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Chad Kluck

Student with the library website displayed on laptop screen
Libraries

Library Website Redesign Sessions

In November and December of 2021, the St. Thomas Libraries gathered preliminary feedback from students and faculty about our current website. Through an online form we asked what they liked, didn’t like, and what features they frequently used.

Common themes gathered were that the website was helpful, yet confusing, and hard to navigate. Given this feedback we identified pain points and formed an initiative to redesign the library website.

With the analysis of the current website complete, we are now ready to look towards the future by asking students, faculty, and staff what they would like to see the library website become. What would make it more welcoming and a place to explore all the library has to offer for pursuits in and out of the classroom?

We are currently reaching out to students, faculty, and staff to participate in a 60-minute feedback session. Some sessions will be online, some in person, and there will be incentives for participating.

If you want to help shape the future of the University of St. Thomas Library website please fill out a brief survey and provide your contact information.

We will be scheduling the sessions and reaching out to participants in early April.

March 30, 2022 by
Person sitting with the personalized website open on website
Libraries

Personalized Library Experience

The library now offers a personalized experience in One St. Thomas.

Attending feedback sessions, gathering response data, and receiving questions and comments from the St. Thomas community, it became clear that no single, one-page-fits-all experience could adequately serve all visitors to the library website. So we set out to design a page, and site, to present the most relevant resources and services to a student or faculty member based on their academic discipline and library needs.

Enter the Library Home page on One St. Thomas. Here we can focus on a personalized, relevant library experience.

We launched a page on the One St. Thomas Library Site that displays current loan items and library resources for enrolled or assigned courses. We hope to expand the information presented here in the future, tailored to the unique needs of a student, faculty, or staff member.

Before launch, we gathered feedback, and while we could not incorporate all the great ideas into the first iteration, we are looking at ways to incorporate them into future designs.

You can access the personalized page through the library’s public and One St. Thomas homepages.

February 14, 2022 by
A student gets assistance at the Tech and Research Help Desk in the O'Shaughnessy Frey Library Center in St. Paul.
News & Events

Student jobs in the library fall 2021: Peer Research Assistant, Web Developer, and Marketing and Communications

The library is anything but quiet when it comes to assisting others! Therefore, the St. Thomas Libraries is looking for students motivated to enhance and provide access to our services and resources for the St. Thomas community.

We are currently hiring students to fill research assistant, web developer, and marketing and communications positions. Apply via the St. Thomas Human Resources Student Employment website.

Library Peer Research Assistant

Are you the type of person who loves tracking things down on the internet? Do you like hearing about a wide range of research topics and helping to figure out what information is out there? If so, this would be a great job for you.

View posting for Library Peer Research Assistant

Web Application Development Student Assistant

Are you a computer science student? Do you want to work on front and back-end web development using JavaScript, CSS, Node.js, and Amazon Web Services? Library Digital Services is seeking student applicants who understand the basics of web design but want to bring their skills to the next level with cloud-based web applications.

View posting for Library Web Application Developer

Marketing and Communications Student Assistant

Create digital marketing campaigns just like this one! We got your attention, now help us get the word out! Spread the word about library services and events by being a Marketing and Communications Student Assistant for the St. Thomas Libraries. Create graphics, digital posters, videos, blog posts, and more.

View posting for Library Marketing and Communications

August 31, 2021 by
A desk with a coffee mug, pencils, and deign mock-ups of a website
News & Events

Provide feedback on new My Library site

Help design your personalized library experience!

Over the summer the St. Thomas Libraries has been hard at work developing an online, self-service page to bring together various aspects of a student’s library account such as library loans, fees, and resources specific to enrolled courses.

You can help by providing feedback! We need input from students on design improvements, usefulness, and suggestions on what tools and features to add next.

Get a sneak peek and check out screenshots from the new site and fill out a short 5-minute survey to help shape the future of your online library experience.

