Welcome Ben Bruton!

Ben Bruton has accepted the position of Reference and Information Literacy Librarian at the Gordon B. Olson Library. He will start in his position February 1, 2008. Currently Ben is a Reference/Instruction Librarian at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. He has also held similar positions at Murray State University (Murray, Kentucky) and at Glenville College (Glenville, West Virginia). Ben received his Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Virginia; his Masters of Library Science degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro; and a Masters of Arts degree in history from Murray State University.

Thanksgiving Hours

During Thanksgiving, Gordon B. Olson Library will observe the following hours:

Wednesday 7:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Thursday closed
Friday 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Saturday closed
Sunday 5:00 p.m. - midnight

Hours are also available on the Library Hours line at 858-3029 or 6-3029 (on campus).

Fill My Plate Full Of...

Turns out more readers are fans of stuffing than all of the other options combined. Who knew?

What is your favorite item of Thanksgiving dinner?

Turkey - it's all about the bird
1 (16%)

Mashed potatoes - can never have enough starch
1 (16%)

Stuffing - for those with more sophisticated tastes
3 (50%)

Pumpking pie - who doesn't love dessert?
1 (16%)

And the Polls Are In!!

Thanks to everyone who took the time to vote in our poll! The question of the week was "How often do you read the Gordon B. Olson Library blog?" The results are as follows:

Once a day - I love it!
2 (40%)

Once a week or so - it keeps me informed.
1 (20%)

Once a month - just in case I missed something.
1 (20%)

Never - it's not even on the radar.
1 (20%)


Now that we have an inkling of how you feel, tell us what you want to see/read! Let us know what topics might be of interest or questions you want answered!

Abbreviate Hours on Veterans Day

In observance of Veterans' Day, the library will be open from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Monday, November 12. The library will have regular hours on Saturday, November 10 and Sunday, November 11.

Plasmas in the Library?!

In an effort to help keep students informed of world and national events as well as local activities, Gordon B. Olson Library has purchased two plasma screens to be used in the library. The first screen is mounted in the open study area by the government documents. Channels showing national and local news and weather are available for student viewing. The second screen is mounted behind the reference desk and runs a power point presentation that includes information on hours of operation, staff, and events going on in the library. A third screen will be mounted in the Union at a later date and will display the power point presentation.

Gnawed Log, We Hardly Knew Ya...

If you've been in the library lately, you will notice something missing. The Gnawed Log, the library coffee kiosk, closed a couple weeks ago. It was closed by the administration, citing poor sales as the reason for the closure. Despite a valiant attempt by its many supporters and hardcore coffee drinkers, the decision was made to close it. Students studying in the library will now need to go to the Union for their coffee and snack fix.

What do you think about the closing of the Gnawed Log? Please respond here or contact one of the library staff members and tell us what you think!

Pink No More!

If you haven't already, stop by the computer lab in the lower level of the Gordon B. Olson Library. The lab was updated over the summer to include a second printer, four new Macs, a new scanner, and a fresh look. Yes, the Pepto-pink walls have been covered over with a dazzling coat of white, with artwork to adorn the walls a little later in the semester. The goal was to provide a comfortable and relaxing environment for patrons. Feedback has been positive. Stop in and check it out. Tell us what you think!

Information Commons Article

The article to which I referred in the "Changes in the Fall" post is now available for you to read. We have placed it in our EREs system (our electronic reserves system).

Go to ERes, open the "Any Search" box and highlight "Department," type "Library" in the rightmost box, and then click "Search." Click the Information Commons link and then click the "Accept" button. You can then click the article's title.

If you are off-campus, you will need to log in with your student ID number and password. If you need help with this, you can click this link which will take you to a page with some quick instructions about how to log in using your library card, or you can call us at 701-858-3201 and we'll help you.

Changes in the Fall

Yes, there will be quite a few changes happening (although not necessarily finishing) during the Fall semester. Here are some of them:

We are losing one of our Reference Librarians to retirement--George Clark--who has been with us for about 38 years.

We are also losing our Evening Circulation Supervisor to the big state of Texas--Joe Robillard--who has been with us for 6 years.

We have started an RSS feed that David Iversen--our Cataloger--is maintaining.

One of our librarians--Jane la Plante--will be teaching 1 credit of a 3-credit honors course along with Dr. Lynne Rumney.

We are planning on having a plasma screen behind the Reference Desk that will feature news, events going on in the library, scanned copies of the covers of new books and journals, and other things we haven't thought of yet.

THE HOURS OF THE LIBRARY HAVE BEEN EXTENDED!! (This is a biggie.) Beginning Fall Semester, the library will close at midnight, Sunday through Thursday. The entire building will be open until midnight, not just the computer lab.

Our coffee kiosk--The Gnawed Log--will be returning in the fall although we don't know yet in what form. Stay tuned on that one, and oh, and don't forget to frequent it!

Here is another biggie: we are planning on having an Information Commons on the main level of the library. What is an Information Commons? Good question. It is a "one-stop shopping" area where technology and reference service meet. We see it as a place where students will be able to conduct their research using both print and electronic resources, ask for help from a librarian, begin, do, and finish assignments on computers, consult reference sources, do group work, and other tasks. We want the area to be arranged so that it will have small group work/study spaces, computers, comfy chairs, a printer, and have a librarian and a techie person at hand at all times. This is a work in progress and we are consulting the folks at ITC, the Office of Instructional Technology, and even a professor or two to get some input. WE'D LIKE YOUR INPUT, TOO! So, feel free to give us a suggestion or two or three about what YOU’D like to see in our Information Commons. I’m going to post an article on ERes that covers in detail just what an Information Commons is. I'll let you know via the blog when it's up.

So, there are just a few of the changes happening in the fall! Thanks for asking and stay tuned!

First Post

Hello!



We've started this blog because we are very interested in hearing from our students, faculty, staff, and the public. We'd like to know your thoughts and ideas about ways we can change and improve our library. We're serious about hearing from you--tell us what's on your mind. Your comments can be about anything you'd like us to change or keep the same or just about something you'd like us to know. Feel free to let the Shakespeare or Michael Moore in you come out!



We look forward to hearing from you.