Professor Sullivan came in today and had questions about accessing an ebook. In our discussion in the past on ebooks we have stressed to NOT have students download as that was yet another step that might confuse them. However, the case for faculty needs are different, as faculty understand downloading and might prefer it. This is/was the case with Professor Sullivan. The confusion he was having was in regards to creating an account within EBSCO. To download items, one must have an EBSCO account, which is FREE and separate from any other accounts related to McNeese or Frazar Memorial for that matter. Once Professor Sullivan was aware that he needed and could create a FREE Ebscohost account to download the book he needed his issue was resolved.
Today's observation is that the particular needs of faculty when using ebooks will vary from the use and needs of students. It might be a good idea to add this feature about creating a FREE account in EBSCO for this purpose as faculty might not be aware this exists.
As for sharing this feature with students that is another matter altogether, but is one that I have tried to include, time allowing, in my instruction sessions.
Again, bottom line, is that a mention of this might be good for future discussion, either in a tutorial post on the ebooks page, adding to our list of questions/answers toward the collection, and/or hosting in some sort of future faculty refresher on ebook tips.
Thanks!
Tracy
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Closing Procedures...
Hey everyone,
There is a new addition to our closing procedures. At some point during the evening shift, someone needs to go to Room A and turn off all of the computers. I did it around 10pm last night, but it can be done anytime after the last class is finished with Room A.
And just one more time to be clear: We turn off all public computers, except for the thin clients, at closing. We also turn off both computers at the desk.
Thanks!
Jessica
There is a new addition to our closing procedures. At some point during the evening shift, someone needs to go to Room A and turn off all of the computers. I did it around 10pm last night, but it can be done anytime after the last class is finished with Room A.
And just one more time to be clear: We turn off all public computers, except for the thin clients, at closing. We also turn off both computers at the desk.
Thanks!
Jessica
Monday, March 26, 2012
Professor Ferguson in Agriculture: List of articles not in PubMed
Professor Ferguson has given his Agriculture class a list of articles from PubMed that are not available full text and some only by paying $30. Jan and Jeannie exhausted all their options as well. Looks like ILL. Student is informing professor.
Barbie
Barbie
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
LLA 2012 Red River Radio Plug
http://redriverradio.org/post/louisiana-librarians-discuss-relevance-libraries-digital-age#
Great Comments from Carla Clark LLA 2012 President
Great Comments from Carla Clark LLA 2012 President
Friday, March 9, 2012
JSTOR articles that won't print
One of Craig's patrons could not get a JSTOR article to print (only one page would) when searching in JSTOR.
We found 2 alternatives that allowed printing of the complete article:
1. From the Online Journal List tab on the database page, enter the title of the journal, pick the database, year, issue, find the article (sometimes using the pages) and print it from here. (For articles from Biography in Context, see below*)
2. Go to Google Scholar, enter the title of the article in quotes, use the link to JSTOR that is to the right and print.
There are articles in Biography in Context, even the likes of Vogue, (no images though).
Barbie
We found 2 alternatives that allowed printing of the complete article:
1. From the Online Journal List tab on the database page, enter the title of the journal, pick the database, year, issue, find the article (sometimes using the pages) and print it from here. (For articles from Biography in Context, see below*)
2. Go to Google Scholar, enter the title of the article in quotes, use the link to JSTOR that is to the right and print.
There are articles in Biography in Context, even the likes of Vogue, (no images though).
Barbie
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Checking Out Civil War Books
David has put bar codes on the books. They are held captive in my office, facing the door. There are four boxes, marked with the three titles. If I am not available, please do the following:
1) Make sure they have registered for the event. Library.mcneese.edu/civilwar.html
2) Record their name, email, and phone
3) Record the bar code numbers of the three books you give them.
That is it. Michael has offered to create user accounts for these folks based on the registration form. They are crude and easy to put together because they allow for just this series. I posted this to the Reference blog for a quick reminder.
1) Make sure they have registered for the event. Library.mcneese.edu/civilwar.html
2) Record their name, email, and phone
3) Record the bar code numbers of the three books you give them.
That is it. Michael has offered to create user accounts for these folks based on the registration form. They are crude and easy to put together because they allow for just this series. I posted this to the Reference blog for a quick reminder.
Note from Jerome:
"If you encounter a patron having problems printing from Word, especially if the Word document has images/graphics, try converting it to a PDF file and printing from Acrobat. Word does not compress images, so image files can be quite large (exceeding the 25mb limit). Converting to PDF "flattens" the image, making it substantially smaller. This should take care of ~85% of the problems."
