The Library Helps with Student Registration

Library staff helping students register

Prepared by Andrew Lopez

Everyone knows that student Registration has been confusing and frustrating at Delgado this summer. The college recently implemented a new registration system, LOLA, and unfortunately many of the kinks are still being played out in the form of students having to spend hours waiting in line or on the telephone. Some of this frustration has even presented itself on the college's Facebook page.

The things they carried

In order to help relieve some of the stress caused by this situation, and in the interest of helping students complete their registration, the Library has volunteered almost full-time support for weeks on end. Library staff have undergone training with the LOLA system so as to be able to provide student assistance navigating the new system.

Two students log in to LOLA

In the process of helping students register, and we are often helping dozens of students at a time, it has become clear that many students need help finding services scattered around the City Park campus. That's where the Library's City Park campus map with student services listed by building has proven invaluable.

If you know of anyone who still needs help with Registration, please send them to:

• City Park, Building 2, Room 206, 9am--3pm 
• West Bank, Building 2, Room 126, 9am--3pm

Library staff will be helping with Registration everyday (M-F) through next week (8/10).

First-time LOLA users have to change their password

Where is your LALINC card?

LALINC is the Louisiana Academic Library Information Network Consortium.  It is a way for active students, faculty, and staff of Louisiana colleges and universities to borrow materials from other academic libraries in person.

Delgado Community College Professor of English, Paul Rosefeldt, who has been teaching at Delgado since 1990 says of his LALINC card that it is an "excellent source for research." 

English Professor Paul Rosefeldt with his LALINC card

Professor Rosefeldt points out that with his LALINC card he has access to rare and hard to find materials at Tulane University, which is especially helpful for him.

Given this win-win situation, Delgado Library wants to know, where's your LALINC card?

Click here for a list of privileges by institution.
Click here for the LALINC application.

What is Interlibrary Loan?

Interlibrary loan (ILL) is a sharing of materials between libraries.

The Interlibrary Loan service allows students, faculty, and staff to borrow from other libraries if items are not available at the Delgado Libraries. In addition, patrons may request books or articles held by any of the Delgado Library locations through Intra-Library Loan.

In order to request materials through interlibrary loan, all users must register through ILLiad, the interlibrary loan system. After registering, users can request interlibrary loan materials through ILLiad, check the status of their requests, and view a history of requests submitted through ILLiad.

The State Library of Louisiana uses LANTER to transport materials between the public libraries and academic libraries at least one day per week. Delgado Libraries are scheduled three times per week (MWF).

Requesting journal articles, book chapters, or thesis is a function of Document Delivery. Articles may be delivered in pdf format directly to the user's ILLiad account and can be accessed for 30 days. To allow electronic delivery, user's must select "preferred electronic delivery if possible." OCLC's Article Exchange allows library users to access articles through their personal email addresses.

Work-Life Balance for College Students

Prepared by Laura Gill

Traffic

Did you know that the average student spends over an hour a day commuting from work to school to home? That is the case for me and I am not the average student. I'm fortunate to work at Delgado City Park Campus, where I also attend classes. So my commute from work to school is at most a five minute walk.  

From my 3 years of attending Delgado I have learned that the average student at Delgado is far from average. Most of my classmates are not just students; they also have other obligations in life that pull them in many different directions. Most of them have full time jobs and families to take care of. They may have parents or children relying on them for support.

Possibilities

Being a student is not an easy job, but it can be easier if you know how to take advantage of the resources that are available, especially here at Delgado. That's how you can be the best student you can be.

COLLEGE LIFE DOESN'T HAVE TO BE EXPERIENCED ALONE

Books

Instead of running to the parking lot after class, take a moment to explore some of the resources available right here on campus. The City Park Library is a great place to meet with fellow students and cram for that chemistry test, or go over math problems. The Reference room in Building 10 has private study rooms that provide a place for students to get together and study for a test or review notes, they even have white boards and T.V.'s!! My GPA has improved significantly since I stopped running for the parking lot and started using the school for what it was meant for, a learning tool. 

Magazines

TheLibrary also has over 200 scholarly journals and periodicals as well as local and national newspapers. They even provide comfy couches, and always have up to date magazines on so many topics you will be sure to find something inspiring or just something fun to read when you need a break from all the studying you have been doing. The Library also has a great selection of childrens books available for check out. 

  

FINDING YOUR PLACE ON CAMPUS

Delgado is truly a beautiful school situated next to one of the finest parks in New Orleans. If you attend class at City Park, take some time to enjoy the park around you. Feed the ducks or walk around the park. Taking your lunch in the park is a great way to get away and recharge your batteries.

Let it shine!

Most importantly, remember that Delgado is here for you and provides a great learning environment. Find your place on campus. Student worker positions may be available and the commute is not bad.

Click here for work study positions

Click here for "Creating A Work-Life Balance for College Students: How to Create a Healthy Balanced Life While in College"

The link above provides many other solutions for students who need to maintain the balance!

Art Resources Online

The Library has tons of art resources available online through its databases. The Oxford Art Online database, for example, is a premiere source of art images and information.

If you're doing work on an artist (Kara Walker, for example), an artistic movement (the Arts and Crafts Movement, for example), art practices in a particular geographic region (African masks, for example), or on particular kinds of art (sculpture, say), you should be sure to search this easy-to-use database for outstanding content.

