What's New

Proxy Options for Off-Campus Access

Following the implementation of the new proxy service last August, and the recent removal of the old proxy access, here are several options for accessing resources from off-campus, using the new proxy server (when not clicking links directly from the Library website - such as in Google Scholar):

LibX Toolbar: It provides quick access to many library resources, from a toolbar you install in your web browser. Both Firefox and Internet Explorer versions are available (though the Firefox version works better!). One of the options is to right-click a link or a webpage and send it through the proxy server. More info, and download it!

Proxy it! Bookmarklet: add this bookmarklet to your web browser, and send webpages through the proxy server with one click. More info, and download it!

Directing links through the proxy server: If you maintain pages of links, or wish to put 'proxied' URLs into Telesis or ERes, please visit Directing Links Through the Proxy Server for information. Putting your links in the proper format means WU people using your webpage(s) will be able to reach those resources from on-campus or off.

When using Google Scholar: If you use the LibX Toolbar or the Proxy it! bookmarklet, it's easy to reload a link or a page via the proxy server. But you might also (or instead) want to set your Scholar Preferences (click that link next to the search box in Google Scholar) to show Get it! @ WU links next to the titles in your results. Scroll down the Scholar Preferences page, and type washington into the Find Library box, and click that button. Click the checkbox in front of 'Washington University in St Louis - Get it! @ WU - Get it! @ WU' and scroll on down the page to click the Save Preferences button.

Summer Hours Begin May 8

Summer 2008 hours begin Thursday, May 8.

Help With Compliance With the NIH Public Access Policy

The  revised NIH Public Access Policy is effective today. It requires NIH-funded investigators to submit (or have submitted for them) their final, peer reviewed manuscript to PubMed Central upon acceptance of publication to be made publicly available within 12 months of publication. This policy applies to manuscripts accepted for publication on or after April 7, 2008. The University Libraries stand ready to help you with questions you may have about compliance, copyright policies of journals where you may want to publish, etc. Save Your Time! Ask Us: Subject Librarians for NIH Public Policy Compliance & Journal Policy Concerns. 

ILLiad Outage April 8

On Tuesday, April 8, we will be performing maintenance on the servers that run the ILLiad (Interlibrary Loan) software. We expect the service will be unavailable from 7am until about noon that day. We apologize for any inconvenience.

More Added Features in the Catalog!

Back in January we announced that the Libraries had subscribed to a service that provides full-color cover images and links to author notes, fiction and biography profiles (see this announcement). Now we've added more features: through a service called LibraryThing for Libraries some records have these additional fields:

• Similar books. "Recommended reads" coming from data collected in LibraryThing, reputedly the world's largest personal- and social-cataloging site, whose members have added over 24 million books since 2005.
• Other editions and translations.  Links to other editions and translations of a work coming from data in LibraryThing.
• Tags.  Tag clouds for books, and tag-based search and discovery, drawing on the over 31 million tags added by LibraryThing members.

About 38% of the records for books in the catalog now have this added content. LibraryThing continues to add features; in the future you may be able to add your own tags to catalog records, contribute your own reviews, and add ratings to books.

Focus Groups: Reconfigure space use in Olin; accommodate changing technology

WU Libraries will host focus groups in April on how to reconfigure Olin Library and better meet student needs for space and for technology. Undergraduate and graduate students are invited to give feedback about how they currently use and would like to use Olin space. Do you need more quiet study space? More group study space? What are your software and hardware needs? Let us know what you think!

Undergraduate groups (start at 5pm):  Wed., April 2 or Tues., April 8
Graduate Students groups (start at 4pm):  Thurs., April 3 or Wed., April 9

Attendees receive a $10 gift card to the WU campus bookstore. All sessions are one hour, meet in Olin Library, and food is provided.

Register online to help us plan for food, chairs, & space (!). However, if you're unsure of your schedule, show up at the start time in Olin's lobby and we'll fit in as many participants as we can.

Questions: dkatz@wustl.edu (Debbie Katz)  314-935-4822

Need Help With Your Password or PIN?

Now you can get assistance all hours the Reference Help Desk is open - including evenings and weekends.  Call 314-935-5410 or email passwordhelp@wumail.wustl.edu, and include your first and last names and WU ID number in your message.

Card Access Starting at 9pm

Beginning March 16th a current Washington University identification card will be required of each person entering Olin Library or the adjoining Whispers Café after 9 p.m. This change makes Olin Library's card access schedule consistent with all other buildings on campus. According to Dean Baker, "We believe this change will enhance student safety without greatly restricting the larger community's access to Olin Library. Our students, faculty members, and staff already carry their University ID cards for many other functions. We hope having to present their cards at the Library after 9 p.m. will only be a minor inconvenience."

Images and More in the Catalog

The Libraries have subscribed to a service that provides full-color cover images and links to author notes, fiction and biography profiles, Publishers Weekly reviews, summaries and annotations, and tables of contents. This added info comes from servers at the vendor of the service, linked by the ISBNs on the catalog records. Not all records will have the added info, based on what's available on the vendor's servers. Check it out by doing any search in the online catalog, and see what you get!

Try out the LibX Library Toolbar!

It provides quick access to many library resources, from a toolbar you install in your web browser.  Both Firefox and Internet Explorer versions are available (though the Firefox version works better!).  More info, and download it!