Please remember to check the paper in the printers and copiers on every rove. It is important to keep them full at all times for the patrons.

Thank you for your help!

The library will be closed March 13 and 14. If you are scheduled to work either day, please note that the library is closed and have a great day off!!!

"The contractor has issued a shut down notice to turn off the water to the DuBois Library in order to install a new fire protection system in the telecom switchroom. In addition they are moving some conduit and other pipe/valve/connection work relating to the water service to the building. Once the work has been completed they must flush the water system with a treatment and then test the water to be sure the treatment fluids are out. This requires a 24 hr. lab test. The timing of this is such that it has been decided the building will be closed Saturday-Sunday and will re-open on Monday, March 15th at 8AM. "

VIDEO: Ribbon Cutting for the Learning Commons Expansion

Check it out! You'll see some familiar faces in there.... Thanks to our students and staff that helped to make this happen!

VIDEO: Create a self-running PowerPoint presentation

[from TR Dojo]

Follow the LC!!

Follow the LC on twitter!!

Learning Commons info....

This is just a quick reminder to keep checking the official LC web site. It has a great amount of information such as the hours of our service partners, or an updated fact sheet detailing everything the LC has to offer. There is also a blog featuring regular updates on news, events and happenings.

If you ever have any feedback for us on the web site, please let us know!! Thank you and keep up the great work. Your hard work provides a substantive contribution to this hub of campus.

UMass Knowledge Nugget #2

"In 1883 the Alumni faculty and students of the new Massachusetts Agricultural College had a Dream, and under the Leadership of Professor H. H. Goodell they organized for action. The result was the grandest building yet constructed for the school. It was designed as the Great and General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts intended, as library, museum and assembly hall, as well as the Chapel for the growing college. The "New" Chapel Library was designed by Stephen C. Earle the noted Worcester Architect in the Richardson Romanesque Style. From 1885 to 1915 it accommodated all these uses. The gift of a clock and bell were installed in 1892 and in 1910 the modern wonder of electricity was used to light the clock faces so they could be seen both day and night."

Continue reading the history of the chapel here. (The site is under construction but there is some great info and some amazing pictures.)

Spring Break!!!

The regular work schedule will remain in effect until 5pm Friday, March 12 and then not resume again until 11am Sunday, March 21. If you are planning to leave early on your Spring Break or return late and you are scheduled to work at the LC Desk, please remember to arrange for the coverage of your shift...well in advance.

Although there are no regularly scheduled shifts from Saturday, March 13 through Saturday, March 20, the Library will be open until 5pm or 6pm each evening. If you are going to be in the area and are interested in working during Spring Break, please send Peter the days/hours you would be available to work by email no later than Saturday, February 27. We will have 4 positions each consisting of 15 hours.

In the event, there are more than 4 of you who would like to work, priority will be given to those based on a combination of factors including receipt of your response to this email by the deadline above, seniority, and work performance. A schedule for Spring Break will be available by Monday, March 1.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Peter.

Food Policy now in effect!

"In order to ensure that quality customer service is not compromised:

At the desk, only small, snack-type items of food should be consumed while working and only as allowed by the busyness of the desk on your shift. Beverages must be covered and of a personal size.

Meals, sandwiches, and food requiring utensils should be consumed during allowed breaks in a designated area such as the cafe."

Any questions, please ask a supervisor!!!

Got Survey??

The survey is back this week!!! The numbers we record this week will help direct future decisions concerning the LC. We just expanded but are more computers needed? We currently offer many services like Advising Link, OIT, Writing Center, etc.? Can we expand this? An accurate count will help chart our future. Again, we are asking for your help in getting this done. Your great help with this seemingly mundane task now is most important of painting the bigger picture of library/learning commons services to come. If you have questions, don't hesitate to ask a supervisor. Thank you for the great effort you consistently put forth on these projects.

Check out this official Learning Commons Assessment web page.

HP Invents a Central Nervous System for the Earth (CeNSE)

by Mike Chino, 02/18/10

HP has just unveiled an incredibly ambitious project to create a “Central Nervous System for the Earth” (CeNSE) composed of billions of super sensitive, cheap, and tough sensors. The project involves distributing these sensors throughout the world and using them to gather data that could be used to detect everything from infrastructure collapse to environmental pollutants to climate change... more

Yahoo! and Microsoft to Implement Search Alliance

Microsoft and Yahoo have just received the go-ahead from regulators in the U.S. and EU to proceed with their search agreement; Microsoft Corp. continues its assault on Google Inc. by partnering with Yahoo! to create a new search alliance, which some are calling powerful, others 'the next Alta Vista'. To read up on this new merger, take a look at some postings from the following sites:

ZDNet | eweek | searchalliance.com | Yahoo!News
| BusinessWeek | NYTimes | TechCrunch | CNetNews

Any thoughts? Leave a comment!

