Monday, December 12, 2011

Laptop check out suspended over winter break

Laptop check out will be suspended between semesters.  
The last day to check out a laptop will be Dec. 16, and the first day to start up again is Jan. 9.



Tuesday, December 6, 2011

On display in the Library...Holiday Reading




Happy Holidays! Going home for the break? Take one of our Popular Reading books home with you. They are on display next to our tree made of old stock reports that are now available online.

Popular Reading books are the "fun books". We have the latest from the New York Times Bestseller list. You can check these books out for up to 2 weeks.













Students can check out up to 20 books for up to 4 weeks (Popular Reading Books are for 2 weeks). And you can check out books over the break as long as you are a current student.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Poster Printer in the Library!!!!


The Walker Library Technology Services Desk (LTS) now has available a large format printer that students and faculty can use to print poster size. Come to the LTS desk on the 1st floor and check it out.



  • Students, faculty, and staff will need a valid MTSU ID.

  • Files should be brought to the LTS Desk on a USB drive.

  • Only JPEG, TIFF, PDF, PPT, or Word files are accepted.

  • Posters will be printed within one (1) hour.

  • Charges will be added to your My Library Account and the fee can be paid online.

Prices:
$7 per linear foot
$14 for a 2x3 standard poster
$35 for a 3x5 poster

For more info contact the Library Technology Services Desk at 615-898-5666.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Time and Sanity Saving Tips in the Library


The crazy making time known as exams is upon us and we at the Walker Library want to help keep you sane and happy. Here are two tips that should help.

1. Computer Availability Maps- Have you noticed a similarity between trying to find a parking space on campus and trying to find a computer in the library? You circle and circle and pray and swear until you finally find an opening, and when you do, you hope not to have a head on collision or get into an altercation with another seeker. We can't do anything about parking, unfortunately, but now you can determine where the open computers are before you start roaming.

Simply point your smartphone or other mobile device to http://libstats.mtsu.edu:8080/ to see a listing of the computer labs in the library and the available numbers of machines. You can also click on a map of the lab to see exactly where the open computers are.

2. Express Printing. Stop competing with everyone else trolling for computers (see above). Save yourself the shoe leather and go straight to the express printing station located on the first floor in the atrium. Just make sure your document is on a jump drive. Plug it in and print. Then leave. Easy as pie. One note- all documents are two sided.


image from Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Extended Hours for Exams Week



Starting this Sunday the Walker Library will be open extended hours during exams. We will be open til 1a.m. Sunday - Thursday. Please see our hours page for more info.



photo used with permission from the William and Mary Law School at the Marshall-Wythe School of law. Flickr download, april 20, 2011. http://www.flickr.com/photos/wolflawlibrary/2417195782/

Monday, November 28, 2011

Thanksgiving Hours


Library Hours Nov 23-27

Wed 11/23 - 7:30am to 10:00pm
Thur 11/24 - closed
Fri 11/25 - closed
Sat 11/26 - closed
Sun 11/27 - 1:00pm to midnight


*see complete library hours on our website







photo credit: "Freedom from Want", Norman Rockwell. Saturday Evening Post, 1943


Thursday, November 17, 2011

Books, books, and more books!



· The Walker Library now has over ONE MILLION books!

· Undergrads can check out 20 books, graduate & honors students can check out 50 books, all for up to 4 weeks.

You can check out and return books at the Circulation Desk.

· We have fun books too! The Popular Reading collection (in the “Lounge”—1st flr.) has the latest from the New York Times Bestseller list. You can check these books out for up to 2 weeks.

Currently enrolled students may check out books over the winter break! This extension of check out privileges also applies to current adjunct faculty. Patrons wishing to check out materials over the break will simply need to show their valid MTSU ID at checkout.

· Go to library.mtsu.edu and click on My Library Account where you can:

* See your account balance
* Pay your fines- All fines must be paid online now. We don' t take cash at the library.
* See the items you checked out
* See when items are due
* Search for materials
* IM a librarian for help

Just login w/ your Pipeline User Name & password.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

100 years, 1 million library volumes for MTSU

The Walker Library has reached an historic milestone with the acquisition of its one-millionth volume -- the first book published in Tennessee -- in MTSU’s 100th year.

