Really Simple Steps for Managing the Web

Our next Technology on Your Own Terms workshop is coming up next Tuesday, October 13, from 12pm-1pm in WML room 306.   If you’re a University faculty or staff member who has trouble keeping track of all of your favorite websites – this workshop is for you.

In “Really Simple Steps for Managing the Web: An Introduction to RSS,” we will explain how RSS feeds and RSS readers can help you manage the abundance of information available on the web. You’ll create a Google Reader account and will learn to import, organize, search, and share up-to-date content from your favorite websites.

Seats are limited, so be sure to register (under Special Events).

Summer Workshops for University Employees

The Library would like to invite all University of Scranton employees to two workshops that will be held in July.

Researching the Moving Image
This workshop, presented by Kevin Norris, will look at some of the new developments that Web technology and social networking have brought to researching the moving image and motion pictures on the Internet. Attendees will explore some of the more useful and interesting Web sites and networks.

Light refreshments will be served.

When: July 8 from 2:00pm to 3:00pm
Where: Room 306 in the Weinberg Library

Do you speak Web 2.0?
Presenters Kristen Yarmey-Tylutki and George Aulisio will introduce attendees to the language of Web 2.0. A few of the topics that will be included are photo sharing, Facebook and Twitter.
Light refreshments will be served.

When: July 14 from 2:00pm to 3:30pm
Where: Room 306 in the Weinberg Library

Want to see more of the Library? Try Flickr

The University of Scranton Weinberg Memorial Library is now on Flickr!  We’re using the photo-sharing service to post pictures of our latest Library events.  We’ll also be adding a few “mystery” archives photos, like the University of Scranton Players picture below.  Please comment if you can help us identify them!

Check out our photostream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/universityofscrantonlibrary.

Do you know these University of Scranton students?
Comment on Flickr if you can help us identify them!

Chesterton Free Audio via LibriVox

“Love means loving the unlovable – or it is no virtue at all.” –G.K. Chesterton in Heretics

After the hectic ending to Fall semester, followed by a nice, long break this year for Christmas and New Year’s, Intersession acts as a month-long “pause” of sorts in the Library’s regular, super-packed routine of the regular semesters. It’s a time when we get started on new projects, spend extra time finding out what’s going on out on the web and in the world, and using our findings to do our jobs better. Plus, with a manageable number of classes in session, we still get to see and interact with students who are looking to get ahead in their studies, which keeps us in touch w/ what you guys need and want out of your Library.

Along these lines, yesterday I came across a neat website and an awesome resource on the web, particularly for fans of G.K. Chesterton*. Chesterton was a prolific writer, a Roman Catholic, a fine storyteller and a very wise man. He is often read alongside C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, although he was not part of the Inklings*, who were sharing ideas and stories just after Chesterton’s time. I own a few of his books (the Library’s collection of works by Chesterton far exceeds mine!), however I have yet to really delve into his writings as I hope to.

So you can imagine my excitement to stumble upon an entire online audio library of many of Chesterton’s works. This collection is part of LibriVox, whose goal it is to record audio versions of all of the books in the public domain. The site as a whole is an awesome resource unto itself — especially if you are an aural learner, and has as its pithy tagline: “acoustical liberation of books in the public domain” (header of the LibriVox website).

If you’re a fan of Chesterton, or enjoy Lewis and Tolkien and are interested in another writer of stories and ideas who is a kindred spirit to those two great thinkers, take a look at/listen to the extensive audio collection of Chesterton’s works. If Chesterton doesn’t do it for you, have at the LibriVox Search Catalog to see if your favorite public domain writer’s works have been recorded and added yet. (Shakespeare, anyone?) And if you don’t see your favorite author from before 1922 (though there are exceptions to the public domain rule of “Published before such and such a date,” which are expounded upon here), volunteer to record his or her works yourself!

*These 2 links to information about Chesterton and the Inklings, I fully admit, are websites for organizations who are devoted to the work of both Chesterton and the Inklings, respectively. As such, their descriptions of their subjects are necessarily colored by their enthusiasm — however, I have found they are also quite factual, out of great respect for the people they are writing about.

Podcasts for Aural Learners and Cool Kids – Now Available

Wish you had a way to spend the next 6 minutes laughing, rolling your eyes, and learning all at the same time? Well, do I have the thing for you…

The Weinberg Memorial Library is proud to present a series of Podcasts on Information Literacy.

The goal of these podcasts are to be informative and interesting. Our “60 second lecture” on Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary sources should help you get a handle on what the differences are between these three types of sources and all in 74 seconds! (Yes, I know, “60 second lecture” is somewhat of a misnomer, but bear with me). 

The other podcast which is up and running is actually our first. This podcast, entitled “What’s the Matter with Wikipedia?” guest stars, Library Student Worker and campus celebrity, Allen Zelno. Tune into this podcast to hear Allen say things like, “Gee Whiz, George” and find out if Allen ever figured out if America was or was not founded in 1492!

These two podcasts both feature me as a speaker, but future podcasts will certainly have different librarians and more student volunteers sharing their voices.

I was volunteered as the guinea pig for this experimental run, in turn, I volunteered Allen because the man knows not of fear.

Overall, experimental or not, these podcasts turned out to be fun and interesting to listen to, so don’t be the only one on campus who is missing out. Listen here:

http://academic.scranton.edu/department/wml/bihp.html

Just click the Podcasts link and the two titles should just pop right up for you. Click them and they will stream right from your computer.

The podcasts are also available on the Facebook page! Why aren’t you a fan yet?!?! No excuses now, go to the following link and show your love for the Library:

The University of Scranton Weinberg Memorial Library – Fan Page

Please send your suggestions and comments my way! I want to know what you think and what you would like to hear in the future. Happy Listening!