Late Reports: Second Floor “Quiet Zone,” Banned Books Week, Open Access Week, and 3rd Annual Book+Art Homecoming Event

Fall 2015 has been a very busy semester in the Library, and now it’s almost over. Before it totally escapes my attention, I want to briefly report on a number of significant events that I failed to write about earlier.

“Quiet Zone” established on Second Floor

Welshimer Library appreciates the social nature of learning. At the same time, we encourage students, especially study groups, to be aware of and respect others around them by moderating volumes. However, sometimes “social” can get pretty noisy. Often students just want to come into the Library to study quietly by themselves. (Quiet…in a library? What a novel thought!) Responding to survey comments from students complaining that sometimes the Library gets too noisy, we have dedicated the entire book stack area on the Second Floor as a “Quiet Zone.” Although there are still some group tables in this space, the majority of the seating here is single-seat study carrels (20) and two-seat tables in (5) carrel “offices.” If you are looking for a little extra quiet while studying in the Library, we encourage you to check out the “Quiet Zone.” Photo: Our User Services Librarian, Anne Reever Osborne welcomes users into the Second Floor “Quiet Zone.”

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Banned & Challenged Books Week, September 27-October 3

Libraries and librarians are committed to the principle that everyone has the freedom to read. This is really the message of Banned Books Week, an annual national event that was first launched in 1982. We understand that not every book that is published is appropriate for all audiences or age groups, and that the content of and subject matter addressed in some books–even works recognized as great and important literature–may be offensive to various people for various reasons. The Welshimer Library uses good judgment, and we are conscious of our context when selecting books for the collection. However, as a basic professional principle, we do not judge what our patrons can and cannot read. Rather, we encourage readers to engage all published works and the ideas they contain with critical discernment while developing a profound appreciation for what it means to have the freedom to read. Photo: The display for Banned Books Week in the Welshimer Library included titles from our collection that have been censored, or the content had been challenged for various reasons (noted on accompanying book tags).

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Open Access Week, October 19-25

“Open Access” is a relatively new scholarly communications publishing model that seeks to remove access and reuse barriers to academic and research literature (particularly journal articles). Typical barriers include publisher-imposed paywalls, expensive subscriptions, and restrictive copyright and licensing terms. The catalyst for the open access movement was the development and growth of the Internet and the World Wide Web. In the age of print, publishers entirely controlled the scholarly communications system because of the high costs involved in the printing and physical distribution infrastructure. But the World Wide Web has provided a relatively low cost and democratized platform for publishing and dissemination of research literature. Scholars now have an alternative method for regaining control of their intellectual property while enhancing prospects that their research writing, vetted through peer-review, will be widely discovered and read. (Scholars typically do not write articles or monographs for money. They write to build reputation. Consequently, they can be motivated to consider open access.)

The Welshimer Library and the Seminary Library is becoming more intentional about promoting open access. This year we participated in the 8th Annual International Open Access Week, October 19-25 to inform the Milligan College community about our local efforts. We offered a workshop on three days (October 19-21). Library Director, Gary Daught described what open access is and shared about the Library’s supportive participation in a new international publishing platform initiative called Open Library of Humanities. Information Resources Librarian & College Archivist, Lindsay Kenderes (photo) and Digital Resources & Web Development Specialist, David Baker (photo) then demonstrated the Milligan College Library’s new digital repository platform for capturing community developed scholarship, called MCStor.

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3rd Annual Book+Art Homecoming Event, October 23-24

Welshimer Library has two annual events designed to involve creative participation from the Milligan College community–the Edible Books Festival, held in the Spring for the last five years, and a newer Fall event held during Homecoming, called Book+Art. This year, Book+Art marked its third year.

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Book+Art invites entries from students, faculty, and other Milligan community members that draw inspiration from books and use books as the medium for the creation of works of art. This year we had 20 entries, including significant participation from Dr. Jil Smith and a number of her Occupational Therapy students. All participants were entered into a random drawing for a $25 Amazon gift card. This year, the winners were three OT students (Chelsea Davis, Kandace Hanna, and Jordan Piper) who collaborated on a single piece, called “The OT Octopus: 8 Helping Hands.” Photos: “The OT Octopus” and several other entries from this year’s Book+Art event.

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We’re moving to a new Library online catalog and resource login system: What you need to know

We had an active and busy summer in the library. One of the projects we were working on–which actually began earlier in the spring–is a planned migration to a new library management system and online catalog. We are almost ready to go live. If all goes well, we will switch over to the new system–called OCLC WorldShare Management Services (WMS)–on Tuesday, September 2, 2014.

It is not important to bore you with a description of the staff-side functionality and features of WMS, though we do hope the new system will enable us to serve you better. Instead, I want to describe the most important features of the new online catalog and how they differ from our current catalog. I also want to tell you about a new resource login method that is accompanying this change.

