Hot Document in December

New Member Pictorial Directory: 112th Congress

Prepared under the direction of the Committee on House Administration, New Member Pictorial Directory: 112th Congress includes biographical information on each new member of the United States Congress, including color photographs, date of birth, residence, education, occupation, and political career.

The Directory is published biennially by the Joint Committee on Printing of the U.S. Congress. Specifically, it includes information about a Member of Congress' length of service, political party affiliations, and Congressional district. It also includes a section on candidates from districts in which the results were not determined at the time of publication. Profiles of these candidates begin on page 47.

This document is sponsored by the U.S. House of Representatives and the United States Senate on GPO Access.

Featured Government Website in December

TSA.gov (The Transportation Security Administration)

With the holiday season already in full swing, travel safety and security is on everybody's mind. The Transportation Security Administration, a US government agency, addresses all your travel concerns by protecting the Nation's transportation systems to ensure freedom of movement for people and commerce.

The TSA web site provides detailed information for travelers, including the 3-1-1 liquid policy, acceptable forms of identification, traveling with special items, prohibited items, new security measures for international travel, and information on pat-downs (what triggers a pat-down, what happens during a pat-down and what you can do to prevent a pat-down).

Recently TSA has released Helpful Hints for Holiday Travelers, which includes a video address by TSA Administrator John Pistole.

You may also be interested in TSA Latest News, Media Room, and Research Center. The most commonly requested TSA information is now accessible 24/7 via passengers' mobile devices through MyTSA Mobile Application. You can subscribe to TSA RSS feeds and also follow TSA updates on Blogger, Twitter, and Youtube.

Tarver Library Open 24/7 during finals week

In response to a SGA request initiated in spring 2010, Tarver Library will be open 24/7 for final exams week beginning Sunday, December 12 at 2 p.m. and ending Saturday, December 18 at 7 p.m. Bear Cards are required by all who enter the library between midnight and 7:45 a.m. Staff will be available to monitor and maintain access to the library. No library services will be offered during this time period.

Help us determine the value of being a depository library

Since 1964, Jack Tarver Library has participated in the Federal Depository Library Program(FDLP) established by the United States Congress to ensure that the American public has access to its Government's information. It is vital that the value of being a depository library be addressed. To determine this value, The Depository Library User Survey has now been released. We would like to understand user perceptions of the value and performance of libraries participating in the FDLP.

Please take a few minutes to complete this brief eighteen-question survey, which should only take 10 to 15 minutes of your time. Answers you provide will be treated as strictly confidential and will be collected in an anonymous and an aggregated format.

Thank you for taking the time to fill out this survey by the end of February, 2011. Your input is greatly appreciated!

Here is the link to the Depository Library User Survey.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HSLCRRB

A new ILL system is coming in January!

The library is switching to a new Interlibrary Loan (ILL) system in January 2011.  The system is called ILLiad, and it will streamline your ILL requests for articles, books, and other information resources.  For example, using ILLiad you can check on the status of your requests, request renewals, access articles you requested, and review the history of your ILL requests.

 

Within ILLiad you can submit and review requests, change your profiles, and receive electronically delivered documents.  You will have easy online access to your ILL articles in ILLiad --  no more multiple e-mails with attached articles!  Everything is viewable right there in your account.

Once we switch to the new system you will have to use your ILLiad account to place your ILL requests.  We will no longer be able to accept requests via email, phone, or paper.

Curious about what else ILLiad is?  Here’s a brief FAQ page:  http://mercer.illiad.oclc.org/illiad/GMU/FAQ.html

We will provide more details on creating and logging into your accounts soon.  If you have any questions please contact Andrew Shuping at shuping_ad@mercer.edu or 478-301-2251.

Cutoff for requesting books via Interlibrary Loan

The end of the semester and the holidays are fast approaching and other libraries are being to slow down lending items to us.

As such, we have to put in place a cutoff date for requesting Interlibrary Loan (ILL) books for students.  This deadline is tomorrow, Friday Dec. 2.  After this date we will not be able to process any more ILL requests for books until the beginning of the Spring Semester in January.  We will continue to process article requests until Dec. 20th when ILL will close for the semester.

If you need help finding materials for your paper please stop by the reference desk or contact us through one of our many AskUs points and we'll be glad to help you out.

If you have any questions please contact Andrew Shuping at shuping_ad@mercer.edu or 301-2251.

And thank you for using Interlibrary Loan this Semester.