Guys, it’s Halloween!!! Real talk time: I loooove Halloween!! You know all those memes you see coming through your social media feed about people excited about Halloween’s approach? That’s me to a “T”. I have always enjoyed a good scary story or horror movie. I recall being a wee one around the age of 8, sitting at the top center of my parents bed (away from edges because of all of the unknowns that may be lurking under the bed…
The I-Create Lab was created so students and the community can have a creative space for projects and collaboration. The I-Create lab has many useful tools for this to be possible. In the lab students and the community can create to their heart's content. The star of the lab are the 3D printers. It costs just 7 cents per gram for students and 10 cents for community users to create any character, figure or design they desire. The second crowd favorite…
What is Open Access? Open access (OA) refers to information that is digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. This can include journals, books, databases, and more. Why did the open access movement begin? There are several reasons, like most things, one is due to cost. Between 1986 and 2011, serial expenditures rose 402% (see graph). For four decades, subscription prices have risen significantly faster than inflation and library budgets. Another reason for the open access movement…
We have wonderful resources here in the Special Collections and Archives Department at Bell Library. There are the Dr. Hector P. Garcia Papers, Dr. Clotilde P. Garcia Papers, the Dan E. Kilgore Collection, the wonderful Fuentes home films, the Blucher maps of surveyors of Corpus Christi back in the day, a photo collection from Doc McGregor and the Galvan family music collection. Besides these stellar, awesome collections, we have just as interesting and unique smaller collections that continue to tell the stories of Corpus Christi’s historical, cultural, and commercial development.…
It’s never been cooler to be a fan of science fiction. Fans of the genre are enjoying a renaissance of film, television, and books. But what exactly makes something science fiction? Science fiction tells stories built within science and technology of the future. These stories involve partially true/partially fictitious laws or theories of science. It’s important, however, that they be believable because otherwise they would veer more into the fantasy genre. There is frequently a fine line between science fiction,…
The question In a recent librarians’ meeting, a question came up about the way the library buys books. The Bell Library, like many academic libraries, has traditionally purchased books through two main methods—title-by-title selection, and auto-shipments from a book vendor, based on a profile we set up with them. This second method, called an “approval plan,” would be sort of like setting up your Amazon account to automatically send you any new books that match your interests. The question that…
Have you heard of "open educational resources" or "OER"? These are educational materials that are available for free via the Internet which can be used, reused, remixed, and redistributed by anyone who wants to learn or teach.1 We often hear about OER in the context of textbook affordability. Students these days pay a lot of money for the textbooks which are produced by for-profit publishers. Studies have shown that many students are forced to choose between paying for textbooks and…
You have your research topic all picked out (Good for you! I think that might be the hardest part). Your instructor says you have to use 3 physical resources in the library, so you’ve gone to the Library’s Quick Search, searched your topic, limited your search to just the “Library Catalog” (found under the “Refine Your Search” menu on the left side of the page) and now you’ve found the perfect source, but the location says… microfilm????? What even is that?…
Did you know that the library has opened a call for applications for the new LIB: Library Islander Board? The Board will be our first student advisory group that will help us create spaces, resources, and services with student input and direction. Members will represent a variety of student populations and engage with the library in some pretty cool projects! They will help promote library resources, services, and events and participate in user experience research. All current students are eligible…