This week marks Banned Books Week, a time of year when we reflect on the challenges throughout the country on books in libraries and schools and we reconsider the First Amendment and the freedom to read.

What is your favorite banned book?

Looking to read one of these controversial pieces of literature? Stop by Coe Library, the Learning Resources Center or the Albany County Public Library to check out a book from one of their displays of challenged books! And peek below for a Google map detailing the challenges to books from 2007-2009.

View Book Bans and Challenges, 2007-2009 in a larger map

Getting all of your citations up-to-date and in the same format for a big research project can feel like an insurmountable challenge. The libraries are offering a workshop on citation management tools EndNote Web and Zotero next Thursday at 3 p.m. in Coe Library Room 218. Join us and get those citations under control!

Need computer access late? The two-level student computer lab at the front of Coe Library is now available 24 hours a day, 6.5 days a week. (It will be closed from midnight Saturdays until noon on Sundays for maintenance).

Stop by for late night computing! And remember, if you’re looking for an open computer on a busy night, you can check the labmap before venturing out.

Don’t forget to join us for the Faculty Resource Fair in Coe Library Wednesday, September 9th.  Learn the mysteries of the new catalog and course reserves system! Find out how to read Early English Books online or analyze World Development Indicators or even get rich with ValueLine online!  Get the inside scoop on how library residents the Writing Center, LeaRn and the Elbogen Center for Teaching and Learning can make your life easier! Expert librarians will be on hand to provide tips and tricks for finding the best materials in the library.

Are humans addicted to searching? Is the quest to seek information online irresistable?

A recent article in Slate suggests that we are hard-wired to love online searching:

Seeking. You can’t stop doing it. Sometimes it feels as if the basic drives for food, sex, and sleep have been overridden by a new need for endless nuggets of electronic information. We are so insatiably curious that we gather data even if it gets us in trouble.

The reason? Information seeking, especially online, stimulates the production of dopamine and gives us a feeling of eager curiosity and purpose.The author even compares the joy of searching to the joys of drugs, sex and food. It sounds to me like the library, with all of our options for online searches, offers a pretty rewarding neuro experience!

What about your seeking habits?  Do you get caught up in the search and keep clicking for more long after your needs should be satisfied?