Showing posts with label vincennes university. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vincennes university. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Guess what?



Whether you are building a website, creating a flyer for your club or event, building the latest iPhone app, or are just inspired now you can use this computer cluster to create eye-catching print and web content with industry leading software.

These computers are available to be checkout on a first come first serve basis while the library is open. Remember the library is open until midnight 5 nights of the week and our doors are open for over 99 hours per week!

Monday, April 11, 2011

National Library Week 2011


Today, April 10, 2011, marks the beginning of National Library week. This is a week of awareness created to promote libraries around the country, and to recognize the contributions made by library staff and Friends organizations. The celebration began in 1958, and is annually sponsored by the American Library Association.

We, at Shake Library, are pleased to bring you five limited edition resources with which to celebrate. We invite you to checkout our web page and take a look.  Explore global issues in context or a transnational archive devoted to the study of Slavery. Gain access to global references on the environment, energy, and natural resources or try your hand at Powerspeak Languages.

We would love to include your thoughts in our upcoming newsletter. Tell us why you love the library!


Shake LRC Celebrates National Library Week: http://bit.ly/nlw11
Shake LRC Celebrates National Poetry Month: http://bit.ly/vupoetry


Thursday, January 27, 2011

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

January 27 marks the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp. In 2005, the United Nations General Assembly designated this day as International Holocaust Remembrance Day (IHRD), an annual day of commemoration to honor the victims of the Nazi era. This year's theme is “Women and the Holocaust: Courage and Compassion”


“The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. ‘Holocaust’ is a word of Greek origin meaning ‘sacrifice by fire.’ The Nazis, who came to power in Germany in January 1933,  believed that Germans were ‘racially superior’ and that Jews, were deemed ‘life unworthy of life.’ During the Holocaust, the Nazis also targeted other groups because of their perceived ‘racial inferiority’: Roma/Sinti (Gypsies), the handicapped, and some of the Slavic peoples (Poles, Russians, and others). Other groups were persecuted on political and behavioral grounds, among them Communists, Socialists, Jehovah's  Witnesses, and homosexuals.” (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)
If you would like to know more about the events of the Holocaust we, at Shake Library, recommend you take a look at this guide provided by Yad Vashem, the world center for documentation, research, education and commemoration of the Holocaust. This guide will help answer questions like:

  • Is the Holocaust a singular event in history?
  • How many Jews were murdered in each country?
  • Who were other victims of Nazism?  
  • Why didn't more Jews leave Europe before the war began?
  • When and how did the Nazis decide to murder the Jews under their control?
  • What were the extermination camps?  When did they start to function?
  • How did the Nazis try to hide their atrocities?
  • What did the Jews of America do to help European Jewry during the war?
  • Why didn't the allies bomb Auschwitz? 
  • What is Holocaust Denial?

You can view women's testimonies of the Holocaust by Clicking here.

Participate in the 2011 International Holocaust Remembrance Day

- Add your name to the list of people showing their support at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

More Resources
You can find more information about the Holocaust at Shake Library by searching our library catalog, VU Webcat


Saturday, January 22, 2011

A New Look for an Old Favorite


The New ProQuest Platform is here!


One of our most popular databases just got a face-lift. ProQuest is one of our biggest journal databases. In fact, chances are you provided one or two of the quarter of a million hits this database received last year! 

With the all-new ProQuest platform you can:

  • Research topics for papers
  • Browse within and across databases that Shake Library subscribes to from ProQuest
  • Select specific databases or cross-search databases across subject areas for comparative studies 
  • Find full-text-articles and scholarly resources with links to similar materials
  • Search specific document types—including primary sources, peer-reviewed journals, dissertations, images, graphs, and tables
  • Get formatted citations for a paper
  • Cite, customize, manage, and share results via email and social networking links
  • Set up alerts and RSS feeds to stay up to date with developments in the field
The New ProQuest can be found on the VU Libraries homepage: http://www.vinu.edu/libraries by clicking on the "Find Articles" link.

Don't forget to login to MyVU first if you are using our databases from off campus. You will need to authenticate yourself first in order to get access to the resources. 

Monday, January 10, 2011

Coming Soon!

Welcome back everyone. We are excited to be starting the semester up again and hope you are too. This semester we are looking forward to a number of new exciting changes in the library. Read all about them here!

New Multimedia Computer Cluster (MCC)

The MCC will be made up of four computers, a dedicated color printer, and Adobe Design Premium Software (CS5). We hope students can create competitive, eye catching, and creative projects while gaining skills and exposure to programs that are transferable to many jobs in the private and public sectors. We hope this project will extend and expand learning for students, faculty and staff by providing them with a dedicated productivity center in the library to maximize their efforts in producing print media and web projects.  


CREDO Reference: Topic Pages

One of our most popular databases is getting a makeover. CREDO reference is a go to database that will get you reference articles from all kinds of materials such as encyclopedias. Well now it's getting even better with the addition of over 9000 Topic pages which will provide you not only with the encyclopedia entries, but also with articles from our databases like EbscoHost, along with images and also books from our catalog.  Think about it... a one stop shop for all your research needs! Take a look at the picture to the right: Those categories will work for almost any class you have (business, history, literature, law enforcement, geography, nutrition, health and more). You can find Credo under "Find Articles" on our webpage.

