Folke Bernadotte Library's Ghostly Connections

Are you a Halloween fanatic? Is it your favorite holiday? For some this is an obsession. The anticipation of truly scaring someone else, or themselves, is cause for exorbitant enthusiasm.

Our library has a past with a few ghost stories. http://weekly.blog.gustavus.edu/2008/05/09/ghostly-gustavus-a-look-at-the-ghastly-ghoulish-and-grisly-history-of-ghosts-at-gustavus-adolphus-college/

Although the article above claims that there hasn’t been a sighting since the tornado in 1998, a library student employee (class 2008) claims to have seen the ghost in the south stairwell of the library.

Think about this in the wee hours of the morning as you move from 3^rd floor to second through the dimly lit stairwells.

UPDATE: Database Access Work

We've completed our transition to a new system for providing off-campus access to our electronic resources. You should now be able to access resources through our web site from off campus. If you encounter any problems with remote access or need assistance in changing any outdated links to our resources that you may have on your web browser or on your web pages, please contact e-resources@gac.edu.

Database Access Work

On Monday, October 20, during Reading Days, the library will be switching to a new system for providing off-campus access to our electronic resources. We anticipate some intermittent disruptions to off-campus access while we make the transition. We'll post a message to let you know when the transition is complete. Thanks for your patience!

Laptop Search & Seizure

File under "Information in the News..."

Today the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) issued an alert about internal policies in the Department of Homeland Security regarding border crossing. Under previous policies, Customs and Border Patrol agents were authorized to seize any electronic and print materials if they had probable cause of illegal activity. Under current internal policies, agents have the authority to retain print and electronic materials indefinitely at the borders regardless of probable cause.

AAUP notes special concern for professors conducting research and traveling across borders, citing possible threats to those conducting research (or collaborating with colleagues) around the world. The policies are also alarming for libraries, information professionals, and anyone concerned with protecting privacy rights and defending civil liberties.

Read more:

“Expanded Powers to Search Travelers at Border Detailed” Washington Post, 9/23/08

“Search and Replace” [editorial], Washington Post, 8/13/08

“US Border Agency Says It Can Seize Laptops” PC World, 8/3/08

“Travelers' Laptops May Be Detained At Border: No Suspicion Required Under DHS Policies” Washington Post, 8/1/08

Scandinavian Crime Wave

In the last decade, a number of talented crime fiction writers have appeared on the Scandinavian scene, following on the heels of the mega-popular Kurt Wallander series by Henning Mankell (which is currently being made into a BBC television series with Kenneth Branagh in the lead role). Fortunately for readers in the U.S., this coincides with a trend to publish more works here in translation, so many of them are being translated into English.

We've compiled a Website that lists authors and their works by country, with a bit of biographical information and links to reviews. We plan to add to it as more books become available - and in between, we have a companion blog to keep up with new reviews, interviews, and events.

Though why mysteries are so popular in countries with such low crime rates remains something of a mystery.

Why Should Oprah Get all the Fun?

The library is trying an experiment this year. We've created two "book bags" - canvas bags with five copies of a book and some discussion materials that can be checked out for a group read. For this pilot project, we chose two books on China to add another dimension to the Global Insight Year of China project.

One of the books is John Pomfret's Chinese Lessons. Are you an upperclass student who didn't get in on the common reading this summer? Did you attend Pomfret's talk and think you'd like to read his book? Check it out - and invite your friends to join in.

The other book is a fascinating family memoir of China, Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Wang. It chronicles the lives of three women from the era of concubines and foot binding through the Communist revolution and into the Cultural Revolution and beyond. It's a totally absorbing history of China in the 20th century seen through the eyes of the author, her mother, and her grandmother. We thought it would be a great book for discussion, and a good complement to our common reading this year.

We know that for many students, faculty and staff at Gustuvus it's hard to find time to read just for fun. But it's worth it - and we think you'd enjoy getting together with friends to talk about these books.

And we're back!

The move of the Interlibrary Loan office went so smoothly that we are already up and running! Your interlibrary loan requests are being processed again after only a day long delay. Thanks for your patience - stop by and visit our new location (next to the Circulation desk) soon!

We're Moving!

Well, Interlibrary Loan is, at least! The big move starts Thursday, September 25 and continues into the beginning of next week. The Interlibrary Loan office will relocate to a separate space behind the circulation counter (formerly the print reserves area). The move will provide one-stop shopping for patrons picking up and returning items.

The move will provide a brief disruption in Interlibrary Loan services. Requests sent by patrons to borrow materials from other libraries will be delayed for a few days. Please continue to request items but know that we won't have a chance to process your requests until early next week. (The delay is due to wiring work that needs to be done in the new space.)

We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience. Stop by and see the new space!

Get Your Own Library Carrel

A lucky first year student will win a chance to have his or her very own office in the library this spring. With a desk and shelves and a key and everything.

First year students - don't miss out! To enter the drawing, take the online library research survey that was sent to you via e-mail. It only takes a few minutes to get a crack at your very own library carrel.

The results of the survey will give us valuable insights into student research skills and attitudes. It's part of a national study being undertaken by two higher education organizations, NITLE and HEDS. We'll use what we learn in our information literacy program.

good news, bad news

The good news is that we're converting some office spaces to student areas. In particular, the well-lit space where the interlibrary loan office has been will be converted to an open reserves/reading area. Interlibrary loan services will move behind the circulation desk for a more seamless service area. Two smaller offices will also be converted from librarian offices into public spaces. (We're also moving Hector and Helen, our two group computing facilities, to the main floor where they'll be more visible.)

The bad news is that all of this will take some construction. The library will be a slightly noisier, dustier place for a time, through August and probably into September. But we think that will be a small price to pay to open up some prime space to students who, after all, live in the library much of the academic year.

