What’s New at the GSU Zach S. Henderson Library

Congratulations to the winners of the 2009 First-Year Experience Awards!  Henderson Library would also like to recognize one of the nominees for the Faculty Outstanding First-Year Advocate Award, and point you to some online tutorials for first-year students, which are useful in locating, evaluating, and citing research sources while avoiding plagiarism.

Kudos to Ms. Lisa Smith, Information Services Librarian, for being nominated for this award by another faculty member involved with the First-Year Experience. The two worked together on the FYE task force, and Lisa’s hard work and dedication were justifiably commended.  In addition to presentations that Lisa has done on the FYE work, she has been an excellent campus representative for the library in her work in this area, and has dedicated considerable time and effort to collaborating with colleagues across campus in creating several information literacy modules, which are used by almost all FYE professors at Georgia Southern.

Here are links to the tutorials, which now reside on the Henderson Library’s “Information Literacy page” at http://library.georgiasouthern.edu/libref/literacy.html
(Click on #4 Henderson Library Information Literacy Tutorials):

Evaluating Information Overview

(5 minutes, 23 seconds)

Currency

(2:01)

Relevancy

(3:16)

Authority

(5:34)

Accuracy

(3:10)

Purpose

(4:09)

Avoiding Plagiarism

(4:04)

Citing Sources

(5:59)

Great job, Lisa!  (And thanks to Lori Lester for supplying the story!)

Find your very own Subject Specialist Librarian here!

The Information Services Department invites you to the Bibliographic Instruction Group, Georgia Eastern Region Conference (BIGGER) to be held at the Zach S. Henderson Library on Friday, April 17, 2009.

http://library.georgiasouthern.edu/libref/bigger2009.html

Attendance to the conference is free, but advance registration is required. Please register here.
http://library.georgiasouthern.edu/libref/2009registration.php

BIGGER IS BACK!! It’s BIGGER, BETTER and FREE!!

Jocelyn Poole
Head of Information Services
Associate Professor
Zach S. Henderson Library
Georgia Southern University
P.O. Box 8074
Statesboro, GA  30460
912-478-7818
jpoole@georgiasouthern.edu

In an effort to provide effective and efficient services to the student body, we would like your feedback regarding the  Learning Commons, the Presentation Practice Room, and the library workshop offerings. You may also send questions and feedback to learningcommons@georgiasouthern.edu or visit the Learning Commons wiki for more information.

Google Book Search announced today that they are adding magazines and journals (a.k.a. serials or periodicals).  Here’s the scoop.  Here’s the search.  Remember also that you’ll be able to access more full-text online articles via GALILEO, and Henderson Library’s collection (online, print, etc.) contains a wealth of resources that you won’t be able to access via Google Book Search.  These should all be parts of your research repertoire, along with our Subject Specialist Librarians who are at your service, ready to assist you anytime in person, or via IM/chat, e-mail, or phone.

Today a group of our librarians talked with the graduate program directors, who then asked us to share our handouts with a wider audience.  A great idea!  So here you are…

Interlibrary Loan & GIL Express

Your Very Own Librarian:  Library Liaisons

Library Services for Graduate Students

Circulation of Library Materials: The loan period for graduate students for books and most other materials is the entire semester, but the books can be recalled after 21 days if not renewed. Books must be physically brought in to be renewed at the end of each semester. DVDs, and videorecordings circulate for three days.

Dissertations and Theses: A common request from grad students is to see theses and dissertations written by previous Georgia Southern graduate students. These are cataloged and shelved by subject just as the books are, so there is no one place in the Library to look for them. However, you may search by keyword and add the words “thesis”, “dissertation”, or “etd” and identify them that way. For additional assistance go to http://library.georgiasouthern.edu/libref/dissertationabs.pdf.

Document Delivery for Distance Learners: students who take all of their classes online or off campus and who live 30 miles from Statesboro may request books and articles be sent to them. Contact: Cynthia Frost, (912) 478-5405 or e-mail cjfrost@georgiasouthern.edu or the ILL Office at ill@georgiasouthern.edu

Eagle Source: This provides lists of helpful research resources by discipline with descriptions. It can be found on the left side of the Henderson Library Home Page or go to http://library.georgiasouthern.edu/eaglesource/.

Faculty Authorizations: By filling out our Faculty Authorization forms, faculty may give their graduate assistants permission to check out materials in their names. Contact: Debbie DeVage, (912) 478-5647 or e-mail ddevage@georgiasouthern.edu or Marjorie Gay, (478-5647) mgay@georgiasouthern.edu

GIL Express: GIL Express is a service of the University System of Georgia (USG) libraries – 35 in all. After searching the USG Universal Catalog, faculty, staff, and students may request books from any USG library. The books usually arrive at our Library in two days and are loaned for 28 days with two renewals allowed. There are no overdue fines, but a few libraries do charge recall fines and faculty as well as students are blocked at all USG libraries (including their own) if they allow materials to become overdue. Books borrowed through GIL Express can be returned to any USG library. Unlike Interlibrary Loan, books may be borrowed through GIL Express whether they are for research or not.

