Chat is back up!

Our wonderful CAC technology folks discovered the problem behind our disappearing chat widgets, fixed it, and we’re now back up and chatting!

And now that our technology woes are behind us (for now at least), we can get back on track.  Be on the lookout for information on the library’s latest online resources, useful websites, and technology tips and tricks!

Technology frustrations

Technology.  It saves us time, connects us with long lost friends, and allows us to shop from the comfort of our homes… when it’s working. 

As you might have noticed, if you’re on campus and go to the library’s Get Help Now page of the website, our two chat boxes have become large white boxes of nothing.  What you aren’t able to see is that the librarians are also unable to access the Meebo website where we log in and chat with you.  So even if you’re off campus and able to see the chat boxes, we still can’t log in and chat. 

Unfortunately, as is the case with technology, there has been some difficulty in getting this fixed.  We promise you that we’re working on finding a solution and we hope to have chat back up soon!  In the meantime, feel free to use one of the other ways of contacting us from the Get Help Now page.

Welcome to the summer session… sort of

For many, today is the start of summer session classes.  Welcome! 

However, amidst the confusion we’ve seen today, many summer classes don’t start until next Monday (June 1st).  Enjoy your reprieve!

Not sure when your class starts?  You can check the summer class schedule online.  Select the Summer 2009 schedule, which will open in a pdf format.  Find your class (make sure you match the CRN number!) and below it you’ll find the start and end dates.

Time to relax

Congrats to all of the students, faculty, and staff who survived the spring semester!  Take some time to relax and prepare yourself for the next step – whether it’s summer session classes, transferring to a university, starting a new job, or simply using newly learned skills.

Another round of congratulations goes to all of our graduates.  You worked hard for your achievement and we’re all proud of you!

Staying updated on the H1N1 Flu

If you’ve been anywhere near a news resource in the last few days you’ve heard about the “Swine” or H1N1 Flu.  As with the peanut butter recall that took place a few months back, we decided to provide you with some informational links that will hopefully provide some answers about this type of flu, why it’s causing global concern, and what you can do to avoid getting sick.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has the official word on the H1N1 Flu.  This site has daily updates, a lits of confirmed cases by state, and travel notices.

MedlinePlus has an overview of the swine flu, including symptoms, and how you can avoid getting it.  The site also has news updates and a link to the CDC’s Twitter page.

The US Dept of Health & Human Services has created an entire site, pandemicflu.gov, aimed at keeping citizens up to date on what’s happening here in the US. 

Keeping in mind that this is an issue affecting us globally, you might want to check out the World Health Organization’s information on the H1N1 Flu. 

Finally, for a local perspective, you can check out the information Arizona’s Dept. of Health Services is providing.

As you listen to various news reports, try not to overreact to what you hear.  Instead, stay informed and follow the usual guidelines for staying healthy!

Student Art Exhibition at Signal Peak

Need a break from the stress of final papers and projects?  Stop by the Student Services Building (M Bldg) on the Signal Peak Campus and check out the student art exhibition on display.  Pieces range from paintings and sketches to jewelry and ceramics.  The Library’s own Barbara Gibson even has some of her work in the exhibit!

Check out a Culture Pass

Do you happen to live in Maricopa County or know someone who does?  If so, check out a Culture Pass from a participating public library in the county and get some culture this summer!

The link above will take you to the website with all of the details, but here’s the deal:

Go to one of the public libraries in Chandler, Glendale, Mesa, Phoenix, Scottsdale, or Tempe.  You’ll need a library card, so if you live in the county and don’t have a library card, apply to get one (you should have one anyways!) and if you don’t live in the county find someone who does and drag them with you.

Once you have your library card, you can check out your Culture Pass to get admission to one of several museums, the zoo, or the desert botanical garden.  After you get your pass, you have seven days to use it before it expires and the pass is good for free admission for up to four people. 

Not a bad deal, eh?

Last chance for workshops

It’s hard to believe, but the semester will be coming to an end in just a few short weeks and this is the last week that the library will be offering workshops.  Well, for the semester that is!  Here’s what we’ve got for you:

Tuesday (4/21) 11am
Citing Sources
Instructor: Scott
Location: Signal Peak Campus Library
Students often have difficulty understanding why and when they need to cite their resources.  This workshop will help them understand the importance of citations and how to follow the MLA and APA citation styles.

Wednesday (4/22) 3pm
Formatting Your Research in Microsoft Word
Instructor: Nancy
Location: Signal Peak Campus, Room O109
Using the MLA format style as our example, we’ll work through setting margins, centering titles, adding headers and footers, and formatting a Works Cited page.

Thursday (4/23) 3pm
Research Strategies 101
Instructor: Nancy
Location: Signal Peak Campus Library
In this workshop we’ll explore how to break a student’s thesis statement into search concepts that they can then string together into an advanced research strategy.  Students will learn how and when to use “AND” and “OR” to narrow and broaden their searches, how to effectively use wildcard functions, and critically evaluate the information that they find to determine if it effectively addresses their research question.

Celebrating with workshops

It’s National Library Week!  Have you hugged your librarian today?  Well, that’s probably a good thing as we want to avoid any potential lawsuits.  In any case, we’re celebrating the week with two workshops.  Notice that both of them will be taking place in the O Building!

Wednesday (4/15) 3pm
Organizing Your “Stuff”
Instructor: Nancy
Location: Signal Peak Campus, Room O109
Explore the world of social networking that goes beyond blogs and wikis.  Discover how you can use the web to organize and share your documents, links to your favorite websites, the books you own, and even your entire life.  Some of the sites we’ll look at are del.icio.us, LibraryThing, GoogleDocs, and Evernote.

Thursday (4/16) 3pm
Presenting Research through Microsoft Powerpoint
Instructor: Nancy
Location: Signal Peak Campus, Room O110
We’ll start with the basics of Powerpoint, including how to add content to slides, change the slide’s layout, and save your work.  Then we’ll move onto the additional features, such as changing the backround graphics, adding animations, and more.

Animal Cruelty Prevention Month

Ok, we’re a little behind on this one but we just found out that April is Animal Cruelty Prevention month.  We know there are lots of animal lovers out there that might want to know how they can help fight against animal cruelty.

Interested in researching the topic of animal cruelty?  Try the searching the  library’s resources using keywords like animal cruelty, animal rights, and animal welfare.