UMass Knowledge Nugget #1

Ever wonder why that tree next to the library is fenced off? Turns out it has a special history. This tree was brought from Sapporo Agricultural College in Japan in 1890 by Professor William Penn Brooks. It is the first of its species in America. Check out its website here, and find out about the history of other trees on campus. It is very interesting.

Spring cleaning!!!

Its almost Spring, and nothing says Spring like a reminder to clean!!! Everybody should clean on every shift. If you are working a two hour shift one day and a five hour shift another day in the same week, check with the supervisor on duty before asking to defer your cleaning duties to the longer shift! Expect more gentle reminders to clean from your supervisors! Thank you for your great efforts thus far!

Don't Mess With Texas: U. of Texas Wages Trademark Battle Against 'iTexas' Mobile App

By Marc Parry

Careful how you use the word "Texas."

The University of Texas is objecting to a new iPhone application called iTexas, developed for the university's undergrads by an Austin start-up called Mutual Mobile. Its beef: the name.

The university has filed a complaint asking Apple to require the developer to rename the free program, saying the title is "confusingly similar" to its own, according to The Austin Chronicle. The program could get booted... more

The Google Book Settlement & Libraries

There has been an overwhelming amount of news about the Google Book settlement. Questions still remain about how this will impact libraries in the long run. Here are some sources from both sides to help annotate this issue.

UMass is a member of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). They have published a Guide for the Perplexed.

Google blogs about many of the services. Here are two threads from their Google Books Blog on Libraries and the Settlement.

New York Law School has created a free web resource about this issue which deals with the legal ramifications.

Lastly: The Electronic Frontier Foundation deals with free speech advocacy in the digital age and has blogged about potential privacy issues here.

This is a lot of information about a complex issue. Browse through these, or feel free to find other resources. This issue could change libraries drastically. How remains to be seen. Comments?

Not to obsess or anything....

Please remember to mark down the stats for questions we are asked (reference, directional, technical). At the end of the day when the numbers are crunched, accurate stats help make the case for the necessity of this desk. Keep up the great work!!

Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 Series: Too little too late?
Posted by Larry Dignan @ 2:30 am on 02.16.2010

Microsoft has finally come up with an answer for its mobile phone operating system conundrum: Take the Zune software and extend it into something unique and fresh. The big question is whether Microsoft has solved the Windows Mobile puzzle too late.

At the Mobile World Congress 2010, Microsoft introduced Windows Phone 7 Series (statement, Techmeme). Clunky name aside... more

Twitpics From Space
by CNET News.com | 02-11-10

For the past few weeks, Japanese astronaut Souichi Noguchi, traveling in orbit around 17,000 mph, and 200 miles above the Earth, has been on board the International Space Station tweeting images.... more

Comments Encouraged!!!

We are trying to make this blog more interactive. Please make your mark and leave a comment to any post here. Everyone in encouraged to comment anytime on any item mentioned.

You are invited!!!

UMASS AMHERST LIBRARIES HOSTS 16^th ANNUAL DU BOIS LECTURE

~ A Talk by Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham ~

Victor S. Thomas Professor of History
and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University

Amherst, MA - The UMass Amherst Libraries hosts the 16^th Annual Du Bois Lecture, by Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Thursday, February 25, 2010 at 7:00 p.m., Cape Cod Room, Student Union, UMass Amherst. Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Ph.D. is the Victor S. Thomas Professor of History and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University. The event is free and open to the public.

Dr. Higginbotham will speak on "The Many Lives of W.E.B. Du Bois in the New From Slavery to Freedom." Dr. Higginbotham revised the 9^th edition of From Slavery to Freedom (2010).

Dr. Higginbotham's writings span diverse fields--African American religious history, women's history, civil rights, constructions of racial and gender identity, electoral politics, and the intersection of theory and history.

Dr. Higginbotham is the chair of the department of African and African American studies at Harvard University. She served as acting director of Harvard's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute in 2008. Previously, she taught at Dartmouth, the University of Maryland, and the University of Pennsylvania, and was a visiting professor at Princeton University and New York University.

Dr. Higginbotham is co-editor with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., of the African American National Biography (2008), and African American Lives (2004). She was editor-in-chief of The Harvard Guide to African-American History (2001) and co-edited History and Theory: Feminist Research, Debates and Contestations (1997). She is the author of Righteous Discontent: The Women's Movement in the Black Baptist Church: 1880-1920 (1993), which won numerous book prizes, most notably from the American Historical Association.

The Library marks Du Bois' birthday each year with a lecture by a distinguished scholar on a topic relating to Du Bois' life and legacy. The Library was named for W.E.B. Du Bois in 1994 and is home to the extensive Du Bois Papers.

