Van Pelt and Opie Library Blogs

Keith Taylor, poet, author, editor  and  teacher,  will give an invited presentation at 6:30 pm on Tuesday, April 10, in the East Reading Room of the J.R. Van Pelt and John and Ruanne Opie Library on the Michigan Tech campus.  The book talk will include storytelling, a look at his recent award winning book and conversation about what constitutes great writing.

Taylor and co-editor Laura Kasischke received  a 2012 Michigan Notable Book award from the Library of Michigan for their book  Ghost Writers: us haunting them, contemporary Michigan literature .  A collection of stories by some of Michigan’s best authors, these tales range from true stories written by non-believers to purely fictional stories that provoke the imagination. The stories are set in a wide range of Michigan locations that bring a sense of history and place to the tales.

Keith Taylor has published ten books of poetry, short fiction, translations, and edited volumes, including If the World Becomes So Bright (Wayne State University Press, 2009, and a chapbook of poems Marginalia for a Natural History. Over the years his poems, stories, essays and book reviews have appeared in the Chicago Tribune, the Southern Review, the Detroit Free Press, and Michigan Quarterly Review, among many others. He has received grants or fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs. He teaches English at the University of Michigan and directs the Bear River Writers’ Conference.

The talk  is free and open to the public, and is hosted by the Van Pelt and Opie Library. Join us afterwards for free refreshments. For further information contact the Library at (906) 487-2500 or visit us online www.mtu.edu/library

Additional information about the 2012 Michigan Notable Books is available from the Library of Michigan  at   www.michigan.gov/notablebooks.

Van Pelt and Opie Library to Offer EndNote Workshop for Graduate Students

Learn how Endnote can save you hours of time in the library research and document preparation process!

The Van Pelt and Opie Library is offering two, free EndNote Basics workshops for Michigan Tech graduate students on March 26 and March 28. EndNote is a citation management software which allows anyone to easily collect, organize and use their research references.

In this library workshop participants will learn the basic skills for building a collection of citations, how to manage their citation collections and how to include the citations in documents as well as easily create bibliographies.

The sessions will be held:
Monday, March 26 @ 12:00 – 1:30 PM
Wednesday , March 28 @ 10:00 – 11:30 AM

Seating is limited. Please sign up today by sending an email to: libraryworkshop@mtu.edu

The Van Pelt and Opie Library is working to improve its directional signs to make navigating the library and locating resources easier for our users/visitors. We want your help deciding where new signage would be most effective. Please step into the library sometime between Friday, March 16 and Thursday, March 22 to pick up an evaluation form at the Library and IT Service Center, located on the first floor near the main entrance. Complete the survey and return it for a chance to win a $50 gift card, redeemable at University images and the campus bookstore. The winning ticket will be drawn on Friday, March 23. We appreciate your feedback and look forward to seeing you around the library!

The Library is investigating ways to support Michigan Tech’s local digital publishing, including journals, magazines and conference proceedings management. A webinar introducing what’s been done at the University of South Florida will be held in Library 103 for those who are interested in investigating options with the Library’s staff. Please join us. For further information, contact Ellen Marks at ebmarks@mtu.edu . The webinar is also available from your desktop:

Webinar: “Open Access Journal Publishing at USF: How We Do It, Why We Do It,” presented by Todd Chavez, director of Academic Resources at University of South Florida, 2 p.m. (EST), Thursday, Feb. 9. To register, see Webinar.

1,700 US and international newspapers, from 92 countries, in 48 languages, are available as a free trial until Feb. 21. The complete, easily readable newspaper is available the day it is published and retained for 60 days.

This display provides a global perspective on the world’s events by delivering a wide range of publications to you while at the library, at home and away. Enjoy newspapers from Albania to Zimbabwe. Read Aamulehti (Finnish) to Zviazda (Belarusian)–with the Hindustan Times (Mumbai) and Huntsville (Tex.) Item and the Washington Post in between. Visit www.mtu.edu/library and select Library Press Display from our databases list. Please let us know what you think at library@mtu.edu .