Laws of the State of Tennessee was printed in Knoxville in 1803 by George Roulstone, a native Bostonian who moved his printing press to Tennessee at the urging of William Blount. Blount was governor of the territory south of the Ohio River before Tennessee’s admission to the Union in 1796.


Roulstone initially set up the first printing press in Rogersville, in what would become Tennessee, and began printing the Knoxville Gazette newspaper as well as legal and theological works in 1791.


Laws of the State of Tennessee was printed on “low-quality handmade paper,” according to Dr. Alan Boehm, director of special collections for the library, and was bound with what appears to be pigskin stretched over pressed sheets of paper to form the cover.


Since the title page is not set off from the table of contents and there is little space separating topics on the pages, Boehm concludes that Roulstone “couldn’t afford to waste paper, apparently.”


The Early Tennessee Imprints collection in the Walker Library’s Special Collections includes some 200 books and other print materials produced in Tennessee between 1791 and 1866, the first year after the Civil War.

“Every book is a cultural artifact, and its physical and material properties tell you something about literacy and reading and writing and authorship in that book’s time,” says Boehm.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Celebrating Veterans Day


Veterans Day is the day set aside to thank and honor all those who served honorably in the military - in wartime or peacetime. There are over 25 million veterans living in the United States, and over 500,000 in Tennessee.

President Woodrow Wilson created the holiday in 1919 on the first anniversary of the 1918 armistice that ended World War I. It was known as Armistice Day. The day was to be marked with a two minute silence at 11:00 am followed by parades and celebrations.

In 1921 Congress passed legislation to establish the the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It was opened with the burial of an unknown soldier from World War I in the Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. on Armistice Day.

November 11 became an official national holiday in the United States in 1938. In 1954 the name was changed to Veterans Day to honor those who had served in all U.S. wars. Ceremonies are held each year at the Tomb of the Unknowns, and floral tributes are placed on the graves of service men and women and at memorials throughout the country. Naturalization ceremonies have come to be an important part of the day’s activities.

Here are a list of resources in the library if you would like to learn more :
http://bit.ly/veteransdaybooks

Some website links of interest (and our sources for this post)

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

LRC collections move to Library in December

The Media Library, the Music Library, the LRC University Computer Lab, and the Graduate Multimedia Development Center (GMDC), currently located in LRC 101, will move temporarily to Walker Library at the end of final exams. Both libraries, the University Computer Lab, the GMDC, and the LRC 101B computer classroom will be open to faculty and students in their normal LRC locations through 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 15.

The LRC University Computer Lab and GMDC, when re-opened in Walker Library Room 262, will continue to provide the discipline specific and specialized software that students and faculty are accustomed to using in the labs' current LRC locations. In particular, Adobe Creative Suite 5, SPSS, SAS, Finale, and other frequently used packages will continue to be available in Walker Library 262.

Because the Media Library collection will be located separately from Room 262 in Walker Library, accessing requested items will require more time than usual. Therefore, faculty and graduate students are strongly encouraged to contact one of the Media Library staff ( http://frank.mtsu.edu/~imr/staff.html ) as early in each semester as possible to reserve media to be checked out and to be assigned for student viewing. Patrons checking out audio books are also strongly encouraged to reserve them at least 24 hours prior to picking them up.

Our temporary locations are
Media Library - Walker Library Room 262
LRC University computer lab and GMDC - Walker Library Room 262
Music Library - Walker Library, first floor: Music Librarian and media collection at the circulation desk; scores in the Reference Collection room.

Operating hours for the Media Library, LRC University computer lab, and GMDC beginning Friday, December 16, are:
Friday, December 16: closed to patrons, staff available via email and phone
Saturday - Sunday, December 17-18: closed
Monday - Friday, December 19 - 23: closed to patrons, staff available via email and phone
Saturday - Monday, December 24 - January 2: closed
Tuesday - Friday, January 3 - 6: open 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Saturday - Sunday, January 7 - 8: closed
Monday - Wednesday, January 9 - 11: open 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Thursday, January 12: resume regular hours ( http://frank.mtsu.edu/~imr/hours.html )
Sunday - Monday, January 15 - 16: closed
Tuesday, January 17: resume regular hours ( http://frank.mtsu.edu/~imr/hours.html )

