MUNTZ LIBRARY CLOSES AT NOON TODAY (WED. NOV. 25)
November 25, 2009
President Mabry has ordered that the campus close at noon today in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday.
The Robert R. Muntz Library will close at 12:00pm (noon) today, Wednesday November 25.
We will reopen for regular hours on Saturday November 28.
Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.
Special Hours for Thanksgiving Holiday 2009
November 24, 2009
The Robert R. Muntz Library will have the following hours for the 2009 Thanksgiving Holiday:
Wednesday November 25, 2009: 7:30am-5:00pm
Thursday November 26, 2009: CLOSED
Friday November 27, 2009: CLOSED
The library will reopen for regular hours on Saturday November 28, 2009.
New Research Guide for the national health care debate
November 13, 2009
Check out the Muntz Library’s new Research Guide on Health Care Reform & Management. With links to statistics, surveys, policies, books, databases, news, etc., it is a great place to start as a point of reference for a research assignment, or to satisfy your personal curiosity about the national debate.
The library offers 51 Research Guides on all subjects—all created by librarians. If you have an assignment for class but are unsure where to start, use one of these guides. Each guide also has a chat widget on the right side of the screen, in which you can ask for help from a librarian. Don’t be shy about asking chatting with us; we like to help and answer questions.
To view all guides, click “Research Guides” from the library’s homepage (http://library.uttyler.edu). Browse by subject with the links on the left of the page, or click “Browse All 51 Guides (A-Z).” Here’s a direct link to the full list of Research Guides.
Also of note, especially for end-of-semester projects and papers, our Citation Guide contains helpful links and information on how to cite sources in APA, MLA, Chicago, and other styles. If you ever have a question about how to cite something, just ask a librarian (email: library@uttyler.edu; phone: 903-566-7343; chat with a librarian from the UT System; or use the Research Guides to access the librarians’ Meebo chat widgets).
ATTENTION: LIBRARY CLOSING SATURDAY OCTOBER 31, 2009
October 22, 2009
Our very capable electrical technician
Due to required electrical maintenance work, the Robert R. Muntz Library will be CLOSED all day on Saturday, October 31, 2009.
Please note that all online library resources (databases, the website, our reference e-mail service, so on) will be unavailable from Friday evening October 30 until we reopen the library on Sunday November 1st.
The library will reopen for regular hours on Sunday November 1st.
We apologize for any inconvenience.
* * *
Photo credit (used by terms of a Creative Commons license):
Summer 09 Edition of Library Newsletter Now Available
August 18, 2009
The Summer 2009 edition of Muntz Library Musings, our library newsletter, is now available. Some highlights from this issue include:
- The Muntz Library Gardens are now open.
- The Library Director discusses new changes at the library.
- Upcoming library events.
You can come by the library and obtain a copy. You can also read the newsletter online or print a copy from our website. Here is the direct link. In addition, if you visit the library’s website at http://library.uttyler.edu and click on “About” then “Newsletter” you can view previous issues of our newsletter as well. ‘
Effective this Summer I semester, the Library will be migrating the remote, OFF CAMPUS login to our databases to the Patriot Account Login. This is the same account that is utilized for the new Blackboard version 8, POPS, Patriot Air, Patriot Email (students), Patriot Webspace, the computers in the Campus Computing Center in BUS101, the Library, the Communications Lab, the Technology Lab, the Nursing Lab, and the Engineering Labs.
In addition to providing a uniform means of authentication across these numerous services, this change will allow the Library to more promptly provide access for our faculty, staff and students to our databases at the start of each semester.
We apologize in advance for any inconveniences this change may cause.
Every student, faculty member and staff member has been provided a Patriot Account. Your Patriot Account can be activated from either the Blackboard link (http://ccs.uttyler.edu/blackboard/) or the student email link (http://ccs.uttyler.edu/email/) found at the bottom of the UT Tyler homepage.
Additional assistance is available from the Campus Computing Center located in BUS101 or via email at itsupport@patriots.uttyler.edu.
Learn more about Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor
June 12, 2009
President Obama has nominated Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court. She would be the first Latina woman to the court should she be confirmed. There is a lot of interest in Judge Sotomayor, so I have rounded up a few sources that can help readers learn more about the judge.
- The Law Library of the Library of Congress has put together a selective bibliography Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. There are a lot of good links here.
- When a judge is nominated to a federal bench, whether it be a district court or the Supreme Court, they have to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary has all nominees fill out a questionnaire. Here is that questionnaire, so you can see the actual questions. This link includes Sotomayor’s answers.
- The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has issued report on Sonia Sotomayor. (link to press release; link to the full report. Note the full report is 88 pages in PDF). This report is fairly comprehensive and looks at the judge’s record on civil rights issues such as racial justice, voting rights, women’s rights, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion.