To convert the file to a .pdf, click "Save As" then choose .pdf from the "save as type" drop-down menu.
Jess
"If you encounter a patron having problems printing from Word, especially if the Word document has images/graphics, try converting it to a PDF file and printing from Acrobat. Word does not compress images, so image files can be quite large (exceeding the 25mb limit). Converting to PDF "flattens" the image, making it substantially smaller. This should take care of ~85% of the problems."
To convert the file to a .pdf, click "Save As" then choose .pdf from the "save as type" drop-down menu.
Jess
New Office Software on the Thin Clients
Hi Gang,
When you get an opportunity, please look at the new software on the thin clients. Instead of Open Office, the thin clients are now using Libra Office. Libra Office should be able to open all Microsoft documents without the problems that we had with the Open Office software.
Thanks!
Jessica
When you get an opportunity, please look at the new software on the thin clients. Instead of Open Office, the thin clients are now using Libra Office. Libra Office should be able to open all Microsoft documents without the problems that we had with the Open Office software.
Thanks!
Jessica
Friday, February 17, 2012
Cause for Pause
Essay 1
What Makes us Laugh?
Due Feb. 17th
Your browser may not support display of this image.
The goal of this first essay is to compose a critically informed exploration of your chosen topic area. In order to accomplish this you must first select a specific type of humor to examine. Spend some time giving this topic some consideration as all of your essays for the semester will in some way be related to this topic.
This topic should be fairly specific, but no overly so. For instance, Katt Williams is likely not broad enough to write four essays about, while African-American Stand-up Comedians should offer enough material. Looking at Political Satire on Television is much better than choosing only The Daily Show. Writing on Scary Movie 2 is too narrow, but examining Spoof Movies works. Be sure to clear topics with me before beginning work as there are many, many options possible.
Additionally, for this essay, restrict examples and examinations to only the past twenty years, since 1990. Essay 2 will allow for examination of humor prior to that era.
Once you have chosen a topic area, perform research and compose a 1000 word, 4-5 page essay that responds to the following prompt:
Your browser may not support display of this image. The first two essays in Laughing Matters, by Henri Bergson and Murray Davis, theorize from a few different perspectives about how humor works. Including a discussion of these writers' principles, particularly Bergson's theories on humor as social corrective and Davis' theories on incongruity and ambiguity, examine the way in which humor works within a specific type, genre, or style of humor in a contemporary context. Essentially, you must create a well-reasoned argument for why it is that people find this particular sort of humor humorous. Provide many specific examples along with the application of your theory.
Research Requirements
5 Sources
1 Scholarly/secondary source
1 Book nonfiction/secondary source
1 Primary source
1 Creative/media source
1 Reliable source of any kind
Use MLA documentation and formatting style for this essay.
What Makes us Laugh?
Due Feb. 17th
Your browser may not support display of this image.
The goal of this first essay is to compose a critically informed exploration of your chosen topic area. In order to accomplish this you must first select a specific type of humor to examine. Spend some time giving this topic some consideration as all of your essays for the semester will in some way be related to this topic.
This topic should be fairly specific, but no overly so. For instance, Katt Williams is likely not broad enough to write four essays about, while African-American Stand-up Comedians should offer enough material. Looking at Political Satire on Television is much better than choosing only The Daily Show. Writing on Scary Movie 2 is too narrow, but examining Spoof Movies works. Be sure to clear topics with me before beginning work as there are many, many options possible.
Additionally, for this essay, restrict examples and examinations to only the past twenty years, since 1990. Essay 2 will allow for examination of humor prior to that era.
Once you have chosen a topic area, perform research and compose a 1000 word, 4-5 page essay that responds to the following prompt:
Your browser may not support display of this image. The first two essays in Laughing Matters, by Henri Bergson and Murray Davis, theorize from a few different perspectives about how humor works. Including a discussion of these writers' principles, particularly Bergson's theories on humor as social corrective and Davis' theories on incongruity and ambiguity, examine the way in which humor works within a specific type, genre, or style of humor in a contemporary context. Essentially, you must create a well-reasoned argument for why it is that people find this particular sort of humor humorous. Provide many specific examples along with the application of your theory.
Research Requirements
5 Sources
1 Scholarly/secondary source
1 Book nonfiction/secondary source
1 Primary source
1 Creative/media source
1 Reliable source of any kind
Use MLA documentation and formatting style for this essay.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Delicious Account for Reference
Hello Reffers,
I have been playing around with Delicious in it's new updated format and have an idea that I thought we could all contribute to if and when you have free time.
