Category: general news

ESOL Center & Writing Center Offer Help to Summer Session Students

Lisa

Summer session students take note, the ESOL Center and the Writing Center are open this summer and their tutors are eager to lend you a helping hand!  Students are encouraged to make an appointment online using the links below, but walk-ins are also welcome. Both centers are located on the lower level of the library.

The ESOL Center [Opens May 29]

Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday, 3:00PM to 6:00PM

Looking for help with writing, presentations, pronunciation and conversation enrichment? Come to the ESOL Center. Bentley University students whose home language is not English are invited to take advantage of the free tutorial services offered by Bentley’s ESOL Center.  All students (including graduate students) can schedule an appointment online using the undergraduate scheduling database link, call 781.891.2021 to make an appointment, or drop in to see if a faculty tutor is available.

The Writing Center [Opens May 21]

Hours: Monday – Thursday, 2:00PM to 6:00PM [updated June 5, 2012]  

Writing Center staff are available to provide one-to-one assistance with writing skills. Students can either drop in during open hours, schedule an appointment online, or call 781.891.3173 to make an appointment.

Congrats to Our Graduating Student Assistants! We Dedicate These Books & Films to You…

Kimberly 2 Comments

Commencement is coming, making it time for the library staff to bid farewell to our graduating student assistants – Charles “Costas” Blougouras, Jamie Carrillo, Michael Clark, John Cunniff, Anthony DeAngelo, Claude Louis, Nicholas Moutinho, Julia Powell, Melissa Rivers, Safiya Samms, Lauren Steinbrecher, Anika Sutty & April Watkins.
Congratulations and best wishes for a happy and successful future!

It’s a Bentley Library tradition to dedicate a title to each of our graduating student employees in appreciation for their service.  This year, the students were invited to choose either a book or a film to be dedicated on their behalf. We will be displaying all of their individual selections in the New Books area for the next few weeks – stop by and take a look:

  • Charles “Costas” Blougouras – The Hunger Games
  • Jamie Carrillo –  (dvd) Almost Famous
  • Michael Clark –  (dvd) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts I and II
  • John Cunniff –  To Kill A Mockingbird
  • Anthony DeAngelo –  A Game of Thrones
  • Claude Louis –  (dvd) Transformers
  • Nicholas Moutinho –  Ronald Reagan, Fate, Freedom, and the Making of History
  • Julia Powell –  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
  • Melissa Rivers –  Diary A Novel
  • Safiya Samms –  The Perks of Being a Wallflower
  • Lauren Steinbrecher –  The Lonely Hearts Club
  • Anika Sutty – Introduction to Fashion Merchandising
  • April Watkins –  A Good Man is Hard to Find

Thanks goes out to all of our student employees for their hard work and commitment throughout the past year! Have a wonderful summer break, and we look forward to your return next year.

Our Top 10 Most Popular Books, DVDs & Audiobooks for 2011/2012

Lisa

Once again, it’s time to announce the Bentley Library Top 10!  Each May we query our database to find out which books, audiobooks and DVDs have circulated the most times during the academic year.

This year, it came as no surprise that some of our most circulated books and audiobooks have also been hits at the theater and on TV, including The Hunger Games trilogy, The Help, A Game of Thrones and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.  We’ve also come to expect appearances by authors Michael Lewis and Malcom Gladwell, whose popular works of nonfiction are perennial favorites here at the Bentley Library.  You’ll note that this year our DVD Top 10 is actually a “Top 17”, but we had a number of films tied for the top spots and we didn’t want to leave any of your favorites off the list.  Lastly, we’re really excited about the addition of two new lists – Downloaded eBooks and Downloaded Audiobooks.  We’ve only had our downloadable book service for about a month, but we are already logging some impressive statistics.

