They're ba-ack...

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="194"] She's reviewing the Periodic Table of Elements in her head, we promise.[/caption]

Making a triumphant return this Reading Day, one of the most popular stress busters offered by the library will be available to students here at Coe once again.  That's right, the library will be offering chair massages once again as a way for students to unwind on Reading Day prior to finals!  The chair massages will be Tuesday, December 10th from 10 AM-3 PM, in the Perrine Gallery.  Massages will each be 10 minutes long, and they will be free!  So how do you get one, and what’s the catch?

• Sign up will start on Friday, December 6th.  Sign up will occur on both Friday, and the following Monday.


• You go to the Reference Desk to sign up.  If the reference desk is not staffed when you come, check in the Reference Office (right behind the Reference Desk.)


• Only current Coe students are eligible to receive a free massage


• You must come in person to sign up (no signing up for a group of friends, or by phone/email.)


• The day of the massages, you must check in 5 minutes prior to your massage.  If you do not check in prior to your massage, you are liable to lose your spot to students on the waiting list.

Sound good?  Great!  Swing by the library to sign up for your free massage, and be on the lookout for other Finals Week treats from the library as we try to support our students as they wrap up the semester!  Good luck on finals, and please feel free to stop by the Reference Office if you have additional research questions that you need some help with.

Another Book sale success

Thanks to all who helped with the Library Book Sale and a thank you to all for coming in and contributing to the endowment.  We were able to add over $400 to the Brian Schappert Endowment which will help us to purchase new titles.

Library Updates, including JSTOR news!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="583"] Students from Bethany Keenan's Western Civ class practice their formation on the quad with a familiar building in the background, with Professor Keenan leading the way.[/caption]

Hi everyone! This post is to update campus on several bits of library news

1. First, an update surrounding the download of PDFs from JSTOR when using Firefox as your web browser. As of right now, it appears that the problem has been resolved; files will download normally, with users then able to open the PDF following the download. This is an important reminder though, that if you run into issues using any of the college's databases, please let us know! Notices from users are one of the ways in which we are alerted most quickly to problems or issues with our online resources, and by letting us know, we can get started fixing things.

2. Regular evening hours at the library reference desk are now in place. There are student reference workers available to answer research questions and provide library help in the evenings from 8-10:30 PM, Sunday through Wednesday night. If you need help finding something when you're working on stuff during the week, Aura and Andrew are there to help!

3. The library will be hosting several events throughout the month of October, including our fall book sale, an author visit and reading, and the first "Perrine Presents" event of the semester. Please keep checking the blog or the library website for additional news on these exciting events!

-Katelyn Handler, Head of Reference

Save the Date!!!

Library Book Sale Thursday, Oct.10 and Friday, Oct.11.

Library Open House Wrap Up!

Thanks to everyone who came by the library last Friday morning, as the Stewart Memorial Library hosted its first Open House as part of the Orientation Week schedule.  We had more than 40 incoming and current students come by and check out the library while participating in our scavenger hunt, decorating doughnuts, taking cut-out photos, and playing bags and mini-golf.  The staff loved meeting new students, and we're hoping that the library can build on this experience as we try to figure out the best way welcome new and returning students to the library.  For the new students, we also hosted giveaways of several prizes.  Drumroll, please, as we present our winners!

2nd Runner Up: Michael Chace, with a gift card to Brewed Awakenings!

1st Runner Up: Marissa Franke, with a gift card to the Coe College Bookstore!

And our GRAND PRIZE WINNER, Elizabeth Haynes, with a $50 giftcard for Target!

 

Thank  you again to everyone that came and participated in the Open House, and keep checking out the Facebook page and this blog for more updates on library events!

Library Orientation Open House

For those students who are new to the Coe College community, the library will be hosting an open house on Friday, August 23, from 10 AM-12 PM.  All new students are invited to come over to the library for a variety of fun activities, including:

• Glow-in-the-dark Miniature golf


• A Coe-themed scavenger hunt


• A build-your-own doughnut bar


• Bags Toss


• and a chance to take a photo as part of Grant Woods's "Fruits of Iowa" paintings!

Feel free to come over at any point in the two hours, and to participate in any (or all!) activities of your choosing. Students who come an participate will also be eligible to win one of several prizes, including a Target gift card that will go to one student who completes all of the library's activity. Take time to come on over and have some fun while seeing more of the library and its staff before classes start.

UPDATE: Off-campus Access Restored

Thanks for everyone's patience; access to the library's databases from off-campus has been restored.  Coe College users should now be able to log into My.Coe and access all databases previously accessed from off of campus via the Campus Life tab.  If you have problems which persist, please call Katelyn, Head of Reference, at ext. 8017.

Perrine Presents: President James Phifer, and his wife, Linnie

Mark your calendars everyone!  In the final "Perrine Presents" lecture this spring,  Coe's outgoing president, James Phifer, and his wife, Linnie, will be sharing memories and stories from their time at Coe.  Please join the campus community as we celebrate and reminisce with the Phifers.

