Big Changes to Interlibrary Loan System

First, welcome back!  It is hard to believe that the summer has flown by so quickly.  We are not mentally prepared for the upcoming school year, but we will get there.  Hopefully.  We will.  Maybe...

One of the main reasons this summer has flown by is that we have taken on a huge project of revamping our interlibrary loan system.  This was a 2+ month process and we couldn't be happier with it (shout out to CU's IT department for helping!).  This will allow for an easier way and faster results for gaining access to additional resources.  

If you aren't familiar with interlibrary loan, we can fill you in!  If there is any item you need for class (or fun) that the Vise Library does not own (other than textbooks), then we can request to borrow that item from another library.  It is 99% of the time free of charge (we always let you know if there is a fee involved with the item you are requesting).  If there is a need for an item for your research project (or just for fun!) make sure you allow at least 2 weeks for your item to arrive.  This is not a service that you can procrastinate with since things take time to get here!  You've been warned.

The Old Way

If you were a user of interlibrary before then you may remember what it used to look like:

Basically it was a plain ole Google Doc that you copied and pasted information into (boooorrrrrinnnggg).  This would then be accessible to the person who handles all of the university's interlibrary loan requests (me, Ashli Wells).  The library aka Ashli would then go to the interlibrary loan system and request the item for the student, faculty or staff member and it would be up to the other libraries that we requested the item from to send the item to us.  Ashli would then email the individual that their loan request was sent and out there in the wild.  There was no way to know the progress of the item until it either arrived (happy face) or when Ashli contacted you that your request was denied (sad face).  

The New Way

But wait, this new system completely changes all of that!  "How?" you may be asking yourself.  Well, let us show you:

Start out by visiting the library's home page (www.cumberland.edu/library).  Then click on the first tab under services labeled Interlibrary Loan (You're with me so far, right?).

You will be taken to our guide that deals with interlibrary loan and answers any questions you may have!  You will then click on the "Request an Item" tab:

This is where all the new, fun stuff begins!  You will be taken to the following log-in screen.  YOU WILL USE THE SAME INFORMATION YOU USE TO SIGN INTO CANVAS in order to access the new interlibrary loan system.

Once you log-in you will see a big blue button that says "Create Request"

Once you click create request you can pick what type of material you are needing (book, movie, article, etc) and fill out the required information to submit your request.  You will also see there is an area for communication preferences. This allows you to pick the way you want to be contacted (email, text) when your item is requested, renewed, canceled, or when it arrives. 

 You can also check the status of you request at any time!  This means you won't be left wondering if you request has been processed or if it's just out in the universe somewhere.  

Also, as long as you do this SEVERAL DAYS BEFORE YOUR ITEM IS DUE, you can request for your loan period to be extended through this portal.

This interface has another way of making requesting items even easier!  If you search for an item through worldcat.org on campus or by going to the following link off campus (https://cumberlanduniversity-viselibrary.on.worldcat.org/discovery) and look for a specific item or topic, the interface will allow the information to auto populate the required information into the ILL request form.  Take a look below on how to do this:

(this is the main search screen)

Perform your search.  I used "pugs" as my search term (because, of course!) and was taken to the following screen:

Let's say I find this first book to be the most intriguing.  As long as the Vise Library does not own the item you are looking for, like this book, you will see the following button pop up after clicking the title:

Once you click this button you will be taken to the form where you will notice all of the information required (except the need by date) is filled in for us.  You will just need to hit the submit request button at the bottom of the screen to complete your request.  (If you are not logged-in to the system you will need to log-in before it will take you to the following screen.):

How is this better?

Because it just is!  It allows for requests to be submitted quickly and therefore has the potential for your items to get here at an earlier time.  It also allows you, the patron, to see that status of your item at any time through this process.  You also don't have to ask the library staff where your item is or if you can renew it.  The biggest thing is the potential for notifications.  Once you set up your preferences, you can receive notifications through your phone or email to keep you updated.  These notifications also let you know when your item is due and if it is past due (Don't do that and don't make me hunt you down).  

We hope you find this update as exciting as us!  If you have any issues with this system or have any questions, feel free to contact Ashli Wells at interlibraryloan@cumberland.edu!  Good luck with the upcoming school year and we hope to help you in the library!

App of the Month...iRecycle

It seems like everywhere you look businesses, schools, etc are trying to be more environmentally conscious. Even Cumberland is trying to improve its carbon footprint by placing recycle bins throughout campus. However, if you do not live on campus it can sometimes be difficult to find places to recycle. This installment of "App of the Month" helps with finding different recycling locations (wherever you are, and whatever you have to recycle!) with iRecycle!

