Services – Page 3

FINALS!!?!?!??!?

April 22, 2013 by Amanda VerMeulen

Well, they’re not quite here, but they’re coming up quickly. As always, the SMCM Library is ready to help you finish out the year on a high note.

For starters, the Reference & Instruction librarians (and myself, from behind the circulation desk) are available to provide research assistance on any and all subjects. If there isn’t anyone at the reference desk, we have an “open door” policy here – if a door is open, come on in! Beyond that, you can email any of the librarians to set up an appointment. Beyond THAT, we often have someone available to chat live, in real-time, at the Research Help page on the library website. Finally, there is an online knowledge base of frequently asked questions for you to search – or you can ask your own question and get a response within 24 hours.

What’s that you say? You don’t necessarily need research help, you just want a place where you can kip down and study? Well, you are in luck! The SMCM Library has lots of accommodations – tables, individual study carrels and comfy chairs can be found in abundance on the first and second floors of the library. If you need to use a computer, we have about two dozen of them loaded with Microsoft Office software and other goodies such as SPSS and Adobe Reader. Room 112 in the Library Annex has another 16 computers, and it is available 24/7 for night owls and early birds. The circulation desk also has laptops available. If you want a bit of privacy, we have five group study rooms, three of which can be reserved online for up to three hours at a time (the other two are first-come, first-served). These rooms all have tables/chairs, ethernet ports, power outlets, and whiteboards. One study room even has a 55″ flat screen TV with a computer connection for your laptop!

If it’s gear you need, then the circulation desk has almost certainly got what you’re looking for. We’ll loan you a laptop, headphones, dry erase markers, ethernet cables, extension cords, laptop chargers (Mac & PC), and lots of other stuff to help you make the most of your time here. By the way, I should mention that NONE of these items are subject to overdue fines 😀

In addition to all of the above, we’re offering extended hours from Tuesday, April 23 through Tuesday, May 7. Be sure to thank Carol, Reneé, and the rest of the late-night staff for helping keep us open late!

As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to let a library staff member know. If they can’t help you directly, they can put you in touch with someone who can.

Happy librarying!!

SMCM Library In 60 Seconds

April 15, 2013 by Amanda VerMeulen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjIdSRMrfo0

Last semester our library gave me the amazing opportunity to work as the Instructional Media Fellow. When I began, I certainly did not know what kind of journey I would be embarking on or that I would be turning the Media Center into my second home. I knew that the library staff wanted to begin producing a series of short tutorial and informational videos about the library, and as a film and media major, I was beyond excited to gain hands-on experience creating videos.

Because this was a new project, I was given full creative range of the videos. I spent many hours watching Youtube videos produced by other libraries to try and get an idea of what techniques or ideas were successful, what ideas really did not work, and what kind of information students were interested in. After many brainstorming sessions and several failed logo designs the “SMCM Library in 60 Seconds” was created.

The “SMCM Library in 60 Seconds” videos are meant to be short videos that clearly highlight a resource/feature of the library or present a quick tutorial on how to use different services within the library. We want students to be able to use our videos as a way to make their experiences and time in the library more enjoyable and efficient.

In my position, I conceptualize, design, film, and edit (and then delete, film and edit a few more times) each video. Not every video topic can be approached in the same manner, so each video needs to be created, filmed and edited differently. I’ve learned that my first idea is never my best idea, and that even after many hours of editing, I might still have to start over. But thanks to an amazing support team and an extremely cooperative student body (thank you to everyone who has let me film them!) I have been beyond thrilled with this experience. I have learned more than I ever expected and am looking forward to everything that I still get to learn.

Keep an eye out for new videos on the SMCM library Youtube channel, and if you haven’t already, take a minute to watch your fellow students in our first video, This is My Library!

Microfilm

March 26, 2013 by Amanda VerMeulen

OK, I know what you’re thinking…that nobody uses it any more, that it’s inferior, outdated technology, etc etc. While I will admit there is a little bit of truth buried somewhere in those sentiments, the fact is that microfilm is actually quite a viable storage medium. It takes up a small amount of space, does not have very stringent storage requirements, and lasts a long time – up to 500 years, if stored properly. Furthermore, it is easy to digitize should a user wish to do that. So microfilm actually has a lot going for it.

