Exhibit in Special Collections

Reception and Student Awards,
Thursday, April 1st, 11:45-12:45

Special Collections, 4th floor, Walker Library

Artists’ Books from the Classroom:
Student work from the Book Arts classes

Walker Library is pleased to announce a new exhibit featuring the work of students from MTSU’s Department of Art. This exhibition of works is the second annual juried show hosted by Special Collections which features the work of MTSU’s Book Arts students.


Each work displayed is a unique item and reflects the learning goals of the classroom. However, these books also convey the individual creative spirit of their makers as they reflect on family, relate personal or humorous stories, and explore the expressive power of their materials. Handmade books, like mass-produced ones, are made for reading so select books from this exhibit will be periodically available in the reading room where they may be experienced more fully as their makers intended.









The show opens January 19th and runs through April 1st. Special Collections is located on the 4th floor of Walker Library and is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 to 4:30.

Writing Center Moves to the Library

The Writing Center will move to the 3rd floor of the Walker Library this summer. Now how handy will that be? The Writing Center provides help with citing sources, formatting papers, organizing essays, and getting started on your paper.

This will be a great move students because, as you know (don't you?) the librarians at the Reference desk on the 1st floor can help you find sources -- including articles, books, statistics, good websites, and other resources -- for your papers. Now you'll have help from start to finish, all in one place!

Until the move is completed, the Writing Center will continue to operate in its current locations of Peck Hall 325 and Ezell Hall 119.

Stay tuned for details and exact moving dates.

Rudy! Rudy! Rudy!

Former Notre Dame football player Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger, the inspiration for the 1993 motion picture “Rudy,” will present a “Leadership Speaks” address at 7 p.m. tomorrow, March 30, in the Tennessee Room of MTSU’s James Union Building.

The third of 14 children in a Joliet, Ill., family, Ruettiger struggled with dyslexia throughout childhood, but the condition was not diagnosed until he entered Holy Cross Junior College in South Bend, Ind. The school was across the street from the University of Notre Dame, which fueled Ruettiger’s desire to transfer and to make the Fighting Irish football team. Since Notre Dame Head Coach Ara Parseghian welcomed walk-ons, Ruettiger tried out and made the practice squad, despite being only 5’6” and 165 pounds. His unflagging hustle and determination earned him the respect of his teammates.

For more info call the Office of Leadership and Service at 615-898-5812.

Source: Today's Response

Why, Yes! We do have a paper cutter.

For years you've been asking us if we have one, and for years we've been loaning you our lowly scissors, but finally, we have a paper cutter available for student use.

It will be stationed at the counter behind the reference desk (near the computers) on the 1st floor along with the staplers and hole punch.

By the way, we really like for those items to stay on that counter so that everyone has a chance to use them. Sometimes they go wandering. Hint, hint.

Printing Press Visiting Artist, April 1

Studio Talk with 2010 Visiting Artist Brad Vetter
April 1, 11:00 – 11:45 a.m.
Walker Library Room 462 (Printing Press Room)

Vetter works for the legendary Hatch Show Print in Nashville. He is a printer, graphic designer and fine artist. Visit http://beastofburden.carbonmade.com/ for more info on Brad and his work.

Also join us Monday, April 5 from 4:00 - 5:00 pm or 5:30 - 6:30 pm for two open workshops with Visiting Artist Brad Vetter. The workshops are your chance to meet and talk with the artist and play on the printing press.

Celebrate Scholars Week (March 22-26)

The library is celebrating Scholars Week with a display of faculty publications in the 1st floor Periodicals room. The two glass cases are filled with books written and edited by MTSU professors.

Check out the full schedule of Scholars Week events on the Scholars Week web site.

Taking the GRE?

The Walker Library's Learning Express Library database can help you prepare for the GRE and other standardized tests such as the PRAXIS, GMAT, LSAT, and MCAT.
You can also take licensing, certification, and aptitude practice tests for fields such as Nursing, Emergency Medical Services, Law Enforcement, Military, and Real Estate, to name few.
You must complete a free registration to save your answers to questions. This resource is available to all Tennesseans through the Tennessee Electronic Library, so tell a friend!

Free Lecture by Chuck Klostermann, March 18

Best-selling author Chuck Klosterman, widely regarded as the nation’s premier pop-culture journalist, is returning to MTSU March 15-18 for a series of events sponsored by the John Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies and MTSU’s College of Mass Communication.

