Interlibrary Loan delays

Interlibrary loan requests submitted over the holiday break (effectively December 19, 2008 - January 4, 2009) will not be processed until Monday, January 5, 2009.

Please plan accordingly for delays. If you have questions or concerns about possible delays, please contact the library or email Sonja Timmerman.

Have general questions about ILL? Check out the updated ILL page on the library website.

A reMinder for Moodle

Although it may seem premature to be thinking about J-Term with fall semester just drawing to a close, remember to get your e-reserves for January to the library as soon as you can. The quicker I get 'em, the quicker they get posted! If you're really ahead of the ball game, I'm also able to post spring semester readings, too.

If you're the adventurous type with lots of time on your hands, you can always upload or reactivate your readings yourself. If you do so, please be observant of copyright law. Visit this library page for more detailed information on e-reserves, Moodle, and copyright.

Curious about the name 'Moodle?' Moodle's creator Martin Dougiamas reports:

It's a verb in English but not very well known ... I had heard of the word even though it only appears in larger dictionaries.

When coming up with a name for my system I remember sitting down one evening trying to come up with a word that:

1. was an acronym (because I like hidden meanings)
2. was a word you could say easily
3. was not common on the internet (so searches could find it)
4. had a domain name free

So now you know!

Faster Wireless

Wireless access to the network is so popular in the library, it has been a victim of its own success. At peak times lately, connections have been on the sluggish side.

Now GTS has set up another wireless option. If you're in the library, choose gaclibrary for your connection. We hope this will provide fast relief.

Le Clezio on Literacy

Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio's Nobel address is now available on the Nobel Prize website. It is a stirring tribute to writing and bearing witness, and ends with a plea for making stories available to all as a human right.

Literacy and the struggle against hunger are connected, closely interdependent. One cannot succeed without the other. Both of them require, indeed urge, us to act. So that in this third millennium, which has only just begun, no child on our shared planet, regardless of gender or language or religion, shall be abandoned to hunger or ignorance, or turned away from the feast. This child carries within him the future of our human race. In the words of the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, a very long time ago, the kingdom belongs to a child.

Come On! See Posters at the Hillstrom!

There's a wonderful exhibit (actually two wonderful exhibits) at the Hillstrom Museum of art, just down the hall from the Book Mark. One of them, Come On! American Posters from World War I, is close to our hearts for two reasons. One, the posters are from the College Archives. Two, the exhibit brochure, commentary, and general arrangement are the fruit of a Presidential Faculty-Student Collaboration Grant undertaken by Laura Behling (English) and student Chelsea Kramer - and we're always excited about research done by our students and faculty.

Take the time to experience these posters and to read the informative commentary. As the exhibit brochure says,

though these posters may seem but a quaint reminder of a different time, for a United States that now finds itself engaged on the battlefields of Kabul and Kandahar, Basra and Baghdad, they can offer us perspective. They ask their audience to consider the rhetoric and practice of humanitarianism within war, and to examine the nature of sacrifice and democracy. They ask us to regard the relationship between art and politics, and to bear in mind the enormous expenses of battle - measured in money and life . . . On balance, these American posters from World War I give us liberty to contemplate our patriotism, our nationalism, and our humanity.

Building Bridges Book Drive

The library is serving as a collection point for the Building Bridges Book Drive - an effort to support the Invisible Children Foundation. Bring books (in good condition, please) to the lower level of the library. Lots of people already have - as you can see!

Your donations will be sold and the proceeds will benefit our sister school, Gulu High School in Uganda. Support Building Bridge's efforts - and help a school in Africa.

As a benefit, you'll have room on your shelves for more books .

Explore trial databases

Be a library pioneer and explore some of the trial databases we're featuring this month at our Trial Databases page. And let us know why you think any of these databases would be useful for teaching and student research. While we can't make any promises about adding new databases, we're looking for your input as to whether any of them would be valuable additions to our collection. Send comments to e-resources@gac.edu.

*If you have problems linking directly, go to the library's homepage and click on "Trial Databases" at the bottom left of the page.*

Patricia Lindell Scholar

The Library is now accepting applications for the 2009 Patricia Lindell Scholar! The scholarship is open to all junior and senior students and includes a $1,200 award. The recipient will also work with Professors Julie Gilbert and Dan Mollner during spring semester to examine leisure reading on campus, specifically by investigating barriers to recreational reading and determining how the Library can better address and overcome those barriers.

The recipient will have an opportunity to conduct independent research and help give direction to the Library's future endeavors regarding reading promotion. The scholarship is especially appropriate for anyone who loves to read and would like more experience conducting in-depth research.

Applications are available at the circulation desk in the Library. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact Julie Gilbert (jgilber2@gustavus.edu) or Dan Mollner (dmollner@gustavus.edu). The due date for submission is December 8.

New Spaces for Students

Our renovations are finally complete. The interlibrary loan office has moved in with circulation, the front desk is now wheelchair accessible, and several spaces have become public areas.

This office, near the electronic classroom, is now open for group study. It's equipped with a large-screen monitor, a Mac Mini, and two keyboards for collaborative work on projects. This space can be reserved. Contact Sylvia Straub (x7556) or ask any of the library staff.


We also have freed up the space where the interlibrary loan office once was. This is the future home of our open course reserves and of many conversations and the occasional nap.



In the back of the library, an office has been vacated to create a roomy student study area. And nearby, our student research display has been refreshed with abstracts from the May 2008 first annual Celebration of Creative Inquiry.



Have any suggestions for other changes? Let us know!

Spring Course Offered

Once again, the library will offer a .5 credit course, NDL 301: Information Fluency, in the spring semester. This course is focused on how information is produced, how it is handled by libraries, and how different disciplines use it. It is intended for students planning on graduate school, or who are simply interested in honing their research skills. Last year's syllabus information can be found in the links on the right-hand side of this class blog:
http://infofluency.wordpress.com/

It meets Mondays from 2:30 to 4:30, but can also be taken by arrangement if that time doesn't work. For more information, contact Barbara Fister (x7552 or fister@gac.edu).

Google Settles

Today Google settled with publishers and authors who sued them over their library digitization project. Google will pay a $125 million settlement and will develop a registry that will enable publishers and authors to receive payments for use of their work - payment based on, among other things, libraries paying for access.

What it does not do is resolve the underlying copyright issues, according to The New York Times.

Jeffrey Toobin predicted this outcome some time ago in The New Yorker. And in his analysis, it's not good news for the rest of us.

“If Google says to the publishers, ‘We’ll pay,’ that means that everyone else who wants to get into this business will have to say, ‘We’ll pay,’ ” [Lawrence] Lessig said. “The publishers will get more than the law entitles them to, because Google needs to get this case behind it. And the settlement will create a huge barrier for any new entrants in this field.”

In other words, a settlement could insulate Google from competitors, which would be especially troubling, because the company has already proved that when it comes to searches it is not infallible. “Google didn’t get video search right—YouTube did,” Tim Wu, a professor at Columbia Law School, said. (Google solved that problem by buying YouTube last year for $1.6 billion.) “Google didn’t get blog search right—technorati.com did,” Wu went on. “So maybe Google won’t get book search right. But if they settle the case with the publishers and create huge barriers to newcomers in the market there won’t be any competition. That’s the greatest danger here.”

The full settlement agreement - which is pending judicial approval - is available here.

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.