Thursday, January 31, 2008

Congratulations, Faith!


On December 17, 2007, S. Faith Wanner graduated from the University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, with a Master’s degree in Library Science. Beginning in fall semester of 2005, she completed the coursework through the Web Institute. Accredited by the American Library Association, the School of Library and Information Sciences prepares “information professionals of the highest quality to serve the state, the region, and the global community.” Faith began working at DSU in 2003. Assuming the position of Head of Technical Services, S Faith is now responsible for collection development, acquisitions, and account management activities, cataloging and classifying all library materials, maintaining the online catalog, coordinating interlibrary loan services, managing online databases, and assisting the Head of Public Services to provide reference and public service to the community.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

7 Things You Should Know About Lulu

Hmmm...sounds rather provocative, doesn't it? Actually, Lulu is a web based tool for those wanting to self publish something (book, brochure, report, etc.). It is a service that provides access to the tools that one needs to design, publish and print original material. It can even be used by faculty to publish their own textbooks.

The "7 Things You Should Know About..." is a series from EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative that deals with emerging information technologies. Each "brief" focuses on a single technology. Other recent technologies in the series have included Skype, Twitter, Citizen Journalism and Haptics to name a few.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Love Medicine - review

Wondering if you should read the first book in the "North Dakota Reads" series? Well, I would recommend that you do! The stories are based on the lives of several Chippewa Indian families and some white families that they interact with. The setting is North Dakota near a reservation from the 1930s to the 1980s.

Louise Erdrich is an excellent writer and she will keep you interested as she portrays the every day life and struggles of these families. Their individual stories are sometimes sad to downright heart-wrenching, but also funny with some dark humor. I will admit that this is not necessarily a "feel-good" read, but I was certainly glad that I did read it and came away feeling I had learned something from it.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

North Dakota Reads Discussion


All books currently available at Stoxen! Many copies of each!
Come stop by and pick up yours today!

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Need to do some research and don’t know where to begin?
Here is a session on using the Library homepage that should be useful!

Sessions for Spring Semester:

Jan. 25 (Friday) – 10:00 – 10:50 am

Jan. 29 (Tuesday) – 3:00 – 3:50 pm

Jan. 31 (Thursday) – 2:00 - 2:50 pm

Feb. 6 (Wednesday) – 11:00 – 11:50 am


These sessions are for transfer students, international students, students returning to school after an absence and anyone wanting to see a brief overview of the Library homepage. This does not substitute for the library instruction provided in Freshmen Seminar and Composition 120 classes.

Class sessions are 45 – 50 minutes in length and have a maximum enrollment of 30 students (minimum of 5). Topics covered include a general review of the Library’s webpage, ODIN, accessing one’s library account and Academic Search Premier. Sessions begin at the Library Main Service desk with a 5 minute walk through the library.

New Database: Oxford English Dictionary / OED Online

The Oxford English Dictionary is widely acknowledged to be the most authoritative and comprehensive dictionary of English in the world. It is also the definitive record of English language development, tracing the evolution of more than 600,000 words over the last 1,500 years through 2.5 million quotations from a wide range of sources.

Features and benefits of OED Online
• Unprecedented access to the 20-volume Second Edition and the three Additions Series volumes, plus at least 1,800 new and revised entries each quarter
• Select how entries are displayed by turning pronunciations, etymologies, variant spellings, and quotations on and off
• Everything from simple word look-ups to sophisticated Boolean searching, using any of the fields in the Dictionary, can be done with speed and ease
• Find a term when you know the meaning but have forgotten the word
• Use wildcards if you are unsure of a spelling, or if you want to search for words with common characteristics
• Search for quotations from a specified year, or from a particular author and/or work
• Search for words which have come into English via a particular language
• Search pronunciations as well as accented and other special characters
• Search for first cited date, authors, and works
• Search for words with a particular part of speech
• Perform case-sensitive searches
• Restrict a search to a previous results set
• Compare revised entries with entries from the Second Edition to see how the language has changed and how new scholarship has increased understanding of our linguistic and cultural heritage.

Take a fully-illustrated tour or check out the word of the day.

Available to you 24/7 from your library.

Overcoming Roadblocks to Student Success

Welcome to a new semester and a new series of "Nourishment and Knowledge" workshops offered by the Academic Success Center (ASC). For the first workshop, we invite you to join us for lunch and an exchange of ideas on this topic:

Overcoming Roadblocks to Student Success
#1:Intervening When Students Need Academic Services
Student Center Room 18
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
12:00-12:50 P.M.
Dr. Regina Clark will lead this workshop describing the services that the ASC offers and explaining how you can make use of the ASC to help your own students. Come to hear about the concept of "academic intervention" and how you can intervene when your students show signs of needing academic assistance. Join in the discussion about identifying such students early in the semester, directing them to the kind of help they need as soon as possible, and enlisting the aid of others on campus (including the ASC and its services to students). Your questions and ideas are welcome!

RSVP by Friday, January 18 in order to reserve a meal at this workshop luncheon. You may respond to Sonja Steffen (ASC Administrative Secretary) by e-mail at Sonja.Steffen@DickinsonState.edu or by telephone at 483-2999. We look forward to having you join us and our continuing conversation about teaching and learning at DSU.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Stoxen Library Hours

Martin Luther King Holiday Hours

Saturday, Jan. 19- closed
Sunday, Jan. 20 – closed
Monday, Jan. 21 – 4:00pm – 11p.m.


Regular Hours

Monday-Thursday 8 a.m. – 11 p.m.
Friday 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Sunday 4 p.m. – 11 p.m.