A clandestine team from the Learning Technology Resources group discovered a stump outside the CM building that was filled with cigarette butts, trash, a brick and other detritus.  It was magically transformed it into a fairy garden, complete with pets in a drum circle, a dining area, a dinosaur hut, and herself, the purple fairy. If you want to do some research on fairies (faeries) or fairy gardens, we have some wonderful databases like Artstor, JSTOR, Literature Research Center, Art & Architecture Complete or Gale Virtual Reference Library that approach the topic from many angles.

National Library Week, a yearly celebration of libraries and the people who use them, will be observed from April 14-20, 2013.  This year’s theme is “Communities matter @ your library®”, and the National Honorary Chair is Caroline Kennedy.  Check out some videos of Ms. Kennedy and friends talking about the importance of libraries in their community.

First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April. It is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation’s libraries and librarians and to promote library use and support. All types of libraries – school, public, academic and special – participate.

Come by the Annandale Library and help us celebrate National Library Week!  Grab a treat on the go or spend some time puzzling over our jar of peeps.  Give your favorite librarian a pat on the back or some words of encouragement.  And join us for our inaugural International Poetry Reading on Weds 4/17 at 1 PM in the President’s Dining Room (CE Bldg, 2^nd floor) for a taste of the diversity that makes our campus community such an exciting place to work, play, and study.

Listen to what a few ESL students and Professor Shirley Nuhn have to share about this week’s celebration:
Ava Hashemi on National Library Week
Fatima Rashidi speaks on National Library Week
Nikki Naghmeh speaks on National Library Week

Prof. Shirley Nuhn speaks about National Library Week 2013

Annandale librarian Paula DeRoy has generated some positive press for our library.

Remember the origami art display that several of our librarians and staff members created? That display is currently being featured on the library design blog Librarian Design Share. You can read the write-up here.

NOVA Libraries also made an appearance in the New Orleans Times-Picayune. A picture of the Harry Potter-themed cake created for the Edible Book Festival is the cover image for a story promoting an Edible Book Festival at the New Orleans Museum of Art. Read the story and see the image here. Paula has been organizing the Edible Book Festival at Annandle for three years.

Thank you, Paula for all of the work that you do to make the library a space for creativity and fun.

If you want to access your files from any location, then cloud storage provides a solution to your needs. Cloud storage refers to data that is placed on a virtual server, usually hosted by a third party service provider (such as Google), thus enabling access to the information from any location that has a computer (or another digital device such as a tablet) and an internet connection. Using cloud storage can reduce worrying about lost USB drives (a  common issue with students). Many cloud storage services also has content creation capabilities–allowing users to create files anywhere. Users can also collaborate with and share these files with others–very useful for class and work projects. The following list provides a brief description of several popular cloud storage services.

Box.net
Box.net offers 5 gigabytes (GB) of storage space for free and offers an option to send files via email and collaborate virtually. Box.net is also available for mobile devices.

DropBox
Free users are provided with 2 GB of space. While this is is fairly low (especially compared to Box.net and Google Drive, both which  offers 5 GB of space), Dropbox is useful in that you can download the software onto each of your computers or mobile devices and it will automatically sync to Dropbox’s servers. Users can decide which files should be publicly accessible, which files should be shared with only a few people, and which files should remain private.

Google Drive
Similar to Box.net, Google Drive has 5 GB of storage space. However, if you have a Gmail account, then Google Drive (and a host of other Google Products) is already available to you. There’s also an option to download Google Drive onto your computer, smartphone, or tablet.

SkyDrive
SkyDrive is an online storage site that is part of the Microsoft family  of products. Sky Drive provides users with 7 GB of space and allows users to sync their files from any location. If you already have a Microsoft account, then SkyDrive is already available to you; if not, then you will need to create a Microsoft account prior to using it.