CUSTOMS begins!

Welcome incoming Freshmen!



CUSTOMS sessions begin tomorrow and last throughout the summer. CUSTOMS is the Middle Tennessee State University new student orientation program. CUSTOMS helps new undergraduate students make the transition into the university; prepares new students for MTSU's educational opportunities; and initiates the integration of new students into the intellectual, cultural, and social climate of the institution.

Because you are about to be an official student at MTSU we want to give you the low down on the Walker Library.

Check out our Library Hours. Good news!!! Starting in the Fall we are open a half an hour earlier in the mornings and open two hours later at night!

Computers are a big deal over here (we have over 350 of them).

Like Macs? Check out the Digital Media Studio.

We have over a million volumes in the library. See our borrowing privileges.

Get expert HELP from Librarians.

The University Writing Center is right here!

And we have a full service Starbucks!

What more could you want?

Mulitple tech problems in the library today (with updates)

We are experiencing a perfect storm of technology problems in the library today.

1. A failed server in ITD is preventing logging in on public computers all across campus. The library computers are currently unavailable, except for a handful of Macs in the Digital Media Studio on the 2nd floor.

Update, 4:10 pm : Computers are back in business!

2. Off-campus access to most library databases is currently unavailable. Here is a limited workaround for article access.

Update, 4:10 pm : Off-campus access is back!

3. Wireless access is currently unavailable in the library.

Update 4:10 pm: Wireless is still down.
Update, 5/22/12: Wireless is back!

Many people are working hard to resolve these issues, but regrettably, we don't have a timeline

for when they will be resolved. We'll update you as the problems are fixed.

Contact us if you have any questions or if we might be able to help you access something.

Off campus database access interruption

We are currently experiencing problems with off-campus access to our article databases. We are working on a solution, but in the meantime, here is a way to get access to articles from a few of our EBSCO databases (such as Academic Search Premier, PsycInfo, and more).

1. Log in to your MTSU Library Account. Use Option 2 to login, which is your name and the barcode on the back of your MTSU ID (the one starting with 23082).

2. Next, search the catalog from the Books and More tab on the library homepage or directly at http://infosearch.mtsu.edu.

3. Search for your topic. The initial results screen shows books, ebooks, videos, and websites, but not articles. To view journal articles, go to the top of the screen and click on the Articles link. This will give you a list of articles on your topic.

4. Select an article and click on the Full Text links to view articles in the native databases.

Logging into your Library Account with option 2 should also grant you off-campus access to E-books that you find through the Infosearch catalog.

Library Closed and Website Down May 9

Due to a scheduled campus-wide power outage, the library will be closed all day on Wednesday, May 9. The library website will be offline from approximately 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. All systems will be back online and the library will be open regular hours on Thursday May 10.

Read more about the power outage, affected campus services, and squirrel saboteurs at http://www.dnj.com/article/20120507/NEWS/305020044.

Stock up on summer reading!

Students who were enrolled in Spring 2012 may check out books over the summer, even if not enrolled for summer classes. The check out period is 28 days* and you may renew up to three times online.⁺ All other regular borrowing policies apply.

Did you graduate? Alumni may check out up to 4 books at a time and have in-house use of research databases.

Also, any Tennessee resident over 18 may check out 2 books. Bring proof of residence the first time you come to borrow.

So grab some summer reading! Check out our collection of NY Times bestsellers* or grab some fiction from the 4th floor.

*The Popular Reading collection (NYT bestsellers) circulates for 2 weeks with one renewal.

⁺If someone places a hold on a book you will be unable to renew it and you are responsible for returning it promptly, even if you're back home in Alaska or vacationing in Bora Bora.

Distinguished Alumni Lecture FRIDAY

Please join the College of Liberal Arts, the Geosciences Department, and the James E. Walker Library for an informal talk by one of this year’s MTSU Distinguished Alumni, Alice Hudson.

Friday, May 4
10:00am
Buchanan Room (4th floor), James E. Walker Library

Alice Hudson, BA in geography, MTSU, 1969, and MLS 1970 from Peabody, will speak informally on her career at New York Public Library Map Division, where she spent 39 years working and playing with some 400,000 maps, and 60,000 atlases, dating from the 17th century to the present. She curated numerous map exhibitions at NYPL, spoke about maps around the world, and has numerous publications, all focusing on the history of cartography. Her degree in geography from MTSU got her the job, and she has always considered herself a geographer, and is grateful to MTSU for a most joyous career.


Check out this recent story about Ms. Hudson in the MTSU Magazine.