Christmas break is the time to recuperate between semesters…you catch up on sleep, spend time with friends and family, and put school related stuff out of mind. Fine. But Lila knows that after hitting the book so hard for the past few weeks, we all let breaks turn into a Grey's Anatomy and James Bond marathon (or whatever it is you watch). Here’s the compromise: read and watch movies. Here’s why: these books really are better than the movies (IMNSHO) and reading a little over break will make your transition into the spring semester smoother.
Some good books to read before seeing the movies…
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The book: The Kite Runner depicts Afghanistan during Taliban rule while telling the tragic story of unlikely friends, a wealthy Afghan boy and the son of his father’s servant, and how history separates them.
The movie: Globally diverse cast and crew. The previews show beautiful imagery.
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The book: Set in turn-of-the-century South America, this is a story of true love that lasts for 50 years.
The movie: Cast includes Benjamin Bratt, Javier Barden, and Liev Schreiber.
Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
The book: Lyra Belacqua finds herself in a life-and-death struggle against dark forces, armed only with a truth-divining compass.
The movie: Starring Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, and Dakota Blue Richards. The movie has generated a great deal of controversy among Christian groups-- see what you think!
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Monday, December 3, 2007
Lila's Tips for Finals Success!
Study!
Stop by the library and get a group study room, spread out at one of the tables, or hide from your friends (and Facebook) in a study carrel. We’re open 7:30 am - midnight now through December 10 (excluding the weekend: Friday 7:30am - 6:00 pm; Saturday 9am-6pm; Sunday 2pm-midnight).
Exercise!
Get your “Exam Exercise” in from noon - 1:00pm on exam days! A workout will help you sleep better, stay focused, and be a little less stressed. Just do it.
Get expert feedback @ the Writing Center!
(call x6241 for an appointment):
Wed 12/5: 9am-6pm ; Thurs 12/6: 10am-7:30pm ; Fri 12/7: 9am-3pm ; Mon 12/10: 9am-12pm
Eat!
University Ministries will host its annual Late Night Pancake Event Wed., Dec. 5 from 9–11 p.m. Mmm … pancakes and coffee make brain happy.
Sleep!
All-nighters seldom work. Make sure to get some shut eye.
Relax!
Breathing, meditation, turning down the stereo, yoga, cutting down on caffeine, etc. Whatever you can do to relax, do it.
Stop by the library and get a group study room, spread out at one of the tables, or hide from your friends (and Facebook) in a study carrel. We’re open 7:30 am - midnight now through December 10 (excluding the weekend: Friday 7:30am - 6:00 pm; Saturday 9am-6pm; Sunday 2pm-midnight).
Exercise!
Get your “Exam Exercise” in from noon - 1:00pm on exam days! A workout will help you sleep better, stay focused, and be a little less stressed. Just do it.
Get expert feedback @ the Writing Center!
(call x6241 for an appointment):
Wed 12/5: 9am-6pm ; Thurs 12/6: 10am-7:30pm ; Fri 12/7: 9am-3pm ; Mon 12/10: 9am-12pm
Eat!
University Ministries will host its annual Late Night Pancake Event Wed., Dec. 5 from 9–11 p.m. Mmm … pancakes and coffee make brain happy.
Sleep!
All-nighters seldom work. Make sure to get some shut eye.
Relax!
Breathing, meditation, turning down the stereo, yoga, cutting down on caffeine, etc. Whatever you can do to relax, do it.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Thanksgiving, Lila Style
Lila is grateful for information and, more specifically, the information sources and resources she uses on a daily basis. In celebration of the holiday, she asked other library peeps to name a reference set, database, website, book or other information resource for which they are thankful.
Tim: I appreciate all the music databases on a case by case basis, but I’m always thankful for being able to use Cubcat for searching contents of CDs and printed music collections by using keyword (with quotes for more than one word, of course) and quick limits to recordings, scores, books, etc. Keyword and Boolean searching have greatly improved music searching.
Dawn: I am grateful for allrecipes.com I don’t really use it so much for myself as for preparing food for others. I can grab recipes on demand for events here at the library, meals with friends and family, and gift giving. I am also on the food ministries team at church. Options like including or excluding ingredients and changing the measurements to meet your quantity needs are invaluable!
