McIntyre Library Reference Students

IRS Tax Code and Revenue Rulings

2010-03-15T16:34:00.000-07:00

Q: need help finding part of the Internal Revenue Code and revenue ruling

A: The Internal Revenue Code is part of the Code of Federal Regulations, found in gov docs AE 2.106/3:26. They need a part of the code, like 1.152-1. (a) and (c)

Revenue Rulings are found in the Cumulative Bulletin, shelved at T 22.25. If they need 58-1,62 that's 1958-1, pg 62, Rev Rul 58-67.

Handheld scanner

2010-03-05T10:54:00.000-08:00

Hi,
Anna and Angie have discovered that the handheld scanner is a little more tempermental than originally thought. The light automatically goes off after ten seconds. Unless the little red light on the top of the scanner flashes, the barcode has not been captured. So be sure that the red light on the top of the scanner flashes.
Thanks!

Finding historical newspapers

2010-02-26T10:35:00.000-08:00

Hi all,
Should you get questions about locating historical newspapers, here's a reminder from Special Collections:

A friendly reminder that the archives does not handle requests for newspapers on microfilm. If the library user knows the title of the newspaper and the date desired, look up the title in MadCat (the UW-Madison library catalog) and enter the date span of the desired film in the notes field, including the “P” number at the end of the date span.

If the library user does not know the title of the newspaper, you can look it up geographically in this bibliography, which is shelved in the general reference area as well as in special collections.

http://voyager1.uwec.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=560827

Of course, you can always use MadCat or WorldCat to find newspapers, but sometimes browsing is easier.

Further questions regarding ILL of newspapers on microfilm should be referred to Mary Finseth (Interlibrary Loan office).

Chat update

2010-02-12T12:58:00.001-08:00

Hi all,
The new chat is now fully implemented, so we are done using the old Meebo system. To remove Meebo from your login on the reference desk computers:

If the meebo icon appears in the lower right corner task bar (or whatever it's called), right click on it and select exit.
Click on Start menu
Click on Control Panel
Click on Add or Remove Programs
Click on Remove a Program
Find Meebo on the list and click on REMOVE. When it asks if you're sure you want to remove it and all the associated files, select yes.

In other news, the Text a Call Number to your Cell Phone feature is now up and running! To use it, just look in any catalog record near the call number and you'll see the link. So slick!

Troubleshooting Procedures

2010-02-12T08:06:00.000-08:00

• A-Z list: contact Eric Jennings

• Database, metalib or journal linking (SFX) problems: LIB. problem@uwec.edu

• Office computers: contact LTS helpdesk (unless problem is with Voyager client or library-specific software. In that event, contact lib.systems

• Public computers/printers, library labs: LTS helpdesk
o http://labs/
o Fill out an incident report.
o Include computer/printer number (these are available on the machine or on a map in the white binder)
o Include in description “route to learning services” for faster service

• Voyager catalog problems: lib.systems (if after hours, contact LTS Help desk)
o If the problem is just the OPAC (i.e. other modules, such as circ still work), use WorldCat as alternative. Or go to another UW System library homepage. Use their catalog and their UB option to select Eau Claire, and search our holdings that way. For reserve, ask at Circ, as circ module may still work.

Printer reminder

2010-02-10T12:34:00.000-08:00

Remember - when someone can't print because the printer is not mapped (and you can't map it by following these directions) - restart the computer. More specifically: hold down the green button that turns the computer off until the computer completely shuts down. Wait 5-10 seconds to turn the computer back on.

This should restart the computer with all the proper printers mapped to that computer.

If you are working with a patron on this, please be sure to have them save their work to their mapped drive before shutting the computer down and starting it back up.

scanning and shelving reference books

2010-02-03T09:23:00.000-08:00

It's the beginning of a new era, an era in which we 9the reference we) begin shelving our own books. So, effective immediately we will scan (using our new hand scanner) and reshelve books in the reference collection. This is a reminder to students to check periodically during your shifts when it's slow for books that need shelving/scanning. And this is a reminder to other reference staff to remind students to check when you work with them. The regular shelving students -- who used to do our shelving -- will still do some on weekends for us to keep things kind of tidy.

Please let me know if you have questions, and thanks for taking this on!

Scholarly recommender service -- try it out

2010-02-02T13:05:00.000-08:00

The University of Wisconsin System libraries are running a trial of a new service that provides researchers with suggestions based on their area of interest. This will aid you in finding additional relevant articles. It is similar to the “More Like This” or “If You Liked This, You’ll Also Like …” services on consumer web sites such as Amazon, but it is based on article usage of thousands of people at research institutions around the world.
This trial runs through February 2010.

To try the service, simply use the FIND IT button as usual and look for the "Users interested in this article also expressed an interest in the following" section.

Example:

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I find this service?

Perform a search via our Quick Search or a database and find an article relevant to your research. Then click on the Find It! button to see if your library has access to the article.

To see recommendations, scroll down to the section labeled “Users interested in this article also expressed an interest in the following." You will find additional articles that may be of interest, based on the usage of other researchers that looked at the original article. You can click on the buttons to the right of the citations to see if we have access to the additional articles.

What if nothing is recommended?

The recommendations section will not always show up. This is still a relatively new service and not every article will have recommendations.

What about my privacy?

The recommendation engine is powered by anonymous usage data from people using the Find It! system at other participating libraries. For our trial subscription, UWEC clickthrough data is not sent to the software vendor.

How do I provide feedback?

If you've used the service, please provide feedback via the following system-wide survey.

Printing from laptops using UWEC wireles

2010-01-29T13:45:00.000-08:00

Good news! Laptop users can print to the library public printers via wireless (the UWEC authenticated wireless, not the public wireless. For more on that, see http://www.uwec.edu/techservices/authentication.htm).

