Ebook Readings for Course Work

We are pleased by how many faculty are using chapters from our many ebooks as part of their assigned course work.  Sometimes a collection of these readings (often from several different books) can actually take the place of a text book, saving students money.   And who doesn't like to save money?

If you are planning on assigning your students chapters to read from our ebooks in the Spring semester, we would like to request that you let your librarian liaison know.  Why?

1.       Most of our ebooks are part of our subscription to Ebrary's Academic Complete collection.  Each book in that collection is under contract between the publisher and Ebrary for a certain period of time.  Once the contract expires, if a new contract is not signed, then the book will disappear from our subscription, sometimes in the middle of a semester.  If you let us know ahead of time, we can correspond with Ebrary to see if any of your assigned titles are in danger of being removed soon.  If any are, we can often “purchase” a perpetual rights copy of the online book.

2.      Some of our ebooks only allow one or three simultaneous users.  This can represent a problem if all your students must read chapters from the book in a limited amount of time.  If the ebook you choose for your course is in Ebrary, you can see how many simultaneous users are allowed, by searching on the title and looking under availability where the system will tell you, "Your institution has access to "x" copies of this book" (A).

                 

For the title above, three students can read the book at any one time  (A).  At the moment this book was searched, two copies were already in use and only one copy remained for another student to read (B). Needless to say, students become frustrated in attempting to complete a course assignment when they are repeatedly denied access because all our copies are in use at the time they sign in. 

If you would like to assign a limited access ebook, your librarian liaison can explore options with you, such as procuring another electronic copy of the book, upgrading to an unlimited users license if available, or procuring a print copy of the book (which is usually cheaper) to be put on reserve in the library as a back-up copy.

And if you have never assigned readings from any of our ebooks, but would like to explore this option, your librarian liaison can also assist you with identifying possible titles.

     

New, More Extensive Video Database Trial

Earlier this semester we had a trial for the video database VAST. We would like to thank the dozens of faculty who took time to look over the database and fill out the short survey.  We learned that VAST was useful to some disciplines but not others.  The publisher has just published an even more extensive collection of streaming videos called "Academic Video Online:  Premium" (AVOP).  Because of the more extensive discipline coverage, we have signed up for a new trial that will expire on December 6, 2014.

AVOP has over 41,000 videos covering most disciplines taught at Marist College.  The 32 collections are listed below by general subject category. Like VAST,  AVOP  includes synchronized and searchable transcripts, clip-making, send-to-mobile capability, embed/link features, and subtitle toggle.

To access AVOP, click on any link in this post, or select the "Trials" menu option from the top of any of the Library webpages.  As before, please fill out our short survey and share your opinions about this video database.  AVOP is under consideration for the next fiscal year.  As always, faculty input is crucial in the decision making process.

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Academic Video Online: Premium

Business

Business Education in Video
Human Resource Management Online
International Business Online

Engineering

Engineering Case Studies Online

Health Sciences

Counseling and Therapy in Video Series
Health and Society in Video
The Video Journal of Counseling and Therapy

History                                                                           Social Sciences

American History in Video                                            Black Studies in Video
The March of Time®                                                     Criminal Justice and Public Safety in Video
Meet the Press                                                                 Current Affairs in Video
World History in Video                                                  Education in Video Series
World Newsreels Online, 1929–1966                            Environmental Studies in Video
                                                                                          Ethnographic Video Online Series                                                                                                                LGBT Studies in Video                                                                                                                               Psychological Experiments Online

Multidisciplinary                                                       Visual Arts     

Filmakers Library Online                                             Art and Architecture in Video
The PBS Video Collection                                             Asian Film Online Series
VAST: Academic Video Online                                    Fashion Studies Online: The Videofashion Library                                                                            New World Cinema: Independent Features                                                                                                     and Shorts, 1990–Present                                                                                                                     Silent Film Online

Music and Performing Arts

Classical Music in Video
Dance in Video Series
Opera in Video
Theatre in Video

Road to the Workplace - Employer Research from the James A. Cannavino Library

The James A. Cannavino Library is introducing a new set of resources for Employer Research:  Road to the Workplace

In response to the competitive job market that all students find themselves in upon graduation, the James A. Cannavino Library is introducing a new set of resources, Road to the Workplace: Research Tools and Road to the Workplace: Employer Profiles. This set of resources is designed to help Marist students preparing for interviews, internships, and their post-college futures.We hope that you will visit this new set of resources and share it with your students.