MCSearch is not changing!

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The first thing you need to know is that MCSearch, our single search box library information resource discovery tool will not change significantly as a result of this migration. Our library catalog holdings will continue to be searchable as they are now in MCSearch. Holdings will simply be drawn from the new system.

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Print to the Library’s HP printers from your smartphone or tablet!

ATTENTION: This post is obsolete. It is being kept on the blog for historical purposes only.

The Library recently responded to the increased use of web-enabled smartphones and tablet computers on campus by re-designing our website to optimize the viewing and use experience of our students and faculty. This is an exciting development, of which we are very proud.

The increased use of mobile devices on campus and in the Library has also resulted in requests from students such as: “I want to print a document from my iPad, but I can’t find the printer on the network. How do I go about doing this?”

Printing from a mobile device differs from printing from a laptop or desktop computer because there is no way to install printer drivers into the operating system on your mobile device. Printing has to be enabled through a separate mobile application (app) that you download and install onto your device. There are many printing apps available for various mobile operating systems (e.g., Apple’s iOS, Android, Blackberry, etc.). Some are paid, but many are free (more on this below). The app will typically support a list of compatible printers. You first configure the app to communicate with a compatible printer that is discoverable on your network via wi-fi from your device. You then link the app to an email account (to which you send documents you want to print as email attachments), or a web-accessed cloud storage service (e.g., Dropbox).

Because we use HP printers in the Library, I am going to tell you about a free printing app from HP that works remarkably well. I will walk you through the installation and printing process using an Apple iPod touch as my demonstration device (the steps may differ slightly on an Android or Blackberry device).

Step 1: Get the Free HP ePrint App

Go to HP’s Mobile Apps page and look for the HP ePrint app for your device’s operating system. For convenience, I have included links to the HP ePrint app download and use pages on HP’s site (right-click on the app icon to open in a new window or tab). Since I am demonstrating this process on my iPod touch, I searched for “HP ePrint” in the iTunes App Store on my device, and downloaded it directly.

Step 2: Launch the HP ePrint App

Once the app is installed on your device launch it. The first time you launch the app you will see a series of help screens. You can dismiss these if you’d like. The app home screen looks like this screenshot on my iPod. Notice the “No printer found: Tap here to select a print” message. Notice also the “Activate” button. It doesn’t matter which action you do first. However, you must be connected to the wireless network before you attempt either action.

Step 3: Locate and Add a Printer

I have chosen to find a printer first by tapping “select a printer.” Here is a screenshot showing a list of available and compatible HP printers on the Milligan College wireless network. Notice that available printers have a green light. If the printer is not available the light will be grayed-out. (Remember, this app only works with compatible HP printers. It will not support printers manufactured by other companies.)

Selecting a printer from this list is a little tricky. First, make sure you are viewing the list of printers under the “All” tab. The HP printers in the Library are LaserJet 4250s, and there is one on each floor. The app has identified several printers of this model. However, it doesn’t tell you where the printer is located. It only provides a printer code in [square brackets]. Further, on my iPod screen I can’t even see the entire code. However, once you know which printer is which it is fairly easy to select the right one because the codes are unique. Here is the list currently (Note: if/when any of these printers are replaced these codes will likely change. We will update information at that time):

  • Library First Floor is [D9E82C]
  • Library Second Floor is [DCD99E]
  • Library Basement Floor is [5E8812]

You can add one or all of these printers from the list. However, you can only add printers one at a time, and you have to have actually printed (Step 5) from each printer at least once before it is added to your “Preferred” list. To see all printers you have printed to tap on the “Preferred” tab. In the “Preferred” list the currently active printer is highlighted in blue. Change the printer you want by tapping on it.

For this demonstration I have selected the Library Basement printer [5E8812] by tapping on it. Once selected, the app returns to the home screen. Notice the light is green. But I cannot print to it until I Activate my ePrint account.

Step 4: Activate Your ePrint Account 

Tap the blue “Activate” button. This will take you to a screen (right) where you will enter an email address. Enter an email address you routinely use and tap the “Activate” button. The ePrint app will move to another screen where you will enter an activation code. The HP ePrint Center will send this activation code to the email address you entered in the previous screen. Check your email for a message from hpeprint.com with the subject line “ePrint mobile registration.” Open this email and enter the 4 character PIN code provided in this email. You have successfully activated your HP ePrint app!

Step 5: Printing from Your Mobile Device Using the HP ePrint App

When you return to the home screen you will notice three options listed below the selected printer: Photos, Web, and Email. For routine printing in the Library you will select either Web or Email. The Web option is for printing documents you have previously uploaded to a cloud storage service such as Dropbox. The Email option is for printing documents you have previously attached to an email message. To print a document from a cloud service just browse to and login to that service from within the HP ePrint app (see Step 7). To print a document that you attached to an email message you will need to log into your email account from within the HP ePrint app (see Step 6).

