New Collection: Muslim Journeys

Muslim Journeys LogoThe University Libraries has recently received the Bridging Cultures Bookshelf: Muslim Journeys, a grant of twenty-five books and three films on aspects of Islamic culture and religion for our collections.  During 2013, we will be presenting a variety of programs to feature these materials and the themes they represent.  Our first program will be a book discussion of Children of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam co-sponsored with the UT-Muslim Students Association on March 19th at 6 p.m. in Student Union Room 2582.  Other programs will include a lecture on Islamic Art by Carolyn Putney at the Toledo Museum of Art in September, and a film screening as part of the Toledo Lucas-County Public Library’s Film Focus series.  A full calendar of events (including those at Owens College & Lourdes University, who also received the grant) is available on our Muslim Journeys LibGuide.  Additional information about the collection, including introductory essays, discussion points, and related materials, is available on the LibGuide or at the Bridging Cultures Bookshelf site.

The Bridging Cultures Bookshelf: Muslim Journeys is a project of the National Endowment for the Humanities, conducted in cooperation with the American Library Association, the Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies at George Mason University, Oxford University Press, and Twin Cities Public Television. Support was provided by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York. Additional support for the arts and media components was provided by the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art.

Catalog & Database Lists Improved!

We’re rolling out improvements to the look and functionality of two important library resources today!

Click to see a larger screenshot with explanations.

The library catalog will get a new look… now your search will bring up the most relevant materials to the top of your search, and you’ll be able to further refine your search by location, format, date, etc. using the menus at the left.  Also new is one step searching for articles, right from the catalog search results.  This brings almost all of our materials– books, articles, DVDs, and much more–into a single easy search.  Check it out today!  The old version of the library catalog is still available for searching, too.

The other major improvement is to our list of research databases and other electronic resources.  Our new page features an alphabetical menu across the top and an expanded menu of subject categories.  All databases are listed, including those that we get through OhioLINK and those that we purchase just for University of Toledo users.  Signing in from off campus is easy–just use your name and Rocket ID number, including the ‘R’ at the beginning.

If you have any comments on these changes, please let us know either here in the blog or at AskIt@utnet.utoledo.edu.

Carlson Library reference and research assistance continues

A reminder that Reference Assistance will continue throughout the holidays* during the following hours:

M-Th   10:00 AM – 5 PM

Friday   12 PM – 3 PM

*(through January 4)

You may contact librarians in person (via the Circulation Desk), or by phone, email or chat (see “General Information” for contact details, left-hand side of page).  If chat is closed or if a librarian is unavailable, please feel free to leave a voice message or an email and we will respond as soon as we can.  The staff at the Circulation Desk will also be happy to assist you with certain requests.

We wish you a happy and prosperous new year!

Finals week hours & Study Bash!

Carlson library will be extending their hours to provide for additional study opportunities during and before exams. The entire library will be open until Midnight both Friday & Saturday before the exams (December 7th & 8th).  The upper floors will also stay open later Sunday through Wednesday to accommodate additional student need; staying open until 2 a.m. on Sunday, Tuesday & Wednesday, and 3 a.m. on Monday.  As usual, the first floor Information Commons will remain open 24 hours from Sunday noon until Friday evening.

Please stop by the 2nd floor Learning Commons on Monday, December 10th for a Study Bash from 3 p.m. until 3 a.m.  Student Government will be giving away gift cards each hour, and massages will be available from 4-6 p.m.

We wish you all the best as you study for your finals!

Librarians & English Dept. publish research on ESL Students & Libraries

Librarians Julia A. Martin and Elaine M. Reeves were co-authors on a paper titled “Relationship building with students and instructors of ESL: Bridging the gap for library instruction and services” in the journal Reference Services Review (Vol. 40 No. 3, 2012, pp. 352-367).  The paper describes the benefits of relationship building between a librarian and two English As A Second Language (ESL) instructors and the information literacy sessions created for two ESL classrooms as a result of the collaboration.  Students for whom English is a second language often do not utilize the librarian for help or attend library orientation and instruction sessions. This paper finds that librarians and ESL instructors can bridge the gap for ESL students. English Department co-authors were Kathleen M. Reaume and Ryan D. Wright.

UT Students’ Projects Now in Digital Resource Commons

UT Libraries recently contributed copies of over 400 graduate students’ projects to OhioLINK’s Digital Resource Commons (DRC). Users are able to browse and search the collection a variety of different ways and view the full text of all documents free of charge.

The Digital Resource Commons was created to provide a statewide platform for Ohio’s public universities and private colleges to save and share the instructional, research, historic, and creative materials they produce.

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Currently all of the UT projects in the DRC were written by graduate students on the Health Science Campus and its predecessors, the Medical University of Ohio and Medical College of Ohio.  Included are:

  • Scholarly projects by master’s students in biomedical sciences, nursing, occupational health, and physician assistant studies;
  • Scholarly and capstone projects by master’s and doctoral students in occupational therapy;
  • Scholarly projects by master’s and doctoral students in physical therapy; and
  • Evidence-based practice projects by doctoral students in nursing.

So far they are the only programs which have submitted students’ projects in digital format to UT Libraries for cataloging.  Digital copies of projects from other graduate programs are more than welcome.  Please contact Sheryl Stevens in the UT Libraries Cataloging Department for more information.

Records for all these projects are still in the Libraries’ online catalog.  All links have been updated to connect to the new DRC locations.

 

National Information Literacy Month

October is National Information Literacy month.  What is Information Literacy, you say?  Well, in addition to being a new core competency for UT students, it is being able to locate, evaluate, and ethically use information in all formats.  Your UT librarians are helping you develop this competency through course offerings like the Information Literacy for College Research class (COIL1130), by partnering with professors via our Information Literacy Program to bring information skills into your classroom, and even by working with you directly. So, celebrate today, and all of October!  And if you want to find out about ways you can find and use information better, contact us!

National Info Lit Month Supporter

9/11 books to open up through September

To honor the memory of those affected by 9/11 and to keep the conversation alive, Ebrary is opening up for free-access viewing a small collection of 15 e-books on various aspects of 9/11. These books will be viewable throughout the month of September.

AP Photo/Mark Lennihan

Books you can read online IN FULL include those that look at how religion has been viewed differently since 9/11, writings that recount personal experiences of that fateful day, and texts on the continued effects on our liberties, the media, and legislation.  These books have been published by a variety of academic presses over the last ten years. Please “check one out” today before they’re gone.

In addition to these electronic resources, the UT Libraries have many print resources on the September 11 Terrorist Attacks and the War on Terrorism.  Click on the links to browse our library catalog.

Carlson Library Bound Journal Duplicates

During the moving of the older bound journals, numerous titles were identified as duplicate copies,  that is,  journals that are already at the Northwest Ohio Regional Book Depository and journals available electronically from the UT Libraries catalog.

These duplicate journals were removed from the shelves, withdrawn from our catalog, and placed on separate shelving on the 3rd floor at the end of the Government Documents. Please note that signs are posted identifying the items.

We are inviting departments and faculty to review these duplicate journals. If you are interested in any of the journal volumes on the list for your personal or departmental collection, please take the item(s) from the 3rd floor to the circulation desk.

These volumes will be available for your perusal and removal until Thursday, September 15th.  Any remaining items will be removed.  Items will be available on a first come, first served basis.