Has your professor mentioned a topic you don’t know enough about? Do you need some background information before you start the deeper searching on your research topic? Our new Credo Reference can search 300 reference sources simultaneously, including encyclopedias, biographies, quotation sources and more. This is great place to explore context and find keywords you might use as you’re doing more searching.

Credo Reference offers many ways to limit your searches including by subject, media, category of resource, reference title, person, and date. You’ll find video and audio clips as well as images. There are convenient links to Cole Library Catalog, JSTOR, and our list of electronic resources for ease in transitioning to scholarly sources. Check out the Gadgets function where you can easily determine that 12 grams = .4233 ounces = .012 kilograms. Citations can be saved to RefWorks. You can also bookmark and share to Facebook or other social networking sites.

Welcome to a new academic year at Cornell and Cole Library!

If you’re a Cole Regular, you’ll notice some changes that have taken places over the summer. We have made changes in staff, changes in the building, and changes on the web.

People first.

• Laura Farmer and Shawn Doyle are new consultants in the Writing Studio. Laura will direct the Studio’s program and will work primarily with uppper level courses. Shawn will also work with programming, of course, but will spend most of his time with “W” courses. Laura and Shawn are already making great contributions to Cole Library and the Center for Teaching and Learning; we’re very happy to have them with us.
• Mikki Smith has accepted a one year appointment as Consulting Librarian for the Social Sciences. Mikki spent last year at Cole Library as our reference and technical services librarian; she was the consistent face at the reference desk during the evening hours. It’s going to be great to have Mikki with us throughout the day this year.
• Roxy Westcot and Charlotte Baldwin have accepted positions as weekend reference librarians. Roxy will be a familiar face to many on the Hilltop; she’s a member of Cornell’s ‘06 graduating class.

Now for building changes:

• Jessica Johanningmeier and the Quantitative Reasoning Studio have moved to Room 126.
• Holly Martin Huffman and the Academic Media Studio have moved to Room 127.
• Room 212 is our new computer lab. We can now accommodate a full class of 25 students; it’s also the first time we’ve had a computer lab with a window.
• If you were in Cole Library last spring, you’ll remember unbearably warm temperatures throughout the building. I am extremely happy to report that our new air conditioning is working reliably well; in fact, one day this summer it was 59 degrees in my office when it was 85 outside! We’ve now achieved a consistent and pleasant 71 throughout the building.

Finally changes to our web presence. If you’re reading this blog, you’ve already seen the changes we’ve made to our virtual selves. Take time to explore our new site, feasting your brain on the cool new organization and feasting your eyes on our new colors and styles. I find I like the whole family of purples much more than I ever had in the past.

Along with all of those changes, we have some great new research tools for you to try out. Look for future blog entries highlighting those tools.

All of us at Cole Library are looking forward to a great year; we hope you are as well. As we begin the 2008-2009 edition of Cornell’s Great Conversation (thank you, Bill Carroll!), be sure that the staff and collections of Cole Library are your partners.

Greg Cotton, Interim College Librarian