Longer loans for OhioLINK items

An exciting change is coming September 1 for books borrowed from OhioLINK (the press release is quoted in part below):

"Now OhioLINK books may be checked out for three weeks and renewed up to four times, as long as another user has not placed a hold on the item, for a total maximum borrowing period of 15 weeks. Tony Maniaci, chair of OhioLINK's Inter-Campus Services Committee, which sets OhioLINK borrowing policies, explained the rationale behind the change. "Users statewide have been asking to keep OhioLINK books longer than six
weeks. But OhioLINK has to carefully balance the needs of researchers who wish to keep an item for an extended period of time with those who have short time frames to meet a deadline or complete a class assignment. Recent improvements to the software used for online borrowing checks for holds
before allowing a renewal. This new functionality allows us to extend the maximum borrowing period for items and better meet the needs of all OhioLINK users.""

So check out OhioLINKs with a greater flexibility to keep them longer - up to 15 week! Let us know if you have any questions.

Pay for Print

The Library and Computer Center switched over to the pay for print system used in Oxford and Hamilton this week. We have two printers and print stations in the library near the copiers. Printing now costs 7 cents per page and can only be paid for using a University ID with money deposited onto it or a Print/Copy card with available funds.

We have a machine in the downstairs lobby of the library (right next to the Computer Center entrance) that sells the Print/Copy cards (they cost $1 and can then have money placed on them for printing or copying). The same machine may be used to add money onto a University ID. The machine accepts bills only (ones, fives, tens, and twenties).

If you have any questions or concerns about this system, please contact me at burkejj@muohio.edu or 513-727-3293.

Studying for a test?

Try the online practice tests available through LearningExpress Library (see the full list of featured resources). Just sign in as a new user to begin.

This statewide service is provided through a grant administered by the State Library of Ohio. They plan to add a number of tests to it as time goes on. It does have a variety of academic and professional standardized test study options available.

What's everyone reading?

In case you ever wondered what the most popular periodicals in the Library were, here's your answer. We are unable to track online use of the more than 20,000 full-text periodicals we offer through our databases, but we do track uses of the over 380 current subscriptions we have to newspapers, magazines, and journals.

For the 2004/2005 academic year, the top 20 were:
1. Los Angeles Times
2. American Journal of Nursing
3. Newsweek
4. Time
5. Cincinnati Enquirer
6. Middletown Journal
7. Chicago Tribune
8. Sports Illustrated
9. New Yorker
10. Publisher's Weekly
11. Consumer Reports
12. New Republic
13. American Artist
14. Columbus Dispatch
15. Washington Post
16. U.S. News and World Report
17. Reading Teacher
18. Rolling Stone
19. Seventeen
20. Critical Care Nurse

Library Break Hours

As we come to the end of summer (more or less), here are some hours changes for the Library in the coming weeks:

After Thursday, August 4th, the library will move to an 8:00-5:00, Monday through Friday only schedule until classes start on Tuesday, August 23rd. Then we will return to our normal evening hours (open until 9:00PM, Monday-Thursday) and will reopen on weekends (12-4 Saturdays and 1-5 Sundays).

Additionally, the Library will be closed to the public on Thursday, August 18th and Friday the 19th for a Library in-service. We appreciate having this time to gear up for the fall semester.

Our full hours and closings list for fall is available on our web site under Hours.

Current scholarly books

I've come across a nice service by the Association of American University Presses called Books for Understanding. It's a web site with topical guides to scholarly works addressing many current events or issues. If you're looking for useful material on a current event, or would like the library to acquire some of the items, take a look and let us know. You can also be periodically updated by email of new topical lists of publications.

The same, but different

While many of our databases continue to look as before, a new interface will greet users of several longstanding databases. Try the links below to get a sense of the new design.

(reposted from OhioLINK's What's New feed):

"OSearch, a new version of OhioLINK's internally-created interface for many research databases, is now live. OSearch replaces the old interface for more than 30 databases, including Applied Science and Technology Abstracts, Art Abstracts, Business and Industry, Compendex, Education Abstracts, ERIC, Humanities Abstracts, Inspec, and PsycINFO.
While the basic functionality of OSearch will remain the same as the previous version, improvements have been made, the most noticeable of which is a dramatically improved design."