Hot Outdoors

Autumn is upon us and with it opportunities for biking, hiking, and taking in those fall colors.  So check out one of our titles on biking destinations, local natural beuties, and outdoorsy adventures.

Adams, Scott Photographing Nature TR721.P48 1981


Adkins, Leonard The essential outdoor gear manual: equipment care, repair, and selection GV191.76.G48 2000

Badger, Robert The Complete climber's handbook GV200.2 C55 2000

Bell, Trudy The Complete hiker: Everything you need for a day or a month on the trail GV199.5.L648 2000

Branch, Michael Weekend getaways around Washington, D.C.: including Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, and North Carolina F192.3.S48 2000

Burnham, Bill One-day trips through history: 200 excursions within 150 miles of Washington, D.C. F192.3.S58 1982

Cinnamon, Jerry National Audubon Society guide to Nature Photography TR721.F58 2008

Cressey, Pamela Professional nature photography TR721.H53 1999

De Hart, Allen The Undying past of Shenandoah National Park F232.S48 L37 1989

Fitzharris, Tim A Cyclist's guide to the Shenandoah Valley: Exploring the past and present on rural routes GV1045.5.S54 P67 1995

Getchell, Annie Best bike rides: Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., West Virginia GV1045.5.M53 B45 2000

Hall, Adrienne The Shenandoah Valley and the mountains of the Virginias F232.S5 H28 2005

Hargan, Jim Geology along Skyline Drive: A self-guided tour for motorists QE174.S49 B33 1999

Hicks, Nigel Virginia, a picture book to remember her by F231.2.V57x 1987

Lambert, Darwin Hike America: Virginia: an atlas of Virginia's greatest hiking adventures GV199.42.V8 B87x 2001

Long, John Walk and bike the Alexandria Heritage Trail: A guide to exploring a Virginia town's hidden past GV199.42.V82 A33 2002

McCarthy, Jim The official rails-trails conservancy guidebook: Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia GV191.42.M3 R35 2000

Noe, Barbara The trails of Virginia: Hiking the Old Dominion GV199.42.V8 D4 2003

Ockershausen, Jane 50 hikes in Northern Virginia: walks, hikes, and backpacks from the Allegheny Mountains to the Chesapeake Bay GV199.42.V82 A35 2006

Porter, Randy Backpacking GV199.6.H35 1998

Shosteck, Robert The height of our mountains: nature writing from Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah Valley QH104.5.B5 H45 1998

Time-Life Books, editor Greater Washington area bicycle atlas GV1045.5.W18 G74 1998

Research Instruction

It's that time of the semester when research projects are beginning, term papers are in train, and students individually and in classes are visiting the library to conduct research.

Faculty can arrange an appointment to bring a class to the library (or to have a librarian visit the classroom) and students can stop by the library on a walk-in basis for assistance finding, using and citing library resources.

(above: BIO 102 hard at work in the Reference area)

Manga

Manga fans should stop by the Alexandria Campus Library and check out some of these titles:

Negima

Vampire Knights

Soul Eater

Bleach.

These and more are available now for checkout.

Jean's Farewell! Part 2

What kind of retirement would it be without a party?  We wanted the whole campus to celebrate all that Jean has done for us, and wish her well in her future -- so we invited the Provost, faculty and staff to come to the Library and par-tay!

And of course we sereved Texas sheet cake (thanks Marion!), cupcakes, cheese, fruit and punch.  As well as cookies especially for JEAN:

It was the first time the Library hosted a campus-wide party while open, and all agreed it was a huge success (especially the students who enjoyed the rest of the food!).

So to Jean, we say, "Go now...  Hit the Road Jack...  So long farewell!"



Farewell Jean! Part 1

After 38 years of service the Alexandria Campus, Librian Jean Hogan retired effective Aug 1.  We couldn't let her go without marking the occasion, so in July the Library revived a fond tradition -- Shorts Day -- started by Jean way back in 2007.

We also had cookies and punch while Jean cleared out her desk:

She did leave her hard hat!

What Have We Been Up To This Summer?

Your Alexandria Campus Library Staff have been very busy this summer.

One significant project was spending time with our book collection to remove old, worn out, obsolete or reduntant items.  This is a project that all heavily-used, current and non-archival library collections must undertake about once per decade (although at the Alexandria Campus space concerns mean that some collection weeding is a year-round project).

(above is just a sample of items that have been removed from the collection this summer.  Don't worry!  This material is not thrown away: it is made available for free to NOVA students, faculty and staff for their personal use).

We also created some new learning and study spaces, most notably our new Legal Collection, now housed in the group study space behind the Reference Area.  This brings together for the first time the circulating legal books (Library of Congress Call Number range K) and the Reference legal sets, which should make life much easier for our students doing legal research:

(above: the circulating legal collection.  below: the reference legal collection)

Hot College!

