Van Pelt and Opie Library Blog

Category: Library NewsBlog

Winners Named in the Library’s ‘Empowered by Information’ Writing Contest

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Congratulations to the winners of the Library’s ‘Empowered by Information’ Writing Contest!

The library received many wonderful submissions. Thank you to all who participated!

  • 1st place ($200) – Megan Walsh, STC undergraduate student
  • 2nd place ($125) – Aditya Kumar, Civil & Environmental Engineering graduate student
  • 3rd place  ($75) – Ashley Schuman, Chemistry undergraduate student

Read Megan Walsh’s winning entry, below, and our 2nd and 3rd place entries, here: http://goo.gl/ZsMgZ.

“Sophomore”

As a freshman, college is an entirely new and sometimes terrifying world. So, coming into classes like Perspectives and having no idea how to even start research for my papers was overwhelming, to say the least. The library can seem scary and sometimes pretty awkward when you don’t know how to properly use it. My first experience with the Library was when I was working on my first college research paper about the urban history of Los Angeles, a fairly uncommon topic. Here I am, an embarrassed freshman walking up and down the aisles between the bookshelves, backpack clinging against their metal frame, annoying all of the grad students working on projects I will never understand.

After giving up the hope that I would just magically find what I needed, I walked into a lab, logged in, and went onto the Library’s website to try to find some journals or books on my topic. I knew that there wouldn’t be many but I fumbled around for a couple of hours and walked home, defeated. Let me note that this is not because the Library is not useful but because I had no idea how to make the best of it yet.

The next day in my Perspectives class, my instructor took us on a trip back to that same lab that I felt so overwhelmed in the day before for an informational session on how to use the library resources. A charismatic and welcoming librarian walked in and set up her equipment in the front of the room. For the next hour, she walked us through how to use the online databases and the library catalog. She talked to us about recognizing scholarly sources and using them to boost the credibility of our research. She even came over to me and talked to me on an individual basis about what keywords would be best to use to find what I was looking for. I couldn’t have asked for anyone more helpful than she was.

I made it through my freshman year, as rough as it was at times. I am currently finishing my second year as a Scientific and Technical Communications major and I am happy to say that the Library has changed from being a scary, unknown world to one of my safe places on campus. Aside from it being a wonderful and tranquil area to work and relax in, it has provided me with resources that have guided me through these two years at Tech.  By the way, I got an A on that Perspectives paper. However, the best part was not that I received an A, it was that now I have a useful and welcoming new space to carry me through the rest of my time here at Tech. And I plan on making the best of it.

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Empowered by Information – Library Video & Writing Contest

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We want to hear stories about your successful library research! Did the perfect research article that a librarian helped you find in a library database make all the difference in your poster presentation? Did you impress your supervisor by tracking down an industry standard for a project at your internship? Are your friends envious of those great historical photos a library staff member in the Archives helped you find for your dorm room?

We invite all current Michigan Tech students to submit a video OR written piece showing us the awesome ways you have thrived using the library’s information sources (e.g. journal articles, patents, standards, librarians, books) and win a cash prize!

Video Entries: 1st place – $300, 2nd place – $200, 3rd place – $100
Written Entries: 1st place – $200, 2nd place – $125, 3rd place – $75

Entries must be received by 11:59 pm, Sunday, April 21, 2013. Winners will be announced and contacted on Monday, April 29, 2013.

Want to submit a video entry but don’t have a video camera? The Library has video cameras available for checkout at the Library & IT Service Center.

See full contest details at: www.mtu.edu/library/contests/ebivwc

Contact us at instrlib@mtu.edu with questions!

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March 20th EndNote Workshops

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The J. Robert Van Pelt and John and Ruanne Opie Library is offering another round of its EndNote workshops.

EndNote is citation management software which allows anyone to easily collect, organize, and use their research references.  Learn how EndNote can save you hours of time in your library research and document preparation process.

Seating for these workshops is limited and registration is required. To register visit : EndNote LibGuide

March 20th @ 11:00 am – EndNote Basic I: Creating and Organizing an EndNote Library

The Van Pelt and Opie Library is offering a 1 hour introductory workshop on creating and managing references using the citation management software, EndNote.  EndNote allows you to easily collect, organize and use your research references.  No prior knowledge of EndNote is necessary

In this workshop participants will learn how to:

  • Build an EndNote collection of citations (i.e. EndNote library)
  • How to manage an EndNote library

March 20th @ 12:15 pm – EndNote Basic II: Cite While You Write (CWYW)

The Van Pelt and Opie Library is offering an 1 hour EndNote Workshop on how to incorporate your EndNote Library citations into a written document (MS Word).   Attendance to EndNote Basic I, or prior knowledge of building and managing an EndNote library, is recommended.

In this workshop participants will learn how to:

  • Incorporate EndNote Library references into a written document (MS Word)
  • Import specialized output styles

March 20th @ 1:30 pm – EndNote Special Topics: Sharing EndNote Collections

Have you wanted to share your EndNote citations with colleagues?  Are you collaborating with others and have wanted to simply share your citations?  The Van Pelt and Opie Library is offering an 1 hour EndNote Workshop on how to share EndNote collections.   In this workshop participants will learn how sync their EndNote library with EndNote Web. Participants will also learn how share EndNote citation collections with anyone else who also uses EndNote.  Attendance to EndNote Basic I & II workshops, or prior knowledge of creating an EndNote Library and using CWYW, is recommended.

