Levy Library

Ahhhh, that new stairs smell...

FYI to all the fans of print journals and dissertations out there: the stairs down to the tenth floor will be closed all day today while they are being re-treaded. This means essentially no tenth floor access for the day. It will be open again tomorrow though! As always, please let us know if you have any questions about this.

The Classes are Back!

After a renovation-induced hiatus, we are happy to announce that we are teaching drop-in classes again in the Levy Library - and in a new, renovated space, no less! The schedule and registration form are up now at http://fusion.mssm.edu/levy/classes/.

Notice especially that there are two new classes: for the first time we will be teaching a Photoshop class that will help you improve your images for publications and presentations (without distorting or falsifying your data), and we also have several sessions to orient you to the new PubMed interface - it's in Beta-testing now and will soon be the only way to search PubMed.

EndNote X3: Advanced Features
11/19/2009 (Thursday) 4:00 - 5:00
12/17/2009 (Thursday) 4:00 - 5:00 
 
EndNote X3: An Introduction
10/29/2009 (Thursday) 4:00 - 5:00 
11/12/2009 (Thursday) 4:00 - 5:00
 12/10/2009 (Thursday) 4:00 - 5:00
 
Genome Browsers - UCSC, Ensembl and NCBI Map Viewer
12/02/2009 (Wednesday) 4:00 - 5:30
 
NCBI's Entrez and Blast: An Introduction
11/03/2009 (Tuesday) 4:00 - 5:30
12/14/2009 (Monday) 4:00 - 5:30 
 
Photoshop: Preparing Images for Publication
12/03/2009 (Thursday) 4:00 - 5:00
 
PowerPoint 2007: An Introduction
10/27/2009 (Tuesday) 4:00 - 5:30 
 
PowerPoint: Finding Images and Using Them in Presentations
12/08/2009 (Tuesday) 4:00 - 5:30
 
PubMed: Navigating the New Interface
11/10/2009 (Tuesday) 4:00 - 5:00
11/12/2009 (Thursday) 12:00 - 1:00
12/09/2009 (Wednesday) 4:00 - 5:00 
 
RefWorks: An Introduction
11/17/2009 (Tuesday) 4:00 - 5:00
12/16/2009 (Wednesday) 4:00 - 5:00

Register at http://fusion.mssm.edu/levy/classes/!

Renovations: sort of, kind of, almost DONE!

Things have been changing so fast at the Library that by the time I get photos uploaded, they are no longer accurate! Here are some hot off the digital presses though:

As you can see, the biggest parts of the renovation are done! As soon as you step off the elevator, you notice things are different:

And our services are now conviently collected up front, with circulation staff, reference librarians and computing help desk specialists now all located behind or next to the front desk:

There's also some nice new furniture (including, yes, the ever popular recliners in a new model):

And, of course, the same library staff ready and waiting to help you out. So please, come on up and visit us!

Almost there!

There hasn't been a post with a renovation update for a while now - not because there is nothing happening, but because there has been too much happening! The temporary walls at the Library entrance have been taken down, revealing new carpeting, a new ceiling, the new services desk...and about a dozen contractors hurrying to finish everything. Things are still changing every day, with various parts of the Library blocked off by plastic or yellow tape, but we are getting close to being finished with the major portions of the renovation. As always, ask us if you have any questions about where things are (you can call too, at x47791 or x47793), and look out for some new pictures on the blog and Facebook as soon as we resuscitate the battery in our trusty old camera...

The New Desk

Our shiny new front desk has arrived and been assembled behind The Wall. It's much bigger than the old one, and will serve as both the Circulation Desk and the Reference Desk. I meant to sneak back and take some pictures of it when it was still in big piled-up pieces, but of course time just flies when you're working on a PubMed tutorial (right?) and I didn't get a chance. So I hope these are an interesting peak into our still unfinished entrance area!

The Levy Labyrinth

If you've come to the Library recently you've noticed a whole lot of new walls where there were no walls before, and Library staff and desks have been scattered around to the four corners (almost). We're all still here though - answering questions checking out books, and all the other things you've come to expect (including, yes, asking you not to drink coffee at our new computers). Here's a quick rundown of where people and things are now:

When you step off the elevators and enter the Library, you have a choice of going left - down the stairs to the 10th floor, which has our bound journals and probably the quietest study space at the moment - or going right, towards the Circulation Desk and the rest of the 11th floor.

On the opposite side of the 11th floor (walk allllll the way around the offices or elevator bank to get there) are the public computers, along with the Reference Desk - which is for the moment just a little table with a computer on it, but it does have the most important feature, the reference librarians.

From the public computer area you'll see the new classrooms, and if you walk alongside them you'll get to the temporary office of the Levy Library Computing Help Desk (which used to be downstairs on the 10th floor in the former Media Resource Center).

The Library Administrative Offices, Academic Computing and the Archives are right where they were before - but if a new wall is preventing you from taking your normal route, just ask us and we'll tell you the new way.

And, sorry: the men's room is closed.

Yikes! What happened to the Reference Desk?

 

We don't know either! But hopefully it will reappear in its new (temporary) location tomorrow. The circulation desk is also on the move, as the contractors are about to start the next phase of renovations, which is, yes, the very front of the library. So look out for some detours and changed locations over the next few days. It might get a bit (more) confusing, but remember there are always lots of ways to reach us: by phone - 212-241-7791 for circulation and 212-241-7793 for reference, by email at refdesk@mssm.edu, or by chatting with us using the IM screen name mssmref or the box below.

PS - there's more pictures on our facebook page!

More Renovation Changes

The changes are getting bigger and more apparent every day at the Library. If you walk in today you'll see lots of sheets of plastic hanging around the 11th floor, and the paint and wallpaper (who knew there was wallpaper?) have been stripped from the elevator lobby - if you hurry you might see the decades-old swear words written on the walls before they get covered up again!

The plastic is blocking off some study space on the West side of the Library and also the stairs down to the 10th floor, so we're temporarily back to the request procedures if you need a print journal or a dissertation - just ask at the Circulation Desk and we will let you know when we are able to pull the item for you.

And a heads-up for the next little while: things are going to get a bit strange as the elevator lobby and Library entrance are renovated. We're going to do what we can to make sure the Library stays open, but there will likely be days when we'll all have to enter on the 10th floor instead of the 11th (look for signs in the elevators about this) or take a detour to where we're going. We'll try to keep things well signposted - give us a call at 212-241-7793 (Reference) or 212-241-7791 (Circulation) if you run into any confusion with getting to us.

More computers!

We're happy to announce that much of the area that has been blocked off behind walls for so long is now open and full of shiny new computers for you to use! The wall is still up, but there is now an open doorway that will let you in. There are 80 new computers loaded up with new software like Microsoft Office 2007, SPSS and Scifinder Scholar.

Some other things have been moved around a bit as we enter the next phase of our renovation. The printers and copiers are now in their permanent location next to the computers. The scanners and the large-format banner printer might move around a little bit more, so if you don't see them just ask us at the desk. And, the Leisure Reading Section is currently in front of the temporary wall, right near the Reference Desk (and that issue of People with the Saved by the Bell cast on the cover is looking awfully tempting right now!).

And, last but certainly not least, the women's restroom is open again!

So that's how they do it!

Maybe we're just being librarians about this, but we think this is pretty cool: 

This is our moving company, Hallett, moving an entire journal-filled range of bookstacks. Wow!

(Also, we like their Southern accents)