Friday, December 17, 2010

Hypnotic Snowmen

EVEN MORE Best enjoyed after LOTS of egg nog!




Have a wonderful & relaxing winter break. Happy Holidays!

Saturday, December 11, 2010

All night long



It's that time of the term again, when all good students flock to Shad-Fack to study and write like never before.

Of course, I will never understand what can be accomplished between 2 and 6am. But so many students will valiantly try make the most of the wee hours & stay awake.

We will do our part by keeping the doors open, serving up the coffee and snacks, and taking pictures of all-nighter failures whenever possible!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Noisy Neighbor

IMG_4062.JPG

For so many months Old Main has sounded with clinks and clanks and BANGS, as workers dismantled and remantled the tower.

But today we have finally arrived at the Great Unveiling. Click on the picture above for more photos.

Now perhaps we will return to peace & quiet.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Big Event that nobody noticed



It's actually a VERY good thing that nobody noticed the Library website migrated from one server to another. Taking just 5 minutes! For the first time in many years, the Library site moved and is now lives permanently on a brand new VIRTUAL server.

Virtualization still mystifies me (almost spooky!), but essentially our server now coexists with many other servers on a single physical machine. This is great for operating system management, network bandwidth needs and emergency preparedness.

Please enjoy our (secret) great leap forward!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Printer virus



Have to admit, I'm a bit less inclined to refill paper at this printer!

Monday, September 20, 2010

Look up!

shad-fack2.jpg

Look up at the new shiny steeple atop Barshinger. Look up at the work atop Old Main. Look up at the slightly changing Fall leaves. Look up at the new granite sculptures. Look up at the friendly neighborhood hawk. Look up at the crystal blue Fall sky. Look up from your texting, and smile at your fellow students & friends!

Friday, September 03, 2010

Trying out post by email

For the longest while I was able to readily post to the Library blog by using email. So simple, just sent an email and up goes the post for all the word to see (or whoever stumbled on the blog).

Now I'm trying this easy-breezy method on the Ask Andy blog. After I send this, I will race to the blog and see what happened. It will be SO exciting!

Friday, August 20, 2010

Yikes, too few days left!

Still so much to do before the start of the term. There's plenty of work to do on the website. Patron data needs to be imported to account for some 600 new students, and edits to older records. Scheduling needs to be done for library instruction sessions. And last minute cleanup of public machines and printers.

Where did the summer go!

It will be fun to see the libraries again fill with new faces and old friends. If you find yourself on second level Shad-Fack, two doors down from the computer classroom, stop by to introduce yourself or sit down and chat.

One last dip in the old swimming hole!

Monday, August 09, 2010

Goings & comings

Today the new library website was launched, minus Ask Andy. Today library assistance is more accurately labeled "Ask Us," to best reflect all the many talented staff that field library and research questions.

This blog will continue, but in a different way. The voice will be mine. I will talk about stuff, mostly library stuff. But other things happen, life beyond the library. Those things might show up here, in words or pictures or video.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Best wishes Renate Sachse!

Renate served the college library for 35 years! She's seen everything; extensive library renovations in 1983, advent of catalog automation in 1988, dedication of Martin Library of the Sciences in 1991, lobby flood and system migration in 2002, and all sorts of new staff, new duties, new products and services and THOUSANDS of students!

Renate was one of the first librarians to represent the library at SirsiDynix conferences, traveling for a dozen years to St. Louis, then Nashville, Colorado Springs and Detroit. Renate was an enthusiastic champion of many of our marketing efforts, such as Wake Up in the Library and Librarian House Calls, and a regular at so many Modern Language events.

We will truly miss Renate's good humor and genuine spirit, and we wish her all the best and safe & fun travels in retirement!



Alles Gute = Good Luck



Renate gets the first piece of cake, with a bright red rose.



Renate and Carol Kornhauser, with Jeff Brethauer and Chuck Leayman in the background.



Mike Horn put together a terrific memory book, with staff pictures and best wishes.

Wake Up in the Library!

The Library held our semi-annual Wake Up event on June 5, to meet & greet our alumni. We got to meet and re-unite with over 50 alums from so many classes, many from 1960, 1980, 2000, and of course 2005, which gifted the Library with the wonderful new patio shown in the previous post.

Good to see everyone. Please come back soon!



