Fiedler Library Blog

Printing in Fiedler from your own laptop

Wahoo! It is now possible to print items from your own laptop to the Fiedler Library printers!  See the instructions at  http://cecs.engg.ksu.edu/labs/printing/personal

Power and Affiliates Day: March 9

A reminder from Dr. Noel Schulz  "On Wednesday, March 9, we will have the RESCHEDULED Electrical Power Affiliates Day.  This day will be multi-faceted with corporate displays, mock interviews, technical presentations within classes and free lunch between 11-1.  There will also be an Industrial/Faculty reception from 3:30-4:30 pm in the Serpan Lobby area (carpeted area near the coffee shop).  This reception will be a great time to visit with industry representatives about your teaching and research activities that may be of interest to them.  In the future we are working to expand our industrial partners as well as the number of departments involved with the Electrical Power Affiliates program." 

Check it out!

Fiedler Engineering Library Winter Break hours :

Here is a listing of Fiedler Library Winter Break Hours......

Saturday, December 20, 2008 & Sunday, December 21, 2008 – Closed 
Monday, December 22, 2008 and Tuesday, December 23, 2008 – 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Wednesday, December 24, 2008 – Close at 2:00 pm
Thursday, December 25, 2008 through Sunday, January 4, 2009 – Closed
Monday, January 5, 2009 through Wednesday January 14, 2009 – 8:00 am-5:00 pm
Saturday, January 10, 2009 & Sunday, January 11, 2009 – Closed
Thursday, January 15, 2009 – 8:00 am - 11:30 pm (Regular Hours Resume)

 

Wiggle your toes!

This is a bit belated but we have new carpet!  If you haven't seen it, it is pretty blue with purplish flecks.  Pretend it is the ocean and you're at the beach instead of sitting in the library studying for a summer class that is moving way too quickly.

5 reasons to visit Fiedler Engineering Library

1. Computers – As if you didn’t notice already.  The library has a lot of computers, 33 to be exact.  Did you know we have laptops (10) for checkout too?  You can even print from them.
2. Tables – So Fiedler Library doesn’t have any comfy couches like Hale but there are lots of tables for studying, spreading out a project, or working with a group.  Bonus: They even have chairs!
3. Librarians – Librarians all seem to have been born with overactive helpfulness genes.  We love to answer questions, especially yours.  Need help finding a journal?  Searching a database?  Changing your engineering password?  Cajoling a recalcitrant printer?  We can help.
4. Study rooms – So the study rooms aren’t actually IN the library.  You do have to come to the library to pick up the room keys but you no longer have to visit us to sign up for a room.  Study room sign up is now online.  Online sign up is definitely an improvement though we miss your shiny faces.
5. CANDY – Last but not least, our esteemed candy jar.  It may not always be well stocked but when it is a little sugar never fails to brighten the dullest day or just give you the rush you need to stay awake in class.

Study Rooms

The study rooms are very popular.  They provide a peaceful place to study without distractions.  You should remember a few things if you want to use one of the study rooms.  First, there are five rooms and they are reserved very quickly.  If you know you will need one sign up ASAP.  Second, in the winter they can be cold so come prepared.  Finally, the keys can be picked up in the Fiedler engineering library.

Coming soon!
In the very near future you will be able to sign up for the study rooms online.  The trusty, faithful room reservation notebook will be retired.  It will probably move to Florida and start drinking lots of strawberry daiquiris.  Its exact retirement date is currently unknown but we will keep you posted.

Requirements for getting a study room key:
1. You must show your KSU ID card so we can see your full name.
2. You must give us a working telephone number so we can reach you in the event of a problem.
3. You must return the key at the requested time.
4. If you reserved a room, you must pick up the key within 20 minutes of the reserved time or we will not hold it for you --- it will be first come, first serve.
5. If you keep the key past 10:00 p.m., please return it via the book drop.  If it is not back by morning we will be calling.
6. You are responsible for the safety of the computer in the study room.
7. If a key is lost, you are responsible for the cost of the replacement key, currently about $12.00.
8. Failure to follow the above items will result in loss of study room key privileges.

Study room rules
1. Please return key in person to Fiedler Engineering Library staff after using the room.
2. If you use study room overnight, please return key by 8:00 a.m. on Weekdays and by 1:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.  If library door is locked please drop the key in the Library Book Depository outside the Library. 
3. Please use only Expo Bold Color Dry Erase Purple Marker that is provided in the study room.  Extra markers are available in Fiedler Library, just ask!
4. Do not, under any circumstances, move extra tables or chairs into rooms or open windows.
5. If it is too hot or too cold, open the door to the hallway. We know it isn't ideal, but there are continuing problems with the window mechanisms.