Without further adieu, here are the the BENTLEY LIBRARY TOP 10 lists for academic year 2011-2012 in the categories of Popular Reading, Stacks (regular book collection), Audiobooks, Popular DVDs, Downloadable eBooks and Downloadable Audiobooks:

Top 10 Most Circulated Books from the Popular Reading Collection

  1. THE MARRIAGE PLOT by Jeffrey Eugenides  [check availability]
  2. STATE OF WONDER by Ann Patchett [check availability]
  3. THE NIGHT CIRCUS by Erin Morgenstern [check availability]
  4. STEVE JOBS by Walter Isaacson [check availability]
  5. MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN by Ransom Riggs [check availability]
  6. A GAME OF THRONES by George R. R. Martin [check availability]
  7. THE BIG SHORT by Michael Lewis [check availability]
  8. THE LEFTOVERS by Tom Perrotta [check availability]
  9. THE HELP by Kathryn Stockett [check availability]
  10. THE PARIS WIFE by Paula McLain [check availability]

Top 10 Most Circulated Books from the Stacks

  1. THE HUNGER GAMES TRILOGY (The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay) by Suzanne Collins [check availability]
  2. MULTINATIONAL BUSINESS FINANCE by David K. Eiteman [check availability]
  3. LIAR’S POKER by Michael Lewis [check availability]
  4. THE FACEBOOK EFFECT by David Kirkpatrick [check availability]
  5. OUTLIERS by Malcom Gladwell [check availability]
  6. BOND MARKETS, ANALYSIS AND STRATEGIES by Frank J. Fabozzi [check availability]
  7. AN UNQUIET MIND by Kay Redfield Jamison [check availability]
  8. FREAKONOMICS by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner [check availability]
  9. THE SOCIAL ANIMAL by David Brooks [check availability]
  10. EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE by Daniel Goleman [check availability]

Top 10 Most Circulated Audiobooks [CD and Playaway]

  1. BOSSYPANTS by Tina Fey [check availability]
  2. SERIOUSLY – I’M KIDDING by Ellen DeGeneres [check availability]
  3. 11/22/63 by Stephen King [check availability]
  4. THE BIG SHORT by Michael Lewis [check availability]
  5. THE BUDDHA IN THE ATTIC by Julie Otsuka [check availability]
  6. DEATH COMES TO PEMBERLEY by P. D. James [check availability]
  7. THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO by Stieg Larsson [check availability]
  8. THE HELP by Kathryn Stockett [check availability]
  9. BLINK by Malcolm Gladwell [check availability]
  10. BRANDWASHED by Martin Lindstrom [check availability]

Top 10 Most Circulated DVDs from the Popular DVD Collection

  1. WALL STREET [check availability]
  2. THE SOCIAL NETWORK [check availability]
  3. DEXTER [check availability]
  4. THE WIRE [check availability]
  5. BREAKING BAD [check availability]
  6. tie:
  7. tie:
  8. tie:
  9. tie:
  10. tie:

Top 10 Downloaded eBooks
*check availability by logging-in at http://ezp.bentley.edu/OverDrive/bentleyu

  1. CALICO JOE by John Grisham
  2. A GAME OF THRONES by George R. R. Martin
  3. A DANCE WITH DRAGONS by George R. R. Martin
  4. THE DRESSMAKER by Kate Alcott
  5. THE POWER OF HABIT by Charles Duhigg
  6. NAKED by David Sedaris
  7. SONG OF SOLOMON by Toni Morrison
  8. BEHIND THE BEAUTIFUL FOREVERS by Katherine Boo
  9. THE BUDDHA IN THE ATTIC by Julie Otsuka
  10. DEFENDING JACOB by William Landay

Top 10 Downloaded Audiobooks
*check availability by logging-in at http://ezp.bentley.edu/OverDrive/bentleyu

  1. THE HUNGER GAMES TRILOGY (The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay) by Suzanne Collins
  2. 1984 by George Orwell
  3. CALEB’S CROSSING by Geraldine Brooks
  4. DEFENDING JACOB by William Landay
  5. LITTLE BEE by Chris Cleave
  6. LORDS OF FINANCE by Liaquat Ahamed
  7. THE SHACK by William Paul Young
  8. TOO BIG TO FAIL by Andrew Ross Sorkin
  9. FREAKONOMICS by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner
  10. HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE by Dale Carnegie

Massachusetts Library Snapshot Day at the Bentley Library

Katy

On Wednesday, April 11, the library participated in Library Snapshot Day, a statewide event scheduled to coincide with the American Library Association’s National Library Week. On Snapshot Day, libraries throughout Massachusetts collect statistics and other information to illustrate a typical day in the life of the library – a snapshot, as the name implies.

snapshot daySnapshot Day shows the value and contributions of libraries to communities around the commonwealth, whether the community is a school, a town or city, or a college campus. Like most other libraries, we collect these numbers every day, but they’re mostly for internal use. Last week they were meant to be shared.

