Zoho Chat: Another Way to get Answers

Welcome back to Coe for the spring semester (not that it feels much like springtime yet!)  As people settle back into the routine of studying, attending class, and all the other parts of a normal day, we wanted to make sure that the campus community is aware of all the different way that they can get help with research and get questions answered.  Although the reference desk staff is always willing to help, sometimes you're studying outside of the library and can't easily come ask a question; other times, you may just not feel like speaking to someone in person.  Although emailing the reference staff (either Katelyn or Harlene) can come in handy, there might be times when you would like a more immediate answer.  These situations are when Zoho comes in handy.

If you're unfamiliar with Zoho, it's a chat program that replaces Meebo, our previous chat widget embedded in the library's website.  We had to replace Meebo after it was purchased Google; after much research and evaluation, Zoho was found to be the optimal replacement option.  Zoho can be found on the library's main page, in essentially the same spot as Meebo; however, the main difference is that Zoho pops out into a new window in order to allow the user to send and receive messages.  Other than that, it operates much the same way that Meebo did.  Also, it's important that Zoho is only operating when the full-time staff is here (Monday-Friday, 8 AM-4:30 PM) and in the evening 8-10:30 PM Sunday-Wednesday.  If you have any issues using Zoho, feel free to let us know, either via email or in the library's virtual suggestion box located on the website's main page.  Zoho is just another way in which we hope to reach and help more of the Coe community, give it a try next time you have a question!

-Katelyn, Head of Reference

Notes from a Circ worker.....

I am a senior nursing student and Stewart Memorial Library has been my second home for the past couple years. Whether it is studying, researching, or working I am normally here in the library. Apart of the nursing program we are expected to learn and know how to find evidence based research, I often use the library web site to help guide me. Because we are expected to know evidence based research so well I have become very comfortable with the databases we have here at Coe. I prefer to use Pub Med or CINAHL. I can normally find good sources that pertain to my topic which helps to strengthen my papers. The staff in the Reference office have helped me many of times and are always willing to help if problems or issues ever occur. ~~Allie

Check out new displayed journal titles

Interlibrary Loan: The ILList Office on Campus

What is ILL? According to the site Internet Slang, "ill" is "cool, tight, etc."  However, here at the library "ILL" means something totally different: Interlibrary Loan.

Need to borrow a specific book for your next big paper, but neither Stewart Memorial Library nor the fabulous public libraries here in Cedar Rapids seem to have it?  Interlibrary Loan to the rescue!  Students and faculty of Coe College have this great service that too many are unaware of.  Harlene Hansen (Reference Assistant) along with the student workers in the Reference Office work to help you find the book you are looking for at one of the various libraries Coe is in connection with and borrow it for you to use.  The best part is that this service is FREE to the Coe community.

Interlibrary Loan also works great for articles!  When searching through the databases on the library’s website, some articles are not readily available to view as internet or PDF files.  By clicking the “Request This Item Through Interlibrary Loan” button, your request is sent into a database where the reference workers search through a larger database to find you the article you need and a library that can supply an electronic or paper copy.

Don’t make yourself ill (and not the cool kind) over that paper that’s due in a few weeks!  Not sure if the library has a particular journal that you are looking for, or you’re not sure how to use the catalog to find out?  Stop into the reference office and Katelyn Handler and Harlene Hansen will be happy to help you out and to try and answer all of your questions.

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

Issue with JSTOR & PDFs while using Firefox

Hi folks.  The library staff was alerted to a problem that users were encountering when trying to open PDFs while using Firefox to search in the database JSTOR.  After looking into the technical aspects on the college's end, here's the update that was recently posted by JSTOR Technical Support that we wanted to share with the Coe community:

"With the release of Firefox 23 on August 16, users began to experience problems downloading JSTOR PDFs through the built-in PDF viewer in Firefox. The viewer does not display our PDFs optimally, which may result in slow loading times or download errors. Users report that downloading a PDF through the viewer results in an error message that the file is corrupted or damaged, which prevents users from opening or using the file.

We are aware of this issue and our technical team is currently investigating this problem. We intend to use this page to update users on this issue, and we appreciate your patience as we work to solve this problem as quickly as possible.

As a workaround, we recommend one of two options. You could try a different browser, such as Internet Explorer or Google Chrome. If this is not an option, open the PDF as you normally would. Then, right click anywhere on the page and select "Save Page As...". This will allow you to save the PDF to your computer and should allow for a faster, more successful download. You can then open the file with another PDF viewer (such as Adobe) and use the print controls to print the article.