Fiedler Folks

Who are those friendly faces who are here to help you out when you have a question?  Two of us work here all the time.  I'm Alice, (short brown hair) the Fiedler Engineering Librarian, and I am here when I'm not out of the office for some sort of meeting.  Unfortunately, it seems like I have a lot of meetings.  We have meetings over in Hale Library that need to be attended for a variety of reasons--interviews with potential hires, committee meetings, and departmental meetings.  I also am active in the Faculty Senate, serving as the Faculty Senate Secretary this year.  Last year I was chair of Faculty Senate Academic Affairs, so it gave me an inside view of all the work that needs to be done to bring about any changes in courses and curriculum.

Asha (long black hair) is our valued Fiedler Staff Assistant.  She takes care of a lot of the practical things that need to be done to keep everything running smoothly.  She answers lots of questions, keeps our journals organized and sends older ones for binding, supervises student employees, and gets to cajole the printer when it is in a crabby mood and gets paper jams.  Asha has lots of library experience working in the Manhattan Public Schools for several years.

Twelve hours a week we are fortunate to have Livia (medium length dark hair--younger than Asha or me).  Livia helps out at the service counter, answering questions and taking care of laptop and reserves checkouts while she is here.  Livia graduated from University of North Texas this past August with her Master's in Library Science.

Our student employees--April, Amber, Brock, Jason and Zack--are here for some of the hours during the normal 8:00-5:00 operation.  However, they are the only ones who are here when we are open evenings and weekends.  Please don't be shy to ask them for help.  They know the library resources pretty well and can direct you to engineering library resources.

Please feel free to ASK a question when you can't figure out something or are experiencing difficulties with the equipment or finding information.  We are here to not only "run the library", but to help you find information.  There is a lot more to finding information than doing a Google search; we can help you find the right library resources that will help make life easier for you.

There is one last caveat about the folks who work in Fiedler.  Ever since the library opened, we have shared service counter space with the Engineering Copy Center. So for now, some of the faces you see at the service counter are not library employees.  They are copy center employees who are here to help you make copies and purchase course packets. The Engineering Copy Center will not be here after January 22.  All copy center functions are being consolidated into the Union Copy Center.  The College of Engineering is working to make this transition as easy as possible for students, staff and faculty.  We will keep you informed as to the new structure of services that will be available after January 22.

Keep warm in this cold weather--Alice the librarian

Welcome back to Fiedler Library!

Today is the first day of the semester, so I want to greet all the returning students with a "hope you had a great break" and the new students with a "welcome to Fiedler Library". It is hard for me to believe that Fiedler Library is beginning the 13th full semester of operation.

Fiedler Library opened in October, 2000, about a month after the dedication of Fiedler Hall.  When it opened we had no reference books and no journals stocked.  Only the study tables and the computers were here for the patrons to use.  We selected the engineering reference books from the Hale Science Reference collection and brought them to Fiedler during the semester break.  We hired 5 students as quickly as we could in order to start having the library open in the evenings and on the weekends.  The library could not be open during those hours if it were not for the dedication and faithfulness of the Fiedler Student Employees.

Through the years we have added significant assets.  When we opened, we had a small printer for all 24 computer workstations.  We about killed the printer from overuse because the 24 computers in the library were processing more print jobs than the 40+ computers in the lab across the hall to the west.  The small printer was replaced with the larger model that you see today, and we have about killed it off also.  That printer has printed over 1,230,000 pages in its life of about 5 years.  Due to high student use, the helpful folks at Engineering Computing Services installed a second behemoth printer for us. When things are working correctly, print jobs should roll over from one printer to another to avoid traffic jams from large print jobs.  The photocopier was added to the library because of the need for a copy machine, and it continues to be one of the most used coin-operated copiers on the campus.

This last summer the new computers were installed with the dual screens for your convenience (yeah!) and 8 new computers were added to the original 24.  When we opened in 2000, there was no wireless access. Wireless access is now very good within the library and most of the rest of the engineering complex.  We added a "new" reference desk a couple of years after the library opened.  The "new" desk actually belonged to one of the previous deans in engineering.  I enjoy having the historical desk in the new library since it adds a sense of history of the college.

Well, I'd best sign off for now; I know blog entries are not supposed to be so long as to bore the reader.  I'll add more later.  Watch this blog for news of upcoming events or invitations for your thoughts on changes that we are considering making.  If you have a question about something else, please ask!  I see this blog as the communication venue to the "Fielder family".  I want to communicate with this great community of users who make my day brighter.  Good luck with the new semester, and take care of yourselves!

Alice, the Fiedler Librarian