By request: new books in the Rec Collection

Last spring we set up a Post-It board in the lobby of Hamersly and asked you what books you’d like to see in the library’s Recreation Collection. We were delighted with the flood of responses and have worked over the summer to bring in as many of the suggestions as possible.

Some of them we already had – the people who requested Leaves of Grass, Catcher in the Rye, books by Oscar Wilde, the Twilight series, the Hunger Games series, the Harry Potter series, and books by Neil Gaiman are in luck!

And below is just a sampling of new arrivals that we purchased over the summer in response to your other requests. Browse the collection online or in-person to see all of our recreational books. Welcome back to campus and happy reading!

In Real Life by Cory Doctorow & Jen Wang. Call Number: REC DOC

From Goodreads: “Anda loves Coarsegold Online, the massively-multiplayer role-playing game where she spends most of her free time. It’s a place where she can be a leader, a fighter, a hero. But things become a lot more complicated when Anda befriends a gold farmer–a poor Chinese kid whose avatar in the game illegally collects valuable objects and then sells them to players from developed countries with money to burn. This behavior is strictly against the rules in Coarsegold, but Anda soon comes to realize that questions of right and wrong are a lot less straightforward when a real person’s real livelihood is at stake… A perceptive and high-stakes look at adolescence, gaming, poverty, and culture clash.”

Raven’s Shadow #1-3 by Anthony Ryan. Call Number: REC RYA

From Goodreads: “Vaelin Al Sorna was only a child of ten when his father left him at the iron gate of the Sixth Order. The Brothers of the Sixth Order are devoted to battle, and Vaelin will be trained and hardened to the austere, celibate, and dangerous life of a Warrior of the Faith. He has no family now save the Order. From ‘a new master storyteller’ comes an epic fantasy saga of blood, honor, and destiny…”

Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson. Call Number: REC WIL

From Goodreads: “Kamala Khan is an ordinary girl from Jersey City — until she’s suddenly empowered with extraordinary gifts. But who truly is the new Ms. Marvel? Teenager? Muslim? Inhuman? Find out as she takes the Marvel Universe by storm!”

Gulp: adventures on the alimentary canal by Mary Roach. Call Number: REC ROA

From Goodreads: “Why is crunchy food so appealing? Why is it so hard to find names for flavors and smells? Why doesn’t the stomach digest itself? How much can you eat before your stomach bursts? Can constipation kill you? Did it kill Elvis? We meet scientists who tackle the questions no one else thinks—or has the courage—to ask. And we go on location to a pet-food taste-test lab, a bacteria transplant, and into a live stomach to observe the fate of a meal. Like all of Roach’s books, Gulp is as much about human beings as it is about human bodies.”

Jesus Land: a memoir by Julia Scheeres. Call Number: REC SCH

From Goodreads: “For Julia Scheeres and her adopted brother David, ‘Jesus Land’ stretched from their parents’ fundamentalist home, past the hostilities of high school, and deep into a Christian reform school in the Dominican Republic. For these two teenagers – brother and sister, black and white – the 1980’s were a trial by fire.”

Percy Jackson & the Olympians #1-5 by Rick Riordan. Call Number: REC RIO

From Goodreads: “Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can’t seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse—Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him…Join the adventures of Percy Jackson and his demigod friends as they fight mythological monsters and the forces of the titan lord Kronos.”

Don’t pack your library books!

As the year comes to a close and you start packing up for summer, don’t forget to return any items you have borrowed from the library.

The last thing you want is to realize in July that you packed that book/DVD/CD you borrowed from Hamersly in May!

So, make a pile called “Library” while you’re packing up and bring ’em all back before you head out for summer break. Your friendly library staff (and your bank account) will thank you.

Noodle Tools will make your life easier

Working on a research paper or project? Save time and make your life easier by using Noodle Tools! As a WOU student, you can create a *free* premium account.

What is Noodle Tools? It’s an online tool that helps you organize your research sources and create citations in APA, MLA, or Chicago/Turabian formats. Using Noodle Tools, you can create a new project for each of your research assignments and store your bibliography for as long as you’re working on the assignment — or longer, it’s up to you. You can add notes to individual sources reminding yourself how you’d like to use them in your paper. And you can reuse sources for different projects in the future, even automatically changing to another citation style if necessary.

Access Noodle Tools here to sign up for your free, premium account and get started.

You Have the World at Your Fingertips…

Have you ever needed an article, book, or document that WOU doesn’t have? Did you know that there is a way to receive all of those things? It is called Interlibrary Loan.

When final papers come around and you find that you need credible and specific sources that Hamersly doesn’t have, this program could be your saving grace. Hamersly Library is connected to thousands of other libraries worldwide through Interlibrary Loan. Documents can be scanned and emailed, and books can be mailed directly to WOU so that you may have access to them.

If you are searching for a specific article or other electronic document that is not available here at WOU, a screen will pop up that looks like this:

ILL

There is an option to click “WOU Interlibrary Loan” just below the availability notice. It is a quick and easy process to get the ball rolling (just a simple form filled out electronically) and we’ll take it from there. Libraries all over the world work together on the ILL process so that all students can get access to the educational resources that they need and deserve. Once the process has begun, it usually takes 3-4 days to receive an article, and longer to get a book. So, listen to your professors and start your research early!

The best part about this service? It’s free! Hamersly does not charge for the ILL service to WOU students, staff, and faculty. For more information and answers to frequently asked questions, visit https://wou.edu/provost/library/ill/.

Keep this amazing resource in mind as midterms and finals come around. Endless information is at your fingertips, WOU!