His free public lecture is scheduled for Thursday, March 18, at 1 p.m. in Room 221 of the McWherter Learning Resources Center on campus. For more information, call 615-898-5150.

Entertainment Weekly has called Klosterman, author of five nonfiction best-sellers (including the 2009 essay collection Eating the Dinosaur) and a novel, "one of America's top cultural critics." The former SPIN senior writer is responsible for a monthly column, Chuck Klosterman’s America, in Esquire, for which he wrote the much-discussed Britney Spears cover story for the magazine’s 70th anniversary issue. He has also written for The New York Times, The Washington Post and GQ.

Sit. Vote. Win.

We need your feedback. We are purchasing some new and much needed chairs for the Library Computer Lab on the 1st floor. You know the ones we're talking about. The ones that practically sit on the floor. The ones you've swivelled until you've developed carpal tunnel syndrome. But they won't adjust anymore. They are b-r-o-k-e-n.

We want to know which type chair you would prefer, so we have a variety of samples for your posterior to test. The chairs share the following criteria:

1. They are all Green Guard certified, have high post consumer (recycled) content and they can be fully recycled at end of life
2. They will all roll
3. None of them have arms

Come to the library March 22 through the 26th and sit in our chairs. The chairs showcase will be held on the first floor in the periodical echo dome, just past the elevators.

BONUS: In addition to getting a great chair, if you give us your email when you vote, you could win a fabulous prize.

Any chair comments, concerns or requests you would like to make, we would like to hear.

This is your space; please help us make it work for you!

Thanks,
Heather
Emerging Technologies Librarian

Library gets Recycle containers

The Library has recycle containers on each floor for plastic drink bottles and aluminum cans.

Please use these containers and help us keep these items from the landfill!

MTSU library employees win awards for excellence

Two library employees will be presented with awards at the annual conference of the Tennessee Library Association (TLA) later this month.


Gwen Williams, secretary in the User Services department of the library, has won the TLA Support Staff award. Gwen communicates with faculty to schedule over 300 library instruction classes each year. She also schedules numerous Research Coach appointments for students, which are one-on-one appointments with librarians. These are both tasks that used to consume a lot of the librarians' time and energy. She always has a smile and something nice to say, and she is a great morale booster for everyone in the library.Gwen is the human gateway to the instructional services we offer, and her friendliness and organizational skills are highly valued.

Kristen West, our instruction librarian, has won the James E. Ward Library Instruction Award. She is responsible for managing our formal library instruction program, developing instructional web pages, tutorials, and guides, and building strategic partnerships with teaching faculty to advance information literacy. Kristen teaches a large share of our 300+ library instuction sessions each year, and she also leads the library's efforts to develop specialized training sessions for classes in several departments. Kristen's dedication to her craft is abundantly clear to those of us who work with her -- we often have to convince her to go home at night rather than staying here to perfect a lesson for the next day (which is already perfect, by the way). In addition, Kristen is very involved in statewide library service committees.

Please join us in congratulating Gwen and Kristen on their accomplishments.

Spring Break Hours

Yes, that's right. While some 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:

March 7: closed

March 8-11: 8-4:30

March 12-13: closed

March 14: 1pm - midnight

See library hours for the whole semester.

Note that we will be closed this weekend and next Saturday.

Have a restful and/or productive Spring Break.

Netbook Survey Results

The results of our Netbook Survey have been tabulated and the response is positive. Students like the netbook. Here are the highlights:

The netbook earned a high score, 41% of survey participants gave it an A while 46% awarded it a B. No one gave it below a C.

The netbook earned high marks in all five areas of portability, connectivity, speed, overall usability, battery and screen size. But students really love its portability, battery life and connectivity.

While we thought the tiny screen might be an issue, but of those who used the netbook, 66% said it was great. (we did have 17 who declined to try the netbook because they thought the screen was too small)

If we buy more netbooks, which are much less expensive and have longer battery life than traditional laptops, survey participants want us to get a something with a DVD drive and, if possible, a better processer.

We asked students to rate by importance the factors were most important when considering a laptop of any kind.

Screen size
Programs available
Speed
Weight
Battery life
Ability to run multiple applications

Survey participants rated speed as the most important factor, followed by programs available. In last place was battery life. What about you? What are most important features you would consider when purchasing a laptop?