It’s National Library Week! April 15, 2008
Posted by Phoebe in : Librarians, Life in the library , add a commentThis short & funny video was produced by the American Library Association. Don’t let it give you any funny ideas about questions to bring to the Reference Desk…
(But if it does inspire you to appreciate your librarian this week, go for it!)
Find an Open Computer April 4, 2008
Posted by Phoebe in : Cool tools, Life in the library , 1 comment so farAs the semester gets endy and the library gets FULL, remember we have a handy online system that allows you to see where there are unused computers in Perkins, Bostock, Vesic, Music, and Lilly.
Another school (Georgia Tech) set up a system like this, and a student cartoonist in their paper replied with the following:
If you are uncomfortable asking someone to give up a computer even though she is hanging out on Facebook and you really need the statistical software because your paper is due at 5pm, ask a librarian at the desk. We can find you an open computer or help remind others that people using the library computers for academic work should have priority.
Iron Maiden in the library March 27, 2008
Posted by Paolo in : Life in the library , add a commentNo, not this kind of iron maiden. The other kind.
Last night about 50 students took a study break and came down to the computer classroom in the basement of Bostock Library to play video games. If was the first of what we hope will become a series of game nights in the library.
Our friends in ISIS and the Dean of Students Office brought over a couple of XBox 360 consoles, a Wii, a Playstation2, and a Playstation3, along with some high end desktop computers for gaming. Most importantly, though, they also brought a complete set of instruments for the game Rock Band. We rearranged some of the tables in the classroom, projected the game consoles onto big screens, turned up the volume, and transformed the room into a concert hall and gaming room for one night.
Students “rocked the ’stock” for about 3 hours to the tunes of Iron Maiden, R.E.M., Soundgarden, Boston, Bang Camaro, and more. Others played Halo3, FIFA 06, Atari Anthology, Brawl, Wii Sports, and other video games, while snacking on pizza and soft drinks courtesy of the game night’s three sponsors, the ISIS Program, Duke Libraries, and the Dean of Students Office.
Check out these photo sets in Flickr and a set of short videos in YouTube for a better taste of the evening.
- Game Night!! - Flickr photoset
- Game night at the library - Flickr photoset
- More game night photos - Flickr photoset
- Game night at Bostock Library - YouTube videos
We hope you’ll come out and join the fun too next time…
Watch Your Laptop March 18, 2008
Posted by Phoebe in : Life in the library, Tips for students , add a commentYesterday there were two laptop thefts reported in Perkins-Bostock in the course of the morning. The police officer who responded walked around the building and noted that he could have taken three more laptops that he saw unattended. Please do not leave your laptop alone, even if you just plan to run to the Perk or to the stacks for 2 minutes!
Laptop thefts are a financial blow to students, but they often cause academic harm as well. Many students do not regularly back up their files, so the loss of a laptop can mean the loss of projects and papers you haven’t turned in yet.
Sometimes it feels like we’ve seen it all at the Reference Desk (there was the squirrel living in a trash can on Perkins 4 one spring), but we never get used to the heartbreak of seeing students who have lost significant work. I’d estimate that laptop theft is the number 2 cause of loss of student work; the number one cause we see is saving to the desktop of a public computer, then getting logged out (which wipes the desktop of all files). Take the time to back up your files, and keep your belongings with you. It’s worth it.
Working over Spring Break? We are. March 6, 2008
Posted by Phoebe in : Life in the library, Research Help, Tips for students , add a commentFor those of you who are working hard instead of (or in addition to) playing hard this spring break, here are some tips for using the library remotely:
You have automatic access to all the library’s article databases and other resources while you are home (or in Myrtle Beach.) Use the “database search” box on the library home page to find the resource you need, and when you click through to it you will be prompted for your NetID and password. More information on remote access is here.
We’re here for questions via email, IM, and phone. We’ll be keeping short hours during the week, but if you email overnight we’ll get back to you first thing in the morning.
For those staying in town, come on by! We’re only open days, but we’d love to see you.
(Photo of Myrtle Beach taken by Curtis and Eric, found at Flickr, and used under a Creative Commons license.)