Contact: Debbie DeVage or the Circulation/Reserve Desk, 478-5647 or e-mail ddevage@georgiasouthern.edu, Fred Smith email fsmith@georgiasouthern.edu 478-5405 or Cynthia Frost 478-5405 or e-mail cjfrost@georgiasouthern.edu or the ILL Office at ill@georgiasouthern.edu

Group Study Rooms: Three group study rooms located on the first floor are reserved for use by graduate students only. Go to the Circulation/Reserve Desk on the second floor to check out a key to unlock them.

Information Literacy Instruction

The Information Services Librarians offer many classes on both information searching and software applications.  They specialize in course-based, assignment-focused instruction, customized according to the needs of the students.  They also offer drop-in workshops, including SPSS, Thesis/Dissertation Formatting, Graduate Assistant Research Forums, and more!  Check out the full list of drop-in workshops at http://library.georgiasouthern.edu/workshops.html

Interlibrary Loan: Almost any book or article may be borrowed. Average turnaround is about a week, and there is no charge. The Henderson Library uses ILLiad for its interlibrary loan and document delivery services. The link to ILLiad is on the left side of the Library’s home page. There is a one-time registration. After registering, faculty, staff, and students can make requests, see the status of current requests, access electronically received documents, request renewals, and see a history of all their requests. In most cases, copies of articles will be delivered electronically. We ask that ILL requests be for materials to support Georgia Southern teaching or research. The FAQ includes instructions for faculty to make additional “shared” accounts when they ask student assistants to make their ILL requests. Please call the ILL Office at (912) 478-5405 or email ill@georgiasouthern.edu with any questions.

Learning Commons: The Learning Commons is a dynamic and active feature of the Library’s efforts to meet the needs of the university community. In order to facilitate the creation of a learning commons, the following principles have guided the planning for the reconfiguration of the existing Zach S. Henderson Library building and the addition:

· A Place for Active Learning · A Place Designed to Put Users First · An Adaptable Place · A Functional Place

· A Borderless, Integrated, Efficient Place · A Place Where Noise is Managed · A Safe and Secure Place

Reference Help: When you begin work on a major paper, thesis, or dissertation, it’s always a good idea to confer with a Reference Librarian for the best approach to sources and search terms. In addition, the reference librarians have subject specialties. If you would like, you can make an appointment with the reference librarian for your discipline to discuss your research. They can also help grad students with difficult citation problems. The subject specialists for your area can be found by consulting Eagle Source. Additional information is also available at http://library.georgiasouthern.edu/libref/ISLibrarians.pdf

or http://library.georgiasouthern.edu/libref/imref.html.

Zach’s News: Keep an eye on http://zachsnews.edublogs.org/ for updates on the newly expanded and renovated library building, as well as new resources and services.  You could simply bookmark this page, but we encourage you to make use of the e-mail subscription option and/or the RSS feed option which are both located near the bottom, right side of this page.

You are invited to attend a Fall workshop offered by Henderson Library Information Services Department.
Workshops are open to all students, staff and faculty. It’s a great opportunity to improve your computer and research skills, and learn about new library databases accessible through GALILEO. Please distribute within your departments and to your students.

If you’d like to take a library workshop, see the calendar or descriptions for information on a workshop you would like to attend. To review workshop descriptions and the Fall 2008 schedule, click http://library.georgiasouthern.edu/workshops.html

To register online, click http://library.georgiasouthern.edu/forms/workshop_registration.html

If you do not see the workshop listed on the calendar, use the registration form and enter a preferred time and date. Upon request, other dates and times can be scheduled.

Zach S. Henderson Library and the Faculty Learning Community on Information Literacy invite Georgia Southern faculty to visit two new web pages designed for those seeking to integrate research competencies into their classes.

The following link http://library.georgiasouthern.edu/libref/literacy.html will take you to a resource page summarizing support programs and resources from the Library for teaching students to recognize when information is needed and to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.

The following link http://library.georgiasouthern.edu/libref/fyseminar.html will take you to sample assignments and tutorials designed to teach research or “information literacy” competencies. The sample assignments were developed by Georgia Southern faculty as well as faculty from around the country, and were compiled by the Faculty Learning Community on Information Literacy:

Kathy Albertson, Acting Chair, Department of Writing and Linguistics
Frank Atuahene, Department of Construction Management and Civil Engineering
Chris Caplinger, Director of First Year Experience
Tom Case, Acting Chair, Department of Information Systems
Bob Fernekes, Information Services Department, Henderson Library
LiLi Li, Information Services Department, Henderson Library
Bede Mitchell, Dean of the Library
Lisa Smith, Information Services Department, Henderson Library
Rebecca Ziegler, Information Services Department, Henderson Library

Did you know you have your very own librarian? Check it out.

Henderson Library has launched a newly redefined Library Liaison program. The new approach involves Subject Specialist Librarians working with groups of academic departments, and providing reference/research assistance, information literacy instruction, and collection development in those subject areas. Librarians have also selected various GSU entities beyond the academic departmental structure, such as student organizations and campus offices. They are acting as Library Liaisons with them as well, providing links for ongoing, two-way communication between them and the Library.

We’re excited about trying out our new approach, which has had only a few minor changes since this outline was posted. The full description of the new Library Liaison roles, with photos of your friendly Subject Specialists, is at http://library.georgiasouthern.edu/libref/ISLibrarians.pdf

Please share your comments and ideas about what we can do for you!