We hope to see lots of you around this semester checking out our materials or just enjoying the comfy couches.

Don't forget our hours change for MLK weekend:
Jan 15 Sat   OPEN 12Noon-4 PM
Jan 16  Sun  OPEN   2-8 PM
Jan 17 Mon  OPEN  6pm -Midnight. Martin Luther King Day. No Classes.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Monday, November 29, 2010

Alright Brain...It's all up to you.


We hope you had a happy Thanksgiving holiday! Now, before you panic about those three papers & four exams coming up, read our survival tips. They're short and sweet.

Our Best Advice:
Take care of your computer & files. Please, please, please for the love of all that is holy SAVE any paper you're writing on a library computer and save it frequently. Don’t walk away from a library computer without saving your files to a thumb drive, your GoogleDocs, or emailing them to yourself (or all three). The library computers don't automatically save your work, and the TempStore drives on our computers are wiped clean every night. If you lose your work, we will want to get it back for you, but we won't be able to.


When Studying or Writing a Paper:
Avoid temptation. Give yourself the best chance at success by creating a study zone for yourself now: Before finals sneak up on you. My little brother deflated his basketball one year because he knew he wouldn't be able to finish his 15 page paper without that added incentive. I personally like the method of deleting shortcuts to games from my desktop. What this means is that I am not tempted to open a game too often because I have to go into the program menu to get to it. Whatever you decide... reduce your stress by creating a temptation free zone in your study area.

The library is a good temptation free zone...If you move into the library, we ask you to please keep the headphones low enough so they don’t drive the next person crazy and put the trash in the bins to help out our janatorial staff. The library has an added bonus: personal help from a research guru (AKA your librarian). We can save you time and frustration at the best of times, and we’ve probably had more sleep these last few weeks than you have. Walk up, IM, email, or call. We're here to help.

Secret Tip
Speak with your professors. I know sometimes it's scary approaching people in authority, but believe me... they are not cops! They want you to succeed and if you make the effort to ask for help they will come through for you. The trick is to show them what you've got as opposed to asking them to re-explain the entire semester of material. So...
  • Stuck on a paper? Show them what you've written so far (even a rough outline!) and they may be able to jog your mind into a coherent argument, or maybe point you to that 5th source you need in your bibliography!
  • Didn't understand a lecture? Show them the notes you took or explain what you did understand. This will allow them to "fill-in-the-blanks".
  • Test studying? Outline what you've focused on to make sure you're on the right track.
Anyway you look at it, asking for help shows your professor that you are serious about succeeding in their class, and they are far more likely to help you with a question if you are proactive and come in during their office hours. Bring a pen and paper and take notes while they talk.

Last Tip
Find Rest. Cooler temperatures = more sick people. That's because we are all inside and sharing more germs. Don't skimp on your sleep. Lack of sleep leads to a lower immune system and a higher chance of getting sick. Catch those Zzz's!



Source: "Alright Brain... It's all up to you." - Homer Simpson

Monday, November 15, 2010

I'm looking over your shoulder... only because I've got your back.

Meet our new librarian!

She's new! Well.. kinda new... since August new... Whatever, you should meet her!
Name: Ariela Berstein

Job title: Information Services Librarian

Location in Shake Library: Shake Library Room 117, the Reference desk, wandering the Computer Commons,  fighting the vending machine.

Tell us what you do in 75 words or less: I deal with electronic databases & make sure they work. I buy materials [books, dvds etc.] for the Business/Public Services and Technology divisions. I go into classes & show students our resources & how to get an A on an assignment. I do website maintenance, beta testing, & I run our Facebook page too [Like us!]. I also work on the reference desk answering people’s questions in person, on the phone, via chat or email.
Choose one service that your department provides that you want the VU community to be aware of: Group study rooms! We have two nice study rooms you can check out for 4 hours. They’re great for groupwork or when you need to practice a presentation.

What is your favorite website? www.thedoghousediaries.com . I love these comics! They are hilarious and I eagerly anticipate their musings on all manner of things: From color swatches to their commentary on the love life of sandwiches
.
What is your favorite book in the Shake Library collection? Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier (C527g, 1st floor -fiction) has been a favorite for a number of years. I love the mix of history, art and mystery. I also love movies and music and I’m really excited about two new books we got at the library. Sondheim on music: minor details and major decisions by Mark Eden Horowitz. (782.14 S698h 2010) and Complete guide to film scoring: the art and business of writing music for movies and TV by Richard Davis (781.542 D263c 2010). The second looks at the history of film scores, how the process works, and also has interviews with some of the most amazing composers today.

When I'm not at work, you can find me... Stuffing my face, planning vacations (5 continents and counting!), on ColbertNation, donating via Kiva, or teaching myself to play guitar.
One thing few people know about you… I have a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

Title Source: the Colbert Report.