In this workshop participants will learn how to:

  • Sync your EndNote library with EndNote Web
  • Share your EndNote Collection

Seating for these workshops is limited and registration is required. To register visit : EndNote LibGuide

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Nexus: The Scholar and The Library

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Drs Elizabeth Flynn, Patricia Sotirin, and Ann Brady from the Humanities Department at Michigan Technological University, will give an invited presentation at 4:30 pm on Thursday, December 6, in the East Reading Room of the Van Pelt and Opie Library on the Michigan Tech campus.

Feminist Rhetorical Resilience: 17 Authors, 3 Editors, 1 Book

“Resilience” is a powerful term that appears with regularity in times of crisis. Too often, though, it is associated with individual heroism or an innate ability to bounce back. Feminist Rhetorical Resilience, in contrast, associates it with relationality, community, and connectedness. The talk will describe the very different contexts within which the 7 authors of the collection’s essays developed their conception of resilience–biodiversity in India; the Portuguese musical form of the Fado; hymen reconstructions in Turkey; spousal/partner hiring policies at U.S. universities; survival strategies of a poor but proud elderly Detroit woman; the collusion of nineteenth-century feminists with reactionary eugenic rhetoric; and ways of importing queer studies into the writing classroom. The talk will also describe the 7 responses to these essays by scholars in feminist rhetoric. The authors of the original essays, in turn, reflect on the responses. This unusual structure is itself relational, communal, and connected. The process that produced the book also demonstrates resilience. Contributors to Feminist Rhetorical Resilience, for instance, made it to Houghton for a conference coordinated by Flynn, Sotirin, and Brady shortly after Hurricane Katrina despite a closed airport and torrential rain.

The event is part of the library’s events series “Nexus: the Scholar and the Library,” which illuminate ways scholars and scientists productively use libraries and archives. It is open to the public and is sponsored by the Van Pelt and Opie Library. Join us for free refreshments.

For more information: (906) 487-2500, library@mtu.edu, or www.mtu.edu/library.

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Springer Changes to Affect Michigan Tech Users

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Springer journals and ebooks are moving to a redesigned Web platform on Monday, November 26, 2012.  The migration is scheduled to occur between 4:00 am and noon EST. While no service interruptions are expected, the change is significant in these ways:

Redirection and Linking:

You should be automatically redirected to the new platform regardless of your starting point:  Husky Fetch services, Google, indexing databases, our Voyager catalog or old Springerlink connections.

My SpringerLink:

Individual accounts from the old SpringerLink will unfortunately not be migrated. Please go to link.springer.com and set up a new profile/account. Be sure to do this while connected to an on-campus computer so that your account is associated with the library’s Springer-licensed books and journals.

Support:

The librarians are pleased to assist you in this transition and to make the most of the Springer publications.  Contact us for assistance

Training:

Springer is offering instructional webinars sessions during the coming months to aid you taking full advantage of features available. You may register for these webinars here: Springer training page.

An extensive FAQ and future training dates can be found here.   If you have any questions or wish to report problems, please contact:  Ask Us!

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Nexus: The Scholar and The Library

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Dr. Robert R. Johnson speaks on “Romancing the Atom,” Thursday, November 8, 2012, at 4:30 p.m. in the East Reading Room of the Van Pelt and Opie Library.

Johnson will speak on the development and writing of his recently released book, “Romancing the atom: nuclear infatuation from the radium girls to Fukushima.”  The book chronicles over one hundred years of atomic and nuclear development focusing on what he depicts as the human love affair with the atom.

“I’m also looking forward to being a part of a movement to educate people of all ages about the history and current events regarding the atomic age: what we did, what we have left behind, what we’re still doing,” said Johnson. Drawing examples from the uranium dial painters of the early 1900s right up to the recent nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan, Johnson seeks to engage readers and listeners in deep thinking about the atom, nuclear energy and choice.

More on the book can be found at: www.romancingtheatom.com

Before coming to Michigan Tech, Johnson was a professor at the Miami University, Ohio, where he directed a graduate program.  At Michigan Tech, Johnson served as Chair of Humanities for nine years and has been instrumental in the Reading as Inquiry program for first-year students, now entering its tenth year of operation. He has also consulted with a number of corporations, including Microsoft, Lenscrafters, and General Foods. His published works include articles in virtually every major journal in his respective disciplines and the book User-Centered Technology: A Rhetorical Theory for Computers and Other Mundane Artifacts, won the 1999 Best Book Award in Scientific and Technical Communication from the National Council of Teachers of English.

The event is part of the library’s series “Nexus: the Scholar and the Library” which illuminates ways scholars and scientists productively use libraries and archives. It is open to the public and is sponsored by the Van Pelt and Opie Library. Join us for free refreshments. For further information: (906) 487-2500, library@mtu.edu or www.mtu.edu/library

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