Odum Library Blog

The 2011 State of the Union Address by President Barack Obama is archived online through the White House home page.  You can view the address as well as participate in several question-and-answer sessions with senior White House officials throughout the week.  Submit questions via Twitter, Facebook, or the panel’s web question submission form.  View the schedule for further opportunities to give your State of the Union feedback to the President and his staff and historical background on the address or the “Annual Message,” as it was originally known, at http://www.whitehouse.gov/state-of-the-union-2011

If you’re interested in the state of your state, the nonprofit state policy site Stateline.org lists the dates and full text of the 50 governors’ addresses and provides an archive of state of the state addresses since 2000.

We’re hearing a lot about volunteer opportunities for the Martin Luther King, Jr., Day of Service. Maybe you’d like to find ways to continue volunteering throughout the year.

Volunteer.gov helps you explore opportunities to volunteer on behalf of America’s natural and cultural resources.  You can search by keyword, state or city, government agency, or opportunity type, from Archaeology to Weed/Invasive Species Control.

Agencies with volunteer opportunities include the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with state and local governments adding their opportunities, too. Take a look at the many ways we can help care for our rich resources!

Did you know that Odum Library is a Federal Depository Library?  Why should you care?  If you’ve ever needed to find population statistics, or the extent that H1N1 flu has spread, or even a form for filing your income taxes, you’ve used information available through the Federal Depository Library Program!

Let the U.S. government know how you feel about depository library services. Please take our 16-question online survey focusing on depository access, services, and collections:

Federal Depository Library Survey

Results of the survey will help us understand the value of FDLP membership. Thank you for your feedback!

If you’d like to know more about U.S., Georgia, and other government documents at Odum Library, visit our Government Documents homepage!

Over the past month, we have been collecting and analyzing data from our Fall 2010 Reference Services Satisfaction Survey.

We have changed the survey a bit, because the statement “I have a better understanding of how to evaluate information” did not apply to every question. Patrons and librarians alike were confused as to how to rate this statement when evaluation wasn’t necessary for the reference question.

The three statements on this survey are the same ones we asked in previous Reference Services Satisfaction Surveys, and Reference Services users rated us on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being “strongly disagree”, 5 being “strongly agree”).

1. I got the information I needed.
2. I have a better understanding of how to find information.
3. I am satisfied with the service I received.

The survey results showed that users were very satisfied with their Reference experience.

User comments were very positive overall, and included:

• Great and fast help.
• You guys are the best!
• Great job (smiley face)

Out of 47 users, 39 were undergraduate students, 7 were graduate, and one was “other.”

We also evaluated ourselves on our interactions at the Reference Desk:

The data shows that we are mostly satisfied with how we help you overall (statement 3), but we would like to help you learn how to find information better in the future.

Out of 47 responses, 41 were from librarians, 4 were from Peer Reference Counselors, and 2 were from our intern.

We are always looking for new ways to improve our service here at Odum Reference, and we’re also looking into improving how we evaluate our service. Please post a comment on the blog or Facebook if you have any ideas of how we could either serve you better or find out more about how we’re doing!

Browsing Books are located on the first set of bookshelves on the right as you come in the first floor front doors.

Visit “Election 2008: A Selective List of Resources” to see video clips of candidates, visit political party web sites, follow media coverage, and more:http://www.valdosta.edu/~kensmith/election2008.shtml.

Odum Library’s government documents librarian, Ken Smith, has created this page to help us follow the candidates as well as the media coverage of this year’s elections. From the Government Documents home page at http://www.valdosta.edu/library/find/gov/index.shtml, click on the new “Election 2008” link.