GSLIS West

GSLIS West Library News

TOR Help DATE CHANGE and Meet the GSLIS West Fellow

Ever wondered who handles library services at Beatley for GSLIS West? Here's your chance to find out!  I'll be in South Hadley at the GSLIS West Office from 4:15 until 6:00 (or later) on Saturday, February 27, and am happy to answer any questions about library services (whether or not they are TOR-related).  Stop by, say hello and grab a cookie (chocolate chip)!

Additionally, new students should keep in mind that the TOR is due on March 1, 2010 (that's next Monday!). If you have any questions about any the TOR I'll be in South Hadley after classes on Feb. 27 INSTEAD OF all day on Feb. 28! Hopefully this will make me a little more accessible if you have any questions about HTML, wikis, FTP, databases, library services--or anything else, really!

If you have questions about the TOR or any library services, contact Brooke at brooke.bergantzel@simmons.edu or 617.521.2828.

TOR Help!

The Technology Orientation Requirement is due on March 1, 2010. To help you complete the requirement, GSLIS West is offering a day of TOR help on Feb. 28, 2010 Feb. 27, 2010 (please see the above announcement). Brooke will be at South Hadley to help with anything TOR or library related--from Wikis to HTML to searchings OPACs and databases and beyond. For more information on the types of help you can get, navigate to the Toolkit page and take a look at the Foundations Workshop. To RSVP, contact Brooke at brooke.bergantzel@simmons.edu or 617.521.2828.

Blog of the Month, February 2010: In the Library with a Lead Pipe

In the Library with a Lead Pipe brings together six librarians from diverse environments to create what is certainly not a typical blog. Each entry at the Lead Pipe is a peer-reviewed essay by one of the regular blog contributors or a guest writer. The writers hold a variety of positions in the information field, and include academic and public librarians, archivists, and information professionals working outside of the traditional library. Recent posts have included forays into holding Teen Tech Week events at libraries, questioning the role of Information Literacy in the curriculum, and exploring the role of the library as a place.  You can also follow them on Twitter for blog update information as LibraryLeadPipe.

http://inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/

And a reminder: You can also find GSLIS on Twitter, as SimmonsGSLIS!

TOR Foundations Workshop

The Technology Orientation Requirement is due on March 1, 2010. To help you complete the requirement, GSLIS West is offering a day of TOR Workshops on Feb. 7, 2010. We will cover online catalog navigation, LIS Databases, basic HTML, and wiki editing. For more information, take a look at the Toolkit page. To RSVP, contact Brooke at brooke.bergantzel@simmons.edu or 617.521.2828.

Blog of the Month, December 2009: Closed Stacks

Closed Stacks is comprised of five librarian bloggers in a variety of positions.  Each blogger brings something a little different to the blog, and they tackle a variety of current issues and trends in the field.  Recent posts include an in-depth look at trends in job-openings, a defense of the distance MLIS, and a conference report from a library student attending her first conference.  You can also follow them on Twitter as ClosedStacks.

http://closedstacks.wordpress.com/

And if you do happen to be on Twitter, you can also find GSLIS on Twitter, as SimmonsGSLIS!

Ref Works and eBooks

The Foundations workshop earlier this semester experienced some technical difficulties and no one was able to see the Ref Works or eBooks PowerPoint presentations. Here they are online:

Ref Works

eBooks

LISSA West Blog

LISSA West is bringing news and updates to the Mount Holyoke campus via the new LISSA Blog. They will be keeping you up to date with current events, helpful student information, job postings, and news in the world of library science. Stay on top of new developments at GSLIS West and LISSA West events. Take a look and let them know what you think!

LISSA West Blog

Improved! Ebook access

The SSL security certificate error is fixed! Some of you have encountered this problem, which isn’t always easy to diagnose. It occurred when trying to access certain electronic resources. Depending on the browser and the application, at some point during the login process a warning page with the heading Secure Connection Failed popped up. We experienced this problem with both ebrary and Books24x7.

If you should encounter a security certificate error in an ebook collection or any other library databases in the future, please report the problem immediately to eresources@simmons.edu. And remember, as an on-the-spot fix, if you encounter a security certificate error in a library resource, go ahead and click on the link to add an exception. Internet Explorer will give you an extra warning, but it’s OK. You’re just telling your browser that this is a trusted site.

Other resources that have been fixed with this new certificate are: EIU Country Reports, Science Direct, and SciFinder.

Books24x7

Books24x7 icon

Books24x7 is the only one of our ebook collections that requires users to create an account. The good news is that you don’t really need to be on campus to request a new account from Books24x7, despite the note to that effect in the OPAC.

Here’s how: Just call 617.521.2828, email brooke.bergantzel@simmons.edu, or contact the Simmons Reference Desk at AskNow and ask for a Books24x7 account.

We'll request an account using your long email address (melvil.dewey@simmons.edu) as a user name. You will get a temporary password direct from Books24x7 and a copy of the Membership Agreement from us.

Remember! Your login is your entire long email address.

ebrary

ebrary icon

The first thing you need to know is that ebrary plays well on a PC only with Internet Explorer. If you are a FireFox fan, you need to forego it for the ebrary experience

You can search for and access ebrary books without setting up an account. If you do set up an account, you can create a bookshelf, highlight text and save bookmarks.

netLibrary

netLibrary icon

As far as I know, there are no current issues with netLibrary, so check it out.

Reserves and Article Requests

Reminder! Honor reserves

Physical reserves (books, videos, etc.) are available in the GSLIS West office in the Village Commons.

To see what is on reserve for your course, go to the Simmons OPAC at http://library.simmons.edu/ and select Course or Professor. All GSLIS West courses will look like this: LIS 403-20 GSLIS West.

Please remember to track your usage on the bookstrap. It gives us an idea of how effective the reserve program is for you.

Questions, comments, suggestions? Email brooke.bergantzel@simmons.edu.

Simplified! Request ALL print articles through ILL

As a community of distance learners, members of the GSLIS West community may use the Library’s ILLiad software to request all articles, Simmons-owned or otherwise. All you need do is identify your department as GSLIS West when you set up your ILL account. To check your current setup, go to ILL and click on Change Your Information from the left navigation bar.

Questions? Contact Brooke Bergantzel at brooke.bergantzel@simmons.edu, call 617-521-2828, or Skype BrookeAtSimmons.

 

Help with Research

AskNow!

ask a librarian now for help

Three ways to get help from Simmons Reference AskNow!

  • Phone call
    • Call Brooke at 617-521-2828
    • Call the Simmons Reference Desk at 617-521-2784
  • Email
  • Live chat

Skype!

Skype VoiP

Skype (rhymes with “type”) is a very popular internet communication tool that, according to Wikipedia, “is notable for its broad range of features, including free voice and video conferencing....” GSLIS West is offering a prototype for Web-based voice reference services using this safe, secure tool. Add BrookeAtSimmons to your contact list.

 

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