All they need to do is map to one of our printers:

1. Start Menu
2. Printers & Faxes
3. File > Add Printer
4. Click Next button
5. Make sure “A network printer…” is selected and click Next
6. Select “Connect to this printer…”
7. In the “Name” box, type in \\PRINTLAB\lab-ref
8. You should all four printers (single sided and duplex printers)
9. Select the appropriate printer and click next.
10. Select “Yes” that you want to use it as the printer default and click next.
11. Click Finish.

Printer problems

2010-01-27T12:26:00.000-08:00

If a student comes to you and says s/he can’t get a printer try to map it by going to
1. Start Menu
2. Printers & Faxes
3. File > Add Printer
4. Click Next button
5. Make sure “A network printer…” is selected and click Next
6. Select “Connect to this printer…”
7. In the “Name” box, type in \\PRINTLAB\lab-ref
8. You should all four printers (single sided and duplex printers)
9. Select the appropriate printer and click next.
10. Select “Yes” that you want to use it as the printer default and click next.
11. Click Finish.
12. You’re done!

If that doesn’t work for you (it sometimes says you have insufficient permissions), restart the computer. Greg in LTS said that that should work in resetting the computer so that it talks to the printer properly.

If either of those don't work, call LTS and report a problem.

Eric

Reference Universe - try it out!

2009-11-16T11:42:00.000-08:00

Hi students,
Here's a resource to try out when you're at the desk and you need to help someone find background information, or get started on researching a topic, or find a reference book. We have a trial of Reference Universe through Dec. 14, to see if we like it enough to pay for it, so give it a test drive! Or lots of test drives. And let us (reference staff) know what you think about it...
http://refuniv.odyssi.com

"Reference Universe allows you to search the library’s expensive specialized electronic and print reference collection in a much deeper way. Whereas library catalog searches offer title or subject heading access, Reference Universe searches the complete back-of-the-book indexes and article titles to over 16,000 reference works--then matches those to our local holdings."

Thanks,
Jill

UWEC faculty/staff/department listings

2009-11-10T09:14:00.000-08:00

Rumor has it the University is no longer publishing a print directory, because the same information is available online.

To find contact information for individuals, you can use the Directories link at the very top of the university homepage.
Finding departmental contacts is not as easy, so the University has issued a pdf "Faculty/Staff/Department Listings." A copy of this list has been printed out and is in the reference desk drawer with the phone books. It is also available online at www.uwec.edu/techservices/telephone/Faculty-Staff-Dept.pdf.

E-Reserve Documentation

2009-11-03T08:27:00.000-08:00

This just in...Please document any issues you have with students trying to access course reserves. If they are having problems identifying which items are electronic in their e-reserve list, write down the name of the Course Instructor as well as the Course Name and Number.

Send the above information to Janet Patterson at patterjl@uwec.edu

Thanks!

ancentry/immigration research

2009-11-02T10:43:00.000-08:00

hi, i have a couple of classes (Eng 110 and WMNS 311) that will be writing papers on their ancestors. I just wanted to let you know that I've created guides for both of these classes in the Course and Research guides that you might want to check out. The list some useful reference resources. Find them under Course and Research guides:
Engl 110; Researching your ancestry_loomis j
WMNS 311; Researching an ancestress

--Jill

Log Your Questions

2009-10-20T09:42:00.000-07:00

Please do not forget to log your questions in the Library Stats program this week!
Thank you!

Empirical studies

2009-10-01T07:57:00.001-07:00

I just posted a libguide that has strategies for finding empirical studies. You can find it under How to in the libguides or at http://libguides.uwec.edu/empirical

This is a test

2009-10-01T07:38:00.000-07:00

Hi,
This is just a test to see if you are notified by email when something is posted to the McIntyre Library Reference Student blog. If this works, we will be using this blog to communicate this sort of message, and you can come back and refer to this blog for older messages -- thus not clogging up your email in boxes. So, keep your fingers crossed....
here we go...
Jill

Finding educational theories

2009-09-30T12:06:00.001-07:00

You may have had a lot of questions recently from students looking for educational theories in psychology. These are Psych 261 (Psychological development and classroom processes) students who have to find an educational theory and then find an empirical study article that uses that theory. Unfortunately there really isn’t an index that I know of that lists educational psychology theories. There are, however, a few books that I found that could be particularly useful. They tend to be in the LB 1050-1060 or the BF 316-20 areas. Many of these books have the following subject heading applied to them: Learning, Psychology of. There are a few books that I thought could be particularly useful in giving the overview that these students need (if they choose not to use their textbook) are Theories of Learning (LB 1051 .H52 1981), An Introduction to Theories of Learning (LB 1060 .H42 1997), Theories of learning: A comparative Approach (BF 318 .T48) and Learning Theories: A to Z (LB 15 .L4695 2002). The last one, is also available as an ebook and does a fairly good job providing information on who came up with the theory and what year. Unfortunately their bibliography is only a selective list of books and articles, but it’s a start. Of course, the student is going to have to know what theory they’re looking for rather than a vague “I need a theory on X” but it could be a useful starting point and may even warrant being moved into reference from the stacks. The only way I found these books was by going up to the stacks and browsing the shelves and looking for books that had theory in them. Unfortunately “education theories” doesn’t really come up with what these students are looking for, so your best bet is to type in “learning theory(ies)” in the keyword search to find some, or to use the subject heading above.

Finding an empirical article in PsycInfo is the next step that I’d take and since you can limit to empirical articles, I think typing in the theory and using that limit would probably produce the best results. That's the easier of the two steps and probably isn't worth detailing much here.

Finding a print-only article

2009-09-22T10:54:00.000-07:00

Since most of you are new, it is worth mentioning that every semester we have students who come into the library and need to physically find an article in a newspaper, magazine, or journal. There is no silver bullet solution to this reference question.