Road to the Workplace: Research Tools

Road to the Workplace: Research Tools is a guide designed to provide students with the tools to conduct employer research on their own.  This is a guide to databases and websites that will help students gather the best information about potential employers. It contains guidance on how to read important business documents and how to discover what types of salaries are typical of a chosen field. Road to the Workplace: Research Tools can be accessed at:  http://libguides.marist.edu/RoadtotheWorkplace.

Road to the Workplace: Employer Profiles

Road to the Workplace: Employer Profiles provides collected data on potential employers. Public companies, private companies, non-profit organizations, and government agencies are all represented. Employers have been selected based on their relevance to Marist students seeking employment, and based on some of their relationships with the Marist community. Many in the first batch of profiled employers will be present at the upcoming Fall 2014 Career and Internship Fair.

 Road to the Workplace: Employer Profiles can be accessed at http://library.marist.edu/roadtoworkplace/ or through the link provided on Road to the Workplace: Research Tools.

Road to the Workplace is a new resource, still very much in development. We are looking for feedback to help us to develop the best possible tools for the Marist College community. Please take a few minutes to complete our survey on the Road to the Workplace: Research Tools site.

For more information contact:
Nancy L. Lewis
Nancy.Lewis@Marist.edu
845-575-2523
Or
Ask-A-Librarian@marist.edu

Ebrary -- New Online Reader enhancements

On Friday, Ebrary introduced an improved online reader.

1. The number of pages that can be copied or printed are clearly presented.
2. Copy and print functions are more easily accomplished with icons at the top of each page.
3. A "Link" icon provides a URL for a specific page within a book.
4. Citations can be generated for pages in several styles used at Marist.  A default style can be selected by patrons with an Ebrary Bookshelf account.
5. Book navigation, especially finding specific terms on different pages, is simplified.

View the short videos (2 minutes each) for a demonstration of the new Ebrary Reader.

Trial to Two Video Streaming Databases from Alexander Street Press

From now through October 15, 2014, all students, faculty, and staff may access the  video streaming collections below from Alexander Street Press.  These two video databases are under consideration for the next fiscal year.  Faculty input is crucial in the decision making process.


VAST: Academic Video Online - http://libguides.marist.edu/c.php?g=87493&p=904580 

        The VAST Collection is Alexander Street's most comprehenstive video subscription that includes not only our currently subscribed video databases but also over 30 additional collections in the areas of business, cinema, criminal justice, education, environmental studies, health sciences, history, psychology and more.

The Criterion Collection - http://libguides.marist.edu/c.php?g=87493&p=904615

         

       The Criterion Collection includes 300 HD-quality films considered some of the world’s most influential and widely respected for both their scholarly value and importance for the study of cinema, history, and culture. Directors include Bergman, Fellini, Godard, Hitchcock, Kurosawa, and more.

The video databases include synchronized and searchable transcripts, clip-making, send-to-mobile capability, embed/link features, and subtitle toggle.

Please fill out the 3 question survey provided next to the database link You can also  email Judy Diffenderfer (Judy.Diffenderfer@marist.edu) with questions and comments. 

Ghost Map Pathfinder and Display in the Library

This summer, all first year students were asked to read, The Ghost Map, by Steven Johnson.

Assistant Librarian Nancy Lewis has created a Special Topics Pathfinder, FYS Reading – The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson, as a resource for students and Faculty working with the common reading. This pathfinder draws together resources from the James A. Cannavino Library, the author, the publisher and selected online sites  in order to further explore the story of the ghost map, of cholera and other related topics.  Interactive maps and games, a readers' guide, and a TED talk are examples of the resources to be found in the Pathfinder.

