Please note: This trial is available from on-campus only.
A trial for this award-winning online reference library, which provides access to 511 full-text reference titles (and growing), is now available for on-campus users.
To access this trial resource, please visit click here, and feel free to provide your thoughts and comments.
News, Updates, and Information of Interest from Samford University Library
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
HOW DO I FIND eBOOKS?
Our ebook collection is constantly growing. Most of the newest titles available to the Samford community exist in ebook format. One of the benefits of the ebook is users' ability to use them from any location in which they have Internet access. That means Starbucks, a dorm room, or during a weekend visit home.
Recently, a student asked how she could perform a search for ebooks specifically. We have an app for that. Well, not exactly. We have a procedure, and it's really easy.
Go to http://library.samford.edu/.
Scroll over the "find books" link, which is the first link on that page.
Notice the items that pop up from the flyout menu. The fourth item from the bottom is titled "NetLibrary."
Choose "NetLibrary."
You will always be prompted for your user name and password, whether you are on or off campus. That name and password are the same as those you use for email.
Once you have accessed NetLibrary, you can perform searches by keyword, title, author and subject, just as you do in the library catalog.
NetLibrary allows users to print limited numbers of pages over the span of an hour. It does not allow you to print out an entire book at one time. You will need to do at least some of your reading on your computer screen. This process can take some time for adjustment of your reading process, something I'm coming to grips with myself. It's very much worth our time to do this, since NetLibrary contains many current titles on a very wide variety of subjects. To get an idea of just how many, click here to view the most recent list of new titles.
Recently, a student asked how she could perform a search for ebooks specifically. We have an app for that. Well, not exactly. We have a procedure, and it's really easy.
Go to http://library.samford.edu/.
Scroll over the "find books" link, which is the first link on that page.
Notice the items that pop up from the flyout menu. The fourth item from the bottom is titled "NetLibrary."
Choose "NetLibrary."
You will always be prompted for your user name and password, whether you are on or off campus. That name and password are the same as those you use for email.
Once you have accessed NetLibrary, you can perform searches by keyword, title, author and subject, just as you do in the library catalog.
NetLibrary allows users to print limited numbers of pages over the span of an hour. It does not allow you to print out an entire book at one time. You will need to do at least some of your reading on your computer screen. This process can take some time for adjustment of your reading process, something I'm coming to grips with myself. It's very much worth our time to do this, since NetLibrary contains many current titles on a very wide variety of subjects. To get an idea of just how many, click here to view the most recent list of new titles.
Friday, October 8, 2010
NEW E-BOOKS LIST
The library has acquired access to many new electronic books for a variety of majors and disciplines. Click here to view the full list.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
UCCA SUBJECT PAGE
Attention first-year students! Did you know that UCCA has its very own subject page on the library's website? Oh yes--it does. You can eliminate a lot of anxiety about those first writing assignments by visiting your UCCA subject page.
Monday, October 4, 2010
JEFFERSON COUNTY LIBRARY COOPERATIVE
I want to encourage any and all students who have not yet discovered this area's really excellent public library system to visit a local public library and see for themselves all it has to offer.
The Jefferson County Library Cooperative consists of 21 libraries, at least two of which--Vestavia and Homewood--are quite close to Samford. The Hoover Public Library, on Highway 31, is also very drive-able. You can see a full list of libraries, along with hours and links to each library's home page, here.
You'll be interested to know that the Vestavia Library is in the process of moving to a brand-new location in a newly-built library building. You can see architect's renderings of the building here, and a video about the planning of this "library in the forest" here. One of the most noteworthy elements in the building of this library has been the commitment to environmental best practices. The grounds are also laced with hiking trails, and includes a tree-house reading room (!), arboretum, stream exploration station, and outdoor program space for botanical clubs, scout troops, and other educational activities. It is really beautiful and I can't wait to visit it in person.
In the meantime, I encourage you to visit the Hoover Public Library or the Homewood Public Library. Take a copy of photo ID and a utility bill or some form of mail that contains your Birmingham/Homewood address, and sign up for a library card!
The Jefferson County Library Cooperative consists of 21 libraries, at least two of which--Vestavia and Homewood--are quite close to Samford. The Hoover Public Library, on Highway 31, is also very drive-able. You can see a full list of libraries, along with hours and links to each library's home page, here.
You'll be interested to know that the Vestavia Library is in the process of moving to a brand-new location in a newly-built library building. You can see architect's renderings of the building here, and a video about the planning of this "library in the forest" here. One of the most noteworthy elements in the building of this library has been the commitment to environmental best practices. The grounds are also laced with hiking trails, and includes a tree-house reading room (!), arboretum, stream exploration station, and outdoor program space for botanical clubs, scout troops, and other educational activities. It is really beautiful and I can't wait to visit it in person.
In the meantime, I encourage you to visit the Hoover Public Library or the Homewood Public Library. Take a copy of photo ID and a utility bill or some form of mail that contains your Birmingham/Homewood address, and sign up for a library card!
Friday, October 1, 2010
IT'S NOT ALWAYS THAT SIMPLE: BOOKS ONE MAY *WANT* TO BAN
Up to this point, we've looked at challenges to and banning of books that are of undisputed value to many readers.
The absence of value, or negative value of other books seems clearer. Or is it? We're not talking tolerance here, but questioning whether our ability to allow for freedom of expression extends to writers whose ideas and actions are unambiguously loathsome.
In this Christian Science Monitor article, the writer asks whether our ability to tolerate offensive ideas and individuals extends to Hitler's Mein Kampf or Osama bin Laden's Messages to the World. They're available on Amazon. Should they be?
Less glaring but nonetheless troubling (for many) is The Global Bell Curve by psychologist Richard Lynn, in which the author argues that intelligence is racially inherited, and places East Asians at the top and sub-Saharan Africans at the bottom of a global IQ spectrum.
Many librarians argue that banning anything, or even placing filters on the Internet in public library, where many children are present, constitutes a "slippery slope" from which freedom of expression can never recover. Others (many fewer) regard that kind of all-or-nothing approach as a willfully naive failure to exercise critical thinking, especially in light of just the nature of much of the material streaming across the Internet, and the burgeoning popularity of books like Mein Kampf among white-supremacist and neo-Nazi groups in this country.
There are no easy answers.
The absence of value, or negative value of other books seems clearer. Or is it? We're not talking tolerance here, but questioning whether our ability to allow for freedom of expression extends to writers whose ideas and actions are unambiguously loathsome.
In this Christian Science Monitor article, the writer asks whether our ability to tolerate offensive ideas and individuals extends to Hitler's Mein Kampf or Osama bin Laden's Messages to the World. They're available on Amazon. Should they be?
Less glaring but nonetheless troubling (for many) is The Global Bell Curve by psychologist Richard Lynn, in which the author argues that intelligence is racially inherited, and places East Asians at the top and sub-Saharan Africans at the bottom of a global IQ spectrum.
Many librarians argue that banning anything, or even placing filters on the Internet in public library, where many children are present, constitutes a "slippery slope" from which freedom of expression can never recover. Others (many fewer) regard that kind of all-or-nothing approach as a willfully naive failure to exercise critical thinking, especially in light of just the nature of much of the material streaming across the Internet, and the burgeoning popularity of books like Mein Kampf among white-supremacist and neo-Nazi groups in this country.
There are no easy answers.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)