Long Lines?

If you notice long lines forming for the public access and OIT computers, inform students that there are some extra open access computers on the sixth floor. Also, if there is a long line at the quick print station, please tell students there is another quick print station at the top of the stairs by the Procrastination Station. Thanks for all of your help!!!

TechRepublic's Camera Phone Challenge : Reflections

TechRepublic challenged the TechRepublic community to submit photos of reflections that they had taken with a camera phone. This article provides a good opportunity to compare phone camera quality, with indoor and outdoor shots. Read more at TechRepublic's site.

Weekly Announcements for 9/27/10

Weekly Announcements from the Learning Commons for the last week in September. This is the same slide show visible on the Big TV's

Got Logophilia?

logophilia n., love of words.

The Oxford English Dictionary is online here in the Library. If you go the database page and click on "Dictionaries and Encyclopedias", you will find over 30 different online resources. However, there will ever be only 1 OED!!

George N. Parks

Remembering George N. Parks 1953-2010

NEW EXHIBIT

The UMass Amherst Libraries host an exhibit, “Uncertain Futures: Americans and Science Fiction in the Early Cold War Era,” through October 31, 2010, in the Special Collections Reading Room on Floor 25, Du Bois Library, UMass Amherst. The exhibit can be viewed Monday through Friday, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

“Uncertain Futures: Americans and Science Fiction in the Early Cold War Era,” includes science fiction magazines from 1945-1965, as well as documents and photographs of prominent cold war-era science fiction authors, editors, and fans.

The exhibit explores the rise of American science fiction in the first two decades of the cold war. It draws on primary source research and the holdings of the UMass Amherst Science Fiction Society to argue that the burgeoning paperback book market and the devotion of science fiction fans were as much responsible for the genre's rocket-ship rise as the atomic bomb and the cold war.

Have you seen this?

Every week, the Big TV's in the Learning Commons are updated with a new PowerPoint slide show. In addition to some core content about the LC and library, it contains information uploaded weekly about events, exhibits, and service provider updates. You can find the slide show on the LC web page under "Weekly Announcements."

If you get chance, take a look at the current posting, and maybe some past posts. If you have any ideas or suggestions about the presentation (adding content, pictures, specific information), send me an email at dpaquette@library.umass.edu.


Thanks! Your input is valuable to making this place work.

GREAT FILM COMING

Fritz Lang's Metropolis - The Complete Restoration is opening this weekend at the Amherst Cinema. This film pioneered sci-fi and is considered one of the great films of all time, having inspired Star Wars, Blade Runner and Avatar.

Our Library has subject research guides for most majors and other topics of interest. Check out the Film Studies Research Guide and try searching for "Fritz Lang" and/or "Metropolis" in any of the listed resources.

COMMENTS WANTED

Feel free to post comments to any post seen on the blog. Your feedback is always welcomed in this venue, and helps make this place work!!

When working in the Teaching Commons......

Effective immediately, the sign in/out procedure for those working in
the Teaching Commons is as follows:

1. Swipe your card in Kronos
2. Stop by the LC Desk and fill out/sign the sheets in the red book
3. Go directly to the TC for the start of your shift.

At the end of your shift, it is not necessary to come back down to the
LC Desk. Just be sure to swipe your card again in Kronos.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask a supervisor.

REMEMBER THIS

413-577-1272

Put this number in your phone. If you are going to be more than 5 mins late, or need to speak to supervisor regarding a missed shift, call this number and ask for Peter, Paul, Amanda or Dan.

FALL IS UPON US!

Normal Shifts for the Fall 2010 semester start on Tuesday September 7th at 8AM.

Our overnight shifts start at midnight on Sunday (into Monday) September 12th.

All new and returning students are required to attend an orientation being held on Tuesday September 14th (4PM to 5PM) or Thursday September 16th (6PM to 7pM). Again, attendance at one of these two sessions is required.

We are looking forward to having you on board, and wish you the best of the luck for a successful and productive semester.

Keeping the Tweets!! A new approach for the US Archives

In an attempt to clear up confusion over record-keeping requirements for government use of social media, the National Archives and Records Administration has released a new report detailing the intersection of records and social media and recommending new policies to address federal record keeping in the Web 2.0 era.

The study, "A Report on Federal Web 2.0 Use and Record Value," comes as more and more agencies embrace social media for official communications, and drew on interviews and focus groups with representatives from 25 federal agencies to determine how social media is being used in government today. CONTINUE ARTICLE HERE

LIBRARY RESOURCES: Hot Topics Guides

When patrons click on the "Subject Resource Guides" on the library website, research guides for many academic subjects are brought up. These contains databases, links, contact info, and other resources targeted by major or specialty subject.

In addition to this, there are several "Hot Topics" guides. Instead of targeting an academic major, the hot topics guides offer resources related to current events and themes. If a student wants to use relevant academic resources to investigate the earthquake/rebuilding in Haiti, or Global Climate Change they can find a host of credible academic information on these guides.

Of recent interest, a new hot topic guide has been produced about Narco-Violence in Mexico.

Check these out and feel free to offer any comments about what you think!!

6 days to go!!!