The Information Commons in Library West

WHAT: National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) “Write-In Event”

WHERE: InfoCommons@West, 3rd Floor, Library West

WHEN: Wednesday, November 19, 2008, 5pm – 10pm

SCHEDULE:

5:30 – 6:00pm – ONLINE CHAT
JEANIENE FROST
New York Times Best Selling Author of the ‘Night Huntress Series’
(urban fantasy/paranormal romance). Published by AVON Books.

6:30 – 7:00pm – GUEST SPEAKER: MARJORIE “M.D.” ABRAMS
2006 Florida Book Awards Bronze Medal Winner and author 
of “Murder on the Prairie,” a North Florida Mystery.

7:30 – 8:00pm – ONLINE CHAT
ILONA ANDREWS
New York Times Bestselling Authors of the ‘Kate Daniels Series’
(urban fantasy), published by ACE Books.

8:30 – 9:00pm – GUEST SPEAKER
PIERCE KELLEY
Local author of several Florida-based courtroom drama novels as 
well as several works of non-fiction.
Talk will take place in the InfoCommons @ West.

9:00 – 9:30pm – ONLINE CHAT
ANN AGUIRRE
Bestselling author of the ‘Jax Series.
(science fiction), published by ACE Books.

—”Word War” contests were held throughout the evening for Book Prizes. (Some books were signed by the authors!!)  Congratulations to ‘Word War’ winners Sam, Paige, Lori, & Alexandra for writing 900-1100 in 15 minutes or less! You guys are amazing!

—Writer’s Block? The “Idea Jar” & “Jar of Fortunes” were available again this year along with other fun games & giveaways to spark imagination.

—Book Display Table of Writer’s Resources was also available.

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*A MILLION THANKS* to the incredible group of authors who took the time to come to speak in person and to chat online with our participants. You are all WONDERFUL! Thank you SO much for your time and inspiration!

More pictures here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/uf_infocommons/sets/72157609897473455/show/

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Sleep from A to Zzzz’s

On Wednesday, October 15, 2008, from Noon 1pm, guest speaker, Trudi DiTrolio, conducted a workshop on the importance of getting good sleep.  Approximately 31 attendees dropped in to learn more about the importance of getting a good night’s sleep as well as tips on acheiving this.

Advertisement summary:

“Do you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep? Do you find it hard to get up in the morning? Do you wake up feeling irritable and depressed? If you answered yes to any of these questions, come and join us as we share some practical tips for getting enough sleep. It is tempting to sacrifice sleep to squeeze in more time to study but sleep deprivation actually makes it harder to learn and to focus. Learn how much sleep you really need to be effective, how to establish good sleep hygiene and why it’s important to make sleep a priority. The program is free and open to the public.”
 

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Digital Literacy Contest

The George A. Smathers Libraries, in conjunction with the InfoCommons@West, hosted the Digital Literacy Contest, a competition testing Internet literacy and cognitive agility, on Wednesday, September 17 in Library West.  www.digitalliteracycontest.org

You can read the article from the Independent Florida Alligator here: 
http://www.alligator.org/articles/2008/09/18/news/campus/080917_library.txt

Two back-to-back competitions began at 11:00 a.m. Contestants were given 30 minutes, 50 questions and Internet access. Correct answers earned points and incorrect answers were penalized. The highest scores won the competition and winners were awarded cash prizes. 

FIRST PLACE: $150
Stacey Gray

SECOND PLACE: $50
YueFeng Xu

THREE TIED FOR THIRD PLACE: $20 EACH
Alexandra Conti
Jarrod Tredway
Sey Hee Park

The contest was free and open to all UF students, faculty, staff and community members. Following the competitions the libraries hosted a discussion on digital information literacy. 

Free pizza and drinks were provided by Hungry Howie’s Pizza and the Library PRAM Committee.

The Digital Literacy Contest was created in 2007 by then Purdue University student Daniel Poynter. It has since grown to other universities across the nation including Brown University and Indiana University.

