The Library has gotten in 4 (four) sample chairs, called: Hush, Huddle, Reveal and Stonehedge as possible acquisitions for the new 24 Hour Room. Large sheets of paper have been posted at the end of the stacks in the Bound Periodicals area with a picture of each chair and the request for students to: “Vote for your favorite chair” . The chairs will be here through next Friday (Oct. 8th) at which time we will see which chair(s) is/are the “winner(s)”
In conjunction with Feminist First Friday hosted by the Women’s Studies Program and the Jane Kopas Women’s Center you can find a display of recommended Women’s Studies books in the lobby on the first floor of the Library. There are also books supporting this theme for sale at the Circulation Desk.
On October 2, 2010, between 6AM and 12PM, there will be no off campus access to the My. Scranton portal, the library databases and the library “My Account” service. The outage is temporary and necessary to apply server updates.
The library now has a catalog search toolbar that you can install in your internet browser. The toolbar is called LibX it is an open source product that’s super easy to use! You can visit the University of Scranton’s LibX Edition instruction page to install it. On the top of the page, there’s a link to install in Firefox or Internet Explorer. Once it has been installed, you will have a new toolbar in your browser that looks like this:
The toolbar will let you search the catalog by Keyword, Title, Author, Subject, ISBN, and even Call Number! But LibX doesn’t just let you search from your toolbar. It will also insert our favicon
(this symbol 
) into certain websites, like Amazon, Google and The New York Times. When you see that symbol, you can click it and it will execute a search into our catalog. For example, if you’re looking at a book in Amazon, you can click the icon next to the title and it will search our catalog for that particular book! Also, if you do a search in Google, you will see the symbol in your results list, if you were to click the icon it would perform the same search but in our catalog.
That’s not all it does, either! It will also allow you to highlight any text on a website and by right-clicking with your mouse, you can choose to search our catalog for that information. And finally, it will also hyperlink any ISBN in any website, so you can simply click an ISBN which will search our catalog. I hope you find this useful in streamlining your research and searching techniques!
On Saturday October 2, 2010 starting at 5AM EST, the Wiley Online Library will not be available due scheduled maintenance. The tech support announcement estimates the maintenance to last for a period of two hours.
Image courtesy of Lars Ploughmann, under a Creative Commons license
Our Technology On Your Own Terms series continues on Tuesday, October 12 from 12pm – 1pm in WML306 with a workshop titled Get Where You’re Going with Google Maps, taught by digital services librarian Kristen Yarmey:
Many people know that you can use Google Maps to get driving directions from one place to another. But did you know that you can also use Maps to scope out a vacation destination, find the closest Italian restaurant, or make a custom map for a friend or a project? In this workshop, you’ll explore specialized features and tools available in Google Maps to help you get where you want to go.
Remember, all faculty and staff members are welcome, but seats are limited, so if you plan to attend, please register at www.scranton.edu/ctleregistration (select Special Event). Hope to see you there!
Students, check your email – you might have a chance to win an iPad or $500!
A random sample of University of Scranton students have been selected to participate in the Scranton Smartphone Survey, part of a Weinberg Memorial Library research project examining how students use their mobile phones. Students who complete the 10-15 minute survey will have the opportunity to enter a prize drawing — and one lucky student will win his or her choice of an iPad, a $500 Best Buy gift card, or a $500 Apple Store gift card.
So check your email today to see if you’ve received one of the invitations – you’ll have until October 15 to submit your response.
Questions? Send them to Digital Services Librarian Kristen Yarmey at yarmeyk2@scranton.edu.
The Library asked for students’ opinions of the 24 Hour Study Space. This room was constructed in response to student requests. For our future planning, we want to know what you would like.
Thank you for your comments!
Environment :
You said: It was too cold, it was too hot, or it was just right.
We say: It should be okay now. Let us know if it isn’t.
Group Study Rooms:
You said: One person takes the room that is intended for a group.
We say: If this happens when Library staff is available, please let us know and we will ask the person to yield the room.
You said: More group study rooms and larger group study rooms.
We say: The Library is looking for ways and places for more group study rooms that will be constructed as funds and space permit.
Furnishings:
You said: More of the cushioned rocker chairs because the wooden ones are too hard.
