Pollak Library

If there’s something weird and it don’t look good … Oh, who you gonna call? Ghostbuster movie song lyrics

You know what it’s like. Your favorite library database, web site, or service is acting weird. Is it broken? If it’s broken, is it coming back soon? So many questions, so few answers. Do you pick up the phone? Naw, that’s so last century. Whatcha gonna do?

Check Library Alerts! It’s a blog feed right on the homepage. Some library resources are hosted right here at Cal State Fullerton, but we have several hundred databases and links to resources that are on servers somewhere else. All those servers and software need maintenance, and sometimes they break. If we know ahead of time that there will be a scheduled down time, we will post it on Library Alerts. Checking the alerts will often let you see if the problem you are encountering is a planned outage, or something we are working to fix.

What if you don’t see your problem listed in Library Alerts? Your next best friend is the Problems and Suggestions button, also on the library homepage. You can report problems there, and we will get right back to you individually as soon as we can with an answer or a fix. Remember, if there’s somethin’ strange in your Library, check out Library Alerts!

Contact APA between November 2 and December 15 to receive a free replacement for the 6th edition of the style manual.

Wondering how many potential stops there are for trick-or-treaters this Halloween? The answer: 111.4 million. The Census Bureau calls them “occupied housing units” and shares this and many additional statistics, including the annual per capita consumption of candy (that would be a cool 23.8 pounds), at: Facts for Features: Halloween, October 31, 2009.

40% of American teachers are disheartened, 23% are idealists, and the remaining 37% are contented, according to a report, “Teaching for a living: How teachers see the profession today,” released by Public Agenda and Learning Point Associates.  The study was based on a nation-wide survey of nearly 900 teachers.

Need primary sources for that research paper? Looking for the population of Fullerton in 2008? The high school dropout rate in Anaheim? An introduction to health care reform? Progress made since the enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act in 1974? A situation update on the H1N1 Flu? Employment and retirement trends of older workers?

Free and unrestricted access to information is critical for democratic societies so that voters can make informed decisions. Cal State Fullerton’s library is one of 1,250 libraries designated by Congress to ensure that Americans are informed.

Congressional hearings, economic reports, environmental reports, and Census publications are among the 5,600 documents added last year to our collection of one million items.

The World Factbook, Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States, and the White House report on The Economic Case for Health Care Reform are among thousands of documents that can be accessed via the Library Catalog.

Our research guide provides additional help in locating government documents.

Left your USB drive in the Information & Learning Commons? Dropped your car keys somewhere in the stacks?

The Pollak Library is a big building and has a lot of visitors every day, so it’s not surprising that a few things get misplaced or left behind. On a typical day, it is very common for 10 or more items of personal property to be recovered in the Library. USB drives and other personal electronics currently lead the pack, but books, keys, and eyeglasses are never far behind.

The Circulation Desk (1^st floor, Library south) serves as the clearinghouse for all lost and found items in the building. All found items are immediately logged and then held for the rest of the day. Items that go unclaimed are turned over to the university police at closing.

To see if your lost item was found in the Library, please contact the Circulation Desk in person, by phone at 657-278-2721, or by e-mail to libcirc@fullerton.edu. Provide a detailed description of the item and the approximate date it was lost.

Starting Monday, October 19, the 1st floor of Library-North will remain open until 10:30 PM, Mondays through Thursdays.

Based upon the results of the recent online survey (and thanks to everyone who took the time to respond about time and schedule preferences) the highest student desire is for study space and access to computers. Also, the preference for extending evening hours outweighed opening on Sundays.

Most of the Library will still close at 9:00 PM Mondays-Thursdays. All of Library South will be closed as well as the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors of Library North. Only the 1st floor of Library North will remain open until 10:30.

This will accommodate the need for access to study space and computers. The 125 workstations in the Information and Learning Commons (ILC) will be available. The print reference collection will also be available (but not the circulating collection housed in Library South).

After 9:00 PM only very basic assistance by a Library Assistant will be available at the Information and Learning Commons counter. Community Support Officers (”yellow shirts”) will be patrolling and providing building security after closure of the rest of the Library.

This is a bare-bones response to the needs students have communicated. The Library has not discovered a pot of “new” money; its budget remains under the same challenges facing all campus entities. Dollars supporting extended hours are additional dollars taken from the budgets supporting purchase of information resources and staff assistance in their use.

In the age of MP3s and iPods you may be surprised to know that the library has a hidden treasure of music…in vinyl. That’s right, vinyl. As in, records. LP’s. Grooved discs. Licorice Pizza.

If you’ve never heard of any of these terms, you’ve likely grown up in the digital age without the experience of vinyl. Before MP3, before CDs, before audio cassettes, there were vinyl records– those spinning discs that produced fantastic sounds (crackles and ambiance included).

The library has amassed over 12,000 vinyl records in all genres: classical, pop & rock, folk, show tunes, and even spoken word (great speeches, like John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King).  They’re all located on the open shelves of the 4th floor North of the library. We also have 25 turntable stations where you can listen to them Check the Library Catalog and come experience a blast from the past: enjoy some vinyl!

ArchiveGrid lets history students and other researchers discover the location of documents, personal papers, photographs, and other archival materials hidden in collections all over the world.

For students who can’t jet around the world to do archival research, ArchiveGrid makes it easy to find materials in local Southern California collections within driving distance. A search for a name or topic turns up a list of possible collections and a “Locations” sidebar where the user can scan for local repositories. For instance, a search on the name, Cesar Chavez, reveals 43 relevant collections in five Southern California institutions. Also provided is contact information for the repository to make it easy for a user to follow up with more questions.  To get a sense of the range of subjects that can be accessed in the database, click on ArchiveGrid Topics at the bottom of the screen, and prepare to be amazed.

The Library has finished compiling the results from our Library Hours survey that ran from 12:00pm on Thursday, October 1st through 5:00pm on Tuesday, October 6th.

A total of 655 surveys were received.

We thank everyone who participated in the survey and assure you that these results have been shared with library administration. We are still still discussing and considering all of our options.

Question 1: Do you need the Library open more hours?

Note: 100% of survey participants answered this question.

Question 2: If you answered yes in Question 1, what is the most important use for you?

Note: 92.98% of survey participants answered this question.

Question 3: If you answered yes in Question 1, what is your second most important use?

Note: 91.30% of survey respondents answered this question.

Question 4: If you answered yes in Question 1, what change in hours would best meet your needs?

Note: 89.62% of survey respondents answered this question.

Question 5: Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about the issue of library hours?

Notes:

• 29.16% of all survey respondents provided an answer to this question.
• The 58 public comments can be viewed under our survey post.
• We are still compiling, and trying to find the right format, to share the 133 anonymous comments submitted in the survey form.

Thank you for your participation. We welcome additional comments below.