Month: February 2012

Bentley Library Information Literacy Series: “The Future of Information Literacy”

Katy

Please join us on Thursday, March 29, for the spring installment in the Bentley Library Information Literacy Series, featuring Laura Saunders, assistant professor at the Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science. Light refreshments will be available in LaCava 325AB at 3:30 pm, with the event getting underway at 4:00 pm.

“The Future of Information Literacy”

Bentley Library Information Literacy Series

Speaker

Laura Saunders, Assistant Professor, Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science

Prof. Saunders is a former academic reference and instruction librarian who holds master’s and doctoral degrees in library and information science from Simmons. She is an expert on information literacy and will speak about the future of information literacy—how research and evaluation skills transfer from high school to college, and from college to beyond, and how faculty and students both contribute to students’ ongoing learning of information literacy skills and concepts.

More information about Prof. Saunders and her research and teaching is available on the Simmons College GSLIS website.

Please RSVP to Liz Galoozis by March 15 if you plan to bring a class to the event or will require students to attend.

For library colleagues attending from other institutions, a tour of the Bentley Library will follow the talk.

Upcoming Workshop: Citing Sources: Why, When, How (with the Writing Center)

Liz

Back by popular demand! The Writing Center and Library are once again joining forces to offer a workshop that takes the mystery out of citing sources:

Citing Sources: Why, When and How

Why do your professors spend so much time talking about citations? Does it feel like busywork? Come learn how to cite sources for any format. We’ll show you how to do it, where to find resources, and why you should care.

Have sources or a bibliography you need help with? Bring it with you!

Offered at two different times:

  • Monday, March 5, 5:00-6:00
  • Tuesday, March 6, 5:00-6:00

Both sessions take place in the Research Instruction Center (RIC), Room 11, on the library’s lower level.

Presented by: Greg Farber-Mazor, Interim Director, Writing Center and Liz Galoozis, Reference Librarian

Email library@bentley.edu to reserve your seat now – and tell us which session you’ll be attending!

Database of the Month: American FactFinder

Kimberly

American FactFinder is a web tool provided by the United States Census Bureau that offers access to some of the Bureau’s largest data sets, including information from the Decennial Census, American Community Survey, Economic Census and Population Estimates Program. American FactFinder helps you find population, economic, housing, industry, and business data about the United States, Puerto Rico and the Island Areas. Many of these statistics are broken down at the national, state, county and place levels.

On January 20, 2012, American FactFinder went through a major upgrade and now has a new look and features.

Searching American FactFinder

You can use the Quick Start box located in the middle of the screen to pull up tables or data files that meet your search criteria. You can search by topic or table or for a specific state, county or place.  You may use the links on the left side of the page (under Search Using the Options Below) to browse topics, geographies, race and ethnic groups, or industry codes associated with the many different statistical data sets contained in the site.

The data in American FactFinder comes from several censuses and surveys. To learn more about the individual surveys click on the symbol next to each table on the search results page.

Learn More About this Resource

Click here to discover more information about the new American FactFinder or to view an excellent (5 minute) virtual tour of this new service.  If you need any assistance using American FactFinder or any other library resources, please contact a Reference Librarian.

Connect to American FactFinder

American FactFinder is available at http://factfinder2.census.gov/. Please note: American FactFinder works best with Mozilla Firefox 3.6 and Microsoft Internet Explorer 7. Other browsers may not perform as expected.

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Database of the Month provides a very brief introduction to an important research database, highlighting key features of the database that you should know about. If you would like more information about this database (or any of the library’s databases) please contact the Reference Desk.  If you would like a demonstration of this database for a class, please contact our Coordinator of User Education, Elizabeth Galoozis.

Drop-In Research Help: I Just Need Three Sources by Tomorrow!

Liz

In the library during activity period? Need help finding that scholarly article or deciding what information is okay to use for class?

This spring, the library will continue to offer drop-in workshops every Monday from 2:10 to 3:25 (during activity period) for students to get one-on-one help with finding sources for papers or projects.

Bring whatever you are working on to a reference librarian and get immediate, one-on-one, expert assistance in finding the information you need, whether it be articles, statistics, company information, or books. You will walk away with the source or two (or three) that you need!

There is no RSVP or appointment needed. Just drop by the library’s Research Instruction Center (RIC) any Monday from 2:10 to 3:25, February 13th through April 30th. (Some holiday Mondays this workshop will not be offered – check our events calendar for the full list.)

Now Showing in the Art Gallery: Andrea Sherrill Evans

Lisa

Open from February 7 to April 8, 2012, the current exhibit at The McGladrey Art Gallery features works by Boston artist Andrea Sherrill Evans in an installation titled land/marks. All are invited to attend the opening reception for the artist on Wednesday, February 8, from 4:30pm-6:30pm. There will be an artist talk and Q&A session beginning at 5:00pm. Meet the artist, view the art, enjoy the refreshments!

Andrea Sherrill Evans
land/marks
February 7, 2012 – April 8, 2012
http://andreasherrillevans.com

Opening Reception
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
4:30pm – 6:30pm
Artist Talk and Q&A at 5:00pm
light refreshments will be served

Andrea Evans

January Acquisitions: New Books, DVDs & Audiobooks

Lisa

Check out our book, popular reading, DVD and audiobook acquisitions for the month of January. Go to our New Books & DVDs page to browse by subject or format.   If you find something you want, simply hit the “Request” button to place a hold on it.

January 2012 Selected New Titles