While certainly of use to the First Year Seminars, we hope that other classes may find connections to these themes,  and that you will direct your students to the pathfinder as well. This is the second FYS reading pathfinder, after last year’s pathfinder dedicated to The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.

A display that complements the story told in The Ghost Map can be found in the display shelves nearest the Reference Desk and Escriptorium. Curated by Reference Librarian Margaret Cirillo and Assistant Librarian Julia Hughes, the display includes books in the sciences, socials sciences and literature that complement the story told by The Ghost Map.  Included as well are reproductions of XIX illustrations from H. Mayhew and magazines Fun and Punch.

Welcome Back!

The Library looks forward to working with all of you.  Please contact your Library Liaison for any help you need this semester, whether that be recommending new materials, creating a course Pathfinder, or setting up a research presentation for your classes.

We have two new databases this year.  Mango Languages  has 60 self-study language courses.  We had a trial subscription in Spring 2014 and solicited feedback with a web form.  Over 60 students responded and urged us to subscribe. We anticipate it will be very popular with students who are going abroad.

Mango is available to all Marist Faculty, Staff and Students, both on- and off-campus.  It can be used on various devices in addition to desktop computers.

Social Explorer is a data visualization information tool with 220 years of U.S. Census Data, American Community Survey Data from 2005 to 2012, US Religion Data, 1980 to 2010, and Carbon Dioxide Emissions data from 2002.  The data can be used to create maps and multi-map presentations as well as data charts.  Tables can be downloaded to Excel, SAS, SPSS, etc.  Thanks go to the Marist Poll for subscribing to this database for the entire campus.

Choice Reviews Online

We have a database, Choice Reviews Online, that publishes scholarly reviews of academic books,  databases and websites.  The reviews are written by higher education faculty from around the country. Choice specifies the target audience, such as undergraduate, faculty, etc and  provides a rating scale for its reviews:

• Essential
• Highly Recommended
• Recommended
• Optional
• Not Recommended

Any book you would like to recommend to the library can be emailed from Choice to the Collection Development Librarian, Judy Diffenderfer at her email, judy.diffenderfer@marist.edu

You can sign up for periodic email alerts so that you receive reviews for the new materials added in your subject area.  For help is setting up alerts, or for more information about Choice,  contact your Library Liaison.

Information Literacy and the Freshman Class

Information Literacy and the Freshman Class

               The Cannavino Library played an active part in the rollout of the Marist Core curriculum, through hands-on classroom participation and faculty support in First Year Seminar (FYS) and Writing for College. These freshman courses are pillars of the information literacy skill area of the Marist Core.

              In Fall 2013, the library offered six distinct FYS Common Session presentations, with topics including finding reliable background information, evaluating different information and information sources, basic research skills, and creating bibliographic citations. Faculty had the ability to select up to four of these sessions, with most sections opting for two or three talks. In all, librarians addressed 84 FYS sections.

              In our current spring semester, the number of talks offered has been reduced to three, with demand remaining high. To further support FYS faculty and students, librarians have created Course Pathfinders for 77% of the 2013 FYS sections. As the graphic below illustrates, the Pathfinders have seen robust use by students.

                Similarly, the Library has given talks and created Course Pathfinders for many Writing for College sections. In these presentations, the focus has been on the exploration of the research process, with presentations generally given just prior to students commencing work on a research paper.

                The library’s impact on the freshman experience has been significant; in more than a half-dozen majors, all of the 100 or 101 courses have received an individual class library presentation and  Course Pathfinder.  Anecdotally, faculty have reported that the Pathfinder and presentation provide a standard library experience, with students sharing a common level of information literacy as they progress to 200-level major courses. Additionally, all incoming athletes received a library orientation seminar; we can say with confidence that every Marist freshman received at least one library orientation during the 2013-14 academic year.

