Road tripping? Take an audiobook

Hitting the beach one last time before school starts? That's quite a drive. At least 8 hours from here. And there are certain uncivilized pockets of Alabama where you simply can't pick up an NPR station. Shocking, I know. Why not take along a few audiobooks to keep you entertained and mentally stimulated? It's either that or the license plate game.

Audiobooks are located in the IMR at the Learning Resources Center (LRC), which is between the KUC and the Business/Aerospace building (see map here), but start your search in the Voyager catalog.

You can search by title if you are looking for a specific book. Here is what the record will look like:




Audiobooks have the [sound recording] label in the title. Be sure to write down the Call Nmber and take note of the Status. Audiobooks with call numbers that begin with G are CDs, while those that begin with A are cassette tapes.

If you don't have a specific book in mind, browse the whole list by perfoming a keyword search in the catalog for "audiobooks." Sort the results by Publish Date Descending (a drop down box is above the list of results) to view the newest offerings.

If you need help finding something, ask us.

What not to tell your librarian

Guess what? Those people who sit at that desk near the computers on the 1st floor, those friendly men and women under that sign that says "REFERENCE" ... they want to help you. They want for you to come ask them questions about how to find a book or locate an article for your research paper, or even how to email an attachment or find a good recipe site. That is truly how they get their kicks.

But please, please, please, don't start your question this way: "I'm writing a paper for my girlfriend, and I need to find...."

This causes our helper circuits to cross with our academic integrity circuits, creating a system meltdown.

Cheating is so not cool. You know that. But if you're going to do it, anyway, please don't tell your librarian.

Facebook app for finding articles

Now you can search for scholarly journal articles from your Facebook page. The JSTOR search application allows you to search for the full text of articles, primarily in the social sciences and humanities, although there is some science content. Coverage dates extend from the late 1800s to the early 2000s.



Access to the full text of JSTOR articles requires a subscription, but lucky for you, the MTSU Library has one! To tap into it, when you add the application to your page, you will need to add this to the "Set Proxy" line: http://ezproxy.mtsu.edu/login?url=

You may also be prompted to login with your Pipeline account before receiving the full text of an article.

Happy hunting, and if you need help finding something, contact us.

If you don't have a Facebook account, you can still use the library subscription to JSTOR.

Economy impacts college enrollment

Historically, a down economy equals college enrollment increases, as laid-off workers seek to boost their resumes with new skills. Community colleges and tech schools, with their short, skills-focused programs and lower tuitions see the biggest enrollment boosts.

However, high gas prices are adding a new twist to this down cycle. Students are still looking to higher education to improve their earning potential, but getting to class is often a financial hardship, especially for students who live many miles from campus. Because of this, online classes are more popular than ever, and schools are finding other creative ways to help students conserve fuel, such as offering one long day of on-campus classes.

By the way, the library feels your gas pains (Ha ha, very funny. You know what I mean.), so we offer you a huge collection of online articles and books. If you are a currently enrolled student, you can access our resources from anywhere with your Pipeline username and password. And if you need help, you can IM, email, or call us: http://library.mtsu.edu/help/needhelp.php.

Have you registered to vote?

If the abundance of yard signs and television commercials hasn’t clued you in, election season is upon us. Tennessee’s state primary and county general election will be held on August 7, 2008.

The state’s general election will be held on November 4, 2008. The general election is for the following offices: President and Vice President, U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representative, Tennessee Senate, and the Tennessee House of Representatives. The registration deadline is October 6.

Tennessee voter register information is available online: http://www.state.tn.us/sos/election/
You can also view results and turnout from previous elections on the Tennessee Secretary of State’s web site: http://www.state.tn.us/sos/election/results.htm

New Instant Messaging Service

How do I find LexisNexis? Where can I get headphones? Does the library have a copy of the latest Danielle Steel novel? (Actually, we do. I think. Honor Thyself was published in 2008, and we have that, but did you know that she publishes three books a year? Madness.) You could always ask these questions by calling us (615-898-2817), visiting the Reference desk (on the 1st floor by the computers, or sending an email, but now you have another option. Send us an IM or use our handy anonymous chat box.

It's all here. Hey! Some of it's over there on the right, too!

Look for this icon throughout the library website.

Facebook application for citing books

WorldCat, a worldwide joint library catalog, has a released a Facebook app that automatically formats a book citation in MLA, APA, Turabian, and other citation styles. You just search by author, title, subject, or isbn, and the app pulls up a list of properly formatted book titles. You can also do this directly at the WorldCat website, but having it on your Facebook profile might come in handy.

New blog home

As you can see, we've moved the library blog. The details are long and boring and will make us look silly to the more technically adroit among you, so let's just leave it alone. On the bright side, commenting will be easier, because Blogger has nice spam blockers, and, hey! Look at all the pretty widgets!---------------->