USF in Lakeland Library

President Obama has proclaimed this month “Information Literacy Awareness Month”.

Information literacy can be defined, as in the proclamation, “the ability to seek, find, and decipher information [that] can be applied to countless life decisions, whether financial, medical, educational, or technical.”

Libraries and librarians are actively involved in information literacy and the USF Poly Library is no exception. We are available to help students either individually or in a class setting.

We invite you to our open door, hands-on seminars, in LTB 2153:

Database Searching
Wednesday, September 30, 12:00-1:00PM
or
Thursday, October 1, 5:00-6:00PM
Learn to select and access the best databases for your subject, search their content and find full-text articles.

RefWorks
Wednesday, September 30, 5:00-6:00PM
or
Thursday, October 1, 12:00-1:00PM
Learn how to use this citation management system that makes building bibliographies a flash.

These seminars are open to all; no registration required. The seminars are cancelled if no one is present 10 minutes after the hour.

Mid-October, the same seminars will be offered via Elluminate.

This week is the 28th edition of National Banned Books Week. The USF Polytechnic Library is celebrating in many ways:

• a display of challenged or banned books from our collections
• quotes on freedom of expression, censorship and the freedom to read
• our Read Out event, Tuesday September 29th, from 11:15AM to 1PM and 4:15PM to 6PM. Members of the campus community will be reading from banned or challenged books in 15-minutes increments on the patio outside the Library (LTB 1115)
• drawing of two prizes during the Read Out event

Here are some interesting sites about Banned Books Week or the issues behind it:

• the official site of Banned Books Week with a telling map and a Manifesto, by banned bestseller author Ellen Hopkins
• the Office of Intellectual Freedom of the American Library Association
• the ACRL Intellectual Freedom Committee’s blog
• the Libraries and the First Amendment online exhibit from the McCormick Freedom Museum
• the Center for Campus Free Speech

Come and celebrate your freedom to read with us!

This morning, in The Ledger newspaper, an article was published on the Library’s Read Out event on September 29th. During the event, we will be reading passages from banned or challenged books out loud.

We invite everyone on campus to participate in listening or reading (still good spots available). Please contact the librarian, Catherine Lavallée-Welch, if you’re interested in reading (863-667-7737; clw@poly.usf.edu).

AdViews is a digital archive of thousands of vintage television commercials dating from the 1950s to the 1980s. The collection is made accessible online by the Duke University Special Collections Library.

These commercials were created or collected by the ad agency Benton & Bowles or its successor, D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles (DMB&B). Founded in 1929, Benton & Bowles was a New York advertising agency that merged with D’Arcy Masius McManus in 1985 to form DMB&B. Major clients included are Procter & Gamble, Kraft, Schick, Vicks, and Post, among others. They are available on iTunes U or via the Library’s AdViews website.

We invite you to our open door, hands-on seminars, in LTB 2153:

Database Searching
Wednesday, September 30, 12:00-1:00PM
or
Thursday, October 1, 5:00-6:00PM
Learn to select and access the best databases for your subject, search their content and find full-text articles.

RefWorks
Wednesday, September 30, 5:00-6:00PM
or
Thursday, October 1, 12:00-1:00PM
Learn how to use this citation management system that makes building bibliographies a flash.

These seminars are open to all; no registration required. The seminars are cancelled if no one is present 10 minutes after the hour.

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The same seminars will also be offered via Elluminate:

Database Searching
Monday, October 12, 12:00-1:00PM
Learn to select and access the best databases for your subject, search their content and find full-text articles.

RefWorks
Tuesday, October 13, 12:00-1:00PM
Learn how to use this citation management system that makes building bibliographies a flash.

Again, these seminars are open to all; no registration required.

The links to enter the seminar on the date and time specified are below. Please make sure to click on the correct one for the session you desire to attend.

Databases searching
Meeting Link: http://131.247.100.61:80/join_meeting.html?meetingId=1253029103795
Add to Calendar: http://131.247.100.61:80/build_calendar.event?meetingId=1253029103795
Starts: 10/12/2009 12:00 EDT
Ends: 10/12/2009 13:00 EDT

RefWorks
Meeting Link: http://131.247.100.61:80/join_meeting.html?meetingId=1253029261725
Add to Calendar: http://131.247.100.61:80/build_calendar.event?meetingId=1253029261725
Starts: 10/13/2009 12:00 EDT
Ends: 10/13/2009 13:00 EDT

Enter your name at the login prompt.
This meeting does not require a password to join. Please leave the password field blank.

If this is the first time you will be using Elluminate, you may be prompted to download some software which may take anywhere from 2 to 20 minutes depending upon your Internet connection speed. You can pre-configure your system with the required software by going to the support page located at: http://131.247.100.61:80/support.help

Please make sure your computer has a microphone and speakers to be able to talk and hear while you are in the Elluminate meeting.

September 15 to October 15 is National Hispanic Heritage Month. National Hispanic Heritage Month is a celebration of the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.

In recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month, the USF Polytechnic Library is highlighting the books, journals, and electronic databases in our collection that support research into Hispanic heritage.

For additional information, also see http://hispanicheritagemonth.gov/ and http://www.floridahispanicheritage.com.

There is a job opening at the USF Polytechnic Library for a FWS student to man the circulation desk during the weekdays. We’re looking for someone with a good service attitude!

For more details, search

• the Career Connection system for position #25796
• visit the USF Poly Career Center in LTB 1155

or search its Online Job Board

• or simply come talk to the Librarian, Catherine Lavallée-Welch (LTB 1119, 7-7737 or clw@poly.usf.edu)

The USF Polytechnic Library invites you to celebrate the freedom to read by participating in a READ OUT! event during Banned Books Week (September 26 to October 3).

• What: Read from a challenged or banned book for a 15 minutes period. There is no microphone, no sitting audience – you read from a passage of your choice from a book of your choice in a normal voice to passers-by. Anyone can read: students, staff or faculty members.
• When: Tuesday, September 29, from 11:30 AM to 1 PM and from 4:30 PM to 6 PM
• Where: On the LTB terrace, outside the USFP Library/Open Use Lab
• Why: Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one’s opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those viewpoints to all who wish to read them. After all, intellectual freedom can exist only where these two essential conditions are met.
• How: Sign up with the librarian, Catherine Lavallée-Welch (clw@poly.usf.edu), with your preferred time and title (if possible, readers should bring their own books since the Library has a limited selection. Please see the 2008-2009 list of challenged or banned books and the list of the 100 most challenged or banned books from 2000 to 2007 for title ideas.) We’ll do our best to accommodate your preferred time.

Don’t want to read out loud? Come listen to the readers and come to the Library during the week to check out the displays and pick up a handout. We’ll also have a door prize drawing the day of the Read Out.

Find more information about Banned Books Week and the freedom to read on the American Library Association website.