                Information Literacy is again emphasized in the Capping Course and the Library provides presentations to many capping courses as well.  In between Freshman and Senior year, students will benefit from further library support, be it in the form of a Pathfinder, Library presentation or both.   The basic concepts learned during freshman year will provide a basis upon which to build further subject specific knowledge.  Oftentimes when we speak with Capping classes students are surprised by the depth of resources made available through the Cannavino Library, and they find the Capping lecture as useful as the introductory lecture 4 years earlier.

  If you are interested in a Pathfinder or Library lecture (for this semester or next semester), please contact your Library Liaison. 

2013-2014 Faculty Recognition Awards

Award recipients Dr. Carrizales and  Dr. Frank with Marist  Executive Vice President Dr. Brackett.

Fontaine Hall's Henry Hudson Room was the setting for the 2013-2014 Faculty Recognition Awards on March 26. The awards are presented annually by the Marist College Library and the Library Development Committee to recognize faculty who have distinguished themselves by their scholarly and/or creative work.  This year's honorees are Tony Carrizales, Associate Professor of Public Administration and Scott D. Frank, Associate Professor of Mathematics.

Dr. Matheus opens the ceremonies

Associate Professor of Information Systems and Chairwoman of the Library Development Committee Carolyn Matheus, who organized the ceremony presented the awards to the recipients.    

Dr. Carrizales

A native of South Texas, Dr. Carrizales was introduced by colleague and Associate Professor of Public Administration, James Melitski as possibly "the only person on campus with both a framed copy of the U.S. Constitution and the Texas Declaration of Independence on their office wall."

Dr. Melitski

Melitski and Carrizales met while doctoral students at Rutgers University, and have collaborated in publishing  a pair of articles from a case study of best practices in e-governance in Prague, Czech Republic. "He's an excellent collaborator, who uses research as a way of engaging public officials," said Dr.Melitski.

A major focus of Dr. Carrizales' scholarship is the application of technology to make government more efficient and responsive to the needs of a diverse citizenry.

"When I started my research, most cities didn't have web sites and I saw technology as something with the potential to theorize about ways it can be used as a resource to ask 'how can organizations be most effective and efficient in engaging with a diverse citizenry," said Dr.Carrizales.

In addition to the Prague study, Dr. Carrizales was also awarded funding in 2012 for a summer research grant at Marist's Florence Campus in Italy as part of a review of international approaches to sanitation, and he has served the past five years as the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Public Management and Social Policy.

Dr. Frank

Dr. Frank has been at Marist since 2003 and has received research grant from the Simons Foundation and the Office of Naval Research. He has coauthored several articles on underwater acoustics, including studies of blue whale vocalizations in the Solomon Sea.



Colleague and Associate Professor of Mathematics Peter Krog introduced Dr. Frank and praised him for involving his students in his research. He noted that five Marist students have completed underwater acoustic research projects with Dr. Frank and four of those students have gone on to pursue graduate studies in mathematics, applied mathematics and physical oceanography.

Dr. Krog

"Many of us have difficulty from time to time finding the right balance between our research programs and the other demands of our profession. Scott's dedication to his scholarly work has inspired me at times when I've struggled with mine," said Dr. Krog.

Dr. Frank said his studies involve finding nautical solutions of partial differential equations, "which are how things change and how two or more rules of of change co-exist." He enjoys teaching classic theories, such as Maxwell's equations governing electromagnetism, and then finding the correct tools to measure real-world variables, such as the introduction of friction to conductivity of metal plates.

"You need to have tools to find out what's going on he said."Among those tools are earwax plugs for whales, that measure the effects ocean pollution as well as stress hormone levels.

Share your opinion with us -- Should we subscribe to Mango Languages database?

Mango Languages 

The Library has a trial for the Mango Languages database. It can be accessed at: Mango Languages Trial .

We believe that Mango Languages will be of interest not only to the Modern Languages & Cultures Department, but also to students who are going to study abroad, and to international students here at Marist. Mango divides the language courses into 3 categories: Foreign Languages (57); English Courses for non-English Speakers (17); and Religious and Scholarly for English Speakers (4).

 If you would like to see the Library subscribe, please fill out the survey form. Patron feedback is very important to the subscription decision. 

When you first access Mango Languages select the option "Try It First". 

