Alkek Library News

3rd and 4th Floor Scanners Send Images to USB or E-Mail

Have you used the free 3rd and 4th floor scanners yet? Scan high quality images and then save to USB or send to an e-mail.

(Thanks to Tara for her photo skills)

Textbooks and Alkek

Alkek Library and Textbooks: We probably don't have your textbook here in the library. You might get lucky: check the author or title, and also check the reserve link in the catalog.

(slight chance the book is in e-reserve here)

Bottom line: The library cannot afford to buy copies for every class year after year....

Welcome Students! The Library's resources & services = a successful semester!

For a great start to the new semester, Alkek Library offers drop-in orientations at the beginning of each semester. If you are new to Texas State and have never been in the library, all you need to do is check the schedule for the time and then just meet at the Reference Desk on the 2nd floor as you enter the main lobby.  There is still time left to take advantage this open walking-tour.  

If you prefer to tour Alkek Library from the comfort of your home or dorm room, we have an online tutorial as well as still photos and mp3 audio tours for you to enjoy at your leisure.

If you have a question, need directions or want to get a jump start on your research, you can stop by the Reference Desk, call us at 245-2686 or get online help using the Ask-A-Librarian service. We offer multiple ways of online help. You can chat with us using your preferred chat client by adding us to your contacts, or you can chat w/a librarian using the many Ask a Librarian widgets placed on various pages throughout the library website. There is an email option, and you can also schedule an individual consultation. New this semester we now offer the option to meet online with a librarian using videoconferencing software.

Also new this semester we have added an additional way to contact us! Now you can also TEXT-A-LIBRARIAN by texting # 512-761-8398. We are using a Google Voice number, so we can receive offline message in case you send it after hours.

We also offer workshops on using RefWorks, an online resource for bibliographic management. These are held in our classroom 101, downstairs from the main lobby. Our workshop schedule is updated periodically, so check back often for other classes.

Many of our research resources are available remotely. Access to many journal articles, newpapers, magazines are available online. If you want to know if we have access to your favorite newspaper or magazine you can search for it by using the Periodical List. Or, if you already have a topic you need to research, you can use one of the subject research databases. For more information about using the databases, see this research guide. There are also other research guides arranged by subject which offer you the best resources for your research topic.

Other popular library resources are Reserve and E-Reserve. You can check Reserve by professor or course for materials your professor has placed there for your class to use. Sometimes your textbook will be on Reserve. Other things like chapter readings, articles, videos, or old tests may be on Reserve. If your professor uses the E-Reserve service, they will give you a password to access the materials.

The final tip for a successful semester: Don't pay for journal articles! If you find an article you need, but the library does not have a subscription, then you can utilize the Interlibrary Loan Service to get a copy of the article. This service is also available for books and other materials. It is a free service.

Welcome to Texas State and remember: librarians are here to help you succeed!

 

 

Textbooks: Tips for Finding Them Free or Cheap

Finding Textbooks for Free:

Search the Alkek Library Catalog by Title and Author.

1. Check to make sure it is the same edition you need. Sometimes the library has older editions. If this is the case, check with your professor to see if it's ok to use an older edition.
2. If it has a Due Date that means it is checked out. You can "request" the book, and when it is due back, you may be next in line to check it out.

Search Reserves by Course or Professor to see if it is on Reserve. 

1. It is possible that another professor put it on Reserve—you can check out those also (for 2 hours, inside library use only).
2. A professor’s personal copy won’t appear in the Catalog, but you can find it under Reserves.

If the book is NOT available in Alkek, you can use Interlibrary Loan (ILL) to try to borrow a copy from another library.

1. ILL is an option, but it's not guaranteed that a lending library will loan the book or how long they will lend it for.
2. It's free to use the Interlibrary Loan service, but you have to create an ILLiad account first.

You can also check Other Libraries (such as UT) to see if the book is available locally, and then obtain a TexShare Card to go there and check the book out.  

Finding TextBooks Cheap:

Buy it used at a local bookstore or online through places like Amazon.

Chegg.com is a site for renting textbooks—both ebooks and hard copies. 

Coursesmart  has ebooks. They require a software download and are sold by limited-time subscriptions—typically by semester, so it’s like renting. Usually there is a choice of downloading an ebook to one computer, or logging into a site to view the text.

Cheapest Textbooks searches many sites for the cheapest new, used and rental texts.

Booksprice.com searches many sites for cheap book and ebook prices, and includes music and DVDs.

Also, see the eBooks page for other options for finding Free Textbooks.  (Scroll to the bottom of the page.)  

Guy Dore, Reserve, Periodicals & Media Assistant

Welcome to the "New" 3rd Floor

Come see our DVD and CD collections on the “new” 3rd floor Reserves, Periodicals, and Media area or for short, RPM. We have a lot of great resources some folks in the university community may be unaware of. For example, did you know about these?

 Attention movie lovers!

