EX Libris: News from the Library

We are now entering the last weeks of the fall semester, and final examinations are approaching quickly. This means that the Main Campus Library, in particular, is becoming very busy, with many Bilkent students as well as students and other users from outside the University working in the Library, notably in the afternoons and on weekends. This has increased the demand for seating space. The Library is currently planning to add more tables and chairs where possible, but we would also like to ask our users to appreciate the needs of others, by not occupying more than one seating space at a table and by working as quietly as possible. During the exam period, the group-study booths in the Multimedia Room can be reserved and used only by Bilkent students.

Last week, on Wednesday, December 7, the well-known author Nazlı Eray gave a talk at the Library, as part of our new series "Türk Yazarları Bilkent'te." In her informative and entertaining presentation, Ms. Eray described her own personal journey as an author from her earliest work up through today. She discussed some of her books and characters, and a number of the famous people she has encountered during her time as a writer. She stressed that although many of her works are "fantastical" in style, they relate at the same time to real-life issues and themes. Ms. Eray spoke to a varied audience that included not only Bilkent students and staff, but also a delegation of teachers and older students from the Özel Bilkent Primary School. The next "Türk Yazarı Bilkent'te" will be the popular philosopher Ahmet İnam, with his talk scheduled for early February 2012. Please watch for the announcement nearer that time.

This week, on Wednesday, we will host the third and final Lunchtime Lecture for this semester, to be delivered by Prof. Fazlı Can of the Computer Engineering Department. In his talk, "Nothing Can Be More Surprising Than Life: Mobile Information Retrieval, or Memex on the Move," Prof. Can will discuss the development of information retrieval (IR) technology and its growing importance in our daily lives. Today, we all take mobile phones and iPads for granted, but have you ever wondered how these now day-to-day devices, which are used mostly for information retrieval and social network postings, have developed over time? We often feel pressured by the information glut, yet still happily access information from our mobile devices. In other words, information that people need -- and that they don't need -- is now as mobile as people themselves. Mobile IR systems offer many great opportunities to users and even greater challenges to researchers. With the availability of too much information, and the possibility of accessing one's own knowledge base from anywhere at any time, the capabilities of current mobile information systems have exceeded what their builders could have imagined. In this talk, Prof. Can will examine the changes in IR systems by considering the questions of how, when and why those changes occurred, with emphasis on mobile devices. The lecture will take place in the Art Gallery, Main Campus Library, at 12:40-1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, and lunchtime refreshments will be provided.