Want to be able to look back and see what you have read or checked out of the Ryerson Library in the past? Now there is a new option available under “Check Your File” that allows you to save your Reading History.

To set up this feature:

1. Log into your Library Account using Check Your File.
2. Click on “My Reading History” in the left column.
3. Click on “Turn on Reading History” on the right.

After you enable your Reading History, every item that you check out from that point on will be recorded even after the item has been returned. Normally the system does not retain this information. By turning on your Reading History you are giving permission for the data to be retained.

At any time you can delete any or all of the titles in your Reading History. To discontinue Reading History Collection completely, clear all the titles from your history then click “Turn Off Reading History“.

The Library now has 30 wireless-enabled laptops available for borrowing from the Circulation Desk. Laptops may be borrowed for 3 hours while the Library is open. The first time you borrow a laptop, you will need to bring a completed copy of our Laptop Loan Agreement form to the Circulation Desk. More information can be found on our Laptop Loan pages.

The computer lab in LIB393A is now open for student use Monday to Friday from 8:00 am until 11:45 pm whenever it is not being used for classes. This lab contains 36 PCs with access to the Internet and the same software that is available in the Library’s Information Commons.

PCs have been installed in six of the Library’s group study rooms (LIB562, LIB565, LIB762, LIB859, LIB860 and LIB864). These PCs provide access to the same software as the PCs in the Library’s Information Commons and to the Internet. To book one of these rooms for your group, please use the Study Room Booking page.

Google Scholar now includes links to the print and electronic journal resources that are available from the Ryerson Library. A Get it! @ Ryerson link indicates that electronic full text is available for that resources. A Check Ryerson Library/ILL link lets you check to see if we have a print copy of the item and, if not, order it via the Library’s free Interlibrary Loan service.

On-campus users will automatically see Get it! @ Ryerson and Check Ryerson Library/ILL links in Google Scholar.

Off-campus users will need to set Google Preferences to see the links in Google Scholar as follows:

• Go to Google Scholar
• Click on Scholar Preferences
• Type Ryerson in the Library Links box
• Select Ryerson from the list of libraries
• Save Preferences

Five workstations have been added to the open area on the third floor of the Library for use by persons with disabilities. They are reserved for use by Access Centre students. All computers in the Besse Commons and on the third floor of the Library now have the following software: Kurzweil 3000, JAWS for Windows, Inspiration and ZoomText. This software may be used by up to five users at a time.

Two Access Centre staff, Carolyn Stallberg and Ann Thomas, have relocated to offices on the third floor of the Library.

New individual study carrels with lighting and power outlets have been installed on the eighth floor. In addition, laptop seating consisting of a power pole and four swivel seats has been installed on floors 5 (beside the newspapers), 7, 8. 9, and 10 (opposite the oversize books).

Now it is even easier to access the Library website and all its resources from within Blackboard. Click on the My Library tab at the top of any Blackboard page to get links to the most popular Library resources including the catalogue, articles and Library news.

The Library has recently purchased subscriptions to the following:

• Historical Abstracts
  Historical Abstracts indexes historical literature (excluding Canada and the US) covering the period from 1450 to present. It contains citations for books and dissertations and abstracts of articles from over 1,700 journals.
• JCR Journal Citation Reports
  Journal Citation Reports is a comprehensive and unique resource that allows you to evaluate and compare journals using citation data drawn from over 7,500 scholarly and technical journals from more than 3,300 publishers in over 60 countries.
• AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics) Electronic Library
  The AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics) Electronic Library provides access to all of the Association’s journals from 1963 to 2005. The subscription also includes access to approximately 3,500 papers each year from 20 to 30 technical conferences covering all aspects of aeronautics and astronautics.

The Library has recently purchased a selection of feature films on DVD. Check out the following:

More feature films are listed in the Library catalogue.