New Research Guides for Classes and Subjects

Our research guides are now easier to use, with more resources and multimedia content.

Milne librarians have been working over the intersession to implement a new system for connecting users to important resources: LibGuides. The new system allows for easy creation of subject and class-related guides. It also allows librarians to incorporate a wider array of content than our previous system, including images, video and RSS feeds to provide subject-specific news and research headlines.

LibGuides pages replace the Resources by Subject pages previously used to help identify scholarly materials.

Users can browse the guides by subject or guide title, or search the guides for specific resources.

On some pages, users can provide feedback or suggest possible links for inclusion into guides.

Importantly, the system allows the librarians check links and to track which guides and links are being used. This helps us keep the guides up to date with content that users actually need.

Have a look at our new guides for Citing Sources and the topical guide about Haiti and the recent earthquake.

Electronic Reserves moving to myCourses

Attention Faculty:

At the end of the Spring 2008 semester, Milne Library will be phasing out ERes and using myCourses for all electronic reserves. ERes will continue to function until May 18, 2008. Beginning with Summer 2008 classes, all electronic reserves will be put into myCourses.

If you prefer to have the library staff manage your electronic reserves, we will be glad to continue to do so. Otherwise, you may put your materials into MyCourses yourself. (See our "How to" guide [PDF]). If you choose to have the library manage your reserve materials for you, they will appear in a folder titled "Electronic Reserves" under the Course Materials tab within each course.

Anything you have in ERes at the end of the Spring semester will be archived. The archived data will be recoverable by Milne Library staff if necessary. If you wish to have those materials transferred to myCourses, please contact Mary Fran Tiede at 245-5036 or via email.

If you have any questions, please contact Sonja Landes via email or phone (245-5537).

Changes to the library homepage

While students were away on Spring Break, we've been busy!
Thanks to the students, faculty and staff who completed surveys in Fall 2007, the Milne Library Web Team has implemented several design changes which grew out of these recommendations. Improvements include:

1. Consolidation of QuickLinks on the library homepage and less clutter!
2. Removal of much of the text from the side columns on the homepage
3. Addition of direct links to our most "Popular Resources" -- right from the homepage!
4. Spacing of individual news stories farther apart (making them easier to read) and adding an RSS feed for New Books to the bottom of blog's column. This also has the added benefit of keeping RSS feeds in one column.
5. New color choices for main page.
6. The addition of a "Bookmark" badge to all library webpages, thus increasing Web 2.0 functionality to our website and allowing users to bookmark our pages easily.
7. Removal of underlining for hyperlinks.

Tell us what you think - we want your feedback! If you have questions about any of the changes made to the library website, please contact Kate Pitcher, Web Development Librarian, at pitcher@geneseo.edu or by phone at 245-5064.