Monday, February 22, 2010

Libraries Opening Earlier


In response to your requests, Burling and Kistle Libraries will be opening at 7:45 am, Mon-Fri, beginning Monday, February 22. Computing, printing, Listening Room paging, and basic circulation services will be available. We hope this offers more convenience for our students, faculty and staff.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Wednesday, March 3 All-campus Presentation on Updated Campus Master Plan for Libraries and Academic Commons

Libraries and the Academic Commons: Teaching, Learning and Research on the Liberal Arts College Campus

Wednesday, March 3 at 4:15 in JRC101

Grinnell College is updating its campus master plan, with a focus on humanities and social science buildings and on Burling Library and Information Technology Services. As part of an interactive presentation and discussion with the Grinnell College Community, Janette Blackburn from the architectural firm Shepley Bulfinch will share her view of trends affecting library and academic commons spaces on college campuses and seek your thinking on how these apply to Grinnell. All students, faculty, and staff are invited to attend.

Janette Blackburn, AIA, LEED AP, is a Principal at Shepley Bulfinch Richardson & Abbott and a leader of the firm’s education and library practice. As lead architect and planner on over 30 higher education and library projects, Janette excels at building consensus among diverse client constituents. Her work is informed by a deep understanding of teaching and learning environments and the variety of programs supporting community life on campus. Current and recent clients include Grinnell, Colorado College, Occidental College, Amherst College, and Duke, Columbia and Princeton Universities. She is a LEED accredited professional. She received her Bachelor of Architecture degree from Ball State University and was a Fulbright Scholar at the Helsinki Institute of Technology in Finland.

For more information on the Campus Master Plan Update, please see http://www.grinnell.edu/offices/institutionalplanning/updatedescription

Marci Sortor, VP for Institutional Planning
Richard Fyffe, Librarian of the College

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

What's New at the Libraries Spring 2010

Text a Call Number
When you search the Grinnell College Libraries catalog, you will now see a button that says “Send via Text Message.” Clicking on that button will allow you to text the book’s call number to your cellphone – no more scribbling call numbers on scraps of paper! Standard text messaging rates apply.

Autopopulation of Center for Research Libraries Interlibrary Loan Forms
Grinnell College is a member of the Center for Research Libraries (CRL), a consortium of research libraries that owns many rare and unique publications that you might want to use for your research. You might find items owned by CRL when you search the Grinnell College library catalog. Starting this semester, when you click on the link in the Grinnell catalog to request the item, the form will be filled out for you automatically.

Google Scholar
Previously, when clicking on "Search for full text" and finding that a copy of an article was not available locally either online or in print, you were given the option to request the article via Interlibrary Loan. In addition, you are now given an option to search Google Scholar to see if an open access/free copy of the article is available. If not, you can still obtain the article through Interlibrary Loan (at no cost to you).

Increased loan period for video material to faculty

By popular demand, the faculty check-out period for video materials is increased from 1 week to 4 weeks.

Academic Resource Centers (ARC) Workshops
The Libraries, Writing Lab, and Reading Lab have teamed up to offer a number of on-demand workshops intended to provide students, faculty, and staff with focused help to improve and deepen academic skills and work. ARC Workshops are available by request or referral for either individuals or small groups. For more information and a brochure of this service, contact Rebecca Stuhr via phone 3674 or email [stuhr].

Selected New Resources

Facsimiles of Mozart’s Operas
We have added seven facsimiles editions of Mozart’s operas including Così Fan Tutte, the Marriage of Figaro, the Magic Flute, and others.

Music Reference Online from Alexander Street Press
This resourcencludes an online edition of the complete text and recordings of the Garland Encyclopedia of World Music as well as African American Music Reference, Classical Music Reference Library, and Classical Scores Library.

Smithsonian Collections Search Center
The Smithsonian recently unveiled its Collections Search Center http://collections.si.edu/search. This tool provides one-stop searching of the Smithsonian’s in- house and web-based collections.

