Tag Archives: eNewsletter

MiddLab

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http://go.middlebury.edu/middlab

MiddLab is a new section of Middlebury’s website with no precedent: an academic network, uniting all of the… blah, blah blah.

Truth is, MiddLab has been hard for us to explain ever since we heard the idea. A research network featuring discussions and blogs, and linking together disciplinary themes? How does that work? Rather than write a manifesto, here is what we’re trying to accomplish with MiddLab.

Our Goals

  • Make research easy to discover. If you want to know what student and faculty research is going on in a department, you shouldn’t have to know where their papers are published or the address of the project’s web site. Instead, these should be one or two clicks from our home page.
  • Show connections between research. Whether researching the population growth of trees in Biology or the population density of people in Geography, projects share themes and people interested in the topic can easily explore both.
  • Start a discussion. We encourage and recommend that you add comments to the projects on this site. Ask questions, suggest new research, or explain why you disagree with the conclusions. You can add your thoughts to any project page on MiddLab, explore the individual blogs for some projects, or contact the researchers directly.
  • Provide space for research and the sciences on our site. We’ll be expanding this site to feature more presentations from the Spring Research Symposium and research projects in our science departments. Though MiddLab is open to any student, faculty or staff projects, these are areas where we know we’re not offering enough information on our site and would like to use MiddLab to expand.

Your Feedback

We aren’t sure these are the right goals for our site. We’d like to hear from people: what would you like to see in MiddLab? What parts of this site work toward these goals and which don’t? Leave your thoughts by commenting on this page.

Oh, and if you would like us to feature your project in MiddLab, send an email to middlab@middlebury.edu.

The End (of spring term) is Near!

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book returnLeaving campus for good – or just for all/part of the summer?
Please be on the lookout for materials that belong to the Libraries and return them before you leave campus.
If you have any questions, problems or concerns with returning borrowed materials, please be in touch! Circulation Services staff can be reached by email at library_circulation@middlebury.edu, by phone at x5494, and in person at any of the Libraries. Our hours are listed here.
There are book drops available at the Armstrong and the Davis Family Library for returns during open and closed hours. Please return any loaner equipment to the Library it was borrowed from.
If all attempts to reach us fail and you need to urgently return something that cannot safely fit into the book drops, please contact Public Safety.
Before you leave campus, please log in to your library account on My Midcat (go/mymidcat) and alert us to any problems or questions about your account.
A reminder that you are responsible for all materials borrowed on your account. Read about our policies for long overdue, lost or damaged materials here. If you owe any charges, please resolve prior to leaving campus.
Using a Library locker and/or thesis carrel? Be sure to clear your carrels and lockers of all library and personal materials and return the locker/carrel key prior to leaving campus.
Need to borrow when off-campus? Simply request an extended due date at the time of check-out, so that you will not receive unnecessary library overdue and bill notices. If you will be in the vicinity of one of our NExpress partner libraries when off-campus, you can borrow directly from them with your Midd ID.
Thanks! Please be in touch with any borrowing related questions – we are here to help! :-)

May Library Hours

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open
DAVIS FAMILY LIBRARY
May 2 – 17
Last-week-of-classes and Exam period
24 hour – with card access
Midd card access required between 11 pm and regular opening
(regular opening times 7:30 am M-F and 9 am S-S)

May 18
Closing at 8 pm

May 19-21 (Wed-Fri) 9 am-5 pm
May 22-23 (Sat-Sun) 9 am – 5 pm
May 24 (Mon) 9 am – noon
May 25-28 (Tues-Fri) 9 am – 5 pm
May 29-30 (Sat-Sun) CLOSED
May 31 (Mon) CLOSED

For hours at all branch Libraries check here.

Please note!
All Libraries will close at 12 noon on Monday May 24.

E-Book Collections – Trial access during May

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Curious about the future of E-books and how Middlebury might expand its offerings?

LIS has had demos from 3 of the major e-book vendors and we now have trials to explore their platforms on our own. If you are curious and have the time, take a look at each before the trials end and submit feedback to refdesk@middlebury.edu.  The first two are IP-based and don’t require a password.  For the 3rd one, contact any librarian for the login info.  In all likelihood we will set up a patron-driven purchase plan with one of these (similar to what we did with netLibrary – load records for the titles in MIDCAT, but a purchase only happens if a title is actually used by our users).  The links for these trials are at go/trials or Library homepage -> Research -> New & Trial Databases http://www.middlebury.edu/academics/lib/research/db-newtrial

Sites worth seeing

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Among the many useful websites from U. S. government agencies there are several that seem particularly relevant to the current economic situation in the United States:

Beige Book
Provides a summary of commentary on current economic conditions by Federal Reserve District. It is published eight times a year.
Stopfraud.gov
Dedicated to helping find and report suspected cases of financial fraud.
USAspending.gov
Provides a state-by-state listing of where federal tax dollars are spent and what they are spent for. Vermont ranks 51st among the states for 2009.

Student Printing Allotments to Roll-Over

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Students…

I am writing with good news concerning your print quota.  Based on student feedback, we have decided that you will be able to roll over your print allowance from term to term until you graduate (or depart) from Middlebury.

This means that the amount you have in your account as of the end of May will be added to your fall quota.  A first year student who ends the spring term with $5 in her account will have $30 upon her arrival on campus for the fall semester.  A fourth-year student with $1 in his account will start the fall with $51.  For those attending Language Schools, you will see the roll-over appear in your summer allotment.

We hope this change to our policy will help make the new printing policy less expensive for you, as it will allow you to cover the costs of printing for a print-heavy year with savings you might enjoy in a year when you have less printing.

Best wishes,

Michael Roy
Dean of Library and Information Services

“Notify me when available” button

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If you search MIDCAT for an item that is checked out, you may notice a “notify me when available” button. When the item gets returned, it will be put on hold for you and you will get an email indicating that it is ready to be picked up.

Starting June 1st, we will turn on requesting of available items so that patrons at Breadloaf and Mills can request these items to be picked up at their respective locations. When this happens, that button will change to “Place Request” because we can only have one distinct button for all web requesting. The function will remain the same, but the text will be different. Once the summer sessions are over, we will revert back to the “notify me when available” button and available items will not be requestable.

Users should also note that a faster way of getting an item that is checked out would be to place a request via NExpress or Interlibrary Loan.