Mardigian Library News

The R.E.A.D. meetings for the 2009-2010 academic year are as follows:

Sept. 29, 2009 (Tues.):
Dreams From My Father: A story of race and inheritance by Barack Obama

Oct. 21, 2009 (Wed.) part of Sustainability Day:
In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan

Nov. 18, 2009 (Wed.):
The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

Feb. 2, 2010 (Tues.):
The Book Thief by Marcus Suzan

April 7, 2010 (Wed.):
Three Cups of Tea: One man's mission to promote peace...one school at a time by Greg Mortenson

Meetings run from Noon to 1:00 p.m. and are held in room 1210 ML. Information about R.E.A.D. is posted on the library news blog and on the campus calendar.

The Mardigian Library has increased the book loan periods or renewal periods for most borrowers.

UM-Dearborn Undergraduate students and UM-Dearborn Alumni:
• 3 week loan period
• 3 renewals of 3 weeks each
• Potential total time with item: 12 weeks

UM-Dearborn Graduate students, CASL Honors students, and UM-Dearborn Staff now receive the same book loan and renewal periods as UM-Dearborn Faculty:
• 1 term loan period
• 2 renewals of 1 term each
• Potential total time with item: 3 terms

Guests, Reciprocal Borrowers, and Infopasses:
• 3 week loan period
• 1 renewal of 3 weeks
• Potential total time with item: 6 weeks

All items are subject to recall if they are needed by another individual or for reserves.

The replacement fee for a lost item has been increased to $90.

Reusable library book bags are available for purchase at the Mardigian Library Circulation Desk for $2.00 each, tax included. The bags are made from non-woven polypropylene, an eco-friendly fabric.

Library customers may now pay their library fines and bills online from the library website. The same online payment system is used by the Cashiers office and several other entities on campus, providing a familiar experience for students who pay various university fees online.

"Students lead very busy lives. The online payment system gives them a convenient and easy alternative to making an extra trip to campus or to the library," said Kathy Irwin, Head of Circulation Services.

To pay online, log in to your library account, view your fines and bills, type in the prompted information, and submit. A receipt may be printed from the web page, and a copy of the receipt will be e-mailed to you.

If a student has a Banner hold, the hold will be released within one business day. If a student needs the hold lifted sooner than that, they may call the Circulation Desk, 313-593-5559, during regular library hours and ask to speak to a supervisor.

This service will also help students who move out of state after graduation or who travel overseas. In the past the only choice they had was to mail in a check, delaying their ability to register or obtain transcripts.

Students may also pay fines in person at the Circulation Desk with cash, a personal check, or a credit card. The library accepts Discover, MasterCard, and Visa.

Are you on Facebook? Become a fan of the Mardigian Library! Are you on LinkedIn? Join the Mardigian Library Group!

The Mardigian Library offers a number of services to alumni of the University of Michigan-Dearborn, such as a free alumni library card, and access to MeLCat which allows users to request materials from over 300 libraries in the state of Michigan. And now you can learn about events and new services by connecting to the library in the social networking tools you already use.

Become a fan of our Facebook page


Join our LinkedIn group

Tim Richards, Director of the Mardigian Library, recently met with University of Michigan-Dearborn alumni to share information about alumni library services and to listen to their needs. The alumni expressed interest in accessing databases that are not available at their place of work and that they could access off campus. They also wondered if there was a way to receive alerts on subjects of interest. The good news is that UM-Dearborn alumni can do both!


UM-Dearborn alumni who join the University of Michigan Alumni Association can access the ProQuest and Project Muse databases from their home or office computer. Note that this association is different from the UM-Dearborn Alumni Society in which all UM-Dearborn alumni are automatically enrolled for free.

After you pay for the UM Alumni Association membership, you can access the databases from the alumni association website by clicking on “Get Informed” and selecting “University Library Access.” You will be required to log in using your uniqname and password. More information is available online, including help with your uniqname or password.

The ProQuest databases (including ABI Inform, Alt Press News, Ethnic News Watch and Gender Watch) cover all fields and topics, while the Project Muse database focuses on humanities, arts, and social sciences.


You can set up table of contents alerts and subject alerts in all the ProQuest databases.

Setting up a table of contents alert:
• Once you have logged into ProQuest, click on the Publications tab.
• In the Publication Search box, type in the title of a magazine or journal. For example, type in Crain’s Detroit Business and click Search.
• On the next screen, click on the title of the magazine or journal.
• The next screen will show you a list of the years and issues to which the library provides access.
• Near the top of this screen you will see “Set up Alert” and “Create RSS Feed.”
• A box will pop up prompting you to type in your email address and to select the length of time you would like to receive the alerts.
• Fill in the requested information and click Save. You will receive a confirmation screen and an email providing information about the alert you created.
• If you would rather read the alerts using an RSS reader, click on “Create RSS Feed.”
• A box will pop up providing the address of the RSS feed. If you click on the RSS icon, you can indicate which RSS reader you use, including Bloglines, Yahoo, or Google.

Setting up subject alerts:
• Once you have logged into ProQuest, type in search terms. For example, type in "stress and job satisfaction" then click Search.
• The resulting articles show what has already been published on the subject. If you would like to receive notice of articles published in the future on the same subject, click “Set up Alert.”
• A box will pop up prompting you to type in your email address and to indicate how frequently you would like to receive the alert.
• Fill in the requested information and click Save. You will receive a confirmation screen and an email providing information about the alert you created.
• If you would rather read the alerts using an RSS reader, click on “Create RSS Feed.”
• A box will pop up providing the address of the RSS feed. If you click on the RSS icon, you can indicate which RSS reader you use, including Bloglines, Yahoo, or Google.

The Mardigian Library will be open 24 hours a day for finals study beginning at noon on Sunday, April 26th and ending at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 2nd.


Between midnight and 8:00 a.m., only UM-Dearborn students can enter the library and will be required to show their MCards.



Extra security personnel will be hired to monitor activity throughout the building. While the building will remain open, library services will be limited during the extra hours. All four floors of the library and the computers by the Library Research Center will be available for use and it will also be possible to check out materials. Financial transactions, guest printing, and research assistance will not be available during extended hours.

Check out the Mardigian Library Spring 2009 Newsletter (pdf)

Contents:

• Supporting the Metropolitan Vision on MLK Day
• In Memory of Janet Elkins
• 50th Anniversary Party
• Lavada Smith, Alumna, Librarian,
• Creature Comforts
,

The campus will be celebrating its 50th Anniversary during the 2009-2010 academic year. We plan to join the party by hosting a “Library Alumni Open House” October 16th from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

The library has employed hundreds of students over the years. Student Assistants perform many essential functions: processing materials to be “shelf ready,” shelving books, staffing the Circulation Desk so that their fellow students borrow materials, and providing reference assistance under the guidance of reference librarians. In short, Student Assistants are crucial to the library’s ability to serve the campus. We literally could not function without them. In fact, when our staff members are at meetings and someone asks, “Who is running the library?” we always answer, “The students, of course!!”

We are trying to locate ALL former library Student Assistants so that we can invite everyone who has ever worked at the library. If you are a former library Student Assistant, please be sure that we have your contact information so that we can invite you to the party. If you know others who worked in the library during their student days, please share their contact information with us so that we can invite them to the party and encourage them to come. It will be wonderful to see “old friends” and to catch up! Please send contact information to: sasbury@umd.umich.edu or call 313-593-5236.