Meriam Library News

Can't find what you're looking for on the library's website, the ReSEARCH Station? Use the new Site Search function we recently installed on our homepage . Simply enter your term in the site search box, for example historic photographs, and press the Go button. Your first result takes you to the Special Collections page where you can access over 2900 digitized historic photographs. Site Search can be used to locate information on our website and direct you to search tools and databases. But if you're looking for books, use the catalog ; or if it's articles that are eluding you try our research guides which will help you find appropriate databases for your topic.

Contributed By Kathy Glanville

Have you memorized the Library ID number on your Wildcat Card?

If you have, you will be disappointed to learn that we have recently changed the authentication needed to access your Library Account from the Meriam Library Catalog. Whereas before you needed to enter the 14 digit Library ID number (20200*@#!***%#) on the back of your Wildcat Card, we have switched to Campus Portal ID access. Now you can securely access your Library Account from any computer to check on due dates, renew books, and save preferred searches, using the same ID you use to access your portal account and email. We think that's a plus plus!!

[The exception: if you are a guest patron you'll still be required to authenticate using your name and library barcode number.]

Contributed by Sarah Blakeslee

Tired of reading so many scholarly journal articles? Does the idea of spending a quiet weekend at home with the latest Stephen King novel appeal to you? If the answer to either of those questions is "yes!" check out the library's collection of popular books. On the second floor opposite the Copy Center you'll find an assortment of current fiction and nonfiction, chosen to (hopefully) satisfy the leisure reading interests of students, faculty and staff. Mysteries, literary fiction, historical fiction, and science fiction are all represented. And if you enjoy reading nonfiction, you'll find that there, too. Read about a California winery in The House of Mondavi: the Rise & Fall of an American Wine Dynasty or get the dish on Princess Di in Tina Brown's The Diana Chronicles. Try out a few recipes from Alice Waters' The Art of Simple Cooking or Giada De Laurentiis' Giada's Family Dinners. Take a trip to ancient Egypt with Michelle Moran in Nefertiti: A Novel.

Of course sometimes, what you'd like to read most might not be on the shelf. To browse all the titles in the Popular Collection, click on the "Books" link on the library home page, and then on "Popular Collection" under "Featured Lists." You can use the "Request" link to put a hold on a book that's checked out. Or, simply search for a book you're interested in by title to see if we have it.

We want the Popular Collection to appeal to the entire university community, and be more than just an offering of current bestsellers. You'll certainly find bestsellers, and more. I enjoy reading lots of book reviews, in newspapers, magazines, and journals to choose books that will appeal to a range of interests. If you have suggestions for titles to add to the collection, I'd love to hear from you. Send me an email at ecolson@csuchico.edu.

My current favorite book from the Popular Collection? Check out Stef Penney's novel The Tenderness of Wolves. Penney's debut novel features an intriguing cast of characters you won't soon forget, and combines mystery and history in a great adventure story set in the very cold and snowy Canadian Northwest Territory. It's a page turner!

Contributed by Liz Colson

The library has subscribed to Mintel Reports: USA (also known as Oxygen) in time for Spring semester! Mintel is a source of high-quality, in-depth market research reports, almost unsurpassed for business plans, market analysis, industry research, and advertising projects. This database has wide applicability for courses on entrepreneurship, strategic management, marketing, and advertising. It also has potential for non-business classes such as music, recreation, health & community services, journalism, communication design, construction, computer science, and probably more.

It is easy to browse through categories including food, clothing, health and medical, lifestyles, technology, and travel or to search by keyword. The reports are extensive and detailed; there are also brief news, trend reports, and company profiles on the web site.

Access Mintel Reports from the Articles and Databases link:
http://www.csuchico.edu/lref/guides/rbn/index.htm

(Please Note: Before accessing the search screen, you will be prompted to accept the copyright and then required to register and sign in using your Chico email address.)

If you have any questions about Mintel, feel free to contact Wendy Diamond (wdiamond@csuchico.edu), Business Librarian.

Posted by Wendy Diamond

It's a hard question to answer. But while individual definitions may vary, I can highlight certain aspects of being a reference librarian that are integral parts of the profession. In so doing I can also highlight how a librarian can help students make the most of their classes, and how professors and students both can further develop their research at CSU, Chico.

In particular, a librarian is a person trained in the art of connecting people to relevant, useful information. For many years this entailed books and journals, but now includes Internet sources, article databases, and other electronic media in addition to the print sources. The "reference" in reference librarian refers to the librarian's particular focus on reference sources - encyclopedias, biographical dictionaries, and other similar sources that contain factual information (as opposed to an author's viewpoint) and point to additional materials on a given topic.

Two pieces of literature highlight this role. Writing in 1874, Samuel Swett Green gives an example of the type of assistance a librarian can offer: "A board of trade is discussing the question of the advisableness of introducing the metric system of weights and measures into common use. Members call upon librarians to furnish the best treatises on the subject." In his 1992 novel Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson invents a piece of software called The Librarian that helps the main character "move through the nearly infinite stacks of information in the Library with the agility of a spider dancing across a vast web of cross-references."

Reference librarians also offer instruction in using library resources and, in a university setting in particular, help patrons evaluate the level of scholarship of a piece of information. At CSU, Chico, librarians have been assigned to different fields of study, and offer one-on-one help in using resources in their fields to faculty and students. We have also developed the following guide to evaluating the level of scholarship of a resource, and librarian Sarah Blakeslee has developed the CRAAP Test to help evaluate the overall usefulness of a piece of information to your work.

And just to dispel any rumors, librarians no longer fit the stereotype of being a woman with her hair in a bun wearing sensible shoes and shushing people. Not anymore. I've seen librarians with pink hair. I've seen them flaunt geek chic fashion sensibilities that later went mainstream. And librarians don't always work in traditional libraries anymore either, as Joe Janes points out in this column in American Libraries.

So what is a reference librarian? In short, s/he is a guide to the world of information, helping connect people with information, understand how to use library resources, and evaluate the usefulness of a piece of information. Playing these roles is something we enjoy doing, and we look forward to helping you. You can contact us here, or come to the reference desk on the second floor of the library.

Posted by Aaron Bowen

Want to get to know the library better?
Meet in the lobby at noon on any of the days below to take a guided tour of the building.
Friday January 25
Monday - Wednesday January 28-30
Monday - Wednesday February 4-6

If you can't fit one of these guided tours into your schedule, an MP3 library tour is available for downloading at http://www.csuchico.edu/lins/tours/audiotour/index.html or check out a player with the tour preloaded in Limited Loan on the 1st Floor of the Library. There is also a walking tour handout available on the 2nd floor.
{posted by Sarah Blakeslee}

In December we bid a reluctant farewell to Kathi Fountain, who accepted a position as a reference librarian at Washington State University, Vancouver. Kathi joined the Reference Department at Meriam Library in 1999 as the subject liaison to the Political Science and Social Work departments. She was also our resident expert on law and public policy. Kathi helped create, and taught, the Research Skills in Politics, Law and Criminal Justice class required for Political Science majors. We will miss Kathi's expertise, enthusiasm, and infectious laugh.

Colleen Power has been hired to assume some of Kathi's former responsibilities this semester. She will provide instruction for political science, social work, and law classes, as well as oversee collection development in those areas. Colleen is no stranger to Meriam Library, having worked here from 1978 until her retirement in 2005 when she received the rank of Librarian Emerita. Colleen joined the part-time librarian pool in 2005. We are fortunate to have her back.

Posted by Liz Colson