Jenny: Historical New York Times, a database that has the full text of this newspaper from 1850 -2003. That’s every cover story, every advertisement, every comic, every letter to the editor….I could go on. Enter your birthday and limit the document type to Front Page to see what was happening in the world the day you were born. Fun stuff! AND Tennessee Electronic Library, a collection of databases available for free to every person in Tennessee. So, after you graduate from Belmont you can still access ebooks, articles, and more! Find a link to TEL on our Alphabetical List of All Databases page
Ernest: New Interpreter’s Bible set, A number of books in the BL-BX section, Consumer Reports Buying Guide, ATLA database, ProQuest Religion database.
Rachel: Cool digitization projects are sweeping the nation...I can't choose one. Libraries and archives are making documents, maps, books, music, correspondence and more available (and often searchable) online. Need a map of Organized Crime in 1920s Chicago, letters written in the Confederate States of America during the Civil War, photographs of the Japanese-American Internment at Manzanar?
Judy: One tool that I use all the time is the Oxford English Dictionary. When I come across an unfamiliar term in my reading, I go right to the OED and look it up. I also use it to check spelling. The online version is very handy, and fun to use. I especially like the new entries. Sometimes they are quite amusing; one of the latest is “puh-leeze”!
Tim: I appreciate all the music databases on a case by case basis, but I’m always thankful for being able to use Cubcat for searching contents of CDs and printed music collections by using keyword (with quotes for more than one word, of course) and quick limits to recordings, scores, books, etc. Keyword and Boolean searching have greatly improved music searching.
Dawn: I am grateful for allrecipes.com I don’t really use it so much for myself as for preparing food for others. I can grab recipes on demand for events here at the library, meals with friends and family, and gift giving. I am also on the food ministries team at church. Options like including or excluding ingredients and changing the measurements to meet your quantity needs are invaluable!
Jenny: Historical New York Times, a database that has the full text of this newspaper from 1850 -2003. That’s every cover story, every advertisement, every comic, every letter to the editor….I could go on. Enter your birthday and limit the document type to Front Page to see what was happening in the world the day you were born. Fun stuff! AND Tennessee Electronic Library, a collection of databases available for free to every person in Tennessee. So, after you graduate from Belmont you can still access ebooks, articles, and more! Find a link to TEL on our Alphabetical List of All Databases page
Ernest: New Interpreter’s Bible set, A number of books in the BL-BX section, Consumer Reports Buying Guide, ATLA database, ProQuest Religion database.
Rachel: Cool digitization projects are sweeping the nation...I can't choose one. Libraries and archives are making documents, maps, books, music, correspondence and more available (and often searchable) online. Need a map of Organized Crime in 1920s Chicago, letters written in the Confederate States of America during the Civil War, photographs of the Japanese-American Internment at Manzanar?
Judy: One tool that I use all the time is the Oxford English Dictionary. When I come across an unfamiliar term in my reading, I go right to the OED and look it up. I also use it to check spelling. The online version is very handy, and fun to use. I especially like the new entries. Sometimes they are quite amusing; one of the latest is “puh-leeze”!
Monday, November 5, 2007
An alternative to Wikipedia?
Scholarpedia and Citizendium and more…
Thanks in part to Mr. Stephen Colbert, the ease with which Wikipedia articles are written/edited/vandalized has been widely scrutinized. While “truthiness” might work for you, it won’t work for your teachers. So you need an alternative, right?
Scholarpedia is an online encyclopedia that is written by experts. Not only do you know the name and credentials of the author responsible for the article, you also can rest assured that the article has been peer-reviewed. However, it is not a general encyclopedia. It only provides coverage of science-related topics and has a fraction of the articles available in Wikipedia.
And then there's Citizendium. Had you forgotten about Citizendium? Yeah, me too. Currently boasting 3,300 articles, Citizendium is Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger's response to the "populist" editorial process of Wikipedia. Like Scholarpedia, the author is identified in Citizendium and the articles are subject to a review process.
You could argue that many Wikipedia articles are also revised, edited, and reviewed by experts. Great. Just keep in mind that these are all encyclopedia articles! College-level research requires that you go beyond encyclopedia articles to analyze actual research and journal articles and books and statistics and primary documents and more.
Thanks in part to Mr. Stephen Colbert, the ease with which Wikipedia articles are written/edited/vandalized has been widely scrutinized. While “truthiness” might work for you, it won’t work for your teachers. So you need an alternative, right?
