Tours & Instruction Procedures

Building tours have been discontinued.

Requests for instruction should be forwarded to Carla Hagstrom. (we have discontinued our classes for high school students)

We have a 'self-guided tour' handout available near the Information desk, as well as the Virtual Tour accessible from our web page.

Endeca Launch Timeline

I wanted to update you with a slight change that I've received for the Endeca launch timelines that I'd announced at today's Reference Services meeting.
As discussed, on Monday November 3, the Endeca interface will move from development to production (eg, the interface will be stable and fully functional).

However, from November 3 until January 5, Endeca will continue to be offered as a second alternative on the library homepages; the SIRSI catalogue interface will continue to be the default catalogue.
On Monday January 5, the default catalogue interface will be switched from SIRSI to Endeca; SIRSI will become the secondary alternative. We hope that by timing the transition for the start of the second term, it will be smoother for both users and staff.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. I'll continue to keep you posted, and we'll update those dates on the home page as appropriate!

Thanks, Sian Meikle
08/10/2008

Information Desk Walkie-talkie

As was discussed in our last Information desk staff meeting, we will now use walkie-talkies to help telephone service staff keep in touch with the 10-12 infodesk "on call" person.
In between 12-6pm they will be used by both sides of the Information desk to contact Jeff.

PROCEDURE
- telephone service staff should have the unit with them and on from 10am onward
- information desk "on call" staff should keep the unit with them, and on from 10-12. After 12 give the unit to Jeff (or place it in the infodesk printer cabinet)

- when not in use, both units should be kept in the Information desk printer cabinet
- on days that Jeff is not here, the units will be used from 10-12 only and should be turned off afterwards
- Jeff is responsible for them and will replace batteries, or charge batteries when required

USAGE
- to turn the units on and off, press and hold the "MODE" button for 3 seconds
- to talk, press the large button on the left-hand side
- to listen, let go of the large button on the left-hand side
- the channel should always be on 11. If it gets changed accidentally just use the 'CHANNEL' button to put it back.

Reference Collection Shifting

With the move of reference material back to the main floor we are still be left with reference material on the floor below.
In order to make finding this material easier and to assist with reshelving we have created two new location codes for Gerstein.

- Lower Reference I which will refer to material in B110 and will appear as LOWER_REF1 where truncation is required in SIRSI
- Lower Reference II. which will refer to material in B112 and will appear as LOWER_REF2 where truncation of the name is required.

It will take quite some time until all the material has it new location applied as it must be done on a title by title basis. I will put out another message when the task has been completed.

Bonnie
Oct. 1, 2008

T-Space - how UofT authors submit articles

Hi all,
The Faculty of Medicine Research Office, working through the Discovery Commons in conjunction with Rea at T-Space, has now created an easy to use page for UofT authors to submit their articles to T-Space.
See: http://admin.med.utoronto.ca/research/default.cfm
Submissions go first to the Discovery Commons where they are 'massaged' as necessary and then are fully submitted to T-Space.
The Faculty of Medicine is holding a session about T-Space and submission to same for Hospital Research Institute Directors/VPs Research and HRI administrators /communications managers who may be responsible for CIHR/NIH Open Access information/compliance at the various UofT related institutions.
Elena will attend on our behalf and report back about anything of particular interest to us which occurs.
In the meantime, please be aware that all those working on the Research side of the Info Desk should know why UofT authors need to comply with CIHR and NIH open access policies and how they can do so.
See the link to 'Open Access' at the top of the submission form for more info.
See a background article about this in the Gerstein news: http://content.library.utoronto.ca/gerstein/newsletter/volume9/issue1/article2.html
Thank you.
Sandra - July 25, 2008

Palomar Observatory Sky Survey

All staff, As a result of the closure of the Dunlap Observatory Library Gerstein is acquiring some additional astronomy material.
One particularly valuable collection, the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey, will arrive in the next few weeks. Please see link below for more info. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Geographic_Society_-_Palomar_Observatory_Sky_Survey
The glass plate collection and instruments for reading the plates will be placed in a locked room (B126) off the Heritage Wing hall where Dan, Carla & Rea used to have their offices.
Bonnie will arrange for a catalogue entry to be made so staff and patrons can locate them. Thanks.
Sandra - July 25, 2008

Chemistry Library summer service

Just thought I would update everyone on our summer hours -this year is a bit different than in the past.
For July 21st to Aug 8th te library will be open from 12-4:30 Monday to Friday and from Aug 11 to Sept 1 the library will be closed completely!
We reopen on Sept 2nd.

I have closed the ILL and ICD requests on VDX from July 30th to Sept 2nd.

Patricia - July 18, 2008.

