| Summer Break 2009 | |
|---|---|
| May 16 – June 14, | |
| Monday – Friday | 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM |
| Saturday – Sunday | CLOSED |
Archive for May, 2009
MIIS Library Summer Break Hours
May 29th, 2009 by pliuRecent additions to the Vermont Collection
May 29th, 2009 by Hans RaumSubmitted by Hans Raum
Earlier this month I attended the annual convention of the Rutland Railroad Historical Society, held at the Vermont Marble Museum in Proctor on May 2-3. I accepted donations of historical material from three members and took photographs of several marble quarries and railroad bridges that I visited during one of the field trips. The oldest item that was donated to the Rutland Railroad Archives that is part of our Vermont Collection was an 1851 annual report of the Rutland & Burlington Railroad, which was the earliest ancestor of the Rutland Railroad.
The advent of railroads in Vermont was crucial to the economic development of the state, including the marble, granite, slate, lumber and dairy industries.
Thank You!
May 29th, 2009 by Doreen Bernier
Heartfelt thanks to all of you in LIS for your good wishes and for Wednesday’s lovely send-off breakfast for the four of us! I feel fortunate to have been able to work with you all these years. With fond best wishes, Jean Simmons
Video of Mashups Workshop
May 22nd, 2009 by Carrie MacfarlaneSubmitted by Carrie Macfarlane
Thanks to Jack Cuneo for leading this week’s LISterine Workshop on mashups, and thanks to all who attended. Thanks also to Scott Witt for recording the session! If you weren’t able to attend, you can watch the video; there’s a link in the LISterine blog.
LIS Breakfast to Honor Jean, Jeannette, Patty and Mary-Ruth
May 22nd, 2009 by Elin WaagenSubmitted by Elin Waagen
Please join your LIS co-workers for a Continental Breakfast Buffet to honor Jean Simmons, Jeannette Cyr, Patty Hornbeck & Mary-Ruth Crawford.
Main Library Panther Reading Room
Wednesday 5/27
8:30 am – 10 am
Bring your ID – the Libraries will not open until 10 am.
Please contact Carol, Michael W, Michele, Rick J, Brenda or Elin if you have any questions.
Hope to see you there!
LIS Staff Meeting Notes, 21 May 2009
May 22nd, 2009 by Michael Roy1. Various updates:
- Project Directory: Mike Roy and Chris Norris are in the early stages of designing a project directory for all of LIS that will will help raise awareness about the various projects that LIS is involved with and help clarify how these projects relate to specific departmental and institutional goals. We are really looking forward to working with each area to compile a comprehensive overview of projects that can be shared within LIS and beyond.
- Goal setting : We hope to establish LIS-wide goals for the upcoming year by the of July. These goals should like to our mission, main things, and the projects (listed in our project directory, see above) can then be linked to these goals. We hope to offer better guidance and support in the formulation of goals.
- Teams . We will start with three teams: educational technology, LIS website, and digitization; training on teams to take place June 16th – June 19th. Stay tuned for more information.
- Early Retirement Program. We have been developing plans for how to keep LIS functioning and delivery quality services with a reduced number of people. We will be going to SRC very soon with a plan ; our focus is on a) redeployment and b) stopping things.
- Web makeover: Lots going on as we move forward with this project. See http://go.middlebury.edu/webmakeover/ for the latest news, schedule, and opportunities to participate in this project.
2. Ron McKinnon gave a very nice presentation on the accomplishments of the Phoenix Project to date, and its future plans.
(If I left anything out, please feel free to add comments.)
AD Notes from May 7th Meeting
May 15th, 2009 by Doreen BernierPresent: the usual suspects (Backus, Cutter, Peddie, Rehbach, Roy, Sax, Simpkins)
1) LIS Announcements – The group reviewed and edited emails to be distributed to LIS regarding ERP participants, “stopping things” and about the Segue sunset. We agreed these will be sent as separate emails. Mike will also send a separate email to ERP participants to let them know that a general announcement will be distributed.
2) ERP celebrations – The college will be holding a college-wide celebration for ERP folks sometime in May or early June. We discussed perhaps having some smaller LIS gatherings as well, since the larger one may feel slightly impersonal. Timing is an issue, since retirements are happening anytime from June to November. Carol will be coordinating.
3) Goals/Projects – We talked more about what should happen to ideas coming out of the advisory group meetings, how we can keep faculty informed, and how we process them internally. Shel will meet with Carrie Macfarlane and Bryan Carson to review the list of items compiled from this year’s advisory group meetings and discuss plans for tracking these ideas and their outcomes. Jim Beauchemin should also be invited to this meeting.
4) Project Directory – Mike and Chris Norris are beginning work on this. We talked a bit about the difference between a goal and a project, with a fair amount of semantic wrangling over nomenclature, but eventually we all came to the common understanding that for each LIS goal, there will be a series of projects and or other discrete steps enacted in support of achieving the goal.
