HCL is now Twittering

The College Library (HCL) has recently launched a Twitter page as one more way to reach library users. Find our tweets at twitter.com by searching for: HCLibraries, or go to: http://twitter.com/hclibraries if you'd like to follow our tweets.

At your virtual service,
Cheryl

The Fine Arts Library Media & Digital Lab

Just wanted to make sure you all know about this: the Fine Arts Library now has a Media & Digital Lab located on the lower level of the Sackler Building. The Lab has MAC and PC workstations with software for creating, editing, presenting, and viewing digital media, and these are all available to Harvard students and faculty. Software available includes: ARTstor Offline Image Viewer, PowerPoint, Photoshop, Keynote, iMovie, iDVD, Photo Booth, and Garage Band.

Lab hours are: Monday-Thursday: 9 AM-10 PM; Friday: 9 AM-6 PM, Saturdays: 10 AM - 5 PM, Sundays: 1 PM-6 PM.

Drop-in help is available: Monday-Thursday: 3-9 PM; Friday: 3-6 PM.

Get in touch with FAL Media Lab Staff for assistance:
Spruill Harder, Visual Resources Librarian, sgharder@fas.harvard.edu, and
Al Morales, Public Services Supervisor, admoral@fas.harvard.edu; and
telephone: 617-495-4982.

At your service,
Cheryl

Digitized Scrolls from the Japanese Manuscript Collection, 1158-1591

The Harvard Law School Library has just put up on the web a digital collection entitled, Digitized Scrolls from the Japanese Manuscript Collection, 1158-1591 . The Japanese Manuscript Digital Collection consists of twenty-two medieval legal manuscripts and annotated facsimiles in scroll form called komonjo (komonjo are remnants of day-to-day legal transactions which frequently focus on land and property issues, though they can also represent edicts and judicial rulings). This collection spans nearly 450 years, and provides a rare window into legal transactions in the Heian (794–1185), Kamakura (1185–1333), Moromachi (1333–1568), and Momoyama (1568–1600) periods. It is part of a large donation presented to the Harvard Law Library in 1936, and is one of the finest collections of its type outside Japan. You may view the individual scrolls via the link, above.

At your service,
Cheryl

More RefWorks Sessions Being Offered

Lamont librarians have scheduled these three additional sessions of basic training in RefWorks, the online citation management tool:

Monday, October 19, 11:00-11:50am. Room 310 (LAMONT 3rd FLOOR)
Thursday, October 22, 2:00-2:50pm. Room 310 (LAMONT 3rd FLOOR)
Wednesday, October 28, 2:00-2:50pm. Larsen Room (LAMONT 1st FLOOR)

Because space is limited, students need to sign up for the session of their choice by contacting Steve (kuehler@fas.harvard.edu) or Chris (lenney@fas.harvard.edu), or by going to the Research Services Desk on Level B of Lamont.

At your service,
Cheryl

Library Orientation for New NELC Grad Students

I’ll be giving an orientation to library research for new NELC graduate students on Friday, September 25^th, from 3:30 to 4:30 PM in Room G-55 on the ground floor of Widener Library. I look forward to seeing you there!

At your service,

Cheryl

HOLLIS vs. HOLLIS Classic

As you may already know, 2 different HOLLIS systems are available for you to use in searching for library materials at Harvard: HOLLIS (the new "discovery" system released earlier this year) and HOLLIS Classic (the online system we've been using for a some time). The Baker Business Library recently defined the main differences between the two systems, and they did such a nice job I'm simply going to reproduce their definitions here (with thanks to them!):

HOLLIS  

    * Intuitive search and display

    * Defaults to relevance ranking. Sorting by date is an option.

    * Suggests related terms, alternative spellings and other ways to refine or expand your search

    * Forgiving search interface, relevence ranking, inclusion of tables of contents make it best for discovering what is available.

    * Relevance ranking makes it good for finding known items with imprecise information (eg: the journal, Science).

HOLLIS Classic

    * Use to search in non-roman alphabets

    * Supports string (phrase) searching

    * More display options for print/save/send

    * Best for precision searches for known items.

    *  Allows emailing of selected records

    * Most up to date information. Use for new titles

We have been told that the new HOLLIS should be able to support searching in non-roman alphabets by the end of 2010, and that HOLLIS Classic will be maintained until it does.

For more details, please see the Baker Business Library page, Which catalog to use?

At your service,

Cheryl

AskUsLive! (the online chat service through which Harvard University affiliates can "speak" with a Harvard librarian in real time online) is live again, starting today. We're offering this free service Sundays through Thursdays, 3PM-9PM; to use it just click on the AskUsLive! icon on the Harvard College Library web site home page.

At your service,
Cheryl