LTR Newsletter available

Read all about what's new and exciting in Learning and Technology Resources in our Spring Newsletter.

(Alexandria LTR Dean Frances Villagran-Glover and OCL Supervisor Abid Mahmood at LT Cross-Campus Day in June)

(Vader is Coming!  Look Busy! Loudoun Librarian Dana Beltran and Alexandria LTR Associate Dean Matt Todd)

Welcome to Fall 2015!

The Alexandria Library Staff welcome all new and returning students to NOVA for Academic Year 2015-16!!

The Alexandria Library's mission is to promote student success in their academic endeavors.

The Library provides:

Assistance with research from professional research librarians

Free access to course textbooks and course materials

Study space for individual and group study

Assistance with citations (everyone's favorite!!)

50,000+  print books

Thousands of online articles and books

Over 200 electronic databases shared by Virginia's colleges and universities

National and international newspapers

Foreign language materials

Streaming video

Feature films

Popular reading (novels)

Instruction to classes across the curriculum

Kevin O'Hagan recognized

Library Specialist Kevin O'Hagan was acknowledged in NVCC History Professor Dr Jim Baer's new book,

Anarchist Immigrants in Spain and Argentna.HX925 B34x 2015

Thanks to Kevin for his outstanding efforts to supoprt faculty research through InterLibray Loan Services.

Faculty requiring research resources beyond the NOVA Libraries' collections can contact Kevin (kohagan@nvcc.edu) to arrange for free delivery of materials from any Library in the US.

Biological Clock

Are you an early bird or a night owl? How do your circadian rhythms impact your daily life?

Your faithful correspondent is not a morning person, so opening the Library at 8am was most definitely not a welcome experience.

But what makes us this way?

Internal Time: Chronotypes, Social Jet Lag, and Why You're So Tired. QP84.6 R6413 2012

"Early birds and night owls are born, not made. Sleep patterns may be the most obvious manifestation of the highly individualized biological clocks we inherit, but these clocks also regulate bodily functions from digestion to hormone levels to cognition. Living at odds with our internal timepieces, Till Roenneberg shows, can make us chronically sleep deprived and more likely to smoke, gain weight, feel depressed, fall ill, and fail geometry."

Turns out those who don't like mornings aren't just slackers and those who can't push through to midnight aren't just lame.  They are made that way.

Rhythms of Life: The Biological Clocks that Control the Daily Lives of Every Living Thing.  QP84.6 F67 2004b

"Why can’t teenagers get out of bed in the morning? How do bees tell the time? Why do some plants open and close their flowers at the same time each day? 

The authors tell us that biological clocks are embedded in our genes and reset at sunrise and sunset each day to link astronomical time with an organism’s internal time. They discuss how scientists are working out the clockwork mechanisms and what governs them, and they describe how organisms measure different intervals of time, how they are adapted to various cycles, and how light coordinates the time within to the external world."

above: NOT a morning person.

Construction

The project to relocate the Testing Center to the first floor and open a new Open Computer Lab (OCL) on the third floor has reached the stage that impacts the Library.  The upper level of the Library is currently closed and access to the Library Classroom (AA327) is limited.

The emergency door and surrounding wall were demolished.

A temporary "wall" now encloses the upper level of the Library near the Classroom and "Cornell Lounge".

A new door will provide access from the current Reading Lab to the corridor (formerly quiet carrel-study space in the Library).

Next?  construction of a new wall & emergency door on the upper level, finishing the entrance to the Reading Lab and carrying on with construction of a new OCL.

It's Stormy. Save Save Save!

High summer is upon us which means hot temperatures, humidity, and (sometimes unexpected) storms.

Thunderstorms with lightning and high winds can disrupt electricity and network connections on campus.

Even momentary electrical outages such as lights flickering can result in on-campus computers re-starting, with the possibility of losing all your unsaved work.

So when it rains, or bad weather threatens

Don't cry

Save your work!

Save your work.  Save it often.  Save yourself!!!

Goodbye and Good Luck

Alexandria Library staff on Saturday wished a fond farewell to longtime Library Specialist and "plant lady" Marion Mirehouse.  Marion retired in 2013 after a long career at the Alexandria Campus, and now plans to up stakes and relocate to her home state of Nebraska.

(above: Marion Mirehouse and Matt Todd, Associate Dean of LTR)

In recognition of Marion's long service to the campus the book The Know Maintenance Perennial Garden SB434 D3683 2014 was added to the Library collection and dedicated

"In Honor of Our Perennial "Plant Lady" Marion Mirehouse.  2015"

 

 

The Library staff wish Marion all the best in her future adventures!

 

Get charged

Need to charge your phone or tablet?  Looking for an electric outlet and comfy place to sit?

Look no further!!

