We know you’re stressed, so we’re having a second Fun Lab this month! That’s right! You have another chance to take a creative break and feel a bit festive with pumpkin painting. Hirsh Pumpkin Patch will open at the Library Service Desk at 12pm on Thursday and Friday with all the supplies you need to make a gorgeous gourd. See you there!
O’zapft is!
That’s the traditional opening line of Oktoberfest spoken in Munich when the Bavarian Prime Minister taps the first keg of the 2+ week annual festival celebrating beer and Gemütlichkeit (the feeling of coziness and hospitality). An apt opening, as “O’zapft is” means “it is tapped!” Now, Oktoberfest is already over in Germany (since it actually begins in late September, to ensure warmer weather for all that outdoor reveling), but we are just getting started with our own celebration of bad decisions, BLOCKtoberfest!
During BLOCKtoberfest, we welcome DER KLOTZ, the German cousin of THE BLOCK. Now, der Klotz doesn’t visit every year, but this year he’s stopping by auf Urlaub (on vacation) because The Block needs some help getting the message across about the dangers of invoking his wrath. HHSL has seen more blocks in the last month than ever before, and the number of third and fourth blocks is on the rise as well.
Remember, we do not charge fines for overdue materials at HHSL, but late returns of reserve materials and equipment invoke THE BLOCK. Sit back to hear his chilling tale.
Now, some say that if you return a reserve item (like a laptop, phone charger, skull, or reserve book) late once, THE BLOCK will follow you for 24 hours after you return the item, and you will be mysteriously unable to check out items from the Library. If you return an item late a second time, THE BLOCK will haunt your nightmares for 7 days, impeding your ability to study and borrow headphones (and other things).
Now, many have tempted fate and survived the wrath of THE BLOCK once, even twice. But beware, should you return a third reserve item late, the foul beast will cast his sharp, cubic shadow over your life for two fortnights!
(You know, you won’t be able to check anything out for one month after you return the delinquent item)
AND THAT’S NOT ALL. If you summon THE BLOCK three times, he will, like Marley’s Ghost, visit your Dean and share tales of your misdeeds.
And finally, if you are one of the foolish few who learns nothing of your third encounter with this reviled, hideous hexahedron, and you dare invite his wrath again, THE BLOCK will rob you of your borrowing privileges for the rest of the semester, and he will darken the doorstep of your Dean again.
And the most TERRIFYING thing of all? Every time you summon THE BLOCK, you wear his mark for the remainder of the academic year. So remember, a late return in September will follow you all the way to next July.
So please, if you won’t listen to THE BLOCK, listen to DER KLOTZ. He came all the way from Munich to help us out.
So, stay hydrated, get your flu shot, and bring your stuff back on time.
Prost!
You may have noticed our Bridging Differences display on the 4th floor of Sackler. Here is a little info on it in case you haven’t had the opportunity to read about this initiative.
It is an all-campus TUFTS initiative! The goal is to improve understanding and engagement across divergent perspectives at Tufts, through effective communication and programming. A core mission of Tufts is to develop students’ skills…to engage in informed and civil discussion and debate on issues on which they may disagree profoundly.
If you are interested in getting involved, sitting in on a meeting or joining the initiative, you can contact the group via this LINK.
Study carrel feeling lonely? Assignments got you down? Why not make a little buddy to help cheer you up? That’s right, Hirsh’s favorite pom pom critters are back for two days only! Stop by the Library Service Desk this Thursday 10/11 and Friday 10/12 starting at noon and make a fluffy friend for yourself or someone else! We have all the sequins and googly eyes you need, so all you have to do is decide one thing–will it be spooky or sweet?
In observance of Indigenous Peoples Day the Library will be open from 12-7 pm on Monday October 8th. The Library will reopen for normal hours on Tuesday October 9th at 7:45 am.
Hope you enjoy your long weekend!
In case you haven’t heard, we have a new addition to our Open Workshops! In addition to workshops, Hirsh Library and the Tufts Data Lab Assistants are offering topic-specific drop-in sessions and office hours so that you can ask questions and get one-on-one help. You don’t need to have attended a workshop or registered in advance in to attend drop-in sessions and office hours – just come and drop-in! We look forward to meeting with you!
Drop-In Session/Office Hours:
10/1 Tableau (2-3pm Sackler 510)
10/3 Visualizing Data with R (4-6pm Sackler 514)
10/11 EndNote (4-6pm Sackler 4)
10/11 GIS (1:30 – 2:30pm Sackler 514)
10/19 Approaching the Lit Review (8:30-10am Sackler 4)
10/17 R Help ( 11am-12pm Sackler 510 )
Hello hello everyone. It’s about that time again: time for the Affiliation Survey!
