Library & Information Services » Janine McDonald

Two New Kindle Fires at Circ!

Janine McDonald — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 03:44:17 +0000

We are excited to announce the addition of 2 Kindle Fire tech products to our ever-expanding inventory. They were added to our catalog today, and I barely attached the laminated tags to them before they were checked out, and out the door. One of them is designated solely for faculty/staff on loan for 2 weeks, while the second one is allowed to be checked out by everyone, including all of our students (also with a 2-week loan period). You will need an Amazon account to log in for reading books. You won’t need login info for browsing the Internet or checking email. It’s a great way to become familiar with them to see if you would like to buy one later. They are listed under our borrowing equipment umbrella in the wiki. Enjoy!

New DVD/CD Display Case at the Circulation Desk

Janine McDonald — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 04:09:15 +0000

We have recently added a DVD/CD display case on the Circ Desk, near the TV. The purpose of this case is twofold; to showcase recommendations by LIS student employees, all other students (& anyone who is interested), and secondly, for others to get some great tips. Top picks are for movies, documentaries, TV shows/series, and music. Everyone can participate, and we encourage your interaction. Alongside the display case is a testimonial (with optional photo) about a specific selection. This is a great way to unveil several “hidden gems” within our vast DVD stacks. We have newly-released titles you may not expect, films like Oscar-nominated Midnight in Paris, Beginners (Oscar winner for supporting actor Christopher Plummer), Moneyball, Tree of Life. Additionally, we enjoy featuring many of our timeless classics.

Bringing out behind-the-desk CD collections is particularly fun because they are unavailable for browsing, other than via Midcat. We have Paul McCartney’s new release, “Kisses on the Bottom,” along with jazz greats Coltrane, Davis, and genres in classical, hip-hop, bluegrass, fusion, Latin-inspired, country, etc. There is a seemingly endless number of CDs from A (as in Alison Krauss) to Z (as in Frank Zappa) and everything in between.
If you are passionate about your music and film/TV favorites, please let us know. We welcome your recommendations since we are always on the hunt for good stuff. And do come by to view our special features from the case.

DVDs, Browsing Local Books and Magazines at your Fingertips

Janine McDonald — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 04:50:16 +0000

With the new year comes change, and LIS is no exception. Check out the varied display of local books on the main level next to our DVD area. From Patti Smith’s Just Kids, to Chris Bohjalian’s The Night Strangers, you will appreciate our range of topics. One particular standout is from faculty and author Andrea Olsen, an absolute treasure in the dance department. Her recent publication, Body and Earth, An Experiential Guide, features a forward written by John Elder, & preface from Bill McKibbon, so you can’t miss, considering this Midd triumverate. Then there is the true story, The Man Who Cycled the World, by Mark Beaumont, detailing how he demolished the Guinness World Record in 81 days. Several outstanding novels are on the shelf; The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht is one of the ten best books on the NY Times Book Review, and Colum McCann’s Let the Great World Spin, is a National Book Award Winner, just to mention a couple. If you wander downstairs you will see popular magazines lining the front racks. Current issues of Esquire, PC World, Vogue, Mother Jones, Time, National Review and many others are conveniently displayed, so you can keep up with weekly news and entertainment events in a comfy setting. Add a cup of joe or hot tea from the cafe, and the joys of a Midd J-Term winter’s night can be cozy and as imaginative as you wish! Welcome 2012, and to your J-term!

Access Services Conference – Atlanta GA

Janine McDonald — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 05:12:31 +0000

Valuable information was gathered at the recent Access Services conference held at Georgia Tech. Learning various customer service styles and techniques utilized in libraries ranging from student populations of 2,000 to 48,000 was eye-opening. The major takeaway was how change is now the “new normal.” Integrating new technologies and innovation with excellent customer service were major themes. Tips on Reserves policies & procedures, merged libraries, media, student employees & professionalism at the Circ Desk, Reference, privacy/confidentiality issues were topics of interest. Info regarding maximizing customer and employee satisfaction was particularly enlightening. Power Point presentations will be available from the conference site in January 2012, but I am receiving some of these presentations directly from specific schools for my reference. I will place them in our Conference folder in the 2011 Orgs drive.

LIS DVD Collection- Watch Our Collection Grow

Janine McDonald — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 20:59:01 +0000

LIS has made significant changes over the summer, and we are especially pleased to inform you of the newly-augmented Browsing DVD section of the library. This section has been supplemented with over 80% of DVDs formerly confined to library viewing, housed behind the Circ Desk. These additions to the Browsing Collection provide an enhanced selection for you to select from and enjoy at home or wherever your laptop may take you for three days. Additionally, since we have had the good fortune to add the Music Library contents over to Davis, we now offer an extensive group of musical DVDs ( CDs are stored separately behind the Circ Desk). In the lobby Browsing area, select from a musical DVD collection diverse as Rebel Music ( Bob Marley’s life story) to Puccini’s Tosca to Superfly. Our documentary section is incredibly stimulating & most definitely something to write home about. (But you must restrain yourself. You can only take out 3 DVDs at a time). Some examples:
The Maysles Brothers‘ Grey Gardens (based on the fascinating, reclusive mother-daughter socialites Edith Beales).
Man on Wire, (an astonishing account of French high-wire artist who dared to walk and perform acrobatics on a cable between the Twin Towers 1350 feet above ground in 1974).
The award-winning (Sundance Film Festival) Andy Warhol from PBS. Producer/writer/director Ric Burns’ takes an insightful portrait of Warhol, who defined the pop art movement in the 20th century.
Thompson’s wild ride in Gonzo: Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. And what a journalist.
From the Bill Moyers Collection, B.T. Jones: Still/Here. Acclaimed choreographer Jones and his creative process.
Need I say more? These are just a few.
The TV Series section is also eclectic and fun (think Simpsons, True Blood, SNL, Mad Men, Smallville) while our current and classic feature collections encompass masters from the silent era, D.W. Griffith & Chaplin, on to Jack Cardiff, Hitchcock,Fellini, Truffaut, Wilder. All of the heavyweights are here. Check the amazingly varied titles in Midcat.
We have color-coded four sections to assist your search as you navigate through the shelves. There are posters to guide you to an area of interest. This continues to be a work in progress, but we welcome you to take advantage of our abundant & fantastic collection. We will keep you updated on the DVD project status as we proceed.
Huge thanks go to all of the students who worked on this DVD project over the summer, as well as the staff members who spear-headed this project, while accomplishing an amazing amount of work by cataloging and processing new titles, along with the physical changes with new cases and labels.
Now staff members and students can kick back and enjoy. Popcorn anyone?

