New library website to launch July 1st.

The staff of the S.C. Williams Library is pleased to announce the upcoming launch of its new website planned for July 1, 2008. The new site brings into focus the most important content of the former version and is more intuitive to navigate. We hope you’ll find the new site to be more logically organized – it should make finding the information you need quicker and easier.

The site design focuses on technologies that enable communication and interactivity and simplifies access to resources and services so that using the website for your research is less complicated.

Features of the new site:

• Clear, concise and logical navigation


• Simple, elegant design


• Greater accessibility of online resources


• Guidance for using library resources (tutorials, subject guides, chat reference via instant messaging, ‘how do I?’ menu, ‘help’ section, ‘ask us’ page)


• Multiple, logical access points to information and resources


• Meebo^© instant messaging application on homepage, which allows users to chat with librarians during reference hours without having to log in or sign up for any instant messaging account


• Recent publications section highlights whenever a member of the Stevens community publishes in an academic journal (indexed by the Scopus^© database)


• News and Events section on homepage that highlights what’s going on at the library


• Rotating pictures showcase distinctive pieces of art housed within the library


• New Multisearch tool allows searching across multiple resources at once

We are looking forward to rolling out all of these new features and we hope you will be as excited to see our new website as we will be on July 1^st. Please feel free to send us your feedback on the new site, here in the comments or by email. We look forward to hearing from you.

30 best Web sites for job hunters

From Fortune Magazine online:

"Which of the more than 40,000 online job boards now operating in the U.S. are most likely to help you land the position you want? Check out these survey results." Read more...>>

Just in time for graduation!

Congratulations and good luck to all the graduates, and to everyone else, see you next year!

Library seeks website assistant

POSITION FILLED

Spend your summer working at the S.C. Williams Library!

The Library is looking to hire a student for summer employment (20 hrs/week) to work on the new Library website.
The ideal candidate has web design and coding experience and is required to be proficient in HTML, PHP, javascript, PERL and mySQL. Familiarity with TYP03 content management system is preferred but not required. Salary is $12/hour.

We are accepting applications until May 13th, and the position will start at the end of May. Those selected will be contacted for interviews.
Applications are available at the circulation desk in the first floor of the library. Completed applications with resumes can be dropped off at the reference desk in the Library. Please contact Valerie Forrestal at valerie.forrestal@stevens.edu or stevens.library@stevens.edu for more information.

New Lost Books Policy

Effective April 1, 2008, the replacement cost for lost books that have been published within the previous five calendar years will be the full cost of the lost book plus a $20 processing charge plus any overdue fines that have accrued. The replacement cost for books with a publication date prior to the previous five calendar years will be $100 plus a $20 processing charge plus any overdue fines that have accrued. The library will not accept replacement copies of lost books purchased by the user responsible for the lost item.

Institutional Action: Students. If a student does not pay overdue fine & replacement costs within notification period, the matter will be given over to the Student Financial Services Center. The student’s account will be charged the required amount.

Institutional Action: Faculty & Staff. If a faculty or staff member does not pay overdue fine & replacement costs within notification period, the matter will be given over to the Dean of Faculty.

Clearing Fines & Payments : Before institutional action is taken, payments to the Library for missing books can be made in cash, by check or DuckBill$. Patrons are encouraged to return overdue books even if they are unable to make payments at that time. If the person responsible for the missing item finds the item after the library has ordered a replacement copy, the replacement costs will not be refunded to the user.

For more information on Circulation policies, see the Library's website.

ILL/DDS Department Looking for Student Workers

POSITION FILLED

The SC Williams Library is looking for graduate student workers for the Interlibrary Loan department. Students must be reliable and detail oriented.

Students that will not graduate until May 2009 or later are preferred. Also, students should be available to work during the summer.

We are accepting applications until April 4th and the position will start in April. Those selected will be contacted for interviews.

Applications are available in the library administration offices on the third floor. Please contact Mary Ellen Valverde, Head Librarian for ILL/DDS, at (201) 216-5408 or mvalverd@stevens.edu, for more information.

Final Thoughts from Sir Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008)

IEEE Spectrum Online recently featured the last interview with the late Sir Arthur C. Clarke, who passed away last week in a Sri Lankan hospital. The interview, conducted in January, reveals the famed author as "still entranced with terraforming planets, space elevators, and the search for extraterrestrials." Read more...>>

The Library owns several copies of Clarke's works; look for them out in our online catalog!

Nature's Publishers Make Genome Papers Available Through Creative Commons License

From the Nature website: "In the continuing drive to make papers as accessible as possible, Nature Publishing Group is now introducing a 'creative commons' licence for the reuse of [papers reporting full genome sequences]. The licence (see http://www.nature.com/authors/editorial_policies/license.html) allows non-commercial publishers, however they might be defined, to reuse the pdf and html versions of the paper. In particular, users are free to copy, distribute, transmit and adapt the contribution, provided this is for non-commercial purposes, subject to the same or similar licence conditions and due attribution."

Click here for full article from nature.com.