There are several printers in Mullen Library that available for printing over the wireless network. If you would like to take advantage of this, please see the instructions for adding library printers to your personal laptop.

We have had to temporarily change the IP address of the Information Desk printer while some network maintenance is performed. If you already have the Information Desk printer on your laptop you will have to change the IP address to 136.242.180.64 This is a temporary change – we will let you know when the IP address is finalized. If you have questions or need help setting up your laptop, please ask at the Information Desk.

This week a new feature quietly debuted in the ALADIN Catalog. Each item record includes a URL that is a permanent link to that record.

Previously, if you wanted the URL of an item you might have copied what was in the web address bar:
http://catalog.wrlc.org/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=5&ti=1,5&Search_Arg=dc%20comics&Search_Code=GKEY^&CNT=25&SL=Submit%26LOCA%3D-CATHOLIC%20UNIVERSITY|1&PID=cnD5qIc_HbOYzn9iUz-dMHAs5Sn79uZ&SEQ=20080910152924&SID=1

That URL basically recreates the search you conducted to find the item. Now we have permanent URLs for each record that look similar to this:
http://catalog.wrlc.org/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=6866699

When might you use this? Whenever you need a link to the item record. Perhaps you want to email a fellow student about a book, or place a link in a web page, or are compiling a bibliography. If you have any questions or comments about this feature, please let us know.

How do I find it? Just pull up the item record in the ALADIN Catalog, and look for the phrase “Permanent Link to this Record.” The text next to it that begins with “http://catalog.wrlc.org” is what you want. Be sure to copy the whole thing, including the numbers.

If you use Academic Search Premier, or another library database that uses the EBSCO interface, you will be surprised by the new look of the  search interface.  New features include a visual search, images, and the ability to read the abstract when you mouseover the article title.

Our EBSCO databases are:

Academic Search Premier
America: History & Life
ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals
Catholic Periodical and Literature Index
CINAHL Plus with Full Text
Historical Abstracts
Humanities International Complete
Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts
Literary Reference Center
MLA Directory of Periodicals
MLA International Bibliography
Medline
Mental Measurements Yearbook
New Testament Abstracts
Old Testament Abstracts
Tests in Print

You may have noticed a small difference on individual posts lately. If you look at the bottom you will either see a comment link or a comment form. Please, let us know what you think about the stories we post, and the library in general. We love feedback and will respond to any questions you might have.

While the comment form requires an email address, we will not make it public. This is just one way to combat spam. We will also review comments before they appear on the site to make sure nothing inappropriate gets posted.

Please communicate with us! We want to know what you think. Other ways to converse include our Facebook page, group and the suggestion box in the Mullen lobby. There are also a number of ways to contact a librarian directly.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Keeping track of citations and managing that ever expanding bibliography can be a pain. Before you buy an expensive program consider Zotero, a free, open-source citation manager that lives in your web browser.

With one click you can download citation information from the ALADIN catalog, Amazon, JSTOR, Google Books, and many other library catalogs and journal databases. You can also download and store PDFs from article databases, take a snap-shot of the web page, and apply tags to your “library” of citations to keep them organized. When you’re ready to print that bibliography for your well researched paper, select your sources, select the citation format (APA, MLA, and others), and voilà! You have a nicely formatted bibliography ready to be printed or placed at the end of you research paper. (Of course no machine is perfect, so be sure to proofread before you turn it in!)

To get started down the path of citation management bliss you will need the Mozilla Firefox web browser. Sorry, Zotero doesn’t work with Internet Explorer or Safari – although it is perfectly happy on Windows, Macintosh and Linux.

Next head over to http://www.zotero.org/ and click the big, red, download button. (If you get a message that says Firefox prevented this site from installing software, go ahead and allow it. It’s okay.) When the window pops up click “Install now”, then when it is finished “Restart Firefox” and you’re good to go.

Be sure to check out the video tutorials to help you get started.

Having trouble finding material in the WRLC catalog? Getting help is now easier than ever! When you are in a search results page in ALADIN, look at the blue bar at the top of the screen. You’ll see a link to Ask a Librarian. Clicking will open a Meebo “widget” that allows you to choose your school and then send an instant message directly to a reference librarian. No downloads or IM account needed. It’s like having your own personal librarian in the online catalog!

If you have questions about using this new service, contact the reference desk at 202-319-5548, send an IM message or just stop by the reference desk on the main floor of Mullen.