My solution, though not optimal, should take a little guesswork out of this situation: simply go to Academic Search Complete and search for the topic that the questioner has indicated (e.g., peppermint). Then, narrow your results to magazines or academic journals. (Choosing magazines will result in you finding stuff in things like Time, Newsweek, etc. which we have in print here in the library more often than academic journals.) The final step is the tedious one: clicking on the find it button to figure out whether we have the item here in the library or not. When it says to check McIntyre Library for the holdings, be sure to actually click on that link to see if we have the item or not. See this picture for more description on what you'll see after you click "Find it":

FYI: Custodial Services

2009-09-15T05:28:00.000-07:00

If you ever have a custodial issue (e.g., no more paper towels) reported to you, there are a few avenues to try: you can contact Peggy Govan the library's administrative assistant 36-3715, contact the custodial services office at 36-5817, and/or email Dennis Klonecki.

Tech emergencies, Tuesdays and Thursdays

2009-03-13T12:37:00.000-07:00

Bryan and Dan (our tech go-to people) are now devoting Tuesday and Thursday afternoons to projects, so will not be answering phones or checking email during these times. If we have technology emergencies we are advised to run to the 5th floor and bang on the door. For less pressing technology emergencies we can email them at lib.systems.

E-Reserve Happening

2009-02-08T11:56:00.000-08:00

I had a student come in this afternoon (Sunday) who had an Ereserve she couldn't access. The display page also said that the book was on the 4th floor. After some searching around we found out that the professor had labeled the information wrong and that the article was actually in a book 0n reserve at circulation. Students in the class can check the book out for 2 hours at a time or they can just make copies of the article.The article is titled something like "Ecofeminisim" and the professor is Kiefer if it comes up for anyone else.

Sports Autobiography

2009-02-06T11:11:00.000-08:00

Using the keyword "personal narrative" or "memoir" won't work for this assignment or question.

The problem is that the autobiographies are mixed in with books on sports (i.e. Subject Heading: Boxing--United States--Biography). Therefore, the student will have to pick out a sport and you'll search for "sport name" and "biography." You'll have to figure out the biographies from autobiographies.

If that doesn't work...There seems to be some autobiographies in the GV1120-GV1132 but it is only boxing biographies/autobiographies.

Spring Updates

2009-01-26T14:44:00.000-08:00

Welcome back! We've missed you!

A few (too many) things of note:

Reference desk computers were re-imaged on December 19th, you'll need to re-map any printers and drives that you plan to use. Directions to map printers are in the desk binder.
Research guide slots (that used to reside next to the elevators) were removed. You'll find the guides filed in the desk drawer along with the printer paper.
There are now two renewals permitted for all collections except Media, Reserve, and ILL. A collection of often-requested items became available at the Circulation Desk for checkout. These items include scissors, rulers, colored pencils, etc.
Students looking to rent a locker on the 5th floor can now be directed to Circulation.
United States, Wisconsin and Minnesota tax forms are available at McIntyre library. They are located on the 1st floor near the DVDs and music CDs.
There is now an email group set up to address database problems… instead of having to distinguish between proxy issues, coverage issues and figuring out who should be notified – ANY problems with database access, coverage, etc. can now be sent via email to: LIB.db.problem (your email will be sent to Bryan, Dan, Roni and Hans and they will collectively work their magic.)
Library tours start February 2nd. Find more information here.

Finding a WI law history

2008-11-21T06:24:00.000-08:00

It often works best to begin with the Wisconsin Statutes, either at the reference desk shelved under WI A.5/2:2006/5 (Index volume) or online at http://www.legis.state.wi.us/rsb/stats.html

Find the Chapter and Section that refers to your topic.

At the end of each section is the history of the legislation that created that part of the WI Statutes.

Here is an example from the Statutues Children’s Code, 48.685 Criminal history and child abuse record search. At the end of this section you find a History. The date 1997 refers to the fact that the Laws of Wisconsin for 1997 changed this section in Acts 27, 237, and 281. Then you will get the copy of the Laws of Wisconsin for 1997, shelved under Z.5: in the Wisconsin collection, or follow the above link to the online version. It is often hard to find the part of a large bill, such as the budget bill, that created the law or changed it in the WI Statutes, but it will be there.

Census of Agriculture assignment

2008-11-18T12:01:00.000-08:00

Dr Foust's Geography Seminar paper has students coming to the library and asking for old Census of Agriculture information on Wisconsin.

From the professor's page at http://www.uwec.edu/bfoust/326/Paper4/

"LIBRARY:
Go to Government Documents in the main library the Census of Agriculture for the 1950s and on-line for 2002 data.
Start at: http://www.nass.usda.gov/census/census02/volume1/wi/index2.htm "

U.S. SUDOCs number for the 1930 Census of Ag is C 3.37/5:AG 8
If the volume they need is not on the shelf, look on the 2 gov pubs trucks, ref book trucks, or back at the end of the reference collection where we keep docs that have not been reshelved.

If students ask for other years of Census of Ag data, consult the pink guide on the ref desk or http://www.uwec.edu/Library/research/guides/upload/censusPub.pdf

See Mary with questions.

Archives (Special Collections) open evenings Nov. 10-20

2008-11-10T11:26:00.000-08:00

Archives/Special Collections, on the 5th floor, will be open weekday evenings 6-9, Nov. 10-20 to accommodate students working on a research assignment

Color printer is history

2008-11-10T11:24:00.000-08:00

The color printer that used to live near the government publications computer is gone. People looking for color printing should be referred to the general access lab in Old Library 1108 or the Copy Center in Davies.

