Tag Archives: Librarians

On A Real Tip: Slang In Trying Times

Like myself, many of the MiddKids with whom I frequently interact are people of color. While I am a Californian from Los Angeles, many of the students I serve are New Yorkers and they employ a vivid use of language I have yet to encounter outside of the North. In a loosely anthropological study, I have prepared  the briefest of satirical dictionaries to highlight some of my favorite uses of the students’ slang. Let me know if I get them right– or, more likely, wrong. And also, like, #fuhrealsies, use the tips. Here are five examples of contemporary slang in trying times, used in *completely* fictional scenarios ;). Some hyperbole is used for dramatic effect: Continue reading

New Citation & Style Research Guide

Librarians at Middlebury have been creating research guides for many years, originally publishing them in print and then migrating to online platforms. Online guides have also changed format as new software has been developed. (see go/guides)

go_guides

This summer we began a subscription to LibGuides by Springshare, which is used by many libraries throughout the world. This robust interface will allow us to be more flexible, and it enables us to create guides that are more user-friendly through the use of tabs and other navigational elements.

go_citation_cropped

 

Though it will take us most of Fall semester to migrate all of our current guides, here’s one available right now: the Citation & Style Guide (go/citation), which helps students correctly cite sources and create bibliographies. It also contains a section on writing and plagiarism, including a link to the new Academic Honesty Tutorial recently developed by the College’s Honor Code Review Committee.

Check it out, and feel free to give us feedback!

Reference (or, Research!) Desk Revived

Based on the findings of an assessment we did last spring (thanks to all students who answered our survey questions!), we’ve decided to use the Reference Desk again. This is the tall desk on the main level of the Davis Family Library, near the walk-up computers. Don’t get used to the name though. We’re changing it! We’re also stretching to increase our hours of coverage. When students work with us, they come back. But some students don’t think of us in the first place. We’re trying to make it easier for all students to ask us for help. (Note: We often have candy!)

Librarians are now available at the Research Desk. Please bring your research questions to us! Does the library have any movies in Spanish? How should I cite this web page? I’m writing a paper on [insert your topic here]… We know what to do!

Hours:
Monday-Wednesday: 11-5 and 7-10 pm
Thursday: 11-5 pm
Friday: 11-4 pm
Sunday: 1-5 and 7-10 pm

At any time you can always Ask a Librarian! (go/askus)

Ask a Librarian

Cool Class Taught by LIS Staff Member!

Kudos and huzzahs to Andrew Wentink, Curator of Special Collections & Archives, for receiving recognition in the Fall 2010 issue of Middlebury Magazine!  Andy’s class on “Social Dance in Popular Culture” was cited as one of 10 particularly interesting course offerings that caught the Magazine’s attention, among other classes such as “Economics Of Happiness” and “Magic and the Occult In Western Europe.”  Good job, Andy!

LIS Collection Management has a new name!

With the merger of Collection Management and portions of Academic Consulting Services, it became clear that the area needed a new name to reflect its expanded scope.

I’m therefore pleased to announce that the name for this area is now Research and Collection Services (RCS). While many portions of the website still reflect the old names — and it will take a while before we’ve eradicated all remnants of Collection Management/Academic Consulting Services from the website, email distribution lists, HR/Banner information, etc. — please consider the name to be effective immediately.  We’ll try to get the changes made expeditiously.

As a reminder, RCS includes:

  • Reference and Instruction Librarians
  • Special Collections
  • Vt. Collection
  • Government Documents
  • Inter-library Loan
  • Cataloging/Acquisitions/Serials
  • Preservation & Processing
  • Collection Development

Meeting Classes – Introducing LIS Resources

Submitted by Judy Watts

With 17 class days in September, Librarians will have presented 53 classes. That’s a rate of 3 per day since the beginning of the academic year. Perhaps you can understand why getting these scheduled into rooms with adequate equipment, e.g., smart classrooms with computers for students has us tearing our hair.