Interlibrary Loan unavailable 5/27 - 6/2

Got a bunch of articles to request via ILL? Now's the time! Due to software upgrades, ILL requests submitted from Tuesday, May 27 - Monday, June 2 will not be processed until Monday, June 2. You'll be able to place requests via the usual methods May 27 - May 29, although requests will not be processed until the following Monday. On May 30, all systems will be offline to complete the upgrades - you can make requests in person at the ILL counter. Visit our Interlibrary Loan page for more information.

Our MnPALS consortium decided on these dates for the upgrade in order to avoid halting services during the semester. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience this disruption may cause you. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact us!

Biff! Pow! On Sale!!

The library has a sale going on of donated comics and Science Fiction magazines, many of them classics. Stop by until May 23rd to get your own superhero.

Quite the Saga

Jan Jensen, manager of the Lund Music/Speech Library, held a Viking Feast for a set of special guests - those who had bid on the dinner at last fall's Royal Affair, a fund-raiser held by the Gustavus Library Associates. They were met on campus and taken to a secret location, where they were instructed to leave their weapons and horses outside. Everyone enjoyed a delicious meal that was historically accurate (well, mostly accurate).

Thanks to Jan for her imaginative and well-planned feast, to Ginny Bakke and her husband who helped out, and to Mike Haeuser who lent a hand and got into the spirit of things in costume.

Lindell Prize Competition

The Patricia Lindell Prize for Research Papers is open for submissions. Awarded every other year, the prize of $400 is funded by our stellar friends group, the Gustavus Library Associates Papers written during the 2006/07 and 2007/08 academic years will be accepted for the current competition. By “research paper,” we mean a paper written on any topic for any Gustavus course that clearly demonstrates the use of primary or secondary print and/or electronic resources. A panel of faculty will select the winning paper in the Fall of 2008, with announcement of the winner to be made at the annual St. Lucia luncheon next December.

The competition is open to Gustavus students from all disciplines who have written for a Gustavus course. Members of the faculty are asked to encourage their students to enter their work. Application forms are available at the Library Circulation Desk.

Previous prize winners include Adrienne Donath for "Silence in the Cloister: A Study of the Future of the Sisterhood in the American Church" and Daniel Pioske for American Protestantism and its Impact Upon the Desire of its Members to Seek Congressional Office."

Fefu in the Library

In conjunction with the final theatre production of the year, Fefu and her Friends, the library has a small exhibit near the reference desk related to the play. We hope to do this regularly in the coming year to help remind us all of the rich performance offerings available on campus.

Fefu and her Friends runs Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 pm this weekend, and also on Sunday at 2 pm. If you think you don't have time to take it in - hey, that's why you're at a place like Gustavus! to have a rich and varied cultural experience. You'll be glad you went.

Celebrate Student Creativity

A reminder that the first ever Celebration of Creative Inquiry is today, May 2nd, from 5-7 pm in the Jackson Student Center. Research and creative projects by 125 students (wow!) will be on display. Come browse, chat, have refreshments, and take in some of the exciting work that Gustavus students are doing all across campus.

Periodicals Unlimited

Thanks to your suggestions from the library suggestion box, the library is extending the loan period for periodicals (journals and magazines) from 24 hours to *one week* and from 3 items to *unlimited* (or as many as you can stuff in your backpack). Effective immediately! Periodicals are located on the first floor of the library and can be checked out at the Circulation desk on the second floor. Happy reading!

Native Waters MAYDAY! Exhibit

In connection with this year's MAYDAY! Peace Conference on "Troubled Waters," the library is hosting an exhibit on the library's lower level - "Native Waters: Sharing the Source." Created by Project WET (Water Education for Teachers), the interactive exhibit is designed to help both children and adults explore the importance of water in their lives. Bring your kids or your little brothers / sisters! Thanks to Edi Thorstensson, Ginny Bakke and MAYDAY! committee members for bringing the traveling exhibit to campus and getting it set up.

Join us at the reception for the exhibit on Monday, April 28, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. on the library's lower level.

Uncommon Reading

The book for next fall's Reading in Common program has been chosen, and it fits really well into the Global Insight focus on China for next year. John Pomfret's Chinese Lessons personalizes the country's recent history by focusing on five students who were classmates at Nanjing University in 1982.

Meanwhile, Michelle Twait has created a resource guide on China for the Global Insight project. Future Global Insight years will focus on Mexico, Food and Nutrition, and a Circumpolar Year (focusing on Scandinavia, Northern Canada, Greenland, and Russia).

Immigration Teach-In

Today, April 17th, there will be a teach-in on immigration in the Heritage Room, Jackson Student Union. Here's the run-down:

2:30 Suzanne Wilson, “Myths of Immigration”
2:50 Bob Douglas, “Old and New Immigrants in Minnesota”
3:10 Sujay Rao, Mexican Immigration in historical
perspective”
3:30 Byron Nordstrom, “”How They Coped: Swedish Immigrants in Minnesota”
3:50 Deb Pitton, “Stories from the Border”
4:10 Richard Leitch, “An Analysis of Japanese Emigration”
4:30 Mayra Taylor and student panel, “Witnessing Immigration in Southern Minnesota”
4:50 Mary Solberg, “Immigration: a Personal Perspective”
5:10 Student experiences - OLAS members

Meanwhile, in the new books area, we have a sampling of new publications on the topic. So - drop by to hear interdisciplinary perspectives on the issue, and later you can curl up with a good book!

You Asked For It

. . . and here they are: extended hours during finals week. Here's when we'll be open.

Thurs., May 22^nd – 8am – 1am
Fri., May 23^rd – 8am – 2am
Sat., May 24^th – 8am – 10pm
Sun., May 25^th – 8am – 2am
Mon., May 26^th, 8am – 2am
Tues., May 27^th – 8am – 4:45pm

Many thanks to the student employees who are willing to stay late so you can study!

