USF Polytechnic Library

Textbooks will start being shipped from the USF Tampa bookstore next Tuesday or Wednesday, May 5th or 6th.

More details to follow.

The Library (and Open Use Lab) will be open the following hours during the Semester Break:

• Saturday, May 2
  9:00 AM to 3:00 PM
• Monday, May 4 to Friday, May 8
  8:00 AM to 5:00 PM
• Saturday, May 9
  9:00 AM to 3:00 PM

We are closed on Sundays.

Regular opening hours will resume Monday, May 11 at 8:00 AM.

Here is an useful compilation of tips and tools to research the Deep Web from the Online College Blog.

What is the Deep Web (or Invisible Web)? It’s the Internet content that typically will not appear after a Google or Yahoo search. This content is harder to access for various reasons: it’s dynamically generated, it comes from scripted or contextual pages, or is protected by password, for example.

The USF Libraries do give you access to great Deep Web resources as we provide the subscriptions to hundreds of databases and thousands of electronic journals, on campus or off-campus. That means that not only you can identify documents of interest, you can actually access the full-text or files themselves. That’s not always the case, even for some of the resources listed in the link. Don’t forget that alumni and community members can visit a USF Library to access most of those resources on-site as well. Look for the public access workstations.

Graduating this May and afraid you might miss being in class and following lectures? Give a look at Academic Earth, a new website giving access to hundreds of video lectures and courses by faculty from some of the top universities in the US.

Academic Earth is an organization founded with the goal of giving everyone on earth access to a world class education.

The USF Bookstore will come to campus on the following dates for the textbook buyback

• Wednesday, May 6th - 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM
• Thursday, May 7th - 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM

Location: LTB 1120

Check out the brand new World Digital Library - 10,000 yrs worth of significant primary documents online, from around the world.

The World Digital Library (WDL) makes available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary materials from countries and cultures around the world.

The principal objectives of the WDL are to:

• Promote international and intercultural understanding;
• Expand the volume and variety of cultural content on the Internet;
• Provide resources for educators, scholars, and general audiences;
• Build capacity in partner institutions to narrow the digital divide within and between countries.

Content providers are mainly libraries, archives, or other institutions that have collections of cultural content. The project is supported by UNESC and the US Library of Congress.

As we are well implanted in the Web 2.0 era, there are now different ways of enjoying news and content from the USF Poly Library:

• a version of this blog for mobile devices (smart phones and the like) is now available: http://www.google.com/reader/m/view/feed/http://catherin.blog.usf.edu/wp-rss2.php
• as well as a Twitter page: http://twitter.com/usfplib.
  Twitter name: @usfplib (you will need to create an account and follow us to get the content automatically and interact)
• pictures can be seen in Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/usfplib
• the Facebook Page is still going strong (become a Fan, but note that you will need to join Facebook if you aren’t already an account holder): http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Lakeland-FL/University-of-South-Florida-Polytechnic-Library/29881590873
• there is now a YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/usfplib
. Those vidcasts are also available on the website at http://poly.usf.edu/Offices/Library/Research_Help/Tutorials.xml
• finally, there is a FriendFeed Room: http://friendfeed.com/rooms/usfplib. FriendFeed is a social media tool where you can regroup information from various sources.

There is something new in your inbox! The Library has been working for a long time trying to get both loan and return receipts to be sent by email to our users. We had the loan receipts working first, and now the return receipts are functioning.

The system will also send out courtesy notices notifying you of upcoming due dates, as well as overdue notices when items are returned late. Please let us know if you see automated notices from the Library that do not make sense to you.

This week, from April 12 to the 18, is National Library Week. It has a great theme this year: “Worlds Connect@your library”. Please come make a connection at the USF Poly Library!

Note: Tuesday April 14, is National Library Workers Day. While you are enjoying catalogs, databases, books or a full-text article from a library, please remain aware that those are available to you because people are working hard every day to make them so. Visit your campus or public library and share some love for your favorite library workers!

Due to essential site maintenance, access will be temporarily unavailable for Wiley InterScience on Tuesday, April 14, 2009 for approximately one hour, starting at 4:00 AM.