If you’re around campus a lot this summer, you may notice quite a bit of construction going on. While the library’s location and hours aren’t changing, there are various places around campus that will have temporary hours and locations.

Below is the summer schedule of all the labs on campus  as well as the the temporary summer locations of the ones that are being worked on.

Zombies! Courtesy of Creative Commons.

By Lisa M. Rabey
Systems & Web Librarian

If you’re on campus this Friday, be on the lookout for zombies! The Campus Filmakers, a GRCC student organization, will be filming up at Sneden on Friday from 2PM – 8PM.  According to GRCC  Today, they wanted to give faculty, staff, and students a heads up, “as fake blood, body parts, etc. will be involved” while the students lurch across Sneden parking lot.

No volunteers are required or are being requested. It is also requested that those visiting the area be respectful of the film crew and actors while they are working.

If you aren’t prepared for the zombie apocalypse, there is no better time than the present to start! Below are links to information and sites to help you win the war against the undead.

• Center for Disease Control’s Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response has a site on to prepare for the zombie apocalypse
• History of zombies in Haitian folklore
• Zombies in fiction
• Zombiepedia
• Grand Rapids Zombie Dash

For even more resources, check out the zombie collections at the following libraries in the area:

• Zombies at GRCC Library
• Zombies at GRPL
• Zombies at KDL
• You can also obtain materials using MeLCat and have them shipped to GRCC Library or your home library.

If you’ve met me around campus or ended up in one of my classes, you probably already know I’m fairly passionate about comics and graphic novels. One my goals as an instructor and a librarian is to use sequential art not just as a teaching tool or use comics creatively but to ultimately inspire passion for comics in others.

For those reasons, and more, I’m always super excited about the advent of Free Comic Book Day every year. This is a great way to get others introduced into reading comics and to do so for free.  The world of comics can be completely overwhelming and FCBD is a great introduction into that world without getting overly lost.

How does it work? Simple. Every year FCBD organizers have a list of titles that will be given away by local comic book stores. You show up, ask for the titles, and tada! They are yours for free. Now not all titles are available all stores, so you may have to call yours and ask, but chances are pretty good you’ll get what you want.

Other awesome things is that depending on where you live, comic book stores will often have events, signings, and other fun programming happening during the day. In Grand Rapids, check out Argos Books, Apparitions, and Goldmine Comics to see what they have planned for Saturday.

If you’re not able to make it to FCBD this year, don’t panic! The library has you covered! We have:

• SubjectGuide on Graphic Novels with listing of blogs, conventions, websites, and other items worth checking out 
• A growing list of graphic novels in our collection
• We can get any graphic novel sent to you via MeL

If you have any questions or suggestions for titles we should have in our collection, please email me.

Direct access to articles from EBSCO’s linking services will be unavailable for the following list of publishers:

• National League for Nursing
• American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP)
• Intellect Ltd
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press (MIT Press)
• College of Business and Public Affairs
• e-Med
• IUPAC
• NRC Research Press

Only articles from these eight publishers accessed via A-to-Z TOC Browse, EJS, or SmartLinks+ will be affected. These publishers account for only 80 of our more than 15,000 journals handled by our linking services, so the overall impact to your users should be minimal. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.

If you’re having problems accessing any databases after that time period, please contact the library and let us know what you were trying to do and what journals/databases you were trying to access.

Below is a sampling of some of the new titles the library got in April. You can also see these, and much more, on Pinterest.

If you’re planning on taking a foreign language class this summer, travelling to a new country, or just want to brush up on your conversational skills, give Mango Languages a try!

Mango Languages is a fun way to learn a new language or enhance your current language skills using their engaging and interactive site. Mango Languages is available in over 50 languages, from Arabic to Vietnamese, and is a great tool for studying, personal enrichment, or professional development.   Additionally, you can use Mango Languages on your smartphone and tablets in addition to your computer, free of charge.

GRCC Library currently has Mango Languages on trial for the next few weeks.  If you have any questions or comments about the database, please email a librarian and we’ll return your email within a business day. Or if you’d like immediate assistance, give us a call instead!

If you missed our spectacular event last week of local poets and readers celebrating Islamic heritage during national poetry month, it is now available on YouTube.   Also check out the library’s guide to Muslim Journeys Bookshel for history and information on Islamic culture, art, literature, and more.

The library would like to thank the poets and readers, GRCC Media Services, and the staff at the library for helping make this a wonderful event possible.

Winter 2013 Exam Cram will be held this weekend at the library from:

Sat. 4/27/2013 10:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Sun. 4/28/2012 10:00 AM – 10:00 PM

There will be librarians and tutors in multiple subject areas available during Exam Cram hours. Tutoring subjects may be limited.

Please park in the Bostwick (Main) parking lot. No registration required.

If you have any questions about Exam Cram, please email the library or give us a call instead. Exam Cram is co-sponsored by Academic Support, Campus Activities, and Library & Learning Commons.

Please use the online request forms located on the LLC website under [Forms], also shown below:
Information Literacy Request Form & Research Only Library Space Request

Students learn about college-level library services and collections, how to locate books, journal articles, and other quality learning resources, citing, and how to evaluate web sites.

1. Have you seen the Library & Learning Commons streaming video tour? Please consider adding it to your Blackboard.
2. If your class meets outside of the LLC’s regular Summer hours or at off-campus locations, we will happily scheduled sessions for you, too. Please reserve at least 2 weeks prior to the session.
3. Library worksheets used in the past are posted to your department’s Subject Guide; we update them every time we teach. If we don’t yet have a Subject Guide covering your departments’ needs, please contact your liaison librarian.

GRCC Library is pleased to present, “Muslim Journeys Bookshelf: Poetry Night,” a night of poetry showcasing the diversity of Islam, Muslim lives, arts, and culture. The event, located on the 2nd floor of the library, will begin at 7PM. Admission is free and open to the public. For more information, contact please contact Lisa Rabey.