K-State at Salina Library

Free Comic Book Day!

Mark your calendars, comic book fans! May 5th (also known as Cinco de Mayo and K-State Salina Spring 2012 Commencement) is Free Comic Book Day! Comic book stores all over the country will be giving out limited editions of all different kinds of comic books, from traditional superheroes to graphic novel spin-offs. Not all stores are participating, so be sure to call your favorite one beforehand.

Know where you can check out your favorite demigods and supervillons for free all year? At the library! We have tons of graphic novels and DVDs featuring caped crusaders, damsels in distress, fiesty sidekicks and evil geniuses. Stop by and check out our collections, located in the Library Lounge.

You Beta Believe It!

Ever wish you could save time and search databases and the catalog at the same time in one awesome, mega-research-tastic way?

Wish. Granted.

We're currently looking for beta testers for SearchIt, a new online tool that combines all of the library databases and both Salina and Manhattan card catalogs.

This tool will search across nearly all of our print and digital collections with one easy push of the button! Need to find everything there is to know about college sports or diabetes or animal rights or the French Revolution? SearchIt would be the tool for you!

To try it out, start at K-State Libraries. Then in the middle box, go to the text "Want to search everything? Help test our new search tool and tell us what you think," and click on the link. Or simply click here!

Want to learn more? Watch this video for details.

 

After you give it a spin, tell us what you think! We want to know the good, the bad, the ugly and the pretty-pretty-princess-with-a-pony.

 

Geek the Library!

Geekitude was hot and fierce on campus last week with all the Geek Week activities. Here at the Mecca of Geekiness (no, not Comic-con), the librarians wanted to prove you could geek out about anything and everything. As part of statewide efforts to Geek the Library, we asked people to tell us what they "geek." We gathered signatures from over 70 faculty, students and staff and each person who told us their passion, hobby, interest, or love-of-their-life got an awesome "i geek k-state salina" magnet to show off their geekiness loud and proud.   

We'll be hanging our geek-tastic board up in the library so everyone can see it as soon as we can! In the meantime, stop by and see our Geek Week display, highlighting everything from Batman to anime, Lord of the Rings to Harry Potter, X-Files to Indiana Jones. All the toys, gadgets, gizmos and wands were generously loaned by faculty on campus!

No matter what you geek, you can find it at the K-State Salina library!

New workspaces in the library

Did you ever think to yourself "Gee, if only my 7 friends/teammates/groupmates/tutoring pals had a space big enough in the library where we could all work together?"

We're pretty sure you might have, and the library is proud to announce its newest addition: Collaboration tables! You and your 1-7 guests can put your heads together and come up with ingenious new plans, attack math homework or hash out that brilliant group Powerpoint.*

                                              *(IQ points not included with table.)

These handy tables are on wheels, which means you can push all the tables together and seat 8 or break them off if another group is using part of the table so you can make your own collaboration space. Just in time for midterm projects!

Peanut butter cracker time! Peanut butter cracker time!

It's peanut butter cracker time! Peanut butter cracker time! The Library will be hosting one of its famous Living Displays in the Tech Center lobby TODAY from 11:20am-1:30pm to celebrate National Peanut Butter Lover's Day. We're giving away packages of peanut butter crackers and healthy tips on how to incorporate the best thing ever spread on sliced bread into your diet in new and fun ways.

*Don't get it? Catch up on pop culture here.

We <3 Valentine's Day!

Some movies make libraries out to be romantic places where behind every bookshelf is some hip, smart, beautiful person just waiting for you to bump into them so Love at First Sight can happen. In reality, the hip, smart, beautiful people behind those shelves are most likely librarians just trying to do their jobs.

Lest your burning passion for all things lovey-dovey be squashed, the library DOES have all sorts of materials to help you celebrate Hallmark's favorite holiday, all month long. Check out our supply of poetry books (800s), romance novels (Lending Fiction - See McComber, Steel, Baldacci, Roberts), and DVDs (See Pride and Prejudice, The Notebook, Becoming Jane, The Timetraveler's Wife, WALL-E. Really, just look around.) For the best selection, stop by before the Big Day.

Whether it's a girl's night of back-to-back-to-back swooning, a romantic date night of poetry reading and Ramen or the need for a shoot-em-up slasher-film distraction from all the couple-ness that seems to be maginified this time of year, come check out our collections. We'd love to have you. 

Happy New Website!

In addition to wishing all our patrons Happy Chinese New Year, we want to wish our friendly cohorts over at Hale Library a Happy New Website!

When you click on the Hale Library link on the Salina Library website, you'll see a shiney new website, redesigned with YOU in mind!