- The Alliance for Justice has issued what it labels as an in-depth report of Sonia Sotomayor’s record. The report’s title is “Access to Justice.” Link to the AFJ’s press release here. Direct link to the report itself here (Note: PDF file; the report is 14 pages). This report is part of a series of reports that AFJ is providing. This particular one covers the following: “access to justice issues encompass a number of procedural questions including justiciability, preemption, court-stripping, sovereign immunity, attorneys’ fees, interpretation of statutes of limitation and class-action certification. The report examines Judge Sotomayor’s record in each of these key areas and is based on her record both as a district and appeals court judge.” If you visit the website, you can find other reports. AFJ is a public interest group, and it describes itself as “a national association of environmental, civil rights, mental health, women’s, children’s, and consumer advocacy organizations.”
Note that you can also do your own research on Sonia Sotomayor with the databases Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe and Campus Research (Westlaw). Both of these are available in the library’s homepage on the databases page here. These two databases are susbcription-based resources, and you do have to be affliliated with the university to use them.
If you need assistance for using the databases, or with any other research needs, you can visit our reference desk. You can also contact us via the phone (903-566-7343), via email (library AT uttyler DOT edu), or use the UT System Ask a Librarian.
Update note: (7/21/09): Here is another resource I found on Judge Sotomayor. Via OpenCRS, a Congressional Research Service report on “Judge Sonia Sotomayor: Analysis of Selected Opinions.” The CRS is the investigative arm of Congress. Basically, they put together background research on any topic for Congress members so they can be prepared to make legislation. From the abstract, “this report provides an analysis of selected opinions authored by Judge Sotomayor during her tenure as a judge on the Second Circuit. Discussions of the selected opinions are grouped according to various topics of legal significance.” The link will take you to the abstract, and from there, you can download the report as PDF file.
If you wish to learn more about the Congressional Research Service, its reports, or how to locate them, feel free to ask us.
Over the course of summer 2009, the University Archives and Special Collections will be open during the following times:
Monday: 1:00pm-5:00pm
Tuesday: 1:00pm-5:00pm
Wednesday: 1:00pm-5:00pm
Please note that the University Archives and Special Collections will continue to be available by appointment as well. For appointments or additional information about the UASC, you can call 903-565-5849 or 903-565-5748.
The UT Tyler Robert R. Muntz Library’s spring edition of its newsletter, Muntz Musings, is now available. Patrons can find an electronic copy by visiting the library’s website, clicking on the link “About,” then then link for “Newsletter.” Here is the direct link (note: PDF document). You can also pick up a copy in person at the library.
Some highlights from this edition:
- Library director’s update on LibQual+ and library services.
- New exhibit at the University Archives and Department of Special Collections.
- A reminder of our food policy. We would like to keep the library neat as well as avoid the insects and rodents. In a nutshell, food is only allowed downstairs in the break room.
- Photos of the landscaping project.
- And much more.
So we hope you will grab a copy. Feel free to let us know what you think. You can leave comments here on the blog, on the library’s new Facebook page, or send us at e-mail at library AT mail.uttyler.edu (just replace the AT for the @ symbol).
On April 28, 2009,the UT Tyler Robert R. Muntz Library held its Annual Student Poetry Awards. This was the library’s capstone even for National Poetry Month. The event took place at Braithwaite Auditorium. The keynote was delivered by Texas poet Mr. Budd Powell Mahan of Dallas, TX. Following a reception and book signing, the event drew students and members of the community for a night of poetry and performance. This year, in addition to the trophies and certificate, we had a special award surprise for our student poets. Anonymous donors made a special gift to the university in honor of the UT Tyler Friends of the Arts. This allowed us to give a monetary award to our poets, and we would like to thank those donors for their generosity in encouraging our poets. The funds will be deposited into their student accounts. This year’s winners (with the monetary award in parenthesis) are:
- Tina Bausinger for “A Concerned Friend” ($100).
- Jason Mars for “My America” ($75).
- Caleb Krause for “Dada” ($50).
- George Mitchell for “Not Easily Broken, I stand” ($25).
The winners for first, second, and third place received a trophy; fourth place winner received a certificate. They all received a signed copy of Mr. Mahan’s book Falling to Earth as well. The poems were judged by a 5 judge panel: two librarians, two members of the English Department faculty, and a local professional poet. In the interest of disclosure, I was not one of the judges.
After opening remarks by Library Director Jeanne Pyle, local poet and friend of the library Anne McCrady (link to her blog here) gave the introduction for Mr. Budd Powell Mahan. McCrady described Mr. Mahan as an inspiration and the face of the Poetry Society of Texas. Mr. Mahan is a past president of the Texas Poetry Society. She also spoke of Mr. Mahan’s generosity with new and upcoming poets as well as his active involvement with poetry and the poetry organizations.
After the introduction, Mr. Mahan read from his books Falling to Earth and Harvest. He delighted the audience as he read from his works and talked about his experiences. Known for a warm and heartfelt style, this was evident in his poetry selections for the evening. After Mr. Mahan’s performance, the student poets received their awards, and then they read their award winning poems. Their poems were moving and represented a range of themes and images.
The library would like to take this opportunity to thank the UT Tyler Friends of the Arts and the members of the Texas Poetry Society for their generosity in making this event possible. Our gratitude to the donors who made the special awards possible. Our thanks as well to Joseph’s for providing the hors d’ouevres. And thank you as well to our panel of judges. You can find photos of the event in the library’s Facebook page.
We hope to see y’all next year.