We are very sorry for the inconvenience this issue may cause. Any questions you may have can be directed to JSTOR Support."

So, in this case, it's not us, it's them.  If you are in JSTOR and experiencing problems, please to refer to the workarounds listed above while doing your research.  Apologies for the inconvenience, here's hoping that JSTOR gets things figured out soon!

-Katelyn, Head of Reference

Library work study students

Photo opportunity for the Stewart Memorial Library work study students in their "This is how we roll" t-shirts.

Reference Desk

I'm in sort of an odd position at the library. I work both at the circulation desk (where you check out books) and at the reference desk (where you can go to ask for help). I've noticed a strange thing. More people have asked me questions (that the reference desk exists to answer) at the circulation desk than they have at the reference desk. The reference desk is a great tool and students should take advantage of it. It can be a simple question such as help finding a book or a more complicated question such as how to find resources for a paper. I've met the reference staff and they are very nice and helpful. We love getting questions at the reference desk. ~Aura

Citing a Tweet

Although it may seem a bit silly at first glance, there may come a time when you need to cite a tweet from Twitter in a formal way for a paper or project. For example, if doing a paper on the Arab Spring, it would be hard to avoid at least some mention of the role of social media as events precipitated there, and you might decide that you want to use some of those tweets as a form of primary source material. Well, fret no more about the format for such a citation, as the Modern Language Association (MLA) has posted their guidelines for such a event. And remember, if you're ever not sure as to how to go about citing something that you're using, you can always swing by the reference desk (which is different than the circulation desk, btw), and we're happy to try and help you out!

-Katelyn, Head of Reference

Sponsored Content on Websites: Who's providing the information?

Welcome back to Coe for the Spring 2013!  Campus was exceedingly quiet over the holidays, with one giant blizzard that shut everything down for a day thrown into the mix.  But now that everyone is back and ready to embark on another semester of learning and critical thinking, I wanted to touch on something making the news rounds for last day.  Yesterday, the Atlantic, a publication that has been around for more than 100 years and published the likes of Mark Twain and other great American writers and journalists, published a post that can only be described as curious.  The post, which has subsequently been pulled, was an unabashedly positive review of the past year for the Church of Scientology; many of the initial comments on the article were equally enthused.  The reason everything sounded as though it came straight from the Scientology PR folks was that it.  The church paid to post the content on the Atlantic's website, while also formatting and presenting the article just like any other article on the site.  Although the article has been pulled, you can see a screengrab of it here.  Take a look at the screenshot, then head over to the Atlantic's site and see if you think that you would spot the difference in a hurry.  This problem, the idea that readers might believe that this sort of content has the been through the same editorial review process as other content on the site, along with the question of how comments are presented to the masses on pieces such as this, raise real questions for publications that are looking to diversify their profit streams in new and reader-engaging ways.

Response from the media at-large has been widely negative, including from journalists currently published by the Atlantic.  Here are a few of the articles covering this situation:
-"The Atlantic Is Now Publishing Bizarre, Blatant Scientology Propaganda as ‘Sponsored Content’" from Gawker
-Business Insider's coverage
-Salon's coverage
Just searching "Atlantic Sponsored Content" via search engine takes users to dozens upon dozens of reactions, so it's easy to see this is something bothering the media at large right now. But for users, those seeking information on a topic, this is a just an additional challenge that must be kept in mind as they search for answers. WHO is giving you your information? Always be thorough when checking out a source, and don't assume that just because something appears on a reputable website that they are also the creator of this content. Read carefully before citing something, and with this in mind, good luck this semester at Coe!

-Katelyn, Head of Reference

Time for Finals

The library is one of the best places to go study if you need to get out of your dorm room for a while. There are so many nooks and crannies here that you can curl yourself into and just get work done without any distractions. Every floor has some sort of study area, whether it's an actual enclosed room or just a bunch of comfy couches up in the Over-Sized Reading Room.

For me, I really love working either up on the second floor in one of the study rooms, if I can get one, or down on the first floor in the reference area. The study rooms are great if you're working with a couple other people and you need to chat about what you're working on or if you can't study in open spaces. Be careful, though, if you're working in there with friends; work might not actually get done if you spend too long chatting!

