Author Archives: Amanda McLellan

Database updates: LexisNexis Academic and Literature Online

The new year brings interface updates to LexisNexis Academic and Literature Online (LION).  LexisNexis Academic now features a single, prominent red search box that defaults to a combined search of news, business, and legal content.  Advanced search options are now available on the homepage, in addition to the three most popular single search forms from the previous interface — Search the News, Look up a Legal Case, and Get Company Info.  For a video introduction to the new interface, click here.

Literature Online (LION) is now on the ProQuest platform.  Through the Quick Search box on the homepage, you can find resources related to a particular author, title of a work, or subject.  You can also search Authors, Texts, Criticism, and Reference separately.  For more guidance on searching LION, check out Proquest’s product guide by clicking here.

In addition, three resources that are available through LION have now been added as individual databases on our Databases A-Z page to help you find them more readily.  These include:  Bibliography of American Literature, Editions and Adaptations of Shakespeare, and the The W.B. Yeats Collection.

 

 

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Join us for “Travels in Muslim Lands”

Please join us on January 29, 2014 at 7:00pm in the Greenwood Library Atrium for a presentation by Shaykh Abdullah Nooruddeen Durkee, a leader in the Sufi tradition of Islam. Shaykh Nooruddeen is a scholar and translator has written over ninety books, including a prominent transliteration and translation of the Qur’an. Shaykh Nooruddeen also runs the Islamic Study Center in Charlottesville. His talk, entitled “Travels in Muslim Lands,” will describe the important encounters, experiences and studies in America, India, Makkah, Jerusalem and Cairo that led him from teacher to teacher and place to place, as well as his returns to the US, where he has over time established and built four communities, three schools, and several masajid (mosques).

Greenwood Library was recently awarded a Muslim Journeys Bookshelf Grant by the American Library Association and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The books, DVDs, and electronic resources provided in the grant are intended to provide our users with trustworthy and accessible resources about Muslim beliefs and practices as well as the cultural heritage associated with Islamic civilizations.

 

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The Desk

The Desk

Visit The Desk!

As of January 2014, Greenwood Library is moving to a single service point model. This means that instead of having to know where to go to get the help you need, you simply need to ask at The Desk located in the Atrium nearest the doors.

Our goal is to make our help easier to get by making us easier to find. No matter if you need to check out a book or equipment or need help with research, you start at the same place – The Desk. Many of you may not notice a difference, but we wanted to let you know of the change.

Some highlights of what this means for you:

  • Everything gets checked out and returned to one place – The Desk. This includes all equipment such as: digital cameras, video cameras, projectors, iPads, and all laptops.
  • The Multimedia Lab will be open the same as before, but will no longer be staffed by student assistants, so please visit The Desk at the entrance to the library for any Multimedia questions or needs.
  • Librarians will have their doors open if they’re available, and you might see them wandering around from time to time if you need them. The desk in the Learning Commons will be vacant unless an RTA or ITC is available, so if you need help, you can chat with us or come to The Desk.
  • You don’t need to know if The Desk staff will be able to answer your question – if they can’t help you immediately, they can find out who can help you and refer you to that person.
  • Librarians will still be available to help you, and you can always still make a research appointment.

New e-book collection for STEM subject areas

Through our relationship with the Virtual Library of Virginia, we now have access to the EBL e-book collection which contains almost 3,000 books in the areas of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and health.  Publishers included in EBL include Wiley, Oxford University Press, Sage, McGraw-Hill, and Jossey-Bass.  E-books from this collection can be read online or checked out to a tablet or e-reader for seven-day loans.  If you are using this collection on or off campus, you will need to use your LU username and password to access, and choose Longwood University as your affiliated institution.

Technology help in the Library

While you are spending some, or all, of your evening with us, keep in mind that Instructional Technology Collaborators (ITC’s) and Resident Technology Associates (RTA’s) are available in the Library each evening throughout the week.  ITC’s are available Sundays from 5-9pm, and Monday-Thursday from 6-8pm.  RTA’s are available Sunday-Thursday from 7-9pm.

What can an RTA or ITC do for you?  Click on the chart below to determine who you should meet with:

Journey into the Past with 3 New Library Databases!