The J. R. Van Pelt and John and Ruanne Opie Library will now offer a periodic service, Library Matters, which will feature programs that the Library offers to the campus and community.  Watch for it in Tech Today,  as we strive to enhance the campus culture.

The Library is providing guided tours for UN1001 Perspectives students on a regular basis through February 9th. The tours are being offered at the following times:

Monday: 10:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m.
Tuesday & Thursday: 10:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m., 7:00 p.m.
Sunday: 5:00 p.m.

The tours take approximately 30 minutes. They have been designed by librarians and optimized for Perspectives students.  Students should meet just inside the main entrance to the library. Attendance will be taken at the conclusion of every tour in case instructors would like to require attendance or give extra credit.

Questions?  Email library@mtu.edu

Van Pelt and Opie Library Holiday Hours and Contacts

Throughout the holiday season, the library’s Opie Reading Room will be open 24/7.

The Library will be closed from December 24 through January 1, with the exception of Wednesday, December 28, when the library will be open 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The University Archives will be closed from December 24 through January 1.

If you need assistance from the library during the holiday break, please contact us at library@mtu.edu

LibQUAL is an online survey of user perceptions that measures three dimensions of library services:

• The quality of our customer service
• The delivery of information to the user
• The library facilities and environment

Data generated from this survey will help the Van Pelt and Opie Library understand what our users want in each of those areas. Decisions about changes and improvements will be based on the feedback we hear from you, our users.

The survey is part of a program offered by the Association of Research Libraries that enables libraries to generate data that will help libraries better understand the needs of library users. LibQUAL data from Michigan Tech will be used to inform decision-making, to enable us to measure ourselves against peers, and to identify current best practices in library services.

Why did I get this email?

The library invites all Michigan Tech students, faculty, and staff to tell us how you use the library and what you think about the services we provide. We are asking your help to identify areas of our services you would most like to see us improve. Please help us make a difference by clicking the link and taking the survey. We are listening to you.

How does the survey help me?

Your input from the survey will help the library develop new services and improve existing services that will better meet your needs. We can’t do that without your help. By taking the survey and telling us your experiences with the library, staff, and services, or even why you don’t use the library or its services, you help us to understand what is most important to you. We want to make a difference for you, and we want to base our actions on what you tell us, not what we think you need.

How do I enter the drawing for an iPad2?

You must complete the survey in order to enter the drawing for the iPad2. You will find instructions on entering the drawing at the end of the survey.

How long does the survey take?

The survey takes 5 to 10 minutes to complete. You will be asked for your response to each item or question on three scales: your minimum level of acceptable service, your desired level of service, and the service you feel you actually get. You may choose not to complete the survey at any time.

Is my response confidential?

Yes. Any identifying information about you, such as your email, is separated from your survey answers. The survey is hosted on a server supported by LibQUAL, part of the Association of Research Libraries Statistics and Assessment Program.

Why do I get a reminder to take the survey when I’ve already taken it?

Research shows that survey response is higher when multiple reminders are sent to respondents. Because your answers are confidential, we aren’t able to filter out the addresses of those who have already completed the survey.

Why do the questions seem to repeat themselves?

In LibQUAL Lite, the version we are using at Michigan Tech, each user answers a subset of all the questions. The survey developers aggregate the responses to create a total picture of the data. Some questions are repeated so that the validity of the results can tested through statistical analysis.

I don’t like to take online surveys. Can I take it on paper?

Yes. Please call or email the primary investigator Julie Blair at 487-3168 or jblair@mtu.edu for a paper survey to complete.

I clicked on the link and nothing happened. What should I do?

Call Julie Blair at 487-3168 or email libqual@mtu.edu. We have tested the survey on different browsers, on and off campus, so there shouldn’t be any problems connecting to the survey URL. If there is a problem, let us know so that we can resolve it as soon as possible.

Can I talk to someone about this survey?

Call Julie Blair at 487-3168, email libqual@mtu.edu, or come to the library. We will be happy to tell you about the survey and how we will use the results will help us better serve Michigan Tech students, faculty, and staff.

Where can I find out more about LibQUAL?

Call Julie Blair at 487-3168 or email libqual@mtu.edu. You can also learn more at LibQUAL’s web page, http://www.libqual.org/home.