Talking in the Library

How you like to find stuff: Part Deux

Earlier this week, Tara the Cool asked how you like to find stuff. A couple of you responded (thanks!)  We in library land are really, really interested in how you find stuff.  At K-State Libraries, we're looking at our catalog and wondering how you use it, why you don't, what you'd prefer, and what you can't live without. So, sometime in November, don't be surprised if a very nice librarian approaches you and asks if you have about 15-30 minutes to participate in a usability study of our catalog.

Usability testing is fairly painless.  We ask you to sit at a computer with software on it that records your clicks and typing and your voice. Then, we ask you to search for a few things and talk through what you're thinking as you search. There's no right or wrong way to search, we just need to know how you go about it. 

It might sound like a snooze, but it's actually exciting. It's a bit like we're at that point in learning a language when the jokes make sense. Or when I finally got my eyes to cross just right and could see the 3-D picture in those Magic Eye posters. I know, what won't those librarians do for fun? 

**All fixed now** Problems with Catalog Sunday

Our catalog is down today.

How does that affect you?

Well, that means you cannot look up any items in our catalog to see if we have it or not.

But, fear not, we have a "work-around" to use at the Hale Library Help Desk.

If you're in Hale, come on down to the 2nd floor and we will help you find that item.
If you're not in Hale, give us a call (532-7421) or IM us.

We will let you know as soon as we are back up and running.

Record a call number the green way #1

Alert, alert!  There is a cool new feature in the catalog!  You can now text a call number to yourself from the catalog.  Just look for the "Text me this call number" link when you are in the catalog, looking at the page about the book/video/journal.  A new window pops up, you enter your cell # and your provider.  Into your text messages pops the title, call number and location.  Provider charges may apply.

Art 21 by D. Beckley

Okay, let’s see what we’ve got here today. It’s 11 am on Saturday and that leaves me with 32 hours till the café opens up and I can get a fix there or one hour till lunch break and I can fix my own coffee out o’ my dandy French press. Oh! The life of a caffeine junkie on the clock is one filled with such tumultuous decisions to make. On with the article!

It has recently been brought to my attention that the Hale Library Media Collection contains seasons one through three of the PBS series art:21, thus called because it’s about art in the 21st century. This news is newly new news to me. Back in the day I watched these in my spare time on PBS. I recently learned that they were in the big white pull-out shelving vaults on the 2nd Floor, a.k.a. The Media Collection. Anyways, if you haven’t had a chance to check these out or didn’t know they were even included in our collection, then take my sincere advice (and these call numbers, N6512.A6686 2003 & N6512.A66862 2005) and check these out! (Watch a demonstration of this search!) Of course, that’s only after I get my share this weekend. I’ll soon be enjoying narrative commentary from such names as: Laurie Anderson, Michael Ray Charles, Ann Hamilton, Barbara Kruger, Kerry James Marshall, Pepón Osorio, James Turrell … and that’s just to name a few!

If you aren’t interested in art:21, I’ve got some bad news for you. There is no hope for recovery and we are going to have to put you down just for kicks. But getting your hands on them even if you’ve never found a film in our collections won’t hurt a bit. Just go to the Hale Library Help Desk (2nd Floor) and ask for assistance running a search in the Media Collection. Be sure to define your Advanced Search Limits in the Catalog by using these settings: Location: Media Collections, all locations; Medium: Videorecording (videotapes, DVDs, etc.);  Item Type: Visual material (videos, filmstrips, slides, etc.). This is going to make your search ten times more relevant and twice as fast when looking for a video for class, for leisure, or for a general background noise while working hard on your deadlines.

The Horror, The Horror by J.E. McCraw

Just last night, I was kicking back, enjoying a night out at the local cinema. During the previews (traditionally my favorite part of the movie-going experience), I thought to myself: “Hey, Self, remember when horror movies used to be good?” Not that there aren’t exceptions, mind you, but it’s getting harder and harder for me to get excited about watching people being tortured or seeing another gore-fest “based on true events.” But hey, it might just be me.

