LRC to close at 3:00 on Saturdays!

The Learning Resource Center will close at 3:00
on Saturdays beginning Nov. 14, 2009.

This change may impact students who use Library, Instructional Media, and Academic Computers services on Saturdays to study, research, use computers, view media, and borrow reserve textbooks.   Please help get the word out so students can be prepared.  This change may also impact instructors who bring classes for a Saturday afternoon library instruction session.

As of Nov. 14, regular LRC hours during Fall and Spring semesters will be:

Monday – Thursday: 7:30 am – 8:00 pm
Friday: 7:30 am – 5:00 pm
Saturday: 9:00 am – 3:00 pm

Hours for Academic Computers in B-153 are unchanged:  Monday-Friday 8:00-4:00.  eServices hours in B-153 are Monday-Thursday 7:30 -5:00.

Why (and where) we’re Twittering

The SCC Library recently started up a Twitter account, which we’re using to post quick notes about new and ongoing services, upcoming events, and online resources we notice that might help students do their research. Why Twitter?

(NOTE: if you’re already suffering from information overload, you might want to skip this one.)

IM a librarian (Instant Message, that is)

IM form

Got a library question?  The library help page now features instant messaging (or, if you prefer, chat). If you see a green light, we’re online. Just type your question to the librarian into the small white box on the IM form and hit enter.

If the light is red, we’re not online, but don’t let that stop you. If we’re open, give us a call (558-2461), or use our e-mail form.  We’ll get back to you as soon as we can!  (Messaging is normally online during library open hours.)

Library & LRC to Close at 8:00 p.m.!

Please spread the word: The SCC Library and Learning Resource Center will begin closing at 8:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday, effective Tuesday, Sept. 8.  Funding cuts have caused reductions in evening staff hours below the minimum needed to operate the building. (Friday and Saturday LRC hours remain unchanged at 7:30-5:00 and 9:00-4:00. )

Learning Resource Center Hours

This change will impact students who use Library, Instructional Media, and Academic Computers services in the evening to study, do research, use computers, view media, and borrow reserve textbooks.   Please help get the word out so students who come to the LRC can be prepared.  This change may also impact instructors who bring classes for library instruction; plan on an earlier session when you submit an evening orientation request.

Hours for Academic Computers in B-153 are Monday-Friday 8:00-4:00.  eServices hours in B-153 are Monday-Thursday 7:30 -5:00.

Welcome Back!

Greetings and welcome back, from the SCC Library Staff. 

Word is that every classroom and office is packed.  Lines in the Learning Resource Center have been curling around the computers, through the bookstacks, and down the hall.  Circulation staff have already checked books out 3762 times this week, most of them textbooks from the reserve collection.  (Do we have your textbook?  Can you donate a copy?)

Thanks for subscribing to the Reader.  Please feel free to leave a comment on any article.  Let us know what you want to read about in this space.  Tell us how we can help make this a successful semester.

See you in the library!

Classroom 2.0 opens doors at the LRC

Last weekend the Learning Resource Center became a training ground and conversation hub for instructors seeking to integrate Web 2.0 technologies into the classroom. Classroom 2.0, a workshop series and online community developed by Steve Hargadon, provided an opportunity for K-12 and community college educators to come together and explore tools, strategies, and best practices in using current Web technologies to engage students and enhance learning.

Those just starting on their tech journey learned how to create blogs and wikis, while more advanced (or geeky) users shared favorite tools.  These included creating custom Google maps (click the “My Maps” link) and importing the data to Google Earth; using social bookmarking tools such as Delicious and Diigo; harnessing “back channel” conversations using Today’s Meet; building elegant websites in a matter of minutes with Weebly; creating multimedia discussion pages using VoiceThread; and sharing documents and presentations using sites such as Scribd, Slideshare, and drop.io.

If you’re looking for a community of educators sharing information on technology in the classroom, you might want to take a look at what the Classroom 2.0 site (hosted by Ning.com) has to offer: discussion forums, links to resources, and networking opportunities.

Architectural marvels in the LRC

Be afraid; be very afraid (from the March exhibit)

The LRC has been honored to host projects from Mitra Fabian’s Art 370 (Three-Dimensional Design) classes this semester.  For most of March, visitors were greeted by an army of paper-and-wire insects camped out on the first floor.

A nicotine-fueled pleasure palace, with light-bulb onion domes

Currently on display are architectural pieces that repurpose everyday objects and ordinary materials to stunning effect. You’ll find everything from cardboard mud huts, to a literal house of cards, to a slightly sinister geodesic dome. The Kondos Gallery may be closed for the near future, but you can still get your art fix. Come see the creativity on display in the LRC!

Straying a bit further from home, don’t miss Tangent Gallery’s ongoing Self-Portrait show, which features the work of SCC and other area community college students.

Books now delivered to Davis and West Sac

Is your home campus in Yolo County? Starting this semester, you no longer have to come to the main campus to check out books; instead, you can have them delivered to the West Sacramento or Davis Center and pick them up there.

When you find a book in LOIS, simply click the “Request” button. On the next screen, fill out the form, and select the location where you want to pick it up.

In a few days, the materials will be available for you to check out! Note that while you can request materials from any Los Rios campus, you cannot request materials marked as “Reference” or ones on 2-hour or 1-day reserve.

Many thanks for making this happen to the SCC Circulation and Technical Services teams, SCC Operations, and the outreach center staff.

Welcome Back!

Has it only been 2 weeks!  The news so far in this New Year could fill a book.  We won’t go into it – you’ve had enough - except to say that it would be cataloged in Mysteries and Tales of Woe (Non-Fiction).

Undaunted, we sally forth, library services intact and ready for action:

LRC hours and library phone numbers are on the Library homepage.  Or hit the Library Help button on the homepage.  We have email reference assistance, too.   Call, visit, email – we’re here to help.

Bring your students to the library for 50 minutes of customized instruction on the topics of your choice, or send them to the reference desk to sign up for an extra credit session (“drop-in”), to be attended on their own time. 

LOIS, the library catalog, finds books, ebooks, and media by author, title, keyword, course number, and more.  The databases are loaded with high quality full text articles from many thousands of journals, magazines, and newspapers.  Activate your employee ID card as a library card and you’ll be able to read 10,000 ebooks and about a million full text articles from your home computer.

New Library Display:  Books and visuals celebrating Black History Month feature African American Firsts in Politics and posters full of congratulations for the Obamas from SCC students.

Updated public computers and faster connections, brought to you by Computer Services, on the first and second floors.

There’s more:  Watch The Reader for upcoming news on services to the Centers, a hot new library widget, and so much more.

LRC Special Collections ~ Historic Glass Display

Three gorgeous framed historic panes of etched glass are on display in the Special Collections room of the Learning Resource Center.  The 1930s glass panes were originally installed in the Little Theatre, the Auditorium, and the old SCC library.  The glass pane from the old library uses a “diamond” design; this design was selected by architects to be the design motif in the new Learning Resource Center.  You can see this design in the inlaid terrazzo floor in the LRC lobby and in the carpet patterns in the entry floor on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the LRC.

Frame design, wood selection, construction and installation of the newly framed glass were done by Andrew La Torre and Mark Ernst, LRCCD Cabinetmakers.

Diamond design from the old library

The glass panes are hanging from the ceiling and can be viewed from outside Special Collections, or come on in when the Special Collections Room is open, Wednesdays and Thursdays 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Detail of Little Theatre window

[caption id="attachment_228" align="aligncenter" width="64" caption="Detail of Auditorium window"][/caption]