Some strategic re-purposing of space in the library has created a Cozy Charging Spot:

Yes!  Those are electrical outlets!

Also, check out our new improved study spaces:

And expanded seating upstairs in the quiet study area:

Get cooking!

July is Culinary Arts Month.

get your creative juices flowing in the kitchen with one of the Library's new and trendy cookery titles:

America Farm to Table.  TX715 .B34358 2014

The Pizza Bible.  TX770.P58 G45 2014

Pie School.  TX773 .L382 2014

or an old classic:

Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  TX719 .C454 2009

Fourth of July

Celebrate the Fourth of July, not just with a picnic and fireworks, but a good book:

Fourth of July and the founding of America.  E286 A266 2007

Or a history of Old Glory:

Long May She Wave: A Graphic History of the American Flag. N8217 F55 H55x 2001

Note that the Campus (including the Library) will be closed July 3rd and 4th in observance of the holiday.

A Library with a View

As the new academic building rises on Campus, the Library affords a very fine view of the progress:

Liberal Arts Celebrate LBGT Pride (with a little help from the Library)

June is LBGT Pride month.

Check out these titles and more from your campus Library.

The Library continues to be an active partner with the academic divisions in promoting the curriculum, campus, national and world events. 

Better Late Than Never

This Norton Anthology must have been too good to give up, because it was returned 17 years late!

Fortunately the Library does not charge fines for regular circulating material (but if this previous student had tried to retrieve a transcript -- woe be unto him!)

National Donut Day

What National Donut Day is NOT:

A made-up corporate holiday designed to sell you breakfast confectionary

What National Donut Day IS:

A commemoration of the women who served in the Salvation Army and the Red Cross.

The Library celebrated by (how else?) serving donuts.  Donuts:  they're not just for breakfast anymore.

Is the correct spelling "donut" or "doughnut?"  Check the Oxford English Dictionary.

Saving the Bay...

...one blade of aquatic grass at a time.

Above:  Michelle Jerney-Davis plants wild celery in the Chesapeake Bay after growing the grass in the Library.

Underwater grasses in the Bay are in danger from pollution and run-off, but are a vital component in the environmental stability of the Bay.  Aquatic grasses help clean the water, provide oxygen, help prevent erosion and provide habitats for shellfish, waterfowl and fishes.

Above: the Library's grass, in its new home.

Thanks to Library Specialists Kevin O'Hagan and Michelle Jerney-Davis who partnered with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation to bring the grasses to the Library, raise awareness about the Bay and clean-up efforts, and worked with our BIO/ENV faculty on this semester-long project.

Book Spine Poetry Contest

To wind up the Spring Semester the Alexandria Campus Library hosted a Book Spine Poetry contest.  Students were challenged to select lyrically-titled books and arrange a stack to form a poem.  Finalists were selected and library users voted for their favorite.

The winning poem:

was by Margaret Ransom:

Winners were awarded a Barnes & Noble gift card.

Some participants were so enthused they even made book-spine poems in the book stacks!

Extended Hours

During the last week of classes and final exams the Library served 201 students before 8.30am and 452 after 10.00pm for a total of over 650 students served during times the Library would normally be closed.

Extended hours are made possible by Library staff voluntarily re-adjusting their schedules to come early and stay late to keep the Library open for study and research and additional 19 hours.

9 gallons of lemonade, 80 bottles of water, and a seemingly endless supply of cookies, chips and snacks were consumed.

British Politics

The UK General Election was held today.

To follow the latest developments from newspapers around the world, visit the Library database page and click on LexisNexis, Factiva or Proquest to view full text newspaper articles from around the world.

Want to see what resources the Library provides for Political Science, or research a political topic in greater depth?  Visit our Political Science Research Guide. 

Not sure how the General Election works in the UK?  The British Parliament has some answers.

Or just read a good book:

Book Spine Poetry!

Celebrate National Poetry Month by creating poems with the titles on the spines of books from the Library collection:

 

Stack books to create a poem from the titles
Take a picture and send it to us through email mjerneydavis@nvcc.edu or Instagram NovaAlexandriaLibrary

Book Spine Poetry Contest in the Library!


First Prize is $100 Barnes & Noble Gift Card
2 second-prize $50 Cards also available!

Extended Hours Return!

Back by popular demand --

The Library will open half an hour early and close an hour late during the last week of classes and final exams week.

April 27th - April 30th the Library will open at 8AM and close at 11PM.

May 1st the Library will open at 8AM and close at 6PM.

May 4th - 7th the Library will be open from 8AM to 11PM.

May 8th will be 8AM - 6PM.

To keep the brain cells well-primed, lemonade, iced tea and a variety of snacks will be served around 10PM.  Be sure to join us!

Good luck in Final Exams!!