All faculty are invited to learn about Internet access at the library on January 5 and January 9 from 11:00 until 12:00 noon. Come either time that suits you and find out about accessing Internet resources.
The University Library has its own homepage (http://netserv.lib.odu.edu) on the World Wide Web. You will find links to a number of Internet resources, including news sources, periodical indexes, reference materials, electronic journals, government information, and catalogs of other libraries. Also, you can easily access the ODU Library catalog, as well as discover all sorts of information about library services, including hours of service, information about various departments, guides to resources in many disciplines, and library news.
Janet L. Justis began her responsibilities with the Reference Department in November as the Government Information Reference Librarian. Most recently she served as Government Information Specialist at the State Library of North Carolina. A former social worker, Ms. Justis holds a B.A. degree from the College of William and Mary and an M.S. in L.S. from the University of North Carolina.
Come to one of our 30-minute presentations on January 11 and 18, beginning at 12:45. A reference librarian will introduce you to some of the most important services, including the new online catalog. Interested faculty, staff, and students (not whole classes, please!) are invited to attend.
Students are welcome to attend 30-minute Internet workshops to be held at 12:45 on Tuesdays, January 16 and 23, and at 6:00 on Wednesdays, January 17 and 24. A maximum of 10 people can be accommodated, so register at the Reference Desk without delay!
In the next few issues of Library Update, we will tell you about some of the features of the new online catalog. One very helpful feature is the option to limit your search in a number of ways. After entering a particular search, you may limit it by library location (Art Library, Reference Department, etc.), type of material (printed material, sound recording, etc.), language, publisher, year of publication, and so forth. Just press "L" when given this option. For example, you could search for the subject Impressionism - Art and limit it to those resources published by Abrams and located in the Art Library. Take time to explore some of the other features of the catalog. You'll find some great timesavers.
Plans are progressing for the Diehn Pavilion to be located adjacent to the Fine and Performing Arts Center. The 7,000 square foot facility will house the Diehn music manuscript collection, a well-appointed reading room, a seminar room, exhibit space, and a multimedia listening area. Construction is expected to begin in early spring and take less than one year.
The Music Listening Room is somewhat of a misnomer for this third-floor area that features far more than musical recordings. Here, in room 307, you may try out the new multimedia workstation and two recent interactive programs: Grolier's Prehistoria and Microsoft's Multimedia Stravinsky. Both fascinating programs use sound, video, and text. The growing video collection includes such diverse titles as AIDS, Can I get it?; Remembering Ellen Glasgow; A Different Place: The Intercultural Classroom; and Keystone Comedy Collection. Some journals in non-print format, such as Biophysical Journal on diskette, Astrophysical Journal on video, and Nucleic Acids Research on cd-rom, are available here as well. Various kits and so-called "spoken records," round out the non-music segment of the collection. Watch for the next Library Update issue to learn about the music "side" of the Music Listening Room.
Have you explored the Virtual Library of Virginia (VIVA) yet? One of the newest resources to be added to its array is Britannica Online, a collection of reference works in including Encyclopedia Britannica articles, the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, and Britannica Book of the Year. Look for several new resources to be added to VIVA in early 1996. VIVA is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.vcu.edu./ulsweb/viva/viva.html or by selecting it from our library homepage at http://netserv.lib.odu.edu instead. Many VIVA resources are restricted to users who are searching from computers located in the library or elsewhere on campus.
Library Update is published four times a year by the library for the Old Dominion University community. Its purpose is to inform users of new and existing services, policies, and procedures. Editor: Cynthia Wright Swaine