Thursday, June 03, 2010

Shad-Fack has a new patio

In just a few days our old concrete patio at the Shad-Fack front steps was removed, and a sparkling new brick patio was installed. Here are a few pics of before & after.


(photo credit: Jenn Buch)


(photo credit: Mike Lear/Christopher Raab)


(photo credit: Mike Lear/Christopher Raab)


(photo credit: Mike Lear/Christopher Raab)

Many thanks to the Class of 2005 for funding our new patio!

Monday, May 03, 2010

Best wishes Dale Riordan!

Dale Riordan served as our Science Librarian for 10 years. Under her leadership, science research instruction & resources grew enormously. We could always count on Dale's expertise, easy manner and terrific humor. The Library will surely miss Dale, and we wish her all the best as she enjoys the sun & fun of Florida. Please Dale, when you get a chance, send us a few bright yellow grapefruits up North!



Dale cuts a sunny cake.



Dale and Pam Snelson, College Librarian.



Perhaps the last time we'll see this wonderful mix of people all together at the same time in the same place. Roughly from left-to-right: Pam Snelson, Dale Riordan, Mike Lear, Denise Chmielewski, Renate Sachse, Andy Gulati, Scott Vine (back), Sue Wood, Jenn Buch, Mike Horn, Chuck Leayman (back), Louise Kulp, Marty Gordon (back), Nikki Rearich, Andrea Hartranft, Linda Danner, Lisa Stillwell (back), Pat Miller, Rick Thompson, Christopher Raab, Ken Siegert

Comings & Goings

Not since 1996-1997 has there been this much staff activity at the Library. As noted in a previous post, both evening supervisors Bill Coventry and Sabine Caldwell left us in late winter. And just this Spring, Dale Riordan (Science Librarian) flew off to sunny Florida to rejoin family.

Andrea Hartranft recently joined us at Martin, as our Evening Circulation Supervisor. And we just celebrated Tom Karel's 25th year with the Library. Renate Sachse (Cataloging & Circulation Librarian) was also honored, as she will be retiring at the end of June (stay tuned for pictures!).



Andrea Hartranft and Riley

Andrea will graduate with a MLS from Clarion in August. She started with an internship at the Lancaster Historical Society and was employed by the Lititz Public Library, followed by an internship at F&M. Andrea is thrilled to be working at Martin and looks forward to a fulfilling career in libraries.



Tom Karel at the Honoring Distinguished Service event.

Tom, our Collection Development Librarian and Government Documents Guru, was honored for his 25 years of service. Tom can't leave us as long as he has interesting Congressional hearings to read and share!



Marilyn Kennard

Marilyn worked for many years at Shadek-Fackenthal before moving to the Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium. Marilyn will join her husband Ron in retirement after June.

Thursday, April 08, 2010

Studying on the steps



And why not study on the Library steps. Its April and 85 degrees!

Become a Facebook FAN of the Library!

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

NEW LIBRARY WEBSITE!!

The Library website is being updated! At this point, only critical services are enabled. There is still considerable work to be done. We are interested in your feedback as we finish our website design. Please visit

http://web1.fandm.edu/library/

Using this Library Blog, you can anonymously provide feedback about what you like OR don't like (see Comments below). Or you can email...

libwebteam@fandm.edu

Our main goals are to provide a site that's intuitive to use, with quick & easy ways to ask for help, that looks & feels like the College website, but with a touch of Library pizazz!

From now through May, we'd like to know

- can you readily find books, journals and other resources?
- can you easily find services such as E-Z Borrow or Order Materials?
- can you readily find help and ask questions?
- do you find that the language and link choices are obvious and intuitive?

Thanks for you kind consideration & valuable feedback!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

A Sincere Apology

I have been meaning to say this for awhile; and now that it's spring break and I've had some time to catch up on sleep (and episodes of Greek) after a rigorous week of (typical) F&M midterms, I must post a most sincere apology.

If you've known me at all the last 3.75 years, you know that I love working the closing shift at the Shad-Fack on Saturday evenings. I really do enjoy doing the closing rounds: walking through the library, turning off lights, and pushing in chairs from approximately 9:20PM - 9:45PM. I used to get scared walking through the stacks (c'mon, it is dark, quiet, and spooky), but then I loaded a "Closing the Library" playlist onto my iPod. It's full of lively, happy music that makes me want to sing along and dance.