For more information, contact Maurice Hobson, Du Bois Center, (413) 545-6843, or mhobson@library.umass.edu

What's the buzz about Buzz??

Google in the news, again.....

Google sought on Thursday night to quell an outcry over the privacy settings in its new Buzz social networking service, which critics have claimed exposes personal information about users without their approval.

The internet company acknowledged the concerns raised by the service, launched just two days before, and announced changes designed to stem the fears, though these did not directly address all the complaints from some critics.

Its change of heart follows a growing chorus of complaints on the web. One privacy advocacy group told the Financial Times that it planned to file an official complaint with US regulators over the affair.

The outcry has centred on the way Buzz automatically creates a social network for new users by drawing on the people they communicate with most frequently over Gmail, Google’s e-mail system. This list of personal e-mail contacts is then made public over Buzz by default, although users can choose to override the system to hide it.

“People are surprised that Google treated a private [e-mail] contact list as a public ‘friends’ list,” said Marc Rotenberg, head of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. He said that the list should not automatically be made public, and that he would lodge a Federal Trade Commission complaint next week.

See the full article in the Financial Times HERE.

Remember to Check 'em in!!!

Please remember to check the headphones in when they are returned. If you see a pair lying on the desk, please double check and try returning them. At the other end, if they are not returned, we have to account for every pair individually at the desk the following morning, and that's a hassle supreme.

Ever wonder what the art in the courtyard is?

There is an interesting article in today's Springfield Republican about the artist, Tom Matsuda, who received his MFA from UMass in 1999. He also has a really great website! Comment and let us know what you think!!!

Paper and Printers and Jams, Oh My!!

Just a reminder:

As job fairs occur on campus like they are this week, please remember that outside paper can not be accepted in any of the printers or copiers (especially resume paper). The library has a service contract that says repairs won't be covered should something go wrong with paper that is any different from the stuff we supply and use. Thanks!!!

The LC in the news!!!

Local Coverage of the LC Expansion Event

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Daily Collegian: http://u.nu/7iz25
Springfield Republican: http://u.nu/4zy25

WWLP Channel 22: http://u.nu/68z25

CBS TV 3: http://u.nu/3az25

Yourname@facebook.com???

@facebook.com email addresses incoming

Facebook is planning to launch a full webmail service, with support for all email clients, that will give its 350 million users their own Facebook email address to use outside of the social networking site.

Project Titan, as it is being called internally, will revolutionise the way users send messages on the social networking site, with each member being given an @facebook.com address, most likely connected to their vanity url.

The new webmail service will have full POP/IMAP support meaning you'll be able to configure it with any email client, including Microsoft Outlook, Entourage and Apple's Mail applications.

Internally at Facebook, it is believed that Project Titan could even take on Gmail thanks to the massive leg-up it already has. With over 350 million users, each with a huge network of contacts, and the vanity urls that are tied to our Facebook accounts, it may well have a case.

Could a Facebook email service rival GMail?? See article here and comment below!!!

Worried about unemployment?

Headlines scream that unemployment is reaching 10% of the population. There's good news in these numbers though. For those who have a obtained in Bachelor's degree, unemployment is half that rate (4.9%).

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There is a separate category for those who have some college, or an associates degree. The kicker is the unemployment rate in this category is 8.9%. Moral of the story, stay in school!!

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These numbers based on Jan 2010 stats provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Check out the full entry here, where you can also find info about unemployment numbers in other demographic categories.

Happy Superbowl Sunday!!

"The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary."

Vince Lombardi, coach of the first team to win a Super Bowl.

If you see a line....

Frequently, a long line forms for the OIT Printers between the stairs. If you see a line form for the OIT Classrooms Printers while on a rove, please suggest to patrons that they use the OIT Classrooms Printers by Calipari or in the new north end. Your assistance is essential in helping patrons utilize the new landscape of the LC.

Celebrate President's Day!

The Library will observe Presidents' Day...by remaining open 24 hours. As a result, the regular work schedule at the LC Desk will be in effect.

If you are scheduled to work that day, you will need to either work your shift or find someone to cover for you. Additionally, even though the Monday class schedule will be in effect on Tuesday, February 16, we will be following the Tuesday (not the Monday) work schedule in the Library.

If this results in a scheduling conflict for you, please let your supervisor know no later than next Tuesday (2/9), so that we can make arrangements for the coverage of your shift.

If you have any questions/concerns, please do not hesitate to contact a supervisor. Thanks.

Google to team up with NSA......

While probably not a conspiracy....

The world's largest Internet search company and the world's most powerful electronic surveillance organization are teaming up in the name of cybersecurity.

Under an agreement that is still being finalized, the National Security Agency would help Google analyze a major corporate espionage attack that the firm said originated in China and targeted its computer networks, according to cybersecurity experts familiar with the matter. The objective is to better defend Google -- and its users -- from future attack.

