DSU Mundt Library receives LSTA grant

The libraries at Dakota State University (Mundt), Northern State University (Williams) and South Dakota State University (Briggs) were awarded a $31,000 Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant from the South Dakota State Library and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

According to Todd Quinn, Dakota State University Instruction/Reference Librarian and coordinator of the project, the grant will be used for “Ask the Librarians Live,” a pilot project of live, online reference service.

Students of all three institutions will be able to ask librarians questions via an advanced chat software program from anywhere on or off each campus. This extends the reference services already provided in person, via the telephone and email. Faculty and staff also have access to the service.

“This approach to serving library patrons is needed because of a dramatic increase in the distance education student population, an increasing number of electronic sources being offered from each library and an increased number of Internet users,” said Quinn.

The three libraries will collaborate to provide the services to students from each of the universities. Initially, about 12 librarians from the three universities will provide online support for students.

“It’s mostly for distance students," Quinn said. "But it is available to any student who is not in the library at the moment a question arises. This type of service has great potential to help students.”

The system will be in place this summer and will take full effect in the Fall semester. Hours will be from 1-7pm, Monday through Thursday.

“Eventually we’ll add other libraries,” Quinn said. “The more librarians we have available to answer questions, the longer we can extend the hours of service.”

LSTA grants are part of the federal IMLS program and are administered by the State Library. These grants promote access to learning and information resources in all types of libraries. Funds are intended for projects that use technology to link library resources together and share them with the community.