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.

Printing update and clarification

From the public computers, there is no longer a second popup window (that tells the patron how much the print job will be). That changed with the new system, but some did not hear about the change. Macs didn't need the notify acknowledgment, but PCs did, to send the print job. It was a feature of the old
printing system, that we did not implement in the new version. So now all the patron needs to do is name the print job and then pick it up from one of the release stations. They will see the cost when they pick up the print job from the release station (Thanks to Frank Dang for this clarification).

Questions from the desk

-local high school student needed to find books and articles about Jack Ruby

-community member doing research for a memoir by a former UCSC student from the 1970's
(including info about minority students groups now and then; the 1975 sit-in re: EOP)

-faculty needed help doing a search in our catalog for handmade books

-community member found a book in Google books, needed to find the source of a quotation used, but could not see the page with the source in Google books (we had it and I emailed the source)

-student currently writing a policy statement on the overspending on and
overpopulated prison in California

-PhD student in Hong Kong needed help with contemporary Latin American cinema research in determining which libraries in California (Los Angeles in particular) had a particular film

-graduate student at UCB developing a resource management plan for a ranch property in southern San Benito
County and is trying to determine if it had been part of a Mexican land grant

-graduate student needed to find books, articles, or websites on pre-Christian Basque mythology, specifically a deity associated with caves

-student looking at California high school exit exam information, specifically Latino students failure rate

Random questions at the desk, 3/3/10

Today patrons I helped were:

- Looking for paper copies of several French language periodicals.

- Looking for a poem, published as a broadside, by Charles Bukowski.

- Looking for the consensus-based criteria for establishing diagnosis of a vegetative state.

Random questions at the desk 3/1/10

History of Lent.

Opiates effect on neurotransmitters and synapses.

Research by mycologist R.J. Wesson on use of "magic mushrooms" in Mazatec ritual ceremonies in Oaxaca.

Water, logging and environmental information about Clavey River in Tuolomne County.

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

Film 134A -- American Cinema, 1930-60

There is a fair number (80 from what a student in the class told me) who may be coming in to research the following assignment:

Film Marketing and Reception Project
Due at the beginning of your discussion section on Week 8 [week of 22nd February]

You will choose an American film made between 1930 and 1960, one we have not studied in class, and research how the film was marketed and reviewed at the time of its original release. Materials you gather might include original movie reviews, posters, film trailers, press stories, movie star profiles, interviews, etc. You will write a short analysis of the information available from these sources and make an argument regarding how the reception and marketing of the film was influenced by historical events. Your analysis should be 5-8 pages....

Here's how it might be approached--

Reviews (and date of release):
Variety Film Reviews (McH Ref PN1995 V34)

Reviews and display advertisements:
Los Angeles Times (historical)
New York Times (historical)

Magazine articles, interviews, profiles, advertisements:
Readers' Guide Retrospective

Film criticism:
Film Indexes Online (citations only--no UC-eLinks)

Posters:
Cruzcat (subject: film posters)

Trailers:
Internet Movie Database (IMDB)


--Ken.

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

Out-of-order microfilm reader/printer

Here's what's happening with the out-of-order microfilm reader/printer:

The BMI technician has been called, and will try to make it up here this afternoon. If he's not able to make it today, he'll definitely be here by Thursday the 28th.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

-- Molly

Update on 1/28/10:
Roger was able to fix the MP90 but he said that the motor on the supply side that turns the reel is not working, making it necessary for patrons to manually roll the film. He'll let us know whether or not he can find a replacement motor.

Global Books in Print cancelled

Due to systemwide budget cuts our subscription to Global Books in Print has been cancelled and the database is no longer available. If you maintain a web page that linked to this database please update it.

thanks, Frank

CruzID Gold setup tips

Hi everyone,

I have found I have had to do a bit more explaining about what the CruzID gold is to students. Here's a list of things I always include in the explanation that seem to help the setup go smoothly and help them understand what they are doing:

-tell them that their CruzID is the first part of their UCSC email address (before @ucsc.edu), and not their student ID#
-they already have a blue password, and that is their email password
-the gold password will enable them to eventually get into other systems on campus, the first first one is charging library printing to their account (and this works at both libraries)
-this is a one-time setup process
-they may not have had to choose a secure password before so they need to read that sentence about how long the password must be and what it must contain (saves time and multiple unsuccessful attempts)
-make sure to hit "OK" or "LOGOUT" before moving on to the gold student print release station
-there is a bug that sometimes happens with the gold release station, and their new gold password won't work. CNS is working on it, and advises to try again in a couple of minutes. they may have to do that more than once. If still unsuccessful, let them know other options (print card if they have one, loan them ours, etc.), and report to CNS.

Hope this helps when you are assisting students with this process.

Best,

Laura

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

Hebrew Bible

A number of students have asked about copies of the JPS Tanakh in the Library
collection. You may want to share the following
information with them.

First, they should know that most copies of Tanakh
and Torah are in the 4th floor stacks and circulate.

Second, while we have a limited number of editions
titled "Tanakh" there are many others that
essentially fit that bill. And in fact, there are
a number of editions in the collection that use
the JPS Tanakh translation that are not identified
that way (unless you look closely).

Third, there are copies of the text in many forms.
Those in English-Hebrew versions will usually
page right to left. There are also quite a few
English-only editions for those who prefer that.
They should be aware that Tanakh=Old Testament
and Torah=Five Books of Moses=Pentateuch=Chumash.
Some editions come in multiple volumes.

Finally, most of our Tanakh and Torah editions
include some commentary. Typical of the opening
of Bereisheit (Genesis), there is a lot of of
commentary, so much so that there is only one or
two lines of text per page, the rest taken up by
commentary. While this makes for halting
reading, the commentary can be helpful for
research purposes.

Here are a few examples of useful copies currently
on the shelves:

The Jewish study Bible : Jewish Publication
Society Tanakh translation
BS895 .J4 2004
http://cruzcat.ucsc.edu/record=b2376601~S5

Etz Hayim : Torah and commentary
BS1223 .L54 2001
http://cruzcat.ucsc.edu/record=b2447623~S5

Genesis : the traditional Hebrew text with new JPS
translation
BS1235.3.S325 1989
http://cruzcat.ucsc.edu/record=b1132076~S5

The Soncino Chumash : the five books of Moses with
Haphtaroth
BS704.S673 1983
http://cruzcat.ucsc.edu/record=b1260109~S5

Knowing that these will disappear quickly, I
thought I'd look for some online sources:

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Bible/jpstoc.html
http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0.htm
http://www.shamash.org/tanach/text.shtml
http://bible.ort.org/books/pentd2.asp?ACTION=displaypage&BOOK=1&CHAPTER=1#P1
http://tanakhml2.alacartejava.net/cocoon/tanakhml/d13.php2xml?sfr=1&prq=1&pnt=tru&acc=tru&dia=tru&enc=heb&xml=non

They can also find free copies as iPod/iPhone apps.

-- Lee

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

Reserve books in the Media Center

I just had two questions where it turned out that books were on reserve in the Media Center. It made sense since the classes were for music and language courses. But if you are like me and have the bad habit of assuming that if a location says "Media Center" it won't be a book I want to caution you to double check. In both cases the patrons and I initially thought the book wasn't immediately available but when we looked more closely happily discovered that, while the McHenry Reserves copy was checked out, the Media Center copy was available.

Frank