Mango provides foreign language instruction modules that are self-paced and provide basic conservation skills and cultural notes.  The Library has already received positive feedback from students.

Mango also includes an innovative inter-active foreign video feature (Mango Premiere). For a quick introduction, watch the very short Mango Premiere Tour YouTube video.  To access Mango Premiere, look directly below the large green letters that say, "Find a conversation". There is a menu with "Apps" as the second choice. Select "Apps" to find the menu for Mango Premiere.

 In the event that we subscribe to Mango, our patrons could use it on a variety of smart phones and tablets. In trial mode, Mango is unable to provide general access to those devices. However, we have a username and password in the Library that enables us to test the functionality on a variety of small platforms. If you would like to see a demonstration of Mango on such devices, please contact Kathryn.Silberger@marist.edu.

Please remember to fill out the survey if you would like to see the Library subscribe to Mango Languages.Your input is very important.

Jeremy Schwartz, Assistant Librarian for Research and Public Services

Jeremy Schwartz is the latest addition to the Cannavino Library staff. A Poughkeepsie native, he grew up attending Marist basketball games at the McCann Arena. Prior to becoming a librarian, Jeremy was a journalist whose work has appeared in many local publications, including The Poughkeepsie Journal, Daily Freeman, Taconic Press, Weekly Beat, Ulster Publishing, and Chronogram.  His news coverage has included the Dutchess County Legislature, Hudson Valley Renegades, theater and film reviews, notable court cases, and the local music scene.

As a member of the Cannavino Library Research Services team, Jeremy assists students and faculty at the Library's Reference Desk and is a Library Liaison to the Communication, Music, Religion and Philosophy, and Media Arts Departments. Additionally, he is a regular presence behind the Circulation Desk, helping to supervise and train student assistants and ensuring the efficient and courteous dispatch of public services. He looks forward to meeting faculty and assisting with research and classroom needs, such as bibliographic instructions sessions, Course Pathfinders, First Year Seminars, and other collaborative projects.

His past library experiences include stints at Mount St. Mary College, Columbia-Greene Community College, and the New York State Library. He has also served as a volunteer archivist and web page administrator for WGXC Community radio in Hudson, NY.  When not at the Library, Jeremy's interests included collecting scratchy vinyl lps, playing guitar (primitively), hiking in the Catskills, sampling the live music scene in the Hudson Valley, and following his beloved New York Mets.

Pathfinder Program Overview

PATHFINDER PROGRAM OVERVIEW

In Fall of 2012 the Library introduced their Pathfinder program. In this blog post we will give an overview of  how Pathfinders are being used on campus.

WHAT IS A PATHFINDER?

Upon the request of a faculty member, a librarian works with the faculty member to create a customized mini-website with only the resources essential to the class, or even, to a specific assignment. The Pathfinder can contain links to databases, books and ebooks, journals and journal articles, videos, forms, images, etc.  It can be structured to fit the needs of your class.  The Pathfinder as a whole can be linked into iLearn, and specific pages can be linked individually in iLearn Lesson or iLearn Resources.

Faculty response to Pathfinders has been quite positive.

THE NUMBERS. 

As you can see below, the number of Pathfinders and sections they serve has been increasing steadily.  Comparing Fall 2012 to Fall 2013, there was a 67% increase in the number of Pathfinders.  And although we are only half-way through Spring 2014, we have already surpassed the number  created in Spring 2013.

We have seen most Pathfinders reused semester after semester. In courses with multiple sections, Pathfinders have been quite popular. They help standardize the library experience that students have across the sections.

Student use of Pathfinders has been significant.  In Fall 2013 we saw an average of 11 page views per student, with one class seeing as many as 69 page views per student.

The chart below shows the distribution of Pathfinders by course level in Fall 2013.  It should be noted that 77% of all the First Year Seminars had a Pathfinder, which influenced  the high percentage of 100 level courses having them.  Also, several of the courses with Pathfinders were taught entirely online.

A Pathfinder can be created anytime within the semester.  If you would like one for your class, please contact your Library Liaison.