Library Hours: Labor Day Weekend

Library hours for Labor Day weekend are as follows:

• Friday, August 29th: Close 4 pm
• Saturday, August 30: Library Closed
• Sunday, August 31st: Library Closed
• Monday, September 1: Open 6 pm - Midnight

Regular hours resume on Tuesday, September 2nd. Enjoy the holiday weekend!

Library Spotlight: Reserves

Ashland University Library has both paper and electronic reserves available for faculty and students. Generally speaking, paper reserves are books and other hard copies of materials and electronic reserves are database articles, presentations, and links available via the library reserve system in various formats.

Electronic Reserves - ERes
AU library electronic reserve materials may include articles in Microsoft Word of PDF, class syllabus information, and even powerpoint presentations given in class. Docutek is capable of handling Microsoft Office documents (Word, PowerPoint, and Excel), PDF, audio and video clips as well as pictures (jpeg, gif).

Paper Reserves - Library Catalog
Paper, or hard copy reserves include books, videos, DVD's, manipulatives, and/or audio materials selected by your instructor to enhance course curriculum. Audio and video items placed on reserve may be listened to and viewed in the listening lab, room 201 (top of the stairs), library second floor.

Where are reserve materials located in the library?
Paper reserves are available at the library reserves desk located on the library main floor near the printers and copy stations (turn right upon entering the library). Materials placed on reserve by professors are listed in the AU Catalog by Instructor’s Name and by Course.

How long may I keep reserve materials?
The length of time a reserve item may be kept is chosen by the course instructor. One-hour and three-hour reserves must be read in the library; one-day and longer reserves may be taken out of the building.

More information about reserves is available on the library web page; How to Locate Reserves.

Library Hours: 2008-2009

Welcome to Ashland University Library!

Library hours are available on the web site and posted on the library main doors. General hours are as follows:

• Monday through Thursday
  7:45 am to Midnight
• Friday
  7:45 am to 6:00 pm
• Saturday
  10:00 am to 5:00 pm
• Sunday
  1:00 pm to Midnight

Changes to regular operating hours, including semester breaks and extend hours during finals, are posted on the library web page.

Instructional Resource Center hours are located on the IRC web page.

Faculty College Rewind

If you were unable to join us for our Faculty College session, New Library Resources and Research Tips here are the highlights.

As we start this new academic year, we would like to remind faculty that the AU Library offers services to support full-time and adjunct faculty at the main campus and the off-campus centers. Each academic department is assigned a faculty librarian. The library liaison is your contact to request the purchase of books or other materials for the library collection. The Reference and Instruction Librarians are also happy to provide library instruction to any class, whether on the main campus or at an off-campus center. These library sessions can be tailored to meet your objectives for a particular course or assignment, or to introduce your students to library resources. For information on scheduling a library session or to discuss the collection with your library liaison please call us at x5402 or stop in.

In addition the AU Library supports teaching by providing Course Reserves, both in print and electronic. You may place course related readings, videos or items on reserve at the library for your students to use.

Why should you use E-Reserves?

10) Students aren’t forced to compete for limited copies of reserve materials, nor are they hindered by time restrictions.
9) Materials may be used by more than one student at a time.
8) The Electronic Reserves are never closed! It’s online and available anytime of the day.
7) The Electronic Reserves are user friendly. Links, documents and audiovisuals are available at any computer from a single access point.
6) More feedback for you! We can generate printable statistics on the use of course materials.
5) Electronic Reserve materials cannot be lost or stolen.
4) No muss, no fuss. Just provide the library with a clean, single-sided copy of print materials. We create the digitized copies and link them to your course reserves.
3) You can request that certain items be accessible for certain periods of time. At the
end of the semester all materials are withdrawn from view, but will be archived
electronically for future use.
2) Distance learners now have access to the same materials as on-campus students.
1) No more excuses from students! See above reasons.

When it comes to research the AU Library subscribes to over 200 research databases. A number of new databases have recently been added, these include but are not limited to, CQ Researcher, Biography Reference Bank, Science Online, Scientific American Archive Online, Nature, World Book Web, Mental Measurements Yearbook, Tests in Print, Philosopher’s Index and Christian Periodical Index.

