It’s that time of the year again:  The fall semester is right around the corner and everybody is scrambling to finish his or her syllabus.  Please contact me as early as possible if you plan to bring your class to the Library for a research workshop, even if it will be much later in the semester.  The Library’s classroom tends to get booked quickly.  I find that research workshops are most beneficial when they are scheduled after students have picked their paper topics.

There may be no room in your syllabus for a library workshop, but you feel that your students could definitely use some extra help.  A research course guide is a practical alternative.  Please take a look at some of the online course guides from previous semesters:  art history, criminal justice, history, and sociology. In the past I have often done both, research workshops and online course guides in lieu of handouts.

Last but not least, remember to order books and videos early, so that they will be available in the Library when you or your students need them.

Here is my contact information:
E-mail: jutta.seibert@villanova.edu
Phone: 610-519-7876
Office: 1st floor, Falvey Library

Demian Katz recently joined VU as a library technology development specialist. Demian said that he is “excited to work with VuFind (Falvey’s open source online public access catalog).” He is “enthusiastic about open source” and  is “glad the library here embraces it.”

Library Director Joe Lucia said that Demian is a “talented and creative programmer,” and he will enable us “to regain some momentum with VuFind and related initiatives.”

Demian has both programming and reference experience. His latest position was with a software development company and earlier he worked as a reference technical assistant at Chester County Library in Exton. He has a bachelor’s degree in computer science from West Chester University and a master of library and information science degree from the University of Pittsburgh.

His hobby, which grew from a childhood interest and became a graduate school project, is maintaining a large bibliography of interactive fiction.

Article and photograph by Alice Bampton