Here at the SMCM Library we have a robust microfilm collection, if I do say so myself – the newspaper collection on the first floor includes long runs of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The New Yorker as well as local resources such as Enterprise and St. Mary’s Beacon. In addition, we also have significant holdings of many journals – these are kept in the periodicals section on the 2nd floor. All in all we have over 18,000 rolls of microfilm! Not to mention that microfilm printing has always been free at the SMCM Library…just saying 😀

If you’ve used our microfilm before, then you know we have two microfilm readers on the first floor. Those two units are quite old, and while they’re a little bit finicky, they largely have served us well for many years. But we’re always looking to improve the user experience here at the SMCM Library, and starting on Thursday, March 28 we’re going to be having a one week trial of a brand-new, state-of-the-art microfilm reader. The ScanPro 2000 can scan microfilm into many different file formats – including searchable PDF – and has other features such as allowing users to zoom in and clip specific sections of microfilm, adjust the color/contrast of the image, and more. Users will be able to print, email, or save the images instantly, at a resolution/quality of their choice.

We’ll be testing the new unit with the idea that it would replace the two units that we have now – we just don’t have the luxury of being able to keep them both. So if you’re a microfilm user, stop by the library between Thursday, March 28 – Wednesday, April 3 and take the ScanPro 2000 for a spin. Conrad from the front desk will be glad to show you around the machine if you like. Then, let us know whether you think it would be a good investment for us.

If you’re not interested in microfilm, then come by to borrow a Kindle (preloaded with over two dozen contemporary hits), a laptop (for three hours or two weeks), one of our almost 3,000 DVD’s, get help with your research from one of the Reference & Instruction Librarians, or study in the beanbag lounge. We hope to see you soon! Thanks, and happy librarying.

Where to Go When You Don’t Know Where to Go

February 20, 2013 by Amanda VerMeulen

Photo by Eden and Josh on Flickr

It’s a familiar problem: You’re about to start researching in a subject area that’s somewhat new to you and you just aren’t sure where to start. You might fumble around Google for a bit, do a few searches in a few different databases or the library’s catalog, but with all of the resources available it’s tough trying to figure out where to go to get the information you need.

Enter Research Guides, your research superheroes!

Accessible from the Research Help menu on the library’s homepage, Research Guides are websites created by your subject librarians to help guide you to research resources appropriate to your subject area. There are Research Guides for Arts & Humanities, Psychology, Economics, and so many other subjects. You’ll save yourself a great deal of time and frustration by simply starting your research off right. So if you haven’t looked at our research guides yet, take a peek!

Meet OneSearch

February 1, 2013 by Amanda VerMeulen

St. Mary’s community, meet OneSearch, a simplified way to search the St. Mary’s Library’s resources and collections powered by EBSCO Discovery Service. When you enter search terms in the OneSearch search box and click Find, you’ll be searching:

the SMCM library catalog,
the USMAI catalog, and
a variety of different research databases, including the always popular Academic Search Complete, PsycINFO and JSTOR databases (among many others).

There are of course, a few things to keep in mind when searching using OneSearch.

OneSearch does NOT search all of the library’s online databases (and it searches some databases better than others).
Not everything in OneSearch is available in full-text online.
If you’re doing research in a specific subject area, you might want to try searching an individual database for more subject-specific results.

Right now OneSearch is in beta mode, so changes, updates, and improvements happen from time to time. We would love to hear your OneSearch-related comments and suggestions. You can leave your feedback as a comment on this blog post or talk to any one of the librarians.

Happy Searching.

Numbers

September 20, 2012 by Amanda VerMeulen

The last time I posted, I told you about all this great new stuff that we did over the summer. Now, I’ll share with you some of the stuff we did throughout the whole year.

Last year (for statistics, we compile them on a fiscal year calendar (July 1 – June 30) we loaned a great many books (and DVD/VHS, laptops, extension cords, and headphones, and CD’s, microphones, cameras, camcorders, projectors, and I think you get the point by now :)) We also borrowed a lot from other libraries, not to mention fielded reference questions and taught information literacy to SMCM classes, among a great many other things.

If you were wondering just how often we do some of these things, today is your lucky day!

To our own patrons (students, faculty, staff), we loaned 16,993 items

To USMAI patrons, we loaned 5,673 items

From other USMAI libraries, we borrowed 3,488 items

To our local patrons (residents of St. Mary’s, Charles, or Calvert counties are eligible to sign up for a library card), we loaned 669 items

We loaned 782 print reserve items

We loaned 483 laptops

We loaned 365 media center items

We filled 3,652 ILLiad requests (580 books & 3,072 journal articles)

SMCM librarians taught information literacy skills to 117 SMCM classes and 1,786 students

Among the reference desk, email, and walk-ins to our offices & the Archives, SMCM librarians fielded 1,750 reference questions

Now, let’s see Mastercard make a commercial out of that!!

Ask Us! We mean it.

August 30, 2012 by Amanda VerMeulen

If you’ve been to the library’s website recently, you may (or may not) have noticed a smallish box off to the left-hand side of the screen with the words “Ask Us.” It’s a small but commanding phrase, and here at the library, it’s one we take seriously. Librarians and library staff love questions and you need answers, so we’ve added yet another way for you to ask and us to answer:

Online Chat!

