Archives for August 2018

On Trial

The Ross Pendergraft Library has 2 new databases on trial for a limited time until September 22nd.  This is your chance to weigh in on new products under consideration for purchase by the Library.  Take these two new resources for a drive around the block, kick the tires, and look under the hood to see if it’s something we should take home.

Fold3

screenshot of Fold3

Fold3 is a military records archive providing access to the stories, photos, and documents of veterans of all military branches.  The Fold3 name comes from a traditional flag folding ceremony in which the third fold is made in honor and remembrance of veterans.  This database includes millions of records making it a valuable resource for historians, researchers, family members, military enthusiasts, and genealogists.

Coverage includes records from the Revolutionary War up until Operation New Dawn.   Search the extensive archive that includes draft registration cards, navy cruise ship records, homestead records, muster rolls, casualties, war diaries, pension records, the Pentagon Papers, and photographs from a variety of service branches and conflicts.

Image of Vietnam Memorial Wall, highlighting the name Charles McMahon Jr.

Users have the ability to browse records by title, time period, and geographic region.  A separate section of the site includes a memorials section, featuring an interactive search for names on the Vietnam Memorial, the USS Arizona, and U.S. Hall of Honor.

This database will be on trial until September 22.

Proquest Statistical Insight

screenshot of Statistical Insight

Proquest Statistical Insight contains indexed tables of data from international, federal, state and private sources made available for search and retrieval.  This product includes the ability to search government reports back to 1973, includes state and private reports back to 1980, and tables for 1999 to present.

To begin searching, type in a couple of keywords and view results by report abstracts or tables.

screenshot of a search in statistical insight

Search results can be further limited by dates, source, local area, and “Data  Breakdowns.”  Click Tables to view statistical information arranged in popular tables.  Most tables can be downloaded as PDFs or XLS files.

Table from Statistical Insight featuring the CIRP Freshman Survey

For more information about using Proquest Statistical Insight, see this handy guide: https://proquest.libguides.com/statistical_insight.  This trial will also expire on September 22nd.

If you like these databases and want to access them well after September, send us an email, a message, a text, or a tweet!  Or come see us the old fashioned way at the RPL Reference Desk.  We’d love to hear your feedback on these databases or any of our other databases and services.

Frosh News

Are you new to campus?  Are you just new to the library?  At the RPL, we believe in fast, accurate, and reliable information, so here’s a quick rundown of all the top 5 facts you need to be successful that first day on campus.

1. Find computers, even late at night.

The Library holds the largest general computer lab on campus 119 computers, and the only computer lab open late at night.  As long as the library is open, our computer labs are open.   Each machine has all the software you need to succeed, including Minesweeper.

Hours of the library include Monday - Thursday, 7 A.M. to 1 A.M., Fridays from 7 A.M. to 8 P.M., Saturday 10 A.M. to 8 P.M., and Sunday from 1 P.M. until 1 A.M.

2. Find printers, scanners, copiers, and yes, even a fax machine.

You can find printers on all floors in the library, including color printers.  Printing is done on ‘release stations” where you login with your TechID or pass your TechID near the scanner.

Just print your document to the “Universal Print Queue” printer and release at any of the stations scattered throughout the library.  Black and white copies are $0.10 a page, but if you release the job at a color printer, that’s $0.30.  Every Tech Student Starts with a $20 balance every semester.  If you run out of money, just add more (cash only) to your TechID using the PHIL station on the first floor.

map of the first floor of the library

We also have traditional copy machines for making copies at $.10 a page.  Or save money by scanning for free!  The library has recently purchased a KIC scanner on the first floor where scanning documents and books is as easy as the press of the SCAN button.

picture of our new awesome scanner. Press a button to scan documents

If you need to fax materials (ancient technology still used by doctors, scholarship offices, and utility companies), we have a publicly available fax machine located on the first floor, near the Reference Desk.

Read more about our policies here:  http://libguides.atu.edu/services/students

3. Find (Some) Textbooks, Calculators, Headphones….for Free!

If you are enrolled in a Gen Ed course this semester and you don’t have the textbook, check our online course reserves and search for “Textbooks”.

A screenshot of our course reserves catalog showing results for keyword "textbooks"

Remember, we do NOT have ALL Textbooks!  We have a limited collection of textbooks for General Education courses ONLY.  You can also search by course name, title, or ISBN.  If your professor has specifically added a book to their course, it might be here, too—just try searching for their name.

Textbooks are available for a limited 2 hour check-out, and you cannot remove them from the building.  But if you need to get some reading done before class or photocopy a few pages, these are available to any student with a Tech ID at the Circulation Desk.

We also checkout graphing calculators, headphones, whiteboards, and all other course reserves materials at the Circulation Desk.  It’s as simple as walking up and asking.

4. Find Almost Everything Using Find It

Imagine Amazon.com but for library materials like articles, books, videos, ebooks, calculators, headphones, streaming videos, and more—all for free to you, the Tech student.  That’s Find It—the library’s search engine.  Anything we have available to check-out, watch, print, or download, you can find it here.  Try typing in a keyword, and use the facets on the left to limit by type, location, online, or more.  Get started by going to http://findit.atu.edu

Screenshot of Find it search box with keyword Game of Thrones5. Find Help with Librarians

Probably the best-kept secret in campus support, we are trained professionals whose main job duty is to help you succeed by finding accurate, reliable, and authoritative information.   No question is too small or too large.  We want to help, and we do it better than Google.

screenshot a google text autocomplete which says, "Librarians are the ..." which completes to Librarians are there, Librarians are the secret masters of the universe, librarians are the ultimate knowledge managers, librarians are the new black, librarians are the original search engine

Contact us by the following methods:

Find us so you can find everything else.