But did you know that the library also has a New Books display? Located between the Circulation and Information desks on the main floor of the library, this display has an eclectic mix of new and interesting print books acquired by the library on a variety of subjects and across disciplines. It’s a great way to find books outside your subject area and it might even spark an idea for your next project! Come in and check it out. And check back often as it changes periodically.

Some titles currently on display:

The Impulse Economy: Understanding Mobile Shoppers and What Makes Them Buy by Gary Schwartz

Starting Your Career as an Artist: A Guide for Painters, Sculptors, Photographers, and Other Visual Artists by Angie Wojak and Stacy Miller

A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book About Studying Leadership by Brad Jackson and Ken Parry

Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo

Renaissance People: Lives that Shaped the Modern Age by Robert C. Davis and Beth Lindsmith

Triathlon Training for Dummies by Deirdre Pitney and Donna Dourney

A couple of weeks ago, Cambridge Journals Online announced that they were releasing an API: “Releasing an API allows other pieces of software to communicate directly with the CJO application. It can power mobile apps, desktop widgets, and a whole host of new applications. With it we open some of our data up to the creativity and ingenuity of 3rd party developers, and hopefully find surprising new contexts for our content.”

It will be interesting to see what kind of new programs and ways of interacting with the journal literature are created through this initiative.

For those interested in following the progress, Red Deer College Library subscribes to several Cambridge Journals, including Aging and Society, The Canadian Journal of Political Science, and The Journal of Economic History.

What kinds of apps would you like to see developed for journal archives like Cambridge Journals Online?

If you currently use Refworks and wish to retain your existing references you will need to either export the information so it can be uploaded into a different bibliographic citation manager or continue with a paid individual subscription to Refworks. 

To export your Refworks records:

1. Login to Refworks. You may be asked for the RDC group code if you are off-campus.  
2. Click References and then select Export from the menu at the top of the screen.
3. Select All References if you want to download all of your files at once or choose a specific folder from the panel on the right hand side of the screen if you would like to download one folder at a time to maintain your folder structure.  If you choose the All References option, your file structure will not be retained when you move your files into a new bibliographic tool.  Please note that custom attachments will not transfer.
4. Choose the Bibliographic Software (EndNote, Reference Manager, or ProCite) option as the Export Format and click the Export References button.
5. Once the references are displayed in a pop-up (you may need to temporarily enable pop-ups), copy and paste this information into a Notepad document.
6. Click File – Save As – and name the file (ensure that it is saving as a .txt file) and choose where you would like to save the document on your computer.
7. If you would prefer to send the file to yourself as an email, look for the green “Completed” box that appears in the bottom right hand corner of the screen after you click Export References.  You can choose the option to email the file to yourself from this box.  The attached file will be in the .txt format.
8. The file is now ready to import into a different program.

If you would like to continue with an individual subscription to Refworks, then you will need to use the Backup & Restore feature that can be found in the Tools menu at the top of the Refworks screen.  More information on this process can be found in Refworks Help under “Backing up and restoring your references.”

The library will provide more information on possible alternative citation management software before fall term. 

 If you have any questions about this change or you know that you will not have access to your RDC email during the spring and summer and you would like to be kept informed about changes to Refworks, please email librarian@rdc.ab.ca and let us know!

You can search the site by topic, or explore based on date, place, or exhibition.  There are also a number of apps already available, and they’re encouraging the development of more.

Have fun, but be warned – you could lose hours exploring this site!

Reading the report got me wondering – what device do you prefer to use to access the Web (and especially the Library’s website)?

Let us know in the comments.

From the about page: “The Tournament is an annual springtime event (2013 marks our ninth year) here at The Morning News, where 16 of the previous year’s best works of fiction enter a March Madness-style battle royale. At the end of the month, the winner of the Tournament is blessed with the Rooster, our prize named after David Sedaris’s brother (because why not).”

For a little Monday Fun (because why should Friday get all the glory?)…

Discovered via a blog post by one of the tournament’s colour commentators, John Warner.

“Perhaps circulating the library in the quiet areas (that aren’t always so quiet) would contribute to better concentration on my behalf. As a parent, it’s futile to try and do homework in a noisy house so I come here to make the most of my time. I’m getting tired of people coming here in a pair or group to work on a project (more so discuss their personal lives). This is by far the noisiest library I’ve ever been to and it’s not just myself that says that.”

We said:

We appreciate your feedback on our Quiet Area.

Staff endeavour to monitor the area about once an hour during the day, as well as a couple of times during evenings and weekends (we are lightly staffed at these times, so the monitoring is less frequent). However, sometimes we are too busy on the service desks to leave the desk and go upstairs, so please be aware that the frequency will vary.

When we monitor the area, we are looking specifically for anyone who is talking, and they will be asked to move to another area.

If you require assistance outside of our monitoring, feel free to:
•    speak to a staff member at one of our service desks, asking them to deal with the issue
•    text us at 403.800.8945 (local call; standard rates apply), asking us to deal with the issue
•    approach the student(s) yourself and ask them to move to another area

In recognition of Freedom to Read Week 2011, we offered lists of banned or challenged books which are available at RDC Library.  Take a look – you might be surprised by some of the titles on the list.   Or go one step further and borrow one!

Check out further reading and ideas for celebrating by searching the Intellectual Freedom and Censorship categories on this blog.

Happy Freedom to Read Week!