The OU Writing Center will be closed this Friday, Oct. 1st for the OU/Texas Weekend. We will be open on Sunday evening from 4-8 pm in Cate 4. Come see us there.
Boomer Sooner!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
Come Get Writer Support!
What? a creative writing support group!
When? this Wednesday (September 22nd), 5PM!!
Where? at the Writing Center in Wagner Hall
Why?
At the university, ‘academic style’ argumentation and expository writing enjoy a fair monopoly over writers’ time. These genres aren't the only form of writing that exists, though, and arguably, they may not even be the one that most people recognize as moving them or changing their lives. For many of us, creative writing is the type of writing that made us interested in learning, the place we escaped to, and the vehicle of our catharsis when times are bad. Studies have shown that writing improves mood and can improve the mental health and physical wellbeing of patients. The only type of writing that did not show an improvement in mood? Research papers.
Thus, we think that creative writing should demand its place in the university. We don’t have to overthrow the system to make time for an activity that feeds our souls.
In our first meeting, we will talk about what we would like to get from working with other writers. Some groups exist to exchange drafts and receive feedback on the members’ work. Some will work through activities to spark their creativity. Some will meet simply to air frustrations, share experiences, and hold one another accountable for getting their writing done. Whatever your goals are, we invite you to come meet with us on Wednesdays.
If you are unable to come at this time, you can email Geneva.M.Canino-1@ou.edu. We’ll determine future groups and meetings based on interest, and we can also begin creating a list of folks who might like information about creative writing workshops.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Librarian On Location: Finding a needle among the 300 haystacks
Below is a guest blog from our Librarian on Location, Karen Antell. You can meet with her every Wednesday afternoon from 1-3 in the Wagner Writing Center location (Room 280). She can help you create a research plan, find that elusive piece of information, and help you navigate the library databases.
Finding a needle among the 300 haystacks
Or, “If everything’s online now, why is it still difficult to find the information I need?”
If you have never been frustrated when trying to locate some bit of information online or in a library, you won’t be interested in this post. But if you’ve ever looked for the thermal properties of a metal, an elusive fact about literacy rates in sub-Saharan Africa, or simply a misshelved book, you’ve experienced the exasperation: “Why can’t I find it!?”
We live in the age of Google. Vast amounts of information are online, and a quick search turns up thousands or millions of results in less than a second. But when you are looking for a very specific bit of information, it sometimes feels like you are searching for the fabled needle in a haystack. Except that there’s not just one haystack. If you happen to be using the online databases at the University of Oklahoma Libraries – or any large research library – figuring out which of the 300-plus databases to try is like gazing at acre after acre covered with haystacks. Your needle might be in one of them. Or not. Where do you start? With JSTOR? Or maybe Lexis-Nexis?
While you are deciding where to look first, you think to yourself, “why is it so difficult? Why are there 300 different databases? Wouldn’t it be easier if all the information in the world were available in one giant database?”
Well – yes and no. The successes and failures of Google actually point to this answer. Google has done an amazing job of indexing the Web and making it easy to find lots of information quickly. On the other hand, the sheer number of results that Google produces can make it difficult or impossible to get to the one bit of information you need.
Library databases, on the other hand, divide up the information universe into smaller bits. On the one hand, this is useful because you can do a more “targeted” search. If you are looking for the thermal properties of copper, you don’t have to waste your time looking in databases that cover English literature or microbiology. You can limit your search to databases that cover chemistry, engineering, or materials science.
But on the other hand, this “fragments” the information universe and can make searching more difficult. Before you can even do your search, you have to choose a database – and you might not be sure which one(s) would be best.
This is where those library databases offer something that Google cannot. Behind every library database is a librarian ready to help you navigate the information universe. Students who spend 15 or 20 minutes with a librarian before starting on a research project often report that they save hours of wasted effort. Librarians can put you on the right track, link you to the right resources, and help you use the right search terms that will get you to what you need.
Did you know that many of OU’s librarians are subject specialists? If you are doing research in engineering, you might want to meet James Bierman, the Engineering Librarian. If you are a social work major, Molly Strothmann is your librarian. To find out who your librarian is, click here. Of course, you can also just stop by the reference desk in Bizzell Memorial Library, give us a call at 405-325-4233, or send an email to librarian@ou.edu.
I look forward to hearing from you!
Karen Antell
Head of Reference & Outreach Services, OU Libraries
P.S. I leave you with a bit a humor from the category “It’s funny because it’s true.”
http://elektrodna.com/post/404349830/life-before-google-a-short-story-doggie-i-just
Finding a needle among the 300 haystacks
Or, “If everything’s online now, why is it still difficult to find the information I need?”
If you have never been frustrated when trying to locate some bit of information online or in a library, you won’t be interested in this post. But if you’ve ever looked for the thermal properties of a metal, an elusive fact about literacy rates in sub-Saharan Africa, or simply a misshelved book, you’ve experienced the exasperation: “Why can’t I find it!?”
We live in the age of Google. Vast amounts of information are online, and a quick search turns up thousands or millions of results in less than a second. But when you are looking for a very specific bit of information, it sometimes feels like you are searching for the fabled needle in a haystack. Except that there’s not just one haystack. If you happen to be using the online databases at the University of Oklahoma Libraries – or any large research library – figuring out which of the 300-plus databases to try is like gazing at acre after acre covered with haystacks. Your needle might be in one of them. Or not. Where do you start? With JSTOR? Or maybe Lexis-Nexis?
While you are deciding where to look first, you think to yourself, “why is it so difficult? Why are there 300 different databases? Wouldn’t it be easier if all the information in the world were available in one giant database?”
Well – yes and no. The successes and failures of Google actually point to this answer. Google has done an amazing job of indexing the Web and making it easy to find lots of information quickly. On the other hand, the sheer number of results that Google produces can make it difficult or impossible to get to the one bit of information you need.
Library databases, on the other hand, divide up the information universe into smaller bits. On the one hand, this is useful because you can do a more “targeted” search. If you are looking for the thermal properties of copper, you don’t have to waste your time looking in databases that cover English literature or microbiology. You can limit your search to databases that cover chemistry, engineering, or materials science.
But on the other hand, this “fragments” the information universe and can make searching more difficult. Before you can even do your search, you have to choose a database – and you might not be sure which one(s) would be best.
This is where those library databases offer something that Google cannot. Behind every library database is a librarian ready to help you navigate the information universe. Students who spend 15 or 20 minutes with a librarian before starting on a research project often report that they save hours of wasted effort. Librarians can put you on the right track, link you to the right resources, and help you use the right search terms that will get you to what you need.
Did you know that many of OU’s librarians are subject specialists? If you are doing research in engineering, you might want to meet James Bierman, the Engineering Librarian. If you are a social work major, Molly Strothmann is your librarian. To find out who your librarian is, click here. Of course, you can also just stop by the reference desk in Bizzell Memorial Library, give us a call at 405-325-4233, or send an email to librarian@ou.edu.
I look forward to hearing from you!
Karen Antell
Head of Reference & Outreach Services, OU Libraries
P.S. I leave you with a bit a humor from the category “It’s funny because it’s true.”
http://elektrodna.com/post/404349830/life-before-google-a-short-story-doggie-i-just
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Satellite Locations Open
Our full hours begin this week. That means more evening hours!
Wagner
Mon-Wed-Thurs 9am-5pm
Tues 9am-8pm
Cate 4
Sun-Mon-Wed 4pm-8pm
Thurs-Fri 9am-1pm
Sarkeys at the Bedrock Café
Fridays 1pm-4pm
Come see us at our Cate and Sarkeys satellite locations.
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