StackMap as a Teaching Tool

StackMap has significantly changed browsing culture at the Kaplan Family Library and Learning Center at Mount Saint Mary College. Library users are now able to find books quickly and easily. We talked to Jen Park, Assistant Librarian for Access and Outreach Services, about her experience implementing StackMap into her curriculum and how the platform helps her assistants be more autonomous.

We’ve been using StackMap for about a year and a half. We found out about it at a conference. I use StackMap to run a first-year student program that teaches them how to navigate the library. It’s kind of like a scavenger hunt, except rather than teach students call numbers and section locations, I teach them how to use StackMap. Suddenly, they’re able to locate the items themselves.

Our student assistants also use StackMap. They pull items from the collection that we need for interlibrary loan, assist our library users, and locate items within the stacks without needing to find extra help from a professional staff member. StackMap really allows them the ability to work more independently and become more comfortable with locating items within a large library.

StackMap also helped Mount Saint Mary College’s library after they moved buildings.

We were trying to figure out how to best teach people how to use the collection. The books went from one particular layout to another layout, and that can be quite confusing for library users. Now people can come to the library, pull out their phone, and find an item. 

- Jen Park, Mount Saint Mary College Kaplan Family Library