GovPub reference service merged with Robarts

As of July 2nd, 2008, Government Publications reference service will be provided from the Robarts Reference desk on the 4th floor. A core Government Publications collection will remain on the 5th floor of Robarts. Data and GIS Services on the 5th floor of Robarts will expand to become the Data, Map and GIS Centre.

Debbie Green - July 15, 2008

Blackwell merging with Wiley

As of Monday, June 30th 2008, all Blackwell journal content—including all full-text HTML and PDF versions of articles from current issues, backfiles, and issues published online before print—will be incorporated into Wiley InterScience.

We plan to close Blackwell Synergy at the end of business (Pacific Standard Time) on Friday June 27th and we anticipate that the migration will be completed by Monday June 30th. Over the weekend of June 28th and 29th, there will be a period when both Blackwell Synergy and Wiley InterScience will be unavailable while we transition and re-index data.

After June 30th, Blackwell Synergy will no longer be available.

Details about the actual downtime period will be posted on each site prior to June 27th, and you can find other essential information and FAQs about the change in service here:

* interscience.wiley.com/transition - for Librarians and Institutional Customers
* interscience.wiley.com/transition-users - for Individual End Users
* interscience.wiley.com/support - Customer Support contact information

Firefox issue with pdfs at Springer

From Gail on April 28th...

Good morning everyone,
I had the following exchange with a Springer support person regarding a pdf document in the Encyclopedia of Soil Science. It seems that access to larger files may be a problem when using Firefox and Springer suggests that we use IE.
Regards,
Gail


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: Feedback
Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2008 09:26:04 -0400
From: Springerlink, New-York, Springer US

Hi Gail,

I'll report this problem to our counterparts in Germany to see if there is anything that can be done. I know some users have had access issues using Firefox, so if possible perhaps you should use IE instead.

Sincerely,
Cristina

Racer Video Tutorial

From Helen on May 15th...

Thanks to Laura and Heather there is now a quick video tutorial on how to use RACER. It is intended to help students, faculty and staff to enter interlibrary loan requests. Please try it out!

>From the Gerstein main page:
- under 'services' select 'borrow from other libraries'
- click on 'students, faculty and staff at the University of Toronto'
- click on 'watch the video'

There is also a link from the FAQ.

Data and GIS Services - interruptions and changes

Please note:
Data and GIS Services will be closed between June 12th and June 19th, 2008.
Email reference will be available during this time (gis.maps@utoronto.ca
or dlsg@chass.utoronto.ca)
The new Data, Map, and GIS Centre will open its doors on Friday June
20th, 2008 (10AM-5PM)

------------------------------
Marcel Fortin, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Map Librarian

Headstart - update library user records

As in previous years, the Headstart program which provides TCards, utorids and UTORmail accounts to new students, who are invited to register in September 2008, begins on June 1. However, the library privileges associated with these cards are activated later in June, by the end of the convocation period. The library database is updated with graduation information first, setting up the new alumni records, before the new students are loaded. Please advise any new students who inquire about library privileges that their records will be active by late June. Summer session students are, of course, already active.

Thank you,
Lari Langford

Should we receive inquires re: prayer spaces on campus, please let patrons know the closest is at Hart House and refer them to the following websites for other possible locations: http://www.multifaith.utoronto.ca/Multi-Faith-Prayer-Spaces.htm


The Muslim Students' Assn. also has information on their webpage about daily and weekly prayer locatons. http://uoftmsa.com/campus-life/daily-prayers/



Email from SL April 16, 2008.
Updated URLs Jan. 18, 2010

Short Term Guest Accounts

1) What are short term guest accounts?
Short term guest accounts provide access to those visiting the university who need to teach in wireless classrooms, or work in a contractor capacity on the wireless network or are delegates to conferences held at the university. They last approximately 5 days.


2). How to create short term guest accounts:
• For eligible individuals who require in-library workstation access only, create accounts at http://peas.icicle.utoronto.ca/
• For eligible individuals who require wireless access or access to the Portal, create accounts at http://utorauth.utoronto.ca/?page=stguest (Note: only faculty/staff with UTORID’s may create accounts from this page)


3) Who can create short term guest accounts?
• Staff who work on the “Research/Reference” side of the Information Desk

Guest Accounts

There are Library and Internet Research Accounts (LIRA) and Guest Accounts.

This post pertains to Guest Accounts


1) “Create a general GUEST account” – allows access to all public PCs
This account is for:
· U of T students, faculty, and staff who have forgotten their UTORid/UTORmail password when the Information Commons Help Desk is closed.
· U of T students, faculty, and staff who have just created their UTORid account. There is a lag time between creation and activation of the accounts.
· Direct Borrowers and Continuing Studies Students who are waiting for their PINs to be reset.
· Visiting scholars such as grad students and faculty from other universities and research institutions who have an institutional id and who are not Direct Borrowers.