Scholarpedia is an online encyclopedia that is written by experts. Not only do you know the name and credentials of the author responsible for the article, you also can rest assured that the article has been peer-reviewed. However, it is not a general encyclopedia. It only provides coverage of science-related topics and has a fraction of the articles available in Wikipedia.
And then there's Citizendium. Had you forgotten about Citizendium? Yeah, me too. Currently boasting 3,300 articles, Citizendium is Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger's response to the "populist" editorial process of Wikipedia. Like Scholarpedia, the author is identified in Citizendium and the articles are subject to a review process.
You could argue that many Wikipedia articles are also revised, edited, and reviewed by experts. Great. Just keep in mind that these are all encyclopedia articles! College-level research requires that you go beyond encyclopedia articles to analyze actual research and journal articles and books and statistics and primary documents and more.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Still getting used to (Office) 2007?
The good news is that for all of the adjustment required (still looking for print, aren’t you?), at least Office 2007 offers some added functionality. For example, Word will now format your citations. Choose from APA, MLA, Chicago and more. Of course, you should still proof read them. AND there are several other free options for managing your citations like Zotero and bibme.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Pre-Crunch Time Pep Talk!!!
Anyone nervous about upcoming projects, papers, or assignments? While research is supposed to be challenging, it doesn't have to ruin your life for the next few months. I could offer you some tips as you prepare to really dig in, but Lifehack's "10 Steps Toward Better Research" are beautifully concise and already written. I especially enjoyed the shout-out to librarians, and I hope you'll be convinced to Ask Us! when you need some help.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Extended Hours for Fall 2007
Wanna stay at the library past 11pm? You're in luck, the Bunch Library (including the McWhorter lab) will be open until 1 a.m., Sunday-Thursday, from Monday, Oct. 15 through Monday, Nov. 19 (the week of Thanksgiving); and Monday, Nov. 26 through Monday Dec. 10, 2007.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Banned Books Week:
A Celebration of Intellectual Freedom!
Why observe Banned Books Week? It's an opportunity to celebrate the intellectual freedom that is fundamental to academic settings and to consider the shifting guise of censorship throughout history and in our own lives.
When? The awesome display is up all week! Join Belmont librarians, faculty, staff, and students for a Banned Book reading and informal discussion on Thursday, October 4, at 3pm in the Leu Art Gallery (in the library). This event is approved for Convo credit.
Why observe Banned Books Week? It's an opportunity to celebrate the intellectual freedom that is fundamental to academic settings and to consider the shifting guise of censorship throughout history and in our own lives.
When? The awesome display is up all week! Join Belmont librarians, faculty, staff, and students for a Banned Book reading and informal discussion on Thursday, October 4, at 3pm in the Leu Art Gallery (in the library). This event is approved for Convo credit.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
NY Times: Opening the Archive, or, It's All About the $$$
NY Times has found that they can make more from advertising than online subscriptions. This means you can access some of their archival articles and all of their current stuff for free. But don't worry, you'll still be usuing the library's subscription to historical NYT for much of the content. From the website:
Times to Stop Charging for Parts of Its Web Site
By RICHARD PEREZ-PENA
The New York Times will stop charging for access to parts of its Web site, effective at midnight Tuesday night.
The move comes two years to the day after The Times began the subscription program, TimesSelect, which has charged $49.95 a year, or $7.95 a month, for online access to the work of its columnists and to the newspaper's archives. TimesSelect has been free to print subscribers to The Times and to some students and educators.
In addition to opening the entire site to all readers, The Times will also make available its archives from 1987 to the present without charge, as well as those from 1851 to 1922, which are in the public domain. There will be charges for some material from the period 1923 to 1986, and some will be free. Copyright 2007 New York Times
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Free Music?
The library subscribes to several databases that you might not have explored. Did you, for example, know that you could stream a whole lotta good classical, jazz, world, folk, etc. music through some of our databases?
Interested? Classical Music Library, DRAM (Database of Recorded American Music), NAXOS Music Library (Classical & Jazz), and Smithsonian Global Sound (World & Folk) are listed in the music subject guide. If you're off campus, you'll be prompted to login with username and password.
As a little bonus, Classical Music Library is offering a free download (fortnightly) to all subscribing institutions. Check out their blog.
