Of course, we would expect our statistics to rise along with the number
of students we serve, but as you can see, we have far exceeded that
rate as we have forged ahead into the field of Electronic Services
and Collections. More and more of our time, skills and resources have
been devoted to extending the library beyond its physical walls to
offer our services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to our students and
faculty, from any Internet capable computer in the world.
Assessment and Affirmation
Both The Victoria College and the University of Houston-Victoria hosted
visiting committees from the Commission on Colleges of the Southern
Association of Colleges and Schools in the spring of 2003. This followed
a two-year self-study at each institution and culminated with the reaffirmation
of the accreditation of both institutions. We are pleased to say that
library staff were notable participants in this very successful process
and visitation. For more information about
the library's participation in the assessment process...
Our Heritage and Our Community
As our mission states, we serve our surrounding community as well
as the students and faculty of Victoria College and the University
of Houston-Victoria. One of the most prominent ways that we fulfill
this mission is through our commitment to preserve and promote the
history and heritage of our region which can be seen in the activities
of the library's Victoria Regional History Center and our role in the
establishment of the Museum of the Coastal Bend.
The Victoria Regional History Center, in keeping with the library's
drive to expand in the online world, focused their efforts on not only
establishing and expanding a dynamic web presence, but by also tackling
the ramifications of preserving the digital world for archival and
historical purposes. The VRHC we site, in particular, blossomed with
the addition of several unique historical resources, including the
Indianola Immigrant Database and a reorganized online photo collection.
In addition, the library was gifted with the papers and books of Dr.
Barry A. Crouch, and genealogical materials from Dr. Ann Mary Gossman
Ashworth, many of which were incorporated into the VRHC as well as
the library's main collections. More details about the activities of
the Victoria Regional History Center...
This year, the library had the special privilege of including the
Museum of the Coastal
Bend in its ranks and participating to the fullest
extent to facilitate the activities surrounding the establishment of
the Museum, including the development of their web site, which cumulated
in it's grand opening on October 11, 2003. The Museum of the Coastal
Bend showcases the rich multi-cultural heritage and archaeology of
the mid-coastal region of Texas by collecting, preserving, exhibiting,
and interpreting the history and heritage of the region.
Hurricane Claudette
On July 15, 2003, Claudette, a category 1 hurricane, came to Victoria
and the library put its disaster plans to work. Despite sustained winds
of 85 MPH and gusts of nearly 100 MPH, the physical damage to the library
was minimal. There was a broken window in the Museum of the Coastal
Bend, and we did have an entire tree disappear, along with lots of
branches, but the greatest impact the hurricane had on library services
was in the electronic arena.
We didn't lose any data or equipment to the storm, and the library
itself was only closed the actual day of the hurricane. But the buildings
that house our connection to the internet backbone, and our mail server,
were down for nearly a week with power outages followed by air conditioning
outages in the server rooms. Access to our resources was fairly reliable
within the library proper, but our online services were unavailable
for the better part of 5 days.
All in all, our experience with Hurricane Claudette was a highly successful
one, with the library's disaster plans falling smoothly into place,
and our physical and virtual services restored in a very timely manner. Read
more about our disaster contingency plan...
