National Poetry Month Display

April is National Poetry Month and Circulation has put together a display for it, honoring poets from Maya Angelou to Dr. Seuss. Check out the display on the First Floor North, near the TRACcard printers, to see the types of materials the University Library owns that are by and about poets.

National Poetry Month Display -- 1st Floor North

For more about National Poetry Month, see poets.org.

Final Exam Hours

The University Library will have extended hours for Spring Semester Final Exams beginning Wednesday, May 2, and extending through Thursday, May 10, the last day of exams.

For complete hours, see http://www.southalabama.edu/univlib/finalstudyspring12.pdf

The hours for the ARC have not yet been determined but the above page will be updated when these hours have been decided.

Spring Break 2012

Spring Break Hours

1. March 11, Sunday: Closed
2. March 12 -16, Monday-Friday: 8:00am-5:00pm (ARC Lab: 8:00am-4:30pm)
3. March 17, Saturday: Closed

The University Library will reopen on Sunday, March 18, from 1:00pm-10:00pm, with the ARC Lab open from 1:30pm-9:30pm.

Spring 2012 Newsletter Available

Check out all the cool happenings at the University Library!

Notable Southern Women Writers

What do Zora Neale Hurston, Carolyn Haines, Eudora Welty, Harper Lee, Alice Walker and Margaret Mitchell have in common? They are all Southern women writers.

Check out the Library's display on these writers:

1st Floor North

Mardi Gras and Library Closing

The University Library will be closed on Tuesday, February 21, for Mardi Gras.

For information on Mobile's Mardi Gras traditions, see Mobile's Mardi Gras from the Encyclopedia of Alabama and Local Legacies: Mardi Gras in Mobile from the Library of Congress. Always wondered why Mobilians throw moon pies? Check out the Mobile Carnival Museum's FAQ. For the story behind Joe Cain Day, see Joe Cain from the Encyclopedia of Alabama.

For parade schedules, routes, and checklists, see The Mobile Carnival Museum. The Mobile Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau also has parade schedules and Mardi Gras information, such as history and terminology.

Tuskegee Airmen

Check out the two displays on the Tuskegee Airmen put together by The University Library and Government Documents.

1st Floor North Tuskegee Airman Display

Gov Docs Tuskegee Airmen Display 2nd Floor South

To complement these displays, Government Documents librarians, Vicki Tate and Paula Webb compiled a LibGuide of resources on the Tuskegee Airmen. It can be found at http://libguides.southalabama.edu/tuskeegee

Spring Library Hours

The University Library is now operating on Spring Semester Hours:

Monday - Thursday: 7:45am-11:00pm
Friday: 7:45am-6:00pm
Saturday: 9:30am-5:00pm
Sunday: 1:00pm-10:00pm

The Reference and Documents/Serials desks close an hour earlier than the Library on Sunday - Thursday. The ARC Lab closes 30 minutes earlier than the Library.

Library Interim Hours and Closure

The University Library is currently on Interim Hours, 8:00am - 5:00pm, Monday-Friday, January 3-15. We are closed on Saturday and Sunday.

The University Library will also be closed Monday, January 16, for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Holiday Hours

The University Library will be closed for the holidays for Friday, 12/23/2011 - Monday, 1/2/2012

Have a good holiday season.

Library Interim Hours

The University Library is on Interim Hours beginning Thursday, December 15. Our hours are:

Dec. 15 (Thursday) - Dec. 22 (Thursday): 8:00am - 5:00pm, Monday-Friday

We are closed on weekends. For more information, see http://library.southalabama.edu/InterimDec2011.pdf

Salvage the Bones and the National Book Award

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward, USA Assistant Professor of Creative Writing, is the winner of the National Book Award for Fiction. It is set during Hurricane Katrina's landfall and tells the story of a young African-American girl and her family who are living on the Mississippi Gulf Coast during this time.

The University Library owns Salvage the Bones, but the circulating copy is currently checked out and due back 12-01-11. You can place a hold on it by clicking on the title above -- this will take you to SOUTHcat. Click on Hold/Recall and enter your login information, choose Hold, and enter your J Number again. Then submit the request.

Can't wait to read a Jesmyn Ward novel? The University Library also owns Ms. Ward's debut novel, Where the Line Bleeds. The call number is PS 3623 .A7323 W47 2008, and the novel can be found on the 4th Floor South.

Update (11/18/2011): Check out the CNN interview with Ward.

Haruki Murakami Display

Haruki Murakami is an award winning writer of both fiction and non-fiction. In 2006, his novel, Kafka on the Shore (PL 856 .U673 U4813 2005) , won both the World Fantasy Award for Novels and the Franz Kafka Prize. Check out Ellen Wilson's display of the works of Murakami that are owned by the University Library. It's on the pond side of the library near the TracCard printers.

