Odum Library Blog

As the Library prepares to go on Holiday Break with the rest of VSU, some of our library systems are taking a bit of a break with us.  After all, they deserve it – they did help you find all those books and government documents that you needed for your research paper, after all!   We’ve made a list of what will be down and when, and we checked it twice:

• Our online catalog system, including GIL-Find and Classic GIL, will be down on Wednesday, December 22nd for maintenance.  The downtime may last several hours.
• The GIL Express service (which allows you to order books through the GIL Universal Catalog) is down, and it will resume on January 3, 2011.
• You can put in an ILL-Odum Express (Interlibrary Loan) request over break, but the ILL office will be on break, so those requests won’t be processed until we return on January 3, 2011.

The website and GALILEO Scholar will still be available during the entire holiday break, so if you would like to get the family together, kick back by the fireplace, and have the time-honored annual reading of the latest issue of Theoretical and Applied Genetics on your laptop, you still can!

Have a great holiday break!  Also, if you’re expecting Santa Claus or need some games to play, here’s NORAD’s official Santa Tracker: http://www.noradsanta.org/en/index.html

On Thursday, December 16th, our ProQuest resources will receive an ultimate makeover.

Gone are the ugly shades of yellowish-orange in favor of a clean, blue user interface that’s so 2011. ProQuest databases are now more accessorized with a new Subject Areas field that lets you browse the site by topic. You can also filter your search results list from the right side – if you’ve used an EBSCO database, this will look familiar. The new ProQuest has a very Google-esque Article Preview also: mouse-over the article of your choice, and you’ll get more information about the article before you even make one left-click.

What am I doing describing this, anyway? There’s a demo right on the ProQuest site. Check it out: New ProQuest Platform Demo

Did you know that Odum Library is a Federal Depository Library?  Why should you care?  If you’ve ever needed to find population statistics, or the extent that H1N1 flu has spread, or even a form for filing your income taxes, you’ve used information available through the Federal Depository Library Program!

Let the U.S. government know how you feel about depository library services. Please take our 16-question online survey focusing on depository access, services, and collections:

Federal Depository Library Survey

Results of the survey will help us understand the value of FDLP membership. Thank you for your feedback!

If you’d like to know more about U.S., Georgia, and other government documents at Odum Library, visit our Government Documents homepage!

The end of the semester is near! Before you leave town, don’t forget to return any books you’ve checked out. You might also want to pick up one of our many popular titles to take home for the holidays.

You can browse our popular collection online through our Shelfari page here. Once you see a book you want, check our online catalog to find out if it’s available. If you want to stop by the library and peruse the shelves in person, you’ll want to check out the popular books collection. You’ll find it on the second floor by the copy room.

Have a safe and happy holiday, and read something fun for a change!

Over the past month, we have been collecting and analyzing data from our Fall 2010 Reference Services Satisfaction Survey.

We have changed the survey a bit, because the statement “I have a better understanding of how to evaluate information” did not apply to every question. Patrons and librarians alike were confused as to how to rate this statement when evaluation wasn’t necessary for the reference question.

The three statements on this survey are the same ones we asked in previous Reference Services Satisfaction Surveys, and Reference Services users rated us on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being “strongly disagree”, 5 being “strongly agree”).

1. I got the information I needed.
2. I have a better understanding of how to find information.
3. I am satisfied with the service I received.

The survey results showed that users were very satisfied with their Reference experience.

User comments were very positive overall, and included:

• Great and fast help.
• You guys are the best!
• Great job (smiley face)

Out of 47 users, 39 were undergraduate students, 7 were graduate, and one was “other.”

We also evaluated ourselves on our interactions at the Reference Desk:

The data shows that we are mostly satisfied with how we help you overall (statement 3), but we would like to help you learn how to find information better in the future.

Out of 47 responses, 41 were from librarians, 4 were from Peer Reference Counselors, and 2 were from our intern.

We are always looking for new ways to improve our service here at Odum Reference, and we’re also looking into improving how we evaluate our service. Please post a comment on the blog or Facebook if you have any ideas of how we could either serve you better or find out more about how we’re doing!

I’m going to go over the ten tips you’ll need to know in order to find some reliable articles for your term paper.  We’re getting close to the finish line for Fall 2010, and I don’t want to waste any of your time.