Twice a year, the Hirsh Health Sciences Library runs the Affiliation Survey, where we walk around and ask every one of our lovely patrons which program they are with (Dental, Medical, Sackler, etc). This is all we ask. We will not ask for your name or even which year you’re in! The numbers we collect are used in aggregate so we can get a snapshot of what the library usage is like. The graph you see above is the result of last year’s two Affiliation months, for instance.
Here’s how it goes: there are 7 days spread out over the whole month, randomly chosen to try and maximize the usefulness of the numbers (in other words, we’re trying not to get skewed by specific exam blocks too much). On those days, HHSL staff (you’ll probably recognize us!) will walk around 4 times over the course of the day to gather the totals of how many people from each school are in the library. There will be signs and posters up this month, so you’re not caught unaware.
Keep your eyes out for them!
We won’t announce ahead of time which days we’re counting (see our need to randomize, above), so it’s safe to assume that it could just happen any day this month.
Don’t panic!
If you don’t want to be bothered (or to speak out loud), you are welcome to leave your ID next to you while you study. If that is still not good enough, you can write your program down on a piece of paper and leave that next to you. If you’re in a group room, feel free to stick a note to the outside of the door (on the wood – the windows must remain clear!) telling us how many people of what program(s) are in the room. Done and done. We will add that number to our count, and we will move on to the next person!
There are pencils, pens, markers, scrap paper, and tape down at the Service Desk on the 4th floor, so you can even make your sign bright and cheerful! If you have any questions or concerns, let us know either in person at the desk, or through Ask Us on our website. We’re here to help and make this quick and easy.
But otherwise, we look forward to seeing you all this month and finding out just what our beloved HHSL looks like this fine autumn.
Good luck on studying and I look forward to seeing you in the library!
Tom
Scared of stats? Spooked by lit reviews? Frightened by citation management?
October doesn’t have to be a scary month with October Learning Opportunities@Hirsh! The Hirsh Library and Tufts DataLab have a frightfully awesome line-up of learning opportunities for October filled with tips & treats!
In addition to workshops, we will also be holding additional drop-in sessions and office hours so that you can ask questions and get one-on-one help . To see full descriptions and to register for workshops (nb: you don’t need to attend a workshop or register in advance in to attend drop-in sessions and office hours), please visit: https://hirshlibrary.tufts.edu/services/open-workshops
October
Workshops:
10/1 Building Interactive Visualizations with Tableau (1-2 pm Sackler 510)
10/2 Visualizing Data with R (9-11am Sackler 514)
10/9 EndNote (9-10am Sackler 510)
10/11 Intro to GIS using ArcMap (12 – 1:30pm Sackler 514)
10/16 Approaching the Lit Review (9-10am Sackler 510)
10/17 Statistics in R: Intermediate Level (10-11am Sackler 510 )
10/23 PubMed (9-10am Sackler 510)
10/24 Story Maps: Not Your Average Presentation (11am-12pm Sackler 510 )
10/31 An Intro to LabArchives Digital Notebook (11am-12pm Sackler 510)
Drop-In Session/Office Hours:
10/1 Tableau (2-3pm Sackler 510)
10/3 Visualizing Data with R (4-6pm Sackler 514)
10/11 EndNote (4-6pm Sackler 4)
10/11 GIS (1:30 – 2:30pm Sackler 514)
10/19 Approaching the Lit Review (8:30-10am Sackler 4)
10/17 R Help ( 11am-12pm Sackler 510 )
Image source: https://pixabay.com/photo-514998/
Agonizing over an abstract?
Stumped about starting your personal statement?
Rattled by your research paper?
Then we have a workshop for you!
On Wednesday 10/3 at 12pm in Sackler 851, Christine Smith, our writing consultant, will give a one-hour workshop on how to approach the writing process. She’ll provide you with a general framework that can be applied to any writing project as well as insight into how to prepare for a session with a writing consultant. Some light refreshments will be served and you can feel free to bring your lunch! Please RSVP here. Registration is not required, but is appreciated so we can have an idea of how much food to order. Hope to see you there!
Although summer temperatures linger, fall officially starts this Saturday! Wouldn’t it be nice to have a custom cozy to decorate your favorite seasonally-spiced hot drink? Stop by the Library Service Desk starting at 12pm on Thursday 9/20 and Friday 9/21 to create a cozy that’ll cradle your to-go cups and protect your hands in style. All you need to bring is your creativity!
Follow Us!
Have a question? Ask Us!
