No SAT requirement at PC

Thought that you might be interested in this. Bill

Providence College will announce today that it will no longer require undergraduate applicants to submit SAT or ACT scores. Officials said that they feared the test score requirement even though it has not been a major focus of the admissions process may have discouraged some low-income students from applying. The move follows an earlier announcement that the college was shifting funds from merit to need-based aid as part of a campaign to close the student accessibility gap.

Coffee machine now available in library

A machine dispensing hot coffee, espresso, cappucino and cocoa has been installed in the basement of the library. Prices vary from $.80 to $1.60 depending on beverage choice and size, and the machine accepts bills, coins and is equipped with a card-swipe. The Library welcomes the consumption of beverages with covered containers.

Self-Serve Scanning Station Now Available at Reference Desk

A scanner is now available for use by library patrons at the Reference Desk on the 1st floor. Patrons may scan to pdf and email as well as scan photos and slides.

Who Does More Good? Business and Philosophy Departments Square Off Tonight

The Future Friar Executives and the PC Philosophy Club Present: "Who Does More Good? Business Majors vs Philosophy Majors - A Debate". Stop by "The Pit" on the 1st Floor of the Library tonight between 6:30 and 7:30 pm to listen to what promises to be a lively debate between Professor Anthony Baker of the Business Department and Dr. Andrew Peach of the Philosophy Department. Refreshments will be served in the basement of the library immediately following the debate. See you there!!

Academic and Intellectual Freedom Display in Library

Take a moment to stop in the Reference area on the main floor of the library and look at the display. The display will be up through Wednesday, October 14. The books are a select collection of materials owned by the Library in the area of academic and intellectual freedom. These books, cover a vast period -- from the days of Benjamin Franklin to present -- and were chosen because they effectively convey important tenets of academic and intellectual freedom, including the pursuit of truth without interference, the freedom of intellect within faith, and of course, the freedom to teach and learn. Here is an Information Sheet with complete list of titles and other resources. Click on the "comment" link below this post to give us your feedback!

Temporary Fix for "502 Bad Gateway" messages

URI is still working on the "bad gateway" problem the consortium is currently experiencing. Here's the temporary fix: Providence College users - Remove "0-" and ".helin.uri.edu" from database URLs/Addresses. Note: If you are off-campus using a database, you may need to do this AFTER you have entered your name and barcode at the HELIN login screen. We appreciate your patience. [Edit 29 Sept. : still an issue...but they are working on it]

How to Get a PDF file to display in the browser

Have you had difficulty getting a pdf to display in the browser when using a website or one of our databases? Try this: (for versions higher than 5.0..) 1. Open Adobe Reader (check under Start, Programs). 2. Under the Edit menu, select preferences. 3. Under "Categories" click on "Internet" on the left-hand side bar. 4. Click the first option: "display pdf in browser". 5. Click OK and close Adobe. 6. Re-open the pdf file.

Library Resource Presentation to Women's Soccer Team

On September 8 at the request of Janice and Beatrice, I gave a short talk to the PC Women's Soccer Team regarding resources available at the Phillips Memorial Library. Since I've noticed that some students are reluctant to approach the Reference Desk because they feel they're "interrupting" the Reference Librarian on duty, I began my talk by stressing that the Reference Librarian's primary duty is to help students with their research needs. I also pointed out the location of the desk. I mentioned the databases that could be accessed by the students from their computers, noting that many full-text articles are available. I pointed out that print reference sources are also at their disposal, using as an example subject-specific encyclopedias. I then noted some of the other resources that we offer, including Consult-a-Librarian, IM chat, and email reference.