LibX is an open source framework, originally developed by Annette Bailey and Godmar Back at the Virginia Tech University Libraries.

We’ve created a J. Paul Leonard Library edition of the LibX Firefox toolbar. The basic idea is that once you download and install LibX you essentially take the Library with you no matter where you browse. Anytime a book is mentioned, on any site, you can quickly check whether we have it in the Library, or whether you can find it through WorldCat. You can also search for an author name, or keyword, in Google Scholar, or our SmartStart set of databases, to see the related scholarly literature, then find references in one of the Library’s 200+ databases, or 20,000+ electronic journals.

To use LibX, you need to download and install it. (As of June 16, 2008, LibX is only available for Firefox 3.x (download at Mozilla), although an IE version is in the works. Firefox 2.x users of LibX 1.2.2 must install both FF 3.0 and LibX 1.5.4 at the links above, as FF will not automatically update)

Let us know what you think about LibX.

During the summer the Library closes earlier on weekdays and is open less on the weekends. The MAC Computer Lab will be closed this summer. The 24 hour Computer/ Study Area will have limited hours until June 9 when it resumes being open 24 hours. Government Publications is closed but materials are still available via the Research Assistance Desk (1st floor). Be sure to check the hours page on the library website for up to date information.

Library Hours

• A major expansion and renovation of the J. Paul Leonard Library building is underway.

• Leonard Library building services will continue but will be relocated to other on-campus locations Summer/ Fall 2008. The Library building will close Fall 2008.

• Study space and computer access will be available in the new Library Annex 1 building, near the parking structure, Fall 2008.

• The Library website, online catalog, databases and journals will be unaffected.

• Books and media will be available by online request for pickup within 24 hours at a circulation desk in the HSS building.

• The new state-of-the-art library building will open Fall 2011.

While the Library building is expected to close at the end of September, the Library itself will continue to function. Collections and services currently provided by the Leonard Library, Academic Technology (AT) and the Center for Teaching and Faculty Development (CTFD) will be available in other campus locations.

For example, users will be able to request books and other items in the circulating collections through the Library Catalog which will then be delivered to a distribution desk in the HSS building, near the center of campus, within 24 hours for review and checkout.

The services currently available in the Media Access Center Computer Lab and John F. True Computer Lab will be combined and provided in the new Library Annex 1, which is being built this summer near the parking structure. Library Annex 1 will house a large Information Commons, with over 150 computers, multi-media editing stations and study space for more than 300 students.

Librarians will be available via instant messaging, email, phone and in person to work with students and faculty. And Library instruction will continue in a variety of locations, still to be finalized.

For the most up-to-date information on how Library, AT and CTFD services will be provided during construction, check the Library Building Project web pages.

Printing is available from most Library computers. All you need is a valid SF State ID (OneCard) or Guest Card with sufficient value. Standard 8.5″ x 11″ black and white laser prints cost 7¢ a sheet. 8.5″x 11″ color copies are available in the MAC computer lab and Rapid Copy for 65¢. more

A USB flash drive is a good method for file delivery to library computers. You can also use email to access your files from some computers. Printing help is available from service desks in the Library.

Rapid Copy offers a full printing service. more

In order to accommodate the construction schedule for the Library Building project, we had to close the faculty / graduate reading room in Library 426C as of Friday April 25th. The closure was necessary to allow us to move the Library Administrative offices and Government Publications staff off of the 5th and 6th floors.

We understand that closing this very popular study space, just before finals, will have a huge impact on the campus, particularly for Grad students. Some frequent users of the reading room have let us know how much they valued the room, and how upset they are to loose it, which has been great. Keep the comments coming. This is the beginning of a project scheduled to last for three years and the impacts on campus will be far reaching. A lot of planning has gone into how all of the units in the library building–Academic Technology, CTFD and the Leonard Library–will continue to provide services during this period. We hope that you will continue to let us know, via the Spotlight Blog and through other channels, when the changes we put in place don’t work for you, as well as when they do.

What’s happening to the Library?

A three-year project to expand and renovate the J. Paul Leonard Library building is underway.

Construction will begin with the demolition of the Franciscan Building on the site of the new addition at the end of spring semester.

The current Library building will close by October 1, 2008.

The expanded and renovated library building will open for Fall 2011.

How will I use library services and collections during the three year construction period?

Library, Academic Technology and Center for Teaching and Faculty Development services will be available from other on-campus locations by October 1, 2008.

The Library web site, and online catalog, databases and journals will be unaffected.

Study space and computer access will be available in Library Annex I, a new temporary building near the Lot 20 parking garage.

Books and media will be available by online request for pickup within 24 hours at a distribution desk in the HSS building.

Research assistance will be available at both locations and by phone, instant messaging or e-mail.

Friends of Library Annual Meeting

Monday, May 5, 2:00 - 4:00 PM

Humanities Bldg Room 587, 5th Floor

The Friends of the Library annual meeting will begin at 2 PM with the annual business meeting, including approval of the nominating committee’s slate of oficers for 2008-09. Following the business meeting at around 2:15 or 2:30–

Micheal Krasny, Host of KQED’s Forum,

Will Speak ABout His New Book,

Off Mike:

A memoir of the Talk Radio and Literary Life

(Stanford University Press, 2007)

Mike Krasny has been a member of the English faculty at SF State since 1970. He is also on the country’s leading interviewers of literary luminaries and has been called “a maestro for educated listeners who prefer their discourse high and civil.” His new book is a memoir in which he recounts his early desire to become a novelist and then his discovery of his talent as a communicator. He says, “Trying to meld life into art as I read and interpreted and taught and wrote about writers, I went on to talk and talk and talk with writers until I had interviewed more writers perhaps than anyone ever has or will or should. I was on the road. My own road to literary Damascus. More than ever, I wanted to live a life that could answer Bellow’s primary question: How should a good man live.”

All members of the Friends are encouraged to attend.

All members of the faculty are invited.

Krasny’s book will be available for purchases

during the reception following the presentation.

For more information, call 415 338-2408 or email <fol@sfsu.edu>

There are over 9,000 full text electronic books currently in the Library collections.

Many of these e-books are available through deals negotiated by the CSU with companies such as NetLibrary and Safari Tech Books Online. These e-books have come as packaged “collections” and the Library has only had limited input on what titles were included. Browse the SF State NetLibrary site or Safari Tech Books Online to get a feel for the variety and depth of these collections. You can also find all of these titles in the Library Catalog.

Recently the Library has started to work with book provider Blackwell North America, and e-book publisher Ebrary so that Subject Librarians can order e-books on a title-by-title basis. Since the Library has started to do this there have been nearly 700 new e-book titles added to the collection covering a variety of subject areas. Library users who are interested in looking at these titles can go to the Library Catalog and perform a “keyword” search on the term “ebrary”.

In addition to providing the complete full text, e-books contain a number of useful electronic enhancements. These include searching, highlighting passages, attaching notes to texts and looking up words in a dictionary or encyclopedia. It is our hope in that in the near future the Library can add other e-book providers to this project as we continue to expand our electronic collections.

Let us know how you feel about e-books. Do you enjoy reading them? Do you think they enhance your, or your students, educational experience?