This webite still features all your favorite library things, just in new places:

• RefWorks
• Databases
• E-Journals
• LibGuides (course guides)
• Ask a Librarian
• And more!

All of this stuff is awesome for giving you get a jump on your semester research paper (you know you want need to) so if you need help with any of these tools, ask a librarian.

(Do not ask a dragon. Even a talking one. Dragons do not know our card catalog and they tend to set things on fire).

(Disney's Mulan, 1998)

Veggie Tales! Veggie Tales!

Check out the library's awesome Vegetarianism/Veganism DUAL displays! One is full of awesome factoids about why you should choose fava beans over furried friends for your fried fare, as well as cookbooks and magazines to help you embrace a more animal-friendly lifestyle (or anti-plant, depending on your viewpoint). The other is full of fantastic animal-free food you can WIN! Just head into the library and put your name in the drawing. 5 lucky winners will recieve the ingredients to make the tasty treats listed in the display. For more information, contact Linda German in IT, who graciously donated all the materials AND tasty tidbits you can win!

Chat contest winner!

Thanks to everyone who chatted with us last week! Eric Swenson, computer sciences major, was the winner of the K-State Salina Library IM Chat Contest. Eric managed to go 5 for 5 and ask a librarian the Question of the Day each day of the contest! Here he is (showing genuine appreciation) in our Graphic Novel section, showing off his brand-spanking-new $25 Applebee's giftcard.

Faculty, students and staff can use the IM chat box to talk to a librarian in real-time for help on locating library materials or for research strategies from the comfort of their own...anyplace!

Ask Questions. Win Prizes.

Chat with a librarian and win prizes!

To celebrate National Information Literacy Month and the launch of new Instant Message (IM) reference services, the K-State Salina Library will be holding a contest from October 24-28th.

Each day, students, faculty and staff can use the library's IM box to ask librarians the Question of the Day. Just say "I want to win the K-State Salina Library contest!" and ask the question. The librarians will respond with the correct answer and ask for your name and email so you will be entered in the contest. All participants may enter once daily and the names will be entered for a drawing to win Applebees gift cards!

Question of the Day:
Oct. 24: How many books does the K-State Salina Library own?
Oct. 25: How many magazines are at K-State Salina Library?
Oct. 26: How many databases does K-State subscribe to?
Oct. 27: How do I borrow materials from other libraries?
Oct. 28: How many web pages are there on the Internet?

Feel free to also use the box to get research help, such as finding library materials or using the library databases.

Librarians Don't Care

Librarians don't care what you read, as long as you're reading, and we don't think anybody should be able to stop you. That's why every year, we get out our Banned Books Week decorations, decorate our Banned Books Week tree and demand parents, politicians, professors and other generally-nosy neighbors stop tossing perfectly good books like Twilight outta libraries. (Well, maybe not Twilight, but other great classics like The Grapes of Wrath, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and the Harry Potter series.)

In celebration of reading books other people don't want you to read, here is a list of the top 10 controversial books in America:

1. .----------------
2. .------------------------------
3. .----------
4. .------------------------------------------------
5. .------------------------------------
6. .-------------------------
7. .---------------------------------------------------------------------
8. .----------------------------------------
9. .------------------------------------------
10. .------------------------------------------

Oops! Sorry! Somebody doesn't want you to read them!

For more information on Banned Books week, check out:

http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/

For more information on how the American Library Association totally has your back (and for the actual list of books), check out:

http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/bannedbooksweek/index.cfm

 

 

 

Doing it in the library

Luke Skywalker does it. Harry Potter does it. Batman does it. Frodo does it. Stewie Griffen does it.

But why, OH WHY, do you, dear students, fail to do it?

Every semester, there are some students who refuse to ask for help when they need it. Frightened freshmen unaware of our awesome capacity to find peer-reviewed articles, sheepish sophomores who can't quite remember what they learned when the librarian visited their class, jeering juniors who think they know everything about everything in the library and stupified seniors who suddenly need industry-specific sources they've never heard of until now.

Ask a librarian.

Don't wait until the last minute, find a librarian and get some help! (Ok, even if you wait until the last minute, we'll still help you.) There is no shame in saying "My teacher needs me to find X but I don't know what X is, can't spell X and I'm not even sure X is real." Turns out, the librarians have probably helped students just like you with that assignment before and we have a good idea of what your teacher is wanting, or we can make a good guess. We're into the 5th week of the semester, so if you haven't wandered around the library yet, get in there and get some library-tastic assistance. Not on campus? Email libhelp@salina.k-state.edu for help over the interwebz.

