Library Summer Hours Starting Mon. June 10th (Summer Session II)

The Library will have the following hours of operation during the Summer.  See full hours.

Summer Sessions II-IV (June 10 – August 2):

Mondays – Thursdays	8:00am – 10:00pm*
Fridays	8:00am – 4:00pm
Saturdays	12:00pm – 5:00pm*
Sundays	Closed*
*with the following exceptions:
Sunday, June 16	Open 9:00am – 5:00pm
Thursday, July 4	Closed
Saturday, July 6	Closed
Sunday, July 21	Open 9:00am – 2:00pm

New Database Trials

(Image from Routledge Performance Archive)

The following databases are currently available for a limited time. Please let us know if you have any comments or feedback about any of these databases, or if you have suggestions for more trials.

• Communication & Mass Media Complete
  Incorporates the content of CommSearch (formerly produced by the National Communication Association) and Mass Media Articles Index (formerly produced by Penn State) along with journals in communication, mass media, and other closely-related fields of study to create a research and reference resource of unprecedented scope and depth encompassing the breadth of the communication discipline. [Trial ends June 25, 2013.]
• LGBT Thought and Culture
  A one-of-a-kind online resource hosting the key works and archival documentation of LGBT political and social movements throughout the twentieth century and into the present day. The collection includes materials ranging from seminal texts, letters, speeches, interviews, and ephemera covering the political evolution of gay rights as well as memoirs, biographies, poetry, and works of fiction that illuminate the lives of lesbians, gays, transgendered, and bisexual individuals and the community. [Trial ends June 29, 2013.]
• Naxos Spoken Word Library (NSWL)
  Comprised of over 750 titles of timeless American classics, German classics, plays, philosophical works, and musical biographies. Including works by such notable authors as Plato, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Dickens, Nietzsche, Goethe, and many more, the Naxos Spoken Word Library is a one-stop resource for the classics. The Naxos Spoken Word Library is continuously updated to provide the best selection of classic literature to its subscribers with viewable and printable text from contained works. As with the other streaming library resources, it offers static URL’s for all chapters and titles, which makes sharing content easy. [Trial ends June 30, 2013.]
• Routledge Performance Archive
  A developing resource produced in partnership with Digital Theatre, providing unique access to an unprecedented range of audio-visual material from past and present practitioners of performance. Includes interviews with key figures in theatre history and contemporary practice; masterclasses with specialist actor trainers from around the world; unique footage direct from the legendary practitioners themselves; excerpted and full-length contemporary productions; and documentaries previously unavailable to global audiences. The video material spans more than fifty years of documented work direct from renowned practitioners and specialists, and ranges across the entire spectrum of theatre topics. [Trial ends June 26, 2013.]

My Semester at the Library: An Intern’s Point of View

Guest blogger Chelsea Cowit (Class of ’14) describes what an internship at the Library taught her about librarians, library resources, and self-confidence.

“My Semester at the Library”  |  By Chelsea Cowit, Purchase College Class of 2014

When you think of the library, you probably think of studying or of rushing to print your paper. What you might not consider is how much goes on behind the scenes. For the past semester, I did my undergraduate internship at the library, and I can safely say it is a far more complex place than I thought.

There are aspects of life at SUNY Purchase I don’t know about due to my status as a transfer student.  The Library’s Research by Subject guides are one of these aspects, and I’ve found them to be very valuable.  Each guide includes components to help students, whether it’s a link to a subject database or a list of required movies/books for a program like Cinema Studies.

Through my internship, I’ve seen how communication between professors and librarians is vital.  There are many aspects of the library that require communication.  Have you ever gone to an instruction session in the library? That’s set up between the professor and the librarian. New book collections also start with communication between the librarian and the professor.

On the topic of communication, I’ve always been afraid to ask for help at the Reference Desk , fearing that I would annoy the librarians, that my questions were too simple, or that the librarians were too busy to help me.  I’ve realized that this was not a good assumption. While shadowing the librarians at the reference desk, I’ve seen students from all walks of life come and ask for assistance, and I’ve watched and helped the librarians provide it. Librarians are there to help you, and their help is irreplaceable.  They can help with any type of question you may have, be it a research question or simply how to save as a PDF file.  All it takes is that first step of communication– either in person, through the text a librarian (“Text Us”) service, or the chat service (“Ask Us”), all linked on the homepage of the library.  Next time you find yourself needing assistance, ask them. They work hard to help you!