Operating hours for the Music Library beginning Friday, December 16, are
Friday, December 16: closed to patrons, staff available via email and phone
beginning Saturday, December 17: open/closed according to Walker Library's operating hours ( http://library.mtsu.edu/hours.php )

If you have any questions about our temporary relocation, please contact one of these staff members:

Media Library - Gail Fedak, gfedak@mtsu.edu, 2899
Music Library - Sarah Brown, sbrown@mtsu.edu, 2751
LRC University computer lab and GMDC - Anthony Tate, atate@mtsu.edu, 8204

ARTstor online training

Do you want to get started using advanced ARTstor features and create custom collections for your classes? The Walker Library is offering a one hour webinar, hosted by an ARTstor trainer, this Friday, 11/4 at 2:00 pm.

The trainer will provide an introduction to ARTstor and then cover advanced features and instructor-level tools.

The ARTstor database contains digital collections from over 130 museum and cultural heritage centers including the J. Paul Getty Museum, the American Folk Art Museum, the The Art Institute of Chicago, and the The British Library, to name a few. It includes 1.3+ million images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and sciences.

ARTstor is a non-profit online digital image library designed to serve educational and scholarly communities. ARTstor provides tools and software to search, present, and share digital images both online and offline for research and pedagogical purposes.

Instructors can create folders and add descriptions and upload files to share with students. For instructor level access, contact mepozzeb@mtsu.edu.

To register:

Just click on the link and have individuals register for a seat:

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/593261152

Please also take note of the following system requirements:

PC-based attendees

Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server

Macintosh®-based attendees

Required: Mac OS® X 10.5 or newer

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Tennessean & DNJ archives

Yesterday’s news: Search local news archives

We all like to know what’s going on in our community. We lost coverage to our local papers due to an exclusive distribution arrangement by Gannett News. Now they’re back! The Walker Library and the Tennessee Electronic Library have made it possible for you to search the archives of the Daily News Journal (DNJ) and the Tennessean. The DNJ is available from 1999-present and the Tennessean is available from 2002-present.

These resources are available on the Walker Library site at library.mtsu.edu on following pages: Databases A-Z, Newspapers, and Current Events & Issues.

If you need help with these or any other resources click here to talk to a Librarian!

Friday, October 14, 2011

Mobile Library Website


Now you can get easier access to the library website using your smart phone.

Our mobile site is located at http://library.mtsu.edu/m

Get Library Hours

Look up a book

Find Articles

Text, Call or Email a Librarian

Find an open computer in the library

Renew your books or pay fines

Now more than ever, you don't have to be at the library to use the library.

Let us know what you think of our mobile site. Please take a short survey.

The mobile site has been tested on an iPhone, Android, and Blackberry phone in Safari and Opera Mini browsers.


Thursday, October 13, 2011

SciFinder Scholar now has links to full-text holdings

Use the Full Text link in SciFinder Scholar to find the full text online, in the library, or through interlibrary loan. Make sure your browser has pop-ups enabled for cas.org.

When you find an article in SciFinder Scholar, click the 'Full Text' link:



The article may open up in another database, like ScienceDirect:



Or you may see online or in-print retrieval options:



If it's not available, use the interlibrary loan link to request it from another library:



Find more sources on the Chemistry Information Sources page. Find help with your research on the Guides and Help page.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Fall Break Hours

MTSU Walker Library Fall Break Hours*

Sat, Oct 15 - closed
Sun, Oct 16 - closed
Mon, Oct 17 - 8am to 4:30pm
Tues, Oct 18 - 8am to midnight

Enjoy your Fall Break!


*see complete library hours on our website

-------------------
photo credit: homeintennessee on Flickr

Monday, October 3, 2011

Marie Curie Comes to Walker Library

History speaks on October 5th at 6:30 in the library. Marie Curie comes alive to tell her story on the 100th anniversary of her receiving the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1911. She was also the first person to win in two different categories, Physics and Chemistry. A reception will follow the interview with Marie Curie in Room 475 in the library.

The exhibit and interview will take place in the reading area on the first floor of the library. The exhibit will include posters of famous women scientists and books about women in science. A contest to correctly identify famous women in science, math, engineering and technology will run until October 31st. The winning entry will win a Kindle.


Marie Curie 1903/1911 Nobel Prize
. Photography. Encyclopædia Britannica Image Quest. Web. 3 Oct 2011.
http://quest.eb.com/media/image.htm?mediaId=139_1992258

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

SciFinder Scholar Training

References, substances, reactions, oh my!

