Rittenhouse Nursing Library discontinued

Rittenhouse has been discontinued.

Express Printing Stations

Effective today (9/22), the four stand-up PC stations nearest the ref desk are going to be "Express Printing Stations." Each workstation will have a 10-minute limit (though this is apparently going to be "self-enforced" and the computers won't time-out on the patron). These four PCs will not have the full versions of Word, Ppt, Excel, etc., but will have Word Viewer, Ppt Viewer, Acrobat viewer, etc., so that people can pull up their files and print them. Mike is going to make signs after they finish configuring the PCs.

- Jason

SAILS log-ins at the ref desk

Selected Univ 1010 classes are participating in an online exam called SAILS (Standardized Assessment of Information Literacy Skills) that will help us understand their level of research skills.

We've been getting some SAILS stragglers who didn't come to the library with their University 1010 classes but need to take the exam.

I've put a few extra log-ins at the reference desk (by the password binder) in a manilla envelope for these students. If asked for a SAILS log-in, please ask them to read the "Introductory Script" (a brown piece of paper, also in the envelope) before handing it out. This is part of our IRB-mandated "informed consent" so that the student understands what they are getting into.

Questions? Refer the person to me at jvance@mtsu.edu or ext. 7871. I can email them a log-in if it's after hours and I'm not here. Thanks -- Jason

Biology 1111 Finding Research Articles

If you've walked through Periodicals or Reference, you probably know that Biology 1111 students are here looking for 5 online articles and 5 print articles.

Just a reminder that Jason (and others) figured out that if you use Biological and Agricultural Index Plus or another Wilson database, you can use the "Library Owns?" link to quickly see if the print journal is available.

One student and I had a devil of a time tonight finding five articles that were actually on the shelf (or in the copy room or on the Periodicals counter...). We ended up taking one relevant article and scanning its reference list for other journals we knew were available in print (Proceedings of the National Academy is a good one). I think it was as fast as the hit or miss database search.

Other suggestions to help lesson the confusion? Please chime in.

-Kristen W.

Laptop access at MTSU

Having problems connnecting your laptop on Campus? Here are a few items that may be helpful in correcting your problems:

1. If you are running a 64 bit operating system, you need to go to ITD for assistance.

2. You must uninstall any peer-to-peer (P2P) software, such as Limewire, FrostWire, Kazaa etc. If you do not uninstall the P2P software, you will not be allowed to access the MTSU Wireless network. If you have any questions in regards to this, contact ITD at 898-5345.

3. Next you need to "register" your laptop with Campus. How do you do this? Simple, open a browser page to MTSU's home page (http://www.mtsu.edu/). From this point you will be redirected to the registration page. ITD has provided a short tutorial to step you through this process. You can find a link to it at: http://library.mtsu.edu/information/computing/laptop.php

4. During this process your computer will be checked to insure it meets the minimum requirements to access the MTSU wireless network. If you do not have an anti-virus program, you will be redirected to a free version of Trend-Micro anti-virus. If you do not wish to use this program, you may purchase another brand or download one of the free versions. Word of caution, there are several "fake" anti-virus programs on the web, so be careful what you download. One safe site is http://free.avg.com/

5. You should also ensure that your MS criticals are up to date. You can do that by doing a Windows Update (click on Start, go to All programs, select "Windows Update" then follow the on screen instructions.) If you are uncertain or need assistance, check in the EIC for a Student Technology Assistant to assist you.

6. Once you fill in all the required information it will step you through the process of loading the EnTeraSys client. No error messages, then your done.

7. If you recieve an error: "max number of remediation attempts has been exceeded", you will need to go to ITD (BAS after 16:30 / 4:30pm) to unlock your account.

Posted: 14 Sep 09
By: Ol' Sarge

Biology 3230 Resources

There's a booktruck of biological literature, including some current and past periodicals and some reference titles, near the Reference Desk. These are items I used in a Biology 3230 class Monday morning and will use again on Tuesday evening.

I don't want the items completely out of circulation for that long, and there are too many to reshelve and repull.

-Kristen W.

Off Campus Access to Library Databases

I received two reference desk phone calls this week in which students could not access library databases from off campus. In both cases, when the student clicked on a database link, Internet Explorer displayed an error saying it could not display the page, rather than displaying the ezproxy authentication page. One student was calling from work, and one from her office at Volunteer State.

The problem may be related to security firewalls and the https://ezproxy.mtsu.edu:3443/login?url= ezproxy prefix.

Perhaps we will need to back off using this ezproxy prefix universally. If you hear other reports of the same situation, please let Mary Ellen know, or post a comment here.

The workaround David suggested to me today is to have the student go directly to the authentication page at http://ezproxy.mtsu.edu/login . Once the student logs in, the http://ezproxy.mtsu.edu/menu/ page will display, and this page has a list of available databases from which to choose.

This is by no means a perfect alternative, and I would not tell a student to do this without first finding out what database she needs and trying it myself. It worked beautifully today for the student who needed to access MLA International Bibliography, but the list of resources on the menu page is long and confusing, and not every link leads where you expect it to.

-Kristen W.

CourseLib Stuff

For those using and creating CourseLib pages:

1) I am working through each of the LibData resources created for a CourseLib page and standardizing the naming convention to Course Page: SUBJ 1000. If necessary, I'm adding an instructor or course name behind the course number. If all the resources start with the same naming convention, it makes them easier to find in a global query. I'm not changing any CourseLib pages themselves.

2) I usually add a link to Reference Desk info or Need Help? at the bottom of my course page. If you want to do so, you can add your own text item to your page, or now you can add the Need Help? LibData resource to your page instead of creating your own text. The resource displays like this:

Need Help?
Ask library questions by phone, email, text, or IM.


-Kristen W.