Photo by Caro's Lines: http://www.flickr.com/photos/caroslines/3199807082/

1. The library’s databases (Academic Search Complete, JSTOR, etc.) are designed for doing scholarly research. Google isn’t.  If you use the databases properly they will actually save you time.
2. If you need to find articles for your paper, start at the articles tab.
3. General databases are a good place to start because they have a little bit of everything (like the Palms!).  Give Academic Search Complete a try first.
4. If the general database doesn’t have what you need, try a subject database.  These databases are focused on just one discipline (like a barbeque restaurant!).  Select a subject from the drop-down menu labeled “Articles by Subject”.  You’ll see the databases our librarians recommend under “Try these first!”.
5. Whichever database you choose, don’t waste your time with a basic search.  Do an advanced search and break your topic into key concepts.  If you’re writing about childhood obesity, try searching for the terms children and obesity.
6. Most databases don’t recognize natural language.  What does that mean?  Instead of searching for influence of high fructose corn syrup on childhood obesity rates in Mid-Atlantic states, you will need to break your idea down into keywords.  There is no right answer to which keywords will find everything you want, so be patient and keep trying.
7. Most databases will let you limit your search in a variety of ways.  If you need to search for peer reviewed journals only, or if you can only use a certain date range (maybe nothing older than ten years), look for these limiters.
8. If you want more information about the best way to search, try our guide: http://www.valdosta.edu/library/learn/booleans.shtml
9. It isn’t too late to do a great job on your papers, but your deadlines are getting closer every minute.  You need to start writing as soon as possible to make sure we can help you get the information you need.
10. Finally, research can be a messy and confusing process.  If you get stuck, ask a reference librarian for help.  That’s what we’re here for!

If you’re off campus, don’t forget to login to Anywhere Access with your BlazeVIEW username and password before you try to access our databases.

Just because you’re heading home to spend some quality time with your family doesn’t mean you can’t work on all of your term papers.  You know the ones: they’ve been nagging you all semester, their deadlines approaching, but you’ve put them off until now.  Well, there’s no time like holiday time for getting them done.  Here’s why:

1. You can only watch so much football.  Whenever your viewing quota is finally met, hit the library homepage.

2. Those day-after-Thanksgiving sales only cause temporary bliss.  Remember that you’re only saving money if you would have bought the same stuff at full price.  Put a time limit on your shopping extravaganza (can you fit it all into 2 hours?) and get to work on your papers!

3.  If you take a post-turkey nap, you will be full of energy on Thanksgiving evening.  Channel that into something useful.  Just imagine: if you write your papers now you’ll actually be able to study for finals.  What a concept!

You can still get access to our databases when you’re at home with your family over Thanksgiving break.  Just start from our homepage and click on Anywhere Access.  Once you’ve logged in with your BlazeVIEW username and password you’ll be free to find journal articles and read ebooks to your heart’s content.  Click on GALILEO@VSU to go directly into GALILEO, or if you prefer using our subject guides, click on Odum Library to search from our homepage.  You’ll then be able to use our Articles Tab to get into the general databases or find a more specific database under articles by subject.

If you just don’t know where to begin, there’s lots to learn on our Library Help page.

Sometimes it’s hard to focus without a little bit of background noise.  Why not listen to some classical music while you work?  We created a station just for you that you can listen to for free online at Pandora.com.  If you’re studying in the library, please remember to be considerate and use headphones.

Finally, keep in mind that the Library will be closing at midnight on Tuesday, November 23, 2010 and will reopen Saturday, November 27, 2010 at 9:00 AM for the Thanksgiving Holidays.

Happy Thanksgiving!

For you zombie-philes we have the first four collected volumes of Robert Kirkman’s graphic novel series The Walking Dead.

Here you can watch a 2008 video of Kirkman talking about creating and reading comic books, and the state of the industry.

“I’m still reading comics, comics are better than television and movies, and the more people that knew that, the better off they’d be.” –Robert Kirkman

We’ve added new titles to our POPULAR shelves, including

Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom,

Nancy Grace’s Death on the D-List,

Terry McMillan’s Getting to Happy, and

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris.

Popular books are located on the 2nd floor next to Copier Room #2621.

It’s time to fall back again!  Daylight saving time ends Sunday morning at 2AM.  Remember to turn your clocks back an hour before you go to sleep tonight.

Why should you care?  Well, you get to sleep an extra hour!  Also, you probably don’t want to show up an hour early for any obligations you have Sunday, or for that first class of the day Monday morning.

Is your clock right?  Check the Official U.S. Time to be sure.

Would you like to learn more about the history of daylight saving time and the controvery that surrounds it?  Check out Spring Forward: the annual madness of daylight saving.  We have a copy available on the 3rd floor: HN49.D3 D69 2005

If you just want general information about daylight saving time, why not check the encyclopedia?  You can access many encyclopedias, including Encyclopædia Britannica, online through GALILEO.  Simply click on GALILEO > Resources by Type > Encyclopedias.

“Salvador Dalí: The Persistence of Memory, oil on canvas, 243×333 mm, 1931 (New York, Museum of Modern Art); © 2007 Salvador Dalí, Gala–Salvador Dalí Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, photo © Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA/Art Resource, NY.” Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. 6 Nov. 2010 <http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/img/grove/art/F017252>.