smoss's blog

Starting over spring break and continuing through spring term, there will be some construction and renovation projects throughout the building.

2nd Floor
Reference Desk Update and Temporary Relocation
The Reference Desk is getting a makeover! We're lowering half of our lovely granite desk to be more accessible. During spring break, while the desk is being renovated, we'll temporarily re-locate Reference Services to the Writing Center outpost along the windows overlooking the football field.

New Curtains
We will be replacing the old curtains on the curve. If the new curtains are durable, expect to see new curtains on all floors.

3rd Floor
New Student Study Space
We shifted library materials to compact shelving in the basement and opened up the Library's southwest corner. The cleared space will be finished with new ceilings, lights, and carpets to become student study space. We hope to have this updated area ready to go by Fall 2013. Stay tuned!

4th Floor
Government Documents & Library Staff
The Library's cataloging, electronic resources, and acquisitions staff have worked out of a large office space in Smith Memorial Student Union for many years. Now this space in Smith will be occupied by the Center for Online Learning/Center for Academic Excellence, and Library Resource Services staff will move to the main Library building. To make room, we are shifting some of our older print government documents to our off-site shelving facility. Most of these materials are available immediately in electronic format; patrons can also request them in print and receive them at the Library within two days.

Timeline
We will schedule the loudest and most disruptive work for early mornings, but there may be construction noise through the day, especially from April 1 - May 3. Folks looking for quiet study space during the month of April should consider the 5th floor and basement.

Please let us know if you have any questions!

Oxford Islamic Studies Online is now available to the PSU community. It features reference content and commentary by renowned scholars in areas such as global Islamic history, concepts, people, practices, politics, and culture. Encompassing over 5,000 A–Z reference entries, chapters from scholarly and introductory works, Qur'anic materials, primary sources, images, maps, and timelines, Oxford Islamic Studies Online offers a multi-layered reference experience designed to provide a first stop for anyone needing information and context on Islam. A one-year subscription was provided by the Bridging Cultures Bookshelf: Muslim Journeys project.

The Bridging Cultures Bookshelf: Muslim Journeys is a project of the National Endowment for the Humanities, conducted in cooperation with the American Library Association, the Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies at George Mason University, Oxford University Press, and Twin Cities Public Television. Support was provided by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York. Additional support for the arts and media components was provided by the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art.

For more information about the Bridging Cultures Bookshelf: Muslim Journeys and its themes, including additional supporting materials and reading lists, click here.

The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) is now available to the PSU community online. The library’s online subscription to NEJM includes access to research articles from 1990 to the present, as well as multimedia content such as videos and images in clinical medicine, audio interviews and clinical practice, and more. Take a tour of NEJM Online today!

Millar Library will be open 24/7 during Winter 2013 Dead Week and Finals Week. We will stay open from Monday, March 11, when we open at 7:30 am, until Thursday, March 21, when we close at midnight. On Friday, March 22, the library will be open 7:30am – 7pm.

From 11 pm - 7 am, only Portland State students, faculty and staff are allowed to be in the Library. Please bring your PSU ID card with you if you wish to be in the building during that time.

Shuttle and Escort Services Update:

College Housing NW has added extra service to support PSU students using the Library overnight. Every half hour from 10:30pm-6:30am, they will pick up students at the Library and make drops off at Clifton House, Palladian, Cambrian, Clay & Tiffany buildings before returning to Goose Hollow.

CPSO is offering escort service to other locations on campus. Call 503-725-4407.

Thanks to a generous grant from Juan Young Trust, the University Library has renovated and redesigned the Family Friendly Study Room. Established under the will of Juan Young, the Juan Young Trust is dedicated to providing grants to 501(c)(3) organizations that promote the health, education, and welfare of children in the state of Oregon. We are grateful for the support of the Juan Young Trust and investment in this critical space at the University Library.

Funds from the grant have been used to upgrade the space with new furniture, toys, books, and décor to provide an entertaining and comfortable experience for PSU students and their children. The new additions enhance the technology-equipped room that already provides two computer stations, personal scanners, and connection to the printing network. New additions include a television and DVDs. Along with many children’s books, new toys have been added, including a play kitchen, animal figurines, and toy vehicles. To show our school spirit, the room has been repainted PSU green with “Go Viks” decorative letters.

Between classes, PSU student parents often find themselves on campus with their children and need family-friendly spaces. The Family Friendly Study Room helps meet the need of these students and their children. The study space is the result of the Library's collaboration with the Helen Gordon Child Development Center, and with the support of the Office of Information Technologies. While the room does not provide childcare, it does offer a place for student parents to study and work on projects while their children are kept stimulated and entertained by a variety of play options.

The room is open and available for checkout now. You can reserve a room by visiting Reserve a Study Room. The room can accommodate two family groups at a time.

Update 3/11/13: Check out the Vanguard's story about the renovations at http://psuvanguard.com/news/family-study-room-makes-learning-easier/.

When School of Social Work students graduate, they lose off-campus access to the Library's subscription databases and full text journals. But, as practicing social workers they still need the latest research, and they may not have access through their employer or professional association. In an effort to help School of Social Work alumni and other practicing social workers in Oregon find the research they need, Librarian Kimberly Pendell created the Open Access Social Work guide. This research guide provides links to free, online research journals and other resources in social work and related fields, organized around content areas like addictions and mental health. You can find the Open Access Social Work guide through the Library's Research Guides or at http://guides.library.pdx.edu/opensocialwork.

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) is now available to the PSU community online. The library’s online subscription to JAMA includes access to research articles from 1998 to the present, as well as multimedia content such as author interviews, videos, and interactive graphics. It also features polls and quizzes. Take a tour of JAMA Online today!

PDXScholar, Portland State University's institutional repository, now contains over 1,000 Faculty publications. Congratulations to Associate Professor Kristi Yuthas (School of Business Administration), whose article was the 1,000th publication archived in PDXScholar. The lucky article, "Management accounting and control: Lessons for and from the world's tiniest businesses" can be viewed online here: http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/9125

"We're very excited about reaching 1,000 faculty publications" said Karen Bjork, Digital Initiatives Coordinator. "PDXScholar is transforming into a fantastic way to show off the research, scholarship and the diversity of activities and accomplishments at PSU."

Faculty can use PDXScholar as their own personal PR tool. Each item receives its own permanent URL. Integrate the URL into your CV, personal or departmental homepage, and citations.

PDXScholar also enables author name searching to generate lists of links to full text of your work in PDXScholar. Scholarly works archived in PDXScholar are indexed in Google, Google Scholar, and other search engines and harvesters -- both popular and more scholarly -- making them highly visible to any web user.

To get started send Karen Bjork (kbjork@pdx.edu), your CV and PDXScholar staff will check publisher copyright permissions and archives your research.

From Tuesday 2/12 through Thursday 2/14, the Library's collection of DDA books in EBook Library will be accessible only through Vikat (vikat.pdx.edu). These ebooks will be unavailable in Portland State Worldcat during this time, while that system is updated to include current information about the collection.

The comment period for the Bonneville Power Administration's draft environmental impact statement for its proposed I-5 Corridor Reinforcement Project available has been extended to noon on Monday, March 25, 2013. The multi-volume draft impact statement is located along the curve on the fifth floor in Millar Library. The draft also can be found on the Bonneville Power Administration's website at: http://www.bpa.gov/Projects/Projects/I-5/Pages/Draft-EIS.aspx.