Voyager offers the capability to integrate into a single user interface access to both local and remote information resources. We ensure that our local database provides useful search techniques and powerful search engines so as to easily locate appropriate resources. We organize access to remote resources by subject category to guide users more readily to resources in their areas of interest, creating one-stop shopping to the universe of information. In such a way, our faculty and students engage in much more effective and efficient research. UR Provost Charles Phelps said he is able to continue to be as active as possible in his field of economics because we provide easy access to journals and the locations of resource material for ongoing research.
Grant writing is propelled forward much more quickly.
Wechsler tells us he can send out proposals much earlier than when he relied on paper catalogues and indices. The wealth and variety of electronic resources available through Voyager and the Internet have changed the quality of interactions that librarians have with faculty and students. We spend less time answering questions about which library contains which book or journal, whether it is checked out, etc. Instead, we are more often engaged in teaching skills needed to use resources, in helping to navigate among possible choices of resources for research, and in suggesting new uses of resources for instruction. Stephanie Frontz, head of the library's multimedia center, has worked with Dan Harrison, associate professor of music theory, to provide support for his students using Finale software for composition assignments and to secure grant funding to use streaming media for music reserves.