We hope you all have a fun and safe upcoming Spring Break! But upon your return, you may discover that you feel more pressure than ever to get your projects and assignments completed – finals and other end-of-semester due dates are not far away! You may be tempted to try to go without sleep to get everything done.
Please plan to join us on Wednesday, April 7 from Noon to 1pm and hear many reasons why that is not a good idea and how sleep is an essential strategy for your success. This timely session on the Power of Sleep presented by doctoral interns from CAPS – Max Mikesell, Max Crowder, and Phil Imholte – is intended to give you the encouragement and boost you need to finish strong this semester!
As explained by Max: “Sleep is an essential function that allows your body and mind to recharge, leaving you refreshed and alert when you wake up. Although getting a good night’s sleep is essential, it isn’t always easy – academic and work schedules, day-to-day stressors, a disruptive bedroom environment, and medical conditions can all prevent us from getting enough sleep.”
We know you want to have success in your work and we are here to help. Please join the doctoral interns for a conversation on the power of sleep as well as tips and tricks to help you sleep better!
REGISTER HERE for the Zoom link. The first 25 people to sign up will receive treat baggies, and all who attend will be entered for a chance to win the door prize!
In honor of Women’s History Month, the Music & Media Collections has a new display right outside our door. We are located on the first floor of O’Shaughnessy Frey Library in room 104A. All these films center around the stories of women and the efforts of women filmmakers, and they can be found on our shelves or are available through our online streaming services found on the Library Films Page.
Check out The Color Purple—the 1985 film based on the novel of the same name by Alice Walker. The film follows the life of Celia, an African American woman in early 1900s Georgia.
The newest adaption of Little Women hit our shelves last year. Greta Gerwig wrote and directed this version. The Joy Luck Club chronicles the relationships between Chinese-immigrant mothers and their American born daughters.
If you like the works of Ava DuVernay, the producer/director of Selma, check out I Will Follow which is her first feature film. Roma, the Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Drama and best Cinematography, centers around the year in the life of Cleo Gutiérrez, a maid for a Mexican middle-class family in the 1970s.
The biographical legal drama, Erin Brockovich, follows the woman of the same name as she works to uncover what exactly a California power company is doing to a town’s water supply.
If you’re looking for some comedy, check out Clueless or Nine to Five. Clueless remixes Jane Austen’s Emma into the 1990s high school experience, and Nine to Five which features women getting revenge on their sexist boss. (And includes a great song sung by Dolly Parton too!).
Welcome in springtime with the Music & Media Collections at O’Shaughnessy Frey Library! The Collections is open to everyone—if you haven’t visited us before, come on over! We are located on the 1st floor across in room 104A which is right across from Stacks.
Our physical collection includes a huge variety of DVDs. From Game of Thrones to Citizen Kane to educational documentaries—we’ve got it. The Collections also has many foreign films available, so if you want to brush up on your Spanish, come and check out what we have! For less casual viewing, we can help you find movies or documentaries assigned in class. The Library’s Catalog includes the Collections, but if you want to browse in person feel free to stop by.
Interested in Music? We have hundreds of CDs available to students. Genres include Classical, Folk, and World Music. If you would rather use streaming services, check out Medici.TV and Naxos Music Library for thousands of titles.
Like the rest of the University of St. Thomas, we are committed to the Common Good and have implemented COVID-19 precautions, which include a limited browsing capacity and required mask usage.
This timely and thought-provoking article in the Atlantic should be of interest not only to librarians but to faculty and anyone who is concerned with information and misinformation in a democratic society. Written by librarian and emeritus professor Barbara Fister (Gustavus Adolphus College), it is a compelling read that provides some good food for thought about how our approach to teaching Information Literacy may have been harmful and how it needs to change.
“It’s time for a thorough revamping of the purpose of inviting students to engage in inquiry as a civic practice. Educators, including librarians who teach, will need to confront and clarify their own beliefs and assumptions about how they know what is real and what isn’t. It will take work. But there are some promising places to start.”
Throughout the centuries, writers and poets have described a phenomenon often referred to as the “winter blues.” People develop feelings of sadness, loss, and lethargy in the shorter, darker days of winter. They notice more tiredness, weight gain, and lack of interest in activities and social events.