March 26, 2013
4:00 PM
Perrine Gallery, Stewart Memorial Library
Refreshments will be served

Using the library's resources over break

Although Spring Break is a time for relaxation, fun, and volunteer opportunities for many students at Coe, some students may find that they still need to do some work on their coursework in order to stay caught up and get things turned in on time.  If you find yourself in that situation, just remember that the library makes many of its databases and ebooks accessible from off campus for student and faculty use.  The important thing is that in order to use the library's resources from anywhere other than Coe, you must log in through My.Coe, and from there you must access the database or ebook that you want through the Campus Life tab.  You can't go through the library's webpage directly as we have to verify that you are in fact affiliated with Coe.   Not sure if you're doing it correctly? Here is a link with a video that will let you see the whole process from start to completion. Encounter problems? Just email Katelyn Wazny or Harlene Hansen in the reference department the nature of your access problem, and we'll try and get it resolved for you.

Related to database access, the library will be doing some upgrades to our systems internally on March 5, so be prepared for possibly spotty access to library resources that day. Thanks everyone, good luck on your upcoming midterms and have an awesome spring break!

-Katelyn, Head of Reference

The Library is now on Twitter!

Stewart Memorial Library is now on Twitter! Check out our twitter page, and follow us at CoeSML for updates on library news and events.

A new program series

Perrine Presents…

The library is sponsoring a new program series entitled Perrine Presents.  This series will allow faculty, staff and students to showcase their special interests.  The kickoff event will be with Bruce Nesmith performing his folksy guitar, coffee-house style. 

Please be sure to join us January 31, 4-5p.m.  in the Perrine Gallery of the Library. 

Light refreshments will be there for the whole campus community to enjoy.

If you have an idea for this series please let us hear from you.  Contact one of the following staff members; Cheri Pettibone, Sandy Blanchard, Harlene Hansen or Linda Hummel.

Massages are back!

Here at the library, we try to offer support to students in a variety of way during finals. Today we can officially announce that the library will be offering chair massages once again as a stress-buster for students prior to finals on Reading Day!  The chair massages will be Tuesday, December 11th from 10-3:30 PM, in the Perrine Gallery.  Massages will each be 10 minutes long, and they will be free!  So how do you get one, and what’s the catch?

• Sign up will start at 10 AM on Friday, December 7th.  Sign up will occur on both Friday, and the following Monday.


• You go to the Reference Desk to sign up.  If the reference desk is not staffed when you come, check in the Reference Office.


• Only current Coe students are eligible to receive a free massage


• You must come in person to sign up (no signing up for a group of friends, or by phone/email.)


• The day of the massages, you must check in 5 minutes prior to your massage.  If you do not check in prior to your massage, you are liable to lose your spot to students on the waiting list.

Sound good?  Great!  Swing by the library to sign up for your free massage, and good luck on your finals!

My Job at the Library

This is my fifth year working here at the library, and I have enjoyed this job the entire time. For me working at the library has given me a time to get all of my homework done in a relatively quiet place. I also get to see a lot of people I normally wouldn’t have gotten to see otherwise. Some of my friends had very different schedules from me but when I was working they would come over for a short chat before studying. It has always been nice to have the library here as a place where I can get work done, but still have a chance to meet with friends. ~Miranda

On Display

Have you noticed the display of journals on the first floor of the library?  We are highlighting some titles for leisure reading on various subjects.  The titles range from ArtNews to The Writer to Technology Review and are located close the the Whipple Browsing area.  These can still be checked out for 3 days but feel free to browse through them while enjoying the peacefulness of the library.

The AV Department is now on Pinterest!

The AV Department now has one more way that you can easily find new releases--on Pinterest! Click here to check out our New Arrivals board!

--Laura, Head of Audiovisual

Where's Meebo?

If you pay a visit to the library website in coming weeks, you're going to notice one major change.  Our friendly little Meebo chat box is gone.  As a library, we really like being able to offer a chat feature to our users, so why would we get rid of such a useful tool?  Short answer: because we had to .

At the beginning of June, word hit the web that Google was buying Meebo.  Here's an article on the purchase if you're interested.  Google more likely than not purchased Meebo to use a chat feature within their social network, Google Plus.  This means that they decided to shut down Meebo as a free web application that could be embedded in a variety of websites.  So, over the last month and a half, the library staff has been evaluating a variety of replacement options.  There are quite a few things to consider, including the ability to remain anonymous while asking a question, so don't be surprised if you see us try out one or two different chat features as we figure out what works best for the patrons here at Stewart Memorial Library.  If you run into any problems using web chat, please let us know, and please also feel free to email myself, or other members of the library staff if you have a question that needs addressing.  Or, you can always drop by the reference department to get your questions answered in person as well.  Thanks for your patience as we make this transition, and I hope that you are having a great summer!

-Katelyn, Head of Reference