Citation examples

2008-10-30T08:41:00.000-07:00

As the English 110 research papers begin to loom, and all of them need citation help, Jill pointed out a highly useful website for examples better than the MLA handbook. It can be found at

http://dianahacker.com/resdoc/

ESL assignment on poverty in different countries

2008-10-15T12:12:00.000-07:00

There may be some ESL (English as a Second Language) students asking for assistance with a paper on researching poverty in different countries. These may be some useful sources to keep in mind:
· World Poverty: a reference handbook (Ref HC59.72.P6 G53 2004)
· Europa World Yearbook: (Ref JN1.E85 2008)
· Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations (Ref G63.W67 2007)
· United Nations Statistical Yearbook (HA12.5 U63 2005/6)
· http://www.worldbank.org/poverty/
· CIAO (database)
· CIA World Factbook (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html)

Problem with searching titles in library catalog

2008-10-10T14:06:00.000-07:00

It seems that suddenly the Voyager online catalog requires punctuation in title searches. (Try searching on 20,000 Years of Fashion with and without the comma). Bryan is aware of this problem and is looking into it, but until it’s fixed, you may want to keep that in mind on your title searches. Normally, we shouldn't have to enter any punctuation in our catalog searches, but for the time being we may want to try it both ways...

Emergency/safety tips at the desk

2008-10-10T13:23:00.001-07:00

Hi all,
I sent you an email with safety/emergency tips. Because some of the information is a bit sensitive, I'm not posting it here, but urge you to read it over. I'm also putting a print copy of the message in your mail slot.

Pidgin/Meebo update

2008-10-10T12:41:00.000-07:00

Ok. We think it’s working now.You shouldn’t have to open a Meebo window and logon to Meebo anymore!

When you log onto the reference computer nearest to the public work stations, Pidgin (our new interface for reference IM) will automatically load. You should see an icon with a little green ball and a white square in the bottom right corner of your screen. That means Pidgin is running. You can open Pidgin by double clicking on this icon. Or do nothing; when someone initiates a chat with you, the Pidgin window should open.
If you are on the computer nearest to the elevators, you can still run Pidgin, but it won’t load automatically when you logon to that computer. To open it there, go to the Start Menu and select Pidgin.

A few notes:

If two people try to connect to Pidgin at the same time, the second person will bump the first person off.
Remember to keep stats on chats in the libstats program. (You can just copy and paste the chat session from the Pidgin window into libstats if you think the chat has information that might be useful to someone in the future).
If Pidgin doesn’t seem to be working, you can always go back to the old way of logging into Meebo.
You may want to give it a test drive with your partner at the desk to see how it looks.

Other catalogs in Voyager trick

2008-10-09T08:43:00.000-07:00

As you might have noticed, once you choose other libraries, the only search choice is simple. But, as Mary and I discovered, if you are in a advanced search already, advance search shows up as the search pane. Can be helpful if you are looking for something tricky and specific.

Reference desk books (also called "Ready reference")

2008-10-09T08:15:00.000-07:00

We're going to try something a little bit new with our Reference Desk books (the one’s on the shelf behind the reference desk). Since we’ve had a problem with some of those books disappearing for days, we are going to implement a low-level intervention. When we give those books to people, we should ask them to please return them to the desk when they are finished with them. You can say something like, “This is a pretty heavily used book, so please return it here when you’re done with it so others can use it.” If the problems persist, we may have to get more hardcore, but let’s give this a try.
Thanks!

Meebo meets Pidgin!

2008-10-09T07:21:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: We're currently experience difficulties with Pidgin set-up, so use the old Meebo method until further notice. When the problem has been addressed, the following will go into effect:

Our chat reference service has changed a bit, for the better we hope. We are now using Pidgin, in concert with Meebo. Systems gurus Bryan and Dan, who set this up for us (thank you!!), will undoubtedly cringe at my attempt to explain what this means, but here goes…
Pidgin is kind of another layer that we put on top of Meebo that we hope will have the advantage of making our IM sessions more stable. Also, it can be set up to log on automatically, so we won’t forget to logon at the beginning of a shift (I’m guilty, I admit…).

Here’s what it will look like:
If you are on the computer closest to the public computers (where the students usually sit, I think), Pidgin will open and log onto IM automatically when you log onto the computer. You don’t have to go to Meebo or anything to logon anymore. It’s an application that runs on screen, not in a browser window, so it’s very nice that way – it doesn’t get lost or inadvertently closed among your sea of browser windows (guilty, again). Several chats can open at one time within the Pidgin window, each identified by a separate tab. If the tab is blue, it indicates that the guest is waiting for a response from you. If it’s gray, the ball’s in their court. If they’ve left the conversation, they get x’ed out.

If you are on the computer nearest the elevators, Pidgin won’t open automatically, but you can open it by going to the Start menu and then All Programs. Select Pidgin. Then it will log on. You shouldn’t have to type in any usernames or passwords (but if you do, for some reason, they are the same as Meebo). If you log on, and someone else is already logged onto Pidgin, you will bump them off.

Pidgin is supposed to sound every 30 seconds or so if there’s a chat waiting. This is nice if you happen to be away from the desk when it first comes in; it should continue sounding until you acknowledge it. We’re not sure that this feature is working right now, but Bryan’s looking into it.

I would urge you all to try it out with your partner at the desk to see what it looks like. And please let me know if you have questions or problems with it (or let Bryan know, as he will probably be able to provide an explanation!)

Oh, and my apologies to those of you who were on the desk and encountered Pidgin before I managed to get this message out!

Google Earth

2008-09-29T14:17:00.000-07:00

There have been quite a few students asking for access to Google Earth in the past week. According to the labs website the public access computers, and labs on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors have Google Earth 4.3.7. If students need the Pro version 4.2 , they have to go to the classroom computers, Phillips 266, 268, 275, 280, 283.

Searching the Leader Telegram

2008-09-29T10:27:00.000-07:00

We have a trial of the Leader Telegram archive database until Oct. 12. If you'd like to experiment with searching past issues of the newspaper, you can do so by going to the Leader Telegram website (http://www.leadertelegram.com/) and clicking on Archives and Online Edition on the left. This should let you in (if you're on campus). Do pay attention to the "first time user" message. It looks like our trial only lets us search the past 3 months. Let me know what you think of it. Would it be helpful for students? Does is work well/not so well? See what you think...
Jill

New reference books!

