Welcome back to a new academic year! We would like to do all we can to make it a great one.

Our slogan for this year is “Connect With Your Library”. Why? Let me explain– You may have noticed the flip chart that was in the lobby at the end of the spring term and most of the summer. You might have even written comments on it. By gathering input and responding we are hoping that you connect more solidly with us. One of the chief comments on the list was about noise. That is where the concept of study zones originated. We cannot provide silent places for each person in every spot they want it, but we can be proactive and establish zones and explain them so you will know what to expect. We will be visually marking off the areas upstairs to help the concept stick
Here are the Zones:

• Collaborative – active places of learning where students may converse in normal tones and learn together –entire lower level and area surrounding info desk on upper level. Short cell phone conversations permitted. Phones must be set to vibrate or silent.
• Quiet Study – place to study quietly, with occasional quiet discussion with classmate, no prolonged conversations – no cell phone conversations – second floor beyond info desk area. (See maps displayed in Library)
• Silent Study – place for silent studying, no cell phones, no conversations – upper level, seating along windows. Also one silent room for study near study rooms (SRC 3009).

We also gathered many comments about the environment. We are attempting to honor your concerns by providing better trash and recycling containers. Please be mindful of this attempt and place your trash or items to recycle in the appropriate bins. The café will be selling reusable mugs and we will be limited our use of plastic bags at the circulation desk. We hope to have canvas bags in the near future that can be checked out with our materials when requested.

We will continue to gather your input and make efforts to respond. We want you to Connect With Your Library and make this a great year!

CWYL

Lisa Stock, Ph.D.
Dean of Learning Resource

In the spirit of the new semester’s theme, Connect with Your Library, we’ve added some spectacular new features to our website to help you make those connections even easier.  Here’s a preview of what you can find and where you can find it:

• Chat from the Homepage– now you can IM the Library even if you don’t have an IM account!  Just click on Launch Library Chat from the Library’s homepage.
• Search the Library catalog from your browser– whether you use Internet Explorer or Firefox, you probably have a handy search box that allows you to run a search of your favorite sites from any Web page.  Now you can add the C.O.D. Library to that list by adding our catalog search plug-in.
• Hold the Library in your hand– the Library now has a mobile site, allowing you to visit our website, search the catalog and keep connected via your iPhone, Blackberry or other wireless handheld device.
• Send call numbers to yourself– forget trying to find a pencil and piece of paper to write down the title and location of books in the Library– send that info to your cellphone or email with the touch of a button.  This feature is now available in the Library catalog.
• Easy citations– Get APA, MLA and other citations for books, videos and other library materials.  Look for the Cite This button for the books you use for your research papers and create a Works Cited list the easy way.

We hope these great new features will make it even easier for you to Connect with Your Library!  Let us know what you think and keep a look out for more new tools, tricks and tips throughout the semester.

Having problems connecting to your Student Online Services, MyCOD Student Portal, or Blackboard account? Connecting to these various accounts can be confusing, so to make your life easier, the Library has created a handy, downloadable guide to help you log into these accounts and get the information you need!

• Logging into C.O.D. Student Accounts

If you’re still having problems, stop by the Library Reference Desk or call us at (630) 942-3364.

The Library will be closed on a number of days and have reduced interim hours during the break between the Summer and Fall semsters.

The library will be closed the following days:

• Sunday, Aug. 3
• Saturday, Aug. 9
• Sunday, Aug. 10
• Tuesday, Aug. 12
• Saturday, Aug. 16
• Sunday, Aug. 17

For the remaining days between Aug. 3 and Aug. 20, the Library will be open from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Normal hours resume the first day of classes on Wednesday, Aug. 20.

For full hours and closings information, visit the Library Hours & Closings page.

Enjoy your break!

On Friday, August 8, the C.O.D. Library’s Philanthropy Center will host a Grantseeking Primer workshop. Presented by the Donors Forum, this workshop offers an introduction to the terminology and resources you’ll need to find prospects, prepare and submit applications, and organize your grantseeking activities for maximum results.

Register for this workshop

Due to budget cuts, the Illinois State Library is no longer able to provide access to the Periodical Abstracts and Wilson Select Plus article databases. We are sorry for the inconvenience. Alternatives to these databases are: Academic Search Premier and Expanded Academic Index . Questions? Contact the Library Reference Desk or email Denise Cote , Electronic Resources Librarian.

If you are taking a COD placement test, a professional certification test, a graduate school admission test or even a real estate or a cosmetologist’s licensing test, Learning Express Library could be the tool you need! The system allows you to save your progress, review wrong answers and gives you tips on how to improve your scores. Learning Express Library also has oodles of online books that you can use to help you study!

Just have your library card handy to access Learning Express from home. Make yourself an account in Learning Express and be the master of that Exam Demon! Need help? Contact the Reference Desk or Denise Cote at cotede@cod.edu

Can’t get enough political information?  Is C-Span no longer enough for you?  Check out the website Capitol Words and learn about the current preoccupation in Congress with a view of each day’s most often used word in the Congression Record.

Capitol Words allows you to travel back in time and see how what’s discussed in Congress has changed or stayed the same.