Term begins on Wednesday 22 August.  Get ready for it by checking out one of our titles on college
preparation, study skills and financial aid:

Acing College. LB2343.32 H35 1991 

Bound-for-College Guidebook.  LB2343.32 B88 2009

College Knowledge.  LB2343.3 D565x 2005

College Rules.  LB2343.32 N57 2002

College Survival.  LB2343.32 G68 2004

Community College Companion.  LB2343.32 R684 2011

Comprehending Textbooks.  LB2395.3 C66 1996

Debt Free U.  LB2342 B52 2010

Digital Writing Workshop.  LB1631 H494 2009

Financial Aid Financer.  LB2338 F4445x 2010/11

How to Study and Other Skills for College Success.  LB2395 M795 2003

How to Study in College.  LB2395 P3 1997

How to Win at College.  LB2343.3 N49 2005

Keys to Effective Learning.  LB2395 C267 2011

Kick Ass in College.  LB2343.3 F69x 2005

Living the College Life.  LB2343.3 P38 2005

Major in Success.  LB2343.32 C65 2003

Notetaking. DVD  LB2343.32 A23x 2004

Note Taking Made Easy.  LB2395.25 K47 2003

Painless Writing.  LB1631 S882 2001

Paying for College without going Broke.  LB2337.4 P744 2011

Practicing College Learning Strategies.  LB2395 H66 2010

Reading Improvement.  DVD LB2343.32 A23x 2004

Scholarship Handbook.  LB2338 C597 2012

Strategic Learning.  DVD LB2343.32 A23x 2004


Success in College.  LB2343.32 B87 2006

Time Management.  DVD LB2343.32 A23x 2004

We've moved back!!

We didn't like it over there, so the Alexandria Campus Library Blog has moved back!!

Check back here for updates about Library news, events, changes and exciting new stuff that happened over the summer!!

We've moved!!

We've moved!

To continue following the Alexandria Campus Library news, please see our NEW and IMPROVED page:

http://blogs.nvcc.edu/allibrary/

The archives of this blog will remain here.

The Return of the Daves

Just in time for the service awards luncheon on March 30th -- the Library received a visit from two Learning Resource Veterans: retired Dean Dave Williams and retired head of Instructional Support and Development Dave Lavis.



(the Two Daves, back row center)

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Reference and Instruction Czarina and all around Super Librarian Anne Anderson on her 15-year anniversary at the College.

Congratulations, Anne!

Did you know...

The top five landing pages on the NOVA webiste were:


1. NOVA home page
2. NOVA Connect
3. Library
4. Webmail
5. Employment



The top five most searched terms were:

1. Bookstore
2. Library
3. Parking
4. Testing Center
5. Nursing


If you are looking for the Library homepage, look no further than: www.nvcc.edu/library

Spring Break!

Spring Break is here!

Spring Break hours are:

Monday, Tuesday Wednesday March 5 - 7: 8.30am - 7.30.pm

Thursday, Friday March 8 & 9: CLOSED

Saturday March 10: CLOSED

(normal hours resume on March 12th. Enjoy the break!!)

Student Art in the Library

Two new student artworks recently joined the library collection -- both 3D sculptures in black and white:

These dioramas may be viewed on the Upper Level in the study lounge near the newspapers.

Many thanks to the student artists who donated them!

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day. To celebrate, check out one of these titles on love and romance:

Extravagant Expectations: New Ways to Find Romantic Love in America. HQ801 H7155 2011

Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romatic Love. BF575 L8 F53 2004

Modern Love: Romance, Intimacy and the Marriage Crisis. HQ503 S54 2003

Or watch a romantic movie: search the Library Catalog for "love and romance", limiting to Alexandria and Visual Materials.

Don't miss the chocolates at the Circulation Desk!

Super Bowl - Super Books

More Americans watch the Super Bowl than vote in presidential elections. Cities compete for the lucrative rights to host a game, and ad agencies, merchandisers, security personnel, and celebrity party planners quarterback their own teams starting a year in advance. Super Bowl Sunday is a national holiday for sports fans, who purchase 1.5 million large-screen TVs in the week before the game, attend one of 7.5 million parties, and eat more food than on any day other than Thanksgiving.

Read up on the big game with these titles:

America's Game: The Epic Story of How Pro Football Captured a Nation. GV954 M32 2004

The Billion Dollar Game : Behind the Scenes of the Greatest Day in American Sport Super Bowl Sunday. GV956.2 S8 S7 2009

The Ultimate Super Bowl Book. GV956.2 S8 M36 2009

Power to the People

School Library Petition Exceeds 25,000 Signatures.

Media specialists and other library supporters made their voices heard on an online petition asking the Obama Administration to make school libraries a national priority. Read more about this grassroots activism at School Library Journal.

Overdue? You May Get a Visit from the Library Police

Or indeed the real police, as happened earlier this month in Massachussetts.

Actually, the Alexandria Campus Library will not send the cops after you -- but overdue material will generate a hold on student records which will prevent students from registering, receiving grades or transcripts.

In addition, students should be aware that Resereve Items carry a $2 per hour fine if they are not returned within two hours.

Please note that overdue fines are only a mechanism to ensure the return of high-demand material. So avoid fines and be considerate to other users and please return material on time.

Spring Semester 2012 is HERE!!

Welcome back as the Alexandria Campus prepares for the beginning of classes for Spring 2012.

Library hours return to normal beginning on January 9th.

If you are looking for the textbook for your class, please visit the bookstore to find a list of course texts as well as information on purchasing or renting textbooks.

The Library also has a collection of textbooks on Reserve that students may use for free. Most of these must be used in the Library only. Due to extremely high demand, use of most of these books is limited to two hours at a time. Students may make as many photocopies as they need for their own use.

Faculty can place copies of text books or other course material on Reserve by contacting Kevin O'Hagan.

Happy Holidays!

The Library Staff wish you all a very happy, restful holiday season and a peaceful and successful new year.

Please note the Library is CLOSED for the winter break from Dec 23 - Jan 2.

See you all in 2012.