2008-09-26T10:25:00.000-07:00

This is the fun part! Have a look at the new books on the cart behind the desk. When you've had a chance to peruse them, check off your name on the slip taped to the cart.
There are some good ones this go-around, like the Culture Shock series!

Requests for tours/classes

2008-09-26T10:22:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
Just a reminder that if you get a call from someone interested in scheduling a class or tour, they should be referred to Joy, who coordinates those requests. (If they ask for an indivual by name, you can forward them to that person, but otherwise they should be referred to Joy, 836-5961, jopkinje).
Thanks!
Jill

ILL requests at reference desk

2008-09-12T07:08:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder for us when we help patrons with ILL requests. If they are requesting a book through ILL that is available through UB, their ILL request will be denied! Their denial message will include information about UB which explains that they will get the book faster, but this can still be irksome for the patron – especially if we have helped them place the ILL request at the desk. So, we need to try to remember that if we are asked about ILL for books, we should check UB first.

Please let me or another librarian know if you have questions about this.

And keep up the good work. I don't know how many times I've heard colleagues say, "We have such good students working in reference," but it's a lot and it's true.

Finding autobiographical accounts

2008-09-09T09:39:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
We've gotten a few questions about finding autobiographical information for different time periods. These questions are not necessarily "Special Collections" questions (though they may end up there sometimes). Some strategies for finding these things are:

include the phrase "personal narratives" in your search. Combine it with a time period, like World War II
try adding the word "autobigraphy" to a keyword search.

Other tips that people have come across? Add them here!

thanks,
Jill

Autobiography assignment

2008-09-08T08:20:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I got a patron asking for WWII autobiographies (had to be a primary source), and struck out, mainly because the student wanted a selection to browse from before she chose, and starting with a name and then finding the autobiography is much easier. Mary was very helpful when she pointed out that looking for memoir resulted in many many more hits. As this was a class assignment, expect more requests.

Distance education students asking about password...

2008-09-08T06:23:00.000-07:00

Hi,
Now and then we get a distance education student calling to inquire about logging into databases. To try and make a long story short, here's the deal: Normally UWEC students can log into all of our databases and e-reserve using their UWEC usernames and passwords, as you know. Sometimes, through UW System consortial programs, we have students who are registered at other UW campuses, but are taking UWEC courses as distance education (DE) students. They don't have UWEC accounts. So we create temporary (semester-long), generic accounts that we give them so that they can get access to e-reserve and databases for the duration of their course. You may get questions about it. The generic, or DE logon, or proxy password, as we sometimes call it, can be found in the libstats program. Search on password or distance education or proxy and you will come up with the current password. Please let me or someone else know if you have questions! Thanks--Jill

Ultimate Frisbee

2008-09-05T11:42:00.001-07:00

Hi all,
We are putting together a McIntyre Library ultimate frisbee team (with a mix of students and staff). Some Circ students will be playing. No experience or athletic ability required (I hope). It's an intramural team that will play once a week on Thursday nights at either 9:00 or 10:00. Let me know if you're interested. The more the merrier (and the more breaks I can take...)

Jill

Remember Me(ebo)

2008-09-05T11:37:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
Please remember to log onto Meebo at the beginning of your shift. If anyone comes up with a clever idea for reminding us to do this, please share it. It's hard to remember. Also, check the speakers. They are often turned down or off, so even if Meebo is up and running you won't hear the notifications. We are still having some trouble with Meebo periodically, so please report problems, observations, suggestions, etc., that you might have. Thanks!
Jill

Welcome Back

2008-08-29T10:54:00.000-07:00

It's good to have you back and ready for another school year. Get ready to meet all our new staff.

See you at the student meeting, if not before.

Mary

Latest news on printers in reference

2008-08-29T10:41:00.000-07:00

Printers in the reference area (as you enter the library):

Computers in rows 1 & 2 default to single-sided printing on printer LAB-REF-A
To print back-to-back, choose LAB-REF-DUPLEX-A

Computers in rows 3 & 4 default to single-sided printing on printer LAB-REF-B
To print back-to-back, choose LAB-REF-DUPLEX-B

The Gov Pubs color printer is only mapped from the computer next to it.

New duplex printers

2008-05-28T10:31:00.001-07:00

We used to have four regular printers and one duplexer. We’ve now changed to two regular and two duplexers.

The first two rows of computers now default to LAB-LPAC-REF03 and the second two rows now default to LAB-LPAC-REF01.
The duplexers LAB-LPAC-DUPLEX02 and LAB-LPAC-DUPLEX04 are options for everyone to print to.

The fifth printer that was between the reference desks will not be replaced.

What you need to do:
You need to un-map LAB-LPAC-REF02 and LAB-LPAC-REF04. They don’t exist anymore.
You need to map LAB-LPAC-DUPLEX02 and LAB-LPAC-DUPLEX04.
You will need to do this at each reference desk computer.

CVTC students looking for Master's thesis

2008-05-07T11:27:00.000-07:00

This just in from the 5th floor (Special Collections):
A CVTC English instructor gave an extra credit assignment to her class that involves finding the instructor’s MA thesis and documenting the visit to the library / successful location of the thesis with a photograph. The thesis title is “The Evils of Emma,” and although the 4th floor copy claims to be available (in Voyager), it is not on the shelf. So please send them up here [5th floor, Special Collections] to take a look at the archives copy, which is temporarily residing on Lark’s desk. We’ll even take the picture if they arrive solo.

Hours during finals week

2008-05-02T12:24:00.000-07:00

We will operate under our regular schedule during finals week. If you can't make any of your regular shifts, please let me know.
Thanks!
Jill

Color Printer on 1st

2008-05-01T13:51:00.001-07:00

It’s got a new address:
\\printlab\lab-lpac-gov01

LMED Children's Literature Author/Illustrator Info

2008-04-24T16:35:00.000-07:00

Betsy mentioned that a lot of Rob’s students are back in looking for information. They are now into their second big assignment, an illustrator showcase. They’re struggling because it was easier for their first assignment where they did an author paper; information on illustrators is harder to come by, and they need to have 3-4 reputable sources.