Need New Info in Pipeline

The links that are provided in Pipeline under the "MTSU Info" tag are completely out of date. The Voyager link is still valid but all of the database links point to pages from our old website. So, we need to figure out how to get that changed but first we need to decide what resources we would like to have listed there. We have 5 spaces plus the Voyager space in the current design.

Nominations?

Mayo

ps - Links currently displayed are Voyager Library Catalog, InfoTrac, LexisNexis, Britannica Online, Research Gateway, Library Home Page

JSTOR Use Agreement

JSTOR has begun using a pop-up agreement when a patron clicks on a PDF. I have checked with the Contracts office about this and was told it's ok to agree to this click-through.
It is inconvenient, however, so I'm going to complain to JSTOR about it anyway.

Three new digital collections

Three new Adam Matthew Digital Collections are now available. The subject guides they're available on are listed below:

Everyday Life & Women in America, c1800-1920

History
Women's Studies

The Nixon Years, 1969-1974

History
Political Science

Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice, 1490-2007

African American Studies
History

New LexisNexis interface

The beta release is at: https://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/lnacademic/
It will likely be released in late December.

Music Research

Just a reminder that the MTSU Music Librarian, Sarah Brown, is available to help students with research questions if we're stumped.

Music Bibliography students are working on a series of assignments right now. Sarah is happy to help us interpret the assignment if we get questions--she is teaching the library instruction sessions for these classes.

Sarah Brown, Howard Music Library, sbrown [at] mtsu [dot] edu, 898-2751

-Kristen W.

MARC records for Electronic Resources

In the past the cataloging department has created a new Location in the OPAC for each Electronic Resources collection for which book-level MARC records were loaded. Due to the growing number of MARC records available from vendors and to enhance resource discovery, book-level electronic resources records will now be cataloged with the location "Internet" and the call number "Electronic Resource". NetLibrary records will retain their own Location.
You may search for records from a specific collection by doing a keyword search for the collection name, e.g. 'Gale Virtual Reference Library'. Records that were previously cataloged with a specific collection location will be modified as time permits.

Guest Passwords Redux

Due to a technical glitch regarding Alumni access to the Library's public computers, starting immediately, the Service Desk will resume issuing Guest Logins to non-MTSU library users who wish to use the computers. This means they will be able to print again.

Additionally, the Service Desk will also be giving out a login and password for non-MTSU affiliates who bring a laptop and want to access the wireless network. There will be no printing capabilities through this login/password. Also, this is a static login/password and will not change daily as does the Guest Login.Questions, comments, concerns, let me know!

Thanks!
C

Hall of Shame

Students may contact the desk looking for a two-part article, "The Physical Education Hall of Shame," from the journal JOPERD. Journal Locator will find JOPERD if the student has that as the name--its full name is The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance. Part I of the article is in print in Periodicals (Aug 92). Part II is online (Feb 94).

Now that I've posted this, no one will have any trouble finding this, but I didn't want Amy's groundwork to go to naught.

-KW

Access to some Government Documents interrupted

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: GPO resources
Date: Thu, 03 Sep 2009 08:38:03 -0500
From: Beverly Geckle


Thought I should update User Services about this.

Links to electronic government documents may not be functioning for awhile. On August 24th "the PURL server suffered a significant hardware failure." According to GPO no data has been lost, but restoring the system is taking time.

On a related note, GPO has been working toward migrating from GPO Access to FDsys a more modern system (from what I understand.) Here is a link to FDsys http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/search/home.action

Beverly
--

Article Search Tab

Many thanks to all who were involved in the discussions and implementation of the federated search option that is now available under the article search tab on the Library's home page. In hindsight, I recognize now that it would have been prudent for me to suggest we test this out before I asked Bako to make it go live. However, (and unfortunately), I am showcasing my ignorance with the complexities of this, but I really had no idea that there were so many options available to us for customizing how we want this to search our EBSCO databases. :-)

Please check out this link to see the myriad options we have:
http://supportforms.epnet.com/eit/searchboxbuilder/

Also, please have a look at the article search tab and let me know what you think and any suggestions you have. I will compile them into a list and share with everyone. I know we are all slammed, but if you could let me know your suggestions just as soon as you can, I would be most appreciative.

Thanks....
C

Recreational Computer Use on Public Computers

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Recreational Computer Use on Public Computers -- Please Read
Date: Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:56:08 -0500
From: Christy Groves
To: usall@ulibnet.mtsu.edu, lduke@mtsu.edu


Hello everyone.
The Administrative Office has asked that those working at the Reference desk serve as a back up for the following situation:

Because our computers are so very busy at the moment, the EIC student assistant on duty is now to be vigilant of students seeking a computer and unable to find an open one. For only the computers in the EIC lab, the EIC assistant is to help students unable to find an open computer get access to one. They are to discreetly search the area and locate someone using a computer for non academic use. Granted, this is quite subjective and may be difficult to determine. However, they are to try to find someone obviously surfing, shopping, gaming, etc. and gently ask them to relocate to a computer on one of the upper floors or to one of the stand up terminals by the Reference Desk, stating that the computers in the EIC lab are to be used for research and study activities.

The computers on the upper floors can be used for research or non academic use, just he same as always. The EIC students do not have to be vigilant of non academic use of the computers in the upper floors.

Again, the Admin Office has asked that those working at the Ref desk serve as a back up for the EIC student should such a need arise. As always, if the situation becomes even more problematic or if the user becomes in any way confrontational, we can contact the Service Desk for further help.

Hopefully, this situation will settle down soon.

Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, concerns, etc.

Thanks!
C

Office Hours for Ginny and Rachel

Per Sharon, Ginny and Rachel are teaching sections of U1010 and may have students looking for their offices for office hours.
-Mary Ellen