Here are a few of it's features:

• Browse or search for artist biographies
• Browse or search for particular art topics
• Browse or search for specific images

If you select Tools & Resources, and then click on Grove Art, you will have an option to browse:

• Thematic Guides, which include scholarly biographical and topical essays with bibliographies 

• Timelines by Region, which include summaries of important events, articles, and images

• Resources for Educators with dozens of lesson ideas covering modern art chronologically and thematically

Click here to access this database.

City Park Campus Map

Prepared by Valerie Mesa-Vega

Here is a map of the City Park campus which attempts to list the location of important student services by building.

In the library, we get hundreds of questions each month about where to register, or go for advising, or testing, or financial aid, etc.

This map has helped us in responding to and addressing students' needs. Hopefully it can help you too.

Click here for a PDF of the map.

Reference Inventory Underway

Electrical wire to power the laptop

The library at City Park has been operating since 2007 with the vast majority of its print collection stored in trailers on the other side of campus. The Reference Room in Building 10 provides access to about 4,500 reference items--dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks, guides, and almanacs on all topics. With succinct yet comprehensive essays on all topics written by specialists, usually ranging in length from 1-7 pages, these truly are the best place to start one's research. But in addition to the 4,500 volumes readily accessible in the Reference Room, we also have about 10,000 more Reference items in storage.

One of two Reference storage trailers

Because we are in many ways still getting the collection back into order since Hurricane Katrina (the old library was destroyed after the storm and we are still waiting for a new library to replace it), we decided to undertake an inventory of the Reference collection this summer in the hopes of refining our holdings. The first part of the process has been to scan every item, one by one. First we did the Reference Room (appx. 4,500 volumes), then we moved on to the trailers. Just yesterday, we had the honor of scanning item number 4,000 in the first of two reference storage trailers.

The 4,000th item being scanned

The inventory work station in the trailer

Friday the 13th

Prepared by Jaleesa DeLavallade

Are you a superstitious person? Do you believe four leaf clovers or knocking on wood will bring good luck? Will breaking a mirror, walking under a ladder, or black cats crossing your path bring bad luck? The list of superstitions can go on and on. Some people are also superstitious about their dreams at night and they believe that they can be interpreted. If you do a subject search in Delgado’s catalog for dream interpretation there will be several interesting titles in the results.

Well, for those of you who are superstitious, today is the third and final Friday the 13^th of the year. To make things extra creepy, each Friday the 13^th this year was 13 weeks apart. 

It is not exactly known why Friday the 13^th is considered unlucky. Some background information on superstitions in general is available from from the Gale Virtual Reference Library. The "superstitions" entry in The Gale Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained is informative. The About.com Urban Legends page gives additional background information. 

It doesn’t help that the year is 2012 and some people believe that the world will end according to the Mayan Calendar. 

Good luck today!

Some resources at Delgado:

•          Games of Terror : Halloween, Friday the 13th,and the films of the stalker cycle  byVera Dika
•          2012 and the end of the world [electronicresource]: the Western roots of the Maya apocalypse by MatthewRestall
•          Don't step on the foul line [electronicresource]: sports superstition by George Sullivan
•          Life is a Miracle: An Essay Against Modern Superstitionby Wendell Berry
•          Satanism and Witchcraft: A Study in Medieval Superstitionby Jules Michelet
•          What are dreams? [videorecording] by Charles Coville

Recycling at Delgado Community College

 Prepared by Valerie Mesa-Vega

 BACKGROUND

Have you noticed any blue bins around campus lately? There are currently 11 blue bins around Delgado, including the library at City Park. The bins are part of the Delgado Recycling initiative. 

Since the Fall 2011 semester, the Delgado Faculty Senate and the SGA have been working together to bring a recycling program to Delgado. At a September 2011 Faculty Senate meeting, a discussion was held about starting a recycling program at Delgado. By November 2011, the SGA got involved and a meeting was held to brainstorm ideas for the recycling program. 

Members of the Recycling Committee also had the opportunity to tour the Allied Waste facility, the company in charge of picking up the recycling. In the meantime, the City Park library had created its own small recycling initiative, accepting only paper materials. Finally in April 2012, just in time for Earth Day, the Recycling Committee launched Delgado’s Recycling initiative. Blue bins have been placed around campus, including the libraries at City Park and East Jefferson, for recyclable materials. 

What can you recycle in the blue bins?

• Paper

• Plastic

• Cans (aluminum and tin)

According to Marion Freistadt, member of the recycling committee, the goal envisioned is to have full recycling across all of Delgado’s campuses. She also stated Coca Cola has donated 50 bins for recycling that need to be cleaned and moved. More green initiatives are also envisioned for the future, but for now, the recycling bins are a step in the right direction at Delgado to reduce waste and to save resources. Instead of tossing that plastic drink bottle or can into the trash, find a blue recycling bin and place it there.

RESOURCES

 

Some Books on Recycling at the Delgado Library:

• The Climate Diet: How You Can Cut Carbon, Cut Costs, and Save the Planet by Jonathan Harrington

• Garbage and Recycling by Kathlyn Gay

• Recycling: How to Reuse Wastes in Home, Industry and Society by Jerome Goldstein

• Easy Recycling Handbook: What to Recycle and What to Buy Recycled—Without All the Garbage

 Delgado’s Recycling Website

Recharge at the Library

Prepared by Shawn Christy

Need more power? 

Patrons in need of a recharge for their mobile electronics will be pleased to note the locations of AC power outlets throughout City Park’s main library. 

The map posted here shows all power outlets, which will vary in accessibility, so please be considerate of others when plugging in. 

 

Click here for a PDF version of this map.