Non-Stop Library

Welcome to Finals!  The week when everyone tries to cram in days of work in a few feverish hours.  Once again, the Library’s got your back with extended hours this week:

Monday: 7:00 A.M. – 1:00 A.M.

Tuesday: 7:00 A.M. –1:00 A.M.

Wednesday: 7:00 A.M. – Friday  9:00 P.M.

We will keep our normal hours this weekend before dropping down to Summer Interim Hours Tuesday, May 9th.  See our full hours for the rest of spring and summer here: http://library.atu.edu/about/hours/

To help save time, here’s a list of top 8 recommended tools for that last minute, mad dash to the semester’s finish line:

  1. Find It – Search for those last minute peer-reviewed articles here.
  2. Book It –Reserve the Tegrity Room or a study room ahead of time. These are filling FAST.
  3. Owl at Purdue—The best in free citation help in MLA, APA, and Chicago. Not sure how to cite a resource? Use this.
  4. Refworks—Dump all your citations into this, let it generate your bibliography.
  5. Finals Schedule—We also have paper copies at all service desks.
  6. Text-A-Librarian—479-802-4876. Let us know when loudness strikes.
  7. Scantrons—Buy them for $0.20 at the Circulation Desk
  8. Cat videos—It’s not procrastination; you’re just taking a quick break.

Good luck—you got this!

Spring Break Hours

Happy Spring Break!  While much of the campus will resemble a ghost town during spring break, we know that not everyone leaves for a beach-front view.  If you find yourself in need of a quiet place to relax, use the computer, study, check out videos, or print out Yelp reviews for next year’s vacation, the Ross Pendergraft Library will be open Monday, March 20th-Friday March 24th.

However–please be aware of our reduced hours:

  • Saturday-Sunday, March 18th-19th: CLOSED
  • Monday-Friday, March 20th-24th: 8:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M.
  • Saturday, March 25th: CLOSED
  • Sunday, March 26th: 5:00 P.M.-1:00 A.M. the following day.
  • Regular hours resume on March 27th.

To everyone else, if you are taking a road trip, take also an audiobook to get you through the long hours on an interstate. We have a growing collection of over 300 titles ranging from non-fiction to best-sellers.  Browse the shelves near the Reference Desk to pick out that perfect story, or search Find It for the word “Audiobooks”.

Then limit by Location: Audiobooks to browse the physical collection located in the Ozark and Ross Pendergraft Libraries

You can also limit your search to items in the Ross Pendergraft Library by click on Collection: Ross Pendergraft Library:

Sort results by Date-newest to see latest titles.

Audiobooks circulate like regular books, so students can check them out for 28 days–just enough time to get through Game of Thrones.

Warning: while most of our audiobooks are in CD-Audio format, some are MP-3 disks, and may not play in older car stereos.  Read the stickers carefully.

If you have any questions about library hours or audiobooks, contact your unbreakable librarians at askalibrarian@atu.edu.

Have a safe and relaxing spring break!

End of Year Listicle

As the year winds down, it’s time to take a closer look at what everyone is reading, watching, or checking out over and over just to mess with our circulation numbers.  The following includes the top circulating items over the past year, providing a useful glimpse into the minds of your fellow students and perhaps suggestions for how to spend all that free time you’ll have over the break.

Top 10 DVDs

Game of thrones season five cover

These represent the top ten circulated DVDs of the year.

  1. Game of Thrones (all seasons)
  2. Finding Nemo
  3. My Neighbor Totoro
  4. Up
  5. Frozen
  6. Identity Thief
  7. Nausicaä of the valley of the wind
  8. Jurassic World
  9. Maleficent
  10. Monsters, Inc.

Top 10 Fiction

Cover of Red Queen

These were the top circulated novels.

  1. Red Queen / Victoria Aveyard
  2. Breaking Dawn / Stephenie Meyer
  3. Fifty Shades Darker / E. L. James
  4. The First Time She Drowned / Kerry Kletter
  5. The Girl on the Train / Paula Hawkins
  6. Fifty Shades of Grey / E. L. James
  7. Positive / David Wellington
  8. The Goldfinch / Donna Tartt
  9. The Good Girl / Mary Kubica
  10. Winter / Marissa Meyer

Top 10 Non-Fiction

Cover of book: What If?

Here’s the top non-fiction that were checked-out this year (excluding material assigned by professors).

