Around the World: Campus Library on the High Seas

摘要

Providing library service on Semester at Sea is, in essence, much like that on a land-based campus in that the librarian's role is still to facilitate patrons' access to and use of resources. As for any library, collection development on the ship is tied to anticipated patron needs, in this case for information on the experience of travel and understanding different cultures. The ship's library has a collection of 6,000 volumes related to art, history, social sciences, biology, geology, poetry, religion, and economics of the world. The reserves collection is assembled each semester with recommendations from the faculty teaching courses during that voyage, for that itinerary. Patrons, at sea as on land, usually have an idea of what they want but frequently need assistance knowing where to look for information or in forming a useful search strategy. Increasingly, online resources are augmenting the print collection. And, like a land-based campus, at those times when the internet is down it is interesting to be challenged to provide research support with print resources (ah encyclopedias!) and to deal with expectations (both patrons' and as a librarian) for the ready access and quick results of online resources. Unlike land-based campuses however, each Semester at Sea voyage is distinct and has its own set of conditions, issues, and personalities. Every semester has a new shipboard contingent of faculty, staff and students who have to learn their jobs and roles in a new environment and, hopefully, form a cohesive learning community while far away from familiar comforts and surroundings.