October & November Events in the Library

We have become a very popular venue on campus. Here are some of our recent events. If interested in using our Library Events area, contact the Events Coordinator, Dara Middleton at 812 237 2560 or dara.middleton@indstate.edu. To see Events, connect from our homepage:
10/1 – Are you Ready for the Flu? with Student Health Promotions
10/06 – Consul General Kenan Ipek, Counsulate General of Turkey
10/06 – Student Government Association hosted a Panel Discussion with all ISU Deans
10/7 ISU Retirement & Phased Retirement, with Candy Barton from Human Resources
10/08 – Servant Leadership Conference [National]
10/15 – Campus Support Staff meeting
10/15 – Opening Reception for Re(Search): Exploring the Relationship between Art & Science. The exhibition featured artists Steve Aishman, Ronald Leax, Brian Nelson, Sara Mast, and Kathryn Refi. Refi gave lecture.
10/19 Chairman Korn Thapparansi, SSRU, Former Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand
10/28 – Autism Spectrum Disorder Speaker Series
10/30 – Latin and Ancient Greek Fest with Eta Sigma Phi
11/02 – Oscar Wilde Symposium with Students in University Honors class “An Introduction to Oscar Wilde and Academic Research” and Wilde’s grandson, Merlin Holland
11/03 – Pizza and Politics [American Democracy Project]: “Sexual Ethics”
11/05 – Wabash Valley Vision and Voices 5th Anniversary Reception & Program
11/11 – Veterans Day Wreath Ceremony and open house/reception for all veterans and active military
11/12 – Take Back the Night, Guest Speaker, Josh Phillips 1) closed meeting with fraternity members and 2) open speech: Everyday Activism: Striving to End Sexual Violence, One Step at a Time
11/13 – Writing about the Sense of Place with Tom Roznowski and Scott Russell Sanders

New Items in Browsing

Here is what’s new in the Browsing Collection.

ISU’s New Student Orientation: Debriefing

Well, in late May, I posted the ‘here comes New Student Orientation’. We all survived! This posting will give you an idea of the kind of support such an undertaking needs: June’s New Student Orientation has finished – what a way to make a month fly by! Karen Evans and Marsha Miller hosted the Open Preference Students in Library Events and interacted with many parents and family members at the Parents & Staff Open Houses in the ISU Bookstore. They loved those whistle/light/key chains!! Carol Lunce bore the brunt of staffing the Resource Table for the AOPs in Gillum Hall, with appearances as well by Steve Hardin, Shelley Arvin, Anthony Kaiser, and Susan Frey. Barb Austin passed out 1,528 of the “Student Guide to the Library” booklets at the Resource Fairs in HMSU. Some of the materials prepared for NSO will be kept on hand to distribute if other newly admitted students come through between now and the start of the Fall semester. Special thanks to Admin Office students, VK & Karthik, for pencil sharpening and pen & key chain gathering, Ref/Instruction students, Allison Flurry & Daniela Baez, for counting out packs of 50 – ad nauseum – of last year’s Extravaganza handouts, Dara, for setting up the Events OP corner, David & Kevin for bringing down tables from 230, and to Bev for the candy supply and some pink paper. Thanks also to Darla for the continuing supply of Writing Center brochures and to Cheryl/Circ for the Community Borrowers info we used at the Parents Social Hour. Additional special thanks to the Admin photocopier for never breaking down! At the RefDesk, we noticed LOTS of groups coming through the Library on the campus tours, so I think we definitely got some notice. If I missed thanking someone, sorry! Oh yes, I think Wilma assisted with some desk coverage for people who were going over to Gillum.

• Parents & Staff Social Hour [resource table & brief orientation], in ISU Bookstore: 14 sessions
• Open Preference students [resource packet & brief orientation with PowerPoint], in Library: 10 sessions
• Academic Open Preference [staffed resource table], in Student Academic Services Center: 10 sessions

2008-09 Instruction Statistics

It is that time of year that we spend a lot of time counting! The 9 Reference/Instruction librarians had the usual busy year.

Number of sessions: 319
No. of patrons: 5,785
Hours of instruction: 400:02
Hrs of Online [support] work: 74:02

Groups:
Distance Learners: 15
Undergrad: 203
Grad: 51
Faculty: 11
Staff: 0
Other [non-ISU]: 38
Individual Instruction [reported if more than 15 min. spent in consultation, off refdesk]: 34

New Online Catalog interface: 1 week and counting

Last week the online catalog changed its look for the first time in about 9 years. The direct URL remains luis.indstate.edu, and you can still access it under Find>>Books from the library’s home page. The opening screen combines the old Keyword and Set More Limits page. You can now enter your terms, choose a specific location, item type [e.g., book], range of dates, etc. Your search terms will be highlighted in each result. Using the online catalog interface is similar to using the Ebscohost database interface. You can mark results and then email them, print, etc. Since this is a whole new system, let us know if you have ANY questions or if you run into ANY problems. Use our Live Chat, or Email a Librarian, or call the reference desk during business hours at 812.237.2580. Stay tuned for tutorials, handouts, etc.

Chronicle of Higher Education Almanac

The Chronicle’s Almanac can be accessed online here.

Archives all the way back to 1995-96 are included. -AK

Browsing–New Arrivals

Below the fold.

Staff Recommended Book

by Darla Crist, Writing Center Coordinator

The Dead Fathers Club by Matt Haig

Browsing PR 6108 .A39 D43 2007

“To be or not to be” is the question raised by Shakespeare through Hamlet, one of the Bard’s most troubled and fascinating characters. In The Dead Fathers Club, Matt Haig asks his readers to consider what might have happened if the ghost of Hamlet’s father had been more persistent in haunting his son. With this twist to the story in mind, the question becomes more of what happens once “to be” is no longer an option for fathers. As in Hamlet, Haig’s novel revolves around a bereaved and possibly unstable son (Phillip Noble, age 11) whose father (a British pub owner) dies under suspicious circumstances (his car crashes into the river). And, as in Shakespeare’s play, there is an uncle (an auto mechanic in Haig’s story) ready to usurp the father’s place, not only as “king” of the pub circuit, but as paramour to Phillip’s mother. In terms of technique, Shakespeare fans will wonder how Haig will manage the ending to this novel; after all, who is left standing at the end of Hamlet? In addition, contemporary riffs on the work of Shakespeare are not always worth the effort of reading them. But The Dead Fathers Club is highly imaginative and Haig’s thoughtful contemplation of the grief process and the predicaments the dead leave behind can make even the most hardcore Shakespeare fan forgive him for reading between and beyond the lines of the play.

Very Busy…..

A bit of a slow start but people are now streaming in.  Here is some video of the start and some music. 

What to do first? Ideas for getting acquainted with your ISU Library.

While the ISU Library is, by official standards, a good medium-sized library, for many new students, it is by far the largest library they have come into contact with. Some students may not have had a school library/media center or a school media specialist or an enlightened classroom teacher to guide them in using library resources before they came to college. For many international students, just the fact that our library collections are open to them [they don't have to ask for an item but can go to the stacks and get it themselves] is a new experience. There is the physical library and the virtual library. We have 2 million books and numerous non-print and online items. How to start sorting it all out? First, just spend some time in the Library — in our comfy chairs, in the Cup and Chaucer Cafe, coming to a live or TV event in our Events area. Find your favorite quiet or out-of-the-way place to study when you need to leave your home or residence hall or meet a study group. Try it, you’ll like it!

For a more organized approach, download our new list, Library Readiness for Research & Recreation, print off a copy, and work your way through the items there. Make a connection with a librarian. Check out a book!

Marsha Miller, Reference/Instruction Librarian