Category Archives: Faculty Services Spotlight

Foreign Language Study at Regent

Do you know what foreign language your friends at Regent are learning? Between May 1, 2014 and May 1, 2015, the Regent community studied 37 foreign languages and 15 cultural training courses using the Library’s Mango Languages software. The total number of learning sessions was 472, and the total time spent using the software was 88 hours. 27% of all learning sessions were on mobile devices, and the average session length was 11 minutes, which shows that a few dedicated minutes per day is all that is required to make meaningful progress in a foreign language.

Here, by order of learning sessions, are the twenty most popular Mango languages at Regent during the past year:

Rank Language Learning Sessions
1 Modern Greek 82
2 Spanish (Latin American) 76
3 French 50
4 Biblical Hebrew 18
5 German 17
6 Korean 16
7 Italian 16*
8 Russian 16*
9 Chinese (Mandarin) 12
10 Czech 11
11 Japanese 9
12 Modern Hebrew 9*
13 Pirate (Arr, Mate!) 9*
14 Vietnamese 7
15 Thai 6
16 Scottish Gaelic 5
17 Spanish (Castilian) 5*
18 Farsi (Persian)  5*
19 Dutch 4
20 Icelandic 4*
*In cases of equal number of learning sessions, rank is determined by total minutes.
Mango offers an amazing array of language and cultural products available 247 to current Regent users and alumni, including 66 foreign languages, 17 ESL courses, and special cultural training courses, such as Arab etiquette, Chinese feng shui, and the language of romance in Spanish and French-speaking countries. For advanced learners, Mango even has full-length foreign films with subtitles and special tools for language learners.Whether you are planning a mission trip to Indonesia, getting in touch with your Norwegian roots, or have always wanted to read the Bible in the original Hebrew and Greek, Mango Languages can help you achieve your goals. Language study is a crucial component for understanding another culture. While complete fluency in a language requires years of study, even basic proficiency will make you feel more at ease when abroad and impress your overseas contacts with your good manners in taking the time to learn some of their language. It will also make your time in a foreign country much more rewarding. As Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “No man should travel until he has learned the language of the country he visits. Otherwise he voluntarily makes himself a great baby, so helpless and so ridiculous.”To begin your journey with Mango, click here.https:youtu.beQt-u5NXnsXQ

Faculty Services Spotlight

Linda Minkowski, Reading on the BeachWritten by Leanne Hillery, Assistant Librarian

Summer Services for Faculty

Will you be working on research or writing an article or book during the summer? Are you teaching a course that requires research support for your students? If so, the Library is waiting to hear from you.

During the summer months, the Library faculty and staff will be available to assist with personal research or support for your classes, both on-campus and online. We invite you to contact your Library liaison for information concerning the research and instructional services available to regular and adjunct faculty. Whether you are at the beginning, middle, or near completion of your research, your liaison can help you find the information you need to begin or complete your project. We also provide individual instruction to faculty who wish to learn more about specific databases or materials. Consider contacting us for a refresher on new databases in your subject area! Please don’t hesitate to call.

If you are teaching this summer, the Library maintains all the services that are offered during the regular academic year. Your Library liaison is available to provide instructional support to individual courses through in-class workshops. For online classes, these sessions can be taped for digital streaming and linked to your course through Blackboard. We also offer traditional and electronic reserves though the Circulation department. Many faculty members find electronic reserves especially attractive, as this service saves potentially hours of time that would otherwise be spent scanning and uploading documents, creating persistent links to database articles, and managing copyright requirements.

If you would like more information about these services or to schedule an appointment for a research consultation, please contact your Library liaison today. The liaisons for each school are listed below. Contact information is available on the Library website.

Robertson School of Government: Marta Lee
School of Communication and the Arts: Leanne Hillery
School of Divinity: Bob Sivigny
School of Education: Sandy Yaegle
School of Global Leadership and Entrepreneurship: Harold Henkel
School of Psychology and Counseling: Marta Lee
School of Undergraduate Studies: Harold Henkel

We look forward to serving you!

Image credit:  Linda Minkowski, Reading on the Beach
                     Used by permission (
http:lindaminkowski.com)

Faculty Services Spotlight: Research Services and Instruction

Written by Leanne Hillery, Assistant Librarian

Faculty Services graphicWith the start of the new academic year, your Library liaisons invite you to contact them about the research and instruction services that are available to afaculty, adjunct faculty, and students. In addition to answering questions about Library policies and procedures, the liaisons assist with ordering new Library materials and providing research assistance and instruction to faculty and students. Some of the available services include: