News and Tips

Everyone knows that big-time service websites like Netflix, Google and Amazon track your internet use on their sites so they can tailor your internet experience specifically to you.  However, did you know it goes way beyond just those sites?  Most sites, even those that you think don’t bother, like Dictionary.com, track users’ internet use with cookies.

Watch this (kind of scary) interview of Lori Andrews, an internet privacy expert and author of the book I Know Who You Are and I Saw What You Did: Social Networks and the Death of Privacy about how your internet usage information can be used against you.

In an editorial for Wired.com, Jason Lanier, author of Who Owns the Future: You Are Not a Gadget, goes a step further, calling out companies who collect internet data while seeking to punish those who participate in illegal copying and downloading. And while it could be argued that the two acts aren’t necessarily related, it’s an interesting read nonetheless.

“It would be unfair to demand that people cease sharing / pirating files when those same people are not paid for their participation in very lucrative network schemes. Ordinary people are relentlessly spied on, and not compensated for information taken from them. While I would like to see everyone eventually pay for music and the like, I would not ask for it until there’s reciprocity.”

For more information, try some of these resources:

Hacking the Future: Privacy, identity, and anonymity on the Web, book in the library

Everyone’s Trying to Track What You Do on the Web: Here’s How to Stop Them, at lifehacker.com

Three Big Privacy Issues of 2013 – And What You Can Do About Them, at readwrite.com

Protect Your Privacy Online, at USA.gov

People keep asking “Can the decor in  the Music Library and Sound Recordings Archives even get any better?”  Well, the answer is YES!

Head on over to our Facebook page to see the full slideshow.

With the installation going on, music library users will have limited access to seating and public computers.  And you can probably expect some disruptive noise as well.

Love our famous silver lamps with the funky shades and convenient power outlets?

Well, they’ll be finding new homes come Tuesday (April 23rd), as we’ll be getting new furniture the next day.

To ensure these beloved light fixtures find good homes, we are holding a drawing for YOU to win one.  

What You Have To Do:

1- Head on over to the library’s Facebook page and “Like” us.

2- Leave a comment or “like” the contest post.

3- Stay tuned.  We will post a video of the drawing on Tuesday.

… to avoid the Music Library.

In two little weeks (Wednesday, April 24th), we’ll be getting new furniture!  And even though we’re incredibly excited for fabulous booths, fancy new tables, and better chairs, the installation could be quite disruptive for the studious reader.  So if you need to camp out in the library all day to work on a final paper or project, it might be best to choose another floor that Wednesday.

But come by on Thursday the 25th and be ready to have your socks knocked off!

Our very own Sound Recordings Archivist Bill Schurk was recently honored for his 45 years of service, which you can read about in the current issue of the Zoom News.  After spending three years as a student worker, Bill joined the BGSU faculty as an audio librarian in 1967.  That year, he created the Sound Recordings Archives and the rest is history.

Hungry for more?  Read about Bill in the BG News:

Jerome music collection rivals all Universities in nation

Archivist makes world-class tower of music

Saving the world, one artifact at a time

We’re back! The carpet installation was completed today – a day earlier than expected – so we are reopening our doors for the last couple of hours today (closing at 5), and we’ll be open tomorrow from 8-5. We’ll hold off posting the final pictures so that you’ll all feel compelled to stop in and see the new carpet for yourself, but you can see the process on our Facebook page.  Thanks so much for everyone’s patience this week.

Spring Break this year means girls in bikinis, boys doing the twist, AND new carpet for the Music Library!  So it also means that we’ll be closed for the week.  But fret not, you can still get access to materials that have a status of Shorter Loan or Available.  Just follow these simple steps:

1- Check the status of the item in the catalog.  If an item’s status is Library Use Only, we won’t be able to access it, and unfortunately, you’ll have to wait to use it until we re-open on Monday the 11th.  If it’s Shorter Loan or Available, you’re in the clear!

2- Go to the Curriculum Resource Center reference desk on the 2nd floor, and request materials from the staff person at their service desk.  If the item is accessible, a library worker will pull it for you while you wait.

3- If an item is not accessible at that time (as in, the carpet layers are working in that exact spot), we will pull it for you as soon as it is.  We’ll send you an email when we’ve pulled your request, and you can pick it up at the Main Circulation desk as you would for OhioLINK items.

OR

4- You can also request books and scores online by logging into your library account and then clicking the request button in the library catalog.  Again, you’ll receive an email when it’s ready to be picked-up (within 24-48 hours) and it will be waiting for you at the Main Circulation desk.  However, this doesn’t work for CDs and DVDs.

We apologize for the inconvenience.  We all need some down time in order to keep looking fabulous, and the Music Library is no different.  The 3rd floor will re-open when classes start back up on Monday the 11th.

Though we usually stay open, this year the Music Library will be closed during Spring Break.  We know it’s disappointing, but when we re-open, we’ll have some fancy new carpet on the floor!  Details on how to access materials during this time are forthcoming.

Researchers!  Please contact us in advance! email: mlsra@bgsu.edu ; phone: 419/372-2307.

ML/SRA hours for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, January 18-21st.

Friday, January 18th – 8:00am-5:00pm

Saturday & Sunday, January 19 & 20th – CLOSED

Monday, January 21st – 6:00pm-10:00pm