Celebrate New Books

Every year, the Book Mark and the library host an author tea to celebrate Gustavus folks who have new books out. This year it will be held on April 29th at 3:30 in the Courtyard Cafe and added to the Gustavus bookshelf are . . .

Esbj! by the late Robert Esbjornson (religion) and Dennis Johnson (college relations, retired.)


Covenantal Conversations: Christians in Dialogue with Jews and Judaism, edited by Darrell Jodock (religion)


Le Premier Regard (The First Gaze), by Laurent Déchery (French)


Controversies in Political Theology, by Thia Cooper (religion)


In the Wind, by Barbara Fister (library)



Renaissance Medals (The Collections of the National Gallery of Art, Systematic Catalogue) by Don Myers and others (Art/Art History)

Throughout the week of the 29th, many books by Gustavus authors from this and previous years will be available at a 20% discount. The library also will have a display of books by Gustavus faculty near the library entrance.

Print Green

The library's hardest working printers - Romeo and Juliet - are now taking reservations. From now on, when you print to these printers, you will need to go through a couple of simple steps to release the document to print.

This should help reduce the enormous amount of wasted and abandoned print jobs. As a measure of how hard these two printers work, each one on average prints in a week as many pages as the library's main floor photocopier has printed since it was installed last May.

Ethan Sommer of GTS has provided this background information on this change, which the library supports wholeheartedly.

---
Printing use at Gustavus has been growing at an astounding rate over the past few years. To give you a sense of scale, during the seven days before spring break 117,145 pages were printed in the public labs.

Gustavus Technology Services has been asked to try to reduce the amount of public lab printing, both because of the environmental impact and because it costs the college a lot of money which eventually has the effect of raising the cost of tuition.

The first step in our efforts is to install "Print Release Stations" on some of the busiest printers on campus. A few weeks ago we installed one in the Olin computer lab and starting today after chapel you will need to use one for the printers at the circulation desk in the library
(Romeo and Juliet.)

In order to use a print release station just follow these simple steps:
1. Print your document as you normally would.
2. Next to the printer there is a LCD computer monitor. Go there.
3. Use the mouse to select your document.
4. (optional) Use the mouse to select a printer.
5. Click "Print"
6. Enter your e-mail username and password.
7. Your document will print.

At this point you will not be charged for printing, however, if you are one of the top few users of printing on campus we may want to talk to you about how best to meet your printing needs.

Based on other college's experiences, we believe that by using print release stations we will decrease the number of abandoned print jobs. By tracking how much each user prints, we can get a better idea of how fairly tuition dollars are being used.

GTS will have staff in the library to help out for the next few days.

photo courtesy of dailydog

Exciting New Law Database 3/31/2008

The library is pleased to debut a one-month trial of a fantastic legal database, HeinOnline. The database contains complete back files and current issues of leading legal journals as well as collections of treaties, US attorney general opinions, presidential papers, and US Supreme Court documents. You will need the trial subscription username and password to explore these resources; please contact the Reference Desk at x7567 or folke@gustavus.edu. Click here to learn more about HeinOnline.

Peeple of Interest

Peeps are everywhere during the Easter season. These Edward Hopper peeps seem a little down, but for some classic peep silliness, see how the peeps learned to use the library.

Celebration Abstracts Due Today

Yipes, it's already here - the deadline for submitting your creative and scholarly work for the first ever Celebration of Creative Inquiry. It's not that hard. Just line up a faculty sponsor (they want to help, really) and fill out a simple form. Join all the other students who are sharing their work, and sharing the excitement.

And no, you don't have to be a mad scientist to participate. Really. All kinds of work - research, creative projects, things an organization has been working on - are welcome.

photo courtesy of jm3

Archives Storms the Library!

The college archives has placed an exhibit about the tornado of 1998 on the main floor, between the new books and the reference desk just in time for the 10-year anniversary. It's certainly an event to remember - and luckily, the archives is all about preserving our memories.

MnLINK Takes a Holiday

MnLINK, the union catalog for Minnesota public and academic libraries, will be offline during a server move starting Friday evening, March 14th. It should be back online Sunday afternoon, March 16th. This will not affect our catalog, or the MnPALS shared system, which is a different thing altogether.

We do, however, wish we had more imagination when it came to naming catalogs.

Prepare to Celebrate!

The college is launching a new Celebration of Creative Inquiry this year to share all the amazing research and creative work of Gustavus students. These may include -

• a class assignment or project.
• off-campus projects or internships.
• student-faculty collaborative research or creative projects.
• independent student research or creative projects.
• the work of extra-curricular student organizations.
  

Sign up by March 19th to be part of it! The celebration itself will be held the evening of May 2nd, the day before honors day.

Love Your Library (2-26-08)

The Gustavus Library is many things - study space, laboratory, meeting place, and provider of countless sources of information. But right now it's also looking a little rumpled. Dirty caf dishes are left in study carrels. Reams of pages are printed and then abandoned or stuffed into trash cans. Library books are returned filled with pen and highlighter marks on almost every page.

Even one ruined book or dirty plate gives us cause for concern. Damaged books result in loss of shared property. Wasted paper has a profound impact on the environment. And, quite simply, no one likes to stumble across dirty, abandoned dishes. For this reason, the library is reviving our Love Your Library Leave No Trace campaign. The rules are simple: Return your dishes to the Marketplace. Take notes about library books - not in them. Be mindful of the amount of paper you print. Remind your friends to do the same. Essentially, leave the library how you found it.

The library belongs to all of us. Be comfortable and be respectful. Enjoy your library and help others do the same.

Happy Birthday, Charles Darwin!

Today is Darwin Day - and you can celebrate his 199th birthday. We have a small display of books at the front of the library that you are welcome to check out - and even more in the stacks.