  1. What if? : Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions / Randall Munroe
  2. Yes Please / Amy Poehler
  3. #Girlboss / Sophia Amoruso
  4. Elon Musk : Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future / Ashlee Vance
  5. How to Be a Person : The Stranger’s Guide to College, Sex, Intoxicants, Tacos, and Life Itself
  6. Out of the Cage : Women’s Experiences in Two World Wars / Gail Braybon
  7. Problems in the History of Modern Africa / Robert O. Collins
  8. The Drunkard’s Walk : How Randomness Rules Our Lives / Leonard Mlodinow
  9. The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace : a Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League / Jeff Hobbs
  10. The Witches : Salem, 1692

And finally….the number one circulated item of the year—with a whopping 271 check-outs—is:

Circulation Headphones #14.

We’re certainly excited it edged out Dry Erase Markers Set 5 and the calculators.  But the year is not over—come by the circulation desk and give the calculators another chance to catch up.  Reduced interim hours begin soon so check our schedule first.

Feel like we left something off the list?  Wondering why everyone is watching cartoons?  We do, too.  Let’s chat about it at askalibrarian@atu.edu.  Have a fun and animated holiday and a happy new year!

Thanksgiving Hours

The Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center will be closing early Tuesday, November 22nd, at 9:00 PM and Wednesday, November 23rd at 5:00 PM (or whenever the University closes).  It will not reopen until Monday, November 28th, at 7:00 AM.  See our website for regular hours and upcoming finals schedule.

Despite the holiday closing, you can be especially thankful that many of our services and resources are available online, at any time, whether the campus is closed or open.  Below, we have listed just a few of the resources you can access from wherever your holidays take you:

two handsome plymouth rocks (chickens)

  • Statista – Be prepared for any family gathering with this handy resource for quick facts, statistics, and eye-catching infographics.  This specialized database, available on our A-to-Z database page, contains business, marketing, and population statistics from around the world.  Each chart or graph can be directly exported into Powerpoint, PDF, or Excel for an extra visual boost to your reports and presentations.  Data sources include Nielsen, Euromonitor, Experian Simmons, GfK, Ipsos Affluent Survey, Gallup, US government agencies, private companies, non-profits, and many more.statistic_id208104_average-cost-of-a-thanksgiving-dinner-in-the-us-1990-2016
  • PBS Video Collection—Veg out in your tryptophan stupor by selecting a film from this collection of award-winning documentaries and series.  Watch full-length content from any device on subjects such history, current events, psychology, art, music, and more.  Browse by topic or field of interest, or search for series or videos directly.
  • Research Guides—Get to the meat of library resources using our collection of subject and resource guides.  Find resources of all types in most of the major’s offered at ATU.  Each guide includes tutorials, top databases and resources, as well as citation help to get you through each stage of a research project.  Browse new books in the library our Popular Reading guide:

popular

Need face-to-face help?  Catch us before we close by stopping by at our Reference Desk, calling us toll-free at (855) 761-0006, or sending us a text at (479) 802-4876.  We are also available via email at askalibrarian@atu.edu for all your pre and post-Thanksgiving research needs.  Safe travels and enjoy the break!

Not-So-Silent Nights

As finals wind down and thoughts return to the upcoming holidays, nothing sets the mood better than music.  Arkansas Tech students, faculty, and staff can stream holiday music, commercial free, through the Library’s online streaming music collection, Naxos Music Library.

This streaming music database contains over 1.7 million full-length musical recordings and more than 100,000 albums.  The bulk of the collection is made up of classical music, but you can find many blues, jazz, folk, and international music recordings as well.

Search by title, author, composer, or other keyword for specific selections, or browse by various genres, including Blues, Jazz, Pop, Gospel, World, and Instrumental.  Naxos has even gone to the trouble to create playlists centered around themes, films & television, instrument style, and yes Virginia, even holidays.  Navigate to the Naxos Music Library Playlists–>Holidays and Special Occasions to select from one of four Christmas music playlists.

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If those playlists don’t get the job done, create your own playlists by signing up for a student account within the Naxos Music Library database.  Once logged in, you can add songs and entire albums into your playlist.

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Worried about being tied down to the desktop?  Download the mobile app for Naxos and stream music from anywhere—even on your way to grandma’s house.

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Additionally, check out the Naxos Spoken Word Library–our collection of 6,700 hours of streaming spoken word content.  Get a fire going and listen to the unabridged, full-cast radio production of Charles Dickens’s, A Christmas Carol.  There’s also an anthology of Christmas stories, music, recipes, sermons and carols called The Christmas Collection.

But if you just want to hear Benedict Cumberbatch perform in the Tempest, you can do that, too.

