Behind the Scenes – Page 5 – Mary and Jeff Bell Library Blog

Welcome Back, Islanders: Reflections and Looking Forward to Spring 2020

Post author:Catherine Rudowsky
Post published:January 28, 2020
Post category:Behind the Scenes Dean's Corner Hello, from the Staff

Greetings everyone and welcome to a brand-new semester. The momentum and energy of our campus continue to thrive, and each new semester continues to promise new endeavors. Before jumping into what is new, I would like to take a minute to reflect on the Fall 2019 semester. The library is proud of several accomplishments, three of which I would like to highlight as representative of our vision and our future. First, the library has been heavily involved, along with many…

Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe: Selecting Your Next Leisure Read

Post author:Trisha Hernandez
Post published:January 21, 2020
Post category:Behind the Scenes Books & More Library Hacks

Raise your hands, how many of you turn into a kid in a candy store when you walk into a bookstore? Now, how many of you believe the following statement to be true: “Despite the fact that I have a table, shelf, floor, etc., full of books I’ve purchased and have yet to read, I still need more?” My own hand is way up because I love books (so typical of a librarian, I know). As a matter of fact,…

What’s in a Name: Getting to Know Library Jargon

Post author:Bell Library
Post published:December 6, 2019
Post category:Behind the Scenes Library Hacks Service for You

We here in the library, like many other occupations, have specific jargon we use in our day-to-day work. We do realize this can be confusing and do our best to make things easy to understand. For example, we renamed the reference desk and now call it the Ask-Us Desk. However, some other areas or words are not so easily interchangeable. Below I’ll go over a few of those to try and help you out. Archives Archives at TAMU-CC refers to…

Student Employee Appreciation

Post author:Joe Hernandez
Post published:November 12, 2019
Post category:Behind the Scenes Hello, from the Staff

As I was thinking about something to write this blog about. I was having a really hard time thinking about something that would be both interesting and informative. Naturally, I was trying to bounce ideas off anyone who would listen. I approached the student workers in our department and they easily came up with a few ideas. However, while they were talking, I couldn’t help but realize how much I rely on our student employees. Then it occurred to me,…

Alston Cobourn takes count of the Hector P. Garcia archive collection in the special collections and archive storage room.

Some of The Lesser Known Collections held by TAMU-CC Special Collections and Archives

Post author:Bell Library
Post published:October 18, 2019
Post category:Behind the Scenes Service for You

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.…

Do Islanders still read books?

Post author:Derrik Hiatt
Post published:October 11, 2019
Post category:Behind the Scenes Books & More Service for You

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…

What is with all those library locations?

Post author:Bell Library
Post published:October 4, 2019
Post category:Behind the Scenes Library Hacks

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?…

The Most Requested Interlibrary Loans: The 2018-2019 Academic Year

Post author:Bell Library
Post published:September 6, 2019
Post category:Behind the Scenes Books & More Service for You

In the 2018-2019 Academic Year, Interlibrary Loan (ILL) filled just shy of 10,000 requests! To put this in perspective, this is almost double the number of requests filled just 5 years ago in 2013-2014. And we did it all with less staff! That said, we thought it would be fun to share with you the year's most borrowed journals and books, as requested by TAMU-CC students, faculty, and staff, then follow up with a few observations. Top 11 most borrowed…

Why We Cancelled Lexis-Nexis (and How We Made the Decision)

Post author:Lisa Louis
Post published:August 6, 2019
Post category:Behind the Scenes News @ Your Library

This summer, Bell Library was faced with a choice. The database Lexis-Nexis, long a mainstay among library online resources, was coming up for renewal. We could have just renewed it automatically. Lexis Nexis seems foundational. Essential, even. But some concerns brought us up short. Usage was way down over previous years. The price has gone up over the same time span. And there were some problems with the contract that the company wanted us to sign. The TAMU system has…

Access Services: Prospective Student Assistant FAQ

Post author:Bell Library
Post published:August 2, 2019
Post category:Behind the Scenes

As the Student Coordinator for Access Services (or as many know it as the Circulation Desk), I typically work with 12–13 students assistants every semester. Throughout the semester, a student assistant may need to resign, and it is up to me to fill this position. So, has it ever crossed your mind what one (or myself) looks for in a student employee? What qualities should one have?What experience should one have? If you are one who has wondered about these…