First Year Seminars represent the greatest percentage of classes at the beginning of the term. New students need a basic introduction to LIS resources and services. Classes will often be back for in-depth instruction in subject resources when research papers are assigned.

It is interesting to see the range of subjects addressed:

Date — Course — Title — Librarian
4 FYSE 1066 Voices Along the Way (Judy)
4 FYSE 1236 The Malleable Human (Carrie)
8 FYSE 1215 Empires (Brenda)
8 CHEM 0322 Biochemistry of Macromolecules (1) (Carrie)
8 CHEM 0322 Biochemistry of Macromolecules (2) (Carrie)
8 CHEM 0322 Biochemistry of Macromolecules (3) (Carrie)
9 HIST 0600 History Research Seminar (Brenda)
9 HIST 0600 History Research Seminar (Andy)
10 FYSE 1020 Crime & Punishment in America (Andy)
10 FYSE 1253 The Brain in Sickness & in Health (Bryan)
10 FYSE 1048 Ecology and Conservation in Vermont (Carrie)
10 FYSE 1237 What Is Life? (Carrie)
11 FYSE 1062 Brother Can You Spare a Dime? (Andy)
11 FYSE 1248 The Trojan War (Cynthia)
11 FYSE 1249 Food and Choice (Joe)
11 JAPA 0275 Seminar in Japanese (Joy)
11 FYSE 1174 Andy Warhol (Judy)
12 FYSE 1236 The Malleable Human (Carrie)
12 FYSE 1244 Geology of National Parks (Carrie)
15 Hist 0700 Senior World History Seminar (Brenda)
15 Hist 0700 Senior US History Thesis Seminar (Andy)
15 HARC 0214 Art in the Middle Ages (Judy)
16 SOAN 0302 Resch: Ethnography Qual Methods (Jean)
16 PSYC 0202 Research Methods (Bryan)
16 GEOG 0100 Place and Society (Carrie)
17 Econ 0700 Senior Research (Brenda)
17 FYSE 1258 Performing Culture (Judy)
17 FYSE 1244 Geology of National Parks (Carrie)
18 SOAN 0302 Rech: Ethnography Qual Methods (Jean)
18 HIST 0397 The U.S. and the Pacific (Andy)
18 PSYC 0105 Intro. To Psychology (1) (Bryan)
18 PSYC 0105 Intro. To Psychology (2) (Bryan)
18 PSYC 0105 Intro. To Psychology (3) (Bryan)
18 FYSE 1245 Sound: the Aural Ether (Joy)
19 PSYC 0105 Intro. To Psychology (4) (Bryan)
19 PSYC 0105 Intro. To Psychology (5) (Bryan)
19 FYSE 1021 Love & Death (Bryan)
19 FYSE 1236 The Malleable Human (Carrie)
22 GEOL 0400 Senior Thesis Seminar (Carrie)
23 REFWORKS (Brenda)
23 FYSE 1264 Race Difference in 20th C America (Andy)
23 FYSE 1250 Songwriting (Joy)
23 FYSE 1211 Godel, Escher, Bach (Judy)
23 CHEM 0311 Instrumental Analysis (Carrie)
23 HARC 0219 Northern Renaissance Art (Judy)
25 FYSE 1255 The Collapse of Complex Societies (Jean)
25 FYSE 1254 Liberation and Literature (Joy)
25 REFWORKS (Richard)
29 PSYC 0700 Senior Research (Bryan)
29 FYSE 1256 Captains, Kings, Caudillos (Joy)
29 SPAN 0300 Hispanic Literature (Joy)
29 FYSE 1048 Ecology and Conservation in Vermont (Carrie)
30 REFWORKS (Jean)

Basic technology instruction is included in a large percentage of these classes, introduced either by a Technology Liaison or by the Librarian. Classes that involve intensive use of digital media generally schedule classes separately. Some of that activity will be reported at a later date.