Library News

Category: Library News

Meet Your Reference Librarians: Lina Rosenberg Foley Edition

By now, many of you have reached out to our reference librarians by email, phone, chat, our web form, and now, our reference kiosk.

We provide solid research assistance, as well as help with navigating our wide array of electronic resources.

Have you met Lina? If so, you’ll know she is enthusiastic about helping you and supporting your academic success.

She is also our University Archivist, so she loves providing our community with access to the wealth of primary sources and interesting historical ephemera that she carefully curates.

Read on to learn more about this multi-passionate Reference Librarian-slash-University Archivist-slash-all around wonderful person (and alumna)!

Lovely Librarian Lina

Undergrad Major: Environmental Studies (from this fine institution!)

Favorite Book: Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen

Favorite Hobby: Anything outside- camping, hiking, mountain biking

Favorite Database: Artstor, because not only can you find a bunch of things from the Archives and the Wriston Art Galleries, but also art and architecture from around the world. 

Pets: Only the squirrels in my backyard

Best part of being a Reference Librarian: Learning something new because of a question someone’s asked

Anything else: Vote! Register to vote, and get your friends and family to do it too- it’s easy and quick, and your civic duty.

Meet Your Reference Librarians: Andrew McSorley Edition

Considering that you may not have had the opportunity to meet all of our fantastic library faculty and staff during Welcome Week this year, given the need for social distancing, we thought it might be nice for you to get to know the librarians who are here to support you.

Reference librarians, among many other things, help you learn to engage in high-quality research and use our extensive collections in the most advantageous way. We support student scholars! We also support faculty and staff.

First up we have Andrew McSorley, our Reference and Digital Liberal Arts Librarian. Andrew is a published poet and also a published dad! If you’ve worked with him before, you know he is very intelligent, well-rounded, and has the ability to take complex ideas and information and express it all in a clear and concise way. He’s also very, very funny.

Here are a few more fun facts about Andrew, answered in his own words.

Undergrad Major: Creative Writing

Favorite Book: Sometimes it’s Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. Right now, probably either Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino or Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett (plays count, right?)

Favorite Hobby: Poetry, Ice Hockey, Magic: The Gathering

Favorite Database: This is such a fun idea, to have a favorite database. They’re all so useful. The one I use the most is probably Credo Reference, but AVON (Academic Video Online) and Oxford English Dictionary are pretty fun. 

Pets: One cat, Nikki.

Best part of being a Reference Librarian: Meeting new students!

Anything else: Stay curious, and never stop learning!

Thanks so much for all you do for Lawrence and our students, Andrew.

Our Reference Librarians can be reached in a variety of ways highlighted here.

Summer 2020 and the Mudd

While the Mudd Library building will remain closed for the summer, your friends from the Mudd are still here to help and bring you the resources you need!

  • Interlibrary loan of electronic articles and chapter scans are still available to all current students, faculty, and staff.
  • Reference services are available Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (Central Daylight Time). Reach us through chat, email, and more. We’re also available for Zoom research appointments!
  • Are you a student who is on campus for the summer, or faculty and staff? We’ll be continuing to send you books through campus mail. Just find the item you want in OneSearch and submit a request!
  • Off campus and need a scan of a chapter from one of our books? We can help you with that through OneSearch as a document delivery request!
  • Looking forward to our summer coffeehouses? Don’t worry- they’re still happening remotely! We’re planning some excellent coffeehouses throughout the summer! More details to come.

We hope everyone is able to relax and rejuvenate as well as educate and enrich yourselves this summer. Be sure to let us know how we can help you!

Returning Library Materials

Have materials that need to be returned to the Mudd Library? If you’re on campus, be sure to drop them in the return slot to the left of the front doors of the building. We’re regularly (and safely) checking in returned materials.

Off campus? If you’re able, please mail your items to the following address:
Lawrence University Library: Circulation
113 S. Lawe St.
Appleton, WI 54911

Questions or concerns? Email Cindy Patterson at cynthia.m.patterson@lawrence.edu

Questions about interlibrary loan materials? Email lucialib@lawrence.edu

Your friends from the Mudd Library are looking forward to when we can safely be together in the library again!

Academic Citation Workshop presented by the Mudd Library and the Center for Academic Success

There’s enough confusion and uncertainty in the air these days.

Whether or not you’re citing your sources correctly does not need to be one of them.

Stop by Zoom on Thursday, April 30 at 4:30 pm Central to get some support and clarity on your citations.

Reference Librarian Gretchen Revie and Associate Dean of Academic Success Julie Haurykiewicz will guide you through the art and science of academic citations, so you can get them right the first time, without confusion.

You do not have to figure this out on your own. We are here to help you succeed.

Join the meeting here.

Hope to see you there!

Mudd Library Services Update

Building Access: To minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmission, the Seeley G. Mudd Library building remains closed until further notice. Although the building is closed, your Library colleagues will continue to support the university community with a range of services to enable and enhance remote teaching and learning.

Access to Information Resources: See http://www.lawrence.edu/library for remote access to electronic resources, including journal articles and other digital resources.

Research Help: Reference Librarians are standing by! Start with the Ask a Librarian page. If the chat service is offline, send your question via email, and we will reply as soon as we are able. Contact Reference Services: reference@lawrence.edu

Library Instruction: Contact the Library Instruction Coordinator for consultation on integrating digital sources into remote courses, to schedule a Library instruction session with remote classes, and to plan library assignments designed for remote learners.

