Deadline approaching

Friday, May 5th, is the day when you should have completed all of the UNIV 106 assignments. This means that you have less than two weeks to get everything in order, meaning assignments turned in and corrections completed. As I've said before, the assignments are not hard but they do take time.

If you are having problems with the assignments or don't understand a question by all means ask a librarian. If you have serious issues that impede your progress in completing the assignments, please see me directly so we can work something out.

Press on and good luck!

Memo

Keep up!

April 7th came and went. Did you make any headway on your assignments? More and more of you are finishing them up and to you I say, Contratulations! If you are done with UNIV 106 you may take your assignments home and use the knowledge gained from the class to hone your research skills.

If you are lagging behind you need not worry too much...but I would not get comfortable either. April is halfway gone and May finals are just around the corner. Remember, the assignments are not hard but they do require time so keep that in mind as you tackle other responsibilities.

And as always, if you don't understand something or have trouble finding the sources you need all you have to do is ask.

Cheers,

Memo Cordova

0

Target date: April 7th

A reminder that the third target date is fast approaching: Friday, April 7th! This means that, ideally, you should have completed up to assignment 18. If you are, by all means keep it up! There are a total of 22 assignments and even though they are not tough, they are time consuming.

So keep that in mind if you want to put them off until the very latest (May 5th), which will find you rushing through the assignments and making mistakes that you will have you spend more time correcting.

Do yourself a favor and start making progress soon, as time is clicking away! As always, do ask for help at the Reference desk if you get stuck.

Memo

Watch it!

The library is a great place to relax and get your research done. Unfortunately, relaxing too much may provide someone an opportunity to make out with your things, such as laptops, cell phones, or other valuable items. While Boise and Boise State are in general very safe places, recently several incidents of theft have been reported on campus and in the Library.

We want you to get the most from our library, but caution you to keep your eyes open and your belongings close at hand. Help us keep the library a safe and relaxing place to study; if you notice anything suspicious or questionable, let a nearby staff member know.

0

Library Hours & Spring Vacation

The library will be open limited hours during Spring vacation starting this Saturday, March 25:

• Saturday, March 25: 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
• Sunday, March 26: Closed
• Monday, March 27 thru Thursday, March 30: 8:00 am - 7:00 pm
• Friday, March 31: 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
• Saturday, April 1: Closed

Normal operating hours will resume on Sunday, April 2, when we will be open from 10:00 am to 11:00 pm. A complete list of library hours for the Spring and Fall semesters is available at: http://library.boisestate.edu/hours/

Spring in my mind

Spring begins March 20th and we're all thinking of sunshine and some deserved time off. Before you know it, finals will be here and you will wonder where the time went, especially if you haven't even started the UNIV 106 (Library Skills) course.

Don't be fooled, the Library Skills assignments are not hard, but they do take time to complete. Make it easy on yourself, and your Spring vacation plans, by finishing a couple of assignments. As always, stop by the reference desk if you have any questions or to check your assignments for corrections.

Memo Cordova

Get going!

The semester is chugging along and we're fast approaching the 2nd target date for the course: March 10th. This means that, ideally, you should be done with assignments 8 thru 13. And looking over the class roster we've noticed a lot of you haven't even started the course!

You still have plenty of time to get going without playing too much catch up. Don't let the semester pass you by without making a dent, however small, into the UNIV 106 course. You'll be glad you did.

Happy research!
Memo

Library Closed for Presidents' Day

The library will be closed Monday, February 20th, for Presidents' Day. Any assignments you turn in on Sunday will be graded late Tuesday. Also, the library's catalog, Voyager, will be having upgrades on Monday morning but should be available later that day. Please e-mail or call me if you have any questions.

Memo Cordova

1st Target Date

February 10th is the first target date for UNIV 106. What does this mean? It means that you should have finished assignments one through seven by this Friday. Do not worry if you are not through the first seven assignments yet; at the very least you should have completed the first four.

You will not be in trouble if you miss this date. Target dates are not deadlines but indicators to help you chart your progress and maintain a healthy pace to successfully complete the course. The complete list of target dates is available at the UNIV 106 course website.

Cheers,
Memo Cordova

Check your folder

Now that most of you are comfortably going about completing the assignments you should start checking at the reference desk to see if you have any corrections to make. Just ask the person at the desk and they will check for you. If you have mistakes, do over the question with the mistake and put the assignment back in the wooden in-box by the reference desk. It usually takes us a few hours to check over your assignments, so your assignments should make their way back to your folders several hours after you turn them in.

Weekends are different so if you turn something in over the weekend, by Monday afternoon we should have gone over all the assignments. If you have any questions or are unclear as to how to proceed, please check at the reference desk. Or stop by my office in room L107D.

Cheers,

Memo Cordova

UNIV 106 for Spring 2006

The University 106 (UNIV106) class, also known as the Library Skills class, is now open for the Spring 2006 semester. If you signed up for the class please come in to Albertsons Library and stop by the Reference desk, where we will check your name on our class roster, explain the particulars of the class, and answer any questions you may have about the course or the Library.