I also like working in the reference area. It's secluded enough that if you need to be on your own there are spaces for it, but if you want to work near a friend, there's place for that too. The good thing about working on the first floor is that there aren't any places where you can shut the door, so you can actually get work done instead of chatting (which is something I've been guilty of in the past.) Of course, the library isn't the only place on campus you can study, but if you need to work in almost absolute silence or absolute silence, the library is a wonderful place to come to work.

The great thing about it is there are a lot of places to try and work. If you're not sure what works for you, try out study areas on all four floors (people seem to forget about third floor a lot for some unknown reason) and figure out what works for you. Maybe you need walls around you or light or something. You'll probably find a perfect place somewhere in the library.~Anita, Reference student

Working from off-campus over the holiday break

With Thanksgiving and the break that accompanies it fast approaching, I wanted to remind everyone of a few things before they leave campus.

1) If you want to use the library's databases from home (or wherever you might be traveling),  make sure that you are first logging into My.Coe.  Once logged in to the site, you head to the "Campus Life" tab, from which you can access many of the college's most popular databases.  You cannot go to the library's website from home to access the databases; you have to be logged in and accessing through My.Coe so that the system can verify that you are a Coe student.  However, you can still browse the library's catalog from home if you are so inclined.

2) If you are currently in a class that using any database available through a campus trial at this time, be aware that these databases and their resources are only available from on-campus.

3) If you need research help, or have questions on ILL, remember that the reference department will be here and available on campus through the end of the day on Wednesday.  Feel free to call or email us with your questions.
Thanks, everyone, have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!
Katelyn, Head of Reference

The Case Against Wikipedia

When students come into the library for sessions on research, invariably we end up discussing Wikipedia for a moment or two.  As librarians and people who regularly work with students, we know it's often a place where students start their research or go for quick answers.  I'm constantly dissuading students as to why Wikipedia is not a desirable place for conducting real research, especially research that will be turned in for a grade, for the obvious reasons of the authority of the author/contributor and the lack of proper citation at times.  Following Hurricane Sandy, an excellent example of the first reason has been chronicled by the mainstream media.



His name is Ken Mampel, and he's currently the primary contributor to the Wikipedia article on Hurricane Sandy.  He is 56 years old, unemployed, and does not believe in climate change; hence the lack of the climate change mention as a possible factor in Hurricane Sandy's devastating impact despite several articles written up in recent days to the contrary.  Popular Science has done an excellent write up that you can take a look at here. This is an excellent example as to why one must always follow-up on one's sources, and why it's important not rely on a sole article/viewpoint when exploring a topic. It also serves a great point of emphasis why Wikipedia, although at times informative and entertaining, is not the most reputable place to turn for information. Coe's library has several different reference resources available online for our students and users, such as Credo Reference and Britannica Online, accessible via the library's website. Consider these resources the next time that you're thinking about clicking on a Wikipedia link.

-Katelyn, Head of Reference

Resources (sometimes overlooked) in the Library

• First Floor East Side Computers: It never fails students will be gathered around the west end printer furiously grabbing papers the printer spits out at mad intervals, but there is another printer steps away. Use the east printer and save some time!


• The Reference Desk: It's these people's jobs to help you find information. They actually enjoy searching out a book for your research paper due tomorrow that you might have neglected. Bonus--if you procrastinate a little less and start thinking about that paper a few weeks in advance, they can help you get resources from other libraries across the country: articles, DVDs, books, you name it.


• The Isolated Computers on the Second and Third Floors: These computers are there to help you find resources here in the library. Go to the website and search the catalog. The call number will be present and voila! Numbers on the shelves will help guide you to that elusive book.


• The Books!: I see students scrambling all the time, struggling to find scholarly articles on Ebsco for a project, when there are countless resources right here. There are books on almost every subject! The library isn't just a place for studying and hanging out. It houses a wealth of information you may find helpful. ~Shanel

What do the librarians do all day?

Welcome back to Coe everyone!  The start of the semester has been very busy for the reference department, which is pretty standard this time of year.  Many of the FYS classes visit the library during the first few weeks in order to receive an introduction to Coe's holdings and how to best navigate our resources.  One of the activities that I have been starting classes off with this fall is a short activity called, "What do the librarians do all day?", which is a good way to get students thinking about the role that the library and the staff there have in their overall experience at Coe.  I have enjoyed doing this activity so much with the classes, I thought I'd share a bit of what comes out of it on the blog.