Take the survey now

August 26, 2021 by
CLICsearch, Libraries

EBooks, newspapers, journals, video, and audio available online through St. Thomas Libraries

Whether you are doing research for a class or just want to pass the time, you should reference one of the 300 databases that the library subscribes to. Within these databases, you have the choice between nearly 400,000 online books, 58,000 online journals, and more than 77,000 streaming audio and video titles. As a member of the St. Thomas community, you have access to all of these databases from home.

CLICsearch is the quickest way to search through most of our databases to find exactly what you are looking for. After searching for a title or topic, you can refine the results to show only online sources by checking “Available Online” on the left under “Show Only.”

If you know the database you are looking for, use the alphabetical list of our subscription databases. This list includes descriptions of the databases and lets you narrow down by subject or type of database using the drop-down list along the top of the list.

Read more about our online databases here.

An infographic describing the types of online resources such as ebooks, newspapers, journals, and streaming media

There are many online resources available to the St. Thomas community. (Infographic by Angie Vognild)

eBooks – 400,000 titles

We have a large collection of Ebooks that you can find through CLICsearch. Most of those books can be read in your browser without requiring you to install any software or sign up for any accounts.

Journals, Magazines, and Newspapers – 58,000 titles

To find a specific journal or magazine title, use our Journal Search in CLICsearch. After searching for the title, you will be shown a list of the different ways to access that title, most of which will be online.

Streaming Audio and Video – 77,000 titles

The Music & Media Collections house more than 70 thousand titles in streaming audio and video. Visit libguides.stthomas.edu to see all the databases you have access to.

CLICsearch

The quickest way to search through most of our collection is with CLICsearch, our one-stop discovery tool that searches for books (including e-books), articles, videos, and more.

(Article and infographic by Angie Vognild)

May 20, 2020 by
Podcast studio with microphone, table, and four chairs
O'Shaughnessy-Frey Library

Podcast Studio Now Open in the Library

Did you know there is a space on campus where students can record their own audio or video shows? The Student Innovation Space, located in the O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library in rooms 309A and 310, includes a video recording studio in addition to a newly-designed podcast studio. Both studios are self-service and can be reserved instantly just like a library study room.

After high demand for a STELAR-like space that would provide similar services to other on-campus studios, the St. Thomas Libraries has partnered with Innovation & Technology Services (ITS) to create the recording studios in the OSF library. Both studios are available when the library is open, which is until 2 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. All you need to do is reserve one of the rooms online and pick up the room key from the front desk. Students may use either studio for up to two hours.

This digitally-innovative space exists for the St. Thomas community to produce their own video and audio shows or segments for class assignments or personal endeavors. The video studio has an adjustable SMART Board, computer, video camera, a swing arm for a cell phone, whiteboards, movable furniture, lighting, and sound. Learn more about how to effectively use the video studio.

The podcast studio has been recently updated and is ready for use! The podcast studio includes a table microphone to record between one and four people on a round-table, acoustic padding, and a computer with a wireless keyboard, mouse, and adjustable arm.

Come check them out today!

November 6, 2019 by
Image showing an example of the studio set up with the SMART Board lowered behind chairs displaying a backdrop of film and a title, two chairs and ferns
O'Shaughnessy-Frey Library

New Student Recording Studio Opens in O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library

There is a new video recording studio on campus dedicated to students for group or individual projects.

As an Innovation Space located in the O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library, the video recording studio in room 310 allows students to run with their most creative ideas and produce them into high quality results. The studio space includes a height adjustable SMART Board, moveable furniture, lighting, sound, and a video camera.

St. Thomas Libraries partnered with STELAR to make this a reality as both organizations saw the difficulty in scheduling time at existing on-campus studios and heard students request “more STELAR-like spaces” on campus. This space is modeled around students’ needs for recording projects in a professional, distraction-free manner.

One of the main goals is to make the studio easy to use and available during all hours the O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library is open, which is until 2:00 am weekdays during the semester! Students can come in and record independently, making the room a self-service studio.

