Mother Nature’s boisterous greeting on Tuesday is a tough act to follow.  Nevertheless, we’d like to welcome our new and returning students. We feel very fortunate to be able to tell you that the earthquake, though it was centered just a few miles from here, left our books on the shelves and our digital resources online.

As classes begin in earnest today, we’d like to share some news to help new students get acclimated and let our “old” students know about some of the changes that took place over the summer:

Not your father’s Reference Desk. You may already have noticed that the Library has been spruced up with new carpet, new chairs, and a brand new Reference and Information Desk. The new desk features a seating area where librarians can offer more in-depth help. We’re still moving in, but the desk is now open for business.

Where are the Ks? You’ll notice that we’ve shifted some materials to make better use of our space. Check the call number maps before you go out into the stacks, or stop by the Reference or Circulation Desks if you need help.

VIRGO looks different. VIRGO continues to evolve from a traditional library catalog into a powerful tool for finding information. Last week, an article search feature was added that allows researchers to search for books and journal articles from a single box. You can choose to search both the catalog and the articles database individually or simultaneously. The article search feature aggregates content from many different journals. Not all journals we can access are covered, so you might want to use it in addition to (not instead of) article searches in Lexis and Westlaw.  Ask a reference librarian if you have questions about finding articles with VIRGO.

More new library services, collections and features are planned for this fall. You’ll hear about them first right here. Meanwhile, as always, let us know how we can help you as you settle into research assignments and cite-checking projects.

– Amy Wharton