Monday, March 30, 2009

MTSU Faculty Authors Display

Scholars Week -- MTSU Faculty Authors Display

In honor of Scholars Week at MTSU (March 30-April 3), the library is celebrating MTSU faculty authors with a display of their publications. The display can be found in the glass cases just beyond the elevators on the first floor. Stop by and check out your professors' work.

Scholars Week has become an anticipated campus event each spring as MTSU scholars eagerly share their research findings as well as their enthusiasm for doing research. Dr. Kaylene Gebert, executive vice president and provost, said Scholars Week “continues to be our annual forum to recognize the excellent research that our faculty and students do. “The number and variety of research projects presented is always quite impressive. Many of the students who participate locally also report on their scholarship at regional and national meetings within their area of study. We invite everyone to visit the events occurring throughout Scholars Week to share in the excitement,” Gebert said.

Scholars Week schedule is posted at www.mtsu.edu/~research. The climax of Scholars Week is the University wide Poster and Multimedia Exposition at 12:40 p.m. Friday, April 3, at the Murphy Center track area.

On Display in Lobby... Children's Books from Iran

On display in the lobby of the James E. Walker Library are Children’s Books from Iran. The books are mostly written in the Persian language with elaborate hand drawn illustrations. These items are on loan from the personal collection of Dr. Margaret Ordoubadian, professor emeritus here at MTSU. Ordouadian is a scholar of children’s literature and the oral traditions surrounding fairy tales and folktales. The University’s Writing Center is also named after Dr. Ordoubadian. The books were donated to her by Mozhgan Jalalzadeh and published by Iranfarhang.

This exhibit will coincide with a lecture from Marjane Satrapi, April 6, 2009, 7:00pm, in the BAS State Farm Room. Satrapi was born in 1969 in Rasht, Iran. She is a contemporary graphic novelist, illustrator, Academy Award-nominated animated film director, and children's book author. Her lecture is sponsored by the Middle East Center.

Database trial: ISI Journal Citation Reports

The Walker Library has a trial underway until 4/24/2009 to ISI Journal Citation Reports. This important resource provides information on journal Total Cites, Impact Factor, Immediacy Index, Ariticles, and Cited Half-life for over 6,600 journals in the science and social sciences.
The trial contains 2003 data; 2007 data is now available with a subscription. The newer version also now includes the Eigen factor and a 5-year impact factor.
Please check it out and let us know what you think.

Book Sale Mon & Tues!!

The AAUW (American Association of University Women) is holding their annual Book Sale!



Monday, March 30 and Tuesday, March 31 in the KUC, in front of Phillips Bookstore.

There are great bargains on a wide variety of books. Please stop by a purchase a trunk load full.

The book sale, benefits the Ruth Houston Memorial Scholarship for MTSU Students. The AAUW has been advancing equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research. Since 1881, AAUW has been the nation's leading voice promoting education and equity for women and girls.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Want a free MTSU shirt or a $10 gas card?

Yes? Then participate in a short 45 minute useability study here in the Library. Just answer a few questions about the Library’s website and you will receive a shirt or a gas card.

Why do we need your help? Your input will help us redesign the Library’s website to make it easier for students to find the resources they need and complete their class research to get that A!

You can also be a part of ongoing research on campus to find better ways for students to locate the help and info they need to become better students. Your comments will change the Library’s website for the better!

If you are interested contact:

Bako at bakoyema@mtsu.edu, 615-898-5782

You will take the survey in our P.I.E (Patron Information Experience) Lab, room 259 in the Library. It is on the second floor right next to the elevators.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Need more books for your project or paper?



The # of books students can check out has increased.

Undergraduate students can have out up to 20 items at any given time.

Graduate students can have out up to 50 items at a time.

Students enrolled in the Honors thesis courses now have graduate check out privileges, thus being able to check out up to 50 items.

All items can be kept up to 4 weeks and renewed once.

For more information, please contact the Circulation Desk at 615-898-2650.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Student day at the State Capitol, April 8

The American Democracy Project invites MTSU students to participate in a college student day at the Tennessee General Assembly, Wednesday, April 8, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Students will have the opportunity to meet elected officials, attend committee meetings (including the House Education Cmte), and interact with college students from across the state.Complete details may be found at http://www.tislonline.org/ccc.html.This event is sponsored by the non-profit Tennessee Intercollegiate Student Legislature.

(This message is from American Democracy Project coordinator, Jim Williams, jhwillia@mtsu.edu. Contact Dr. Williams for more information.)

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Have a big project or paper due?

We can help you...

Students meet with a Research Coach in the Walker Library for individual 30-minute sessions to:



  • Get in-depth research help

  • Brainstorm for topics

  • Find good quality resources (book, magazines, articles)

  • Cite resources
The librarians at the MTSU Walker Library can help you use the library resources to locate the sources you need to ace your paper.

When: March 16-20 & April 13-17

Appt Times: 10-6 Monday-Thursday; 10-4 Friday

Call: Gwen Williams at 904-8530 or email gwilliam@mtsu.edu

Tell Us: your name, telephone #, the course, and a little about the assignment

You may stop by the Reference Desk on the 1st floor of the library any time for help from a librarian. But sometimes you need a little more.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Spring Break Hours

Yes, that's right. While many of you are lying on the beach sipping fruity beverages, we will be here preserving the life of the mind. For a few hours, anyway. Here they are: Library Hours.


Wednesday, March 4, 2009

What do YOU want?

What do you think the library should have?

We are purchasing books on RENEWABLE ENERGY, and we would like your help!!!


To suggest any books for the library collection, please contact:

Suzanne Mangrum
615-904-8517

or

Submit an online book order request on the library website. Click on Library Forms link at the top of the page.









Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Special Collections Exhibit: A 19th Century Tennessee Library

Snapshot of a Collection: A Tennessee Library in the 19th Century

People today take libraries for granted, but they were rare in 19th century Tennessee. Some readers had access to books through subscription libraries and most academic institutions maintained a library but public and school libraries are a 20th century phenomena. Most libraries that did exist in the 19th century are long gone, their collections dispersed or re-configured. One important record of an old library that still exists is the 1871 catalog listing the books held by the Tennessee State Library.



Special Collections at Walker Library holds copies of numerous titles recorded in this catalog, and these make up the core of this exhibit, re-creating in miniature a 19th century Tennessee library. By looking at a cross-section of titles represented in the State Library’s collection, we can glimpse some of the social, political and intellectual ideas circulating in mid-19th century Tennessee.

The exhibit can be viewed in Walker Library’s Special Collections area from February through April, 2009.


Hours are 8:30 to 4:30 Monday through Friday.

Monday, March 2, 2009

MTSU Librarian wins Women's Studies award

We at the library are very proud of our own Ken Middleton, a librarian in the User Services Department, for being the 2009 recipient of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Women's Studies Section (WSS) Award for Significant Achievement. The award honors a major contribution to women's studies librarianship. The award will be presented in July at the 2009 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago. For more information on this distinguished achievement, see the ALA website.

Ken's latest work brings together an accessible database of 405 digital collections of primary sources in women's history. Discovering American Women's History Online is available on the Library's homepage.

Hooray, Ken!