Gov Docs accessibility

Due to the G-Line construction on the 2nd Floor, the Gov Docs collection will be mostly inaccessible. We’re not quite sure of the timeline for this (at least today and maybe tomorrow?). If you encounter a patron who wants one of these inaccessible government documents, please let me know. We might be able to find a work-around; the desired document might be available online (even if there is no apparent electronic copy) or even on microfiche. So please feel free to call me at 9-5654 or find me in my office (my door will probably be closed due to construction sound) and I will help in any way that I can.

Cheers,

Jess

Ref Desk "Not on Desk" lists posted

I have made a posted two lists of who is not on the desk on certain days, to help facilitate trades, coverage, etc. If you do not see a name listed and they are also not on the schedule, that means that are working at S&E that day or are telecommuting.

There are two versions to reflect the double-staff and single-staff schedules we are using this spring.

http://internal.library.ucsc.edu/ref/schedule/index.html

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Best, Laura

No printer at the Ref Desk

As a reminder for those that have been away from the desk and are back for Spring Quarter, there is no longer a printer at the McHenry Ref Desk. Details are below in Lucia's March 11th refall message:

"The printer at the McH ref desk is being moved to the Ref offices to replace the dead one. This means we will not have a printer at the Ref desk until further notice.

The desk machines still print to this printer, but you will need to 
walk into the office (next to the mailbar) to retrieve anything you 
print from the desk.

Let me know if you have questions.

thank you,

Lucia"

Desk stats now online

Just a reminder that we have moved to collecting Reference statistics online. The SurveyMonkey page is bookmarked on the browser toolbar on every machine at the desk.

There are only two required fields, but it would be helpful if you could fill out other fields if you have time between questions.

Many thanks to Frank Gravier for getting this project off the ground and on the computers.

thank you,

Lucia

IT support over Spring Break

Omar let Lucia know that CNS will be providing on-call service only. The students working this week are addressing maintenance issues, but will be checking machines and monitoring paper supplies. We need to call the CNS number, 459-2486, if there are problems.

Desk stats migrating to online form

We are migrating McHenry Ref Desk statistics gathering online, using SurveyMonkey. We will start using this on Monday, March 29th, the first day of Spring quarter. We will no longer be using the paper forms and clipboard. However, we do have them on hand in case the power goes out or there is some other unforeseen problem.

Here's the important things to know:

There are only two *required* fields: Shift Time and Desk Stats Category (Dir, Short, Long). The other fields are optional. It would be helpful if you could fill them out, but you don't need to if it's busy.

Category refresher:
+ Directional: Giving directions. Pointing to a resource or service point or location of materials. Directions to the bathroom, etc.

+ Short: Anything more than directional that requires explanation up to 5 minutes, such as how to read call numbers, how to look up a book, etc.

+ Lengthy: Anything longer than 5 minutes.

The form is bookmarked on the toolbars at every Ref desk machine as "MCH REF DESK STATS." If you want to take a look at it now, use this URL: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/mchrefstats.

Keep this URL handy in case you need to enter statistics after your desk shift.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

thank you,

Lucia

Opening PDFs on public computers

If a document opens with the open source PDF viewer (not Adobe), right-click to choose "Open with...Adobe" or save it to the desktop and then drag it to Adobe in the dock. Same for the Ref Desk computers.

Writing class focused on surfing

There is a Writing section that is focused on topics related to surfing. I've helped a couple of students with this topic and have a few strategies to share:

-not using the * symbol for truncating -- too many items come up with "surface"; leaving it as keyword "surfing" worked much better

-adding "NOT internet" to the keyword search was extremely helpful in the article databases

-Encyclopedia of Surfing: McH Ref GV840.S8 W3476 2003
http://cruzcat.ucsc.edu/record=b2282202~S5

-article databases: Academic Search Complete; Historical Abs; in Illumina (surfing is a Descriptor in CSA) used Oceanic Abs, both Psych dbs, Socio Abs

-adding ideas/subject terms such as surfers, culture, subculture, counterculture, sport psychology, extreme sports, risk-taking, recreation, coastal management, environmental protection, business, marketing, etc.

Hope this is helpful.

Best,

Laura

Class: History 30 "Making of Modern Africa"

Hi all,

Beth and I recently conducted research sessions for David Anthony's
History 30 (Making of Modern Africa) and History 137B (Africa 1800 to
Present) classes, and you will notice lots of activity around these topics
just now. Although Beth and I are happy to assist them when they have hit
research roadblocks, please be aware that they should first consult and
*use* the resources listed in the dedicated guides for each of these
classes linked on the Course Materials page (and to which we introduced
them in class) and below. They should be assured that Reference Desk staff can help
them as well as Beth and myself.