Extra Credit

There are still a few seats open in the spring term .5 credit class, Information Fluency. This course is designed to give students who are thinking about going on to graduate or professional school (or who simply want to know more about research) an immersion in the literature of their chosen field, exposure to research tools, and an opportunity to explore where information comes from and how it can be found and used. We also will have a chance to think about information and society - tackling issues relating to ethics, policy, and culture.

The course meets Mondays from 2:30 to 4:20; if that doesn't fit with your other courses, it can also be taken by arrangement.

Read What You Love (1-28-08)

Ever find an author you love and want to read more by him or her? Ever put down a book and wish you could find more just like it? Ever wish you could easily find books that are perfect for you?

Now you can! The library is pleased to announce the debut of two new services to help you explore the world of fiction in amazing detail. They’re almost as much fun as reading itself!

NoveList

This amazing database contains a wealth of information about fiction for all ages. Search for your favorite author or title, then click Find Similar Books to explore a range of related titles. NoveList also contains reviews, book discussion guides, recommended reading, author read-alike lists, and award winners. Access NoveList from the Databases drop-down menu on the library’s homepage.

Fiction Connection

This wonderful not-so-new resource is provided through Books in Print. Search for your favorite books to explore similar titles. Fiction Connection also lets you easily search by genre, time period, character type, and setting. Our favorite setting option so far is “Human Colony Planet.” Fiction Connection also has a fantastic visual search option. Check it out for yourself! Access Books in Print from the Databases drop-down menu on the library’s homepage. Click Fiction Connection in the far right column.

Once you find books, search the MnPALS catalog to see if we own them or request titles via ILL and have them shipped directly to our library.

You can’t escape great fiction! Then again, why would you want to? Happy Reading!

Read for Fun! (12-14-07)

As the semester winds down, we can finally think ahead to break. What better way to spend break than reading for fun? In the spirit of the holidays, the library has permanently extended the loan period for all Browsing Collection books. You can now check Browsing Collection books out for 4 weeks (with an additional 4 week renewal). Plenty of time to take something fun home! The Browsing Collection is located on the main floor of the Library (near the newspapers) and contains popular fiction and nonfiction titles. Stop by and check it out today!

Spring Course Offered

Once again, the library will offer a .5 credit course, NDL 301: Information Fluency, during the spring semester. It is intended for students who plan to go on to graduate programs, or who simply want to become more conversant with research and publishing. The course covers where information comes from and how to find and use it, comparing research traditions of different disciplines and exploring future developments. Last year's syllabus provides a general idea of what's involved, though there will be some changes.

It meets Monday afternoon from 2:30 -4:20, but if an interested student has a schedule conflict the course may be taken by arrangement.

New resources for religion

With the library's migration of ATLA and ATLA Serials from CSA to EBSCOHost, three new religion databases are now available to our users.

The Old Testament Abstracts features citations and abstracts to books, journal articles, multi-author works, and software related to Old Testament studies. Indexing includes 450 journal titles and goes back to 1978.

The New Testament Abstracts contains more than 38,000 article abstracts, 1,200 review abstracts, 13,500 book abstracts, and 50 software abstracts going back to 1985.

The Catholic Periodical Literature Index covers all aspects of the Catholic faith and lifestyle, and includes over 380,000 citations to articles and reviews published in Roman Catholic periodicals, Papal documents, church promulgations, and books.

We hope you enjoy access to these important resources in the field of religion!

U of M joins Google Book Search

This just in from the University of Minnesota...

We write today to share news of an exciting new partnership in which the University of Minnesota is involved. The Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) has entered into a collective agreement with Google to scan and make searchable up to 10 million public domain and in-copyright volumes from CIC libraries in a way that is consistent with copyright law. In partnering with Google in its Google Books Library Project, the CIC will join 15 other participating universities, including Harvard, Michigan, California, Oxford, Princeton, and Texas. The University of Minnesota plans to provide up to one million volumes from our University Libraries collections to the digitization effort.

The CIC is an academic consortium of 12 leading Midwest research universities: University of Chicago, University of Illinois, Indiana University, University of Iowa, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, University of Minnesota, Northwestern University, Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, Purdue University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

This project offers tremendous potential for the CIC, the broader scholarly community, and a worldwide public. Digitization facilitates  unprecedented access to these collections. With the ability to search text within volumes, research not previously possible will be enabled. Public domain works will be displayed fully; a search of in-copyright titles
will result in a small amount of text with mechanisms to purchase or secure a copy within a library. The CIC agreement is unique among the agreements Google has with other libraries in that "collections of distinction" from each institution will be included in their entirety, revealing in-depth and unique resources.

The partnership allows for library digitization at a scale and scope that would not be possible within the limited means available to the individual universities. In addition, the participating libraries intend to build a shared digital repository to house the digital copies of public domain
materials, enabling efficiencies possible only through collective action.

This groundbreaking agreement represents a major step forward for the University of Minnesota and the University Libraries during our strategic transformation. We're thrilled that our University community--students, faculty, staff--and the public will benefit for generations to come.
Another recent addition to Google Book Search - all the records in WorldCat. Whether or not the book is digitized, you will be able to find out if it's in a library near you. 

Read All About Us!

The library is the cover story of the most recent issue of Gustavus Quarterly.

Try American Periodicals Series Online

Over 1,000 full text journals and magazines published in the United States between 1740-1900 are searchable and browseable online in American Periodicals Series Online. The library has activated a 30-day trial to this amazing resource, and we'd love to know what you think! Link to the database from this blog entry, the databases drop-down on the library's home page, or the A-Z list. Then e mail your favorite librarian and let us know how you like it.

National Library Week!

Students and library workers alike had a blast at Wednesday's midday celebration of National Library Week. An abundance of cookies and punch were available, and students had the opportunity to enter a drawing to win a copy of Matthew Sandford's book Waking (congratulations to our winner, Angie Magnusson). Enjoy these pictures from the event!