New Computers in Reference Section! (With Software)

Thanks to the wonderful efforts of the University Library Systems Department, we now have 10 additional computers available for USA student use in the Reference section of the library. These computers are located across the back wall of windows on the 2nd floor North. These new computers are equiped with the same software that is available on the computers in the ARC computer lab.

In order to log onto these computers, students scan a barcode placed on the back of their TRACcard; these barcodes are placed on the TRACcard after students have verified with the circulation staff that they are USA students.

The Reference staff would like to send a sincere thanks to Gary Pugh for his hard work getting these new computers up and running for our students!

Art of Reading at West Regional Public Library

Ellen Wilson, Instructional Services Librarian, has a quilt hanging in the Mobile Public Libraries' (West Regional Branch) Art of Reading show. This art show is a juried exhibition and will be hanging in the West Regional Branch through December 2, 2011.

New vending machines!

In order to respond to the closure of the student center, we have installed 3 vending machines outside the library - 2 Pepsi machines and a snack machine. In conjunction with this, we have updated the library's food and drink policy:

Food and Drink Guidelines
University Library, University of South Alabama
The goals of the University Library include providing a comfortable and inviting study atmosphere for our library users and also protecting the Library’s collections, equipment, and furnishings.
The University Library allows the consumption of snack food and non-alcoholic beverages under the following conditions:
• Snack food and drinks are only allowed in library study areas.
ALLOWED: SNACK FOOD = chips, nuts, pretzels, cookies and other pre- packaged items.
NOT ALLOWED: pizza, burgers, fries, sandwiches, salads, etc.
• Use sturdy, “spill-proof” containers to minimize damage to Library resources and facilities.
• Dispose of any food and drink-related trash properly.
• Please report any spill to Library staff immediately so the spill can be cleaned ASAP.
LIMITATIONS:
1. The delivery of food to the Library for library users is prohibited.
2. Eating and drinking are NOT permitted at or near:
• Computer workstations
• Media equipment
• Printers or photocopiers
• Aisles and stacks where books are shelved
3. Eating and drinking are NOT permitted in the ARC Computer Lab.
We expect that you will make every effort to accept the responsibility that these guidelines allow. Your recognition and acceptance will minimize enforcement problems and will make the Library a more comfortable and productive place for everyone. Your cooperation will also ensure the full use and enjoyment of our resources and facilities for all current and future users.
If you fail to follow these guidelines and limitations, you will be asked to conform or leave the Library. Additional sanctions may be imposed on repeat offenders.

Library Information

The University Library has an information table by the pond-side entrance to the library that is stacked with useful information about the Library for new and returning students and faculty. The table includes campus maps, library hours and TRACcard handouts. Circulation and Reference staff the table from 10:00am - 1:00pm to answer any questions students may have.

Paul Hendrix answering student questions

USA Librarians Get In on the Jag Bike Fun!

Several University Library Librarians took advantage of the wonderful weather today to try out the new Jag Bikes on campus.

For information on the new Jag Smart Initiative, check out this site.

How to go green using Jag Bikes.

Click here for a map of Jag Bike stations and routes.

Have fun, be safe, and go green!

Check out some more pics of librarians having fun!

JagFest 2011

Beth Rugan and Ellen Wilson manned the University Library's table at JagFest on Saturday, August 20. They had swag to give away and were completely cleaned out by the end of the campus fair. Ellen and Beth gave away five or six bags of candy, 500 pencils, 100 brochures with library information for students, a stack of bookmarks, and a large stack of  blue library information sheets for students.

ebrary ebook collections

The University Library has recently subscribed to ebrary's Academic Complete collection, giving us access to over 70,000 ebook titles in 15 different subject areas including Anthropology, Psychology, Fine Arts, History, Social Sciences and Education.

Currently you can access these titles by going to the Library's homepage, choosing Electronic Books, and then choosing ebrary. We are working on adding these titles to SOUTHcat so they will appear when you do a search in our catalog as well.

Pages from ebrary titles can be printed by using the InfoTools button and choosing Print. You can choose to print the current page, a range of pages (with the maximum number of pages being 60) or an entire chapter.

You can save books to a bookshelf within ebrary by creating a free account. Then when you login and do a search, you can  add titles to your bookshelf (this will also save any annotations you may make in the book) by simply clicking on the Add to My Bookshelf button. Even though you've saved this book to your bookshelf, it is still available for others to read.

