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Hi. Have we met? It’s just that I’ve seen you on campus, probably in the library, and I’m fairly certain that we’ve met before… oh! we’ve met in a library instruction session, haven’t we? Yes, that was me! You came to the library and I talked and talked about different databases you could use for your research and I even gave you a handout… oh, you’ve lost the handout? And it might be helpful for a class you have this semester? Well, you’re in luck, as the library now has LibGuides, which is a better way to use research guides than the old paper handout.

LibGuides can be created by librarians or your professors to assist you with research information. They are web-based, and are located on the Library’s website under the link Resources by Subject. Some LibGuides are on subjects, such as a Business Research Guide, while other LibGuides are very specific, such as an INQ110 Research Guide for Professor Brogan’s class. Other LibGuides are not on classes at all, such as the Citation Guide and a New Books list. But all LibGuides, regardless of class specific or library specific, can be found on our web page. Be sure to let us know what you think of our LibGuides by contacting the specific librarian associated with the LibGuide you are using, or just send an email here.

Funny how time flies when you’re having fun! Fintel Library has so many new features to mention, but so little time to mention them before classes begin tomorrow! We’ve been so busy redesigning the website and adding information that we have yet to address one of the best parts of our collection: eBooks. Loads of eBooks. We have over 50,000 titles to pick from in our catalog. And with EBSCO adding new features to their eBooks’ design, everything you knew about eBooks last spring has changed this fall. Our website, our search screen, and our eBooks- it’s all brand new. And for those of you who have iPhones or iPads, you are really going to love the new eBooks.

One way to find our eBooks would be to do a basic search on our webpage. Type in the word “philosophy” and hit search, and you will have close to 4 million results. Scroll down to the left of the page, and you will see an option to search by “Source Types”. Select eBooks and click Update, and see how those results change. Now you’re looking at results that are eBooks with the keyword “philosophy” in the record.

Once you’ve seen a title you like and you would like to download the title, or “check out”, you first want to make sure you have an account with EBSCO. If you do not, then it’s completely free and easy to create. Even if you are not interested in downloading the eBook, we suggest you create an account with EBSCO, just in case you want to save articles in your folder, or keep track of a bibliography you are working on.

Now that you have your EBSCO account, and you have logged on, you can download the title you would like. Click on the Download (Offline) option. You may have to download some additional software in order to view the eBook, like ACSM File, or Adobe Acrobat. If you are on a computer in the library, please note that you will have to download the software every time you download a title- our computers are wiped clean after you log out. If you are on your own computer, or iPad, iPhone, or Kindle, then you will only have to download the software once.

Once you have surpassed the check-out period for your eBook, you will no longer have access to the file. But you can check it out (download) again if you need to, so don’t panic!

Any questions on eBooks? Call us, email us, or IM us at Fintel Library. We are here to help.

You can’t help but notice the great big new search box right in the middle of the page, right? That box represents a new way of accessing the library’s many resources. Generically, the search box is the primary interface for Fintel Library’s subscription to EBSCO’s Discovery Service (EDS). It allows a user to access multiple databases from various vendors, plus the library catalog with a single search.

In other words, tell the search box what you are looking for and it will look for your results in Jstor, Academic Search Complete, NewsBank, Business Source Complete (all the EBSCOHost products actually). You can discover e-books (which are now downloadable by the way, more on that later) books, journal articles, images, newspaper and news wire stories, TV and radio transcripts, and videos all with a single search term (more videos than you might think too).

“Sounds like Google” you say, and in a way you are right, and in a way it is a cat of a very different color. The simple search interface and the massive results lists with all their variety of resources are indeed like Google. What is fundamentally different, though, is that the vast majority of the content you will find through the EDS search box is simply not available to internet search engines like Google. The results are full of high-quality citations that the authors and publishers have licensed to EBSCO to make available through EDS. In other words, the people who created the content are getting paid for it. It’s the real deal, so to speak.

So, have a go at the search box for your next assignment. You’ll be amazed at what you can discover.

Hello. This is the first post of the new Fintel Library blog. “Blogs are so 2005,” you may say, but we say, “We really liked 2005”.

This blog will inform you of some things- things like new books Fintel Library now has, old books you may have forgotten (or never knew existed), and news. What kind of news? All kinds, like how bananas are so inbred that they may become extinct some day. Or how NetLibrary is now owned by Ebsco and beginning next week will be referred to as Ebsco e-books!

See? It’s all very exciting. And since it’s so hot outside, why don’t you watch something cool while you’re just sitting there reading this:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UntiiPDEkY&feature=player_embedded]

You will read this blog and you will be informed. Be sure to check back and see what’s new.