	A student takes a moment to enter the book drawing.
	Student workers pose with cookies and punch behind the circulation desk.
	Librarian Julie Gilbert shares information about the library with students enjoying National Library Week.
	Julie takes a moment to bond with our own Knowing Woman, who temporarily dressed for the occasion.

Celebrate National Library Week

Happy National Library Week! Help us celebrate at our library open house on Wednesday, April 18 from 11:30-1:30. Cookies and lemonade will be served. See you there!

Always Connect

Are you leaving campus over the break? Want to use our databases, but not sure how to get to them? All you'll need is your Gustavus ID and an Internet connection. When you connect from off campus and click on one of our databases, an authentication form will appear. Simply type in the bar code number (embedded at the bottom of the bar code on your ID) and your last name to be recognized as an authentic Gustie.

Enhanced chat service now live!

You've probably noticed that the library offers chat reference service via instant messaging. Yesterday this service received an exciting makeover!

Visiting the library's Chat page now automatically connects a chat window to the reference librarian - you do not have to be signed into a chat client, such as AOL Instant Messenger, to begin a session. Icons at the bottom of this page still indicate whether or not a librarian is available.

If you haven't tried our chat reference service, now is the time! We hope this improved service will make it easier for library patrons anywhere and everywhere to connect with us.

Times Select Goes to College

The New York Times apparently is having second thoughts about its Times Select program (the one that locks selected content up unless you are a subscriber). Now students and faculty have free access to Select content whether they are subscribers or not. Sign up for an account and have at it!

The library, of course, has already been a subscriber for you - providing access to The New York Times and many more newspapers through LexisNexis and Proquest Newsstand Complete. But we won't mind if you sign up for their Web version, too.

Another new arrival!

Room 106 is now home to Helen - twin to Hector, but without a camera. Like her brother, Helen is a Mac mini with a huge flatscreen monitor, two keyboards, and a cord to hook your own laptop up to her keyboards and screen. Helen is perfect for collaborative projects!

Soon a calendar will hang on the door of room 106 so groups may reserve this room in advance (Hector's calendar was hung earlier this week). Until then, use is first-come, first-served.

Next on the horizon: for the enterprising public speaker, the library will be installing a presentation practice space with blue screen, camera, and playback methods in place.

Library is open today

The library will be open Friday, March 2, from 8am-6pm, but most services will be unavailable.

We will be open regular hours (10am-6pm) tomorrow, Saturday, March 3, with full services (reference 10-5, etc.).

Closing at 10pm today

Due to the winter weather, the library will be closing at 10pm on Thursday, March 1.

We hope to return to regular hours on Friday, March 2.

In the meantime, enjoy the snow!

Chalepa ta kala - unless they're 12,000 Greek texts!

The library now offers Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (or, TLG). This digital library serves up virtually all surviving Greek texts from Homer's time (8th century BCE) to the fall of Byzantium in 1453 CE. One could call it the EEBO of ancient Greece!

Due to the nature of this product and the cost of a campus-wide license, TLG is only accessible from three designated computers on campus - one in the Classics department office, one on the main floor of the library, and one Mac on the library's lower level. Each of these computers is marked with a blue sign indicating the availability of TLG.

Thanks to the internet, we can search and sort these texts at lightening speed. But it is still good to remember what Thales said: Ti tachiston? Nous. Dia pantos gar trechei. Enjoy.

Introducing...Hector (group computing)

Room 102 (a study room on the library's lower level, Chapel side) is now home to Hector, a Mac mini with a wide flatscreen monitor, two keyboards, a laptop hookup and an iSight camera. This flexible workspace is perfect for groups writing collaborative papers, creating Powerpoint for group presentations, or working on other computing projects.

Currently, use of this room is first-come, first-served only, but as soon as the calendar arrives, groups may also begin to sign up to reserve Hector for up to three hours at a time. More on our signup policy can be found here. We have also drafted a few guidelines for the use of the room to help our users be good citizens when they're in there.

The library partnered with GTS to create this space, and much thanks is due Jessie Twaddle for his work putting it together. GTS is also hard at work on creating a room specifically designed for practicing and taping speeches and presentations, which will be located across the hall from Hector.

While our students have been discovering and using this room already, we hope faculty members will promote its use for group projects.

Photo of Sid filming Courtney with Hector.

New anthropology resource!

The library has just set up a trial to AnthroSource, the premier online resource for anthropology. It includes the full text of 32 scholarly journals published by the American Anthropological Association (AAA), most dating back to the first issue and about half continuing to the present. Topics in physical anthropology, cultural or social anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and archaeology are all covered.

Access AnthroSource from the Databases menu on our home page or from our guide to databases for anthropology, and let us know what you think.

SFX Downtime Sunday morning

The Journals link from the library's home page and the button in our databases will be disabled from approximately 9:30-10:30am Sunday morning, February 11, as the University of Minnesota moves the SFX server and runs updates on the software. Thank you for your patience!

Happy Darwin Day!

In honor of Charles Darwin's birthday, we've pulled together some library books, on display near the front door.

Don't want to come out in the cold? We understand. Luckily, the British Library has put Darwin's complete works online. You could also browse a museum exhibit, or see how clergy around the country have discussed the compatibility of science and religion at the Clergy Letter Project.

photo courtesy of KateMonkey.

Interlibrary Loan Jan. 4-8

Due to continued work on our software upgrade, the Interlibrary Loan (ILL) function will not be available through MnPALS or MnLINK from 5:00 pm Thursday, January 4 through sometime on Monday, January 8. During this time you will be able to request items in one of four ways:

1. Submit a printout of what you need at the ILL desk.
2. Fill out a paper ILL form at the ILL desk.
3. Use the online request form on the ILL homepage
4. Use the "Find It!" button in our databases to request ILL materials not available in print or full-text online.