5) MIIS/Midd new programs – Jeff is gathering information on frequency and types of formal (as well as occasional/informal) communications between Midd and MIIS library and IT staff, at the request of Dave Donahue (who is tracking this for all areas across campus). As Monterey and Middlebury explore joint academic program offerings, we’ll need to be assess how these will be supported by and/or otherwise impact LIS.
Library Massage Parlor
May 15th, 2009 by Doreen BernierSubmitted by Joseph Watson
“Did you see the massage parlor in the library?” a colleague asked…
In coordination with the Gus Jordan, Dean of the College, two students, Mariella Saavedra and Ann Selvadurai, working as volunteers for a nationwide group promoting wellness called Active Minds http://www.activeminds.org/ sponsored stress breaks with massage therapists in the Harman Periodicals Reading Area during exams this week. The two local professional massage therapists were kept quite busy!
The future of everything…
May 15th, 2009 by Michael RoyAs part of my work as an editor at Academic Commons, I’ve been working on a new issue that we’re calling The Future of Everything. You can read more about the plans for the issue on-line.
As part of the run-up to the publication of the issue, which will take the form of an anthology of the best writing and resources that contemplate the future of various topics, we’ve set up a delicious account and are crowdsourcing the collection of readings.
If you happen to use delicious and have bookmarked particularly good readings and resources on topics such as the future of reference, the future of the book, the future of the web, and so on, please feel free to suggest materials by tagging them for:academiccommons. (There is a brief description of how this works also on-line.)
Thanks so far to Mike Lynch for suggesting some good materials on the future of reference.
– mike
Information Behavior of Researchers – Myths of a Google Generation
May 15th, 2009 by Judy WattsSubmitted by Judy Watts
A January 2008 report by a research team (CIBER) at University College London for the British Library and JISC, the Joint Information Systems Committee that promotes the use of academic IT in the UK, shows that while most young people in the US and UK are completely at home with computers, they rely on the most basic search tools and do not possess the critical and analytical skills to assess the information they find on the web. The report ‘Information Behavior of the Researcher of the Future’ also shows that traits commonly associated with younger users – impatience in search and navigation, zero tolerance for any delay in satisfying their information needs – are becoming the norm for all age-groups, from young students through undergraduates to professors. The study warns that young people are dangerously lacking in informations skills and presents the challenges for library and information services in meeting the needs of researchers.
The Executive Summary of the report is a good read (and worth a look just for the cover graphic). You can find the full report here, and more recent publications of the JISC group, e.g., Higher Education in a Web 2.0 World, are listed here.
New WordPress Theme
May 15th, 2009 by Alex Chapin
I have been working on a new WordPress theme for use at Middlebury. I wanted to create a flexible theme that could be used for a variety of sites or could be used to evolve a small simple site into a larger more complex one. I also wanted to create a theme with options similar to those found in Segue, to encourage Segue users to try out WordPress.
(more…)
LISterine Workshop: Entering the World of Mashups
May 8th, 2009 by Carrie MacfarlaneSubmitted by Bryan Carson and Carrie Macfarlane
The next LISterine Workshop (LIS Technology, Endeavors, and Resources in Need of Explanation) has been scheduled. On Tuesday, May 19, from 4-5 pm in Library 105, Digital Media Tutors and LIS-GIS Team members Jue Yang and Jack Cuneo will present Entering the World of Mashups. Watch your inbox for an invitation.
Want to present a workshop? Want someone else to present? Tell us!
Print Management: Phase 1
May 8th, 2009 by Virginia BukowskiSubmitted by Ginny Bukowski
Between May 20 and May 27, Jeff Lahaie, Brian Foley, and Petar Mitrevshi will place print release stations in the following public printing locations:
Main Library
Armstrong Science Library
Music Library
Sunderland (computing labs)
Munroe 214
Axinn 105
Robert A. Jones (basement)
As always, students, faculty, and staff will be able to print to any of these printers but will be required to release the job in order for it to print. Guests will have to pay for their printing as of June 8 and will be limited to black and white printers in the Middlebury libraries. Guests are people not in Active Directory and include, but are not limited to, regional visitors, potential students and their families, alumni, and dependents of staff and faculty.
We are aware of a few categories of people who are not in Active Directory (not active students, faculty, staff) or guests such as teaching assistants as well as Language Schools doctoral candidates and Language Schools’ week-long guests. For the time being, they must print via local or departmental printers. If you know of additional groups who fall into this category, please let Ginnie know.
Carol and Doreen are creating the cards and the accompanying internal accounting system. LIS will sell guest printing cards to the college, who will sell them at the bookstore, MiddExpress, and Wilson Café. Through these $5 cards guests will be able to create and maintain a PaperCut printing account. Cards will be non-refundable. They will have a warning that the guest should treat them like cash. The college will not be responsible for them once sold. For those of you at customer service points, you will receive complimentary cards for people who have legitimate grievances such poor printing quality.
Departmental guests will have the option to use the host department’s printer at no charge. If there is a guest who is in need of a public printer for an extended time, the host department will need to purchase a card or cards for that individual.
Of course, your printing to departmental or local printers will not change because they are not public printers.