Interlibrary Loan: We will continue to request articles and book chapters that can be fulfilled electronically, but we will not be placing requests for loans of books or other returnable items. Patrons who currently have ILL loans can request a renewal by logging into your ILL account. For more information, contact: lucialib@lawrence.edu

Archives: While the Mudd Library building is closed, the Lawrence Archives will also be closed. If you have any queries, questions, or needs please email the University Archivist at archives@lawrence.edu

Instructional Technology: See http://www.lawrence.edu/faculty/it for service updates, hours, and contact information.

Technology Services Help Desk: Technology Services staff are still hard at work. Service updates, hours, and contact information are available on the website: https://www.lawrence.edu/info/offices/technology_services

This information is current as of 5pm, Monday, March 23, 2020 and is subject to change at any time — but you knew that.

Spring Break & Spring Term in the Mudd- Updated

With the news of Lawrence University extending spring break and the campus moving to distance learning for spring term, you may be wondering what that means for the Mudd Library.

  • Spring break hours of Monday to Friday, 8 am to 4:30 pm, closed Saturday and Sunday, will begin on Thursday, March 19 and go through Sunday, April 5
  • We will be closed over spring break, March 19 through April 5- but we will available to help remotely Monday through Friday 8-5.
  • We will hope to be open over spring term – though hours remain to be determined

Your friends in the Mudd will be here for you, even when you’re away from campus! Here are just some of the ways!

We know this is an anxious time for our fabulous students and our faculty and staff colleagues. Rest assured that we’ll do all we can to help everyone continue to be successful in these unusual circumstances.

Second Floor Renovation

We’re so excited to welcome our friends in the Center for Academic Success to the second floor of the Mudd Library! When the renovation is complete, they’ll be joining our other second floor buddies, Technology Services.

Here’s a timeline of what’s happening:

  • Technology Services Helpdesk will be moving to room 401 on March 10th.
  • Room 401 will not be available for reservations or Zoom conferencing until Fall term 2020 while that room is our temporary Helpdesk (a Zoom-ready room is still available on the 3rd floor).
  • Construction of the second floor will begin on Monday, March 23- the first day of spring break.
  • The second floor (including the ITC computer lab) will be unavailable over spring term and most of the summer.
  • Construction is scheduled to be completed near the end of August 2020.

Please be sure to let us know if there is any way we can help while the construction is underway. Here are a few helpful tips:

  • Get your quiet library time during the later afternoons, evenings, and weekends when the construction crews will not be working.
  • Noise-cancelling headphones are available to check out from the circulation desk.
  • We’ll be moving study tables to other floors so there will still be plenty of places to study.
  • Can’t find something? Ask us! We’re happy to help, or to retrieve items for you.

Wondering how the library will be arranged once the construction and move are complete? Here’s a visualization!

WHAT'S IN THE MUDD LIBRARY? 4TH FLOOR: Book collections, room 401, Kruse Room, silent study 3RD FLOOR: Book collections, Mudd Gallery, quiet study 2ND FLOOR: Technology Services Helpdesk & Center for Academic Success Government document collections, computer lab 1ST FLOOR: Library Services Research help, circulation desk, makerspace, music score & media collections, group study LEVEL B: University Archives LEVEL A: Periodical collections, group study

Thank you to our many friends from all over campus who worked hard for years to make this project happen!

Winter Break and Special Hours

Mudd Library building in the snow with text that reads Happy Holidays from your friend at the Mudd

As winter break draws to a close, we’re approaching the time when the Mudd Library will be closed for a little break. Before then, be sure to stop by to check out some books, DVDs, scores, games, etc. If you’re faculty, now is a great time to drop off your materials for course reserve before the start of term rush!

Special upcoming hours are as follows:

  • Regular winter break hours of Monday-Friday 8 am to 4:30 pm (closed Saturday and Sunday) will continue through Tuesday, December 24th.
  • We’ll be closed from December 25th through January 1st.
  • We’ll be back and ready to help you get ready for winter term on Thursday, January 2nd and Friday, January 3rd from 8 am to 4:30 pm.
  • Closed Saturday & Sunday, January 4th and 5th
  • Resume regular academic year hours on Monday, January 6th

If you plan on spending the end of December getting ready for the term, there’s still lots the library can help you with- even when it’s closed!

  • Streaming media databases: Find documentaries, instructional videos, movies, news clips, operas, theatre performances, and much more from our varied collection of streaming video resources. Our streaming audio resources include a wide variety of music, theatre audio, and more. Many of these resources include permalinks to individual titles and the ability to make clips to use in courses, and most can be accessed off campus with a proxy login.
  • OneSearch and Article databases: Find full text articles by searching in OneSearch and in many of our databases.
  • ArtStor Image Database: Collect images for your courses and projects in ArtStor.
  • Course reserve forms: We have PDF forms of our course reserve cards available that you can fill out at home and print out (or save as and print out later). Find an article in one of our databases? Use this form to simply enter some information, and we’ll add your reading and fill out the card.
  • RefWorks citation manager: Don’t have access to a printer? Collect and organize resources in RefWorks that you can easily locate once we’re open again.

We hope everyone has a safe and happy winter break! Happy holidays from your friends in the Mudd!