Thursday, March 19, 2009

Have a Great Break! See You Next Quarter...

We hope your final exams went very well and look forward to assisting you again next quarter with all your information needs. Enjoy your Spring Break!

Monday, March 16, 2009

The budget ax begins to fall

The budget ax begins to fall as information services come up for renewal and there's no money to continue them. These two services are some of the first to go...

from Washington State Library:
Find-It! Washington and Find-It! Consumer will be discontinued

"Due to budget cut-backs WSL will be discontinuing the Find-It! Washington and Find-It! Consumer search services effective May 1, 2009. Our license from Google expires then and we will not be able to renew it. We know that some of you depend on Find-It! for finding Washington State government information. We are very sorry that we have to do this, but the financial situation has made necessary many cuts we would not otherwise have contemplated."--Washington State Library

from Kitsap Regional Library:
Popular Online Tutoring Service a Victim of Library Budget Cuts

"Due to budget reductions, Kitsap Regional Library will no longer provide free online tutoring Live Homework Help beginning April 1. The library chain's Live Homework Help service has been helping some 400 students a month in a variety of subjects. But Homework Help costs the library $40,000 a year, and with the KRL already shortening hours and cutting materials, the service was deemed too expensive to continue. "It's gotten a lot of positive comments, but when you have cuts ... this is one thing that we cannot afford," said Carol Schuyler. the library chain's director of support services. The library began offering the service in April 2006. Just eight students used it that first month, but the program grew quickly. Students from kindergarten through 12th grade can access Homework Help between 3 p.m. and 10 p.m. on weekdays from the KRL Web site by using their library card number to get free service. Once on the site, students are connected to a live tutor who can help them do math problems, proofread essays and answer questions. "We are extremely sorry to have to cut it, but in tough budgetary times you have to make choices," Schuyler said. "We didn't feel that we could maintain this service this year.""-- Angela Lu, Friday, March 13, 2009 (Kitsap Sun)

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

End of Quarter Crunch? Librarians can Help!

Hello Students! There's only a few more days until the end of the quarter. If you are struggling to wrap up those final papers and presentations, or need just a couple more articles or reference sources to cite, librarians are here to help you! If you need a quiet place to study up for exams, the library as some wonderful spaces for individual and group study.

  • Call a librarian at the reference desk at 360-475-7252.
  • Monday-Thursday 8am-9pm
    Friday 8am-5pm
    Saturday 10am-4pm
    Sunday Noon-6pm

  • Chat with a librarian 24/7 via the link to QuestionPoint on the library website!

Please note: You may be chatting with a librarian from another academic library within our national 24/7 cooperative reference service. OC librarians may follow up on those chats with additional information.

  • Study Rooms are available in the Haselwood Library basement.

Friday, March 6, 2009

New Book Highlights

Compare and contrast the content and issues of the following two new books: the beginning of a newly created wire service in 1846 which delivered breaking news by Pony Express and the transformation to today's lone "journalist" bloggers and what some call the demise of the news and journalism industry as we have known it.


The Rise of the Blogosphere
By Aaron Barlow

“[B]arlow here examines blogs--interactive Web journals through which users share information and opinions. His perspective is that of both an academic researcher and longtime blogger. He looks at blogs in the historical context of the American press, the tradition of alternative journalism, and the position of mainstream media, citing blogs as evidence of the increasing power of citizen journalism. He discusses the social, political, and technological contexts that led to the current popularity of blogging. Complete with chapter notes, a selected bibliography, and a thorough index, this accessible book will be of particular value to those interested in contemporary mass communications, journalism, and media studies. Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty.”–Choice

Haselwood Library
2nd Floor – circulating collection
070.4Ba249r

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Breaking News: How the Associated Press Has Covered War, Peace, and Everything Else
By reporters of the Associated Press

The Associated Press wire service has been reporting breaking news since 1846. That year five New York City newspapers got together to fund a pony express route through Alabama in order to bring news of the Mexican War north faster than the U.S. Post Office could deliver it! This 432 page volume chronicles and fully documents AP's coverage of historical moments and also how those reporters got the "scoop" first which is just as interesting! The authors of this volume have consulted a variety of primary and secondary sources including the personal papers of AP journalists, oral history interviews, annual reports, in-house bulletins, and never published manuscripts about the AP written by previous historians.

For instructors at OC who want their students to find and analyze significant images in history, this is a fantastic resource.

Haselwood Library
2nd Floor – circulating collection
070.435 Br740h