2) Who can create a guest account?
● Staff who work on the Reference side of the Information Desk



3) How to create an account::
a) Ask patron for valid government issued photo ID (e.g. OHIP card, TTC student metropass, high school ID card, etc) - an account cannot be created unless this ID is presented
b) Go to http://peas.icicle.utoronto.ca/ (Please bookmark this for easy access since
it is not linked from our webpage)
c) The required information is patron name, email and university affiliation

Quick Staff Guide to LIRA Accounts

1. Why is authentication required?
- To comply with the terms of U of T license agreements for electronic resources
- To ensure that the primary U of T community (faculty, staff, students) has priority access to terminals and licensed online resources.
- To ensure users comply with the University of Toronto Appropriate Use of Technology policy


2. How do patrons gain access to a public PC?
a) Patrons must use the guest account kiosk to generate an account name and password. Patrons must swipe one of the following pieces of ID:
- UofT Library / T-Card
- Canadian or U.S. driver’s license
- Credit card (American Express, Mastercard, or VISA)
b) Patrons must then agree to the conditions regarding appropriate use of the university network. Then the printer issues a login name and password which are good until 11 PM of the current day.
c) Patrons enter this account name and password into the PCs designated for their use.


3. Who is eligible to use public access PCs?
Anyone with one of the following pieces of ID:
- UofT Library / T-Card
- Canadian or U.S. driver’s license
- Credit card (American Express, Mastercard, or VISA)

4. Can staff still create guest accounts?
a) Staff should always direct patrons to the kiosk
b) Staff can create guest accounts when there are problems with the kiosk (hardware failure, run out of paper, ink, etc).
c) In cases where patrons do not have an acceptable credit card, driver's license, or previous UTL library/TCard, staff can create a guest account if the patron has government issued photo ID (e.g. OHIP card, TTC student metropass, high school ID card, etc)


5. How to create an account:
a) Ask patron for valid government issued photo ID (e.g. OHIP card, TTC student metropass, high school ID card, etc) - an account cannot be created unless this ID is presented.
b) Go to http://peas.icicle.utoronto.ca/ (bookmarked in Explorer on Loans Desk PC)
c) Create a Library and Internet Resource Account, do not create a General Guest Account.
d) The required information is patron name, email and university affiliation (can be “none”)


6. Who can create a guest account?
- Patrons themselves using the guest account kiosk
- Staff who work at the Information Desk; staff working at the Loans Services Desk (please note this includes full-time staff as well as the SLAs who work on Sunday after 7 pm)


7. Visiting scholars who inquire about a guest account for longer periods should be referred to Robarts Access & Information.

Check catalogue and e-Resources (EIR) database for books

When patrons ask if the UofT Libraries have a book, it is very important to check or advise them to check for wanted titles in the e-Resources list (via the e-Resources icon at the bottom of the Gerstein web page) as well as in the catalogue.

UTL is acquiring a large selection of e-books from a variety of publishers and making them available as quickly as possible to patrons via the e-Resources icon at the bottom of the library web page. Loading the records for e-books into the catalogue is a time consuming process. This is similar to what happened when the library first acquired e-journals.

Thank you.

Sandra Feb 2, 2008

LIRA Kiosk for creating temporary accounts

The LIRA Kiosk located near Printing Station 1 is the new way for people to use our 5 open public computers.
These computers used to have no login at all, but now require the user to go to the Kiosk and obtain a temporary username and password.
Instructions on how to use the Kiosk are at the station.

Anyone with a valid Canadian or U.S. drivers licence, credit card or TCard may use the Kiosk.
Anyone without this ID may obtain a LIRA account from the reference side of the Information Desk.

This temporary account is active until 11pm of the day created. On following days the procedure is the same.

Trouble Shooting for Blackboard

Although access to Blackboard/the Portal is not a direct Library responsibility, we can do a little troubleshooting when students come to our desks wondering why they can't log into the Portal (http://portal.utoronto.ca)

1. The portal may be down. You can always check status updates here: http://www.portalinfo.utoronto.ca

2. If the portal is up, and the student knows their UTORID and password, but still can't log in to the portal, it may have something to do with their EMAIL ADDRESS in ROSI. If the student's e-mail address stored in ROSI is not a UTORmail address, they will not be able to access the Portal until that is updated to a valid University of Toronto address. They can be referred to the IC Help Desk, of course, to get assistance in getting that account set up, entered in ROSI, etc.

Rita