Library Low-down - 12-1pm daily

Spend 10 minutes with us and get an intro to the library: how to find articles and books, borrow a laptop, print a paper and more. Drop in anytime between noon and 1:00 pm, just inside the library on the first floor. These quick intros will be available until Friday, August 27. Optional tours available, too.

Your Library is Ready!

Albertsons Library is ready for Fall 2010! We have lots of great resources to make your research endeavors shine. Here’s a quick list of what you can expect at the library this semester:

• For students, over 110 computers with Microsoft Office 2007, laptops (Macs & PCs) for checkout, and library pages geared toward your scholarly needs (check it out: undergraduate and graduate). Plus we have two multimedia stations with additional hardware and software to create and edit multimedia projects.
• Library pages for Faculty. You will find links to a variety of library resources targeted to your scholarly and teaching needs, from library services and collections to contact information for the library liaison to your department.
• A Starbucks coffee shop on the first floor. Get your caffeine fix here!
  
• Have questions about research, campus, or anything at all? We’re available to help you via our reference chat, on Facebook, and on Twitter. Or you can text us your questions at (208) 546-9982.
• Access to thousands of journals and magazines in our growing collection of databases, all available at the A-Z list of databases.
• Find research resources using our extensive interactive subject guides: Criminal Justice, Public Administration, Kinesiology, Sociology and many more via Alberstons Library's LibGuides system.
• Digital screens in presentation rooms on the first and second floors, so you can plug in your laptop and view your presentation on the big screen.
• Got a smart phone? Access the library in our new mobile website. Or Click the QR code below:

Albertsons Library is committed to ensure your academic success at Boise State University. If you have questions or comments, please let us know, or call us at 426-1204. We hope you have a great year!

Library Hosts Photo Exhibition Featuring Farm Workers’ Struggle

Fifteen photos by Claudio Beagarie documenting the struggle of California farm workers for social and economic justice in the 1960s will be on display at the Albertsons Library through Labor Day.

Beagarie, a community activist with a commitment to progressive causes, captured images of farm workers in their homes, in the fields and marching with Cesar Chavez, cofounder of the United Farm Workers of America and the best-known leader of the movement.

The images chronicle some of the dramatic moments of the struggle in 1966 and 1967 — the grape boycott, the march from Delano to Sacramento and the rally in San Francisco — as well as scenes of the everyday life and work of the mainly Latino and Filipino farm workers.

“I have been deeply involved in the Latin American community for the past 40 years,” states Beagarie, who now lives in Boise and holds a degree in geology from Boise State. “I have been an activist and have chronicled events with both pen and camera. By utilizing a candid photo style, I seek to capture the enthusiasm of people involved in struggle. I seek to record the times of happiness and sadness, their times of triumph and defeat. I view my photography as an investigative research tool, as photos can be analyzed at a later date for cultural meanings that are not evident at the time of shooting.”

The 11×14-inch photos are on display in the Special Collections exhibit windows on the library’s second floor and can be viewed whenever the library is open. To check library hours, visit library.boisestate.edu/calendar/main.php.

Listen now! Free mobile streaming music through library databases

Smart phone users, rejoice! Alexander Street Press, publisher of our streaming music databases Classical Music Library, Jazz Music Library, and Smithsonian Global Sound for Libraries, has made their spectacular collections of high-quality streaming music available to the mobile user. By scanning QR codes, such as those in this blog post, you can launch right into specially selected playlists (for instance, the QR code at left links to a playlist for French Bastille Day; QR code below right links to an e-album of music from the movie Pride & Prejudice).

As you browse the database, look for the cell phone icon: . Clicking that icon from your smart phone will bring up the mobile player, while clicking from a computer will automatically generate a textable shortlink and scannable QR code for the album or playlist. Don't forget that these great databases allow you to create your own playlists, too! The only apparent drawback is that (unlike listening on your computer) mobile access only allows you to play one track at a time and can't run a group of songs in continuous playback -- but if you figure out how to do that, please let us know!

The service is currently available from the three above databases for all Android and iPhone devices, including the iPod Touch and iPad. Later in 2010, you can expect more streaming access! The publisher is planning to add its nine video collections, including American History in Video, Dance in Video, and Ethnographic Video Online.

If you want to learn more about QR codes, try watching this short, helpful video from CNet.

Feeling social?

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New Digital Collection: Doc Roach Fire Collection

Spectacular fires, historic firefighting equipment, and Boise city streetscapes are among the images preserved in the Doc Roach Fire Digital Collection in Boise State University Library. A Boise city firefighter for more than 50 years, Doc was one of the few firemen who worked from the days of horse-drawn fire engines, witnessed the introduction of motorized equipment in 1912, and also used gasoline pump trucks. Doc Roach was not a photographer himself, but rather a collector of photographs documenting the fire fighters, equipment, major fires, and fire prevention education in Boise from 1911-1965. These photographs also document the growth of Boise from a small town to a city in the first half of the 20th century, including shots taken of the greater downtown area, capturing changes in transportation and buildings.

The Doc Roach Fire Digital Collection features 70 images from 1904 to 1965 and is drawn primarily from Doc Roach's photograph collection and is supplemented by related images from other collections in Boise State University Library Special Collections.

Library Closed July 4 & 5

The Library will be closed Sunday, July 4 and Monday, July 5 for the Independence Day holiday. You can find library hours at our calendar, or visit our mobile site for quick access to our electronic resources, including hours:

Have a safe and happy 4th of July!