Let's say you are wanting to find out where you can recycle all of the cereal boxes that you have collected over the semester.  To get started when you open the app your screen will look like this:

You will notice that the next screen has quite a few options available. It has everything from cars to hazardous materials to everyday household items available as options to recycle. Since cereal boxes are paper - that's what we will select.

The next page shows all of the paper categories that are available for recycling.  They are arranged alphabetically to make it easy to find.  Cereal boxes are near the top of this list (if you do not see exactly the item you are looking for, you can click a similar item).

This app will then find any location around you that allows for recycling of the item (or items!) that you are wanting to recycle.  It will show the location closest to you.

Once you select the location that is closest to you, the screen will show you a lot of information about the recycling place.  It will show their address (which is really important!), phone number, hours of operation, if there are any restrictions, etc.

This app is also great for finding articles that deal with recycling, diy crafts, etc.

If you aren't convinced that recycling paper or cereal boxes makes a difference, read some of these facts (from www.recycling-revolution.com): 

	Recycling a single run of the Sunday New York Times would save 75,000 trees.
	If all our newspaper was recycled, we could save about 250,000,000 trees each year!
	If every American recycled just one-tenth of their newspapers, we would save about 25,000,000 trees a year.
	If you had a 15-year-old tree and made it into paper grocery bags, you'd get about 700 of them. A busy supermarket could use all of them in under an hour! This means in one year, one supermarket can go through over 6 million paper bags! Imagine how many supermarkets there are just in the United States!!!
	The average American uses seven trees a year in paper, wood, and other products made from trees. This amounts to about 2,000,000,000 trees per year!
	The amount of wood and paper we throw away each year is enough to heat 50,000,000 homes for 20 years.
	Approximately 1 billion trees worth of paper are thrown away every year in the U.S.
	Americans use 85,000,000 tons of paper a year; about 680 pounds per person.
	The average household throws away 13,000 separate pieces of paper each year. Most is packaging and junk mail.
	In 1993, U.S. paper recovery saved more than 90,000,000 cubic yards of landfill space.
	Each ton (2000 pounds) of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, three cubic yards of landfill space, 4000 kilowatts of energy, and 7000 gallons of water. This represents a 64% energy savings, a 58% water savings, and 60 pounds less of air pollution!
	The 17 trees saved (above) can absorb a total of 250 pounds of carbon dioxide from the air each year. Burning that same ton of paper would create 1500 pounds of carbon dioxide.
	The construction costs of a paper mill designed to use waste paper is 50 to 80% less than the cost of a mill using new pulp.

 There are tons of places to recycle just in the Cumberland University area, so imagine the possibilities of recycling while you are away from home.   Hopefully this app of the month helps you become more aware about how easy it is to recycle and what a difference you can make by recycling!

App of the Month - Easybib

Since all incoming freshmen receive iPads at Cumberland University, the library has been looking for apps that can be helpful (and some fun) to students in their everyday (college) lives.  Whatever your major is, you can count on a couple of things: studying and writing papers!  There is no way you can bypass these and have a successful (and passing) college career.

This month the library is focusing on the writing papers aspect of college.  No, the library is not going to write your paper for you, so don't even ask!  But what we can show you is an app that helps with works cited in papers. The app that the Vise Library recommends is Easybib.  It helps with any format that you need citations for, whether it is APA, MLA, or Chicago format.   Plus it's free, which is always exciting when you are in college!

Easybib has a search feature where you can search for a particular book you are looking to cite. Easybib also has a scan feature as well.  Say for instance you are in the Vise Library and see a book that is useful to a paper you are writing, just grab your iPad (or other iPod) device and scan the barcode on the back of the book!  It's that easy!  

The picture below shows the search feature:

Here is a picture of the the actual citation after selecting the book.  As you can see this citation has been selected for MLA format.

Another great feature Easybib has is an email citation button.  If you don't have your paper in front of you just click the "email citation" button (which you can see in the previous picture in the bottom right hand corner).  Once you do that an email is generated with the citation and you can select who you want to send the email to.  

Here is showing the email citation feature after clicking the button :

If you do not have a device that allows you to get this app don't sweat it!  You can simply go to

www.easybib.com and use all of their great features on their website! The Easybib website also helps with citing not only books, but also journals, newspapers, websites, etc.  

Hopefully this app helps to take off some of the stress for Cumberland students when it comes to citing papers.  Check back next month for another recommendation!

New JSTOR resources available

JSTOR announced on September 6 that they were making journal content published in JSTOR prior to 1923 in the United States and prior to 1870 elsewhere available to anyone. According to a statement from JSTOR, this "early journal content" includes "discourse and scholarship in the arts and humanities, economics and politics, and in mathematics and other sciences." It will include nearly 500,000 articles from more than 200 journals. The content is being released on a rolling basis starting today. For more information about the content or how to access it, visit JSTOR's website.