SciFinder Scholar has moved online, and a lot has changed. Peter Blasi, from Chemical Abstracts Service, will be here October 12 at 12:30 in Library 264A to provide training on this important resource for research in Chemistry. Mr. Balsi will show you how to get the most out of your research.

An RSVP is required. Please RSVP at the Library web site.

Please also complete a SciFinder registration if you plan to attend.

Friday, September 23, 2011

How to Use the MTSU Library- Academic Success Series

Tuesday, October 4th at 4:30pm - Walker Library 272

Come play BINGO and learn what successful MTSU students know about the
library.

Topics covered include:

  • Time-saving online research sites and citation tools
  • Getting the most out of Google Scholar
  • Tips for finding an open computer in the library
  • Library tools and services

Future Academic Success Series cover
  • Thinking critically
  • How to give a winning presentation (NOT in the C. Sheen way, we hope)
  • How to prepare for final exams

All sessions meet in the Library. Click here for more details.

Bingo Cards. Photography. Encyclopædia Britannica Image Quest. Web. 23 Sep 2011. http://quest.eb.com/media/image.htm?mediaId=132_1251692

Banned Books Week

Celebrate YOUR freedom to read during Banned Books Week, September 24−October 1, 2011

You can check out books from our cart of banned and challenged books in the Walker library atrium.

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. Held during the last week of September, Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States.

The American Library Association has compiled information about some of the most challenged books from last year.

For more information, visit http://www.ala.org/bbooks/

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

New Resources for Digital Images Available

We have new resources that give you access to millions of images to enhance your research and class projects.








ARTstor Digital Library:

The ARTstor database contains digital collections from over 130 museum and cultural heritage centers including the J. Paul Getty Museum, the American Folk Art Museum, the The Art Institute of Chicago, and the The British Library, to name a few.

1.3+ million images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and sciences

Multi-disciplinary Subject Guides

ARTstor Mobile for iPad, iPhone, and iTouch

New collections monthly from 200+ contributors

ARTstor is a non-profit online digital image library designed to serve educational and scholarly communities. ARTstor provides tools and software to search, present, and share digital images both online and offline for research and pedagogical purposes.

Instructors can create folders and add descriptions to share with students. For instructor level access, contact mepozzeb@mtsu.edu.















Image Quest:

Image Quest is the best and broadest collection of proprietary educational imagery. It includes images from 43 of the best collections: Corbis, Dorling Kindersley Images, Getty Images, the National Portrait Gallery of London, the National Geographic Society, Oxford Scientific and more!

Currently Over 2,000,000 Images with plans to add many more

Instructors can incorporate the images in their classes and research

Students can use the site for homework assignments and course projects

All images are rights-cleared for non-commercial, educational use!

Images can be downloaded, printed, saved OR emailed as jpegs or gifs










Berg Fashion Library:

The authority on world dress, the Berg Fashion Library is a unique online portal which offers fully cross-searchable access to an expanding range of Berg content collections including the Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion online, e-books, reference works, images, and much more.

Students and scholars in disciplines as diverse as anthropology, art history, history, sociology, geography, folklore, museum studies, theatre, and cultural studies as well as fashion and textiles will find the Berg Fashion Library a treasury of fascinating insights into people and cultures all over the world.

These resources are accessible through our website at library.mtsu.edu,click on Databases A-Z.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Proxy Borrowing for Faculty

Each semester, we get many requests about proxy borrowing from MTSU faculty. They want to send over their ID with their graduate student assistant in hopes that we can check out materials onto their (the faculty member's) card. While we definitely don't want to inconvenience anyone wanting to check out library materials, it is for the faculty's protection that we have them complete the proxy borrowing form first.

Here are the complete details, as posted on our website. (The form is located under Library Forms as well as in this information section for faculty under Circulation.)

MTSU faculty and administrators may designate a graduate assistant, student worker or staff member to act as a Proxy Borrower. The designated individual is able to borrow books and other materials for the faculty member on the faculty account.
• To designate a proxy borrower, the faculty member should complete and sign the faculty portion of the Proxy Student Borrowing Form.
• The student who will act as the proxy should complete their portion of the form and bring the form, their own student ID and the faculty ID to the Circulation Desk to establish the account. After that, only the student’s ID will be needed to borrow materials.
• A processing time of 24-48 hours is required before materials can be borrowed utilizing the student’s ID.
• Student proxies borrow on behalf of the faculty member. The faculty member is responsible for all materials borrowed.