Anyway, I was inspired to do a little investigating in the Libraries’ Catalog to see what we have in the way of horror films. After all, Halloween is just around the corner, and a high-quality, old-school screamer might be exactly what I need to get in the right mindset. So, I plugged horror film into the Catalog search box on the Libraries’ homepage, and what I found was amazing. Not only are there enough creepy classics for me to take home for a full-fledged film festival, but there’s also a ton of reading material at my disposal. You can do the same search and peruse the results to see what I mean. You’ll find fascinating titles like Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film (PN1995.9.H6 C53 1992). If you’re a newbie, maybe you should flip through Bryan Senn’s Year of Fear: a Day-by-Day Guide to 366 Horror Films (PN1995.9.H6 S45 2007) to get some ideas. Pick a flick and check the Catalog to see if we have it. The best part? If you’re scared, you can watch your spooky selection in the safe environment of Hale Library’s viewing room. Just ask at the Reserves Desk on the 2nd Floor.

Guidebooks by J.E. McCraw

I know it's hard to believe, considering how easily I've transitioned into your blogosphere, but I'm actually pretty new here. And by "here", I mean not only to K-State Libraries, but to the entire state of Kansas. After spending two and a half decades in lovely North Carolina, I packed my bags, drove nineteen hours, and declared myself a resident of the Sunflower State back in July. Now that the weather's finally cooperating, I've decided that it's the perfect time to explore my new home. But where to begin? Luckily, I work in Hale and thus have millions of books just a short walk away. So, I searched our Libraries' Catalog for Kansas guidebooks to see what I could come up with. You can do it, too -- just go to the homepage, click the Catalog link, type in Kansas Guidebooks and search by Subject Heading (this is also a good strategy for finding guidebooks for other places -- just replace Kansas with Bahamas, for instance). Cilck on the linked number to the left of the Kansas Guidebooks subject heading in your results list (it should be the first one) and voila! (If you've never tried a subject heading search before, or if I'm making no sense, just Ask a Librarian to help you out.)

I've got a few on my list to check out already, like Daniel Fitzgerald's Ghost Towns of Kansas: a Traveler's Guide (F679.3 .F58 1988) for when I'm feeling solemn, Catherine M. Hauber's Hiking Guide to Kansas (GV199.42.K2 H38 1999) for when I'm feeling active, and Bobbie Pray's Let's Go Eat!: the Kansas Guide to Good Dining (TX907.3.K2 P73 1991) for when I'm feeling hungry. Some of these guidebooks are in places other than Hale Library Stacks, like Special Collections or Kansas Documents, so you might have to do some pre-exploration right here in Hale. Whether you're a lifelong Kansan or a newbie like me, you've got plenty of material to help you go forth and explore!

Watch a demonstration of this search!

How to Find a Book in Hale Library by J. Coleman

In the future, getting a book may be as simple as clicking a button and waiting a few seconds for a library robot to retrieve it and bring it to you, perhaps with that coffee you wanted as well. However, until this army of helpful androids arrives, you'll need to do most* of your book retrieving yourself. "Fair enough," you say, "but how in the world do I figure out where my book is?" That is far-and-away the number one question we get. The process is actually not as difficult as you might think, and once you get the hang of it, it's actually kind of fun.

Suppose you are looking for the book Reading Lolita in Tehran. Here's how you would figure out where to go to get it (view a video of this process):

1.  Search K-State Libraries' Catalog by Title.
2. Find the location and call number on the screen. For this book, the location is "Hale Library Stacks" and the call number is PE64.N34 A3 2003.
3. Click on the word "Location". A pop-up window will open.
4. In the pop-up window, click on "Hale Stacks Guide". Note: we would use this link for any location in Hale Library. The pop-up window also provides information about locations that are not in Hale Library.
5. Since our location is "Hale Library Stacks", we need to click on the call number range that includes our call number: PE64. This is JX1901.P to PN3428. If our location were something other than "Hale Library Stacks", we'd click on the name of the collection in the Named Collections list. When you click on a row, you'll see a map showing you where to go, and a picture showing you what your destination looks like. To find Reading Lolita in Tehran, we need to go to the main, carpeted part of the 3rd Floor and look on the movable shelves.

*I say "most" because if you need help retrieving or finding items on the shelves, we are happy to help! To get help, just ask at any of our service desks.

Watch a demonstration of this search!

How to Find Books on Your Topic by J. Coleman

Glancing at Hale Library's hugeness, you might be filled with anxiety at the prospect of hunting down a book. Perhaps you think you'd need the genius of Einstein, the fortitude of Hillary (Sir Edmund, that is), and the luck of the Irish to make it out alive. If so, you'll be happy to know that you are fantastically, amazingly wrong. In fact, it's actually a lot easier to find a book on our topic in Hale than it is in a bookstore like Hastings or Barnes & Noble.