Cumberbatch smiling, dreamily

We hope you enjoy the well-deserved break over the holidays.  The Library will begin reduced winter interim hours on Wednesday, Dec. 16 through Dec. 23rd.  We will be closed from Thursday, Dec. 24th through Sunday, January 3rd.  The reduced hours continue until classes resume on January 11th.  See our full schedule of hours at the library website.

For questions about the Naxos Music Library, Naxos Spoken Word Library, or suggestions for great holiday music, contact your festive librarians at askalibrarian@atu.edu.   Have a great winter break, and may your days be merry and bright.

We’re Open!

Since the inauguration has moved to Tucker Coliseum on Friday, April 17th, the library will remain open during our regular hours, from 7:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. After you finish attending the inauguration, come by the library and check out our new arrivals…literally!

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Here’s a brief snapshot of the titles most recently inaugurated into our collection:

FICTION BOOKS

 NON-FICTION BOOKS

FILMS

Want to stay on top of new items?  Follow us on Facebook or Twitter.  You can also check out our growing list of new items by clicking the “Open Your Mind” logo in the top right corner of the library homepage.  We also have a breakdown of new titles by department & month on our Libguide for new books (including e-books).  If you happen to be in the library, proceed immediately to the first floor, south entrance where you’ll find the latest & greatest new books:

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Keep checking back for more new stuff, new “news”, as well as old, awful puns.

Remembering MLK

mlk

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the Ross Pendergraft Library & Technology Center will be closed Saturday through Monday, January 17th-January 19th.  While we’re closed, take a look at a selection of resources relating to Dr. King and the dream of equality to which he devoted his life.

  • The King Center

    The definitive resource for digital resources pertaining to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the King Center hosts nearly one million documents relating to his life and his work.  Find speeches, telegrams, scribbled notes, and photographs of the civil rights leader throughout his life.

  • Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service

    In 1994, Congress designated the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday as a national day of service and charged the Corporation for National and Community Service with leading this effort.  The MLK Day of Service is the only federal holiday observed as a national day of service – a “day on, not a day off.”   It calls for Americans from all walks of life to work together to provide solutions to our most pressing national problems.  This website include toolkits and project registration to organize other volunteers to join in a national day of civic service.

  • Civil Rights History Project (Library of Congress)

    Includes video interviews from a number of people sharing their experiences and impressions of Dr. King, including their reflections on his assassination, and the civil rights movement in general. Some of the participants include other civil rights activists of the time, friends, and colleagues who worked closely with Dr. King.

  • Martin Luther King, Jr. [FBI file].

    Collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, this free, government resource contains pages of government information relating to FBI surveillance of King during the 1960’s, as well as documents relating to his assassination investigation.

When the library re-opens on Tuesday, January 20th, check-out these additional resources:

  • Citizen KingB0006Z2L5G.01._SCMZZZZZZZ_

    Produced by PBS, this documentary pushes past the myths that have obscured King’s story to reclaim the history of a people’s leader.  Using the personal recollections, diaries, letters, and eyewitness accounts of friends, family, journalists, law enforcement officers and historians, this film brings fresh insights to King’s difficult journey, his charismatic — if at times flawed — leadership, and his truly remarkable impact.  Available for check-out in the Music Lab, 2nd floor.

  • contentA testament of hope : the essential writings and speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr.

    Includes the speeches, writings, interviews, and excerpts from five of Martin Luther King’s books.  Presented in chronological order within topical groupings.  Available in the Stacks, 2nd floor.

  • 1600248500.01._SCMZZZZZZZ_Martin Luther King, Jr. : the essential box set, the landmark speeches and sermons of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

    This audiobook box set includes readings of all the landmark speeches of the great orator and American leader Martin Luther King, Jr. from his inspirational “I have a dream” to his fiery “Give us the ballot.”  Available in Audiobooks, 1st floor.

  • 0446524123.01._SCMZZZZZZZ_The autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.

    First-person account of the extraordinary life of America’s greatest civil rights leader. With thousands of King’s essays, notes, letters, speeches, and sermons at his disposal, the author has organized King’s writings into a posthumous autobiography.  Available in the Stacks, 2nd floor.

Dispatches from 4 AM

wp_20141212_04_31_49_proAt 4 AM, the library is nearly silent except for the whirrr of vacuums and the suppressed giggles of tired, delirious students.  Tables are crammed with notes, laptops, and, occasionally, a sleeper.  This is 4 AM during the library’s inaugural 24 hour opening for finals. In a place normally closed from 1:00 AM through 7:00 AM, the lights here have not been turned off since its closing on the previous Saturday.  They will continue to stay on until 6:00 PM on Friday, December 12th.

Stoney Burks, junior in History & Education.

