April 2, 1998

Electronic library, N.C.Live, to improve Belk Library

Beth Bliss, Opinion Editor

A statewide electronic library and additional informational databases will soon improve the overall efficiency of Appalachian State University’s Belk Library.

In an address to the Student Government Association (SGA) Tuesday, University Librarian Mary Reichel explained the implementation and advantages of two library improvements.

Belk Library will soon provide access to N.C. Live, a statewide electronic library system and to Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, a database offering governmental and financial information.

A $2.2 million grant from the North Carolina General Assembly allowed library officials to make improvements, said Reichel.

Computer system improvements accounted for $700,000 of the grant, while the remaining $1.5 million was used to subscribe to various informational databases.

Under the current Interlibrary Loan program, ASU shares resources with Western Carolina University and the University of North Carolina-Asheville.

Similarly, N.C. Live will provide students and faculty with an electronic database shared by 16 state colleges and universities, as well as by all community colleges and public libraries within the state. The database houses several resources, including scholarly journals in full text that ASU might not be able to obtain in paper format.

“This really adds to our resources,” Reichel said. “The money we would have used to purchase those resources can be allocated elsewhere.”

To maintain program security, students and faculty may only access N.C. Live through a university terminal.

Reichel cited this as a drawback, but said the policy may change in the future.

A second program, Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, stands as an excellent source of governmental and financial information, said Reichel.

The program should be well-received in the university community. “We have heard from several departments, including business and political science, that we need this service,” Reichel said. “We just couldn’t afford it.”

The library received 10 percent of the $3.4 million equity grant received by ASU last year, and Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe was obtained with these funds, said Reichel.

Costs were alleviated through a subscription with the Southeastern Library Network, which works with libraries statewide.

According to Reference Librarian John Boyd, the service is charged on a per-student basis, and sharing a subscription with other libraries allowed Belk Library to cut costs from $4 to $2 per student.

Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe should be available this week, Boyd said.

The N.C. Live network should be operational by the end of April.
 
 

Thank you for visiting The Appalachian Online. We hope you enjoy browsing our site to catch up on the latest news that affects Appalachian State University and our community. We welcome your ideas and suggestions.

E-mail The Appalachian Online at theapp@conrad.appstate.edu