So, Something About the Author is still a good resource, but what I’ve found is that Biographies Plus is another good place to go. What they may find, however, is that the biography listed is the same as that from SATA. What I send them to are the links on the left navigation bar “articles about this person…books by/about this person.” This seems to work well. From my understanding they’re mostly looking just to pad their bibliography. Other sources to go to if these fail are Children’s Literature Comprehensive Database and Teaching Books.

There are also other books on children's authors/illustrators that may help, but they don't cover as many individuals, but if the student is researching a very well-known illustrator these books may work out great. One is the Book of Junior Authors and Illustrators, call # PN 1009.A1 E36 in Reference.

Please do feel that you can refer any students to me or if I’m here call me out to take these questions.

Kati

Underemployment

2008-04-24T11:21:00.000-07:00

The government does not survey underemployment in any way, because it is too hard to track (said by information specialist at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Information Center to whom I spoke to over the phone). There are studies done which are published in articles. Usually these articles define their own version of underemployment, discuss how underemployment is relvant, and show computated statistics from the studies. Other words to use besides underemployment are: surplus education, overeducation, employment adequacy.

IM reference coming soon to a ref desk near you!

2008-04-23T07:34:00.000-07:00

One day soon (as soon as we can get it added to the library homepage), we will be offering IM reference service. We are doing it as a "pilot project," which means that we're giving it a try to see how it works out, and there might be some wrinkles...

We will be using Meebo, and once it's live, we can practice with it during your shifts at the reference desk. In the mean time, if you want to have a look or play with it, you can go to Meebo.com and log in using the screen name and password that I will send to you via email. (I almost posted it here, but that wouldn't be very secure...)

Stay tuned! More on this to come...

Jill

Gov Pubs Citing help

2008-04-14T11:26:00.000-07:00

Mary had a timely recommendation for helping out with all the gov document people. (okay not the savior-like help we've all been hoping for, but deeply useful nevertheless) The best, most complete and most helpful resource (in APA or MLA) for citing gov pubs, especially hearings is the longman guide (the spiral bound with a ship on the cover that seems to be on walkabout).

Maintenance (light bulb) question

2008-04-07T09:53:00.000-07:00

Jenny asked a good question about maintenance issues (flickering light bulbs, etc.).
here's the policy:

"Building maintenance issues, such as burnt out bulbs, should be referred to Peggy Govan in the administration office (govanp@uwec.edu; 36-3715). Students should ask a permanent faculty/ staff communicate with Peggy."

Betsy

Genre Headings

2008-04-03T12:43:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone-

Betsy sent this out to all of us in an Email, but we thought it might be helpful to have up on the blog too. So below are all of the genre headings you can use when seraching for fiction.

Adventure fiction.
Bildungsromans. (Coming-of-Age novels, who uses this term besides scholars and librarians?)
Biographical fiction.
Didactic fiction.
Domestic fiction.
Fantasy fiction.
Horror fiction.
Humorous fiction.
Legal stories.
Mystery fiction.
Political fiction.
Psychological fiction.
Science fiction.
Spy stories.
Suspense fiction.
War stories.
Western stories.
Young adult fiction.

Eng. 110/Persuasive Paper Assignment

2008-03-28T11:58:00.000-07:00

This is a link that Jill has on her personal website and it has a lot useful tips and resources for the English 110 students that have been coming in this week.

http://www.uwec.edu/markgrjs/persuasion.htm

Zip Code demographics

2008-03-07T09:01:00.000-08:00

Students have been asking for demographic data by Zip Code.

Detailed information is available www.census.gov
Click:

American FactFinder
Data Sets
Decenniel Survey (SF 3 has social and economic variables)
Detailed tables
Geographic type- select Zip Code
Select tables, click ADD
Show result

For general Zip Code information, here is a quick place to start.
http://zipskinny.com/index.php?zip=54701

Also valuable for Eau Claire area information is Lifestyle Market Analyst, current copy at Ref Desk HF5415.33.U6 L54. Look under La Crosse/Eau Claire.

There are other sources for this information, so ask for help on this question.

Mary

Ready Reference

2008-03-05T09:54:00.000-08:00

Hello all-
I learned today that if a book's location is "Reference Desk" that means it is in the ready reference section (gray bookcase behind desk). This may be helpful to you as there are many research papers today

Native American history tricksiness

2008-03-03T11:33:00.002-08:00

Betsy ran me through my courses today by having me practice looking up govpub microfilm reel numbers that are on reserve for a native american history course. There is a list at the desk of the names of the students and their associated tribe and jurisdiction over them. The title to search is highlighted in the second paragraph ("Letters received from Indian Agents") but they only show up if one searches for "letters received" and limits to gov pubs. From there, the way to determine which you need is by looking in the long title and finding the US Indian Agency- one of the spaces on the spreadsheet, and then going into that record to verify that you have the reel number, and the title you are interested in.

I think this is all due to the students needing both the long title and the reel number in order to retrieve the microfilm from course reserves.

Native

2008-03-03T11:33:00.001-08:00

Minor Tidbit that might have helped me today...

2008-02-28T12:38:00.000-08:00

I had a student come to the Reference desk and explain that they had been looking at some materials in the Gov. Pubs yesterday that was non-circulating, but today the material was nowhere to be found. The student said they had put the material on the cart near gov. pubs, but today the material was not on the cart or in the stacks. We double checked in the stacks and it wasn't there. We found Jill and she explained how the carts around the corner of the Reference section has materials waiting to be shelved. Sure enough,we found what the student was looking for on one of the carts. I'm guessing this is just common knowledge in the library, but for the rest of the new people this might be helpful.

