It’s been another busy summer here at The Ames Library, and we’re thrilled to welcome new and transfer students to campus!  We also want to extend a warm welcome back to returning students, many of whom have been doing amazing work on campus or completing internships, and to our faculty, who have also been busy with research and course preparation.  Wherever you’ve been this summer, we’re happy to see you back at IWU.

You may notice some changes in the building this fall – thanks to our great Physical Plant staff and our dedicated custodians, Justin and Nora, we’ve added some extra areas for studying, reading and working together.  Here are the highlights:

On the first floor, we’ve consolidated print journals and added more tables for collaboration.  We’ve also reconfigured two former offices into new project rooms, which means we now have six project rooms for students to reserve through Help@Ames.

On the second floor, we’ve removed 10 rows of shelving and added study tables and a whiteboard on one side of the space.

On the other side, outside of Room 214, we’ve added some extra comfy seating.

We hope you enjoy the building as much as we do.  Keep coming back to our blog throughout the year for more news about resources, events and more.

ITS has completed the installation of new wireless service in The Ames Library! To reconfigure your devices to connect to the new wireless setup, please follow these steps:

1.) Open up your network connections and select the “IllinoisWesleyan” SSID.

2.) Enter your NetID and password

3.) If your are asked to okay the validity of a Certificate click OK, Accept or Continue

4.) If you do not get connected, you may need to sync your password. You do not need change your password (unless you need to make your password stronger).

If you have problems connecting, please contact Help@Ames at (309)556-3900.

For more information and updates on the new wireless service on campus, see the ITS Website or the ITS blog.

“wireless” (CC0), designed by Lea Verou, from The Noun Project.

An image of an Olla jar from the John Wesley Powell Collection of Pueblo Pottery has been selected as the featured image of the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries of Illinois (CARLI) news page.  Mary Rose, member of the Digital Collections User Group committee of CARLI, noted that “The high-quality images and informative descriptions combine to render this collection of unique content wonderfully accessible and eminently useful.”  The digital collection was created by Meg Miner, University Archivist and Special Collections Librarian, and is considered a flagship digital collection at IWU.

To view the pottery featured in the digital collection, please visit The Ames Library, open Monday-Friday, 8 am – 4 pm during the summer.

The Ames Library will be open Monday – Friday, 8 am – 4 pm during the summer months.

If you need research or technology assistance over the summer, please call Help@Ames at x3900.

Wishing everyone a relaxing and productive summer!

Photo: “Hello, Summer” (by Cooky Koon, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Hours for the library over the Memorial Day Weekend are as follows:

 Friday, May 24: 7:45 a.m. – 4 p.m.
 Saturday, May 25: 12 p.m. – 5 p.m.
 Sunday, May 26: 5 p.m. – 10 p.m.
 Monday, May 27: 1 p.m. – 11 p.m.

Regular library hours resume on Tuesday, May 28.  The library closes at 4 pm on Friday, May 31, the last day of May Term.

Offering a single point of access to millions of items—photographs, manuscripts, books, sounds, moving images, and more—from libraries, archives, and museums around the United States, the Digital Public Library of America has officially launched. Users can browse and search the DPLA’s collections by timeline, map, format, and topic; save items to customized lists; and share their lists with others.

For more information, please see the FAQ.

The DPLA joins the Internet Archive and HathiTrust in exponentially expanding our access to rich collections throughout the world. The Ames Library will be linking this new digital collection on our library home page.

Several of our databases will be unavailable due to routine vendor updates and maintenance.  If you encounter any issues post-updates, please don’t hesitate to contact the Help@Ames Desk at x3900.

Offline April 17, 5 am – 6 am

Chicago Tribune (both Current and Historical)
Environmental Sciences Collection
National Newspapers Premier
New York Times (Historical)
PAIS International

April 16, 2013

According to the ArtSTOR website, an upgrade to the ArtSTOR database will eliminate the need for Java in the ARTstor Digital Library and single image downloads will be delivered in Zip files due to the recent recommendation from the Department of Homeland Security that Java poses a potential security risk.

Many versions of Windows come equipped with a built in zip program, but if you need to install a program on your PC, ARTstor recommends 7-Zip, available free at 7-zip.org. Mac users will not need to install software to handle zip files as it is already built into OS X. If you experience any difficulties, please clear the cache on your browser and restart your Web browser. If you continue to experience difficulties, please do not hesitate to contact User Services at userservices@artstor.org.  For more information, please see the ARTstor blog.

 “WORDS OF” 

 by James Dean Kersten

A unique multimedia sculpture, composed of spent bullet casings and upcycled computer keys, is being showcased on the entry level of the library, near the Human Rights   Cluster wall. Local sculptor Jim Kersten hopes his piece will raise awareness in favor of civility.

Says Kersten, “A word, in many ways, is like a bullet. Once it is spoken, it truly cannot be retracted. Spoken harshly or thoughtlessly, a word can leave a wound or a scar. And  no matter how hard you try to take it back… you simply can’t.”

The sculpture encourages our campus community to write on a small piece of paper a short message of forgiveness to anyone who has received an unkind word. The paper is then rolled up and placed inside one of the bullet casings.

#Here at IWU students are promoting the message of the sculpture and encourage everyone to take part in filling the casings with words of compassion and forgiveness.

The piece will be on display through graduation on May 5.