Library News
Thesis research help offered
Posted on October 11th, 2017
Booth Faculty Librarians will offer thesis research instruction during three seminars in November.
Thesis Research 101, taught by faculty librarians Steve Brantley, Kirstin Duffin and Ellen Corrigan, consist of a series of three 50 minute seminars covering different aspects of researching and preparing your thesis.
Seminar 1: Researching the literature, presented by Steve Brantley will cover the following topics:
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- What are your options for online research destinations?
- How do you know when you have done enough research?
- How can you identify the key journals and most relevant databases in your field?
- What is controlled vocabulary and how can its effective use benefit my research?
- What is Open Access and Open Research?
Seminar 1 will take place Wednesday, November 1, 7:00-7:50 pm, and will be repeated on Thursday, November 2, 10:00-10:50 am. Both sessions will be in Booth Library rm. 4450 (4th floor).
Register here: booth.eiu.edu/thesisreg
Seminar 2: Organizing your references using citation management software presented by Kirstin Duffin will help you:
- Save your sources to one convenient location and access via the cloud
- Create formatted citations and your reference section in seconds (really!)
- Understand the software options and features in Mendeley and Zotero
- Export citation information using library databases
Seminar 2 will take place the following week on Wednesday, November 8, 7:00-7:50 pm and will be repeated Thursday, November 9, 10:00-10:50 am. Both sessions will be in Booth Library rm. 4450 (4th floor). (booth.eiu.edu/thesisreg)
Seminar 3: Presenting your thesis (to the world) presented by Ellen Corrigan will answer the questions:
- What happens to your thesis after you submit it?
- How can I avoid common pitfalls when preparing my thesis?
- How can I optimize discovery of my thesis with metadata?
Seminar three will take place on Wednesday, November 15, 7:00-7:50 pm in rm 4450 in Booth Library and then be repeated Thursday, November 16, 10:00-10:50 am in Booth Library rm. 4440.
Registration is required: booth.eiu.edu/thesisreg
Let’s get the band back together!
Posted on October 12th, 2015
Guitar and keyboard players have new software and equipment options at Booth Library.
The library offers two Yamaha Clavinova digital pianos and two Dean Vendetta hardtail electric guitars for use inside the library’s music rehearsal rooms. The keyboards and guitars are connected to a computer, allowing users to record a rehearsal session for review or make a multi-track recording.
In addition to the instruments, advanced amplifier emulator software is available for guitars. Players can choose from 64 amplifiers, 77 cabinets and 113 effects.
Patrons are also welcome to bring their own guitar. Any guitar equipped with a standard quarter- inch input jack can be connected to the computer.
The library’s sheet music and CD collection is located on the fourth floor. Sheet music, instructional music books and CDs can be checked out, or patrons can try them out in a rehearsal room before they check them out for home use.
Those interested in starting to play guitar or piano are welcome to come in to the library to try either instrument. We have dozens of books on learning to play (guitar and piano) for the beginner and for advanced musicians. An electric guitar, headphone amplifier, and tuner may be checked out for four weeks.
Who knows? If you really like it you might change your major.
Funding for the guitars and software was provided by a Redden grant from the EIU Foundation.
Check out a sample of what’s available to play on these new guitars! The books below are on display on the 4000 level.
“Find it @ EIU” becomes “Get Full Text” …and you get your articles faster!
Posted on August 26th, 2015
You might notice a slight change in the way you retrieve articles from the library databases this semester.
For the past several years Booth Library has been using a service we call 
. You see it when your database search returns a citation to an article but not the full-text.
The “find it” service allowed you to search across Booth’s journal holdings to see if we had an electronic version of the article you need.
If we did, provided a link to it.
If we didn’t, gave you option to request the article through Interlibrary Loan.*
Now we have 
. It is the same service, but improved!
“Get Full Text” brings the article a step closer to you.
If you are searching in a database like Article First, Philosopher’s Index, America: History and Life, and even Google Scholar**,
and you see the logo, just click it.
You will immediately be whisked directly to the full article.
If we do not have electronic access to the article, you’ll be presented with a menu of options.
It is a small, barely noticeable change, but is one of those little differences that show you how the librarians are working hard for the EIU community to make access to information as quick and seamless as we possibly can.
