Easier linking to library stuff in D2L

Students:

Have you ever needed to link to articles you found in library databases for your online classes? Maybe in discussion posts?

Instructors:

Do you link to articles for your students to read?
Do you link to article databases such as JSTOR or General OneFile?

If so, access just got easier. Users in D2L will not need to log in to library resources if the following procedure is used. If you're linking to databases, you don't need to change a thing. Just grab the URL from the library site. If you're linking to articles, add this prefix to the URL,

https://ezproxy.mtsu.edu:3443/login?url=

and those who click will not need to log in if they are working within D2L. Outside of D2L, users will still need to log in. Make sure to include the entire URL after the prefix, including the "http."

Wondering how to link to articles from databases? Watch this video (note that the url above is different in the guide. It will still work, but it won't bypass login.)

Any questions? Contact Amy York at ayork@mtsu.edu.

Man walked on the Moon 40 years ago

July 20, 2009 will mark the 40th anniversary of man walking on the Moon.

Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to land on the Moon. A Saturn V rocket launched Apollo 11 from the Kennedy Space Center on July 16, 1969 carrying Mission Commander Neil Armstrong, Pilot Michael Collins, and Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin. On July 19 Apollo 11 passed behind the Moon. In the many orbits that followed, the crew saw their landing site, called the Sea of Tranquility.

On July 20, 1969 the lunar module Eagle separated from the command module Columbia and descended toward the moon. After they landed on the surface Armstrong said the famous words, "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.”

Armstrong made his descent to the Moon's surface and spoke his famous line "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" exactly six and a half hours after landing. Aldrin joined him, describing the view as "Magnificent desolation."

After more than 2½ hours on the lunar surface, they left behind scientific instruments, an American flag, an Apollo 1 mission patch, a plaque bearing two drawings of Earth, an inscription, and signatures of the astronauts and Richard Nixon. The inscription read Here Men From The Planet Earth First Set Foot Upon the Moon, July 1969 A.D. We Came in Peace For All Mankind. They also left behind a memorial bag containing a gold replica of an olive branch as a traditional symbol of peace, the Apollo 1 patch, and a silicon message disk. The disk carries the goodwill statements by Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon and messages from leaders of 73 countries around the world.

Armstrong and Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the Moon, while Collins orbited above. The mission fulfilled President John F. Kennedy's goal of reaching the moon by the end of the 1960s, which he expressed during a speech given before a joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961:

"I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal,
before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning
him safely to the Earth."

In addition to throngs of people crowding highways and beaches near the launch site, millions watched the event on television.

NASA just released newly restored video from the July 20, 1969, live television broadcast of the Apollo 11 moonwalk. The release commemorates the 40th anniversary of the first mission to land astronauts on the moon. See the video here:

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/hd/apollo11.html

Efficiently browsing the library stacks

Ever wanted to see what kind of books we have on philosophy, or photography, or the history of Africa? Curious about where the American literature is? If you've ever wanted to browse a topic without a specific book in mind, you might have been stumped about where to start looking. You can always stop by the reference desk on the 1st floor for help, but this guide to the Dewey Decimal System will also get you started. Here is a sample of the guide from the 100s (Philosophy and Psychology) on the 2nd floor.

100 Philosophy
110 Metaphysics
120 Epistemology
130 Parapsychology & occultism
140 Philosophical schools of thought
150 Psychology
160 Logic
170 Ethics
180 Ancient, medieval & eastern philosophy
190 Modern western philosophy

As always, let us know if you need any help.

TRACFed analyzes Sotomayor's record

The Sotomayor confirmation hearings start today. TRACFed has provided a "case-by-case examination of the sentences imposed by Judge Sonia Sotomayor during her six years as a trial judge in the Southern District of New York."


TRACFed is a library subscribed web-based service for understandable, authoritative and complete information about the federal government - how it enforces the law, where it assigns its employees, and how it spends our money. Keep up with other TRACFed reports with TRAC RSS feeds.

View the Sotomayor report.

Summer Reading

Many new bestsellers have been recently added to the New Book shelves. Look for your favorite fiction writers like Elmore Leonard, Clive Cussler, Danielle Steel, Michael Connelly, and others. New non-fiction includes books by and about sports figures such as A-Rod and Bill Russell, cookbooks, diet books, and many other topics.

The New Books shelf is in the first floor Periodicals area, near the magazine rack.

Genealogy Workshop Tuesday

Rutherford County Genealogist Susan Daniel will lead a genealogy research workshop featuring historical and genealogical documents and indexes compiled by Works Progress Administration staff during the Great Depression.

The workshop will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 7 in the Linebaugh Library Historical Research Room. Ms. Daniel will guide participants through the vast collection of books and microfilm available in the Library's collection and help with genealogical research questions. Participants are asked to bring pencil and paper. This workshop is free and open to the public (adults only, please).

This program is presented in conjunction with Soul of a People: Writing America's Story. Soul of a People programs in libraries are sponsored by the American Library Association Public Programs Office, with the support of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Great ideas brought to life.

Linebaugh Public Library
105 W. Vine St., Murfreesboro TN 37130, 615-893-4131
hours: Mon-Thurs 9 am - 9 pm; Fri-Sat 9 am - 5 pm; Sun 1 pm - 6 pm

ScienceDirect expanded with new content

Walker Library recently upgraded its subscription to ScienceDirect to obtain online access to additional titles. Our e-journal "Freedom Collection" now includes well over 2000 journal titles from Elsevier, Academic Press, Cell Press, American Psychological Association, Pergamon and others.

Don't let the title of this database fool you. The journals are relevant to the sciences, medicine, social sciences and humanities. To find titles that may be of interest to you, go to our ScienceDirect home and browse journals in your discipline from the left hand panel. To determine if we have online access to the complete articles for titles of interest, either check the "Full text available" box or watch for the little green key that indicates online content.

While ScienceDirect has a functional interface for searching you don't have to go there to find articles of interest. The high quality journals in ScienceDirect are indexed and abstracted in most general and discipline-specific databases, such as Academic Search Premier, Biosis Previews or Social Services Abstracts. When working in other databases the button will usually send you directly to the relevant article in ScienceDirect. ScienceDirect articles are downloadable as pdf files, with complete content provided.

If all this sounds good but you need a little help getting started you may want to view a short presentation on the basics. Of course you're always welcome to come by the Reference desk to get some pointers as well. Note to instructors: our librarians will be glad to conduct training classes for your students.

New MLA Handbook

The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th edition, was released this spring. The most significant change is that MLA calls for listing the medium of publication (print, Web, television, etc.) for every citation.

Other changes include:

• simplified format for citing Web publications
• new citation format for graphic narratives
• new citation format for digital files
• no requirement to include a URL for a Web publication, unless the citation information does not easily lead readers to the site
  
• inclusion of volume and issue number for every journal article cited
• new instructions for preparing figure, tables, and captions
  

Visit the 1st floor reference desk to borrow a copy of the MLA Handbook to use in the library.

Or, if you buy your own copy, MLA provides an activation code for the Handbook Web site, where you can browse the complete contents of the print volume and see additional citation examples.

Here are a few online citation guides that incorporate the seventh edition changes:

• Dixie State College of Utah MLA Citation Guide
• Duke University Libraries: Assembling a List of Works Cited in Your Paper
• Scottsdale Community College MLA Citation Guide

p.s. APA users, don't rest easy thinking you're off the hook. The sixth edition of the APA Publication Manual is on its way!