And, finally, where Lila goes to feed her need for something a little more Ruckus. Ruckus offers free and legal downloads for college students. Put up with some crazy advertising and you'll have streaming access to over 2.5 Million tracks of rock 'n' roll, country, christian, pop, rap, etc.
Interested? Classical Music Library, DRAM (Database of Recorded American Music), NAXOS Music Library (Classical & Jazz), and Smithsonian Global Sound (World & Folk) are listed in the music subject guide. If you're off campus, you'll be prompted to login with username and password.
As a little bonus, Classical Music Library is offering a free download (fortnightly) to all subscribing institutions. Check out their blog.
And, finally, where Lila goes to feed her need for something a little more Ruckus. Ruckus offers free and legal downloads for college students. Put up with some crazy advertising and you'll have streaming access to over 2.5 Million tracks of rock 'n' roll, country, christian, pop, rap, etc.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Need Convo Credit?
There’s more to the library than just books! Learn more at these workshops. All workshops will be held in MC 305, 10:00am-10:50
Google for Scholars
Monday, Sept. 10
Since when can I use Google for research? Google offers a host of specialized search engines (Google Scholar, Google Books, Google Uncle Sam, etc.) and products for the serious researcher. Come and learn how they interact with library subscription resources to create an exciting research landscape!
Are you living in your own Wikiality?
Monday, Sept. 17
Wikipedia and other Free Web sources: Use at your own risk!
ILLiad: Take control of your interlibrary loans!
Monday, Sept. 24
Set up your own account in ILLiad, our new interlibrary loan system. Make requests, check their status, download your articles, and more!
Primary Research: It’s Not What You Think
Monday, Oct. 1
What does your professor mean when he/she tells you to use primary sources for your research? Where can you find such things? This workshop will explain what primary sources are, and guide you to finding them in the library and online.
Building a Bibliography Online
Monday, Oct. 8
Need to keep track of that list of sources? Working in several different places? Don’t know how to cite your source properly? These websites can help. Online bibliography tools allow you to cite sources correctly and access your list of sources from anywhere with internet access. Come learn about these handy new web tools.
For more information:
Jenny Rushing, Reference Librarian
rushingj@mail.belmont.edu
460-5498
Google for Scholars
Monday, Sept. 10
Since when can I use Google for research? Google offers a host of specialized search engines (Google Scholar, Google Books, Google Uncle Sam, etc.) and products for the serious researcher. Come and learn how they interact with library subscription resources to create an exciting research landscape!
Are you living in your own Wikiality?
Monday, Sept. 17
Wikipedia and other Free Web sources: Use at your own risk!
ILLiad: Take control of your interlibrary loans!
Monday, Sept. 24
Set up your own account in ILLiad, our new interlibrary loan system. Make requests, check their status, download your articles, and more!
Primary Research: It’s Not What You Think
Monday, Oct. 1
What does your professor mean when he/she tells you to use primary sources for your research? Where can you find such things? This workshop will explain what primary sources are, and guide you to finding them in the library and online.
Building a Bibliography Online
Monday, Oct. 8
Need to keep track of that list of sources? Working in several different places? Don’t know how to cite your source properly? These websites can help. Online bibliography tools allow you to cite sources correctly and access your list of sources from anywhere with internet access. Come learn about these handy new web tools.
For more information:
Jenny Rushing, Reference Librarian
rushingj@mail.belmont.edu
460-5498
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Fall Faculty Brown Bag Series
Bring your lunch and join us for a series of library workshops just for faculty. All workshops meet in the Frist Lab from 12:00pm-12:50
Thursday, Sept. 13
Library Services for Faculty
Dawn Stephen, Collection Management Librarian
Need a book for your research or for class? Do you want the library to subscribe to your favorite journal? Want to reserve some resources for your students? Learn about the library’s acquisitions and reserves processes and how we can help you get the resources that you need.
Friday, Sep. 21
Library Resources Online
Courtney Stephens, Electronic Resources and Education Librarian
The library has a plethora of resources available online, from anywhere you can get on the Internet. Come learn more about accessing these resources and how to get the most out of them.
Thursday, Sept. 27
Desperately Seeking Effective Library Assignments?