“This is the first competition in which people wield the Internet as a cognitive prosthetic,” said Poynter. “  It’s a high speed battle of Internet-enabled intelligence. It has three main objectives: to identify people who thrive in information overload; to disseminate their insights; and to create a discussion about what it means to be digitally literate.  Unparalleled global access to information is accelerating technological and social change. Making sense of our increasingly complex world depends upon becoming better information filters through the help of libraries. This competition is one way to ease ourselves into this exciting future.”

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The Library Virtual Worlds Group  hosted a virtual lecture by Paul Fishwick, Professor of Computer and Information Science and Engineering at the University of Florida, on Friday, September 12, 11am-12pm.

Prof. Fishwick led a discussion on the role of libraries in virtual worlds as well as on his recent work in Second China.  This lecture was held in Second Life at (Cybrary City, 97 x 15 x 24; slurl) and simulcast live in Library West 212 as well as in the presentation area on the third floor of the InfoCommons.

Please visit the Libraries Virtual World Group Wiki page for more information about this lecture and to view the chat transcript from the lecture: http://virtualworldsgroup.wetpaint.com/page/Lecture+Series 

Images from the lecture can be viewed here:
http://virtualworldsgroup.wetpaint.com/album/47927/9/12/08+Lecture+Series+-+Paul+Fishwick

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On August 27, 2008, the InfoCommons @ West organized a Technology Exposition to feature various technology and resources available throughout the Smathers, Health Science, and Law libraries.

We started setting up around 8am:

Approximately 360 visitors walked through the expo between 10am – 2pm (peak hours being 11-1).

Participants/Booths included:

• InfoCommons table (promoting 3-D animation software, ADA equipment & software, etc). 
• Digital Information Literacy Contest Info and contest registration
• “Facebook Your Library” 
• Virtual Worlds Group and Second Life Demo 
• Health Science Center 
• Legal Information Center 
• Digital Library Center 
• Marston Science Library (promoting BioActive and GatorScholar) 
• E-Res and ILLiad 
• Self-Check Machine 
• RefWorks 
• Online Library Instruction Tutorials 
• Ask-A-Librarian 
• InfoZombies Videos and giveaways
• Mystery in the Stacks Event Promotion

One of the InfoCommons ADA/Media Production Studios (Rm. 335) was open for visitors to explore.  A PPT ran on the large screen explaining all the features of the room.

Guitar Hero was available on the 61″ flat panel display in the Presentation Area for participants to play.  At one point, an InfoZombie showed up and rocked the house!

Cookies & Drinks were generously provided by the PRAM committee. There were only 12 cookies left out of the 350 purchased. :)

We received overwhelmingly positive feedback from attendees.  Laura and I were surprised to hear quite a few visitors mention they had no idea this wing of the 3rd floor existed, so it was great to be able to feature that area of Library West in addition to showcasing all of the different technologies available throughout the libraries.

More pictures of the event preparation are available here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/uf_infocommons/sets/72157612291922314/

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In July, the InfoCommons @ West teamed up with GatorWell to present First Year Florida Students with two workshops on time management and library resources called “Maximize Your Time, Utilize Your Resources.”

GatorWell Health Promotion Specialist, Tina Baker, and InfoCommons Librarian, Stacey Ewing, led the first workshop on July 10, 2008 Tina covered the importance of time management and Stacey covered library resources available to students. The workshop ended with a tour of Library West.

GatorWell Health Promotion Specialist, Tina Baker, and InfoCommons Librarian, Laura Jordan, led the second workshop. Tina covered the importance of time management and Laura covered library resources available to students. The workshop ended with a tour of Library West.

Approximately 20-25 students attended each event. 

More pictures here: http://flickr.com/photos/uf_infocommons/sets/72157614391516869/

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On Wednesday, April  9, 2008, from Noon – 1pm,  GatorWell Health Promotion Specialist, Tina Baker, was invited to give a brown bag presentation on identifying personal stressors and exploring skills to reduce stress before, during and after exams.  She also led attendees through an exploration of stress reduction techniques that could be done anytime, anywhere, and any place.  Seventeen UF students and staff memebers attended this event.  