Would you be interested in your students learning what the life was like in the United Kingdom in the 17th-18th century? 

Try this new database, 17th & 18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers, that contains a full-text, fully searchable digital archive of nearly 1,270 newspapers and news pamphlets from the United Kingdom. Collected by the Reverend Charles Burney, this unique collection represents the largest single archive of 17th and 18th century news media available from the British Library.

 

Would you like your students to experience the essence of the Enlightenment period in Great Britain?

Check this new database, Eighteenth Century Collections Online, that features books and directories, bibles and sheet music, sermons and pamphlets published in the United Kingdom during the 18th century.

 

Would you like your students to bear witness to major international events from the French Revolution to the War in Iraq from the “world’s newspaper of record,” The Times of London?

Try out the Times Digital Archive, that captures 19th-, 20th-, and early 21st-century events and accomplishments from the Times (London) perspective.

Finals activities and extended hours

Beginning Sunday, December 1, join us as we kick off the last two weeks of the semester in the Library.  As deadlines and studying begin to take over your days and nights, take a study break in the Atrium or stay until 2am as we begin extended hours.  Here are the details:

  • Fort Finals:  We’ve turned our study break tent into a winter wonderland in the Atrium!  Stop by from Sunday December 1 – Wednesday, December 4 at 8pm for healthy and sweet snacks, postcards to send home, make a snowflake station, and our LU snowman photo booth.
  • Extended hours:  Beginning Monday, December 2, we will be open until 2am.  To find out more about our hours, click here
  • Cookie breaks:  Every evening from Thursday, December 5 – Thursday, December 12 cookies will be available on the first floor.

Thanks to our Fort Finals sponsors: Cook-Cole College of Arts & Sciences, Cormier Honors College, Dining Services, the Office of Enrollment Management and Student Success, and LU’s The Big Event.

How to: Use the new book scanner

So, as you may have noticed, we have a new book scanner in the atrium! It’s on a table by the self-checkout machines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s pretty fancy, but don’t let that scare you. It’s very easy to use! All you need is a USB drive.

Okay. I’ve got my USB drive. Now what?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay great! So now, you’re going to put the USB drive into one of the slots on the right-hand side of the scanner.

You mean like this?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great! Yes, that’s it. Now, get the book or magazine that you want to scan.

Here it is. I have to read chapter 3, and I want to read it on my laptop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay. Place the book on the cradle. It moves to allow for books of different widths. You can leave the save options on the screen alone, since you want to scan multiple pages as a PDF.

So I place the book here, and I select the ‘next’ arrow on the screen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yep! Now, when you scan, you’ll probably need to hold the pages down so they don’t flip up. Try to hold it more in the corner of the page so your fingers don’t get in the way. Before you do that though, you’ll have to name your file. Touch where it says “file Name” and give your scan a name. I suggest the author or the first part of the title of the book.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Perfect. Now minimize the keyboard by the little keyboard icon in the bottom left corner, and select the next arrow. You’ll see a screen that has a green plus sign. Once your book is in place, go ahead and click the plus sign.

Okay, just touch this plus sign. Got it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh wow, that’s pretty quiet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah it is. Now that you’ve scanned your first page, all you have to do is turn the page and press the green plus sign again. Do this until you’ve scanned every page that you need. Don’t forget to scan the title page so you can write your citation!

You can edit your scans right on the screen. Select the circle on the page corner and drag it to crop out any black or blank areas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If there’s a page you don’t want, select the thumbnail of the unwanted page on the top bar. It shows that page on the screen. There is a ‘delete’ option on the bottom right corner. It will only delete the page you’ve selected.

Oh, now I’ve only got the first page of the chapter! Great!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yep! Keep scanning, and when you’re all done, just click ‘Save’ on the bottom right. Once its saved, you can remove your USB drive and you’re all done.

If you get stuck, don’t hesitate to ask us for help. It’s new for us too, but we’ll help you as best as we can. Happy scanning!

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Library will close early November 15th for Inauguration

The Library will close at 3pm November 15th so that all staff can attend Present Reveley’s Inauguration.

Game Night October 18 2013

Join us for Game Night tomorrow, October 18, from 6-10pm. Play your favorite games, from Apples to Apples to Super Mario Brothers!

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