I am finding that many students for the 102 lessons are having trouble getting started on topic, not always, but some are. While it is the faculty responsibility to guide them, we can also provide scaffolding in this effort.
What I propose to do with the Delicious account for our department is simply create a list of folders that relate to the English 102 topics, so, "image" "ethics", "religion", "science & society" and "subcultures" and a 5th one I have added is titled, "Critical Think Tank AKA Critical Thinking"
I have started as I find related articles and ideas to load them into these categories as they fit, and the more abstract the better. This is an organic process.
Mabye, just maybe if we like the idea and once our folders gather some heft, we could use these guides in future instruction classes, or pass along to faculty as idea starters, and or just have handy on the Library Instruction libguide.
Again, this is just an idea that I have started. If you want to play please join in and let's just see what happens. I think having students read the news and having them engaged in our "real" world might really open their minds to some ideas related to topics they could explore and some ideas they had not considered.
Thanks for letting me share. Please let me know if you have questions or suggestions. Does this seem like a good idea? Are we just spoon feeding the students? Or are we participating in a social media sharing environment that is growing stronger everyday? Information is everywhere, so where is it? I just like this idea as starting points for consideration. Food for thought ...you dig?
Delicious account is
user name: delicioustmi
password: 1booklover
I have been playing around with Delicious in it's new updated format and have an idea that I thought we could all contribute to if and when you have free time.
I am finding that many students for the 102 lessons are having trouble getting started on topic, not always, but some are. While it is the faculty responsibility to guide them, we can also provide scaffolding in this effort.
What I propose to do with the Delicious account for our department is simply create a list of folders that relate to the English 102 topics, so, "image" "ethics", "religion", "science & society" and "subcultures" and a 5th one I have added is titled, "Critical Think Tank AKA Critical Thinking"
I have started as I find related articles and ideas to load them into these categories as they fit, and the more abstract the better. This is an organic process.
Mabye, just maybe if we like the idea and once our folders gather some heft, we could use these guides in future instruction classes, or pass along to faculty as idea starters, and or just have handy on the Library Instruction libguide.
Again, this is just an idea that I have started. If you want to play please join in and let's just see what happens. I think having students read the news and having them engaged in our "real" world might really open their minds to some ideas related to topics they could explore and some ideas they had not considered.
Thanks for letting me share. Please let me know if you have questions or suggestions. Does this seem like a good idea? Are we just spoon feeding the students? Or are we participating in a social media sharing environment that is growing stronger everyday? Information is everywhere, so where is it? I just like this idea as starting points for consideration. Food for thought ...you dig?
Delicious account is
user name: delicioustmi
password: 1booklover
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Dual Enrollment Lists with Pin #s given to teachers
When we teach a Dual Enrollment ENG 102 class and hand the teacher the class list slips with the students' Banner #'s and PINs, it might be a good idea to ask the teacher to warn the students to keep this Banner+02/Pin combination safe and why.
We had two students leave them behind in class a couple of days ago.
Barbie
We had two students leave them behind in class a couple of days ago.
Barbie
Monday, February 6, 2012
Dr Forest History 210
Many students have come in looking to find a citation from 1938 referencing the "Anglo-Italian Agreement" from the Montreal Gazzete. It appears the only place to find this information is in the Readers Guide to Periodical Literature.
Craig
Craig
Friday, February 3, 2012
Bogus Websites for Instruction: We Need YOURS!
Hello Reffers and Library Instructors,
I have seen "lists" of bogus websites in the past put out on different library sites and discussions, however, none of them come to mind right away and I thought it would be fun to create/add our own from time to time to use in our instruction sessions.
Here is one today that came up in a 102 library instruction with Scott Thomason. The site is http://www.ihr.org/ (an anti-semitic .org)
I know that you all have ones that you use and was curious if you would share them here so we have a fun grab bag! And as we find more it would be fun to add to the kitty.
Thanks for playing.
Tracy
I have seen "lists" of bogus websites in the past put out on different library sites and discussions, however, none of them come to mind right away and I thought it would be fun to create/add our own from time to time to use in our instruction sessions.
Here is one today that came up in a 102 library instruction with Scott Thomason. The site is http://www.ihr.org/ (an anti-semitic .org)
I know that you all have ones that you use and was curious if you would share them here so we have a fun grab bag! And as we find more it would be fun to add to the kitty.