What kind of students are here at 4 AM?  As it turns out, all kinds.  Stoney Burks, a history and education major, was just here trying to find a quiet place to read while his roommate plays video games.

While many reported the usual suspect—procrastination—as the primary reason for the early hours, others, like Bethany Skaggs, a junior double majoring in Economics & Finance and Marketing & Management, replied that she prefers studying at night, especially since her days are so busy with other activities.

Another student replied, “I’m just waiting here until my final at 7:00 AM.  I’m too scared I will sleep through my alarm if I fall asleep now!”

Marques Ennett, junior in Economics & Finance.

For many of the students here at this time, it was the quiet that drew them.  Marques Ennett, a junior majoring in Economics and Finance, was working alone in a back corner, studying for his finals the next day.  “The environment is much quieter at the library,” he replied when asked why he chose to come here.  Like other students, he works during the day when he’s not classes.   So if he needs to study, he must do it during the late hours.

For students without computers, the library also represented the only place open late to access the research, software, and printers they need to finish assignments.  In addition to examinations, projects and papers are also due during finals.  “My computer at home is kind of buggy, but this one is not,” said one student, working on a research paper.

Most of the students not at computer desks were found clumped together at tables and within study rooms to help keep each other awake.  “I would be asleep if I was in my dorm,” said one night owl.  “It helps to be around a group.”

Caitlin Hicks, a freshman majoring in Middle-Level Education sleepily waited across a table for her friend, Kaily Sibrian to finish up an essay.

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Caitlin Hicks & Kaily Sibrian trying to stay awake and on task

When they were asked why they didn’t prefer some place like Denny’s to study, Kaily said, “At a food place, I would be more tempted to buy something.”

“It’s too easy to get distracted,” added Caitlin.

wp_20141203_01_42_05_proOne does not often make it to 4 AM on good company alone, however.  It sometimes takes caffeine or sugar to keep burning the midnight oil.  As a special treat, the campus administration sponsored coffee and snacks during the late hours to help students go that extra mile through the night.  Many listed the coffee as the top perk of the evening, both in terms of happiness and in actual metabolic rates.

To the 46 or so students here at 4 AM–and to all other ATU students–we in the Ross Pendergraft Library & Technology Center salute you for all of your hard work this semester.  If you’ve got a picture or a story to tell us about studying all night in the library, send it to us at askalibrarian@atu.edu or post on our Facebook or Twitter pages.  We’d love to know your opinions about the 24-hour service, and what we can do to make your final exams a little easier to get through in the future.  Best of luck on the rest of the exams, and most importantly, get some sleep!!!

Holiday Hours

Happy Thanksgiving!  The Ross Pendergraft Library & Technology Center will be closed starting at noon, Wednesday, November 25th, and will not re-open until Sunday, November 30th at 2:00 P.M.

And then….we’ll just stay open…until FRIDAY, December 6th, at 6:00 P.M.  As advertised, twenty-four hour service begins the Sunday after Thanksgiving to meet all your study marathon needs.  Check out our full hours here: http://library.atu.edu/about/hours/

In the meantime, safe travels, good health, and good luck on finals!

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Thanksgiving day: Ways and means, from ‘Harper’s weekly’, 27th november 1858. Engraving by Winslow Homer. Retrieved via Credo Reference.

Attention night owls

owlmemeYou asked for it, and it is finally here: the Ross Pendergraft Library & Technology Center will be open 24 hours beginning Sunday, November 30th.  We will open Nov. 30 at 2:00 PM and remain open until Friday, December 5th, at 6:00 PM.  On Saturday, we will resume regular weekend hours, from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM.  On Sunday, December 7th, we’ll open again at 2:00 PM and not close until December 12th, at 6:00 PM.  See our full schedule at the library hours page: http://library.atu.edu/about/hours/

As a special treat, we will be providing coffee, hot chocolate, and snacks late at night, courtesy of campus administration, to help fuel the study frenzy.

Most services will still be available during the late hours with a few exceptions.  The Music Lab will keep their normal hours and close at midnight from Sunday through Thursday.  Additionally, you will not be able to pay fines or remove holds on your account from 1:00 AM to 7:00 AM.

You can, however, still print, use a computer, check out materials, or get friendly research help from the caffeinated librarians at the circulation desk.  Extra security measures will also be put into place, with regular patrols from Public Safety throughout the library during the late hours.  The Q St. entrance will also be closed from 1:00 AM to 7:00 AM.

Have questions?  Email us, 24 hours a day, at askalibrarian@atu.edu.   Best of luck on finals and projects!