Beyond gaining knowledge of the library during my internship, I also gained confidence in myself. During my final day, I found myself helping students with confidence I had been lacking before. I helped students with an easy smile.  Before interning, I wasn’t as sure of myself when I talked, and I wasn’t confident in providing help to people. I still struggle with this, but stepping into the library to intern this semester has forced me out of my comfort zone and enabled me to gain those skills. For me, the library has been a place where I’ve grown.

When is the Library Open During the Next Few Weeks & Summer?

24/5 is over, so take a look at the Library’s hours over the next few weeks and the summer on our Hours page. Hope your finals went well, and that you get to relax a bit. Congratulations to the Class of 2013!

Senior Project Procession to the Library was a Blast!

On Tues. May 14th the Senior class of 2013, along with faculty, deans, and chairs, marched to the Library to symbolically submit their Senior Projects to the archives. While students’ actual senior projects, senior capstones, and masters theses are submitted electronically to the Library’s digital repository via Moodle, the Class of 2013 kept this time-honored Purchase tradition alive with a celebration on the Library steps.

A festive atmosphere was enjoyed by all who attended.  You can check out photos from the event by Peter Ohring on Flickr.  Maybe you’ll spot your favorite classmates, professors, and librarians!

Congrats Seniors!

Coffee and Bagels: Study Break in the Library Sun, 5/12 @ 10 pm

Take a break from your studying to have some coffee and bagels in the Library at 10 pm on Sunday, May 12.  Thanks to Res Life for generously sponsoring this event, which will be held in the 2012 Lounge on the main floor of the Library (where the vending machines are).

Coffee image from Apple’s Eyes Studio: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/Hot_drinks_g184-Cup_Of_Coffee_p31711.html  Bagels image from Marcus: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/Breads_Cakes_and_Coo_g268-Bagels_On_Bread_Board_p131974.html

Don’t Leave Your Stuff Unattended

Unattended belongings attract thieves. Please do not leave any valuables unattended in the library; this includes, but is not limited to: backpacks, laptops, wallets, purses, USB drives, textbooks, and cell phones.

It may seem like you’ll only be gone for a minute, but one minute is all that it takes for someone to walk off with your stuff.

[Lost and Found is located at the Circulation Desk.]

Senior Project Protip: Dock Your Blocks!

If you are having trouble adding your Senior Project/Capstone Paper/Master’s Thesis Information in Moodle, try docking your Navigation and Settings blocks by clicking on the small box in the upper right hand corner (as seen below).

This will move the designated block to your Dock area (far left side of your Moodle page) and free up space to allow you to see your Project Information fields more easily. For more help with your Student Project Space in Moodle, please visit the Student Project Guide: http://purchase.libguides.com/studentprojects.

If you do not have a Project Space in Moodle, please email the Teaching, Learning, and Technology Center (TLTC) immediately at TLTC@purchase.edu.

Finals Countdown: Origami Fri. May 3rd, 12pm to 2pm

Finals getting you stressed? Try the relaxing art of paper-folding, origami. Make a crane, penguin, heart, flower, samurai hat, paper boat or any number of paper creations. New to origami? Try learning with an origami app for iPhone or Android. Library staff can show you how to make origami with the help of tablet computers… we love to learn new shapes from you too.

And don’t forget our other Finals Countdown study breaks this week:  you can still send a postcard to a friend or family member (postage is on us), make a button, or play board games in the 2012 Lounge.

Here are some beautiful origami creations folded on Wednesday May 1st by students and staff:

an origami menagerie: cranes, samurai hat, frog, heart

origami penguin wearing a samurai hat

origami bows & heart made by a student

Finals Countdown: Button-Making! Thurs. 5/2, 12pm to 3pm

Button-making is back!  Make or take a pin on May 2nd during Finals Countdown at the Library.  You can choose artwork from recycled book jackets, show your love for the Library with a button displaying the Library’s logo, or get creative and invent your own design.

Here are some of the awesome buttons Purchase students created on Tuesday. The limit is 3 buttons per person to make or take. And yes, they are free.

We made these buttons from a paper book jacket for this book, “Deborah Kass : before and happily ever after” by Lisa Liebmann.

Anatomy of a Heart: button designed by a  student

creative koala button!

This one was created from a print-out of an art student’s previous work