There’s this thing called “interlibrary loan” and it’s about to become your new best friend. If you want a book (for fun or for school) but cannot find it in our collection at Whittemore, you can order it from any library in the entire Minuteman Library network. Not only that, but you can also order movies and video games as well. All you need is a library card. They’ll ship it straight here.

And yes, it’s free!

You can either go online or come into the library itself to request a book (or game or movie). The process itself is painless either way, only requiring a few clicks and the creation of a PIN.

Interlibrary loan is a great, if imperfect service. Firstly, while the selection of books is huge, it can take a while to receive the items you request. It generally takes about a week, but if the book is in high demand, or hard to find, it can take much longer. I’ve personally never had to wait more than a few weeks for a book to come in, but that can be a problem if you need it for a class. Order early, just to be on the safe side.

The selection for DVDs is also quite good, with a number of both new releases and old classics available. My taste in films is varying to say the least, but I’ve always been able to find the film I’m looking for. I’ve rented things like The Hangover, Paranormal Activity, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and have always been able to find a copy. You can even order complete seasons of many TV shows. You get all the disks in the boxed set at once too, unlike Netflix where you get one disk at a time. However, the quality of the DVDs themselves is a little suspect. They tend to take a lot of punishment, and I have received a few DVDs that were unplayable. It’s easy enough to order another DVD if the one you receive is defective, but it is something you should take into account.

I actually had no idea that you could order video games through this service as well, and judging by the amount of games that actually are ordered, not many students know either. I found out by chance, but have since used it numerous times. The selection is, in a word, surprising, as the mix of choices contains some new releases and some older ones as well. The selection is not huge, so finding a game is somewhat unlikely, but it’s always worth a quick search. I myself just realized that a library has a copy of Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, a game that was just released on the 15th of November! However, the games are not as readily available as DVDs or movies, so expect to wait a longer time for them to arrive. Also, they can take a beating the same way DVDs can.

Overall, interlibrary loan would a decent service if you had to pay for it. The fact that it’s free just makes the deal all the sweeter. Give it a try sometime!

And when I say big, I really mean it!

If you go down the stairs (or take the elevator) to the Lower Mezzanine (LM), you will find the new IT Help Desk, just finished construction early in the fall. No longer will you have to trek over to the basement of Hemenway Hall (though it’s still open if you prefer it) to have your laptop fixed; now you can have your troubles solved right in the library.

When you first come down the stairs, you will see the two newly built study rooms. They are fairly good sized, with comfortable chairs and a big table in the center. Inside each are two large flat-screen TVs, that can be hooked up to a laptop for group discussions. These TVs sound good, but unfortunately I feel that they have more use for slacking than studying. I have, however, seen a few groups in the room using them for presentations, so hopefully my fears are unfounded. While the rooms cannot be signed out yet, in the future that will become an option for groups who want to schedule study parties.

To your left from the study rooms is the IT desk itself. It’s brand new, and offers much more in the ways of both student comfort and ease of use. Instead of sitting behind a table in Hemenway, the IT workers sit behind a large desk with computer monitors that face the student, not the worker. These monitors can  be hooked up to the laptop the worker is fixing, so the student can see what is going on, or for demonstration purposes. No longer do you have to sit awkwardly while the worker clicks around on your laptop!

There are a number of comfortable chairs spread around the desk itself along with desks for study, and a few more TVs scattered around the area. It gives the place a feeling of comfort and relaxation, rather than just a spot to get your computer fixed. The desk itself is also far more welcoming than the room in Hemenway, with warm paneling and a clean exterior. It makes the desk a place that you actually want to visit, rather than a place to avoid.

The IT Desk has also made my life as a Circulation Desk Attendant (which is a fancy way of saying I check out books) much easier. Now, whenever a student has a laptop problem, often with printing, I can point them toward the desk. Not only that, but whenever a printer goes down in the library, someone from the IT Desk is always available to fix it. This means more working printers and less problems, which is always a good thing when you’re a college student.

With the addition of the IT Help Desk, the library is becoming far more of a one-stop-shop rather than just a holder of books. You can get some coffee, find a book to read, and get your laptop fixed without having to brave the great outdoors.

Hello everyone!

My name is Derek Pietras, and I’m taking over the internship position for Elizabeth. I’m a senior here at Framingham, studying English with a concentration in Writing and a minor in Communication arts. I’m also a writer, currently working on the third draft of my first full-length manuscript. After college, I hope to either sell my manuscript and make tons of money, or become a technical writer.

 I look forward to working with everyone here!

In honor of October being National Archives Month this new exhibit “I Found it in the Archives” celebrates that moment when the researcher finds a treasure within the Archives.  To show this we asked some past researchers to write about some of the collections they have used, and to highlight how this may have helped their research.  They wrote about alumnae; Jenny Howard (Class 1866), Bertha Johnston (Class of 1885), Ruth Graves Wakefield (Class of 1924) and Christa Corrigan McAuliffe (Class of 1970).  Also in the exhibit are materials from the early Household Arts program (now Consumer Sciences). 

Come view the exhibit and maybe something that others found as treasures will resonate with you, or come visit us in Special Collection on the Main Floor of the library to find your own treasure.  This exhibit will be up from October through December 2011.

Infotrac – Keyword Searching from Framingham State University on Vimeo.

How to ask for help from a librarian from Framingham State University on Vimeo.

Keyword Searching the Online Catalog from Framingham State University on Vimeo.

Keyword Searching in the EBSCOhost Database from Framingham State University on Vimeo.

Depending on the type of student you are, you’re either dreading this coming semester or you thrive on the social and intellectual stimulation that comes from life on a college campus.  Most of you are probably like me, which is somewhere in the middle.

As college students, we endure at least eight semesters during our undergrad.  Some, including myself, have more than eight.  As we get into the later semesters, they get more grueling, and the novelty of a new beginning wears off by the start of our senior year.

Maybe it’s your last first day of school, or your very first day of college classes, either way, I think it’s important to keep our eyes on the bigger picture. It’s easy to get caught in our college bubble, especially for the students that live here.  Our lives consist of classes, clubs, food, friends and a part-time job – probably not in that order.  It isn’t until we are entering, or coming close to our senior year that we begin to think about the world outside of the FSU bubble.  With jobs as scarce as they are, it’s not just about the degree, it’s about how we got there.   How mature we present ourselves in interviews, the clubs we were in and the leadership opportunities we took advantage of.  We are only in this bubble for a few short years, and until we have a significant amount of job experience, it’s what we do in our bubble that determines how we live after graduation.  It’s coming fast, and the sooner we realize that, the better adults we will become.

I’ve heard this all before, but this year is (hopefully) my last full year before I am pushed out into that adult world we hear so much about.  I am looking over my resumé and trying to gain any additional leadership and volunteer experience, just to set myself apart from the other recent college grads that will be applying for the same positions.

So from one college student to another, I propose a challenge.  I challenge you to be different this year.  To make this first day of school a different first day of school.  Participate more, study an extra fifteen minutes for that test and proofread that paper one more time.  I think the benefits will far outweigh the inconvenience of a little more time spent on schoolwork.  Although, isn’t that why we entered the bubble in the first place?  I know I will be paying more attention to myself and my achievements and what I can work toward this semester.  In addition to making a significant impact on our life after college, this will potentially bring a new energy to the FSU student community.  It’s never too late or too early to make a better path for ourselves in the working world.  Good luck and welcome to those who are coming for the first time, and welcome back for those who are returning.  Let’s look forward to making this year a great year!