Combing Scanned Documents

2008-02-26T12:35:00.000-08:00

After the user has scanned the document according to directions tapped on the computer and tweaked it how they want, they might want to combine all their individual documents into one. This is how you do it:

Bring up one of the documents

File > Save As

under the first dialog box where the file's name is list, there is a second dialog box >Click the second dialog box's down arrow > Select document type which lists .pdf in parentheses as a supported file > in the first dialog box, make sure that the file name also has a number to indicate the order you want the files combined in >

Save > Repeat process until all files are saved as such > Close Photoshop CS3

Open Adobe Acrobat Professional 8 >

Combine Files > Legal Documents > Combine Files

New window should pop up > Click Browse > Click on a document you want > Press and hold Ctrl button > Select the other files > Release Ctrl button > Click Open > Your files should now be listed > Drag files in the order you want or use Move Up and Move Down buttons > Click OK > Click the affirmative button for whatever else comes up

A Save window might pop up, if it does, select Save As > and name it so you know its the combined file, otherwise, go to File > Save As, as soon as the files have done combining

Check to make sure files are in the desired order > Done!

Something to Explore

2008-02-26T12:23:00.000-08:00

When I was answering a question for someone about saving documents, we had to go to LTS for help. This is what I learned:

Go to Start > All Programs > Utilities > TreeSize Professional (3 or 4)
When in program go to top left dialog box right below File in the Menu Bar > Select your H drive

It will tree your H drive on the Right and on the Left it will graph how much memory is being used and where. If you click on different files/sections, it will graph that specifict section as well. Go On! Explore! ^_^

It's a nice easy way to find large files that take up space on H drive.

Autobiographies

2008-02-26T10:31:00.000-08:00

When you are searching for autobiographies on the McIntyre Library Catalog, use "personnel narrative" or "memoirs." Autobiographies will get you books about autobiographies.

MONEY MONEY!!

2008-02-19T07:35:00.000-08:00

Just a reminder that your timesheets are due tomorrow (Wednesday).

Join the Big Read Facebook group (if you wish)!

2008-02-14T08:24:00.000-08:00

Hi all,
In preparation for Eau Claire's BIG READ, coming in April, there is now a Big Read EC Facebook group (thanks to Marcus!). The chosen book this year is The Maltese Falcon, and there will be events all over town in April celebrating the book (and movie) and trying to get as many people in the community involved as possible.

I would send you all Facebook invitations, but it is my policy not to initiate "friendships" with students on Facebook, as it feels a little too much like a middle-aged woman walking through the halls of a college dormitory looking for friends. Creepy, and a little pathetic. (I do, however, accept any friend requests that come my way). So, join the group if you'd like and invite any and all of your friends you think might be interested!

--Jill

Psychology 261

2008-02-13T13:54:00.000-08:00

Students are trickling in with questions on a particular project for Psyc 261, each of them have a topic (ex, learning and cognitive styles, or giftedness) wherein they are to incorporate into a paper two theories on their topic and the two major authors of that theory. They also need peer reviewed articles and an empirical study.

Good places (thanks Betsy!) for them to start are the in the reference collection at encyclopedia of psychology and handbook of psychology for a good overview, and then later to PsycInfo on EBSCO, for the peer review and the empirical study.

Building a Research Question

2008-02-08T10:11:00.001-08:00

Hi!
For those really broad questions, we have an excellant worksheet to help students narrow their topics down. It is in the S drive under InfoLit, current guides, and research guides, it is called "building a research question". It is probably not the best for every student but it really helped me today!

Sick of the same old pictures on the plasma screens?

2008-02-07T11:04:00.000-08:00

It could be you! Do you have a favorite book or movie or CD (or microfilm) that's available in our library? We can post your picture and your recommendation on the plasma screen and you'll become an instant celebrity among those who frequent the library. Let me know!

Jill

p.s. I've been told by several people that they really like seeing student recommendations up there.

labs and help desk

2008-02-07T11:00:00.000-08:00

Here's a handy little trick to know:

To easily get to the LABS webpage (where you can report a problem with one of our printers or find out what software is available in which lab on campus), just type "labs" in the address bar of your browser (where you would normally type in a URL).

To easily get to the help desk, you can simply type in "helpdesk."

G-E-T High School

2008-02-04T14:02:00.000-08:00

Oh, what an unfortunate acronym for a school district…
The Gale-Ettrick-Trempeleau (GET) high school Eng. 110 class will be in the library on Tuesday (weather permitting) from 9:00 until 2:00. If they have a snow day, they will come on Wednesday instead.

They usually are researching a culture other than their own, and make heavy use of the reference collection (Culturegrams, Encyc of Cultures, Encyc of Immigrants, religion encyclopedias, Native American resources are perennial favorites…). I have a guide that might be useful. (They should already have seen it) http://www.uwec.edu/markgrjs/courses/cultures.htm

--Jill

Children's Lit assignment

2008-02-04T11:32:00.000-08:00

Students are trickling in with the assignment to pick up two children's poetry books. In the IMC, good places for them to hunt are

398.8 (nursery rhymes)

811 area for more general poetry.

Don't be tricked by call "numbers" starting with E as they are the easy reader section (nearest main staircases) and legit poetry is there too, like Dr. Suess.

Maltese Falcon and the Big READ

2008-02-01T10:46:00.001-08:00

Hi,
Is anyone out there passionate about the book (or movie), The Maltese Falcon, by Dashiell Hammett? It has been chosen for Eau Claire's Big Read this spring. (The Big Read is an initiative where many organizations and people in a community come together to "celebrate" one book through a month of activities, presentations, programming, etc.).

Maybe you want to read it, or maybe you have a general interest in detective novels or in film noir, or maybe you're just up for a project that will let you exercise your creative streak!