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We held another GHIII event on Wednesday, March 5, 2008 to help promote the presentation area in the InfoCommons and to have a little Pre-Spring Break fun. :)

76 people showed up between Noon-2pm to rock out with us in the InfoCommons. I made brownies the night before and picked up some cookies from the Publix bakery that morning. Our “Have a Ball at the InfoCommons @ West” stress balls arrived the day before so we were able to have those on hand for fun giveaways.

Our GHIII Event Survey Results were quite positive. The top “write-in” request for games they would like to see in the library was Rock Band.

We had ear plugs available once again for anyone who might want a pair but no takers. Like the last GHIII event, most students studying around our area were plugged into their iPods anyway so the sound didn’t seem to bother them at all.  Many of the students in the area would walk up to take a turn at the game and then return to their study space and pick up where they left off. :D

Thanks and a big “You ROCK!” to the following:

• Thanks big-big to Jay Ewing for lending us his PS2 console, controllers and game! 
• Thanks to Laura Jordanfor helping with plans, flyering, photos, cleanup, etc! 
• Thanks to Barbara Hood for the awesome flyer design. 
• Thanks to Jude for helping with the console testing the day before. 
• Thanks to Colleen Seale for lending us the basket to hold the stress ball giveaways. 
• Thanks most of all to all to the patrons who came out to take a break and have a little fun!! 

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The InfoCommons @ West hosted a Guitar Hero III Event on December 6, 2007 to help students blow off a little pre-finals steam.

50-60 people showed up between Noon and 4pm to rock out with us in the InfoCommons. Not bad turnout considering we didn’t really advertise outside of a few list-serv posts and a couple of dry erase board signs. Most of our head count came from curious library folk but we had an equal number of students who were happy to take a break and have a little fun. :D

The response to the event was very positive.  We had ear plugs on hand for anyone who might want a pair but no takers. Most students studying around our area were plugged into their iPods anyway so the sound didn’t seem to bother them. We had quite a few students take breaks from studying and walk up to take a turn at the game and then go right back to studying. :D

Thanks and a big “YOU ROCK” to the following:

• Thanks big-big to Jonathan for lending us his PS3 console and game!
• Thanks to Laurie Taylor for buying an extra controller and bringing COOKIES!
• Thanks to Laura Jordan for helping with plans, setup and cleanup!
• Thanks most of all to all of our patrons and library staff supporters who came out to take a break and have a little fun!! You were the icing on the cake- helping to make this a successful event!

You can view a slideshow of images from the event here: http://flickr.com/photos/uf_infocommons/sets/72157603402212677/show/

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On November 7, 2007, the InfoCommons @ West hosted a “Final Push” Writing Event for the local Gainesville NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) participants.  This event allowed the participants a space to write together and work on final word count from 5pm – 1am.

Approximately 27 UF students and local gainesville participants showed up throughout the night- writing, speaking, offering support, and encouraging one another.   Starbucks provided coffee and treats, keeping everyone well caffeinated and on a consistent sugar-high. :)  

One of the participants reached the 50,000 word count goal that night and everyone cheered her on as she submitted her novel to Nanowrimo for verification. Congratulations Jane!! :D

Local writers, R. Michael Burns and Sandra Lambert, graciously offered to speak to the group and gave writing advice as well as healthy doses of encouragement.  Both speakers were wonderful and and inspiring- sharing valuable advice on publishing as well as dealing with pesky rejection letters. :)

You can view a slideshow of some of the pictures we shot that evening:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/uf_infocommons/sets/72157603364596428/show/

For more information on National Novel Writing Month and how you can participate next year: http://www.nanowrimo.org/

For more information on the Gainesville NaNoWriMo Group: http://gainesvillenano.wordpress.com/

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