But don’t forget, we are also…

The Pollak Library building will be closed just like the rest of the Cal State Fullerton campus from November 22-29. That means that you will want to come in soon if you wish to check out books for use at home during the Thanksgiving holiday week.

But remember,  just because the Library’s doors are locked and staff are not around doesn’t mean that we aren’t still open for business in many different ways, provided you have access to a computer and an internet connection. Throughout the Thanksgiving closure, you can still do lots of research in the library.  For instance, you can:

• Find scholarly journal articles using the databases in Find Databases or Find Articles. When you click the Find it! button to get full-text, be sure to choose online options.
• Find encyclopedia articles, specialized dictionaries, statistics, company information, etc. also in Find Databases. Gale Virtual Reference Library, Oxford Premium Online, CQ Researcher, Mergent and many other specialized databases can help you with background information of all kinds.
• Find e-books by searching the Library Catalog using a keyword search term and e-book (example:  united states history and e-book)
• Get access to anything your professor put on reserves that is in electronic form through your Blackboard course.
• Get research help from a librarian by clicking on Ask-A-Librarian or Click here for live help on the library homepage. You won’t get a CSUF librarian, but you will get a professional librarian who can assist with many types of questions.

We hope you have a productive and restful Thanksgiving week while we are closed…and open!

Veterans Day originated as ‘Armistice Day’ on November 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I. Congress passed a resolution in 1926 for an annual observance, and November 11 became a national holiday beginning in 1938. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation in 1954 to change the name to Veterans Day as a way to honor those who served in all American wars.

This year as America pays tribute to its 23.2 million military veterans the Census Bureau has released a report that counts American men and women who have served by race/ethnicity, by age, and by the wars in which they served. Also counted are those who served during three wars (World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam Conflict). Education, income, disabilities, the number of veterans in the labor force, and federal government spending for veterans benefits programs are included. The report is available at Facts for Features: A Special Edition: Veterans Day 2009,

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!

There are several errors in the 6^th edition of the APA Style Manual. The APA has agreed to replace these books for free if they are contacted between November 2 – December 15.

The process for receiving a replacement copy, which you are entitled to if you purchased the book anywhere, is:

1) Contact the APA Service Center:

APA Main Contact
Mailing address: American Psychological Association, 750 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242
Telephone: (800) 374-2721 or (202) 336-5500

Contact the Service Center Monday through Friday, between the hours of 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

2) The person you speak with will email you a link to a form and mailing label you will print out.

3) Mail your style manual back to them – free of charge – and they will ship you a replacement copy.  If you received a free desk copy, they won’t send you a replacement copy but will provide you with a supplement that corrects the mistakes in the 6^th edition.

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.

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!

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.