Although you will not be able to request materials directly through MnPALS or MnLINK, we will be accepting all ILL requests that come in through any of these four options. Questions? Contact Kathie Martin.

Boy, these software upgrades certainly keep us on our toes! Thanks for your patience.

Interlibrary Loan

For the next few days, our usual interlibrary loan forms won't be available while we upgrade to a new version of MnPALS. In the meantime, you can use this form to request books or articles.

Take a Holiday on Us

Because of some work going on at the Minnesota State University, Mankato, the servers that run our MnPALS catalog, interlibrary loan, and the authentication system for our databases will not be available on the morning of December 28th, and perhaps unavailable for the entire day. Looks as if we all may just have to take the day off from research, at least any that entails searching our catalog and databases.

Which reminds us of why sometimes we like to have real, printed books in our hands...

EndNote Web is now available!

Access to , the online version of the popular citation management software, is now included with the library’s subscriptions to Science Citation Index Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index (Web of Science).

From on campus, visit EndNoteWeb.com and click on the “EndNote Web Login” link to sign up for an account. If you already have a personal account in Web of Science, you should already have access.

Once you have signed up, you can begin to use EndNote Web from any web-accessible computer. You can:

• import references from any database (Web of Science, WorldCat, PubMed, etc.)
• save citations to folders
• download plugins to create footnotes and bibliographies in Microsoft Word

If you are currently using EndNote software on your personal computer (version X.0.2 or higher), you can transfer references seamlessly between it and EndNote Web. Earlier versions of EndNote can import references from EndNote Web via a text file.

The library will also continue to offer , a similar web-based citation management tool, to the Gustavus community.

For more information on using EndNote Web, see their online tutorials.

Interlibrary Loan Dec. 16-17

Due to software upgrades, the Interlibrary Loan (ILL) function will not be available through MnPALS or MnLINK from 5:00 pm Saturday, December 16 through noon on Sunday, December 17. During this time you will be able to request items in one of four ways:

1. Submit a printout of what you need at the ILL desk.
2. Fill out a paper ILL form at the ILL desk.
3. Use the online request form on the ILL homepage
4. Use the "Find It!" button in our databases to request ILL materials not available full-text or online.

Although you will not be able to request materials directly through MnPALS or MnLINK, we will be accepting all ILL requests that come in through any of these four options. Questions? Contact Kathie Martin.

*Please note that ILL through MnPALS and MnLINK will also be unavailable January 2-5 due to the second stage of the software upgrade. We will send out additional information at that time, and you will be able to request materials through the same four methods described above.

Primary Sources: New York Times & More

As we slowly but steadily update our web pages to their new look, we are also adding new resources and content. Our updated subject guide for finding Primary Sources includes links to digital collections such as the Library of Congress's American Memory historical collections and the Historical New York Times database.

Purchased last spring, the Historical New York Times contains the full text of the paper from its first issue in 1851 to 2003. An additional year of content is added annually (2004 content will be added next summer), with our subscription to ProQuest Newsstand filling the gap. The database is fully indexed and searchable with full-page images, including graphics. Now we just need volunteers to help move our microfilm into storage!

Extra Extra! Digital Archive of the Gustavian Weekly

Wondering what Gusties were up to in the past? Trying to find that great Gustavian article from last year? Look no further! This summer, the library's Periodicals Department and College Archives spearheaded a project to digitize backfiles of the Gustavian Weekly. You can now search, browse and view issues from 1980-2005 online. To access, click this link: http://www.arcasearch.com/us/mn/, or visit the library's homepage and choose "Gustavian" in the Databases menu. The library hopes to add older issues in the future.

Poster Presentations Tonight

Students in the Common Readers First Term Seminar will give brief presentations Wednesday Nov. 29th at 7:30 p.m. on their research into four information ethics issues: music file sharing, surveillance cameras in schools, social networking online, and (an issue that hits close to the pocketbook) the increasing price of textbooks. The presentations will be held on the lower level, near the current periodicals, and yes, there will be refreshments.

Their posters will be on display in the library for the next couple of weeks for people too busy to fit another event into their schedule, but who need an interesting way to waste time when they should studying for that test tomorrow morning.

Chat Reference Service

Ever find yourself with a reference question when you're miles from the library? Try the library's new Instant Messenger reference service! Use chat reference for answers to factual questions or to be directed to resources that best address your research question. To use the service, visit the library's chat reference page. Follow the instructions to connect live with a Gustavus librarian.


Also consider using chat reference when you're in the library but don't want to give up your computer. As always, you can also contact the librarians in person, via email, or phone. We look forward to chatting with you soon!

Patricia Lindell Scholarship

Every other year the library awards a $1,200 scholarship to a junior or senior student who will work on a project of benefit to the library and the wider Gustavus community. This spring the project will focus on the purpose and outcomes of common reading programs in higher education.

Though these “one book, one campus” community reading events are held on campuses across the country, very little research has been done on them. The recipient of this scholarship, working with Professor Barbara Fister, will conduct a literature review, design and carry out an online survey of colleges with common reading programs, and will write up the results to provide insight into the nature and impact of common reading programs on college campuses.

Application forms can be picked up in the library and should be turned in, with a faculty letter of recommendation, by November 10th to the library administration office. This scholarship is made possible by the Gustavus Library Associates.

By the way, the winner of last spring's Lindell research award will be announced in early December.

Library Toolbar for Firefox

Do a lot of searching? Try using our new Firefox toolbar! Once you install the LibX Gustavus extension, Firefox will have a handy-dandy toolbar, always available on your browser, that allows you to search the MnPALS library catalog, check our Journal Locator, and even drag search terms into it to run a Google Scholar search. This only works with the Firefox browser, but it's awfully useful.

