Random Acts of Kindness Event/Meet “Secret Agent L”

Random Acts of Kindness Week is February 14-20. As part of the One Book Program for 2011 Gumberg Library is kicking off the spring events with Duquesne University’s own Kindness Agent. Come find out who she really is and what she did that got her international recognition.

February 18, 12-1, Popular Reading area, Gumberg Library. Bring your lunch. Dessert will be provided.

Enter your name in a drawing to receive a copy of this year’s One Book title, 29 Gifts: how a month of giving can change your life by Cami Walker, an inspirational story with a challenge for all of us.

You will also have the opportunity to meet Gumberg Library’s One Book partner Charity Leonette from Allegheny County Library Association. She will give you the details about author events in the Pittsburgh area in April.

All during the week you will have the opportunity to share a positive thought with your friends or someone special by tearing off a message from a Positive Thoughts flyer posted in the library. There is also an Acts of Kindness display in the Reference area that has a handout of Kindness Resources. Stop by and pick up one.

Have a great week!

Writing Center Gumberg Library Satellite Temporary Location Change

Writing Center appointments scheduled in Gumberg Library will be held at reserved tables in front of the regularly scheduled location, room 402A. This is a temporary change to allow for updating of the room.

Alpha Phi Tutoring Sessions Location Change

Beginning Feb. 10 Alpha Phi Tutoring Sessions scheduled in Gumberg Library will be held at reserved tables in front of the regularly scheduled location, room 402A. This is a temporary change to allow for updating of the room.

E-ZBorrow Upgrade Coming Soon!

Using E-ZBorrow is about to get easier for Gumberg Library users as software changes will streamline the book-borrowing process. The new E-ZBorrow website, powered by Relais software, becomes operational the week of February 14.

PALCI, a group of academic libraries with a reciprocal lending and borrowing agreement, developed E-ZBorrow in 2004. The resource, which is a self-serve version of interlibrary loan, enables a user to search the library holdings of more than 50 colleges and universities and then request that a book be sent to a library on his or her campus.

One frustration of the outgoing system has been that it divides libraries into three groups and requires users to search each set individually to find a desired title. Often, a user who is unaware of this arrangement stops after the first failed attempt. Under the new system, one search simultaneously scans the catalogs of all participating PALCI libraries.

Users can also expect better results because of an advanced search option that will enable them to narrow their inquiries. Results will be displayed in order of relevance and can also be sorted by author, title, newest, or oldest. Response time for a search will be almost immediate.

E-ZBorrow is a popular resource, with member libraries completing about 5,000 transactions in an average week. Last year, Gumberg Library borrowed 5,382 books for Duquesne users via E-ZBorrow and loaned 5,547 books to other E-ZBorrow participating libraries. Please keep an eye out for more information as we move closer to implementation of this promising enhanced service.