Thursday, December 15, 2011

Follow Lowell Thomas Travelogue on Twitter


Throughout the month of December the Marist College Archives and Special Collections twitter account @LowellJThomas will have a Lowell Thomas Travelogue Theme, tweeting pictures and quotes from Thomas's famous World War I travelogue series "With Allenby in Palestine and with Lawrence in Arabia".

In 1918 Lowell Thomas went overseas to photograph the allied war effort. After first visiting the western front, it was in Egypt, Palestine and Arabia that Thomas and his photographer Harry Chase took their most spectacular motion pictures and photographs. It is at this time that Thomas also met T.E. Lawrence, whom, through Lowell Thomas's Travelogue, would become legendarily famous. The multimedia show about Lowell Thomas's travels through Palestine and Arabia became a sensation in America and Europe due to the incredible photographs and Thomas's commentary. Follow @LowellJThomas on twitter today to experience it for yourself!

Library help over the break


As the semester draws to a close The James A. Cannavino wishes you all happy holidays.

During the mid-winter break many faculty will be using the time to work on research and prepare classes for the coming semester.  The Library will be open many days during the break.  If you are working from home and have library-related questions, please contact us.

Day by day Library hours are posted on the Library calendar.
Phone us at 845-575-3292 when the Library is open.
Send an email anytime to Ask-A-Librarian@marist.edu.
ILL  will be available and fully staffed  throughout the break.
Librarians will be available all days the Library is open to work with you in person or by telephone.

Katy Silberger will be available throughout the break to work with you on iLearn/Library issues.  If you would like help creating an “electronic reserve reading list” or linking to the Library instructional videos, please contact her.  If you would prefer to work from home, she can offer assistance by telephone and email.  Her direct phone number is 845-575-3419.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Collaborate with Students in the Library


Do you ever want to meet with a small group of students in the Library?

 Four collaborative rooms in the Library are available for faculty and staff use from 8:00am to 5:00pm, Monday through Friday.  They are located on the second floor in the Alumni Reading Room area of the Library.

The rooms accommodate between 5 and 8 people and may be reserved for 1 to 3 hours up to a week in advance.

 This space is made available for occasional meetings rather than regularly scheduled activity.

To reserve a room, please contact the Academic Learning Center at 575-3300.

Room # # Seats Features
300A
8
Whiteboard
300B
6
Computer
300C
6
Computer
300D
5
Computer


Thursday, December 1, 2011

Why doesn't the Library have this journal?

Recently a faculty member asked me why Marist's library doesn't receive two respected journals of Catholic thought: America and First Things, yet does receive the similarly respected Commonweal.  The short answer is, we do get all three, but not in print.

Marist College Library's long-term commitment to build a digital library has enabled us to move from  1200 serial titles in print to more than 55,000 titles accessible digitally.  A complete, searchable list can be found by visiting the Library Catalog and clicking the "Journals" link.

Search tip: use the drop down option for one-word titles, as below.


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Many digital editions lack the glossy, eye-catching covers and stimulating layouts of corresponding print versions.  This is especially true if they are part of a massive library database, and especially troubling if you rely on covers and headlines - catching your eye as you casually browse the library main floor -  to remind you of the valuable content inside.  But one often overlooked advantage of these digital serials, is that they allow any Marist community member to create, essentially, their own personal email subscription.

All of our major content providers offer this service - typically styled "Alert"

Examples below:

WilsonWeb














Ebsco














Once activated, this service will deliver the tables of contents of any journal with links to the full text article, on a schedule you can set.  And for the more adventurous, most can create RSS feeds too.

Of course there are many more valuable features of digital publications, and many challenges in working with them.  Please don't hesitate to contact me (Mark Colvson, 845-575-5218) or any of my colleagues to ask about finding digital serials, building them into your pedagogy, or any other features you nay have wondered about.