Spring Break!!

It's almost that time. NOVA will observe Spring Break from 7 March - 13 March.

During that time, the Library will be open from 8.30am - 5.00pm.

The campus will also undertake a scheduled network upgrade during that time. Copying, printing, telephone, and the internet will be unavailable on the main level of the Library. Library services and computer access will be available in room 327.

Library Thief Sentenced to 15 Years!

It turns out Librarians aren't fibbing when they tell patrons the Library Police might come and get them if they don't return their books. The Library Police will definitely come to get you if you check out books with the intention of selling them for profit:

"A Baltimore woman will spend a year in prison for withdrawing thousands of dollars in library books and reselling them.

Evelyn Whye, 53, obtained a Prince George's County library card and went to work. In December 2008, she spent three days hitting various libraries, and she wasn't looking for Dr. Seuss. Whye was after expensive text books, the kind that can break a college student's bank account."

Read the whole story from NBC4: Book Closed on Maryland Library Thief.

(the Library Police!)

Scott Turow wants to protect America's Libraries

Writing in the Huffington Post, author (and president of the Author's Guild) warns against funding cuts to public libraries as state and municipal governments struggle to close large budget gaps:

"Those governments are cutting everywhere they can and public libraries nationwide have been one of the biggest and least deserved losers in the process.

Widespread public access to knowledge, like public education, is one of the pillars of our democracy, a guarantee that we can maintain a well-informed citizenry.

But libraries seem to be losing out in the funding battles, due, in part, to the mistaken belief that they are somehow anachronistic in an age when so many Americans have instant computer access to information through the Internet. This is, frankly, a let-them-eat-cake-attitude that threatens to destroy a network of public assets that remains critical in our country."

Contact your legislator and tell them not to be a Marie Antoinette!

Ask a Librarian -- on your iPhone

Did you know there is a librarian waiting to answer YOUR question -- 24 hours per day?

Just visit the Ask a Librarian page and scroll down to LRC Live to begin chatting privately to a librarian.

iPhone users can download a direct link to their phones and add LRC Live as an app.

Great for research emergencies!

More face-to-face, less face-to-screen?

Professor Sharon Marshall, of St John's College, reflects on the uses -- and abuses -- of BlackBoard in the 21st Century college learning environment (in the Chronicle of Higher Education).

She observes:

"My ideal class—students sitting in a circle, or around a seminar table if we're really lucky, discussing, reading aloud, exchanging hard copies of student papers—had become, in a sense, a figure of nostalgia. It was something I did with students "back in the day."

Gradually it became clear that, given the choice, most students preferred to live online, rather than engage with actual humans in a classroom, even when there was a seeming sense of community or camaraderie among classmates. Being online all the time had become learned behavior that was hard to give up, even for only 55 minutes."

And asks:

"Because technology plays such a huge role in our lives when we are not in school, is it really necessary that we duplicate those experiences and environments when we actually have the opportunity to connect in more direct and immediate ways in a synchronous classroom?"

And concludes:

"The flip side of technophobia is the kind of unexamined technophilia that welcomes everything new and different, whether or not it improves life or teaching, or the lives of students and teachers. I want to find a place, a stance, somewhere in between, a both/and strategy that allows my students and me to, dare I say it, extract the best of both worlds."




Do we have the balance right?

Google does art

Google announced today that it would take its popular street view indoors, making the collections of 17 prestigious galleries available for view online. The art will be digitized through the "gigapixel" process, allowing for extraordinary zoom.



Don't want to wait for Google? Or can't find your favorite painting (or sculpture or print or drawing) -- try ARTStor. the Library's subscription database of online art images. ARTStor provides download capability as well as background information, history, provenance source and rights.

Libraries -- good government contact!

“Libraries are rare common ground on the fractious map of democracy, a place where traditional ideas of bootstrap self-improvement meet liberal ideas of open access and equal opportunity. Few encounters with local government - a labyrinth of red tape, taxes, frustration and long lines under fluorescent lights - feel so good as an afternoon in a well-run library.”

- from the January 23rd Washington Post.

Fight Hunger

Help the Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) group defeat the cycle of hunger.

SIFE is an international non-profit organization in which 39 countries are involved (577 universities and colleges in the United States).

SIFE students apply business concepts to develop community outreach projects that improve the quality of life and standard of living for people in need. Let's take the action to defeat the cycle of hunger!

NVCC SIFE Team registered for the 2010-2011 Let's Can Hunger Challenge, co-sponsored by Campbell Soup Company and SIFE USA. Goal: SIFE team must be expended to obtain 5,000 lbs+ (2,268 kg+) imperishable cans.

Purpose: 1. Raise hunger awareness; 2. Translate awareness to action in the form of urgent hunger relief; 3. Empower those in need to defeat the cycle of hunger

How to participate: Drop off cans and other non-perishable items in our “Can the Hunger” box in your division’s reception area or at the Student Activities Office (AA Room 134). The SIFE Team’s “Can the Hunger” food drive will run through early April.

Want more information on hunger, its causes and solutions? Check out one of these books:

Hunger: A modern History. HC260 P6 P47 2007

World Hunger. HC79 F3 W65 2007

Hunger: An Unnatural History. HN8 R88 2005

Odd socks!

One Library patron seems to be one sock short -- since the sock below was returned to the Library in the back cover of a book!



Anybody missing a sock?

