta th a t w ill s u p p o r t th e m e rits o f in fo rm a tio n lit­ e r a c y p ro g ra m s in th eir institutions. M eth o d s a n d s k ills th a t h a v e b e e n u s e d to c a r r y o u t e ffec tiv e a s s e s s m e n t p ro g r a m s a r e illu stra te d , in c lu d in g d e c id in g w h a t is to b e le a r n e d fro m th e p ro ­ gram , e stab lish in g le a rn in g o utco m es, d a ta a n a ly ­ sis, co nsid eratio n o f costs, a n d in vo lv em en t o f fac­ ulty. $29.00, 308 p . ISBN. 0-8389-8261-1, 2003. Order today T o o r d e r t h e s e a n d o th e r b o o k s a n d to s e e th e c o m p le t e ACRL p u b lic a t io n s c a ta lo g , v is it w w w .a c r l.o r g / p u b lic a t io n s . ACRL m e m b e r s r e c e iv e a 10% d is c o u n t o n a ll p u b lic a tio n s . http://www.acrl.org/publications