Check out our Journals

We now check out journals and magazines overnight, hoping to encourage students to discover and enjoy our print periodical collection. No, Virginia, it's not all on the Internet. But starting this semester you can take home an issue of Harper's or New Scientist for a leisurely read.

Booksale @ the Library

We now have an ongoing booksale! Take a look at the book cart beside the front entrance - and take a book home for only fifty cents. Proceeds go to our acquisitions budget.

Take a Look at Our New Look

It's here! After a year of surveys and focus groups, a lot of meetings, and many, many summer e-mails we have launched a new homepage for the library. We wanted to be more standards-compliant, have a look that was closer to the campus style, and include some neat things like a simple catalog search right on the main page. (The code for that, by the way, was written by Gustavus grad Alec Sonsteby, who is a now a librarian at Concordia.)

It's a little like getting a new couch - now everything else looks a bit dowdy. But we will be working on making changes elsewhere on the site.

Meanwhile, please do let us know if you have questions, comments, or suggestions. Thanks to those who participated in focus groups and surveys (including over 900 students!) and to the library publications committee and Jerry Nowell for his invaluable advice.

Blogs and more blogs - as part of the redesign, we are trying to make it easier to check on new resources and events at the library. Those will be listed in separate blogs. If you get this via e-mail you'll find them coming separately. Of course, we will take you off the e-mail list if you're feeling information overload. Just drop us a line.

New Look for our Home Page

Minnesota's seasons - winter and construction. We're almost finished designing a new library home page that should launch before long. By the end of the summer we'll have some new organization for many second-level pages as well.

Social networking software has been getting a lot of attention lately, from Library Thing to the ubiquitous Wikipedia. Historian Roy Rosenzweig has just published some interesting ideas on "open source history" and Nature, the prestigious science journal, mulls over turning peer review over to the "wisdom of the crowds." Of course, one could argue libraries and scholarly work have always been about social networking - from the conversations that happen around the new books shelf to the books themselves that draw ideas from one another.

Speaking of social software, we'll be trying out chat reference next fall. We love the face-to-face interactions we have with students at the reference desk, but sometimes they may have a quick question that we can answer more conveniently. Quite a few of the libraries that have adopted instant messaging clients for reference questions chat with students who are in the library; they just don't want to give up their seat at a computer.

If you have questions over the summer you can always contact us the old fashioned way - by e-mail.

Library News - Finals Edition

There's still time - but not much - for students to submit papers to the library for the second Patricia Lindell Research Paper prize. Any paper written for a class in any discipline this academic year or last that utilizes primary or secondary sources (print, electronic, or both) may be submitted for consideration so long as we get it by May 23rd. The winner will receive a $400 award and the paper will be posted on the library's Website. If submitting a paper include the name of the course and instructor and an address where you can be reached next fall. This prize is made possible by the generosity of our stellar friends group, Gustavus Library Associates - which, by the way, you can join for a mere $35 membership that goes straight into the library's acquisitions budget. Hint, hint.

In addition to our usual list of new books, the library has just added a few more. Actually, 100,000 more, thanks to our new subscription to EEBO: Early English Books Online. This incredible database reproduces the full content of "virtually every work printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America and works in English printed elsewhere from 1473-1700 - from the first book printed in English by William Caxton, through the age of Spenser and Shakespeare and the tumult of the English Civil War." An amazing cultural resource that should be of interest to students in any number of courses.

And that's not all! With this issue of Folkelore, you also get the new subscription to the Historical New York Times. Every article from every issue from 1851 to 2003 is searchable online, and they come with pictures and full page context. This will make many microfilm-phobic students very happy next fall.

Trying to figure out whether the NSA is breaking the law or not by collecting phone records? The Congressional Research Service has just issued an analysis. This research service of the Library of Congress provides non-partisan reports to Congress on a variety of issues. Though they don't publish them on their own Web site - they're written at the request of memers of Congress for specific issues - the Center for Democracy and Technology has over 10,000 of them available to the general public. Your tax dollars, hard at work.

More News from the Library - and Beyond

Our interim arrangements for interlibrary loan seem to be working well. We should be switching back to having direct requests within MnPALS and MnLINK next Monday.

Teacher Reference Center is a new resource provided to us at no cost by EBSCO, the database company for many of our databases. Primarily of interest for for the Education program, it provides indexing and abstracts for over 280 of the most popular teacher and administrator trade journals, periodicals and books, covering assessment, curriculum development, literacy standards, and other topics.

OCLC, the worldwide mega-catalog service that provides us with WorldCat, has been interested in "weaving libraries into the Web" for some time. One earlier project was to make "find in a library" links in Google and other search engines. If you do a Google search on a book you're interested in and add "find in a library" it will let you check whether its avaialable for borrowing locally. In another weaving project, they now are allowing users to add content. Like Amazon, you can post your own book reviews and ratings. Or your aunt can post a glowing review of your book. Like Wikipedia, anyone will be able to edit content if they don't like it. Of course, whether that is a good thing remains to be seen ...

Microsoft is going head to head with Google Scholar with their beta Academic Live. Currently this search engine only searches journal content for the disciplines of Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, and Physics. Gary Price reviews it in The Resource Shelf; Information Today also provides a preliminary assessement.

Where There's an ILL...

The new interlibrary loan feature in MnPALS will be temporarily disabled while several libraries join the the MnPALS system. Between April 13-24th you will be able to make interlibrary loan requests in four ways:

• submit a printout of what you need to the interlibrary loan office
• fill out a paper form available at the interlibrary loan office or
• use the online request form for books or articles through the interlibrary loan link (though the forms will have a different look for the duration)
• use the "find it" button in our databases; there is an interlibrary loan option for materials we don't have in either online or print format.
  

Though you will not be able to place requests directly through MnPALS - or through the MnLINK statewide gateway - during this time, we will be processing all interlibrary loan requests that come in by means of any of these four options. Question? Just contact the infinitely patient Kathie Martin at x7564.


