2019 – Page 6 – Mary and Jeff Bell Library Blog

Frame of the Day: Research as Inquiry

Post author:Bell Library
Post published:June 14, 2019
Post category:Library Hacks

Onward! This week we’re talking about the Information Literacy Frame Research as Inquiry. Inquiry is another word for curiosity or questioning. I like to think of this frame as Research as Curiosity, because I think it more accurately captures the way our adorable human brains work. Inquiring Minds Want to Know When you think to yourself, “How old is Madonna?” and you Google it to find out she’s 60 (as of the creation of this post), that’s research! You had a…

Looking for Game of Thrones? We GoT It!

Post author:Bell Library
Post published:June 11, 2019
Post category:Books & More Today's Special

This blog is spoiler free! Winter is coming…. Well, Winter has ended but, that doesn’t mean you can’t binge watch over 72 hours of Game of Thrones! If you love dragons, epic battle scenes, medieval politics, and beautiful musical scores, you are sure to become an instant fan of the show. Set in the mythical land of Westeros, nine noble families contend for rule of the land and to lay claim to the Iron Throne. You will adore, or hate, the…

Does the library have my textbook? A student’s guide to Course Reserves

Post author:Bell Library
Post published:June 7, 2019
Post category:Behind the Scenes Service for You

What are Course Reserves? Reserves are books held at the Circulation Desk under course numbers and/or professors' names. Usually the books are on 3-hour reserve and must remain in the library. This allows more students access to the book. Books are put on reserve by the request of the professor. Tip: If you would like one of your course books to be on reserve at the library, talk to your professor. They might they have an extra copy available that they…

The TAMU-CC Repository

Post author:Alexa Hight
Post published:June 4, 2019
Post category:Service for You

What is an Institutional Repository? An institutional repository is a type of digital repository focused on collecting, managing, and disseminating important digital content produced by the members of an institution like a university. What types of digital content can be found in the TAMU-CC Repository? Currently, the majority of contents located in the Repository consist of theses and dissertations by TAMU – CC graduates. Other items consist of Special Collections items including videos, photographs, and maps. Additionally, faculty and researchers…

Service Excellence in Your Campus Library

Post author:Jennifer Anderson
Post published:May 31, 2019
Post category:Behind the Scenes Service for You

Recently the faculty and staff at the Bell Library have embarked upon a service excellence initiative. We hear about service excellence more and more often lately – we’ve even mentioned it a few times in our blog. What does “service excellence” mean? Perhaps more importantly, what will it mean for you? A simple Google search will give us some starting points…service excellence is an organization’s ability to meet and manage customer expectations. Lots of words are repeated in the results:…

Frame of the Day: Information Has Value

Post author:Bell Library
Post published:May 28, 2019
Post category:Library Hacks

Today we're talking about the third Frame of Information Literacy, which is Information Has Value. By the way, these frames aren't organized by importance —it's just alphabetical. There are a lot of different ways we value things. Some things, like money, are valuable to us because we can exchange them for goods and services. On the other hand, some things, like a skill, are valuable to use because we can exchange them for money (which we exchange for more goods and…

A Sea of Maps: A Collaborative Project with the Conrad Blucher Institute

Post author:Bell Library
Post published:May 24, 2019
Post category:Behind the Scenes

Every morning the lights of the Archives Workroom come on at 8:00 am, and every morning the first thing (or should I say things) that greet me as I walk in are land surveying records. Not just a few, not just a couple hundred, but thousands of maps waiting to be processed, preserved and prepared for digitization. As Library Specialist II, in the Special Collections and Archives department, my job is to serve as point of contact with the Conrad Blucher Institute on a…

Does the Library Have Any Stephen King Books?

Post author:Trisha Hernandez
Post published:May 21, 2019
Post category:Books & More Service for You

Take a moment to stroll pass the Popular Reading Collection. As you scan the spines of the numerous books, which are currently shelved by author’s last name, you get to the “K” authors. That’s when you see it, ”King…King…King…King.” Of the over 600 titles in this collection, 27 are by Stephen King. While this is a mere 4% in the grand scheme of things, King dominates all other authors regarding number of titles available. Ever wonder why? Gather round, it’s…

Mediasite, what is it and who can use it?

Post author:Abel Cantu
Post published:May 17, 2019
Post category:Library Hacks Service for You Tech in the Library

As part of a joint venture between the Library and the University Technology Council (UTC) to bring a video streaming service to the campus community, Mediasite was selected for a one-year pilot program in the fall of 2017. After a successful test phase Mediasite has been in full production since the fall of 2018. So, what is Mediasite and who can use it? Well in the library we use it for our video course reserve materials. Pretty much gone are…

An In-depth Look at How Bell Library Acquires New Databases

Post author:Rachel Bennett
Post published:May 14, 2019
Post category:Behind the Scenes Service for You

Have you ever been browsing our online databases and wondered how we here at Bell Library decide which ones to purchase and make available to you? Well wonder no more because I am about to lay it all out for you! The first step in the e-resource lifecycle begins when we become aware of a new database. This can happen several different ways. Sometimes there is a resource that a professor has been wanting or has used at a prior…