Last Saturday, while pushing in the vacant chairs on the Mezzanine, I must have forgotten where I was, and did start humming along. I probably danced a little too. And disturbed the serious studying of serious students (because you must be very serious and doing something very serious to be in the library at quarter-to-ten on a Saturday nigh, seriously!).

So, here it is. I am sorry.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Hope everyone enjoys the rest of Spring Break! See you in a few days!

-Colleen

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Spring has Sprung!



Even if the calendar doesn't agree, and even if we get a freak snowstorm before Easter, everyone knows that familiar smell in the air.

On days like this, frisbees are flying and bulbs are blooming. Overheard on the Quad, "Are you kidding me, I've got 2 midterms tomorrow, but I want to play wiffleball!"

In another day, nearly every student will flee campus for Spring Break. Between sun & fun, there's a good chance research might happen.

If you have trouble connecting to Library databases, remember to use VPN (directions). And if you need a bit of assistance finding resources, you can always Ask Andy.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Departures

Its always sad to see staff leave, and at the Library it doesn't happen very often. In February we had two departures.

Sabine (Buckius) Caldwell served for over 5 years as our Evening Supervisor at Martin Library of the Sciences.



Bill Coventry served nearly 10 years as our Evening Circulation Supervisor at Shadek-Fackenthal Library.



Sabine now serves as Circulation Supervisor at Penn State's Hershey Medical Center, and Bill is off to explore new challenges.

We wish both Sabine and Bill best of luck and tremendous success!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Even more snow



After some 18 inches of snow only a few days back, we got a fresh batch of wintery wonderfulness, mostly likely another foot and half. That's 3 feet of snow in less than a week!

Usually the Library never closes, but we didn't open on Wednesday. Plans are to open for some hours on Thursday, then back to full strength on Friday.

Feel free to email if you have any research questions. Even with the blustery drifts, the Library is still not much further than ask.andy@fandm.edu.

Saturday, February 06, 2010

Snowed In!

Hello all! 

This is my first attempt at serious blogging, so please be kind. 

The tremendous amount of snow that has blanketed Lancaster over the last 24 hours has definitely made for an exciting weekend. Some people's travel plans were disrupted, dining options limited, and even classes cancelled on Friday afternoon (though the impending storm didn't get me out of Bio Lab... thanks Dr. Blair). It has also provided some novel forms of entertainment (I hear that when snowballs hit the screens in open dorm windows, they make a very satisfying explosion of sorts.)

It is nice to know that when everything else is up in the air, the library, like the postal service (the actual mail deliverers, not the band), can be counted on. Both libraries operated normal hours despite the tundra outside. (Dedicated Shad-Fack regular Weston Fillman was thankful for this as he trekked here in his Uggs all the way from the Lofts to print out journal articles and read his preceptees' papers.)  And even those who weren't brave enough to face the wintry mix could request EZBorrows and Interlibrary Loans from the comfort of their rooms via the library website. (One of my housemates actually did spend a good chunk of her afternoon requesting ILL Articles. I spent that time watching the Real Housewives of Orange County marathon on BRAVO. She was definitely more productive.) 

I've got about two hours left in my shift at the Circulation Desk at the Shad-Fack, but then I'll be off to enjoy the rest of my weekend! Hope everyone stays warm and dry and enjoys the Superbowl tomorrow.   

-Colleen 

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Introducing Colleen!



Colleen Bechtel '10 has kindly (and enthusiastically) volunteered to write for the Library Blog.

Stay tuned for fun features posted by our newest Blog author!

Monday, January 18, 2010

Galveston relief effort



Andy Gulati, Systems Librarian and CRA (Catastrophic Relief Alliance) advisor, returned to Galveston, to assist with Hurricane Ike relief, with an eager and hardworking group of students, staff, alumni and friends.

CRA worked on 2 homes on a variety of projects, ranging from framing and drywalling, to flooring and painting. Work was coordinated by the Episcopal Relief and Development. More worksite pictures can be found here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ask-andy/sets/72157623177873262/

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Snow scenes

Pictures taken from the snowy Shad-Fack steps, on the last day of finals. Nearly 12 inches of snow, but brave librarian Scott Vine was on the scene, helping students and taking pictures.