Welcome to the McIntyre Advantage for Students

Welcome to the first issue of the library's new e-newsletter for students. It's more than just a newsletter -- it's also a blog. Through blog postings and via a monthly collection of stories sent as an e-newsletter, we'll offer you quick research tips, tricks and library updates. And all the content and postings will be made by students like you, so you can be assured the information will be about what matters most to you.

Feel free to comment on the posts and let us know what you like and don't like.

Participate in a Dialogue on Open Government and Secrecy

Do laws such as the Freedom of Information Act fulfill their promise to guarantee openness in government? How do laws passed and policies/regulations implemented since 9/11 encourage secrecy or openness?

See, hear and participate in "Are We Safer in the Dark? A Dialogue on Open Government and Secrecy," a 90-minute conversation with national experts who will discuss government secrecy, open government, Sunshine laws and how they affect public safety and your life. Video montages illustrate the effects of the lack of government transparency on communities and individuals. During the real time satellite transmission, telephone and e-mail connections will allow audience input. Come participate and the dialogue!

• Where: McIntyre Library in L2023 A–C.
• When: Monday March 13, 2006, Noon - 1:30pm
• Why: To raise awareness of the importance of open government for everyone and to publicize the resources available to safeguard the public's ability to hold government accountable.
• Local Sponsor/ hosts: McIntyre Library and the Communication and Journalism Dept., University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire.
• Contact: Leslie Foster, Head of Government Publications.

What You Need Most to Make it Through Midterms

It's that time again. Spring is just around the corner and so are all those papers and exams. We have what you need to survive until break!

Do you need...

A topic for your paper?
Research Rescue can help you to find topics, develop ideas and start you on your way.

More information?
Try Build-a-Guide! Our database of popular topics shows you where to go to find the information you need on a variety of subjects in journals, books and websites.

To make sure that you’re using scholarly journals?
Our handy guide will help you to decide whether or not you have a scholarly journal or a popular magazine.

To find an article from a citation you found?
Use Citation Linker, just enter the information you have, and citation linker will find the article, book or journal for you, and let you know whether or not we have it at the library.

To make sure that your bibliography is correct?
You can find a guideline for formatting your bibliography here…Otherwise, an amazing website that creates the citations for you is: Landmark's Citation Machine.

A little help searching for articles?
Come visit us at the reference desk, give us a call at 836-3858 or e-mail us at library.reference@uwec.edu.

The Best Study Spots on Campus

Need a place to study? Try one of these locations…

The new IMC

4th floor study rooms

The grand corridor

Ask Mac - Get Advice

Hey, Mac:

I was trying to do some research over break. I kept getting sent to something called SearchSpot. What is this, and will it make things easier or harder for me?

Sincerely, Seeing Spots


Dear Spots:

SearchSpot is an amazing new tool that is making our library an easier place to navigate. It allows you to search multiple databases, the library catalog, websites and more. You can create your own unique list of up to 8 resources to search simultaneously, or use the categories that the library has already created to search by discipline. If you enjoy seeing all your results in one place, you'll love SearchSpot. As if SearchSpot wasn't working hard enough already, it allows you to save your results, and to refine the results that you've already found. SearchSpot will allow you to look in databases that you hadn't thought to try, without taking any more of your precious time. You can use SearchSpot from the library homepage, simply by clicking on me.

Have fun searching!

Have a question for “Ask Mac”? We’d love to hear from you. Send your question to lonnincg@uwec.edu