Links on the Catalog main page

The library catalog's main search page has a few links that you might find useful. You can search the hard copy reserves by professor or course name/number. This can come in handy when you need to know if your professor has put your textbook on reserve or if there are any old tests to study or books to read, etc. You can also access the e-reserve from the catalog. Professors put electronic copies of articles, book chapters etc. on e-reserve. You usually get a password from you teacher to access the e-reserves. Something that was just added this week is the New Titles List. This is a report that is run periodically that shows all the new titles that have been ordered, processed and made ready for use. This list will be updated frequently and are ordered by the end-process date. This may change some as we become more familiar with the report functionality and ways of sorting the results. You can also recommend a purchase, fill out a search request, or request a book that is checked out. Just a few things to make things easier.

Change is Good

The Alkek Library has undergone a lot of changes this summer. You may have noticed the library's new Website that went live over the summer. The re-design was based on the the results of a usability study that was conducted on the existing Website in the early summer of 2005. Hopefully the new Website will be easier to navigate and to find the library's resources. We welcome any comments or suggestions about the new Website. You can make suggestions here.

Also, August 15 the new library catalog went live. The new catalog has many more features than the old catalog. It has a clear, easy to use interface with many more ways to limit your search to certain types of materials. There is also a way to search Course Reserves which wasn't possible with the old catalog. Keep in mind this is the hard copy reserves, not E-Reserves. Soon, the "My Account" feature will be activated. The will allow you to log-in and check your library account to see what items you have checked out, to renew items, view requests, any fines you may have, and your preferred searches/alerts. Look for the "my account" link to change from gray to marroon. Then you will be able to log in using your TxState NetID & password.

A lot of times change is a good thing....