Thursday, November 17, 2005

News feeds on your subject interests

All of the 36 subject-specific pages listed on our "Subject Directory" web page include news feeds. These provide continually updated headlines for news related to that field. The headlines link to more complete news stories - at sites ranging from the New York Times to professional organizations. Check these pages regularly to see the latest news on the subject areas of your interest.

Monday, November 14, 2005

Extended reference service

The end of the semester is getting close, and your big projects will be due soon...

We're here to help. From now until finals week (with the exception of the week of Thanksgiving), there will be someone at the Reference Desk to help you with your research from 9:30 am until 10:00 pm, Monday through Thursday. (We're only here until 4 on Fridays, but who wants to work on Friday, anyway?) Reference librarians are also available on Sundays, from 1-9.

Please stop by. We can help you when you get stuck on your research, if you don't know where to start, or if you just need some reassurance that you're doing it right.

For more information:
Complete schedule for both Crumb and Crane libraries
Reference hours at Crumb Library

Thursday, November 10, 2005

Finding videos in the Libraries

We get a lot of questions about how to find videos and DVDs in the Libraries. We do have a lot of them -- we have classic films, recordings of plays and operas, documentaries, and films for use by classroom teachers. Lots of people don't realize how many movies we have, because they're not kept in any special place, like in a video store. Instead, they're on the shelves with the books, so that if you're looking for criticism of Hamlet, you'll also find the videos of productions of Hamlet on the same shelf, too. Or, if you're looking at books on classroom management skills, you'll find the videos on managing classrooms right next to them.

So how do you find videos in the Libraries?

One way is to do a search in BearCat, and if we have videos on the topic you searched, they'll show up in your search results. But if you're looking for just videos, we have a special catalog -- the Video Collection database -- that you can search. You can find it by clicking here, or by using the drop-down "Change Collection..." menu right above the search box on the main BearCat screen. The top of the screen turns pink to tell you you've changed catalogs, and now you can search for anything -- "special education", "detective films", "American history" -- and find just the videos. Once you find what you need, you can check them out at the circulation desk, and enjoy!

Friday, November 04, 2005

Contact us!

The College Libraries have revamped our directories, and we think they're easier to use, and that they'll tell you more of what you want to know.

To find out who to ask about a particular library service, use the Services Directory, found at http://www.potsdam.edu/library/home/ServiceDirectory2.php . (There's also a link under "Contact Us By Phone" on the homepage.) In the Services Directory, you can click on many of the services we offer to get to an explanatory web page about that service. Ever wondered what a "Consultation" is? Click on it, and see!

To find a person who works in the libraries, or to find out which person does which jobs in the libraries, check the Staff Directory, found at http://www.potsdam.edu/library/home/Staff_Directory2.php. (Also available under "Contact Us By Phone".) If you want to know more about a staff member, click on their name to see more info. As an example of what you might find, here's my directory page.

Let us know what you think about these new directories -- do they help you find what you need?