Thanks for playing.
Tracy
Thursday, February 2, 2012
ALA Workshop January 2012 webinar posted
Hello Reffers,
I just posted a link to the webinar I attended on January 11, 2012 titled, "How to Improve your Library Instruction: Assessment in Five Minutes"
I found it to be really engaging and helpful and actually presented some fresh ideas and some things to consider for our own library instruction sessions.
With that said, I just wanted to post it.
Thanks for letting me share!
Tracy
I just posted a link to the webinar I attended on January 11, 2012 titled, "How to Improve your Library Instruction: Assessment in Five Minutes"
I found it to be really engaging and helpful and actually presented some fresh ideas and some things to consider for our own library instruction sessions.
With that said, I just wanted to post it.
Thanks for letting me share!
Tracy
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Printer Craziness
Here's something to try with the ongoing difficulty in printing word docs, and pdf's of journal articles. Having encountered many that would only print 1-5, or 1-2 pages at a time. Walt and I found that by saving the word doc to the desktop and changing it to a pdf it allowed printing. This may not work every time, but can be another approach in the arsenal.
First Floor Printer
Hey Refers,
The printer on the first floor is currently out of order. Jerome is well aware of the situation and is working on fixing it. Somehow a piece of paper got jammed in it and he said he has never seen a jam like this before.
Signs have been posted around the first floor stating that the printer is out of order and that all patrons should go to either the second floor and use the printer at serials or in the TASC lab or go the fourth floor and use their printer. I will post updates on the printer situation, as soon as I receive any.
Thanks,
Shandi
The printer on the first floor is currently out of order. Jerome is well aware of the situation and is working on fixing it. Somehow a piece of paper got jammed in it and he said he has never seen a jam like this before.
Signs have been posted around the first floor stating that the printer is out of order and that all patrons should go to either the second floor and use the printer at serials or in the TASC lab or go the fourth floor and use their printer. I will post updates on the printer situation, as soon as I receive any.
Thanks,
Shandi
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Room A and computers
Hello Library Instruction folks,
I was in Room A today (1/24/12) and noticed that one of the computers is OUT OF ORDER. Just a heads up that this could be an issue with the larger classes as we are already short on computers. When professors request instruction I usually let them know about this issue in advance so know one is out in the cold and they are made aware.
For now though with the one computer OUT OF ORDER we have 22 student computers and the instructor computer for a total of 23 in that room.
for students needing a computer to take the quiz, I will turn off the overhead projector and allow one student to use my computer. It helps in a pinch.
Thanks,
Tracy
P.S. I do not know the status of the current OUT OF ORDER computer and have heard no more information about the issue except for the homemade sign on the monitor that I discovered today.
I was in Room A today (1/24/12) and noticed that one of the computers is OUT OF ORDER. Just a heads up that this could be an issue with the larger classes as we are already short on computers. When professors request instruction I usually let them know about this issue in advance so know one is out in the cold and they are made aware.
For now though with the one computer OUT OF ORDER we have 22 student computers and the instructor computer for a total of 23 in that room.
for students needing a computer to take the quiz, I will turn off the overhead projector and allow one student to use my computer. It helps in a pinch.
Thanks,
Tracy
P.S. I do not know the status of the current OUT OF ORDER computer and have heard no more information about the issue except for the homemade sign on the monitor that I discovered today.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Domain names to see change starting Thursday - KPLC 7 News, Lake Charles, Louisiana
Domain names to see change starting Thursday - KPLC 7 News, Lake Charles, Louisiana
Saw this on news this morning and it could prove interesting for the future of information literacy as we now teach it and know it. Will be interesting to see how this develops.
Tracy
Saw this on news this morning and it could prove interesting for the future of information literacy as we now teach it and know it. Will be interesting to see how this develops.
Tracy
Retraction Watch Blog
I just find this blog fascinating and wanted to archive on the Reference blog. It might come in handy for a topic down the road....http://retractionwatch.wordpress.com/
Thanks for letting me share!
Tracy
Thanks for letting me share!
Tracy
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Reference Headphones are bye, bye, bye
Hello. Just a heads up that the latest head phones at reference desk have been lost by a student. He came to retrieve his drivers license today (after forgetting it her all night) and when I asked him where the head phones were in exchange, he said that "yesterday was super stressful and he lost them" Kudos for honesty. I will try to remember to purchase a few sets of headphones for the semester. Just wanted to update everyone in case you were dying to know what happened to them. Happy spring 2012!
Tracy
Tracy
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