BGSU University Libraries News

A reminder from University Libraries:

Before you leave for summer, please remember to renew or return the library materials checked out to you. All BGSU materials with a Spring Semester due date should be either returned or physically presented for renewal.

All library accounts expire at the end of Spring Semester so online renews at the end of Spring semester will not be possible. Please bring in the BGSU library materials to renew or return. Talk to a staff member about renewals for OhioLINK materials. If not renewing materials, please return all borrowed materials to any of the BGSU Libraries.

If you have a problem with any of the items, talk to a Circulation Desk Staff member. We can help you. Be sure to check the library hours, especially during breaks. Questions can be directed to circdesk@bgsu.edu or to 419-372-2051.

To see what’s checked out on your library account, check your record under “My Library” at https://maurice.bgsu.edu/patroninfo.html. Use the appropriate link from the University Libraries’ web page http://www.bgsu.edu/colleges/library/ or ask for a list from a Circulation Desk staff member.

The Ohio Library and Information Network, OhioLINK, released its 2007 Annual Snapshot Report in celebration of 15 years of service to higher education in Ohio. The report illustrates how the 87‐ member consortium of Ohio college and university libraries delivers cost‐effective access to information resources, supports quality teaching and learning, and enables world‐class research at Ohio colleges and universities.

Key findings in this year’s report include:
• OhioLINK’s cost‐efficiencies, including the $26.1 million invested in OhioLINK Electronic Journal Center statewide licenses that would have cost at least $105 million if purchased individually by Ohio’s universities;

• OhioLINK’s delivery of 23.3 million articles, books, images, videos, e‐books, and other documents in 2007 to faculty and students; and

• OhioLINK’s debut of the highly anticipated Digital Resource Commons, which provides a platform for OhioLINK
members and other Ohio institutions to rapidly publish and access the wealth of research, historic and creative materials produced by Ohio’s scholarly communities.

To view the 2007 Annual Snapshot Report, click here.

Three undergraduate student employees of the University Libraries have won the Outstanding Student Employee Team Working On Campus award for 2008. Woon Tang, Jared Contrascere, and James Buettner work for the Library Information Technology Services department developing web applications and databases for the University Libraries. If you’ve ever used the “Map It” button in the Library catalog, used the Library Hours database to see when the UL collections are open, taken the online English 112 tour/tutorial, or looked up your leaf on the Interactive Donor Tree, you’ve used their work.

16 student employee teams were nominated from all divisions on campus. The criteria for the nominees were:
•As a team, contributes to the goals of the department by supporting each other, valuing each other’s differences, and sharing responsibility.

•As a team, provides leadership formal or informally, by exhibiting work behaviors that support BGSU’s core values (respect for one another, cooperation, intellectual and spiritual growth, creative imaginings, and pride in a job well done).

•As a team, provides exceptional service to the department, division, and community.

Bring your friends and family and enjoy a free storytelling adventure for children of all ages. The Festival of the Word features performances by BGSU students in tales that inspire character, friendship and personal accomplishment. The stories are from the collection of children’s books in the Jerome Library and multicultural folk tales.

The festival is scheduled from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, April 26, at the Wooster Street Center, 1124 E. Wooster St. It is free and open to the public. Free parking is available in Lot 21 at the Wooster Center, Lot A at the intersection of Wooster and South College Drive, and Lot
15 on South College.

This event is hosted by Continuing & Extended Education’s Arts Unlimited, BGSU University Libraries Curriculum Resource Center, and the Department of Theatre and Film.

For more information about the Festival of the Word, call Continuing & Extended Education at 2-8181.

The library is working with ebrary to better understand e-book usage and needs among college and university students. We’d greatly appreciate it if you took a brief Student E-book Survey.

The survey should take less than 20 minutes to complete, and almost all the questions are optional. To take part in the survey, click here.

To find out more about how ebrary can help you on papers and other course assignments, check out their training tools, including Flash videos and live web sessions, at http://www.ebrary.com/corp/training.jsp

Hurry, survey closes April 11, 2008.

ACRL, ARL, and SPARC have released a short video to help librarians effectively engage disciplinary faculty and researchers on the topic of author rights. Starting a conversation with faculty researchers about securing their rights as authors is timelier than ever, given the new NIH Public Access Policy. The two-minute video presentation explains in simple, graphic terms the potential for wider exposure of scholarly articles when authors retain key rights.

To view the video, click on Author’s Rights.

OhioLINK sponsored a video contest in celebration of the program’s 15th anniversary. Current students, faculty and staff at OhioLINK member institutions were eligible to participate. The videos will be used to promote OhioLINK and explain how it can make the lives of future and current Ohio students, faculty and staff a little easier. To view the winning video, click on the link below.

This is OhioLINK Video Contest Winner

The Library Can Help!

Beginning March 10th and continuing through April 4th, Monday – Friday, University Libraries will once again offer Individual Research Appointments
(IRAs) for undergraduate students.

Individual Research Appointments provide students with one-on-one research assistance to help them identify and locate library and online sources and to help them formulate search strategies.

To schedule an appointment, please call
419.372.6943 or stop by the Research &
Information Desk on the first floor of Jerome Library. Please schedule your appointment by midnight of the day before you would like to meet with someone. This allows librarians time to prepare.

Students should have a specific topic or assignment and will be asked to state it when calling to set up their appointment.

A similar service is available for graduate students. Please call 372-6943 or stop by the Research & Information Desk for more information.

Looking for an online BG Perspective class to take over the summer?

Consider taking LIB 225: Information Seeking and Management in Contemporary Society.

Course Description:
The ability to locate, evaluate and use information effectively is essential. In this course, students will develop lifelong information management skills and deepen their understanding of current issues in the information world. The course will build upon the general information literacy skills that students acquire in English 112. Students will explore more discipline-specific online, print and non-print information resources to become efficient and knowledgeable consumers of information. Emphasis will be placed on critical thinking, resource analysis, and the ethical and appropriate use of information. Students will be able to transfer the skills and knowledge they acquire in this course to their future coursework, no matter what discipline they may be studying. PREREQUISITE: English 112.

Three online sessions will be offered during Summer 2008:

First 6-week session (May 19th through June 27th)
LIB 225 H 001 (call# 40656)

Second 6-week session (June 30th through August 8th)

LIB 225 H 002 (call# 45332)

LIB 225 H 003 (call# 50943)

NOTE: This course is approved for BGP (general education) credit in the Expanded Perspectives domain and will count as the additional course in your BGP requirements.

Questions? Please contact
Catherine Cardwell
Phone: 419.372-7903
Email: cardcat@bgsu.edu

The BGSU catalog, OhioLINK requesting, remote access to research databases and e-journals, and My Library will not be available Wednesday, January 16 from 9:00 a.m. to noon for system upgrades. BGSU holdings can be identified via the OhioLINK Central Catalog, http://www.ohiolink.edu. Many research databases and the Electronic Journal Center can be accessed via the OhioLINK database menus.

Please watch the University Libraries’ home page for resumption of services. We apologize for the inconvenience.