Ugghh

Rather sad situation in the building today ... some unfortunate creature has apparently crawled into the building and died somewhere!  There is a very disagreeable smell in some places, especially on the lower level near the foot of the stairs and the south elevator.

We have the big fans on, and Physical Plant guys are searching for the source of this disturbance. 

The good news is that it's mostly out in the Atrium and traffic areas, while inside the Reference Room, the offices, carrels, etc. seems okay.  So you can still come and study here without a huge problem.

Hoping that it doesn't last long ....

Paula

UPSEM website maintenance Thursday, 25 July

We have been notified that the www.upsem.edu website may be unavailable on Thursday because of maintenance work.  It's not clear at this time whether the Library websites will be affected.

If our Library site is down, you may still be able to reach the specific services (such as the Catalog) by using their direct links :

E-mail:  http://mail.upsem.edu

Library:  http://library.upsem.edu

Library catalog : http://morton.upsem.edu:8991/F

Blackboard: https://union-psce.blackboard.com/webapps/login/

And in the Library catalog, there is a page we have created of temporary links to our online databases -- one set for connecting within our campus network and one for off-campus :

http://morton.upsem.edu:8991/F/?func=file&file_name=base-list

And here is the direct link to this blog, where we post announcements and updates :

http://wsmlpublicservices.blogspot.com/

You may also find updated information on the Facebook pages of Union Seminary and the Library.

We recommend that you bookmark these sites on your own computer so you can use them as a "work-around" if necessary.  We can't guarantee that they will be functioning on Thursday, but it gives you one more possible way to get access.

Paula

UPSEM website is offline

Fortunately, the Library website is running this morning, but the general campus site is offline.  Here is a message about it from John Wilson :

The www.upsem.edu website is presently being scanned by the developer to eliminate some potential problems.  You may have received a warning message if you have visited the site this morning.

You are advised to stay off the page until further notice.

You may use the following links in the meantime:

E-mail:  http://mail.upsem.edu

Library:  http://library.upsem.edu

Blackboard: https://union-psce.blackboard.com/webapps/login/

Holiday hours this week

The Library will have reduced hours this week for the July 4th holiday. 

Monday - Tuesday:  9:00am - 6:00pm
Wednesday, July 3:  9:00am - 5:00pm
Thursday, July 4:  Closed for July 4th holiday
Friday, July 5:  9:00am - 5:00pm
Saturday, July 6:  1:00 - 5:00pm
Sunday:  Closed

Check out our hours and closings on our website...

http://library.upsem.edu/Pages/HoursStaff.html#Morton


Rachel

NEW summer hours schedule

We've been studying our building traffic patterns, and it had led us to revise our summer hours schedule for 2013.

Please note a later opening on weekdays, at 9:00 am.  Also, we will close a bit earlier than last summer, at 6:00 pm Monday through Thursday, and 5:00 pm on Fridays and Saturdays.

HERE is a link to the full information.

We think this will conform better to the usage patterns we have seen and will reduce waste by trimming staff hours and utility costs.

Paula

Library catalog maintenance coming

We need to do some major updates on our catalog servers over the Memorial Day weekend.  Our wonderful Systems Librarian, Leland Deeds, is giving of his precious holiday time to do this work, ensuring that it will have the smallest possible impact on our users.  I'll quote from his explanation :



The Library of Congress has begun a year-long project updating a series of subject headings. One of the areas heavily impacted by these changes in wording are subject headings related to the Bible and the Quran. For instance, the subject heading “Bible. N.T.” will become “Bible. New Testament.”  The bearing of this change on a collection like ours is, of course, quite striking; it will alter approximately 45% of our bib records.

Because this upload and overlay is much larger than usual, it will require longer periods of service interruption. Here is the plan:

Saturday, May 25:

(a) the Charlotte branch closes at 5:30pm

(b) a full-server backup is run from 11:00pm to approximately 7:00am

(c) the Library Catalog is unavailable during this time.

Sunday, May 26:

the servers will be brought back up by 7:00am and the catalog will be available

Sunday night through Monday morning, May 27: 

(a) index rebuild will run between 12:00am to approximately 7:00am Monday morning 

(b) during this time, the Authority (UTS10) and Bibliographic (UTS01) services of the catalog will be “locked”. Users attempting to access the Library catalog during the wee hours of Monday morning will see an error message when attempting to perform either a “Browse Headings” or Keyword search. As soon as the jobs are finished, both services “unlock”.

(c) by 7:00am I will check the services to confirm successful completion, that all services are “unlocked” and that all functions appear to be normal. 

If there are any unforeseen problems or snags, we'll announce them on this blog.  We do apologize for any inconvenience!

Paula

Reduced Hours This Week

Please be aware that the Library will close early this Friday, May 24, at 5:00pm. Also, the Library will be closed Saturday - Monday for the Memorial Day holiday.

Summer hours will begin next Tuesday, May 28, 9:00am - 6pm. Check our hours page for complete summer hours:

http://library.upsem.edu/Pages/HoursStaff.html#Morton


Rachel