Martin Luther King, Jr

Please note that the College will be closed on Monday January 17th in observation of Martin Luther King Day.

Why not check out one of the Library's books on Dr King:

Hodgson, Geoffrey. Martin Luther King. E185.97 K5 H565x 2010

Risen, Clay. A Nation on Fire: America in the Wake of the King Assassination. HV6477 R57 2009

Roads to Memphis DVD E185.97 K5 R5833x 2010

Sunquist, Eric. King's Dream. E185.97 K5 S864 2009

Spring Term 2011

Welcome to NOVA's Spring Semester!!

The Alexandria Campus Library is here to helpNOVA students succeed and thrive in spring semester classes.

Stop by the Library to see if your textbooks or course materials are available for FREE checkout on Reserve. Need help finding your way around the Library's print and electronic resources? Visit our Animated Demos page. Check out our online resources to search hundreds of databases and thousands of online newspapers, magazines and scholarly journals. Or search the Library Catalog to find books in the College's 250,000-volume print collection. In the Library, we can help you Cite Sources, find individual or group study space, use a computer for reserach and printing, and evaluate free web resources.






Have questions about the Library's services and resources? Check out or FAQ.

Or to ask a Librarian a question, stop by room 232 in the Bisdorf Building, or contact us by phone, email or online.

We're here to help! Stop by today!

Happy 2011

Happy New Year from the Alexandria Campus Library!!

Although Spring Semester classes do not begin until January 10th, the campus is open to provide registration assistance, financial aid advice, and help preparing for the upcoming term. Beat the crowds and buy your books now! Or visit the Library to see if your text book is available on Reserve (free, free, free!!).

Please note Library hours for the week of 3 - 7 January are:

Monday 3 January - Thursday 6 January: 8.30am - 7.30pm

Friday 7 January: 8.30am - 5.00pm

Alexandria Campus Closes for Winter Break

Exams are over!!

The Alexandria Campus, including the Library, will be closed from 23 Dec - 2 Jan.

Have a Happy Holiday, a Merry Christmas, a pleasant break and a safe New Year,

from all your friends at the Alexandria Campus Library.

Extended Hours

The Library once again observed extended hours for the last week of classes and final exams. Nearly 500 students studied before 8.30am and after 10pm.
And many thanks to the Student Government Association for providing a selection of healthy snacks!

Happy Holidays!!

The Alexandria Campus Library would like to wish you all a very Happy Holiday break!

And Good Luck in Exams!

(above: the tree at the circulation desk)

(above: the village over the reshelviong area)

(above: snowmen (and snow-women!) visit the CD collection)

(above: the Librarians' office, decorated)

Open EARLY - Open LATE

The Alexandria Campus Library continues its tradition of keeping extended hours for the last week of classes and final exams, opening half an hour early each morning and staying open an hour later each evening.

From Dec 6 - Dec 9 and Dec 13 - Dec 16

the Library will be open from

8.00am - 11.pm

STUDY EARLY -- STUDY LATE

Students will find access to the inetrnet, printing, the campus wireless network, photocopying, group and individual study, reserve items, research assistance, as well as access to the entire Library print and online collection.

In addition, Late Night Study Breaks are served around 10pm on nights when the Library is open late.

Need a Textbook? Rent one!

From the Alexandria Campus Book Store:

Beginning in January, 2011, the campus bookstores at NOVA will begin renting textbooks.
This innovative textbook rental program will allow students to rent their textbooks for less than 50% of the cost of purchasing a new printed textbook. Plus, as an added convenience, students will be able to rent their books either in the store or from the store’s website www.nvcc.bncollege.com
Other program features include:

Students can pay the rental fees using any form of tender currently accepted by the bookstore (excluding PayPal) – including student financial aid and campus debit cards. (Note: For security purposes, a valid credit card must also be provided regardless of the tender used for the rental fee.)

Students can highlight or mark the rented books just as they would if they purchased a book and planned to sell it back to the bookstore.

Students can convert their rental to a purchase during the first two weeks of class.

The rental period is for the duration of the term/semester. Books are due back by the last day of finals. Students can return books in person or mail them to the bookstore.

Courtesy emails will go out as the end of the term/semester approaches reminding students to return their books. Books not returned (or returned in unusable condition) will be subject to replacement and processing fees.

Most Textbooks used for classes at the Alexandria Campus can also be borrowed, free of charge, from the Reserve Collection at the Alexandria Campus Library.

Note that most Reserve items are available for a 2-hour loan, and carry a $2/ hour fnie for late returns.

Veterans Day

Celebrate Veterans Day by reading a good book at the Library, or visit our Hot Topics display on America's Military and Veterans.

November 11th is also known as Rememberance Day in Britain, Canada, and Australia -- marking the armistice that ended World War I on 11-11-1918.

Newark, Tim. Camouflage. UG449 N43 2007

Perisco, Joseph. Eleventh Month, Eleventh Day, Eleventh Hour: Armistice Day 1918, World War I and its Violent Conclusion. D523 P44 2004

Students and Faculty love Library Instruction!

How much to NOVA students love to come to the Library to learn about research and Library sources?

They love it so much they brought Reference and Instruction Librarian Anne Anderson flowers!

Melanie McKee's ESL 52 class visited the Library with a special surprise.

Over 10,000 served

As of 1 November 2010, over 10,000 people have visited the Alexandria Campus Blog -- with more than 16,000 page views.


Thanks for reading!