Judy Williams and Jenny Rushing, Reference Librarians
Frustrated with your students’ research skills? Are your students frustrated? Want an alternative to the research paper? Learn some tips for integrating library resources into research assignments and some assignment pitfalls to avoid.
Thursday, Oct. 4
Mastering Library Catalog Searching (in Under an Hour)
Dawn Stephen, Collection Management Librarian
What can I help you find? Books? Music? Journals? Electronic resources? In this workshop, you will learn search strategies for finding all of these resources in CUBCat, Belmont’s online library catalog. We will practice using these strategies, so bring along those “hard-to-find” topics, and let’s get searching! This class is intended for all skill levels, from novice to veteran searchers.
Friday, Oct. 19
Social Bookmarking
Courtney Stephens, Electronic Resources and Education Librarian
What is social bookmarking? How can I use it to share links and other information with my students? Come to this informative workshop to learn the basics of social bookmarking using sites such as del.icio.us, ma.gnolia, digg.com and others.
Thursday, Oct. 25
RSS (Really Simple Syndication)
Rachel Scott, Reference Librarian
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a way to have various sources of web-based information (from news sites, blogs, and other regularly updated web sites) delivered to one convenient place. RSS feeds can help you stay current in your discipline and stay on top of the news. Stop by and learn how to put RSS to work for you.
Thursday, Sept. 13
Library Services for Faculty
Dawn Stephen, Collection Management Librarian
Need a book for your research or for class? Do you want the library to subscribe to your favorite journal? Want to reserve some resources for your students? Learn about the library’s acquisitions and reserves processes and how we can help you get the resources that you need.
Friday, Sep. 21
Library Resources Online
Courtney Stephens, Electronic Resources and Education Librarian
The library has a plethora of resources available online, from anywhere you can get on the Internet. Come learn more about accessing these resources and how to get the most out of them.
Thursday, Sept. 27
Desperately Seeking Effective Library Assignments?
Judy Williams and Jenny Rushing, Reference Librarians
Frustrated with your students’ research skills? Are your students frustrated? Want an alternative to the research paper? Learn some tips for integrating library resources into research assignments and some assignment pitfalls to avoid.
Thursday, Oct. 4
Mastering Library Catalog Searching (in Under an Hour)
Dawn Stephen, Collection Management Librarian
What can I help you find? Books? Music? Journals? Electronic resources? In this workshop, you will learn search strategies for finding all of these resources in CUBCat, Belmont’s online library catalog. We will practice using these strategies, so bring along those “hard-to-find” topics, and let’s get searching! This class is intended for all skill levels, from novice to veteran searchers.
Friday, Oct. 19
Social Bookmarking
Courtney Stephens, Electronic Resources and Education Librarian
What is social bookmarking? How can I use it to share links and other information with my students? Come to this informative workshop to learn the basics of social bookmarking using sites such as del.icio.us, ma.gnolia, digg.com and others.
Thursday, Oct. 25
RSS (Really Simple Syndication)
Rachel Scott, Reference Librarian
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a way to have various sources of web-based information (from news sites, blogs, and other regularly updated web sites) delivered to one convenient place. RSS feeds can help you stay current in your discipline and stay on top of the news. Stop by and learn how to put RSS to work for you.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Fall Semester Hours
Regular Hours
Sunday 2:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m
Monday - Thursday 7:30 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Friday 7:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Saturday 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
For a really long list of exceptions, check the library's hours page.
Sunday 2:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m
Monday - Thursday 7:30 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Friday 7:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Saturday 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
For a really long list of exceptions, check the library's hours page.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
2007-2008 Common Book...Curious?
You should be! This year all of Belmont will be reading: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon. Read the book! Lila loved it, and you will too. To find out more about the book, read reviews, or get some background info, check out the library guide to the book.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
New Faculty? Read on...
Welcome to Belmont! The library offers several services to facilitate your instruction, including reserves, information literacy instruction, and ordering materials. We are eager to work with you. You can read about our services here: http://library.belmont.edu/Reference/instruction.html and read about Integrating Information Literacy into your classroom here: http://bunchlibrary.pbwiki.com/Information+Literacy+Across+the+Curriculum
Monday, July 16, 2007
Summer Reading
Need a good book to take to the beach...or at least back to your place? Summer is the perfect time to catch up on fun reading, prepare for the upcoming semester, or (re)read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (conspicuously available at the moment) before viewing the movie.
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