 

Newish New-ness

Hurrah! School has started and we've finished putting our new shelving up and while only new-ish, the Library Lounge has moved to its new location. Check out our new and new-ish graphic novels, magazines and newspapers, as well as the newest of the new bestsellers. We can't wait to see new and new-ish students hanging out in our library!

You can move it! Move it!

The compact shelving is FINALLY installed, the books are back on the shelves (thanks to our volunteers!) and 20,000+ titles are ready for you to browse at your leisure! We couldn't be happier (or tired and sore) and we want you to stop by and check out the new system for yourself. It's pretty hip and space-agey, so go ahead: Push the button.

 

He like to move it, move it! She like to move it, move it!

We're taking a break to post the updates of our moving project, which kicked into gear after the nice three-day weekend. We have people working from literally the floor to the ceiling so check out the progress below. Please forgive our noise and mess, the awesomeness will be worth it this fall!

WE ARE STILL OPEN REGULAR HOURS:

8am-8pm M-TH, 8am-5pm F.

We still have computers available, DVDs for checkout and, as always, helpful librarians who are ready to battle the evils of censorship and illeteracy help you find what you need.

 

We like to move it! Move it!

Ha! Just try not to sing the song from Madagascar as you read this awesome update about K-State Salina's Moving Project!

Yes, we're making all sorts of noise but we're trying our best to stay quiet!

Yes, we're hauling books out by the cartload to store in the labs (Electronic and Manufacturing) as we tear down old shelving to make way for awesome compact, "movable" shelving.

No, we didn't "suddenly decided to go with e-books because print books are like, so 2000, and everything's on the Internet, right, so you're getting rid of all of them?" (actual quote from a student patron). We <3 books, print or not.

Check out the pics below to see some of our progress. We've moved approximately 10,800 books so far, so we're half way (not all of our books are moving)!

First Shelf-full

First Shelf-empty!

Stacking the books in TC142

Oops! We're full!

Shelving torn down for sale on Purple Wave

On to filling up TC139!

Peeta and Gale cast for upcoming "Hunger Games"

Lionsgate has confirmed that Josh Hutcherson has been tapped for the role, Deadline reports. It's a crucial one: Peeta is Katniss' fellow competitor/love interest as the 16-year-old girl is forced to compete in a brutal government-sponsored, televised battle.

The “Kids Are All Right” star was reportedly going against Alex Pettyfer (“I Am Number Four”), Hunter Parrish (“Weeds”) and Liam Hemsworth for the job.

While Hemsworth (“The Last Song”) won’t play Peeta, he will play Katniss’ childhood friend Gale Hawthorne. As Entertainment Weekly points out, Hemsworth won't have as large a part in the first film as Hutcherson, but if Hollywood indeed adapts the full trilogy, then there's more of Hemsworth coming down the line.

See pics of our leading men at http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/05/josh-hutcherson-liam-hemsworth-join-hunger-games/

Other confirmed cast members:

• Elizabeth Banks has been cast as the pink-haired, sadistically bubbly Effie Trinket, who serves as an escort for District 12 tributes Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark.

• The widowed Mrs. Everdeen, a victim of the totalitarian government of the story's dystopian future, will be played by Paula Malcomson.

• Willow Shields will play Katniss' delicate and much-loved younger sister, Primrose Everdeen.

• Tall and beautiful, Glimmer is still quite deadly and will be played by Leven Rambin.

• Rue, the 12-year-old District 11 tribute who reminds Katniss of her younger sister, Prim, will be played by Amandla Stenberg.

“Hunger Games” will arrive in theaters on March 23, 2012. (Hey SGA, maybe this is the movie you should pick for Student Night at the movies! Just sayin'...)

 

Brawl in the Library

 
As we wind down towards the end of the semester, we understand the occassional need to call your advisor about registering for classes, the registrar's office about transfering classes, your mom to tell her you scored a summer internship or your roommate to tell them you'll be studying late into the night.

However, PLEASE be courteous to your fellow library patrons and take your call out into the Tech Center Lobby, or better yet, outside (the lobby just funnels the sound back into the library). Trying to find last minute sources, get math tutoring or take an online quiz is easier in a quiet environment.

We'd hate to see a brawl over cellphones like at the University of Missouri-St.Louis. Library ninjas have to be released and then rounded up, campus security will want a written report (probably in triplicate) and you never know when those pesky papparazzi will be around to snap a photo of it...

Celebrate National Library Week!

April 10-16th is National Library Week!