However, some people experience a more exaggerated form of these symptoms. This condition is known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).
The St. Thomas Libraries invite students, faculty, and staff to a cozy noon-hour virtual discussion, Wednesday, February 24, 2021. You’ll meet and hear our panelists: Max Crowder, Phil Imholte, and Matthew Mikesell – doctoral interns from Counseling and Psychological Services.
They’ll lead a discussion on Seasonal Affective Disorder, answer your questions, and offer some proven tips and strategies to help us all get a much needed Boost this Winter.
Be sure to REGISTER HERE. Bring any questions you may have as well as any tips that have worked for you!
P.S. You could win a door prize — and goodie bags for all!
During the month of February, the University Libraries will be offering trials of several databases, especially in the area of the health, nursing and psychotherapy. If you are working in these disciplines, take a look at these new resources and let us know if you would find them useful for your teaching and research.
CINAHL Complete – the definitive research tool for nursing and allied health professionals. With CINAHL Complete, users get fast and easy full-text access to top journals, evidence-based care sheets, quick lessons and more. Note, this is a more expansive collection than the CINAHL that the library currently subscribes to. (Through February 28.)
APA PsycTherapy – Streaming demonstration videos for teaching and learning psychotherapy techniques (Through March 5.)
Nursing & Allied Health Database – designed to support the teaching, learning, and research needs of nursing and allied health students and educators. Includes 360 full-length clinical skills videos. (Through March 5.)
LWW Nursing and Health Professions Premier Collection – Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins (a major publisher in health field) offers this collection of over 80 core nursing journals. Our trial will also include access to Emcare, a database of scholarly, peer-reviewed literature in nursing and allied health on the Ovid platform, with access to over 5 million records. (Through March 3.)
Library of Catholic Thought – The Library of Catholic Thought presents essential resources for studying the development of Catholic thought and theology, including works on the interaction between Catholicism and modern science, and on the history of Catholic moral theology. A key element of the Library is the new fully revised third edition of the Jerome Biblical Commentary, a 2 million-word project by leading Catholic biblical scholars that features a preface by Pope Francis and is digitally exclusive to the LOCT.
We will be providing trial access to one or two more databases during Trials Month and will alert faculty in the appropriate disciplines when these resources are available for review.
An article from the online magazine Psyche, brought to my attention by Dr. Amy Muse/English, is shared above. It is particularly relevant to Information Literacy and the role it plays/should play in our lives, and society, especially now.
“Knowledge is good for us not only because we generally want to know the truth, but because knowledge dramatically affects our ability to navigate the world and accomplish our goals. Ignorance, on the other hand, is bad for us in that it prevents us from having an accurate representation of the world and stands in the way of our achieving those goals.”
Join us at one of our Library Research Help Zoom drop-in sessions. Drop in during one of these sessions to meet with a librarian and a peer research assistant to get help with any library research questions you may have. Wondering what we can help with? Here’s a few of the types of questions you can ask (but feel free to come with other questions!):
How do I start a research project?
How can I find a specific book or article?
How do I know if an article or book is a good one to use?
How do I cite a source in my bibliography?
What types of sources would be good for my project?
How do I know if an article is peer-reviewed?
I’m trying to find research on a topic and I’m just not finding any, what should I do?
I’m trying to find research on a topic and I have way too many results, what do I do?
I found an article on my topic but it’s too old, how do I find something newer?
How do I know if I’ve found enough sources for a research assignment?
Schedule of Drop-in Sessions
(click on the date for details on TommieLink – St. Thomas log-in required):
You are always welcome to Ask a Librarian at other times, too! You can chat with us or text us or make an appointment with your subject librarian for more in-depth research help.
You can connect with a librarian via the Chat tool (purple box at bottom right of the library page) or simply send a text (651-504-1324).
St. Thomas librarians will be available to answer Ask a Librarian questions
Monday-Thursday 10:00am – 10:00pm
Friday 10:00am – 5:00pm
Sunday 1:00 – 5:00 pm
What if you have questions outside those hours?
No worries! We are part of a cooperative reference service called AskMN. That means that during off-hours, our chat and text messages are answered right away by other academic librarians around the country (and in exchange, some of our librarians answer questions from students at other libraries around the country). If the other librarians can’t fully answer your question, they’ll pass it along to us and we’ll get back to you when we’re back.
