The University's 34th Annual Literary Festival begins Monday October 3. Be sure to take advantage of this opportunity to hear from some incredible writers and artists.

Get the schedule and other information for this year's festival at: http://www.lib.odu.edu/litfest/34th

You may also wish to view an exhibit on the first floor Learning Commons @ Perry Library which features the participants of this year's festival with books by the authors. Previous literary festivals back to 1978 are archived in a digital collection hosted by the University Libraries at http://www.lib.odu.edu/litfest/.

Students: You may now make online reservations for the group collaboration rooms in the Learning Commons @ Perry Library. Go to: http://apps.odu.edu/openroom/reservation_view.php or find the reservation form on the Learning Commons Web site.

Reservations may be made for the small and large group collaboration rooms and the presentation room. The multi-media room and GIS computing stations do not require reservations.

"Revisiting Some Popular Databases in the Sciences & Engineering" is a graduate workshop to be held on Saturday, October 1, 10:00 am–11:30 am in the Learning Commons Instruction Room 1306.

The University Libraries have access to many electronic databases in the sciences and engineering. This workshop will highlight some of the most popular and heavily used databases and describe new and improved features that allow students to gather more in-depth information in an efficient and effective manner.

Contact Edward Wladas at ewladas@odu.edu or 683-5910 to register.

Faculty and Graduate Students are invited to attend a workshop on Friday, September 30, 11:00 am–12:00 pm. "An Introduction to Google Maps and Georeferencing" will explore the possibilities of customized Google Maps. We’ll look at examples of educational applications of Google Maps and show you how to create your own maps that seamlessly integrate images and information with geographic locations. We’ll also briefly discuss geotagging, geocaching, and other mobile GPS applications.

The workshop will be held in the Learning Commons Instruction Room 1306. Contact Matt Jabaily at mjabaily@odu.edu or 683-5909 to register.

Stop by the first floor Learning Commons @ Perry Library to view an exhibit featuring the participants of the 34th Annual Literary Festival. Books by the authors are also available for you to peruse.

The 34th Annual Literary Festival is October 3-8, 2011. On the Web site, you'll find the schedule of events.

Each year's literary festival is added to a digital archive of festivals back to 1978. Check out the archive at: http://www.lib.odu.edu/litfest/.

Graduate Students & Faculty: Come to the Learning Commons Instruction Room 1306 on Saturday, September 24, 10:30am–12:00pm, for a workshop on "Using EndNote with Library Databases."

Learn how to collect citations from the library’s database and export them into EndNote, a powerful tool for organizing and managing bibliographic citations. Both desktop and web versions will be included. If you bring your own laptop, we ask that you already have Endnote downloaded.

Contact Miriam Bridges at mbridges@odu.edu or 683-4169 to register.

Additional EndNote workshops are scheduled for:

    Thursday, October 13, 3:00 pm-4:30 pm
    Saturday, October 22 10:30 am – 12:00 pm

Faculty are invited to attend a workshop on "Learning Commons Services and Technologies" on Friday, September 23, 10:00am–11:00am in the Learning Commons Instruction Room 1306.

Come for this orientation and discover all the resources and services you and your students can use in the Learning Commons.

Contact Nancy Schafer at nschafer@odu.edu or 683-4183 for details.

In case you missed our BLTs (Brief Library Tours), the last one is Wednesday 9/14, 11:00-11:30am. Meet at the Learning Commons Help Desk on the first floor and join us for a brief tour of the Perry Library and Learning Commons spaces with one of the reference staff.

The Learning Commons @ Perry Library is now open, as of September 6, 2011, at 8:00 a.m.

Coming soon: The Multi-Media Innovation Lab, Writing Tutorial Services, the Math and Science Resource Center, and Einstein Bros. Café.

The Learning Commons will be open 24/5, Sunday through Thursday, after October 1, 2011, with Friday and Saturday hours remaining the same as for Perry Library.

For further information about the Learning Commons, please contact Kathryn Boone, Learning Commons Operations Manager at kboone@odu.edu.

For information about the Student Success Center, please contact David Metzger, Dean of the Honors College and Interim Dean of Academic Enhancement, at dmetzger@odu.edu.

If you've taught or are planning to teach information literacy & research as a general education requirement, please come to the Information Literacy Roundtable. We'd like to discuss what worked or didn't work in your info lit clases and what the library can do to help.

When: Friday, September 9, 2:00 pm–3:30 pm
Where: Learning Commons Instruction Room 1306

Contact Joleen Westerdale at jwesterd@odu.edu or 683-4141 for details.

Join us for a brief tour of the Perry Library and Learning Commons spaces with one of the reference staff.

Meet at the Learning Commons Help Desk on the first floor:

     Tues. 9/6 and Thurs. 9/8 3:30-4pm
     Mon. 9/12 and Wed. 9/14 11:00-11:30am