We have recent titles like Slumdog Millionaire and Rachel Getting Married, along with classics in our Criterion collection and a lot of other favorites. Come on up and browse the shelves or search the catalog, choosing “DVD” under Material Type. You can search by title, year, actor’s name, key word, or if you want to browse everything we have in the collection, just type an asterisk (*) in the search box. You can check out up to 4 DVDs at a time.

Attention commuters! Did you know we have CD’s: Music, audio books, and language courses?  

We have lots of great audio books on CD, both educational and entertaining. Listen to Booker T. Washington’s Up From Slavery, the “Blockbuster Bestseller,” Everything She Ever Wanted by Ann Rule, or how about a hearing a lecture about the Story of the Human Language? Search “Audiobook on CD” under Material Type in the catalog or browse the shelves yourself, behind the reserve counter.

Music choices include Bach to Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and Tejano collections. Search “Music on CD” under Material Type in the catalog, or browse the shelves yourself, behind the reserve counter.

Want to learn a new language or practice what you’ve learned? We have CD language sets for Spanish, Italian, Japanese, and many others. Come and browse behind the reserves counter.

Stay tuned for more from the 3rd floor! Next: Popular magazines and newspapers

Kay Hetherly, RPM & Bindery Assistant

Reserves & Media Collection Move to 3rd Floor Now Complete

Over the past few months there have been many changes going on in the library. Some of those changes have been the reorganization of the 3rd and 4th floors.  The Media Collection & Reserves are now located on the 3rd floor merging with the Periodicals and Microforms Collections. 

Offices have been created for staff and everyone is settling into their new work areas.  Staff from the two units are in the process of cross-training to help students, faculty and staff with their service needs regarding reserve materials, eReserve, locating periodicals, or finding a good movie to watch. 

Our goal was to be complete with the project by the beginning of Summer II we are pleased to finish slightly ahead of schedule!  Thank you for your patience throughout the construction.

Reorganization of the 3rd and 4th Floors

Some of you may have noticed the changes taking place on the 3rd floor recently.  The removal of the study carrels is to prepare for the bigger changes over the next few months.

Construction and reorganization will soon begin for the merger between the Periodicals/Microforms and Reserves/Media units. During this time, there will be a great deal of movement of furniture, shelving, and collections on the microform area of the 3rd floor.  Eventually, room will be made in this area to house the Audio/Video and Reserves Collections currently located on the 4th floor. 

This merger will better utilize the space on the 3rd floor and free up space on the 4th floor for future use. The media collection has grown over the years and is reaching the limit in the current location on 4th.

Expected completion of the reorganization is July 2009. Please excuse the commotion. It is our hope this will streamline services offered by both units and increase accessibility to the media and reserves collections.

Library Acquires Region Free DVD player

The Library has purchased a Region Free DVD player which can play a DVD from any region in the world.  It is combined with a VHS player that will play PAL coded videocassettes.  This player will reside in the Fourth floor Audio/Visual area near the Reserve desk.  The Library will now be able to acquire AV material that is only available in alternate region formats.  The player is now available for use.

World Region codes for videos:
Region 1:    USA, Canada – (also known as NTSC)
Region 2:    Europe, Japan, South Africa, Middle East, Greenland – (also known as PAL)
Region 3:    S. Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Parts of South East Asia
Region 4:    Australia, New Zealand, Latin America (includes Mexico)
Region 5:    Eastern Europe, Russia, India, Africa
Region 6:    China
Region 7:    Reserved for unspecified use
Region 8:    Reserved for cruise ships, airlines and so on
Region 0:    Un-coded and can be played world-wide -- (also called All-region discs)

DVD and VHS in alternate formats such as PAL in the library collection will soon be identified as such.  Talk to the Reserve Desk staff for assistance with the region free DVD player.

--M. Hopper

Finding Reserve Materials by Using the "Hard Copy Reserve" Search

Have you ever wanted to know if your professor has your textbook on reserve but you weren't sure how to find out? Did your professor tell you to read an article from a book that's on reserve at the library? Or do you want to know if there are any old tests on reserve to help you study for your next exam? Finding the answers to these questions got a lot easier last year when the new library catalog was released. The catalog now houses all the reserve items in a way that can be searched by everyone.

All you need to do to find reserve items for your class is to click the "hard copy reserve" link on the main library catalog page. Next you will see the option to search by course or professor. The course search uses the same abbreviations the university uses, "bio," "comm," "mc," etc.

 

Enter the last name to search for the professor, lecturer, or instructor.

If you do not find a textbook on reserve by your professor, sometimes you can find it under another professor's name...especially for the larger core classes that use the same textbook. Try searching by course too.

Another thing to remember: this is different from the "electronic reserve." E-Reserve, or ERes for short, is for electronic access to reserve materials.  In order to access ERes materials, you will need a password, given to you by your professor. The materials (usually articles or book chapters) can be downloaded and printed. Hardcopy reserve will be on the 4th floor at the Researve desk and most items must be used in the library. Photocopying articles or chapters is allowed.

Labels: books, old tests, reserve desk, reserves, textbooks