Win a beautiful, handmade quilt by supporting the library

raffle quilt This cozy, handmade wolf quilt in WOU colors could be yours! Buy raffle tickets at the Information Desk in Hamersly to benefit the Library Student Employee Scholarship Fund for your chance to win. We’re selling 1 ticket for $3 or 2 tickets for $5 for a quilt that is valued at $90!

This beautiful Labyrinth patterned quilt is made with brilliant red, silver and black material with a solid black backing. The center is embroidered with a majestic “Northwoods Silhouette Wolf” pattern. The quilt measures 60” x 60” and comes with a hanging strap. It would be a great focal point quilt for a wall, but is also cozy enough to use as a lap quilt on chilly days.

The quilt was handmade and donated by Carol Tripp. It will be on display in the Hamersly Library lobby until the drawing on May 14th. The winner will be notified by 5pm that day. If you have any questions, contact the Hamersly Library Reference Desk at x8-8899.

Hamersly has lots of music for your studying needs

CDs from the library Looking for some study music? The library has hundreds of CDs available for checkout from all sorts of different genres.

From Bon Iver to Kanye West, Bela Fleck to Etta James, Taylor Swift, and The Beatles: whatever your taste we’ve got something for you.

Search Primo (above) for the name of your favorite band or artist to get started.

Happy studying!

Get some light Spring Break reading @ the library

Just in case you need another reason to be excited that Spring Break is coming up… We just put out some fun “Spring Break Reads” on the 1st floor. Whether your idea of fun is a light beach read, a suspenseful mystery, a sci-fi thriller, or a collection of humorous essays.

No matter what genre, you can be sure they’re perfect for whiling away those lazy break days. Take a study break and check them out!

Spring Break reads

It’s OK to order things OnDemand!

When you run across an article in your research that is available through “Get It Now” or “OnDemand,” don’t let that stop you from getting the article you need.

These terms mean that Hamersly doesn’t have access to the journal that published the article you are looking for, but we can still get the article for you. In order to get access, you will go through a short process – since the library pays (on average around $30) each time an article is viewed through the Articles OnDemand provider’s website, we want to make sure you actually want the article. We budget for Articles OnDemand use though, so we want you to use it when you need it! We simply ask that you:

Read the abstract of each article to determine how likely it is to suit your needs before viewing the full text and incurring charges.
Be sure to save the article somewhere you will be able to get back to it (e.g. your H:/ drive, My Documents folder on your personal computer, a USB drive) so that the library only pays for it once.

Happy researching!

Meet your Hamersly staff: Jackson Stalley

Each term, we introduce you to a few of the people who work to make Hamersly your favorite place on campus to do research, study, print your papers, meet with a group, or simply kick back and read in a quiet place.

This week, meet Jackson Stalley. He is an elusive, behind-the-scenes type library employee, but if you have ever used an online resource through the library you’ve benefitted from his hard work. Here’s more about him:

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What do you do in the library? I work with the serials and electronic resources helping the Collection Management Librarian ensure our serial and electronic collections are accurate and available when patrons want them. I also assist in creating local solutions for data normalization, manipulation and collection needs.

How long have you worked in the library? I’ve worked at Hamersly Library for 8 years and I’ve moved work areas within the library as much as anybody. I started on the second floor in Collection Management then shifted to a different location there before heading to the first floor as a part of Collection Development. I moved back upstairs to my old work area as a member of the merged Tech Services/Collection Development unit a few years ago. Sometimes I am not sure what unit I’m really in…I think it is Collection Management.

What is your education and professional background? I grew up in a small Idaho town and fled the cold for college in the sunny southwest. I debated at the University of New Mexico before moving with my partner to the University of Utah and later WOU where I took computer science and biology classes. I also worked as a student employee in the library. Before moving to Oregon, I worked in beer (worked I said) and later in the outdoor industry specializing in canyoneering and climbing and as an instructor in primitive navigation/survival.

What is the last good book you read? The last book I read that wasn’t about fly fishing was The Political Economy of Human Rights by Noam Chomsky.

What is one thing about the library you think everyone should know? Printed books are power.

What was your favorite book as a kid? My favorite book as a young person was Das Kapital by Karl Marx, or the Bhagavad Gita.

Tell us a fun fact about you! Here are three:

I don’t have a cell phone or home computer and I don’t want one. Join me, you’ll love it.
I save every penny possible so I can fly fish for incredible fish in amazing places.
I recently participated in a university service learning project in an indigenous community in Central America and I organize and help community food/clothing drives, the WOU holiday toy drive, Food Day, the WOU Staff Hardship Fund, and the WOU Food Pantry.

One more reason to plan ahead when researching

There are two systems through which WOU students, faculty, and staff can obtain books from other libraries that we don’t have in Hamersly: Summit and Interlibrary Loan. What does this mean for you? It’s a matter of time: Summit items get to you in 3-5 days, while Interlibrary Loan items take longer, sometimes up to two weeks.

Summit logo Summit is the shared catalog and borrowing system of the Orbis Cascade Alliance, a consortium of academic libraries in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. This special partnership makes it faster for us to borrow items from Summit libraries and for this reason, it is used to request most books, videos, and CDs that WOU does not own. Interlibrary Loan, consisting of all libraries except the Summit libraries, is used to request articles from journals and any books, videos, and CDs not available in Summit libraries.

The moral of the story? If WOU doesn’t have what you need, request through Summit when possible. If requesting through Interlibrary Loan is your only option, just be aware that it will likely take longer than you’re used to with Summit. No matter what system, however, the library can almost always get you what you need!