Google and the NSA declined to comment on the partnership. But sources with knowledge of the arrangement, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the alliance is being designed to allow the two organizations to share critical information without violating Google's policies or laws that protect the privacy of Americans' online communications. The sources said the deal does not mean the NSA will be viewing users' searches or e-mail accounts or that Google will be sharing proprietary data.

See the full article in today's Washington Post.

Foresee any implications?? Comment below....

Students at McGill U. Band Together to Promote Wikipedia

By Karen Birchard

As a widely available free information service, Wikipedia sometimes will put out a call for donations from faithful users to ensure that this valuable service will continue to exist. Well, some of the students at McGill University love Wikipedia so much, that they have started a group, Students Supporting Wikipedia that helps to encourage that monies be directed to the Wikipedia foundation...more

Out late at night??

Walking Escort Service

The UMPD provides a free walking escort service during the academic year for all members of the UMass Amherst community and campus visitors. Walking teams of students with mobile radios are available for safe escort across campus every night from 7:00 p.m. – 3:00 a.m. (call 413-545-2123).

6 more weeks of Winter!!!!

Virtual Field Trip Anyone?

This President's Day go to the library--the Presidential Library that is--without leaving your home. There are exicting website resources of the 13 Presidential Libraries and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) that allow you to listen to our presidents and their advisors and read and research digitized primary documents. Check out these cool websites!

http://www.archives.gov/presidential-libraries/research/podcasts.html

http://www.archives.gov/presidential-libraries/

http://www.archives.gov/presidential-libraries/about/

http://www.archives.gov/presidential-libraries/research/podcasts.html

http://www.hoover.archives.gov/

http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/

http://www.trumanlibrary.org/index.php

http://www.jfklibrary.org/

http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/

http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/index.php

http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/

Explore and Have Fun!!!

Killer Chairs! New Policy! No More Chairs!

Should the LC desk have a new policy of no chairs allowed?

Sitting Kills!

Google Chrome gains popularity...

Google's Chrome's growing popularity appears to be eroding support for Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox.

In January, according to NetApplications, Google Chrome's global market share reached 5.2%, a gain of 0.57 percentage points from the previous month.

Microsoft Internet Explorer saw its global market share drop to 62.18%, a decline of 0.51 percentage points in January. Mozilla Firefox slipped to 24.41%, a decline of 0.2 percentage points.

Apple's Safari browser gained 0.05 percentage points to reach 4.51% market share in January, having fallen behind Chrome for the first time last month.

Chrome's gains in part reflect the power of advertising on the Google Search page. Google continues to run an ad on its Search page urging users of Internet Explorer to try Chrome. Firefox users are not presented with Chrome ads. (from www.informationweek.com)

Do you use Chrome? Would you recommend it? Comment below!!

Microsoft Office 2010 is coming!!!

Should the library get this? Let us know what you think!!! Post any comments below!!

New Exhibit in the LC

The UMass Amherst Libraries is hosting an exhibit "Writing the Landscape: Books from the Library of American Landscape History." The exhibit features several books developed by the Library of American Landscape History (LALH) and photographs by noted landscape photographer Carol Betsch. The exhibition is on view from February 1 through May 20, 2010. A reception will be held on February 4, 2010, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. The exhibit and reception will be in the Learning Commons on the Lower Level of Du Bois Library at UMass Amherst.
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The Library of American Landscape History is a nonprofit organization based in Amherst, MA, whose mission is to educate and promote thoughtful stewardship of the land. The award-winning LALH publishing program includes books, surveys, and reprints of classics in the field, such as the Book of Landscape Gardening by Frank Waugh, founder of the program of landscape architecture at UMass Amherst. Carol Betsch is the managing editor of UMass Press, with whom LALH maintains its primary publishing partnership.

Google News....

Web developers have been urging Internet users to abandon Internet Explorer 6 for years. Now Google has decided to join the cause. The company on Friday warned users of Google Apps and Google Sites that it will begin phasing out support for older browsers in about one month.

"Many other companies have already stopped supporting older browsers like Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 as well as browsers that are not supported by their own manufacturers," explained Google Apps senior product manager Rajen Sheth in a blog post. "We're also going to begin phasing out our support, starting with Google Docs and Google Sites on March 1st."

The ostensible reason for doing so is that older browsers like Internet Explorer 6 can't render modern HTML elements properly, a problem that can hinder the functioning of modern Web applications.

In place of Internet Explorer 6, Google suggests using Microsoft Internet Explorer 7+, Mozilla Firefox 3+, Apple Safari 3+, or Google Chrome 4+.

Another problem with older browsers is that they tend to be less secure. When cybercriminals in China attacked Google and some 33 other companies last month, they relied on a vulnerability in Internet Explorer 6 to compromise computers.