One Laptop per Child Lending Library

The Library is now lending One Laptop per Child (OLPC) Laptops, the cutest little laptops on the planet!

If you’re not familiar with the OLPC project, this excerpt from their mission statement provides some background:

“Mission Statement: To create educational opportunities for the world’s poorest children by providing each child with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop with content and software designed for collaborative, joyful, self-empowered learning.”

The XO laptops, as they are called, run open source software designed for children.

The OLPC Lending Library is a collaboration between the OLPC-San Francisco Bay Area Group and Leonard Library. Students can checkout an XO laptop from Library Media Services, HSS 127, for 48 hours, while staff and faculty can get one for 2 weeks.

Thanksgiving Week Hours

Library Annex I
Nov. 22	Sun.	Closes at 10PM
Nov. 23 – 27	Mon. – Fri.	Closed
Nov. 28	Sat.	Opens 24 hours at 10AM
Library @ HSS
Nov. 21	Sat.	Closes at 5PM
Nov. 22 – 27	Sun.  – Fri.	Closed
Nov. 28	Sat.	Opens at Noon
Labor Archives Closed Nov. 21 – 29

Library hours

Veterans Day Holiday Hours

Library Annex I
Nov. 10	Tues.	Closes at Midnight
Nov. 11	Wed.	Closed
Nov. 12	Thurs.	Opens 24 hours at 8AM
Library @ HSS
Nov. 10	Tues.	Services close at 7PM Study room closes at 10PM
Nov. 11	Wed.	Closed
Nov. 12	Thurs.	Opens at 8AM
Labor Archives Closed Wed., Nov. 11

Library hours

Library Retrieval System – Sneak Peak

The Library Retrieval System (LRS) component of the Library expansion and renovation project is nearing completion between the old Library and Creative Arts. If you’re curious about what an LRS looks like and how it works, take a look at this video from Long Beach State. It’s a tongue-in-cheek dramatization. A high gloss romance of books, steel and robotics. Watch the Video

An LRS holds 10 times the books per square foot compared to open shelves. To attain this level of efficiency the books are stored in large metal bins stacked 40 feet high and the bins are retrieved by high speed robotic cranes. We’ve been told that once the LRS is fully operational and the new Library building is open requested books should be ready to pick up in about 5 minutes!

LexisNexis Scheduled Downtime

All LexisNexis online products will be unavailable during a scheduled maintenance outage related to the end of Daylight Savings Time.  Products affected include LexisNexis Academic, Congressional, and Statistical.

LexisNexis online products will be unavailable to users from October 31, 9:00 p.m. through November 01, 2009, 5:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

Library Closed on Friday, Reduced Hours

Library Annex I
Oct. 22	Thurs.	Closes at 2AM (Fri. morning)
Oct. 23	Fri.	Closed
Oct. 24	Sat.	Opens 24 hours at 10AM
Oct. 25	Sun.	Open 24 hours
Oct. 26	Mon.	Open 24 hours (No Research Assistance)
Oct. 27	Tues.	Services resume at 8AM
Library @ HSS
Oct. 22	Thurs.	Distribution HSS 102	Closes at 7PM
		Media Services HSS 127	Closes at 7PM
		Comp. & Copiers HSS 107	Closes at 10PM
Oct. 23	Fri.	Closed
Oct. 24	Sat.	Opens at Noon; Closes at 5PM
Oct. 25 -26	Sun. – Mon.	Closed
Oct. 27	Tues.	Reopens regular hours at 8AM
Labor Archives Closed Friday, Oct. 23 through Monday, Oct. 26

Full Library Hours

Book Retrieval Delayed due to Storm

Book pick up may be delayed due to storm.

Big Golf Tournament and Library Parking

The PGA Golf Tour will be held at Harding Park (across the street from Library Annex I) on October 6-11, 2009.  San Francisco State University will provide some reserved parking spaces for the attendees in Lots 20 and 25.  In an effort to maintain parking spaces for the campus community during this large and very popular event, SF State identification will be checked at the entrances to the parking areas.  Your cooperation in having your SF State identification readily available will facilitate entrance into the parking areas. Thank you for your attention to this message.

For details, call Parking and Transportation at ext. 8-1441.

President’s Cup site

New Find Articles and DBs Coming Soon

Compare the new Articles & Databases and the old Find Articles & Databases.

The Library is about to roll-out a new version of the popular Find Articles and Database pages that students and faculty use to access over 200 databases subscribed to by the Library.

The new version has a simpler look and feel, while providing enhanced services. For instance, the new SimpleSearch feature will allow you to search up to 10 databases at one time. The default is to search the Most Useful databases for a given subject, but you can check and un-check databases to include a mix of Most and Also Useful DBs. To see how this works, try the link below and select a subject, Anthropology or Business are good choices, then click the Search Multiple Databases link under the SimpleSearch heading. Note that there is a reason these are called Simple Searches. To get the most out of a database, it’s always best to search that database directly.

We’re shooting to make the new version of Find Articles and Databases live on Monday September 28th. In the meantime, take a look and let us know what you think.

Compare the new Articles & Databases and the old Find Articles & Databases.

Celebrate Banned Books Week 2009

Be it fear of wizards, concern over words, or the threat of ideas,
books have been banned and challenged by local school boards,
governments and religious leaders. Celebrate the freedom to read
September 26-October 3 by checking out and reading a banned book.

Recent examples in the Library’s collections:

Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Feed by M.T. Anderson

Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell

Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein and Edmund White

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

Shame: A Novel by Tasalimā Nāsarina