Celebrate by using library databases, e-journals, checking out DVDs, reading a newspaper or magazine or those awesome things with pages:

Jennifer Lawrence tapped for Katniss in Hunger Games adaptation

Image from Winter's Bone

Lionsgate confirmed 20-year-old Jennifer Lawrence, whose excellent work in Winter’s Bone earned her an Oscar nomination, has landed the coveted role of Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games. In director Gary Ross’ adaptation of the first installment to Suzanne Collins’ beloved trilogy, Lawrence will play the 16-year-old tribute from District 12 who’s forced by a vicious government to participate in an annual reality TV death match. The Hunger Games hits theaters March 23, 2012.

Now, who's up for Peeta and Gale?

Check out the top contenders here!

It could happen to you

No. 3 BYU dismisses player for honor code violation

 

With warmer weather causing spring fever on campus, many students are longing for lazy afternoons spent outside enjoying the breeze, rather than indoors working in the labs or in the hanger. Don't let the temptation to cut corners or take shortcuts ruin your academic career in exchange for one nice day outdoors!

Undergraduate and graduate students, when they register, acknowledge the jurisdiction of the K-State Honor System. The policies and procedures of the Honor System apply to all full and part-time students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate courses on-campus, off-campus, as well as online. A component vital to the Honor System is the inclusion of the Honor Pledge, which applies to all assignments, examinations, and other course work undertaken by students.

"On my honor, as a student, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this academic work."

Cheating the system cheats you, and while you may or may not be a student athlete, the consequences will have an impact on the rest of your education. So think before you copy a presentation, buy a term paper or cheat on an online quiz just to save a little time. Sanctions like an XF on your transcript, having to spend more time and money to retake a course (and pushing back graduation), or dismissal from K-State are real possibilities for vilolaters. It could happen to you.

 

 

How cold IS it?

Due to the weather trends of snow consistently falling on each and every Tuesday/Wednesday for the last several weeks, we thought you could use some humor to keep you warm trudging from your building to the nice, toasty library.

So, K-State, HOW COLD IS IT?

It's SO COLD:

• Grades seem to be improving at school - when you apply the wind chill factor, a 57% looks like 93%!
• Students are telling the most awful lies about why they can't make it to class - hoping their pants catch on fire!
• Facilities had to salt the hallway between Tech East and Tech West!
  
• The cafeteria is only handing out plasticware. Some people are walking around with spoons or forks stuck to their tongues after breakfast this morning!
• When we milk the cows, we get (Call Hall) ice cream!
  
• Students are using flannel netbooks!
• The bookstore is selling giant keyboards so people can type with mittens!
• Apple is introducing something called the iScarf!
• People are buying SIFE coffee as handwarmers for the long trek to the AERO buildings, one cup for each hand!

Got another K-State "It's so cold" joke? Post it below or email hblackbu@ksu.edu.

eBooks for iPads, iPhones, Blackberries, Androids and more!

Santa bring you a new igadget?

Bag a techno deal at a post-holiday sale?

Combine your giftcards from distant relatives into a spending spree at a big box store?

We're betting you need some awesome eBooks, audiobooks, classic movies and guilt-free downloadable music to fill the vast, unused megabytes on your new device. Check out Overdrive, a free site providing a wealth of fiction, non-fiction, and children's titles. Stop by the library to get your FREE State Library of Kansas card and you're on your way!

Overdrive - Free Audio and eBooks, movies and music, provided by a subscription paid for by the the State Library of Kansas.

Need help loading Overdrive eBooks or music onto your iPod, iPad, iPhone, MP3 player or Sony eReader? Check out these helpful videos created by the State Library of Kansas.

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm1AjzdRKxQ

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19J_23cjzvw

 

For more eBooks and nifty downloadables, check out our Free Online eBooks page.

WARNING: Graphic Trailer for Hunger Games

This book trailer for Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games landed a spot on School Library Journal's Top 10 Videos of 2010.

It is graphic.

It is violent.

It will make you swoon through 10 emotions in its 10 minute running time.

It. Is. Amazing.

If you haven't read The Hunger Games as part of the 2010 K-State Campus Wide Read, it's not too late. Stop by the library and borrow a copy.

 

*This is NOT the official Lionsgate trailer for the movie due out in late 2011.

Write or Die

It's Dead Week.

Papers are due.

The coffee isn't strong enough.

Try Write or Die by Dr Wicked.

Type in your word count goal, time limit (10 minutes to 2 hours), pick a motivation mode (Gentle for newbies or Electric Shock for those of you REALLY under the gun) and start typing! When you stop typing, the clock starts ticking down before an alarm goes off to keep you awake, uh, on track.

Just don't forget to cut and paste your work into a document and save, save, save!