Here’s a picture of April 11, a typical Wednesday at the Bentley Library:

  • More than four thousand people visited the library – 4,640, to be exact.
  • Around 100 people attended the Desserts & Downloads program celebrating the launch of our new downloadable audiobooks and ebooks. During the event, users downloaded 46 titles to their laptops, iPads, smart phones and other mobile devices.
  • Patrons performed 999 searches in the library’s online catalog and 1,559 searches in the ProQuest databases.
  • The group study rooms were busy, with a total of 305 reservations.
  • The circulation desk handled 425 items for 170 patrons: 271 items borrowed and 154 items returned, including course reserves.
  • The circulation desk also inventoried 80 new items for the library’s collection.
  • The interlibrary loan department received 40 requests for materials from Bentley patrons and those at other libraries, including 17 borrowing requests and 23 lending requests.
  • The technical services staff was also busy. In one day, they:
    • Checked in 25 new periodical issues and received 75 new books
    • Paid invoices for 264 publications, including periodicals, videos, serials, books, and electronic services
    • Cataloged 126 new titles and added 136 new items or volumes to the collection
    • Added bibliographic records for 408 new ebooks to the catalog for the Books 24×7 collection
  • The reference staff fielded 40 questions, including 27 questions about research or academic help and reference sources. The total of 40 includes questions asked in person and those that came in over the phone and through instant messages or email. Top question topics were:
    • Researching World War II battles
    • Finding and reading company annual reports
    • Citing sources in a particular format
    • Finding the full text of a journal article
    • Downloading an ebook to a particular device

We also asked patrons using the circulation and reference desks to complete a short survey telling us how they were using the library that day. Here’s what a small, unscientific sample of 58 Bentley Library patrons had to say about what they were doing at the library last Wednesday.

What did you do at the Bentley Library today?

  • Check out an item: 10
  • Homework: 24
  • Research: 14
  • Quiet place to study: 19
  • Read: 15
  • Use the Internet: 18
  • Attend a meeting: 18
  • Attend a program: 14
  • Other: 9

We’re here to serve the entire Bentley community, so we also wanted to know who was using the library on Snapshot Day.

What is your role at Bentley? (Some respondents selected more than one option.)

  • Undergraduate student: 34
  • Graduate student: 8
  • Faculty: 3
  • Staff: 14
  • Waltham resident: 1
  • Other: 2 (includes alumni and retired staff)

We also asked about how the library helps patrons with their academic work, research, and teaching. As was the case last year, two of the major themes in your responses were quiet study space and access to resources such as books and databases. This year, many patrons mentioned our new downloadable ebooks and audiobooks as a major attraction of the library.

Here are some highlights from the comments:

“Indispensable.” –Faculty member

“Gives the students a quiet, comfortable alternative place to do their work, as opposed to a dorm room or house.” –Undergraduate student

“Provides a nice comfortable space to do work with no distractions. The computers also have good programs for free.” –Undergraduate student

“… a quiet and distraction-free zone. Everything is so technologically advanced and I love the study rooms for group work.” –Undergraduate student

“…The search engines help with research and rooms are perfect for meetings.” –Undergraduate student

“They assist me in accomplishing a variety of tasks as well as improving my productivity.” –Faculty member

“Borrow books, do research, relax, read magazines, DVDs! I love my library!” –Staff member

“MANY resources and MANY reference librarians are always available when I need library services.” –Staff member

“It is a quiet place for me to go, and the cubicles on the second floor provide zero distractions! I also enjoy going to the larger tables when I have easy work to do and just like to spread out.” –Undergraduate student

“Love the current bestsellers.” –Retired staff member

The library staff would like to extend a big thank-you to everyone who helped out with Snapshot Day. Your comments and suggestions about how you use the library are always welcome – on Snapshot Day and throughout the year.

So, You Wish You Could Know About Our New DVDs… Well, Here’s How!

Lisa

Students often tell us that they wish they could know about the new DVDs the library buys, but have a hard time finding out what they are.  We aren’t trying to make it hard, we promise!