Many students believe that the librarians are responsible for shelving and organizing the books, a task that I'm very grateful to say is left to the student workers that help keep the library running (I put in my time shelving books in my hometown library in high school and am not anxious to be back on full-time shelving duty any time soon.)  Most students are very on the ball with other most commonly heard answers, which is that the staff is here to help students. Help them with research, help them with database usage, help them by answering related library questions, and the list goes on and on.  I'm thankful that many of the first-year students seem to understand that the staff is here to help them reach their academic goals, as that's ultimately the reason that I think many people go into this type of work; because they enjoy helping people find what they need.
On that note, please feel free to stop by the reference office any time you're having troubles with a research project, or just find yourself in need of someone to help you brainstorm.  Enjoy your fall everyone!
--Katelyn, Head of Referenc

New Chat Service

What's this, you say?  Say "Hello" to the library's new chat widget, Zoho.  The library staff evaluated several different chat options over the course of the summer in our efforts to replace Meebo, purchased by Google and taken offline.  Zoho was the winner, which you can now find on webpages throughout the library's website.

What has changed from Meebo?  In some ways, not a great deal.  You'll still be able to use Zoho much like you would have used our chat functionality previously.  It's web-based, so you need not install any software.  It's anonymous as well. However, one major change is that when you click on box to ask a question, a new, separate window will pop up. meaning you need not few losing your original question and text when navigating pages.

If you notice any bugs with Zoho, please do let us know, either via the comments sections here, or drop us a line by email.  We are always looking for ways to improve our website and better serve the Coe Community, so if there's things you think that we should know about your chat experience, we want to hear them.  Thanks, and welcome back to Coe!  We're glad you're here and can't wait to get another year underway.

Katelyn, Head of Reference

Summer Salutations from the Reference Department

As summer officially begins today, I though that I would post a summer update from the reference department.  Right now, we are in maintenance and reading mode.  This means we are slowly trying to sift our way through the stacks of library publications on our desks while also trying to prep for the coming school year (and accompanying classes.)  All this reading means that occasionally you find neat resources that you really want to share with students, though it can be tricky to find the proper home for them on the library's website.  However, this type of stuff is ideal for the blog, so let's start the sharing and caring!

This week's focus is on financial literacy for students.  With student loans prevalent, and many students starting their first job where one has to contemplate 401K, IRAs, and retirement funds, it can be overwhelming at times to figure out where to go to get financial information and advice.  Thankfully, the ACRL recently published a bang-up list of websites that students can use to help educate themselves on all of these issues and much more.  Here are a few highlights from that list:

-360 Degrees of Financial Literacy: This site, sponsored by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, is an extensive resources aimed at users ages 12 and up.  Another bonus?  The information is organized and separated both by life stages and by topic.

-Mymoney.gov: Another site organized according to life stages, this website is hosted by the US Government and aims to improve the financial literacy of a variety of consumers.  It's also available in Spanish, for those who would prefer.

-'Financial Literacy and Ignorance" Blog:  Authored by Annamaria Lusardi, a researcher and professor of economics and accountancy at the George Washington School of Business, this blog touches on a variety of financial and economic issues.

Happy $$$ planning!

Fantastic computational Search Engine

http://www.wolframalpha.com/

See the demo then give it a try. It beats google for this type of info gathering!

http://www.wolframalpha.com/screencast/introducingwolframalpha.html

New Title in the Reference Section

New in the Reference Section: The Oxford Handbook of Holocaust Studies.  Ed. Peter Hayes and John K. Roth. 2010.

If you're doing a project that relates to World War II in any way, specifically the Holocaust, this book is an excellent place to get started.  With five distinct sections, the tome has parts dealing with "Enablers," "Protagonists," "Settings," "Representations," and "Aftereffects."  At the end of each section, one can find an extensive list of references and suggested reading (which can then in turn be used to find more sources for your paper/project, saving you time in the long run.)  Like all reference works, this book cannot be checked, but can be found at all times on the first floor of the library with the call number D 804.3 .O94 2010.

Today's Cool Thing: William Howard Taft

William Howard Taft

27th President of the United States.  10th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.  You can listen to him to deliver a speech on the abolishment of war thanks to the Vincent Voice Library, hosted by the Michigan State University Libraries.  The collection contains more than 40,000+ hours of spoken word recordings.  They have special collections as well, such as one highlighting recordings of US Presidents.  Great idea for a presentation requiring primary source material.

William Howard Taft Speech

Enjoy!

Vincent Voice Library: http://vvl.lib.mus.edu