Extensive server maintenance work

Our systems librarian, Leland Deeds, will be performing extensive maintenance on our catalog server this weekend.   He is very graciously planning this work for the Easter weekend when most of us will be busy with other things and not needing to access our online catalog.

Please be aware that the Library catalog will be offline Friday night and Saturday night at least.  Because Leland is going to be doing some backup operations that we have not done before, we can't predict exactly how long this work is going to take.  So we can't be more specific about precisely which hours will involve catalog downtime.

If you have trouble accessing the Library catalog at any point this weekend, please assume that maintenance is still going on.  We intend to have everything back in operation well before we reopen on Monday, April 1st.

Paula

Library closed today - March 25

The Library will be closed today, Monday, March 25, due to inclement weather. This is the first day of spring break on the Richmond campus. We will open tomorrow at our regular time 8:00am.


Rachel

New access gate system

Recently we installed a new software system to our Library access gates.  With the new system you will need to remove your access card from your wallet, handbag, or backpack and slowly wave it in front of the gate card reader.  The new system reader will not be able to "read" your card if it is adjacent to other cards.

If you have difficulties using your access card to enter the Library please push the button on the wall next to the gate and the Circulation staff will meet you.

Rachel

Impressive new online manuscripts site

Check out this announcement from Reuters :

The Nash Papyrus -- one of the oldest known manuscripts containing text from the Hebrew Bible -- has become one of the latest treasures of humanity to join Isaac Newton's notebooks, the Nuremberg Chronicle and other rare texts as part of the Cambridge Digital Library.  Before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Nash Papyrus was by far the oldest manuscript containing text from the Hebrew Bible and like most fragile historical documents, only available to select academics for scrutiny.

"Cambridge University Library preserves works of great importance to faith traditions and communities around the world," University Librarian Anne Jarvis said in a statement.  "Because of their age and delicacy these manuscripts are seldom able to be viewed - and when they are displayed, we can only show one or two pages."

The university's digital library is making 25,000 new images, including an ancient copy of the New Testament, available on its website (cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/), which has already attracted tens of millions of hits since the project was launched in December 2011.  The latest release also includes important texts from Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism.

In addition to religious texts, internet users can also view the 10th century Book of Deer, which is widely believed to be the oldest surviving Scottish manuscript and contains the earliest known examples of written Gaelic.

"Now... anyone with a connection to the Internet can select a work of interest, turn to any page of the manuscript, and explore it in extraordinary detail," Jarvis said.  The technical infrastructure required to get these texts to web was in part funded by a 1.5 million pound ($2.4 million) gift from the Polonsky Foundation in June 2010.

Sorry !

I apologize for failing to update this blog yesterday with the unexpected closing of the Library due to snow.  I hope no one struggled over here in that storm to find the doors locked. 

I will try to do a better job of remembering to update the blog!

Paula