That’s right, librarians are online and available to help you. At the moment, our chat hours are a bit inconsistent, but eventually we’ll work out a regular routine. This is a new service for us and we’re still working out the kinks and playing around with the features. So, when you click on the “Ask Us” button you’ll end up with one of two screens:

If you’re really lucky, you’ll see this:

Chat Success!!!

which means a librarian is online and available to help you.

If you’re a little less lucky, but still amazingly lucky in the grand scheme of library help options, you’ll see this:

Ask Us is our new FAQ system

Which is an entryway into our new LibAnswers system. It’s a Frequently-Asked-Questions system/knowledgebase and an email-a-librarian system all rolled into one. It’s a way to help yourself or get the help you need. Just type in a question to search for an answer.

So again, when we ask you to Ask Us, we mean it. We really, really do.

And we’re off!!!

August 27, 2012 by Amanda VerMeulen

Photo from Flickr user Matt McGee

Welcome everyone to the 2012-2013 academic year at SMCM! In the library we were hard at work all summer so that now, you can work smarter! Below is a brief rundown of just a few of the new toys and services we’re offering in the SMCM Library. If anyone has any questions, please don’t hesitate to let us know.

New photocopier: We have a brand new photocopier! It does full color and has an automatic feeder for those long documents. Prices are 10 cents per black & white copy, 25 cents per color copy. Please note that the photocopier on the 2nd floor (in the periodicals) is no longer there – there is only the first floor photocopier, which is in the same location.

New scanner: Returning students, staff, and faculty may remember the touchscreen-operated scanner that we had on a trial basis toward the end of the Spring 2012 semester. It is now a permanent addition to the SMCM Library. It scans in color or black & white and your scanned images can be printed (print in black & white only), saved to a thumb drive, or emailed immediately to you as a PDF, JPG, PNG, or RTF (MS Word) file. It also has a leading edge – this makes it very easy to photocopy books & journals without pressing down on the item to get that hard-to-read text in the center!

Kindles: We now circulate Kindles! We have three Kindle Fires, two Kindle Touches, and a Kindle Keyboard that can be checked out for two weeks (one renewal allowed). They come preloaded with several e-books for your reading pleasure, including the Hunger Games trilogy, Prisoner of Heaven, and more! We are actively soliciting requests for new titles for our Kindles, so let us know if you have a request.

Overdue fines: The rumors are true: the SMCM Library has eliminated almost all of our daily overdue fines. Daily overdue fines remain in effect for:

All course reserve items (not e-reserves)
All media center items (3^rd floor)
Anything that comes from another library (Interlibrary Loan/ILLiad or USMAI)
Items that have been recalled

Nothing else, I repeat: nothing else is subject to daily overdue fines, i.e. books, DVD’s, VHS, CD’s, laptops (yes, laptops!), headphones, extension cords, ethernet cords, thumb drives, Kindles, etc etc). The complete new SMCM Library fine policy is available on our website here (or, from the Library home page, click on “about the library” then “policies”).

Group Study Room Booking: Now, you can reserve one of our group study rooms for up to three hours per day. Use this link (or, from the Library home page, click on “library services” then “group study rooms”). In addition, Group Study Room 221 has been outfitted with a 55” HDTV with a DVD player. Group Study Rooms 215, 216, & 221 are available for booking. Group Study Rooms 206 & 217 are open and available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Happy Librarying!!!!!

Happy Birthday!

August 7, 2012 by Amanda VerMeulen

We are celebrating the birthday of our new web site!! It came from humble, but delicious beginnings:

Our first meeting to discuss what we wanted in our new web site was accompanied by doughnuts and lots of slips of paper. All seven of the librarians contributed DNA, and Veronica Arellano Douglas was the midwife through what seems like the longest labor and delivery in history. We prioritized, we compromised, we moved post-it notes around, and we agreed that we were ready for a big change.

So we’re ready to hear what you have to say. Don’t be shy. You don’t have to tell us we have a beautiful baby if you find things that don’t work, or don’t work the way you expected them to. As hard as we try to think like our users (that’s you), it’s hard for us to turn our librarian brains off.

Send us feedback! Send congratulations to Veronica! No pacifiers or baby blankets. We could use more doughnuts, though.

Library Summer Hours

May 15, 2012 by Amanda VerMeulen

From Wednesday, May 9, 2012 through Saturday, August 25, 2012, the library and Media Center will be open:

Monday – Friday
8:00am – 5:00pm

The library and Media Center will be closed Saturdays and Sundays and on Memorial Day (May 28) and Independence Day (July 4).

Access to the Archives is available by appointment. Please contact Kat Ryner at (240) 895-4196 or khryner@smcm.edu.