The Islander Family at Bell Library Welcomes Vanessa Claros

Meet Vanessa Claros, one of our newest library staff members, who began her position as Library Specialist II, Cataloging on March 11, 2019, as part of the Resource Management & Discovery Department. Vanessa, her husband and their young daughter, Isabelle, age 20 months, recently set forth on a major move from Lawrenceville, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, all the way to Corpus Christi, Texas. To be exact, we are talking about a distance of well over 1,000 miles, and roughly…

Continue ReadingThe Islander Family at Bell Library Welcomes Vanessa Claros

Frame of the Day: Authority is Constructed and Contextual

Last Friday, the Dean of the Library, Cate Rudowsky, wrote a blog post discussing the upcoming Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), information literacy, and why it’s all important. I’m going to dig a little bit deeper and talk about the actual concepts as they have been outlined in The Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education, the go-to resource on everything you need to know about information literacy, which for the sake of my typin’ fingers, I’m just going to refer to…

Continue ReadingFrame of the Day: Authority is Constructed and Contextual

What’s a QEP?

A QEP you say? Information and digital literacy you say? What the what? What’s a QEP? QEP is an acronym for Quality Enhancement Plan and is part of the SACSCOC reaffirmation process. According to SACSCOC, “the Quality Enhancement Plan is an integral component of the reaffirmation of accreditation process and is derived from an institution’s ongoing comprehensive planning and evaluation process. It reflects and affirms a commitment to enhance overall institutional quality and effectiveness by focusing on an issue that the institution considers important…

Continue ReadingWhat’s a QEP?

Are you a Sean or a Joe? Re-shelving Books in the Library

Why do we ask you to put the books back on the cart instead of re-shelving them yourself? This is an excellent question. You're thinking, "If I re-shelve it myself, it will be right where I need it tomorrow; or, it'll be available for the next person." You obviously know where you pulled it from. You can see the gap right there. Also, maybe you’re saving the staff from having to do the work of putting it back; so really,…

Continue ReadingAre you a Sean or a Joe? Re-shelving Books in the Library

Islander Feminists Guest Blog for Women’s History Month

In honor of Women’s History Month, the library is proud to host our first guest blogger, the Islander Feminists! This student organization has been a very active voice on campus. Dedicated to establishing an inviting and engaging culture where feminism and feminist topics are identified, discussed, and encouraged, this team has participated and hosted a variety of events; each aiming to build relationships, celebrate feminist ideals, educate the campus community, and so much more. They have initiated petitions, supported cultural events…

Continue ReadingIslander Feminists Guest Blog for Women’s History Month

February 26 is National Tell a Fairy Tale Day

Did you know that today is National Tell a Fairy Tale Day? From classic Grimm tales to modern day retellings, today is about appreciating the art of the story and how it captivates our imagination. Storytelling has been around since the dawn of man. We all love stories. They ignite feelings and emotions without having to go anywhere or do anything. They appeal to the power of our imaginations, to our curiosity, and to our desire to know more. There…

Continue ReadingFebruary 26 is National Tell a Fairy Tale Day

Dr. Hector P. Garcia Fellowship

As a newcomer to Corpus Christi, one of the first local history figures I learned about was Dr. Hector P. Garcia. And for good reason:  Dr. Hector, who settled in Corpus with his family in 1945, was an enormously influential individual who made an impact not just locally but globally. He treated indigent patients in his medical practice. He founded the American G.I. Forum, which allowed Mexican-American veterans to organize and advocate for their rights. He stood up for migrant…

Continue ReadingDr. Hector P. Garcia Fellowship

The Power of Pleasure Reading

What if I told you there was this one little trick that could reduce feelings of stress and depression, increase feelings of relaxation, and expand your ability to cope with difficult situations? It's the simple act of reading for pleasure! When it comes to enjoyment of life and our ability to cope with the challenges we face, people who read report lower levels of stress, higher self-esteem, and greater self-acceptance and life satisfaction. Emotional and Psychological Benefits While people who…

Continue ReadingThe Power of Pleasure Reading

Down the Rabbit Hole

Have you ever Googled David Bowie's age and wound up learning about Wild Bill Hickok's famous shootout? Well, I'll let you in on a secret. That counts as research! At Bell Library, we encourage that kind of research and, more to the point, we encourage the use of Wikipedia. Now, I'm not saying you should cite Wikipedia in your lab report, but I am saying that Wikipedia is an amazing resource and just because it's crowd-sourced doesn't mean it's worthless.…

Continue ReadingDown the Rabbit Hole

New Browsable Media Collection and Displays

Things are changing with the media collection! To make room for the I-Create makerspace lab, we temporarily relocated all the DVDs and other media to the Circulation Desk. Once they were downstairs, we undertook a huge project to separate all the DVD’s from their cases, so the cases could be displayed as part of the new browsable media collection.  As of February 1, a little over half of the collection has been displayed upstairs in their new home located just…

Continue ReadingNew Browsable Media Collection and Displays