Over 60 of our databases are provided by EBSCO which recently launched their new interface EBSCO 2.0 (view a sample using Academic Search Complete). Some of the new features include a more basic search screen, images, mouse over abstracts, Smart Text Searching which allows users to copy and paste an entire page of text into a search field, RSS feeds and the ability to copy a persistent link to the article. For more information on our new databases or for tips and tricks for searching our databases don’t hesitate to ask.

AU Library 2.0 offers two new features this year.

• Ask Us! Students or faculty can send an instant message to the librarian on duty and receive instant library assistance. From the library webpage click on the Help page to chat with a librarian. We will do our best to answer all questions, however students and faculty that visit us in person receive priority.


• Libguides, these are new subject specific research guides. Each subject area will have its own online guide that includes new or featured books, reference books, recommended databases, and librarian evaluated websites. Many guides also feature podcasts, news feeds and videos. These guides are a great starting place for students to begin their research. You can access these guides from our webpage under Internet Resources, Subject Guides. Look for these new guides to begin replacing the current guides this semester.
  

For additional information please contact us: Reference Desk Ext. 5402 or e-mail library@ashland.edu

Article submitted by: Sara Klink

ERIC Unveils New Look: Expanded Coverage

The following information was posted to the EBSS List by Jane Atwell, Sr. Communications Specialist, ERIC Project.

We’re pleased to announce two recent advances in ERIC of interest to librarians and all ERIC users: the addition of more than 130 new comprehensively indexed journals, and release of a redesigned and enhanced Web site. Users can now search a richer collection of education-focused literature while taking advantage of improvements that speed information discovery on the public ERIC Web site. In addition, a newarea just for librarians includes useful information for patron support and collection maintenance.

New Journals in ERIC
As of June 30, 2008, ERIC has added more than 3,600 new records from newly acquired journals. Work is underway to increase coverage even further by seeking additional partnerships with publishers of both journal and non-journal literature. New journals are indexed from 2004 forward, exceptfor titles indexed prior to ERIC’s 2004 transition to an all-electronicservice. Once recent titles have been acquired and indexed, ERIC willacquire 2002-2003 electronic back issues of previously indexed titles toprevent gaps in journal coverage.

Redesigned Web Site
ERIC released a redesigned Web site on August 3. Highlights include:

• A major restructuring features clearer, more intuitive paths to information, making the site easier to use.
• A completely new and expanded Help section that includes brief tutorials, a glossary, and a searchable index.
• Help tools have been integrated into the ERIC Web site. “How do I” links and help tips on key fields and features provide direct access to information that helps you take advantage of ERIC’s robust search tools and submit documents.
• A new section, "For Librarians", consolidates information of interest to the library community into a single location. This area includes flyers, brochures, lists of ERIC microfiche, links to frequently used help topics, and other relevant information, including ways to provide feedback about ERIC.
• Lighter visual design, so pages load faster and new graphics refresh the site while retaining ERIC’s look and feel.

For more information about ERIC’s new journals and the redesigned site (including a detailed list of what’s changed), see the rotating featuresarea on the home page of the ERIC Web site. - August 6, 2008

This information has been cross-posted on the Instructional Resource Center News and Information Blog.

Library Summer Hours Update

Beginning Monday, August 4th, Ashland University Library will be open the following hours:

• Monday through Friday - 8:00 am to 5:00 pm
• Saturday - Closed
• Sunday - Closed

Please refer to the Library Summer Hours on the Library website for further information.

OhioLINK Remote Authentication

News from Candi Clevenger, OhioLINK communications manager:

"Next week is a big week here at OhioLINK. On Tuesday, August 5, we will make significant changes to OhioLINK’s remote authentication system. This work should only take a day; however, complications are always a possibility. While the changes are being implemented, OhioLINK's services may be intermittent and remote authentication and proxy will be unavailable. The central catalog will not be affected and users can still access OhioLINK resources while on campus and through the libraries' proxies."
- August 1, 2008

For more OhioLINK news and information, visit the OhioLINK What's New page.