Nothing to read? Have no fear, we have lots of new books.

If you've been putting things off here are some fascinating new tools to help you procrastinate. The Web 2.0 awards showcase some of the new Web-based social technologies that are keeping us from getting things done. Check out the best of wikis, podcasts, mashups, and more.

Want to get this blog via e-mail? Want to stop getting it? Drop me a line.

And the Winners Are ...

Thanks to all who took our Web survey. Over 900 responses! That will help us tweak and redesign our Website with you all in mind. Ashley Gibbs is the student who won the drawing to be a Library VIP; Marie Walker is our faculty Veep. Congratulations!

More new books have arrived. Check out the latest arrivals. No pun intended.

Peter Suber worries that there are developments that could hinder open access to information - specifically the Webcasting treaty, the opposition to "network neutrality," and the end of free e-mail. He discussed these issues recently in the SPARC Open Access Newsletter.

Concerned about fair use? Read what Duke Law has to say about it - in their comic book, "Tales from the Public Domain!"

Want to find images that you can use for educational purposes without worrying about whether you're infringing copyright? Take a look at San Jose State University's World Art Kiosk. Or take a prowl through Flickr's Creative Commons Pool. For more ideas, explore tips for finding free media on the Web from the New Learning Technologies Buffet.

Take Our Survey - Please

Want to be a VIP? As the library considers a redesign of our website, we need faculty perspectives on the library's online tools and services. This survey will enable us to improve the quality of the services we provide for you and your students. If you complete the survey prior to Monday, March 13, 2006, your name will be entered into a drawing to become our "Library VIP." As the Library VIP, we will deliver library materials to your office on campus for the remainder of the spring term. We'll save you a few trips across campus! (Which, when the weather is like it is today, means something.)

L'Annee Philologique, the classic bibliography of Classics literature, is now available online, campus-wide.

If you haven't tried Web of Science lately, you may be missing some of its nifty features. This interdisciplinary database covers the natural and social sciences (including history) and in addition to searches by author and topic lets you search by cited reference. Another feature, the "find related records" lets you seek out articles that share the same sources. And finally, a new "analyze tool" creates histograms of search results, analyzing a set of records by date, author, subject area, or other variables. Want to stay on top of new publications? Save a search and have new results sent to you weekly by e-mail. AHSearch, a version of this database with fewer features, covers Arts and Humanities.

MnPALS Interlibrary Loan Goes Live!

At long last, the interlibrary loan function in the MnPALS shared catalog is now working. To order books from other libraries, you need to log in using your barcode and last name and select Gustavus as your library. Then, when you find a book at another library that you want to order, click on the ILL Request link at the top of the record. You will have to choose a "date needed by" from the calendar and check off agreement with the copyright statement, then click on "go." Finally confirm your request from the next screen.

One thing that may seem confusing : there is a form for requesting a photocopy of part of a book. You may fill that section out if you wish, but many if not most libraries prefer to loan the book rather than make a copy. And as libraries adapt to a totally new system behind the scenes, requests from other libraries may take a bit longer for the first week or so.

Online interlibrary loan forms for books and articles also have a new look.

Kudos to Kathie Martin and her student team for managing to get the new system up and running with such speed and good spirits.

The MnLINK Gateway will continue to serve as an interlibrary loan portal to public and academic libraries around the state. However, it has suddenly become necessary to enter your last name (where it calls for Pin or Password) in ALL CAPS rather than lower case letters. Why this is suddenly case sensitive is something only the gremlins know.

In other news ... congratulations to Edi Thorstensson for landing an NEH grant to bring a consultant to campus to advise us on conservation and preservation of the Church Archives, but also to help us with long-term preservation planning for the college archives, special collections, and the collection as a whole.

Some of our course reserves are being loaded on Moodle, an open-source course management system, as a pilot project. Next fall we expect all of our electronic reserves to be loaded on Moodle. Though this system has many additional courseware features, the library is only using it for reserve readings as we phase out our home-grown e-reserves system. Participating faculty don't have to use any additional Moodle features; students simply log in to find electronic readings for their courses.

Hear about Hurricane Relief - Tonight

The students from Karen Larson's class who traveled to Key West to help with recovery from Hurricane Wilma will be presenting their insights and observations at the library this evening, January 25th, starting at 7 p.m. We'll be gathering on the first floor, in front of the current periodicals. Come hear how students integrated anthropological observations and social justice principles into their service learning. It's likely you may also be able to purchase a key-lime colored Wilma Relief T-shirt to commemorate the trip.

J-term is in its final week. Though it has been fairly quiet in the library, this year two librarians taught courses. Michelle Twait's class (in keeping with the Vocation theme) explored information professions. Edi Thorstensson taught weaving to students at the St. Peter Arts Center while exposing them to textile traditions around the world.

Cal State San Marcos has a new library that has been a big success. So why is this news? In the 1990s this new campus of the California system was not going to have a library at all - who needs it when everything's online? What this new library demonstrates is that there is s social dimension to learning that can't be easily replicated in cyberspace.

Happy Birthday, Louis Braille!

Google is honoring the inventor of Braille today.

Another new books list has been posted on our Web site. Better yet, we will soon be returning to the practice of sending those who request books a slip with its call number when they head out to the shelves. We had discontinued that process a few years ago to streamline the work, but we missed it. So those of you who suggest books for purchase will be finding those little slips in your POs again before too long. Thanks to Sonja Timmerman for making it happen.

RSS readers are dead? Just as I'm getting used to this fascinating way to waste incredible amounts of time? RSS - "Really Simple Syndication" - is a technological way to "feed" digital stories to potential audiences. And while I never got used to my checking Bloglines account routinely, I now have a dozen feeds on my upgraded FireFox toolbar. They call them "live bookmarks." I call them procrastination's best friend.