Step 6: Printing a Document in HP ePrint Attached to an Email Message

The screenshot at left shows the HP ePrint home screen with the Library Basement printer selected. Notice the “Activate” button no longer displays. Tap Email. In order to print from an email you first need to login to an email account. The first time you select the Email option you will be presented with the screen (right) with several popular email service options, or select “Other.” This will take you to a screen where you fill-in email address and password, etc. You can add more than one account. Accounts will be remembered within HP ePrint.

Attach a document you want to print to an email message. HP ePrint supports Microsoft Office (Word), PDF, and text documents. Send this message to yourself. Launch the HP ePrint app, select your printer, and tap the Email icon. Select the email account you previously registered and browse to the message and open it. Notice the attachment at the bottom of the message. Tap on the attachment to open it. The document will open with a large “Print” button at the bottom. Tap “Print”. The screen will show a progress bar as the document is sent wirelessly to the printer. You will receive a “Success” screen when the document has been successfully printed. Tap “Done,” and retrieve the document from the printer.

  

Incidentally, you can also just print an email message without an attachment by opening the chosen email as before, and then tapping on the email preview to bring-up the “Print” dialog.

Step 7: Printing a Document in HP ePrint from a Cloud Storage Service

If you have an account with a cloud storage service, such as Dropbox, you can easily browse to the service from the built-in web browser in the HP ePrint app. From the app home screen, select your printer and tap the Web icon, type-in the URL to your cloud service and login. Browse to the folder where the document you want to print resides. Tap the document to launch it. Exactly as before, the document will open with a large “Print” button at the bottom. Tap “Print”. The screen will show a progress bar as the document is sent wirelessly to the printer. You will receive a “Success” screen when the document has been successfully printed. Tap “Done,” and retrieve the document from the printer.

  

This printer utility app adds remarkable functionality to your mobile device. It’s a great complement to the enhanced mobile experience we have provided with our mobile-ready website. We encourage you to give this app a try. Once you get used to using this app with the Library printers, you can use it on other compatible HP printers elsewhere on campus. Feel free to speak with a librarian if you need assistance.

Library website gets a ‘responsive’ new look

The P.H. Welshimer Memorial Library has released a design update to its website. The re-design features a crisp new look and improved navigation elements. But the most exciting new feature is the use of what is called “responsive website design.” With responsive web design a site automatically reformats (responds) for optimal viewing on a computer, tablet, or smartphone screen without significant loss of content. The screenshot to the left shows what the site looks like on an iPod touch (click the image to see an enlargement).

The newly designed site went live just after 10 p.m. on Thursday, September 6. The timing is significant. As library director Gary Daught notes, “I don’t know if this was entirely conscious, but it was exactly one year ago, on September 6, 2011, that we launched MCSearch, a remarkable tool that provides a compelling ‘Google-like’ search experience for our users. MCSearch makes the library’s high quality information resources as easy to access as any information search on the open web. Like MCSearch, the site re-design pushes the value of the library and its resources out to our users, whether you’re using a laptop computer, or a smartphone.”

As it happens, the product that drives MCSearch was also recently updated to support responsive display. Consequently, users can make productive use of MCSearch results from their tablet or smartphone.

The site re-design was a collaboration between Gary Daught and librarian assistant Jack Weinbender, with helpful feedback from other library staff. “Yes, we worked out the design elements together. But the coding–the magic that makes this site work–was all Jack’s doing. He did a wonderful job.”

Library website voted “College Library Web Site of the Month” by ACRL!

I just received the following email from the chair of the Communications Committee of the College Libraries Section – Association of College and Research Libraries:

I am pleased to inform you that the Milligan College Library website has been selected as the “College Library Website of the Month” for March 2012 by the Communications Committee of ACRL’s College Libraries Section.

The College Libraries Section recognizes that a library’s website, in addition to enhancing access to a library’s resources and services, serves in general as a major means of communicating with current and future users. As a result the Communications Committee has decided to feature one college site a month that we feel showcases noteworthy contents, features, designs, etc.

Once selected, the sites are listed on the College Libraries Section’s site along with a brief summary outlining the reasons for their selection. Beyond simple recognition, it is hoped that by highlighting these Web pages we are providing the library community with a convenient listing of sites that can be used by others to gain insights and inspiration to enhance their own library’s online presence.

The Communications Committee would like to extend our congratulations to the all of those who have worked to build and maintain your library’s outstanding site. We also hope that you and members of your library and academic community will take a few moments to visit our “Site of the Month” page to read our review of your library’s site as well as those of past winners.

We are very proud of our website. We have worked hard to make it uncluttered yet attractive, easy to navigate, and resource-focused. It is a great honor to receive this recognition from our professional colleagues.