The studio is also easy to reserve with the online reservation system on the Library webpage.

Read more about the studio features on the library web site.

Faculty assigning a video recording component in their course may direct their students to the online booking site. It is also advised that faculty contact the library with a heads-up so we can properly assist students.

February 6, 2019 by
Outline of a person standing in the Great Room of the O'Shaughnessy-Frey Library among students studying
News & Events, O'Shaughnessy-Frey Library

Students wanted for photo shoot in O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library January 7th

We will be conducting a photo shoot all over O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library next Monday, January 7th and are looking to recruit students to fill the library as extras!

All students are invited and may bring their bags, books, laptops, phones, homework, group projects, and friends to study and hang out as St. Thomas photographers make their rounds. Laptops open, papers to spread out, ideas drawn on the white boards, books to fall asleep with—we want the scenes to be real and show library life! Appropriate dress: casual is fine, but no PJs or clothing that wouldn’t be appropriate for university photos.

  • Starting at 1pm students may come to the library and check-in at Stacks Café (coffee shop on the first floor)
  • Stacks Café will be open until 3pm and additional food and refreshments will be catered throughout the shoot (just like the pros!)
  • We’ll take volunteers for video shots starting at 1pm
  • Photographs will take place around the library between 2 and 5pm
  • Look for an appearance by Tommie!

Students don’t need to sign up ahead of time, but it is preferred so we have an accurate head count for catering.

Sign up at: https://link.stthomas.edu/LibraryPhotos

If you have contact with any students and/or clubs please pass this information along. We have been posting this announcement on social media so feel free to copy the images or repost on your own timelines:

Be sure to pass the word! We want as many faces around the library as possible!

(This post was updated January 3, 2019 to reflect additional information regarding the schedule)

December 19, 2018 by
Database Highlights & Trials, Libraries, Services

EZ Proxy login page changing to use Single Sign On

You may have noticed that if you log into Canvas and then head over to CLICsearch or another St. Thomas resource you are already logged in. That is because the University of St. Thomas has been moving towards Single Sign On to combat login fatigue.

However, you may have also noticed that even if you are logged into Office 365, Canvas, and CLICsearch, EZ Proxy would still ask you to log in before accessing one of the library databases.

Beginning Wednesday, August 29, 2018, the repetitive EZ Proxy Login will be no more, it will now all be done through the already familiar St. Thomas login page we know and love.

What do you need to do? Nothing!

No links will change as EZ Proxy is just changing the login page it presents to users.

Here’s the schedule of events:

  1. Tonight around midnight we will make the switch temporarily as a final test and then revert back.
  2. Tomorrow around 9am we will permanently change the configuration.
  3. Technical staff will be around all day Wednesday and Thursday to make sure things go well.

Library staff will monitor the situation. From what we can tell there should be no impact on services as it is just replacing one login with another.

Let us know if you have any questions.

Have a safe and happy Launch Day!

August 28, 2018 by
A stack of books by the window
Libraries

Return library items before leaving for the summer

Do you have books, media, or other materials you’ve borrowed through St. Thomas Libraries and still need to return before leaving for the summer? Maybe you need to renew an item, check to see when they are due, or forgot what exactly you currently have checked out!

You may have noticed a new section in One St. Thomas under “My Actions” for the library. These Library actions allow you to quickly check your St. Thomas library account for your loans, materials ready for pick-up, or fees. If you don’t see anything listed for Library that’s fine, you just don’t have any actionable items.

If you are not renewing, please return all library materials including materials borrowed from other CLIC Libraries to your St. Thomas library before you leave campus for the summer to avoid your account from being billed. Please note, if you visited another CLIC library to check out a book you will need to log into your library account directly to see the item. If you are not sure, contact Emmanuel Takgbajouah at eotakgbajoua@stthomas.edu or 651-962-5403.

If you have any fees due please stop in at the Circulation Desk at your main St. Thomas library and work to resolve the issue.

Quickly check your library account in One St. Thomas

May 14, 2018 by