Gleeson Gleanings

Greetings! We will be closed Wednesday, June 3, 2009 for our annual staff retreat.

On behalf of the Gleeson Library | Geschke Learning Resource Center it is my pleasure to extend an enthusiastic congratulation to the University of San Francisco’s 2009 graduating class. We applaud your achievements, and wish you great opportunities and success in your future endeavors.

2008 USF Graduation :: Photo by Sarainsanfran via Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarainsanfran/2498837354/)

Tyrone H. Cannon Ed. D.,
Dean, University Libraries

Did you know you can still use the Gleeson Library as an alumnus? Sign up for an Alumni Special Access ($20) or Borrowing Card ($50) – stop by the Gleeson Library Circulation Desk to request an Alumni Card. Annually renewed Alumni special borrower cards provide you with continued access to the Gleeson Library. To learn more about Library services and resources available to alumni, check out the libraries Alumni information page.

Howdy!
The Book Club June selection is King of Shadows by Aaron Shurin, who is the director of the MFA program (and my professor!) here at USF.

We’re meeting on Tuesday, June 9, 2009 in the Community Garden (just west of the Education Building, weather permitting) to discuss this collection of essays.

To get the book through the library’s free service Link+, click here. It will be delivered to Gleeson in about 4 business days. Or you can purchase it at the USF Bookstore, or at a local book seller like The Booksmith on Haight St. or The Green Apple on Clement St.

Publishers Weekly says, “This emotionally potent collection of 20 essays by noted Bay Area poet Shurin (Involuntary Lyrics) begins with a meditation on his fear of birds (“of course they’re dinosaurs”) and coming out in radical UC-Berkeley in the late 1960s. The collection progresses through meditations on how the difference between Shakespeare’s Oberon and Puck shaped his identity as a gay man and a poet, and his indebtedness to Robert Duncan, Frank O’Hara and Denise Levertov. The accumulation of biographic and literary details conjures up an apparitional dreamscape of a very specific moment in American history–a new sense of personal and literary freedom, a new period of progressive political and literary ideas. Shurin’s idiosyncratic style can startle with its imagery and captures a complicated, conflicted relationship to several cultural identities. Describing his anxiety about his looks before going to a bar, he writes ‘oh, my wiry, independent, shtetl hair, my Ukrainian ribbons from my mother’s side, folkloric bonnet of curls, was out of the question, way too heavily accented, ruefully unacceptable, untidy, un-Californian….’ The author addresses forthrightly the question of AIDS by the end of this book, one of Shurin’s best.”

Call 415-422-2236 or email reference@usfca.edu for more details or to sign up for the book club mailing list.

Hope to see you there!

H1N1 virus

Is swine flu a whole lotta hype or a big heap of scary? You be the judge! Get the facts about swine flu (aka H1N1 flu) from credible sources using Gleeson Library’s Swine Flu Research Guide.

If you’ve noticed that a book search in our library catalog Ignacio looks different than you remember, it is because we’re using a new keyword search engine that we first introduced as “Encore” about six months ago (it had a separate search box at that time, underneath Ignacio on the home page).

The “traditional” Ignacio interface hasn’t gone away, however; you can use it by clicking on the Author, Title, Subject, or Advanced Search links right under the search box.

The new keyword search lets you easily sort results by location, material type, and quickly locate relevant subject terms. You can even “tag” books yourself with helpful keywords.

The new interface is still missing a few features, such as marking and saving lists of items, so if you need to do that, just continue using the “traditional” Ignacio searches.

Becky Miller, a current Gleeson Library | Geschke Center intern, wrote this post.

School is winding down for most students and many will be graduating, so we decided to focus on the library’s career resources.  The highlighted books, which will be available for viewing this month at the Reference Desk, are especially appropriate for those new to the job search.

College Majors Handbook with Real Career Paths and Payoffs is arranged by major and discusses where people with a given major end up working, what they do on the job, and what their salaries are.  If you are still contemplating what to major in or are about to graduate with a major and unsure of what comes next, this book may give you some good ideas.  (Call number: Ref HF 5382.5 U5 F644 2004)

The Complete Resume & Job Search Book for College Students is a good introduction to the job-search process and includes topics like what employers look for, how to look for jobs, how to write good resumes and cover letters, and how to succeed in the interview.  It is especially geared to college students and recent graduates.  (Call number: Ref HF 5382.7 A33 1999)

The Ultimate Job Search Survival Guide is aimed at first-time job seekers and career changers.  The first part of the book focuses on exploring your interests and skills in order to target your job search.  The rest of the book offers job-search strategies and tips for resumes, cover letters, and interviews.  (Call number: Ref HF 5382.7 D94 1998)

These three books are just a few of the career-related books found in the library’s non-circulating reference section (near the reference desk).  USF also has electronic resources such as e-books that you can find by searching the catalog for words like “job,” “career,” “resume,” etc.  One title that caught my eye was The Resume Makeover: 50 Common Problems with Resumes and Cover Letters – and How to Fix Them.  Also, in the Gleeson stacks are some great resources that can be checked out – again, look for them in the catalog or browse the stacks around HF5381 – HF5384 (second floor).  Remember that if the book you want is already checked out, you can request it through LINK+ and get it in about 4 business days.

In addition to general-purpose career books, the library also has print and online books specific to careers in certain fields.   Try searching the catalog for “vocational guidance” and your major and see what comes up, or don’t forget you can always ask a librarian.