We say: We are ordering more.
You said: Several people asked for a vending machine for beverages,other asked for a hot water machine.
We say: A soda/cold water vending machine was installed today! There are two water fountains by the restroom. We are investigating the possibility of getting a water cooler that dispenses hot water.
You said: More and higher tables.
We say: All new tables will be higher and we will look at fixing leg room for our current tables.
You said: Love seats for intimate relations, and several people asked for cup holders.
We say: New chairs will be lounge chairs with tablet arms and cup holders.
You said: Food
We say: Vending machine is in place.
You said: Staplers, hole punchers
We say: Done!
Services:
You said: Several people asked for two sided printing.
We say: We’re trying. We appreciate students’ interest in conserving paper and trees. This is very important to us as well. The printer in the new 24 hour room is set to print two sided. Wireless jobs go to this printer. If you do not want two sided printing, you need to change the default. One of your subsidized prints (or seven cents) is deducted for each side you print. The expense of printing is the toner more than the paper. While the other printers in the Library could print two sided, they are not working well with UniPrint. We will continue to try to provide this service.
You said: Newspapers
We say: These are available on the second floor when the Library is open.
More access:
You said: Have a gate come down for the counter area and then connect the two after hour sections.
We say: We thought about that, but there is no way to close off the stair case leading to the second floor.
You said: Can we have an entrance open on the side of the Library for more convenient access from DeNaples.
We say: If we could use the time machine someone requested, we would go forward in time and connect the two buildings.
You said: Have “after hours entrance” always open.
We say: This exit does not have a gate like the other entrances/exits do so we need to have people leave through the exits with the security gates.
You said: Any way to keep the 2nd floor open as well—more space, computers, books and good times!!
We say: We need to control access to the second floor collection, desks and offices to times when staff are present.
Wishes:
You said: Color printer
We say: Libraries that have these charge 25 cents a page. Right now, the Library is opting to subsidize 200 prints per semester (with an additional 50 for those taking Intersession classes)
You said: Kittens; Cuddly cute animal/puppy viewing area (lots of people liked this idea); Swimming pool; Time machine; Headphone station
Compliments (Thanks!):
Best place to study by far after 12:00 am
Love having 24 hour access to group study rooms
I love it in here. Yay! I heart it so much! Spacious. Thanks everyone it’s luxurious.
Excellent. Gr8 job!!! Woohoo I like it! It rocks
Thanks, what a nice way to go! From the Class of 2010 and all the rest of alumni.
This room is smooth like keystone…you mean Keith Stone
Great for midterm and final study nights
Very convenient now with so many students
Great addition! Quiet place to study! Congratulations!
You have space to do work and not crammed into the Pro Deo room
Very convenient on weekends being open before noon.
Rita cuts the ribbon
Our new 24-hour study room has been open since the first week of school… but we wanted to have a ceremony! Today at 2pm, University of Scranton student government president Rita DiLeo cut the ribbon to officially open our newly renovated study space. During the ceremony, Library Dean Charles Kratz thanked the student government and the University administration (represented by Provost Hal Baillie) for working so hard to make our renovations happen. As Rita noted at the end of the ceremony, the space is already popular with students – in fact, many students were studying in cubicles and group study rooms during the ribbon cutting itself.
Thanks again to everyone who made our new room possible! See more photos of the ceremony on our Flickr page.
Student government president Rita DiLeo, Library Dean Charles Kratz, and Provost Hal Baillie at the ribbon cutting ceremony
Dr. Baillie tests out the Library’s new furniture
Our Technology on Your Own Terms series continues on Friday, October 1 from 12pm – 1pm in WML306 with a workshop on Google Docs: An Excellent Way to Create, Collaborate on, and Securely Store Documents, taught by Tim Cannon, Professor in the Psychology Department and Director of the Neuroscience Program.
This workshop will introduce you to Google Docs, a service that allows you to create documents that parallel Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. It also allows for the creation of online surveys and the storage of any type of document in a very secure environment. Google Docs offers excellent collaborative opportunities for working on any supported document type with both peers and students, meaning that the tool can be used for course paper submissions, faculty feedback, collaborative student projects, club, or research purposes.
Remember, 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 (select Special Event). Hope to see you there!