Since ebrary books cannot be saved to your computer, they cannot currently be used on an ereader. This is something the company is working on and hopes to make available soon.

Closed Monday, July 4th

The University Library will be closed Monday, July 4th in observance of Independence Day! We will resume regular summer hours Tuesday, July 5th. Have a wonderful and safe holiday!

Academic Search Complete

The University Library has upgraded its subscription to the major EBSCO general interest database, Academic Search Premier, from the Premier version to Academic Search Complete. In so doing, we have been able to provide faculty, staff and students with access to almost twice the number of journals that were available in Academic Search Premier (over 4500), as Academic Search Complete indexes over 8500 journals.

Just like Academic Search Premier, Academic Search Complete can be used on your mobile device. Use the following URL:

http://libproxy2.usouthal.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.asp?profile=mobsmart

University Librarians Attend and Present at the Alabama Library Association Conference

Six librarians from the University of South Alabama Libraries, both the University Library and Biomedical Library, attended this year's Alabama Library Association annual conference in Orange Beach, Alabama, April 19-22.

Many of these librarians also presented at the conference. University librarians Elizabeth Rugan and Ellen Wilson presented research posters at the conference's poster presentation sessions. Wilson's poster explained the citation habits of students in an undergraduate political science class, while Rugan's poster explored ways in which academic libraries can implement QR code technology to serve their patrons.

Biomedical librarian Andrea Wright, University librarian Paula Webb, and USA Baldwin County Campus librarian Angela Rand served on this year's Technoforum and discussed social media in the library. The forum was sponsored by the Technical Services and Systems Round Table of the Alabama Library Association.

University Librarians Vera Finley and Muriel Nero hosted a presentation for NAAL entitled “Outsourcing End Processing to Baker and Taylor at USA: Benefits and Cost Effectiveness.” This presentation described what was outsourced at the University Library, as well as the results of the process. Baker and Taylor provide the following physical processing of some University Library books: spine labels, label protectors, date due slips, and laminated book covers. The University Library started outsourcing these services in April of 2006 and it has proven to be very cost effective.


Ellen Wilson, Instructional Services Librarian, University Library









Elizabeth Rugan, Reference and Instruction Librarian, University Library

National Library Week, April 10-16

Celebrate National Library Week and Create your own story @ University Library, April 10-16

This National Library Week, join our nation’s libraries and librarians and Create your own story @ your library.

The University Library is celebrating National Library Week by hosting library quotation prize drawings; staffing a Disaster Preparedness table at Community Day, April 13 10am-3pm; and conducting an online e-book survey.

First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April.

For more information, contact Elizabeth Rugan 251.460.7025 or Paula Webb 251.460.7024.

We Want To Know...

...how you use e-books. As part of National Library Week, April 10-16, the University Library is surveying users regarding their use of our e-book collections.

Take this short electronic survey and Enter to Win! It's a double whammy; we get valuable information, and you get a chance to win!

The more you tell us, the better we can make your library.

-The Librarians

E-Book Survey

University Librarians Participate in USA Faculty Research Forum 2011

Two members of the University Library Reference department, Elizabeth Rugan and Kathy Wheeler, are participating in this year's USA Faculty Research Forum. The poster created by Rugan and Wheeler describes the many ways in which USA librarians are preparing college freshman for the rigors of college-level, academic research.

Stop by the Student Center Lobby sometime this week and check out the poster. Rugan and Wheeler will be present for questions Thursday, March 31 from 2-4 pm in the Student Center Lobby.

We hope to see you there!

Paula Webb -- Library Journal Movers and Shakers

Paula Webb, Reference & Electronic Resources/Government Documents Librarian, has been named as a Community Builder among Library Journal's 2011 Movers and Shakers for her work on the Government Document's Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill web page and for her work on the committee that was able to bring a branch of the Mobile Public Library to Semmes, AL.

For the complete story, see http://www.libraryjournal.com/csp/cms/sites/LJ/LJInPrint/MoversAndShakers/profiles2011/moversandshakersWebb.csp

Congratulations, Paula!

Tax Information

Need help with finding information on tax preparation? The USA University Library provides access to paper copies of the most-used, current tax forms and instructions during the tax season (Jan.-April). The materials are free and available near the Documents/Serials Department Help Desk on 2nd Floor South. If the library does not have a form you need, we can assist you in locating a copy on the web for print-out.

