Monday, January 30, 2012

Mobile Resources

Mobile Library Website

Check out our new mobile-friendly webpage on your smartphone or tablet computer. You can save time by searching the library catalog or renewing books while you’re out and about -- no more detours to your dorm or the nearest computer lab. You can also find our top ten databases, ask a librarian for help, get our hours and contact information, or browse our services/resources.

Mobile-friendly Databases

Several of our database vendors now have mobile sites: American Chemical Society, JSTOR, IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Explore, EBSCO (a source for a wide range of databases), and others. These mobile sites let you search for and read articles without having to scroll to different parts of the page.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Tarleton Thursdays: Did You Know?

40 Years & 2 Months!

Today marks the day of my last blog as a librarian at the Tarleton State University Dick Smith Library! I am retiring after 40 years and 2 months of working at the Tarleton library! I will miss the library but will continue to post the "Tarleton Thursdays: Did You Know?" every other week this semester!

Many changes have occurred on the Tarleton Campus in the 40 years I have worked here! Not to mention, the 3 1/2 years prior to 1970 that I was a Tarleton student, and the 4 years as a high school student coming to march in the Homecoming Parade and attending the Homecoming football games! The Tarleton Center was the student center (shown above); the Education Building was the Administration Building; the Dining Hall was in the "green space" beside the president's house; the Mens Gym was a large wooden structure in the Fine Arts parking lot; the Women's Gym was where IT help and Telecommunications is now, and it had a swimming pool (in the IT/Telecom parking lot); the Math building was the Science Building; you could actually "cruise the island".......AND we had a card catalog!

Wow! Wonder what the Tarleton campus will be like in another 40 years!

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Library Services Designed with Online and Satellite Campuses in Mind: Check 'em Out

Are you a student or faculty member attending or teaching courses that are all online or at a satellite campus? If so, we want you to know about all these library services and resources, which are tailored to meet your information needs:

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. We're here to help you!

Monday, January 23, 2012

Looking for a place to study?


The library has a space to fit your needs. Try one of our first come, first serve study rooms.
  • For Groups up to 6: Rooms 226, 227, 229, 230, 233, 237, 238, and 239
  • For Individuals: Rooms 243, 244, 245, and 246
Need to reserve a space?
Visit the circulation desk or call 254-968-1895 to find out how to reserve a room (225 or 231*) for your group.

*updated 8/26/13

Friday, January 20, 2012

Rodeo, the Library Way

How much does rodeo have to do with the library? A lot, especially here at Tarleton and at other colleges too. A walk through the library stacks to GV1834.5 .M35 2004 will put the book College Rodeo: from Show to Sport into your hands. Rodeo has been a long-standing tradition for Tarleton since 1947. Tarleton has won six national championships and 19 individual national championships.

Fort Worth also has a long-standing tradition of rodeo. This year’s Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo (FWSSR) opened in January for the 116th time. One January day about five years ago, I was driving through downtown Fort Worth when I came up behind two riders on horses merrily trotting along on Main Street. I was taken back to my childhood when my family attended the rodeo every year.

My most favorite memory was standing on the rail as the celebrity performer circled the stadium floor riding a horse shaking hands with all the kids. I remember that Ken Curtis who played “Festus” from the popular, long-running TV show, Gunsmoke shook my hand as I teetered on the rail.

In case you are too young to remember Gunsmoke you can discover more by checking out this book: Gunsmoke: a Complete History and Analysis of the Legendary Broadcast Series with a Comprehensive Episode-by-Episode Guide to Both the Radio and Television Programs by SuzAnne Barabas.

I loved the flare of the grand entrance at the beginning of the rodeo. Riders with brilliantly colored shirts and sparkling belt buckles paraded in serpentine fashion across the floor of Will Rogers Coliseum displaying flags to show our state and national pride. Hundreds of riders decked out in the fanciest clothes riding well-groomed, show horses paraded by.

The events of the rodeo: barrel races and bull-riding fascinated me. Cowgirls rode wildly fast around barrels with their horses throwing clods of dirt onto the audience. The crowds hollered loudly cheering them on. Enjoy discovering more about cowgirls by opening up Tarleton’s electronic book, Rodeo Queens: On the Circuit with America’s Cowgirls by Joan Burbick.

Bull-riding was saved as the final event. I watched through my fingers a rider climbed aboard an almost 3,000 pound bull who was knocking against the board of the pen ready to be released from the belt that was tightened around its middle. The rider stayed on for only seconds, but it seemed an eternity to me as I watch him hang on to the undulating mass of hide, horns, and fury. Watch for yourself by checking out the video, Awesome Bullrides available in the library.

The brave rodeo clown distracted the bull by putting himself in between the dismounting cowboy and the bull. I recall watching the bull lower his head to charge the clown who narrowly escaped those horns by running for the barrel and slipping inside milliseconds before the bull was there. Even now as I think of these events, my heart beats just a little faster, and I find myself feeling the fear that I had of the clown not making it into the barrel in time.

You can read your way through the history of rodeo clowns by checking out the library’s electronic copy of Fearless Funnymen: the History of the Rodeo Clown by Gail Woerner.

My childhood days of rodeo nights usually ended with my Dad carrying me out while I looked back over his shoulder into the stadium still filled with dust floating in the air and dirt divoted by hundreds of hooves traversing the surface throughout the evening. I’m looking forward to once again making more nostalgic memories as I visit the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo this season. Take your own walk down memory lane through checking out the library’s book, Stock Photographs: The Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo by Garry Winogrand.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Tarleton Thursdays: Did You Know?

Spring Student Enrollment is at an all-time high!


Tarleton State University
Headcount for Spring 2011

Freshman 1276
Sophomore 1487
Junior 1925
Senior 2545
Post-Bacc 116
Masters 1347
Doctoral 68
TOTAL Headcount 8764

Did You Know?

Tarleton has reached its highest spring enrollment ever in its history with a 6.2% increase compared to last spring. If you look at the chart, this means there are a total of 8764 students on/off campus! If you would like to learn more information on Tarleton’s enrollment or other interesting facts, you can check out Texan Facts! Also, if you’re interested in learning more about Tarleton’s history, the Dick Smith Library offers a number of digital and print resources to meet your curiosity! Check out the JTAC database for copies of the JTAC that start from the first issue in 1919. Or check out historic images of Tarleton through the Cross Timbers Historic Images Project. The possibilities are endless!

The library--there's an app for that.

There are many "apps" available through our various database vendors. Below are a few of them. You can get more information on our Mobile Apps and Resources page or by clicking on the icons below.

GENERAL RESEARCH

EBSCOHost (works on most smartphones)


LEARN A LANGUAGE

Mango (iOS)

LIBRARY-RELATED

BookMyne (iOS, Android)



**Note: iOS is the name of the operating system used on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.
More information on smartphones and apps here.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Privacy: Opt In or Out - A Choice

The Dec. 19, 2011 Slate article "Saving Face: How Google, Facebook, and other tech companies hide behind “opt-in” policies" by Evgeny Morozov raises some interesting points about social media and privacy. Reminded me that I need to check the settings on my accounts; how about you?