What is that thing on the Centennial Cake?

The Centennial Cake in the atrium is topped with a coconut shell fashioned into a head. Ever wonder what it has to do with MTSU? Thanks to Mayo Taylor, intrepid librarian, we have the answer.
That’s Harvey. Back in the 1950s there was a fierce football rivalry between MTSU and Tennessee Tech. The competition garnered the interest of Fred Harvey of Harvey’s Department Store, who awarded an Alaskan totem pole to be used as a rotating game prize. The plan was for the winner of the annual clash between the football teams to house the prize for the following year but it became a great sport for the other school to steal the totem pole, usually in the week leading up to the next big game. MTSU always called the totem pole Harvey but at Tennessee Tech it was knows as the Shinny-Ninny because of the antics of a school mascot who liked to feign comic fits when he had control of the pole.

This and other odd trivia can be found by searching through the online editions of Midlander that are included in the MTSU Memory digital collection.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Science & Spirituality Brown Bag

4th Annual MTSU Science & Spirituality Forum 2011: What Can The Dying Teach The Living?

First Brown Bag lunch discussion - Setting the Stage
Thursday, September 15
11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Room 475, Walker Library
Bring your own lunch (brown bag optional)

Scott Owings, Chaplain, Guardian Hospice, Franklin, Tennessee
Jackie Clevenger, Chaplain, Middle Tennessee Medical Center, Murfreesboro

The MTSU Science & Spirituality Forum hosts brown bag lunch discussions on a topic that leads up to a symposium speaker. This year’s theme is What Can The Dying Teach The Living? Join us for the first of several brown bags this semester.

For more information on the forum visit: http://library.mtsu.edu/spirituality/aboutus.php

Friday, September 9, 2011

Constitution Week Activities




MTSU Centennial Constitution Week 2011

Constitutional Responsibility and Civil Society

September 11-20, 2011

Click here for a list of events.


What is Constitution Day?

The signing of the U.S. Constitution on September 17, 1787, by the Founding Fathers is one of the most important and influential events in American history, establishing the many rights and freedoms “We the People” enjoy today.


September 17, Constitution Day is celebrated each year all over the country. MTSU is celebrating Constitution Week, September 11 - 17, 2011 with many activities all over campus. These events are sponsored by: The American Democracy Project, Distinguished Lecture Committee, James E. Walker Library, MTSU Public History Program, Center for Student Involvement and Leadership, John Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

John Adams Exhibit Activities THIS WEEK

The Walker Library is one of only 20 libraries in the country picked to host John Adams: Unbound, a traveling exhibit funded by an NEH grant. John Adams Unbound explores Adams’ personal library – a collection of 3,500 books willed by Adams to the people of Massachusetts and deposited in the Boston Public Library in 1894.

This remarkable collection of books provides first-hand insight into how John Adams shaped American history and how he was shaped through his lifelong dedication to reading and books. Through photo-reproductions of these annotated volumes, viewers will witness one of our founding fathers wrestling with intellectual and political ideas at every stage in his long life – as a boy, university student, Boston lawyer, revolutionary, diplomat, President and citizen of the early American republic.

Exhibition Dates August 17 through September 30, 2011

Location Walker Library, 1st floor

Events

**Opening reception
Thursday, August 25th at 10:30 a.m.
1st floor just past the elevators
Come see this exhibit before the students move back to campus.

**Speakers Panel
Tuesday, September 13th at 11:20 a.m.
1st floor just past the elevators

The Legacy of John Adams: a panel of MTSU experts speak on John Adams and his lasting influence.

**Community Event

Wednesday, September 14th at 1:00 p.m.
1st floor just past the elevators
Elementary school kids get to meet our nation's second president!
SORRY, THIS ONE IS ALREADY FULL!

**Print on the replica 18th century Printing Press

Thursday, September 15 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Walker Library Portico (in front of the Library, by the columns)
Print your own copy of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution on the University’s replica 18th-century printing press


This is Constitution Week, check out all the events going on on campus.