For more information, check out the Government Documents Libguide at http://libguides.southalabama.edu/docstaxes

Vicki Tate
Head, Government Documents/Serials

USA Librarians Conduct High School Librarian Workshop

Members of the University Library's Reference Department, Kathy Wheeler and Elizabeth Rugan, conducted a workshop for Baldwin County high school librarians at Fairhope High School Library on the topics of preparing high school students for college-level research and what students should know about research when they enter college. Topics included information literacy, plagiarism, citing sources, the need to understand the importance of databases such as those at the Alabama Virtual Library, understanding the limitations of Google for serious research, the problems with using Wikipedia, web page evaluation, and teaching students to be responsible users of information.

The Alabama Virtual Library has received trials for three career resources. These databases will remain active through June 30, 2011. They are:

1. Career Library
2. Ferguson's Career Guidance Center
3. Small Business Reference Center

These databases can be accessed from on or off-campus with a USA ID card or an AVL card. Check them out for your career information needs.

The University Library also has trials of two ebook packages through the AVL:

1. Gale Ebooks: trial through March 15
2. APA Books: psychology books

New Librarian

Elizabeth Rugan has recently joined the staff of the University Library as its Instruction and Reference Librarian, Assistant Librarian. Beth has her Masters in Library and Information Science from Louisiana State University. She also holds an M.A. in English from LSU and was a teacher before she came to USA. In addition to her reference duties, Beth will co-design and implement the information literacy program at the University Library.

Welcome Beth!

Holiday and Interim Hours

Holiday and Interim Hours

• December 15, Wednesday - December 22, Wednesday: 8:00am - 5:00pm. (ARC Computer Lab: 8:00am-4:00pm) CLOSED WEEKENDS
• December 23, Thursday - January 2, Sunday: CLOSED
• January 3, Monday - January 16, Sunday: Monday - Friday: 8:00am-5:00pm. (ARC Computer Lab: 8:00am-4:00pm) CLOSED WEEKENDS
• January 17, Monday: CLOSED -- MLK Day

Regular hours being of the first day of classes: Tuesday, January 18th.

Final Exam Hours

FINAL Exam Hours

The University Library's Final Exam hours begin December 6:

1. December 6, Monday -December 9, Thursday : 7:45am - Midnight
2. December 10, Friday : 7:45am - 8:00pm
3. December 11, Saturday : 9:30am - 8:00pm
4. December 12, Sunday: 1:00pm - 11:00pm
5. December 13, Monday: 7:45am - 11:00pm
6. December 14, Tuesday: 7:45am - 6:00pm (Last day of Exams)

For the complete list see http://library.southalabama.edu/studyhoursFALL2010.pdf

Points of View Reference Center

The Alabama Virtual Library has added EBSCO's Points of View Reference Center to its subscription databases, so USA students have access to it by going through either the University Library's web site or the AVL web site.

Points of View Reference Center is much like Gale's Opposing Viewpoints in that it is designed to provide users with information on current controversial topics from multiple sides. Because of this emphasis on representing various points of view on a topic, the Points of View Reference Center is especially useful for students writing persuasive or argumentative papers. Types of materials represented in the POV Reference Center are the Points of View essays, periodicals, newspapers and images. The Points of View essays, as well as taking a side on an issue, provide readers with a bibliography for further reading.

Although it is an EBSCO database, the interface for the Points of View Reference Center is different from the EBSCO databases you may be used to using, and it is not listed in our EBSCO list of databases. You will find it at the University Library's homepage (http://library.southalabama.edu/) under Articles, Indexes and Databases or Electronic Reference Sources.

New Digital Archive Collections guide

Our Reference Intern, Alisha Linam, has prepared a great new guide to Digital Archive Collections. The link is on our homepage right under the link to SOUTHcat: USA Libraries' Catalog.

New Electronic Book Collections

The University Library recently purchased the following electronic book collections from ebrary: Business and Economics, Computers and IT, Education, Engineering and Technology, Environment, Psychology and Social Work, Special Needs Education, and Sports and Recreation.

These collections add approximately 280 ebooks to the current ebook collection owned by the USA Libraries. To access them, go to the University Library's Electronic Book page at http://library.southalabama.edu/ebooks.html.

JSTOR - New Arts & Sciences Collection

The University Library has recently acquired access to the JSTOR Arts & Sciences V Collection. This multidisciplinary collection of 120 journal backfiles includes art and museum publications, state historical society journals, and literature journals which publish original literary works as well as reviews and criticism. Key titles in history and in classical studies include least 15 journals published in German, French, Spanish, or Italian. Other disciplines covered include African Studies, Archaeology, Asian Studies, and Middle East Studies.

To search the Arts & Sciences V Collection, as well as all JSTOR content, go to the University Library's "Articles, Indexes, and Databases" page at http://www.usouthal.edu/univlib/other.html and choose "JSTOR".

