Koha Pop-ups

About two months ago I came across this little hidden Koha gem. It’s a pop-up box that’s activated by clicking more on the left hand side of the online catalog. I excitedly told a co-worker, but forgot about it with the end of the fall semester.

I was reminded last week by my co-worker saying, “Hmm, now what was that little Koha trick you showed me a while back?” Well, here it is below!

Pop-up boxes are activated by clicking more next to: Author, Topic, and Publication Date, and is another way of refining search results in Bank Street Library’s online catalog.

Thesis Binding

Students, did you know that you can still have your thesis professionally bound? Here’s what you need to do: Come to the Library with as many print copies of your thesis as you like. Make sure:

• Everything is in the correct order
• There’s a blank piece of paper on the top and bottom of each copy
• The left hand margin is 1.5 inches (especially important if you have incorporated artwork into your IMP)
• Print out and complete the IMP Binding Request Form.
• Go to the reference desk and chat with the Librarian on duty about time-frames, and cost.

It’s possible, for a modest fee, to have your thesis copy mailed to yourself or loved ones.

For more details snap the QR code above with your smartphone, or visit http://bankstreet.edu/library/how-can-i/have-imp-bound/

Fix This Article APA Style

Next week we start a series of APA workshops with a focus on reference lists. Here’s another warm-up activity. Below is a citation with lots of mistakes, there is in fact too much information – hope your pencil is sharpened? OK, let’s make it right.The citation in the beginning.

Farris, Pamela J., Werderich, Donna. E., Nelson, Pamela. A., & Fuhler, Carol J. MALE CALL: FIFTH-GRADE BOYS’ READING PREFERENCES. reading teacher, (2009). Vol. 63, Iss. 3, pp 180–188. DOI:10.1598/RT.63.3.1. Retrieved from Academic Search Premiere, April 23, 2013.

The first thing to recognize is that it’s a journal article. If you are not sure, look for a:

• doi (digital object identifier, e.g., doi:10.1598/RT.63.3.1)
• list of numbers referring to volume, issue, and page numbers (63, 3, 180-188)

Below is a step-by-step way of writing citations for articles in a reference list:

Format the Authors

Farris, P. J., Werderich, D. E., Nelson, P. A., & Fuhler, C. J.

The last names are first, the first names are initials, and the last author is preceded by an ampersand.

Put the Year After the Authors

Farris, P. J., Werderich, D. E., Nelson, P. A., & Fuhler, C. J. (2009).

Put the  year in parentheses followed by a period.

Sentence Case

Farris, P. J., Werderich, D. E., Nelson, P. A., & Fuhler, C. J. (2009). Male call: Fifth-grade boys’ reading preferences.

The title of the article is presented in sentence case. Only the first word is capitalized, as are proper nouns, and the first word after a colon.

Title Case

Farris, P. J., Werderich, D. E., Nelson, P. A., & Fuhler, C. J. (2009). Male call: Fifth-grade boys’ reading preferences. Reading Teacher,

The journal title is in title case (i.e., all words are capitalized), and italicized.

Volume, Issues, & Pages

Farris, P. J., Werderich, D. E., Nelson, P. A., & Fuhler, C. J. (2009). Male call: Fifth-grade boys’ reading preferences. Reading Teacher, 63(3), 180-188.

Here’s the tricky part, italicize the volume but not the issue (which is hard up against the volume number 63). Follow the volume and issue with the page numbers. There is no need in APA 6th Edition to use Vol, Iss., or pp – just keep it simple.

DOI’s & URL’s

Finally if there is a doi (write it in lower case), copy and paste it to close your citation. There is no requirement to state the database or retrieval date. If there isn’t a doi and the article was found in an online journal, include the journal’s homepage URL. If the citation has neither homepage URL, nor doi then the assumption is that the journal was read in print.

Farris, P. J., Werderich, D. E., Nelson, P. A., & Fuhler, C. J. (2009). Male call: Fifth-grade boys’ reading preferences. Reading Teacher, 63(3), 180-188. doi:10.1598/RT.63.3.1.

Fix This Book APA Style

Next week we start a series of APA workshops with a focus on reference lists. Here’s a warm-up activity to get you started and  in the mood. Below is a citation with lots of mistakes – got a pencil? OK, let’s fix it.

Michael Gurian and Patricia Henley – 2001, Boys and Girls Learn Differently: A Guide For Teachers and Parents. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Fix the Authors

Gurian, M., & Henley, P.

Last names first, followed by an initial(s). Use an ampersand for the second or last author.

Fix the Date

Gurian, M., & Henley, P. (2001).

Put the date in parentheses followed by a period.

Fix the Title

Gurian, M., & Henley, P. (2001). Boys and girls learn differently: A guide for teachers and parents.

The title should be sentence case, i.e., the first word is upper case (as are proper nouns, and the word after a colon), the rest is lower case. Italicize it.

Fix the Place of Publication

Gurian, M., & Henley, P. (2001). Boys and girls learn differently: A guide for teachers and parents. San Francisco, CA:

Put the two digit state postal code after all U.S. cities, even for well know publishing cities like New York. This helps foreign readers who may not know that Newark DE, and Newark NJ are quite different places.

Fix the Publisher

Gurian, M., & Henley, P. (2001). Boys and girls learn differently: A guide for teachers and parents. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Keep the publisher simple but do keep the words Press or Books if they are part of the publisher’s name.

Finishing Up

Perfect! Now all you need to do is format it with a hanging indent, and double space it.

School Librarians & School Libraries

Allie Bruce, Bank Street’s Children’s Librarian, on Why School Librarians Can’t Stop Talking About School Libraries.

Learnist

If you are looking for a great way to share your passion, try Learnist. This is what one group of students used to present their integrative masters project. If you’ve used Pinterest or Tumblr you’ll feel at home. The nice thing about websites like Learnist is that they do all the hard work for you – there’s no coding to do, and you can concentrate on how best to articulate your ideas and focus on content (and they look good without even trying).

Sometimes the temptation on the web is to give things a cursory glance and move on… Learnist has thought about that! On each slide, in the top right-hand corner, there’s a check mark with the text “Mark Done” next to it. It’s a gentle reminder to actually take time out and to read.

Are All Covers Created Equal?

Bank Street Children’s Librarian Allie Bruce, Diversity Director Anshu Wahi, and Jamie Steinfeld’s sixth-grade Humanities class began a conversation about how people of color are portrayed on book covers. This soon expanded to discussions on portrayals of girls, boys, Queer characters, overweight characters, and more…

Read Allie’s Center For Children’s Literature blog post Part I: Are All Covers Created Equal? and here’s a link to PartPart II: Are All Covers Created Equal?