We always use Facebook and Twitter to make announcements about our new DVD, book and audiobook acquisitions. Give us a “Like” on  Facebook (facebook.com/bentleylibrary) or follow @BentleyLibrary on Twitter and you won’t have a hard time finding the information because the information will find you.

Not only will you always know what our new DVDs are, but you’ll be on top of all of the latest library news. Plus, Facebook and Twitter make it easy to ask us questions, give us feedback, and follow the conversations we are having with others here on campus.

March is Women’s History Month

Liz
Strikers ca. 1910-1915

Since 1987, March has been proclaimed National Women’s History Month in the United States. March 8 has also been observed  as International Women’s Day since the early 1900s, born out of the suffrage movements of that era. Learn more about women’s history by delving into the wealth of materials the Bentley Library and the Internet have on the topic!

Starting places on the library’s website include our research guides on both Gender Issues and History, which will point you toward key databases, books, videos, and websites in those areas.

Take a look at the Women’s Studies section of one of our latest databases, Films on Demand, to see videos ranging from a history of women at West Point to speeches given by key figures in women’s rights to a full-length PBS film on the introduction of birth control.

Singer/songwriter Billie Holiday

Our library catalog is packed with books, films, and electronic documents about women’s history; this is just a sampling:

Meanwhile, Bentley’s Women’s Center has its own library of books. Search it right from the Bentley Library’s catalog, or stop by LaCava 120 to browse for yourself. Keep your women’s history local by keeping up with the Women’s Center on Twitter and Facebook, and look for events on HerCampus Bentley, too.

Also locally, you may want to check out the centennial events going on this year at Orchard House in Concord, historic home of writer Louisa May Alcott and her family. More information can be found in this Boston Globe article.*

Learn more about Women’s History Month at the websites of the National Women’s History Project and womenshistorymonth.gov, both of which contain images, histories, and chances to test your knowledge.

The photos on this page came from a Library of Congress flickr set called “Women Striving Forward, 1910s-1940s.”

 

*(Thanks for the tip, Barb!)

Spring Semester Hours at the ESOL Center & Writing Center

Lisa

Both the ESOL Center and the Writing Center spring into action next week! Get a smart start to the semester by taking advantage of the guidance and expertise offered at these wonderful campus resources.  ESOL opens for business on Monday, January 30, and the Writing Center follows suit on Wednesday, February 1.  But you don’t need to wait for their doors to open to make an appointment – just visit their web sites to book an appointment online (information and instructions below). Both centers are located on the lower level of the library.

ESOL Center – Opens Monday, January 30, 2012

  • Monday: 10:00am – 8:30pm
  • Tuesday: 10:00am – 6:30pm
  • Wednesday: 10:00am – 9:30pm
  • Thursday: 10:00am – 9:30pm
  • Friday: 10:00am – 2:00pm

Bentley University students whose home language is not English are invited to take advantage of the free tutorial services offered by Bentley’s ESOL Center.  Students can schedule an appointment online via the English & Media Studies Department web page (note that there are specific scheduling links for undergraduate students and graduate students), call 781.891.2021 to make an appointment, or drop in to see if a faculty tutor is available.

The Writing Center – Opens Wednesday, February 1, 2012

  • Monday – Thursday: 10:00am to 10:00pm
  • Friday: 10:00am – 2:00pm
  • Sunday: 6:00pm – 10:00pm

Writing Center staff are available to provide one-to-one assistance with writing skills. Students can drop in during open hours, schedule an appointment online via the Writing Center web page, or call 781.891.3173 to make an appointment.

We’re Making it Faster & Easier to Print!

Lisa

Welcome back to campus! If you’ve been to the library this week you may have noticed that over winter break we installed additional printers on the main and upper levels of the building. The total printer count now stands at 9, including 7 B&W printers (6 on the main level, 1 on the upper level) and 2 color printers (both located on the upper level).

And there’s more good news… To increase the speed and ease of printing from within the library, we have installed 2 Quick Print stations. Forget the frustration of hunting for a computer to sit at just to send a print job – you’ll find a Quick Print terminal mounted on the wall outside each of the printer rooms on the main level. Simply walk up to the Quick Print terminal, send your print job, and go.

Finally, in the very near future, a printer will be connected to the scanner on the lower level, allowing users to scan and print.

Please let us know if you have any questions about our printing enhancements. Have a great semester, everyone!