USA's Government Documents Department

The University Library's Government Documents Department is the Federal Depository Library Program's Spotlight Library. The article focuses on the department's reaction to providing information on the Gulf Oil Spill, but also discusses the ways in which the department provides access to other kinds of information to patrons.

For the complete FDLP article, see http://www.fdlp.gov/outreach/spotlight/748-univofsouthalabama. Congrats, Gov Docs.

Alabama Red-bellied Turtle

Barbara Jackson, in Government Documents, found a rare Alabama Red-bellied turtle on the balcony outside the University Library last week. Dr. David Nelson, of USA's Biology department, came and retrieved the turtle. According to Dr. Nelson, "After being measured (extensively), weighed, and photographed to extreme, the lovely female turtle was released yesterday. Doubtless, she is happily feeding on swamp salad of submergent macrophytes."

"The Alabama red-bellied turtle is a large herbivorous turtle that has the smallest distribution of any North American turtle species. It only occurs in streams and embayments in the lower part of the Mobile Bay Drainage System in Mobile and Baldwin Counties in Alabama. This species was listed as ENDANGERED by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1987 and was designated as the Official State Reptile of Alabama in 1990." (http://www.savetheredbelly.org/)

Dr. Nelson attached the following two photos of the University Library's Red-bellied turtle:

Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Information

This satellite image is from NOAA/NASA. The Mississippi and Alabama coasts are in green at the top and the platform is the little tiny red dot the bottom yellow arrow on the left is pointing to.

The University Library Government Documents web site is a good source for the latest government information on the oil spill. For basic information, see http://www.southalabama.edu/univlib/govdocs/gd/. The Gov Docs Department has also prepared a more in-depth bibliography of sources regarding the oil spill. It includes links to maps of the spill and information about Alabama and Mobile, specifically. For this bibliography, see http://www.southalabama.edu/univlib/govdocs/gd/oilspill2010.html.

The Gulf of Mexico Sea Grant Programs web site also contains up-to-date information on the oil spill: http://gulfseagrant.tamu.edu/oilspill/index.htm. Here you will find phone numbers to call to report oiled wildlife or shorelines as well as numbers to call to discuss spill-related damage.

Excellence in Librarianship Award

The 2010 recipient of the Excellence in Librarianship Award is Ellen K. Wilson, Instructional Technology/Reference librarian. Ellen was cited as having displayed excellence in all areas of her job, including instructional technology, library instruction, professional development and service. The Excellence in Librarianship Award committee noted Ellen's development of online tutorials, her work with Freshman Seminar instructors, and her scheduling and teaching of classes.

The committee also commented on Ellen's superior work outside her job, contributing to the profession. She has presented at the Southern Political Science Association, the Mississippi Library Association, and the Alabama Library Association. Ellen presented a poster entitled Citation Analysis of Undergraduate Honors Theses at the USA Research Forum. Along with Rob Gray, Paula Webb and Andrea Wright, she conducted an in-service training session on Web 2.0 for the Mobile County Library Media Specialists. Ellen is the current secretary of the Alabama Association of College and Research Libraries.

Ellen's service activities have included serving as the chair of the University Library Public Relations Committee. She is the chair of the University Libraries' Forum, and she has represented the University Library at the HR Benefits Fair and at JagFest. Ellen was appointed to the University Writing Committee and serves on the University Library Homepage Committee and the University Library Intranet Committee.

Congratulations, Ellen!

EBSCO Academic Search Premier and AVL

From the Alabama Virtual Library help desk:

"Academic Search Premier (upgrade to Academic Search Elite) is now available on the AVL website until 9/30/10. Be sure to check it out!" at http://www.avl.lib.al.us/.

The AVL downgrade to Academic Search Elite never really affected USA's access since the University Library librarians felt that access to Academic Search Premier was important enough for our students that we needed to figure out a way to pay for it. We, in the library, hope that usage of Academic Search Premier between now and September 30 is high enough that the AVL realizes this in one database they need to make sure they keep.

Staff Appreciation Awards and Lunch

For the beginning of National Library Week, the University Library held a Staff Appreciation Lunch where awards were presented to Heather Hoven and Scotty Kirkland.

Heather Hoven began working at the library in the Circulation department in 2005 and was promoted to Library Technical Assistant in 2007. She was profiled in the USA Vanguard's section A Day in the Life Of : http://www.usavanguard.com/a-day-in-the-life-1.1305229

Scotty Kirkland began working for the University Library in Government Documents in January 2006. He moved to the Archives in September of that year and has worked there since. Scotty earned his M.A. in American History in December 2009. His thesis was on politics and the civil rights movement in Mobile from WWII to 1985.