Fourth of July Hours

We will be open from noon until 3:00 a.m. on Independence Day. A daytime librarian will be available to answer your questions from noon until 6:00 pm and I will be available from 4:00 pm to 1:00 am.

The Hours & Calendars page has a complete list of summer and holiday hours.

IM a Librarian!

You can now IM a BSU Librarian morning, noon, or night! Not sure where to start your research? Having trouble getting to the full text of an article? Add us to your buddy list and ask away!

AIM: bsulibrarian
MSN: bsulibrarian
Yahoo: bsulibrarian

If you aren't comfortable with using instant messaging, you can still email or call the reference desk.

A Couple of Recently Acquired Databases...

AgeLine - A bibliographic index to social gerontology and aging-related research from psychology, sociology, social work, economics, public policy, and the health sciences.

Fiction Connection - Not sure what to read this summer? Try this new, reader's advisory database!

Ball State University Libraries' News - July 2006

The July 2006 version of the Library Insider, the Ball State University Libraries' newsletter is now available online.

This month's newsletter contains articles on summer reading, social software, improvements to the University Libraries, and much more!

Access Your Library Account Online!

Did you know that you can view and renew library materials online?

Here's how!

First you must request a PIN for your library account:

• Go to the University Libraries' homepage and click on the "Policies & Forms" link under the "About the Libraries" heading.

• Go to the "Forms" column and click on the "PIN Request" link. Complete and submit the form. Your PIN will be emailed to you within two days. (For security reasons, we can only email your PIN to a Ball State University email account.)

You may also call the Main Circulation desk at (765) 285-5143 to request that a PIN be sent to you by snail mail.

Now you are ready to log in to your library account! You will find links to "My Account" in the following places:

• In the blue toolbar near the top of the screen in CardCat.

• In the library links column located on the left-hand side of every University Libraries' web page.

After you click on "My Account" you will see this menu:
Click on "Review My Account" and enter your BSU ID and PIN to access a list of all of the materials you have checked out from the University Libraries. Click on "User PIN Change" to change your PIN. (We recommend that you change your PIN from the number issued to you.) Click on "Renew My Materials" and enter your BSU ID and PIN to renew all or any of the materials checked out to you.

Online Learning in the News: Social Software and Recommended Resources

Social Software and Online Education:

Teaching Social Software with Social Software - Examines how social software enables students to participate in distributed research, an approach to learning in which knowledge is collectively constructed and shared.

Uses and Potentials of Wikis in the Classroom - Argues that wikis are one possible tool to help bridge the gap between teachers and students.

Safety and Social Software:

Online Persona Undermines a Resume - Can MySpace prevent you from landing your dream job?

The Pandora's Box of Social Networking - Talking about online safety is important!

Recommended Resources to Get You Started:

Blogger - Provides free, automated blog publishing tool that allows you to create and customize blogs. The Distance Learning Library Services blog runs on Blogger.

del.icio.us - Share bookmarks and add tags to describe a link. Here is an example of an educator's account.

Facebook - Social networking for College and University students.

Instructional Video Resources - A portal to sites that will help you to create and share online videos.

Flickr - Store and share photos online. One Art History class used Flickr to encourage students to comment on paintings.

MediaWiki - A free software package originally written for wikipedia. The Biz Wiki is a good example of a site that runs on MediaWiki.

MySpace - Ubiquitous social networking site. See the University Libraries' Myspace for an example of an educational utilization.

Ball State University Libraries' News - June 2006

The June 2006 version of the Library Insider, the Ball State University Libraries' newsletter is now available online.

This month's newsletter contains articles on distance learning, major accomplishments of 2005-06, an update on the interlibrary loan system and much more.

Online Learning in the News: Net Neutrality and Higher Education

Articles on Net Neutrality and Higher Education:

The Net Neutrality Debate: The Basics - Overview of the problem and potential solutions from the EDUCAUSE Review

Net Neutrality Showdown - CNET portal providing up-to-date information on Net Neutrality and the Internet Freedom and Nondiscrimination Act of 2006.

Net Neutrality and Higher Education - Bangor Daily News article discussing the relationship between Net Neutrality and distance education.