Mary, Linda, Elin, Joseph, Mike, and I are working on the various communications required. An announcement by Mike to the college is imminent.
Of course, there will be an adjustment period for those who use public printers; we hope you agree that the reduction in wasted resources will make this stage worthwhile. Your support and understanding, especially of those who interact with users of the printers, will be appreciated.
You may be wondering, “What about student quotas?” Mike asked Jon Isham’s economics class to assess student quotas. Once that information has been provided along with collected usage data, quotas will be discussed in Phase 3 over the fall term. In the meantime, Phase 2 will be an assessment of release stations and guest printing. Phase 2.5 will be what may be done for the non-Active Directory and non-guest categories.
Going away? LIS wants to know!
May 8th, 2009 by Judy WattsSubmitted by Judy Watts
I’m headed to Scotland tomorrow, and while people don’t need to know the details of where I’ll be, it may be useful for them to know that I will be away. Here’s what I did to enter that information in a place that everyone can see. In Outlook, open
Public Folders – All Public Folders – LIS – LIS Calendar
Enter your time away and save the entry. If you want to put it on your personal calendar, open it again, pull down the “Actions” menu and click on “Copy to personal calendar:. (Or, while you are creating the item, click on “Invite attendees” and invite yourself. Accept the invitation when you are back in your Outlook mail and it will be on your personal calendar.)
If you don’t use Outlook, you can ask someone who does, including the Information Desk, to make the entry for you.
Thanks for doing this. It helps us all.
Library Hours – Exams and 24/7
May 8th, 2009 by Elin WaagenSubmitted by Elin Waagen
Extended library hours begin this Sunday night (technically Monday).
Hours are posted on the web – check library hours or type go/hours in your browser.
Students will need their MiddCards to enter the Main Library after 11 pm and before regular opening hours.
Main Library – 24/7 hours are effective the last week of classes and the exam period 5/4 – 18 for MiddCard holders only.
Music Library – regular semester hours are in effect.
Armstrong Library – extended hours during exam weekend 5/15-17.
Trial access to IMF statistical databases
May 8th, 2009 by Brenda EllisSubmitted by Brenda Ellis
Wonder how we get new library databases? Librarians are inundated by offers for new databases as well as offers to migrate existing resources to online versions or new platforms, which we investigate for relevancy to the curriculum, ease of use, cost, etc. The publishers often give us “trial” access for online resources so we can try before we buy. We currently get a number of statistical publications from the IMF (Int’l Monetary Fund) in print format and/or CD-Rom. We have trial access to the online versions until May 31st. (single user access to the online should cost about the same as what we currently pay for print/cd-roms). Try them out and see if you can figure out how to use them. Comments to me are welcome. Here are the databases:
International Financial Statistics
These are also on the Economics Subject Guide go/econguide and the new databases/trials page go/trials
Exhibit: Frances Dee and the Commodification of the Hollywood Star
May 8th, 2009 by Brenda EllisSubmitted by Brenda Ellis
Axinn Center Winter Garden continuing through August 31st.
Description:
The process of commodification required the frequent reworking of promotional materials devoted to extending a film and its stars pervasively into the public sphere. This exhibit offers more than one hundred representative materials employed by Hollywood studios in marketing not only her films but actress Frances Dee as a star. They include the most common items — posters, lobby cards, photographs, press books, heralds, fan magazines, etc. — to the more obscure — cigarette cards, matchbooks, photoplay editions of novels, film novelizations in magazine format, study guides, playing cards, makeup kits, Coca-Cola trays, dress patterns, and paper dolls. In selecting these materials, a conscious effort has been made to document that Hollywood marketing campaigns were aimed not solely to American filmgoers but to a vast international audience, from Europe to Asia to Latin and South America, who eagerly consumed Hollywood films and their stars.
MIIS Library Acquisitions & Serials Update
May 8th, 2009 by pliuSubmitted by Peter Liu
As part of the ongoing integration process with Middlebury, we have been looking at our respective internal work flows in technical services where need to be aligned.
Since the fall of 2008, the MIIS Acquisitions Librarian, Erika Johnson (erika.johnson@miis.edu), has been using Blackwell and its Collection Manager as one of the primary book vendors. As a result, a majority of our recent book orders have being placed via Blackwell Library Services.
Beginning with the Spring 2009 semester, Erika is also handling all of our serials responsibilities. In addition to overseeing the purchasing, cancellation, invoicing, receipt, processing, and shelving of print periodicals and journals (including check-in, claiming, and binding), she now also manages the authentication, activation and maintenance of access to electronic journals through EBSCO’s A-to-Z list and electronic journals service (EJS).
LIS Staff Art Exhibit June 8 – 22
May 8th, 2009 by Elin WaagenSubmitted by Elin Waagen
Calling all LIS staff artists!
The LIS Staff Arts and Crafts exhibit has been scheduled in the Main Library Atrium for June 8 – 22. Submissions are trickling in – please let me know as soon as possible if you would be interested in displaying your work.
Thanks,
Elin – waagen@middlebury.edu X 2393