Brown Bag It at the Fitz

McEnery Center Lounge Fridays from 12:45 to 1:30

Sept 11th The Perfect Library: Share your Vision

Oct 9th Not Enough Hours in the Day: Time-saving Tools and Services at the Fitz

Nov 13th New Kids on the Block: Exploring New Databases

Dec 4th Feeding the Hungry Mind: RSS Feeds in Library Databases

Jan 8th ILL Q & A

Feb 12th Ask Anything: Making our Reference Collection Work for You

Mar 12th Tips & Tricks @ the Fitz: Facilitating Effective Student Research

April 9th Fair Use: Complying with Copyright Law

Bring you lunch and meet us in the McEnery Center Main Lounge. We'll provide the drinks, the desserts, and the dirt on library services at the the Fitz

New Faces, New Places

The library staff welcomes Lisa Thorsell to the post of Cataloging and Technical Services this week. She has transferred from the Academic Skills Department, so, for those of you who have been missing her there, you can stop by and greet her in the library. Lisa replaces Mary Kosel, who has become our full-time Acquisitions Coordinator.

Rachel Thomas continues to oversee the interlibrary loan program, and she has also taken on the job of Acting Director. We expect that she will be frequently seen arriving early and leaving late.

New Chat, Chow, & Web 2.0

Chat, Chow, & Web 2.0 begins a new semester. We will meet as usual once a month on a Wednesday from 12:30-1:30 with a luncheon accompaniment.

"So Various, So Beautiful, So New"
A welcome back session highlighting new technologies for the new semester--"where's my G-drive?!!," "what's Camio?" Tegrity meets Facebook.

Wednesday Sept. 16th


"Don't Waste Time Mourning--Organize"
We'll be looking at Web 2.0 technologies for information management--RSS feeds, Yahoo Pipes, and more.

Wednesday October 21st


"What's the Use of A Book Without Pictures or Conversations?"
In this session the topic will be e-readers--the latest on Kindle, "what's a Playaway?" "do we want e-text books?"

Wednesday November 18th


"Oh the Mind, Mind Has Mountains"
Joe Dulak and Tricia Klosky will be on board with concept and mind mapping tools.

Wednesday December 2nd

Watch more more details coming soon (the all important luncheon menu for example).

New Databases for 2009

Minitex, our library consortium, has contracted with the State of MN for a new, 3-year database package which includes our old favorites like Academic Search Premier and ProQuest Newspapers combined with a bevy of new offerings. Added to the EBSCO platform are 4 new health databases for consumers and for nursing professionals, a science database, ERIC and a professional development collection for education majors, and several new entries for K-12 students. From ProQuest we now have access to the Historical Minneapolis Tribune Newspaper from 1867-1922 and from OCLC, the producer of WorldCat, we have a variety of new databases. For a complete look at all these new resources go to New Databases for 2009-2010. Watch for up-coming library sessions on how these databases can work for you.

Another Retirement

Lucille Smith, the library's acquisitions secretary retired on July 17th. Lucille had been at Saint Mary's for just over 30 years. The library staff is grateful to Lucille for her years of service and her unerring ability to keep the acquisitions department running smoothly. Thank you Lucille.

Mary Kosel ( mkosel@smumn.edu | 507-457-8702 or 507-457-1567 ) will be assuming her duties until the acquisitions position is filled.

Sandy Beth Retires/Rachel Thomas Steps Up

On May 30th the library staff hosted a retirement party for director Sandy Beth. Ms. Beth served as library director for two years and as the interlibrary loan librarian for six years and was at the Winona Public Library for many years before coming to Saint Mary's. We wish her success in her new ventures which we expect will continue to involve books and kayaks.


Rachel Thomas, our current interlibrary loan librarian, will serve as acting director, taking up her new post on June 1st. She will continue to supervise interlibrary loan functions as well. She can be reached at rethomas@smumn.edu or 507 457 1489.

Chat, Chow & Web 2.0

It's Back! Faculty and Staff reserve your Wednesdays

Exploring the Horizon
A journey into the past and present Horizon Reports on emerging technologies using Skype and YouTube
January 28th | 12:30 to 1:30pm

Zotero & Knight Cite
Sounds medieval, but will be strictly 21st century. Open source research tools for citation uncovered.
February 25th | 12:30 to 1:30 pm

Passionately Engaging in Text
See what's all a"twitter" as we explore social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Ning, & Twitter.
March 18th | 12:30 to 1:30 pm

Geo Everything
During an expedition into geospatial technology we'll delve into a variety of applications from literature to science and every way point in between.
April 22nd | 12:30 to 1:30 pm

Lunch provided| RSVP appreciated (ckjorlie@smumn.edu) | All faculty & staff invited

Information, links, and more on the Fitzgerald Library Web Site for all the programs
Chat, Chow, Web 2.0 2008 | 2009