Monday, August 29, 2011

Welcome to Walker Library


Here is some basic information to help you get started this Fall. At the James E. Walker Library, you are sure to find exactly what you need.
The Library can assist you with:

· Finding information
· Starting your research
· Navigating our website
· Locating books, articles, and other sources


For Quick Help you can:
· IM / Chat with a Librarian
· EMAIL us
· Text us at 265010
· Call 898-2817
· Visit the Reference Desk (1st flr)
Go to: library.mtsu.edu/help or look for the chat box on the left of each page of the website to get help from a Librarian.


Cool features of the Walker Library
· Over 300 computers & dozens of scanners
· Free printing
· Nearly a million books/magazines
· Check out 20 books for up to 4 wks
· University Writing Center
· Digital Media Studio w/ macs & crazy software
· Group study rooms (some reserveable)
· Wireless internet
· Express Printing Stations
· Laptops for checkout
· Quiet Zones on 3rd & 4th floors
· Starbucks
· We have "fun" books, too!


Additional Library information:
Library Hours
Library Jobs
Get started finding information for your project or paper.
Common Questions for students.
Other Libraries and Archives on campus.
Looking for a textbook?


As a reminder- we are now a smoke free campus. Please, no smoking outside the library door.



Sunday, August 28, 2011

Looking for Room 387?


Ah, yes... the elusive room 387, more difficult to find than Harry Potter's Room of Requirement. Room 387 is a classroom in the library that is utilized by many departments on campus. Its location is on the 3rd floor inside the Curriculum area, which is just off the stairs. Once inside the Curriculum area, proceed to the back left corner (you will pass the information desk and the book shelves), turn down a narrow corridor, and wish really hard for a classroom with desks and a whiteboard.

You may also find the library floor maps useful. Room 387 is labeled on the 3rd floor image.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Printing in the Library

Students, faculty and staff may print in the library by logging on to a computer with their Pipeline username and password.

When you print from a computer in the library, you must release it from the print system before you can retrieve it.

1. Select print on your computer.

2. Look at the name taped to the computer monitor and proceed to the closest print station.

3. Find your computer name on the screen at the print station and lightly tap it. If your computer name is toward the end of the alphabet (e.g., Twain or Wilde) you may need to select the Next button at the bottom of the screen to find it.

4. Tap the print jobs that you wish to print. A check mark should appear next to them.

5. Press Print at the bottom right side of the screen. Press Confirm Printing at the bottom right side of the screen.

Please note that the printers automatically delete jobs of 50 pages or more. If you must print a document this large, you will need to break it up into two or more jobs of 49 pages or less.

At this time, printing is "free" in the library. Free printing is supported primarily by the Technology Access Fees students pay.

Please print wisely.

For more on this story, please read the post Is printing really FREE?

If you just need to quickly print something, you can use our express printing station.
It is on the right as you enter the library and requires a USB drive.

If you need to find an open computer check the availability map on the website.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Library Website Redesign

The library website now has a new look! Our goal was to look more like the rest of the university pages AND to make it easier for you to find the library resources that you need. Many of the links will stay the same as before, but a few have changed, and much of the page content is organized differently. If you have trouble finding something you used a lot, try the site search on the library homepage.



We hope you like the changes that we have made. If you have any comments or suggestions, we'd love to hear them. Please take our very short survey.


Thursday, August 11, 2011

August Intersession Hours

A reminder about library hours during the August recess. Our hours will be shortened during the break.

Hours for August 15-26

M-F: 8-4:30
Sat-Sun: closed

Regular hours resume Saturday, August 27.

For additional hours information, see http://library.mtsu.edu/information/hours.php.

Monday, August 8, 2011

John Adams Exhibit is here!

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. Come see this exhibit before the students move back to campus.

Speakers Panel -- Tuesday, September 13th at 11:20 a.m. 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. Elementary school kids get to meet our nation's second president! SORRY, THIS ONE IS ALREADY FULL!



Friday, August 5, 2011

Easily find and download thousands of ebooks

You knew that we had tons of ebooks, right? Well now you can access a new resource- Ebsco eBook collection (formely NetLibrary)- a resource with thousands of downloadable electronic book on hundreds of subjects. Yes, you can download them to read later on your laptop,tablet iPad, Nook, Kindle, whatever! Ebooks are great for research and not just because you don't have to carry them around campus only to lose them under your bed. Ebooks have easy searching and expanded hyperlinked indexes so you can find the chapter, paragraph or page you need quickly. Often there will be more current books in electronic format than in print.

Here is how you access this gold mine of a collection. On the library main page click, research gateway, find books, then select the ebook collections. Or click here. A nifty search bar makes it simple to search for books

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Cake in the Library!!!!

Check out this cake on display now in the atrium of the Walker Library. It is over 6 feet tall and almost 6 feet long. The cake will be featured in the special Centennial edition of MTSU Magazine coming out in August.

This sculpture was created by Business alum Jay Qualls (of Maples Wedding Cakes & TLC's Cake Boss: The Next Great Baker). The cake is large and quite striking. There are objects located all over the cake that were created to represent many of the things that have made MTSU great in its first 100 years. I encourage you all to take a look!




Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Journal Citation Reports webinars

What is journal impact factor and how can you identify the most important journals in the sciences and social sciences? Learn the answers to both questions by attending one of these online training sessions for Journal Citation Reports.
"2010 Journal Citation Reports - Available NowJournal Citation Reports® offers a systematic, objective means to critically evaluate the world's leading journals, with quantifiable, statistical information based on citation data. By compiling articles' cited references, JCR Web helps to measure research influence and impact at the journal and category levels, and shows the relationship between citing and cited journals. Available in Science and Social Sciences editions." (Thomson Reuters web site)
Learn how to identify the most appropriate, influential journals in which to publish and find the current reading list in your field.
Sign up for one of four upcoming training sessions offered on the Thomson Reuters web site.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Centennial Exhibit in Special Collections

A new exhibit honoring the Centennial anniversary of Middle Tennessee State University is now open in the Special Collections area of the Walker Library at MTSU.

Drawing on its holdings of MTSU materials, Special Collections is presenting an exhibit of photographs, scrapbooks, and memorabilia as well as University and student publications that represent the period of Middle Tennessee State University from its founding in 1911 to approximately 1925.



On display in "The Early Years at MTSU" are early University pennants, commencement invitations, meal tickets, class photographs, literary society records, and university bulletins from the time when MTSU was official known as Middle Tennessee State Normal School.


This exhibit is free and open to the public. Special Collections, open from 8:30 - 4:30 weekdays, is on the 4th floor of the James E. Walker Library.


















New Chairs for Study Rooms

The library is replacing damaged and worn computer chairs in the building on Tuesday. Today (Monday) we are removing all of the rolling chairs from our group studies. They will be replaced with more almost 300 new chairs on Tuesday. We will then discard the most damaged chairs in the building and redistribute chairs from the group studies that are less damaged.

We apologize for any inconvenience this causes to users of group studies today and tomorrow.