Thanks,
Ken and Beth

History 30 Guide:
http://library.ucsc.edu/course-guides/history-30-making-of-modern-africa

History 137B Guide:
http://library.ucsc.edu/course-guides/history-137b---africa-1800-to-the-present

Reference searches

Hi all, just a reminder to please send me searches for material missing from the McHenry Reference collection. More info below.

thanks, Frank

Begin forwarded message:

From: Frank Gravier
Date: October 5, 2009 9:29:17 AM PDT
To: refall@library.ucsc.edu
Subject: McHenry Ref. Stacks

Hi all,

As you've heard Access Services has assumed responsibility for shelving and stacks maintenance for the McHenry Reference Collection. I will continue to be the selector for the collection so please send searches, record changes, reports of superseded or new editions, etc. to me. You can drop them by my office (Rm. 2368), leave them in my mailbox in Research Services or at the mailbar in Tech. Services, email them (gravier@ucsc.edu) or call me(9-3319).

Thanks, Frank

Keystrokes on Ref Desk PC workstation

The PC at the McH desk is having intermittent problems accepting keystrokes for entering the password. This seems to happen only at startup. If it happens to you:

1. Restart the machine - holding down the power button for 10 secs will do it.

2. Make sure the numlock is on to use the keypad, OR use the number bar at the top of the keyboard.

This should remedy the problem. Please enter a ticket if you try this and the problem continues.

Lucia

Film 132B assignment

I've emailed Peter that a number of the links on the assignment page need to be changed (because of our fall server switch) and I assume he will put up a corrected version soon.

Paul


On Jan 12, 2010, at 3:05 PM, Peter Limbrick wrote:

Hi Paul,
Just a heads up for you and your research librarians that my 88-student class, Film 132B, will be doing an annotated bibliography project, as they have done in past years. You can see the assignment on our website at:
http://www.ic.ucsc.edu/~limbrick/film132b/

but I've also attached it here. Just wanted to let you all know since you may experience some increase in traffic and questions (I hope!) It's due on Jan 25, two weeks from yesterday.

Best,
Peter

ENVS 140

Hi everyone,

ENVS140 is almost fully launched. This year the class has 90 students enrolled, which is down 10 from last year.

We have made it very clear to the students in this class that they need to ask Jan, Jess, or myself for assistance with part I of their project. Drop-in hours are posted on the class wiki at http://ucsclibrary.pbworks.com/ENVS140. Most of the drop-in hours are with Jan and Jess, although I have let them know I'm at S&E on Tuesday's 12-2pm. (They also know that if it's busy at S&E they will need to wait for my help).

If a student needs help outside the drop-in hours, please call Jan or Jess to help them. We have let them know Jan or Jess will help outside of the posted drop-in times if they are available.

To reiterate, you should NOT help them with Part I of this assignment. However, you can assist with Part II later in the quarter. I will announce when Part II begins. I will be providing a separate session for them for Part II, and information will be posted on their class page that will help you answer questions.

Let me know if you have any questions.

thanks,

Lucia

McH Ref Desk hours: 12/9/09-3/18/10

Hours for December 9, 2009-January 4, 2010:
Wed, Dec. 9th: 10am-9pm

Thurs, Dec. 10th: 10am-5pm

Mon, Dec. 14th-Fri, Dec 18th: 1pm-5pm

Mon, Jan. 4, 2010: 10am-5pm

Hours for January 5-March 18, 2010 (Regular quarter hrs):
Monday-Thursday 10am-9pm

Friday 10am-5pm

Saturday Closed

Sunday 1pm-5pm

Questions from weekend shift

Just a sampling of the kinds of questions we got at the desk this busy Sunday:

-need study room or space to practice Spanish
-need to find a court case and history; it was a Supreme Court case and needed to find out if it went through state court system (used Westlaw)
-how do I check out a book?
-need to find biographical info about anthropologist Michelle Habell-Pallan (her CV was online)
-what is "Request at ILL" and how do I get it?
-what is NRLF?
-the books I want are checked out, what can I do?
-just starting research on the topic of human sacrifice and offerings (used Cruzcat subject headings)
-how do I print?
-I need a pen
-need a book about prefixes and suffixes
-UC-eLinks not working (we owned the book)
-can I take Ref books to another floor?
-can't find call number RC
-need books and articles about Australian aboriginal dreams (used subject headings in Cruzcat and Ebsco)
-book checked out until December?
-where are the elevators?
-where are the HB call numbers?
-I don't understand how the moving stacks work
-I need Latin-English, Greek-English, legal, and medical dictionaries
-couldn't find book (it was on Reserve)
-having difficulty using UC-eLinks
-book is checked out, need by tomorrow (we found it at SCPL)
-where are the newspapers?
-need to do research on the history of American Sign Language
-about 5 more questions on not finding call numbers (they were looking in Ref Stacks)

Ref Desk hours during the upcoming holiday intersession

The Ref Desk hours, at both libraries, during the intersession are as follows:

December 14th - December 18th: 1-5pm

Monday, January 4, 2010: 10-5pm

Regular quarter hours resume on Tuesday, January 5th.

Class and assignment-specific guides

There are many class guides for this quarter. Take a look at either of these links when helping patrons at the desk:

Find research materials by subject
http://library.ucsc.edu/find-research-materials-by-subject

and

Course Materials & ERes
http://library.ucsc.edu/services/find-materials-for-courses

New Visitor Guides

There are new campus Visitor Guides from Admissions at the Ref Desk, on the shelf under the UCSC catalog and schedule of classes. It has a large, easy-to-read campus map, that includes up-to-date construction areas and new buildings.