You can also ask a librarian via Email.
Email a librarian anytime or use our Ask a Librarian form and we’ll answer within one business day.
Don’t forget about Research Consultations with a subject librarian!
Our subject librarians are experts in the tools and resources for their subjects. They are available to meet with you to help with in-depth questions via Zoom, phone, or email: whatever works best for you! Don’t know who your subject librarian is? Check our Subject Librarian page to find your librarian and how to contact them.
As the University re-opens and people return to campus, we wanted to give everyone some information about what’s happening at the libraries and how things are a little different this Fall.
First, what hasn’t changed: we still have a robust set of resources (books, magazines, journals, datasets, films, and more) for you to use, and library staff are available to help you navigate, find, and use them. We are still here for you!
There are some changes, though, to keep you and our community as safe as possible during this pandemic. Our short video (3 min) goes through a lot of the changes, or read on for more details.
Libraries in the time of COVID
So what changes will you see in the libraries? (Note that these may change as the situation and pandemic and Department of Health dictate. Make sure to check our website for the most up to date information).
Masks, hand sanitizing stations, and work space sanitizing stations:
Masks are required to be worn in the libraries (as they are everywhere on campus).
If you are eating or drinking in the library, we ask that you have your mask covering your face whenever you are not actively eating.
We have hand and work sanitizing stations throughout the library. Please wipe down spaces before and after using them.
Research help is available online:
Our librarians love working with you to help you find and use our resources, but because our work is often in-depth, it isn’t safe to do it in person.
What this means to you: We won’t be staffing an in-person research help desk, but we’re available via the chat widget on our website, or you can just text us: (651) 504-1324. You can also make an appointment with your subject librarian and we can meet on Zoom or discuss your question over email.
Clear markers of where to line up and stand:
Pawprints on the floor in front of Stacks Café show you where to line up
You’ll see the familiar Tommie pawprint stickers on the floor in front of our desks and the Stacks Café to help you line up at a safe distance.
Spaces and furniture:
We will notice that we have moved furniture to be in alignment with our Common Good Occupancy, please do not move furniture from where it is. Rest assured that we still have many spaces available for study:
Spaces for online class participation: You are welcome to participate in your online classes in the library on the Lower Level, Sub Level and 1st floor, or in a reserved study room. You will need to use your own headphones/microphone, and keep your voice to a low level to avoid disturbing others.
Spaces for quiet study: The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors are reserved for quiet study. Please make sure you have headphones if you are listening to audio on your computer.
Study Rooms: NOTE: Effective Monday, November 23, all study rooms in the OSF Library are closed until further notice due to continued noncompliance with the university’s face covering policy.
Our study rooms in Keffer and Ireland libraries will be available to be reserved online. We are building in a 30 minute cushion between reservations to allow the space to air out. Most rooms are now single occupancy.
The study space on 2nd floor of OSF has tables and chairs spaced out for safety.
Books, Journals, DVDs, and other materials:
You can check out our books and materials just like before. You can request books from other libraries using CLIC request and Interlibrary Loan.
We are following recommendations that come from studies done by the REALM project on safe handling of library materials. Most books and other materials are quarantined for 72 hours. Glossy materials such as magazines, coffee table books and children’s board books will be quarantined for 96 hours.
What this means to you: You may notice delays in getting materials, especially if you request them from another library or if they were recently returned or received.
Technology in the library:
ITS has removed shared computers on campus including the lab computers in the library. We do have printing available and two computers to use to print documents.
We are not circulating headphones, cords, or lockers.
What this means to you: Bring your own device and headphones (if you’ll be listening to audio). Consider setting up Follow Me printing so that you can print to any printer from your laptop.
Alumni and Guests:
Alumni and guests are welcome in the library and can use and check out materials if they have a card. Because we do not have shared computers, we are unable to offer access to our electronic resources.
Throughout the centuries, writers and poets have described a phenomenon often referred to as the “winter blues.” People develop feelings of sadness, loss, and lethargy in the shorter, darker days of winter. They notice more tiredness, weight gain, and lack of interest in activities and social events.
