Revised Library Hours for Fall 2005 Exam Period

Due to this year's increased early morning traffic, we will open
the library one hour early, Monday - Friday, for the remainder of the
exam period. During the 7:00 a.m. - 8:00 a.m. hour, there will be
access only; no services (e.g. circulation, reference) will be
available. Please remember that you need to show your Hofstra ID to
enter.

Wednesday, December 14 - Wednesday, December 21
Monday - Friday: 7 A.M. - 2 A.M.
Saturday & Sunday: 10 A.M. - 2 A.M.

Thursday, December 22 : 7 A.M. - 11 P.M.

Again, good luck on exams!

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Refdesk.com

If you are looking for a website that you can use as a portal for almost everything that you do on the web, refdesk.com might be it. Although it is a very busy page, if you are willing to look around you will find some of everything. There are links to search engines, reference resources, news sources, facts sites, help and advice, reference tools, and much more including fun links such as Letterman's Top Ten, Addicting Games.com and Astronomy Picture of the Day.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Podcast Search

The world of podcast search is exploding! There are a number of search engines which seek to give order to finding podcasts, much the way that services like Technorati have made it possible to locate blog postings. These engines allow users to search podcasts by keyword. For example, Podzinger and blinkx search audio content for keywords by translating the audio into text and creating an index for quick searching. This is really powerful technology. Usually, an audio search engine would just be searching the title and a short descriptive summary of a broadcast.

Another innovation can be found at Podscope. This search engines allows users to set up keyword-based RSS feeds and receive alerts when certain words are spoken in a podcast or other types of audio or video programs.

Stay tuned... I strongly suspect there will be much more to report as this medium continues to grow.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Google Transit Shows the Way

There was more big news from Google this week--the announcement of Google Transit Trip Planner. Designed by a few Google engineers during their “20 percent time” (part of the work week given over to the pursuit of unique and interesting ideas), Google Transit lets commuters and travelers access public transportation schedules and other information for a metropolitan area to instantly plan their best route. Google Transit maps out complete trips for specific days and times, all on one web site. It also provides driving routes, and compares the cost and time spent driving somewhere with that of using public transportation. Although the first release (in beta) covers only Portland, Oregon, Google plans to quickly expand the new product to other cities. Meanwhile, everyone can try it out at www.google.com/transit. Here’s a sample result for a specific date and time. More information about Google Transit is found at the site’s FAQ page.
Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Exam Hours

Starting today, I'll have some extra prowling time. The Library will be open extended hours so that you late night owls have a place to study. Our Exam hours starting today are:

EXAM PERIOD SCHEDULE - Friday, December 9 - Thursday, December 22
Monday - Friday: 8 A.M. - 2 A.M.
Saturday & Sunday: 10 A.M. - 2 A.M.

Exceptions:
Thursday, December 22: 8 A.M. - 11 P.M.

Best of luck with your exams.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Government Gazettes Online

Federal governments throughout the world publish some type of gazette that documents regular governmental activity. For instance, in the United States, the government publishes the Federal Register. The Government Gazettes Online Web site Aattempts to list all online government gazettes and their characteristics to aid researchers.@ The site contains entries for each gazette, which is organized alphabetically by country name. Each entry provides the gazette's title, URL, and other information.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Liquids in the Library

As you know, drinks are allowed in the Library in pretty much any type of container. We do ask though that if you do have a spill, please either try to mop it up or let us know at the Circulation Desk. In which case we will try to clean or, depending on the spill, get a maintenance worker over to clean it up.

Thanks, and good luck on those finals!

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Study observations

Just a few observations I've made over the years on studying for law school exams.

There is no right or wrong way to study. Everybody studies differently and should do whatever works for them.

Most professors have given or will give their students a pretty good idea of what they expect from an exam answer.

Drink plenty of water and get a good nights sleep. Eat properly and make time for exercise.

It is OK to take a time out to clear the mind and relax a little. In the past the library has put out puzzles and games to help students take a break.

If you are having difficulty understanding a concept, term, etc. in one of your classes, ask someone. You may be part of a study group or ask in class (while you can) or reference librarians who know how to find answers.

It is easy to stress out during the exam period, so take a deep breathe and let it out slowly. Do this several times.

None of this is really new, but sometimes it helps to be reminded.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

White House News

The White House website has a page in which you can find Presidential news, press briefings, proclamations, executive orders and radio addresses. The page is in the form of a blog, with listings for each day. The listings are in the forms of links which you can click to read the full news story or hear the full radio address, etc. There are even RSS feeds for Presidential news and speeches, White House press briefings and Presidential Weekly Radio Addresses.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Best Government websites

Each year the Taubman Center for Public Policy at Brown University publishes a ranking of what they determine to be the best federal and state government web sites. Here are this years top ten:

1. The White House
2. State Department
3. Treasury Department
4. Agriculture Department
5. Environmental Protection Agency
6. Social Security Administration
7. Department of Housing and Urban Development
8. Federal Communications Commission
9. FirstGov
10. Health and Human Services Department

The federal circuit courts of appeals sites were ranked at the bottom of the 61 sites evaluated. .


Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat