3 Ways to Keep Current This Summer

As the year wraps up, here are a few ways you can prepare for summer with an eye toward keeping current, courtesy of the Sheridan Libraries Blog Archives…

1. Set up search alerts for your favorite databases. We’ve posted instructions for Scopus as well as for databases hosted on EBSCOhost (such as ERIC, Business Source Premier, PsycINFO, Inspec, and more). Have a favorite that’s not covered? Let us know!

2. Trick out your computer to reach Johns Hopkins resources quickly and easily. At the top of our recommended list are the library toolbar for Firefox or Internet Explorer, browser search plugins for the Johns Hopkins libraries catalog, and other gadgets we’ve had in development. Working from off-campus? You should be able to login to access Johns Hopkins resources by logging in to the proxy service with your JHED ID. Check here if you have trouble.

3. Subscribe to this blog. We’re here all summer, and will be posting the latest in news, tips, and tricks throughout the coming months. Start the year knowing you’re still in-the-know. Subscriptions are available via email or your RSS feed reader. Click here to subscribe in a reader. Curious what a feed reader is? Watch the CommonCraft video in our previous post to learn more.

Open Humanities Press

If you’re following the Open Access movement, you are aware that medicine and the sciences have been really pushing ahead on this. Don’t think for a moment that other disciplines aren’t working in this arena! The Open Humanities Press has pulled together 7 open access journals and hopes to include more journals in the future. All journals use rigorous peer-review and have high profile editorial board members. The Chronicle of Higher Education has an article about this new endeavor.

If you want to find out more about Open Access, Peter Suber provides an overview. Open Humanities Press also describes Open Access. Want to find out what JHU is doing about Open Access? Go to the Scholarly Communications web site and find out!

Film Friday

It’s May. And it’s Reading Period. Who has time for movies, unless they’re for a paper or an exam?

Consider this list of the 100 latest additions to the MSEL collection (after the jump) as something to look forward to once finals are done and you can contemplate “pleasure reading and watching” again!

Good luck with your finals!

Continue reading Film Friday…

MSEL Open 24 Hours

It’s that time of year—the Eisenhower Library will be open 24 hours a day starting today, Friday, May 2 until midnight on Thursday, May 15. Thank your fellow students for asking for 24/7 access to start a little earlier than usual! And, take the opportunity to visit the HUT before it closes for the next two years on Thursday, May 15 at noon.

What’s Happening with the HUT?

First, why did the HUT close last night? Library staff were alerted only moments before that the power was going to be turned off in Gilman Hall so the HUT had to close from 10 p.m. last night to 8:30 a.m. this morning. We have been cautioned that this may happen again tonight so we’ve got signs posted in the HUT alerting our patrons to this, but we’re hoping the generator kicks in and we can keep the HUT open.  UPDATE: We’ve just been informed that the power will be turned off again tonight (May 1) and so the HUT will be closed from 10 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. tomorrow.  UPDATE TO THE UPDATE:  Power won’t need to be turned off tonight and the HUT will be open!

Second, what happens to 24/7 access when the HUT has to close for the Gilman Hall renovation? The HUT will close at noon on Thursday, May 15, the last day of exams. For the next two academic years, MSEL will be open 24/7 on the same schedule during which the HUT was open (meaning we return to regular hours for holidays and breaks like Intersession and Spring Break). MSEL’s 24-hour access will begin on Monday, September 8 (the HUT always opened the first Monday after classes started), and for the month of September, only M-Level will be open 24/7. In October, we’ll expand that access to A-D Levels.

Help the Library, Get a $5 Gift Card

The Johns Hopkins Libraries are working on a project to design a new interface for searching and accessing library and other scholarly resources. We are holding interviews to research and explore the variety of ways Hopkins students and scholars work with information, literature and data in their research and teaching.

Everyone works differently. Help build a library search interface that works the way you do.

Interviewing continues for the next four weeks. To learn more about the project or to volunteer to be interviewed, contact Sue Woodson at woodson@jhu.edu or call her at 410-516-5479. Participants will receive a $5 gift card. We look forward to speaking with you!

Paper Due Tomorrow? Here’s Where to Start

You’re a Hopkins student, which means you’re smart, savvy, and over worked … especially this time of year. There are exams to study for, projects due, and papers to write. It’s easy to fall behind. Occasionally, all of your good intentions and planning fly out the window and you find yourself starting a paper 24 hours before it’s due.

Are you in this situation? Have a paper due tomorrow and don’t know where to start looking for research? If you’re answer is yes, here are a few tips:

Continue reading Paper Due Tomorrow? Here’s Where to Start…

Johns Hopkins Awards Student Book Collectors

Open to all undergraduate or graduate students enrolled in a degree program at Johns Hopkins, the 2008 Betty and Edgar Sweren Student Book Collecting Contest attracted 26 entries from six academic divisions. Participants wrote essays describing how and why the collection was assembled and submitted a bibliography of up to 50 titles and a wish list of up to 10 titles to reflect their future goals and areas of interest in developing. Cash prizes of $1,000 and $500 were awarded to first- and second-place winners, and $250 to honorable mention. Selections from the winners’ collections are on display on the main level of the university’s Milton S. Eisenhower Library beginning April 18. More details about the winners are available after the break.

Continue reading Johns Hopkins Awards Student Book Collectors…

Library of Congress Research Orientations

Sticking around the Baltimore area this sumer? Doing research in the Humanities or Social Sciences? The Humanities and Social Sciences Division of the Library of Congress is offering an orientation to researching their collections.

Dates and Times:
Morning orientations will occur from 10:30 am-12:00 pm on May 5 and 19; June 2, 9, 23, and 30; and July 7, 14, 21, and 28. Evening Sessions will take place from 6:30-8:00 pm on May 5, June 2, and July 7.

Location:
Jefferson Building, Room G-07. The Second Street entrance is open to those holding a Reader Identification Card; all others may enter using the First Street entrance. Reader ID cards can be obtained in the Madison Building, Room 140. (Attendees for evening sessions must use the Second Street entrance.)

Registration:
Due to limited space, registration is required. Register by phone (202) 707-3370 or online. Request ADA accommodations five business days in advance at (202) 707-6362 or by email ADA@loc.gov. For more information call Kathy Woodrell (202) 707-0945 or Abby Yochelson (202) 707-2138.

Save a Tree, Opt for Double-Sided Printing

Do your bit to help mother nature. Next time you print in MSEL, use both sides of the paper.

1. When you’re ready to print, select the Print Preview button on the browser toolbar.

2. From the preview window, select the Print button in the upper left hand corner. Copy Print on AIR will be selected. Press the Preferences, or Properties, button.

3. Choose the Finishing tab at the top of the Printing Preferences window. Print Style menu - change to 2-sided Printing. Press OK to close the Preferences dialog box and then Print.

4. You will be prompted to name your print job as usual. Please remember to close the browser when finished, so the normal settings will be restored.