Jen Library Reference Department

Recordings from our fall quarter workshops are now available! Use the links below to access them.

Image Research Basics – 16 min. – Brief introduction on why and how to access high quality art images via ArtSTOR and the Digial Image Database

The C.R.A.A.P. Test – 39 min. – Learn to evaluate the quality of any book, article or website with this handy test

Word Up! Keyword Search Savvy – 29 min. – Discusses how to improve search results by using keywords effectively

Searching Beyond SCAD’s Libraries – 30 min – Use Worldcat, Google Books, Google Scholar and ILL to expand your research beyond the SCAD Libraries collection

Big news! SCAD Libraries’ catalog is undergoing major changes and can be previewed now! Our goal in the redesign is to provide more information about services at all Library locations, and make our resources easier to find for everyone. The overall look is much more consistent with the rest of SCAD’s website, as well.

But, we’re not done until we hear what you think! To view the beta site and submit feedback:

1. Go to http://library.scad.edu
2. Click “Catalog Beta” to be taken to the new catalog and user feedback site
3. Try some of the tasks listed on the Beta page or do your own searches
4. Give us your feedback by taking the anonymous New Website Survey.

We will collect feedback through August. The new website will launch just prior to the fall quarter in September.

CC image by Patrick Hoesly

New online resource alert: SCAD Libraries have just acquired a subscription to Safari Books Online. This 100% digital collection contains more than 5,700 eBooks and 1000+ videos focusing on the how-tos of:

• application development
• web design
• graphic design
• illustration and graphics
• animation
• audio and video production
• digital photography
• or, browse manuals for hundreds of products

The Safari collection is also a great place to look for information on math and science, engineering, and business and career topics.

Best of all, it is totally FREE to SCAD users – simply head to our databases list, find Safari Books Collection, click to enter (SCAD login required), and enjoy!

So while you’re on break, why not:

• redesign your website
• fix that cool lamp you found at the thrift store
• make your WordPress blog way more awesome
• try underwater photography
• take an animation ‘master class’
• sew electronic fashions
• ‘hack’ your kitchen

SCAD Libraries have just acquired access to two fabulous new online resources: Stylesight and Reference USA. Like all of our databases, these can be accessed anywhere, 24/7. All you need to do is login with your last name and SCAD ID card number. Please give them a try and let us know what you think!

Stylesight is an incredible resource for those who are studying fashion, fibers, interior design, and marketing. It provides:

• up-to-date fashion news
• trend and color forecasting
• coverage of events and trade shows
• create custom color palettes and fashion collections

My favorite feature, though, are the 2 million+ images of the runway and street, store displays, interiors, vintage fashions, royalty-free graphics, and even a wide selection of inspirational themes to get your creative juices flowing. Use the links in the left-hand column to start browsing – and budget lots of time, because it’s visually addicting!

Anyone seeking information on U.S. and international businesses will want to give Reference USA a close look. Search for a business to learn about its:

• brands and products
• names of executives and managers
• business size
• stock analysis
• recent news
• historical data

Reference USA also indexes residential data from around the U.S., making it an ‘online phone book’ for finding individual contact information.

Printmakers, Renaissance history buffs as well as interactive designers: check out the excellent website for The Brilliant Line! The exhibit, now on view at the Museum Of Art at RISD, highlights the work of key Renaissance and Baroque engravers from throughout Europe. While it’s sure to be a fine showing of great art and excellent scholarship, the accompanying website is really stunning, because it shows users exactly how these masters created their etchings, layer by layer. Select a work and click “analyze lines” to give it a test drive, as I did with Robetto’s “Adoration of the Magi”:

Analyze Lines feature - via the Museum of Art at RISD

I couldn’t help but be reminded of MoMA’s “What is a Print?” tutorial. Fine printmaking is a rather obscure process to many, and both of these sites do an excellent job of explaining print history and technique for a general audience.

Have you been “wowed” by an exhibition website recently? Add a comment to tell us about it!

SCAD’s fall quarter begins next Monday. Welcome to all of our students, whether you’ve just arrived in Savannah for the first time, or are coming back after summer break. Staff at the Jen Library are rooting for your success in the new school year.

In honor of this occasion, please enjoy these photos of yesteryear’s college students! The pictures come from Flickr Commons, a place where museums worldwide share some of their best images. We have posted about this great resource in the past; it’s just a superb place to look for great public domain works. Explore the Commons to see thousands of pictures from the Smithsonian Institution, the New York Public Library, and others. And now… on to the students.

Ah, the days when drawing classes were gender segregated:

What if synchronized dancing was part of the SCAD curriculum…

…or faculty were required to wear robes?

Even back then, the library was THE place to be.

And don’t forget the importance of college sports.

Whatever you do, SCAD librarians are here to help you towards a bright and happy academic future!

Update 9/14: links have been added to the pictures so you can see the collections they come from.

Some important institutions, including the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian, have been placing historical photographs online on Flickr Commons.  The goal of these projects are to get the public to look at and tag photos.  Oregon State University has now joined in and this week placed some of their images from their agriculture, environmental and other collections online. The Chronicle of Higher Education talks about the image collection in today’s issue.

Take a look at some of the tags and see what you can find!