EconLit, formerly available through the OCLC FirstSearch interface, is now available through EBSCOhost. The content is the same and you can still find EconLit via the Databases A-Z link on the Libraries homepage or through a number of Subject Guides.

Extended Reference Hours
During the Fall semester, we implemented a new approach to reference service. We involved students in providing reference and information services. Students at the circulation desk (Peer Information Advisors or PIAs) received intensified training in basic assistance with the catalog, databases, etc., and student Reference Assistants began working at the reference desk during certain afternoon and evening hours, allowing us to expand those hours.

We found the experiment successful and will continue offering these services this Spring. If you have any questions or comments about the service, please let us know. You'll find our complete Reference schedule at http://www.lib.grinnell.edu/general/libhours.html.

And remember, students and faculty can always contact http://www.grinnell.edu/academic/librarylab/ or query@grinnell.edu to schedule an individual or group reference consultation with a librarian!

Earlier Opening during the Week
Starting soon, date to be announced, the Libraries will open at 7:45am Monday-Friday in order to help accommodate faculty, students, and staff who need to check-out or return materials before 8am classes.

Facebook
The Grinnell College Libraries are now on Facebook! Become a Fan of our Page to receive news and announcements via Facebook as well as view photos from events such as Wednesday Nights @ Burling and semester-end study breaks, and more.

Upcoming Events at Burling
The Libraries will once again present Wednesday Nights @ Burling featuring Grinnell College writers Will Freeman and Harley McIlrath, Grinnell College student writers, Molly Rideout, Lawrence Sumulong, Lucy Schiller, and Paul Bellora. In collaboration with Faulconer Gallery, the libraries will be hosting two open mic nights to be held at Faulconer. Look for posters advertising dates and times or contact [stuhrr].

Repeat, Reveal, React and Influence: Student and Faculty Selections from Grinnell College Collections (January 29, 2010- March 21, 2010)
In Repeat, Reveal, React: Identities in Flux, student curators examine the ways in which art contributes to the construction of identities and the role that repetition plays in this process. Influence, curated by four Grinnell College faculty members, explores the concept of influence as it is expressed historically, genetically, culturally, artistically, technically, contextually, and genealogically.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Video Streaming Services Trials Have Begun

The Libraries have arranged a 30-day trial of two video streaming services to ascertain whether their variety of videos and their functionality would prove useful in fulfilling some the campus’ wide range of video streaming needs.

Films on Demand

Films On Demand is a streaming video platform that allows incorporation of educational programs from Films Media Group into content management systems, online lesson plans, distance learning courseware, etc. Video subject areas are: humanities & social sciences, business & economics, science & mathematics, health & medicine, technical education, family & consumer sciences, careers & job search, and guidance & counseling.

This service can be reached by going to the URL below:

http://digital.films.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?cid=1637&aid=4931

From the home page, you may click on the “User Log In” button at the top of the display to create and access your personal account. You will need this to set up playlists, etc. There are a variety of links on each page with instructions on how to use the service.

Naxos Video Library

The Naxos Video Library is a performing arts video library with over 300 operas, ballets, documentaries, live concerts, and musical tours of historic places. It includes the Naxos DVD label, Opus Arte, Arthaus, Dacapo, EuroArts, among others and is continuously updated to offer the best selection of performing arts videos.

This service can be reached by going to the URL below:

http://grinnell.naxosvideolibrary.com

Patrons may access either service from any campus computer.

Please share your opinion of the service(s) you test. It would be very helpful if you let us know which service you tested, what type(s) of features you tried, what experiences you had, what successes or difficulties you had, and how much use you believe you’d make of the service, if we subscribe. Of course, please let us know whether you would recommend that the Libraries subscribe to the service and share any other comments you feel are relevant.

The trial period for Films on Demand ends March 9th; Naxos Video Library’s test period ends March 15th.

Inquiries or comments may be addressed to Randye Jones at jonesran@grinnell.edu or 269-3365.