The course website has everything you need to successfully finish the course: http://library.boisestate.edu/skills

I will post to this blog about twice a week with any class-relevant news and information, so make sure you bookmark it or subscribe to it. If you have any questions or would like to stop by and say hello, my office is room 107D, first floor of the Library (one of the corner offices leading to the Microforms department).

Good luck!

Memo Cordova
Reference Librarian/Assistant Professor
Albertsons Library
Boise State University
1910 University Drive
Boise, ID 83725
(208) 426-1270
memocordova[at]boisestate[dot]edu
http://library.boisestate.edu/skills

The End

UNIV 106, the Library Skills course for Fall semester 2005, is now officially over. Congratulations to everyone who finished the course. Grades should be posted by Tuesday, December 20th. If you would like to have your assignments back please pick them up by Friday, December 23rd, or they will be recycled.

Now that you have gone through the course you should have a good foundation of how information is organized and disseminated, and learned that libraries provide a fantastic range of resources to help your academic endeavors.

I wish you the best in your research adventures!

Memo Cordova

Getting to done

You have until 6:00 pm Thursday, Dec. 15, to turn in all your corrected assignments. Check with the reference desk and correct any mistakes before this deadline as we will not accept any assignments after this date.

Failure to finish the course successfully will result in an "F", so get to it!

Memo Cordova

Corrections due by Thursday

Friday, Dec. 9th was the last day you could turn in all UNIV 106 Library Skills assignments. If you did, great!

But now it’s time to check for corrections! If you have any to correct, please do so by 6:00 pm this Thursday, Dec. 15th. The first floor of the library will be open 24 hours from now until this Thursday.

Memo Cordova

You are almost done!

The deadline for submitting all remaining library skills assignments is this Friday, December 9th. The library closes at 6 pm on Fridays so you need to have everything turned in before that time.

Once your stuff is turned in, you need to check to make sure you have no corrections to make. If you do, you have until Thursday, December 15th, to turn those in. Luckily, the library’s first floor will be open 24 hours starting Sunday, December 11th and will close at 6:00pm on Thursday, December 15th, so you have plenty of time before then to completely and resolutely finish any corrections, thereby earning you the coveted “Pass” grade.

Once you "Pass" the course you can have your assignments back.

Good luck!
Memo Cordova

Countercheck

Kudos to all of you for turning in loads of assignments; your swift response has inundated us with assignments to correct! This is both good and bad. The good is that you are working hard to successfully finish the course before the December 9th deadline. The bad is that by turning in assignments all at once there is a tendency to rush through the process and make mistakes.

So, a tip: don't hoard the assignments sheets. If you finish one, turn it in and move on to the next one. By turning them in all at once you run the risk of making mistakes, so you should definitely check at the reference desk for corrections fairly frequently to ensure all those bunches of assignments you turned in don't have bunches of mistakes. The deadline for turning in corrected assignments is December 15th.

If you are confused about an assignment question or can't find the book you are after, please let someone at the reference desk know.

Cheers,
Memo Cordova

Back to the grind

Now that Thanksgiving is behind us it is time to continue the good fight of completing any leftover library skills assignments.

Keep these tips in mind as you plug along since the deadline for turning anything in is December 9th, no exceptions.

1. Check periodically to make sure you have no corrections to make on those assignments you have turned in.
2. If you have not started, get going! Some students finished the course in one day, some in a weekend. Refer to #1 if you try to finish it all in one bite.
3. If and when you finish the course successfully, you can have your assignments back.
4. If you have any questions or don't understand something, please ask for clarification at the reference desk.
5. If you have serious issues which impede your ability to finish the course, talk to me! (Albertsons Library, room 107D, call 426-1270, or e-mail me at memocordova[at]boisestate[dot]edu).

We want you to succeed and gain useful library skills, so keep at it!

Memo Cordova

Thanksgiving and the Library

The library will open limited hours during the Thanksgiving Holiday. We will be open the following dates and times:

Monday & Tuesday, November 21 & 22, from 8:00 am – 7:00 pm
Wednesday, November 23, from 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Thursday & Friday, November 24 & 25 we will be closed

If you want to hit those Library Skills assignments during the holiday week, by all means do so before you enjoy a big meal. It will help your digestion.

Cheers,
Memo Cordova

A fourth reminder

In the spirit of keeping you informed, please be advised that November 11 would be the ideal date for you to have finished all of your assignments up to chapter 18. Some of you are finished with the course and are free to concentrate on other things, but most of you are still working on the assignments so keep at it!

If you are not up to chapter 18, you still have time to get up to speed. In fact, you could do all of the assignments and be finished with the course in one day. Honest! And as always, if you get stuck or don't understand something please stop by the reference desk and ask for clarification. That's why we're there.

Cheers,

Memo Cordova

Are we there yet?

Hi everyone!

The semester is sailing faster than we would like to, and before you know it you will find yourself wondering how to finish your projects early. A great way to lighten your load would be to continue to work on your Library Skills assignments.

They don't take long to finish and the upshot is that you will learn something new about the library, which in turn will help you in your research! When you finish an assignment and drop it off, remember to ask the person at the desk to check your folder for corrections.

And as always, feel free to ask for clarification if you don't understand something or need help in figuring out an assignment question. We want you to succeed, so keep those assignments coming!

Memo Cordova
L107D
x1270