Author Archives: msylvain

Claire T. Carney Library End of Semester Announcement

Poster of Claire T. Carney Library and Open 24 HoursThe Claire T. Carney Library will open its doors to the UMassD community for 24/7 hours starting at noon on December 3rd (Sunday) until December 18th (Monday) when we will close at 10PM.  Library services for Circulation/Reserves, the Digital Media Center, and Reference will not have extended hours, so make sure to visit those service points during regular hours.  You will also need a UMass Pass to enter the building after 10PM and until regular opening hours the next day.

We hope you will find a variety of study spaces to choose from including our quiet study areas in the South Reading Room and Grand Reading Room (when no events are scheduled), several group study rooms available by reservation, and many individual and group study areas throughout the building.

Please be mindful that we will be close to seating capacity, so if you are at a group table and not expecting team members, please use our Open/Taken table tents to offer seats to others.

We also encourage everyone to be respectful of the space and other students by watching noise levels and picking up after yourselves should you bring any food/drink.

If you have any question, please contact our staff either at the Circulation/Reserve desk (x8750), the Learning Commons desk (x8884), or the overnight security staff.

We wish you all the best with your exams and a productive end to the semester!   

Using FastCase and HeinOnline for Legal Research

Are you doing caselaw or legal research, but confused on how to get started? Not sure if you have all the tools you need, or if there are accessible alternatives to Google Scholar or the Cornell LLI? If you’re researching these topics, you need to know about our library subscriptions to HeinOnline and FastCase.

FastCase provides access to federal and state case law, statutes, regulations, court rules, constitutions, and connects with HeinOnline to provide law review articles. Its search abilities and added tools are like the functions you’d find in other legal research platforms, and FastCase has the added benefit of being one of the most widely used tools for legal research thanks to many State Bar Associations providing it to lawyers (including Massachusetts).

HeinOnline is a database covering legal history, government documents and reports, legal reviews, and international law. The integration of HeinOnline with FastCase also allows you to quickly find the case law or court decision cited in a law journal or other legal classic. Together, these two platforms should cover your most of your legal research needs!

If you’d like to know more about how to use these powerful tools, contact your librarian liaison.

 

Position Opening: Web and Discovery Services Librarian

We are looking for a service-oriented librarian to develop and enhance our library user interfaces. This includes the library’s website and blog as well as our Primo discovery service. The Web and Discovery Services Librarian will be part of a creative and forward-looking team and will participate in a variety of new library initiatives. This librarian will lead the library’s usability efforts and will adapt new and existing web tools to improve the library’s online platforms and interfaces.  This position offers the potential for a librarian to grow and develop in the areas of web interface development and library systems.

Read the job description and apply at https://bit.ly/2Aob15y 

 

YouTube Channel for UMass Dartmouth Library Services

UMass Dartmouth Library YouTube Channel

You do research in all kinds of places—work, school, home, coffee shops—and at all times of the day, including late at night. Wouldn’t it be great if you could get help wherever and whenever you needed it?

Now you can! The UMass Dartmouth Library recently launched a YouTube channel chock-full of short videos to help you with common research questions. No librarian on duty at 2am? No problem!

The Library’s playlists include:

Locating or Requesting Full-Text Articles: Did you find a citation you like but can’t figure out how to get the article? This playlist will show you how to get from citation to full-text article.

EBSCO Databases: Most videos are a minute or less, and cover topics like limiting and sorting search results, emailing articles, and getting article citations. These are applicable in dozens of databases, including Business Source Complete, CINAHL, Criminal Justice Abstracts, MLA International Bibliography, PsycINFO, and SocINDEX.

There are also videos geared toward those studying specific disciplines, like nursing and psychology. More videos will be added throughout the year, so be sure to subscribe to the Library’s YouTube channel!

SciFi Book Club to discuss A Night in the Lonesome October

The SciFi Book Club is reading A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny for our October meeting. Nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1994, this was the author’s final work before his death in 1995. Zelanzy, author of poetry and prose, has an impressive bibliography for his short 58 years. He’s been cited as an influence of several important contemporary authors such as Neil Gaiman and George R.R. Martin.

Taking place from the perspective of a dog, the reader is introduced to familiar and not so familiar characters (with their animal familiars) as some try to open a portal to let the Elder Gods in to Earth and others try to keep the portal closed. Let’s just say if you’re a fan of H.P. Lovecraft, you should read this. With each chapter (plus an introduction) representing one day of October and a storyline that mixes the supernatural with horror and humor, we felt this was a fitting choice for October.

The book also includes illustrations by Gahan Wilson, a celebrated cartoonist known for his dark humor. You can find a sample of some of his work on his official website.

The Claire T. Carney Library has one copy of this book on 7 day reserve (and many of Zelazny’s other books), but you can also look at your public library or use our interlibrary loan service to get your hands on this one.

We look forward to seeing you at our meeting on Tuesday, October 31st at 2pm in Library 314. Halloween costumes are welcome!

Banned Books Week – Celebrating the Freedom to Read

Banned Books Week is an annual awareness campaign promoted by the American Library Association and Amnesty International, to be held the week of September 24th in 2017. It celebrates the freedom to read, draws attention to banned and challenged books, and highlights persecuted individuals.

Every year the coalition of organizations that sponsors Banned Books Week has featured specific categories of banned and challenged books. This year’s celebration will emphasize the importance of the First Amendment, which guarantees our inherent right to read, naming the theme “Our Right to Read.”

The library is displaying selected banned books on the 1st floor near the Circulation Desk.  So, exercise your First Amendment right by checking out a banned book and reading it!