PBS has launched PBS LearningMedia™ an exciting website for educators. After agreeing to the terms of use, educators may register to use a collection of digital resources on subjects such as science, social studies and language arts free of charge. There are videos clips, images and audio recordings available for classroom use. The content can be filtered by grade level, subject, and media type. Sources for the video clips include the PBS programs American Experience , NOVA and POV. Many images are from the National Archives.
A link to the site has been added to the Library’s Streaming Media web page.
Changes are happening rapidly in the Media Resources Department. While the DVD is currently the favorite media format, media streaming is becoming increasingly popular for academic use.
Streaming media are compressed audio and video files that allow the viewer to listen to or watch media in real time. Some popular sites that feature streaming media are Hulu, YouTube and Google Videos.
In the spring of 2011 the Library initiated a Streaming Media Page as an offshoot of the Media Resources/Edlab web page. The site currently contains Licensed Streaming Media from Films on Demand about a variety of subjects including Biology, Health and Medicine and Education. Students, faculty and staff have access to this material. Links to outside websites hosting lectures, documentaries and archival newsreels are available on the web page too.
Streaming Media has many benefits. It can be accessed from classrooms, dorms, or homes and multiple users can access it at the same time. If you’re off campus, log in to my.scranton and use the Library tab so that you’ll be authenticated as a University of Scranton user.
The Ask-A-Librarian instant messaging service, widgets on our websites, and text messaging services are currently having technical difficulty. Our provider’s servers are currently down, but they are working on restoring the services.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
For the meantime please call the Reference Desk if you need any help (570 – 941 – 4000) OR use the 24/7 Chat service to get help from a librarian at another Jesuit University.
For all the scientists, aspiring scientists, and just plain curious folk on our campus, the Weinberg Memorial Library now offers full text, online access to Science and Nature, two well-known and frequently cited interdisciplinary scientific journals.
To use either journal, just use our Periodical Search to search for either Science or Nature, and then click through to their respective websites. If you’re off campus, don’t forget to log in to my.scranton and use the Library tab so that you’ll be authenticated as a University of Scranton user.
If you have any trouble accessing either journal, please let us know!
Our laptop borrowing program has always been popular with students, so this year we thought we’d expand it! Now, students can borrow one of our three brand new iPad2s.
We want to help our students explore this new world of tablet computing, so we’ve made borrowing an iPad as easy as possible. To request an iPad, all you have to do is stop by our circulation desk. Our laptops can only be borrowed for a period of 3 hours, but when you check out an iPad, you’ll get to keep it for a whole day. And even better – unlike our laptops, which have to stay in the building, you can take your borrowed iPad out of the Library and use it where ever you like.
Give our iPads a whirl, and then let us know what you think of this new program! If we see the iPads getting a lot of use, we’ll look into purchasing more of them (or purchasing one or more Android tablets).
Each semester, the Weinberg Memorial Library and the Center for Teaching & Learning Excellence (CTLE) offer a faculty and staff advancement series called Technology on Your Own Terms. The series introduces University faculty and staff to emerging technologies in order to encourage innovation in the workplace and in the classroom. We’re continuing the series in Fall 2011 with two new workshops:
Changing Channels: The Next Generation of Television
Tuesday, October 18 from 12pm-1pm in WML305
In this workshop, we’ll look at new options in home entertainment and media, from HDTV and BluRay to streaming video. We’ll talk about what consumers should look for when purchasing new television screens and introduce new streaming services like Hulu Plus, Netflix, and Apple TV. A light lunch will be provided. (Taught by Jason Oakey, Office of Instructional Technology)
Tools for Tablets: Apps, Sites, and Widgets for Tablet Computers
Wednesday, November 16 from 12pm-1pm in WML305
This workshop will discuss programs that will enhance your use of personal tablets, like the iPad, so that you can get the most out of these devices. We will look at file storage options, word processing programs, as well as social networks and e-reader applications. A light lunch will be provided. (Taught by Sheli McHugh, Weinberg Memorial Library)
All faculty and staff members are welcome, but seats are limited, so please register for sessions you plan to attend at www.scranton.edu/ctleregistration (under Technology On Your Own Terms).
As every Scrantonian knows, the big excitement in town this weekend is Parade Day. Whether you’re planning to watch the parade or stay home and avoid the crowds, it’s also a nice weekend to reflect on St. Patrick and the history and traditions of Ireland.
Thanks to the Library’s Cataloging Department, finding new books has never been easier.
Now, if you want to see what new books have come in for a specific subject, then all you have to do is visit the Library’s Research Guides at www.scranton.edu/library/researchguides.
You would then pick a subject, for example “History.” In the History Research Guides page you will see useful links which direct you to helpful Databases, Reference Books, Websites, and contact information for the Librarian Subject Specialist; but now there is also a link to “New Library Books.” Clicking New Library Books will take you to the library’s Catalog and a display of all of the new books that the library has acquired for that specific Academic Department!
Image courtesy of goXunoReviews, under a Creative Commons license
Winter weather keeping you indoors? Well the e-book is celebrating its 40th birthday this year! Why not download a free e-book to your device (Nook, Kindle, Sony Reader, smartphone), or just download and read one right on your computer. You’ll first need to check to see which of the different available text formats are compatible with your device.
To help you get started, check out this list of some of the sites where you can download free e-books, along with an informational quote from each website:
“Its purposes include offering permanent access for researchers, historians, scholars, people with disabilities, and the general public to historical collections that exist in digital format.”
“PublicLiterature.org provides a user-friendly interface to read books online. Many tools are provided to explore and utilize this collection of public domain books, poetry, tutorials and audio.”
“Bookyards has a total of 17,008 books, 41,784 external web links, 4,197 news & blogs links, 384 videos, 32,963 Ebook links and access to hundreds of online libraries (800,000 Ebooks) for your reading pleasure.”
“We format and package books so that you can read them on a java enabled phone. Most phones sold today are java enabled – you probably have one in your pocket right now.”
“Standard memberships are FREE and allow members unlimited access to eBooks in the HTML format or access to 5 eBooks each and every month in the PDF and/or TXT formats.”
Our science, math and engineering book collection just got a whole lot bigger! We’ve added a large eBook collection (over 3000 titles!) to our resources! You may browse the Springer eBook Collection or simply search the catalog for “Springer eBook Collection.” You can also search for specific subjects, like “software engineering” and then limit the location the Electronic Access. This collection will add a lot of depth to our resources that we would not be able to provide in print resources and you will be able to access them from anywhere on campus any time of day.
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions regarding this new collection! Happy researching!