Imagine, for instance, that you are looking for books about pirates. In a bookstore, you'd need to guess what sections they put them in: world history, biography, military, children's books, or something else? In each broad section, you'd need to browse through all the books until you came upon one whose title seemed relevant. Aaarghhh!!! We make it much easier on you: we organize our books by specific topics and have an online Catalog that will give you the information you need to find the exact places on our shelves with the books you want.

Try it for yourself, by simply following these steps:

1. Navigate to the Catalog.

2. Click the Guided Keyword tab.

3. Type your term(s) in the Search for: box.

4. Select "Subject" from the Search by: drop-down menu.

5. Click the Search button.

6. To get one of the books, go to its location and look for its call number.

If this method doesn't give you what you need, try different term(s) or switch the Search by: drop-down menu to "Keyword Anywhere". If you are still not getting what you need, click the Ask A Librarian link from K-State Libraries homepage (http://www.lib.ksu.edu) and let us help you.

What's Cooking? by L. Bonella

Now that school is starting, you probably don’t have much time to spend in the kitchen.  However, you still want to have nutritious meals, and not blow your entire budget on take out, right?  Well, K-State Libraries can help with our large selection of cookbooks.  To find them, use the key word “cookery” in the Catalog.  Or, you can look under subject headings for specific kinds of cookbooks, like “cookery, African” or “vegetarian cookery”.  There’s even a subject heading for “quick and easy cookery”!  (Ask at the Hale Library Help Desk (2nd Floor) if you don’t know how to search by subject.) 

Most of our cookbooks will be in two places:  Special Collections (5th Floor), and under TX call numbers in Room 117.  Ones shelved in Special Collections can’t be checked out, but you can browse through them and make copies of any recipes you like.  Special Collections is open 8am – 5pm Monday-Friday.  Ones in Room 117 can be checked out.  Here are some suggestions to get you started: Quick and Easy Soy and Tofu Recipes (TX814.5.T63 G75 2004 - Room 117);  Vietnamese: Fragrant and Exotic - a Deliciously Simple Cuisine (TX724.5.V5 B37 2004 - Room 117);  Betty Crocker 4-ingredient Dinners: Prep in Minutes, Make it Delicious, Easy Homemade Tonight (TX740 .B515 2003 - Special Collections);  Can Opener Gourmet: More than 200 Quick + Delicious Recipes Using Ingredients From Your Pantry (TX833.5 .K37 2002 - Special Collections).

You Caught My Eye -- Or How Questions are Born by S.K. Kearns

The other morning, I walked through the sorting shelves.  The sorting shelves are where books go after they are returned to the Libraries and before they are shelved in the stacks, or wherever they call home. A drab orange book caught my eye, so I stopped and pulled it off the shelf.  The book? The Rise of Magic in Early Medieval Europe by Valerie I.J. Flint.  What caught my eye?  The little sparkle above “Magic.” I flipped through it for a few minutes although not, I’ll admit, with any depth.  But it did start a chain reaction of thoughts that flowed on, even after I returned the book to the shelf. 

What kind of magic are we talking about?  What kind of tone did Flint take in the book?  Did she treat the belief in magic matter-of-factly?  Did she scoff a bit in a scholarly tone?  What role did witchcraft play?  What sources did she turn to for evidence, whatever her attitude towards magic?  Do we have other books?  I was crunched for time, so didn’t checkout the book to read, but I did take a peek at the call number (BF 1593 .F45 1991).

Here’s a short lesson in call numbers: they are actually codes for the subject of the book.  So if I wanted to learn if we had other books about magic and early medieval Europe, I could just find all of the other books with a similar call number in the stacks.  Do I need the whole call number? Well, if you are looking for a specific book, yes.  But if you’re just looking for books about a topic, you only need to get to the general area. 

So, I jotted down the call number.  No, actually, I took a picture of the call number. Then I referred to a Stacks Guide to confirm that I needed to go to the 4th floor.  There, I found the row with my call number.  And, in that row, I found a ton of books about magic.  And, at the call number BF 1593, I found several books about magic in early medieval Europe.