LIS Picnic!

Janine McDonald — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 20:37:50 +0000

Below is a sign-up sheet for everyone who would like to participate in our summer picnic celebration next Thursday, 8/25, 3:00 P.M. at the Roy residence (location details in an email will follow this post). We have something for everyone…whether you love to cook by preparing a side dish, entree or by baking a dessert, you can decide. We will need beverages brought to the picnic too. You might enjoy taking part in the setup procedure (purchase utensils and paper plates/cups), while others might prefer cleaning up at the end of the party. This will be a fun way to celebrate the last weeks of summer with our fellow LIS staff members. We look forward to seeing you there! Families/partners are welcome! Pot-luck sign up

Sierra Services Platform Briefing

Janine McDonald — Tue, 17 May 2011 01:44:46 +0000

In the event anyone is interested in registering for a Sierra platform 45-minute briefing on Tuesday, 5/24 or Wednesday, 5/25, the link is below:
(NOTE: the times are listed as Pacific Daylight Time).

Tuesday, May 24

Tuesday, May 24, 4pm (Pacific Daylight Time)
Duration: 45 minutes (includes Q&A) – Registration link

Tuesday, May 24, 6pm (Pacific Daylight Time)
Duration: 45 minutes (includes Q&A) – Registration link

Wednesday, May 25

Wednesday, May 25, 6am (Pacific Daylight Time)
Duration: 45 minutes (includes Q&A) – Registration link

Wednesday, May 25, 8am (Pacific Daylight Time)
Duration: 45 minutes (includes Q&A) – Registration link

Sierra product press release

Janine McDonald — Wed, 04 May 2011 23:12:07 +0000

If you have not already read the press release with basic info about the new Sierra platform, the link is here:
http://iii.com/news/pr_display.php?id=490

When additional info comes in, I will post it.

IUG Conference – SF

Janine McDonald — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 05:05:35 +0000

The IUG (Innovative Users Group) conference was a great experience. Keynote speaker, futurist, and ex-IBM engineer Thomas Frey from the DaVinci Institute kicked it off with a fascinating peek into the future of libraries and how they are entering a period of rebirth. With information exploding everywhere, libraries are becoming the “crown jewels” of their communities. He ignited enthusiasm by stating libraries may offer a mix of media and book havens with a real-time info wall, virtual world areas, rooms to create videos, a place for gaming and music use, blogger studios, etc. The conference offered a complete variety of classes. I attended Circ and media-related classes and forums (Mill Time Savers, Circ Forum, Mill Circ Update on Products & others). I spoke with conference attendees about specific work procedures. It was fun to be a part of the info exchange in these forums by informing others of why, how, and what we are doing (i.e. condensing Music Library into Davis Main) and also to listen to them. It was interesting to see how other schools handle their media, which often depends upon academic programs. Some schools offer gaming courses so they loan iPads (generally revving up, Kindles remaining strong). If you want to check out a variety of conference programs, go to: http://www.innovativeusers.org/index.
I placed a few Power Point presentations in the folder on the O drive, so please add any that might be useful to your area O:\orgs\LIS\LISstaff\ILS III Millennium User Materials\IUG2011 materials

There were brief presentations each day by Innovative and SkyRiver staff highlighting tips and support info. They also had a poster area which showcased new ideas.
The Innovative Interfaces Info Center was available during the entire 3 days, and the staff told me the new product, “Sierra” is coming very soon (no date). What I was told about Sierra is that it is a service-oriented architecture, acts as an integrated resource management and work flow with one piece of software (no modules), and users have a choice of a cloud or local-based deployment. Millennium will continue to be supported of course, with a new release underway.
If you would like to contact the Innovative Interfaces service rep Deborah Devine, she welcomes communication:
Internet: http://www.iii.com
Email: ddevine@iii.com

Follow Innovative on Twitter http://twitter.com/iii_Innovative

New Keyboards at Circ; Checking OUT Equipment at Circ Desk

Janine McDonald — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 04:58:14 +0000

Greetings Circ Staff Students and Supervisors,

We now have 3 new MUSIC KEYBOARDS in our equipment inventory! Dan just received the cases for them, so they are now tagged, cataloged and ready for checkout to our aspiring composers. Pretty cool, no-nonsense piece of equipment that utilizes a USB.

Also, when it comes to equipment, we are in a steady successful rhythm for our CHECK-IN procedure at the desk. Now I am reminding everyone who CHECKS OUT equipment, to please notice that all items are inside of each case during check-out, with particular attention to laptop checkouts. We have had instances lately where patrons have told us that a mouse or a VGA adapter was not in the case when they brought their equipment home. To avoid this, I have been checking the laptop cases “behind the scenes” in the cabinet. It will also be helpful for everyone to pay attention to this as well during checkout, especially since we need to open each case to scan the bar codes. Thanks for your attention to this.