The library will be participating in the Big Read in a number of ways, and can use help with projects. I may corner one, or all, of you at some point to ask for help with projects, but I thought I'd check first to see if any of you have a special interest in helping out with some of these projects. If so, let me know--

Jill

Library of Congress call numbers

2008-01-31T13:13:00.000-08:00

There is a good tutorial (linked from McIntyre Library web page). The direct URL is http://www.pitt.edu/~ford29/SatchLCall/BASIC/ (basic) and http://www.pitt.edu/~ford29/SatchLCall/COMPLETE/ (complete). (University of Pittsburgh)

Each tutorial has a quiz.

Marcus thought this was a good introduction. I think the BASIC tutorial should be enough!

Marcus says: "This shelving game is less confusing and more self-explanatory than the other site"

UW-Eau Claire salaries

2008-01-31T07:43:00.000-08:00

"Where can I find some 2007-2008 UW-Eau Claire salaries for faculty?"

Answer: this question cannot be answered in the "Redbook"; the Redbook goes only to 2006-2007. The answer is on reserve. It can be found by a title search in Voyager for "Salary List".

Salary List 2007-08 UWEC. (Covers all unclassified staff at UWEC)

Location:
Reserve (Circulation Desk) (1st Floor)Temporarily Shelved at Reserve ...
Call Number: SAL/LI

get paid to play video games!

2008-01-31T07:40:00.000-08:00

Well, sort of. I came across these library training video games developed at Carnegie Mellon University. One game lets you practice shelving books using Library of Congress (LC) call numbers. The other lets you practice answering reference questions.

http://www.library.cmu.edu/Libraries/etc/index.html

If things are slow at the reference desk and you have no projects to work on, these might be kind of entertaining (and educational!) to try out. (Just remember to look up when people come into the library. Our patrons--as opposed to the demanding virtual patrons of the video games--still come first!)

Have fun!
Jill

GEOG 328 Assignment

2008-01-31T06:24:00.000-08:00

A perennial geography assignment that uses old and new government documents is now bringing students to the reference desk. See the folder on the reference desk and use the copy of the assignment to help the students locate the documents by SUDOCs number.

If the documents are not on the shelf, look on the 2 document book trucks near the document index center or look back in our shelving area (next to the end of the reference collection).

Resources:
County and City Data Book C 3.134/2:C 83/2
Statistical Abstract C 3.134:
Annual Survey of Manufactures C 3.24:
Census of Manufactures (online) http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/econ97.html

CJ 300 Assignment

2008-01-30T13:29:00.001-08:00

Students from Judy Sims CJ 300 course are working on a worksheet/scavenger hunt looking for reference materials such as Culturegrams, Historic Documents and the Million Dollar Directory. Most can be found by performing a title search in the library catalog. Since a lot of students are loking for the same reference volumes, you might want to check the top of low reference stakcs, the reference cart, by the copiers of behind the circulation desk if something isn't on the shelf. You can also fill out a "Not in Stacks" card (available at the Circulation Desk) if you can't find it and Diana Germain, Stack Supervisor, will look for it and make sure it gets reshelved.

Practice at the Desk

2008-01-30T12:33:00.000-08:00

One of our "old" students (really old, right, Amy?) suggested 2 things for new students to do for self-training at the Desk:

1. Review and re-review our library web page.
She suggested doing it from the A-Z Library Index on the home page

(Mary and I cover this in the training, as well)

2. Review the Reference statistics log. Ask questions if the messages are too brief.

Thanks, Amy.

Betsy

Universal Borrowing

2008-01-30T11:39:00.000-08:00

I had an interesting UB detail question that Betsy wanted me to include here.

Can one place a hold on a book through Universal Borrowing if none of the copies in other UW libraries are available?

Turns out that no, one can't "get in line" for UB books and so must go through ILL.

invitation to post to blog

2008-01-30T11:03:00.000-08:00

Hi all,
You should have received in your email an invitation to post to this blog (should you ever want/need to). That means that in addition to reading it and commenting on posts, you can post messages of your own that you think might be of use to the other reference students.

In order to use this new power we've bestowed upon you, you need to set up an account with blogger. (Just follow the on-screen instructions, or ask one of the librarians with whom you work or ask me). If you have a Google account already, you should be able to use that.

Let me know if you have questions!

Jill

Printer Help

2008-01-28T14:03:00.000-08:00

What do you do if the printer runs out of toner? Or refuses to print or has a jam which can't be removed? Call the LTE HelpDesk at 36-5711 and report the problem. Make sure you give them the printer's name, attached to the front of each printer (for example, LAB-LPAC-REF03). You get to have the fun of removing paper jams and deleting jobs from the print cue to solve other problems.

Where are the Blank Student Time Sheets?

2008-01-28T13:58:00.000-08:00

If you're looking for blank student time sheets, a supply is available at the Reference Desk, second drawer on the left, in a manila file folder. We're entering pay period 5. Time sheets are due again next week on Wednesday, February 6.

Reference Department New Student Training

2008-01-25T08:25:00.000-08:00

Welcome new students!

Training for new reference student workers will start the week of February 4, 8:30 – 9:45 Monday mornings. We'll meet in the library lab (L1033). Take a look at the Reference Students Training wiki at http://referencestudents.pbwiki.com/ if you want.

We look forward to seeing you.

Betsy Richmond
Mary Hayden

So many people to remember!

2008-01-23T11:50:00.000-08:00

Welcome (back), students!
We're going to try using this blog to communicate. Let's see how it works. Please provide feedback about what you think works well, how it might be improved, if we should chuck the whole idea, etc.

One of the challenges of starting a new job is figuring out who everyone is. One tool that might help you with this is a staff directory on the library web site:
http://www.uwec.edu/library/aboutUs/who/index.htm
In most cases, if you click on a person's name you will get a picture.

(This might even be useful to you returning students, given all the recent changes in personnel!)

--Jill