English Dept. Summer Reading List is up!

Take a look at the English Department’s 2009 Summer Reading List, available from our blog!!

Feel free to stop by the Library to pick up a paper copy.

Enjoy!

United Nations announces World Digital Library

On April 21st the United Nations announced the its online site for scholarly resources from around the globe. Called the “World Digital Library“, it has an easy-to-use interface that allows you to select geographic areas and/or time periods, then narrow your search by type of resource, general topic area, specific country, etc. There’s also a keyword search function for those who prefer searching over browsing. And did I mention that it’s multilingual? James Billington, the U.S. Librarian of Congress, is in charge of the project, which so far includes 1,170 scanned items from 27 libraries in 19 countries. This site is bound to grow as libraries continue to contribute cultural resource images.

According to the website, “the principal objectives of the WDL are to:
* Promote international and intercultural understanding;
* Expand the volume and variety of cultural content on the Internet;
* Provide resources for educators, scholars, and general audiences;
* Build capacity in partner institutions to narrow the digital divide within and between countries.”
Take some time to peruse the World Digital Library. With images such as ancient rock art in South Africa and medical drawings from the year 1410, the World Digital Library will surprise you with cultural wonders!

NEA Study says literary reading on the rise

On its news site, the National Endowment for the Arts released results of a recent study about American adults literary reading habits:
“”At a time of immense cultural pessimism, the NEA is pleased to announce some important good news. Literary reading has risen in the U.S. for the first time in a quarter century,” said NEA Chairman Dana Gioia. “This dramatic turnaround shows that the many programs now focused on reading, including our own Big Read, are working. Cultural decline is not inevitable.”

Isn’t this great news?! To read more details, see: http://www.arts.gov/news/news09/ReadingonRise.html

Edible Book Festival 2009- It’s time to cook the books!

Participate in Millikin’s first Edible Book Festival on Wednesday, April 1st from 11am-2pm (second floor gallery area at Staley Library)!

     Books will be eaten! Prizes will be awarded!
Money will be donated to a good cause!

The International Edible Book Festival is held annually at libraries worldwide on or around April 1st to celebrate the birthday of French “foodie” Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826), author of the book “Physiologie du Goût.” This year, Staley Library will join in the fun!

What is an edible book, you ask?

1. It must relate to books in either shape or theme (that is, look like a book, or be inspired by a book).
2. It must be edible (typical examples are made from cake, crackers, bread, fruit, vegetables, candy, etc.).

Take a look at some examples from past festivals at: www.books2eat.com

Any individual or campus group/department
is invited to enter an edible book in the festival.

For further information on registering, visit the website.

Hope to see you all there!
      -Amanda Pippitt, festival chair
      (if you have questions, please let me know!)

It’s Your Story Postcard Exhibit- here at the Library!

The “It’s Your Story” Postcard Exhibit is on display here at the library in the gallery space on the second floor until spring break (approx. March 12th/13th).

Please stop by and take a look.

http://www.millikin.edu/your_story

It’s Your Story | Postcard Exhibit

posted by Joe & Debbie

http://www.millikin.edu/your_story

What happens when a community of students, faculty, and staff come together to confess their secrets?

In Fall 2008, the entire Millikin campus was invited to post a secret on a postcard. The secret could be a regret, hope, fantasy, belief, fear, betrayal, erotic desire, confession, funny experience, childhood humiliation, or unseen kindness. “Reveal anything!” we said. And you did.

Experience the power of creativity, community, and expression. Please join Hardy Professor Dr. Carmella Braniger, Research Fellow Katie Myers-Wiesen, Staley Library faculty Debbie Campbell & Joe Hardenbrook, students of Queers & Allies, and students from Collage as we celebrate identity and diversity through unmasking and sharing with each other who we really are.

Opening Reception & Lecture
by Dr. Carmella Braniger & Katie Myers-Wiesen
Feb 2, 2008, 6:00pm
Kirkland 128

“It’s Your Story” Postcard Exhibition
Featuring Postcard Art by Millikin Campus Community
Feb. 2-6, 2009
Kirkland Lower Gallery

Exhibition moves to Staley Library starting Feb. 17.

the event on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=48770691774

Two New Databases!

We’re pleased to announce the availability of two new databases:
North American Theatre Online and Oxford Music Online.

North American Theatre Online contains full text of over 30,000 plays, plus images, biographies, production and theatre records for U.S. and Canadian theatres. Please note that this database is still in the beta/test stage.

Oxford Music Online provides access to the full text of the Oxford Dictionary of Music and the Oxford Companion to Music, as well as New Grove titles including: The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2nd ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, and the New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. It contains 50,000 signed articles and 28,000 biographies.

Both of the databases are linked from the Staley Library Databases by Subject page. We hope you find these new resources useful; if you have questions about them, please let us know.

Todd Rudat is Employee of the Month

On September 3rd, The Employee Recognition Committee announced that Archival Associate Todd Rudat was selected at Employee of the Month for August. Of course, we in the library were already aware of Todd’s great work, but it’s nice to see the university-wide recognition. Todd received a certificate from the President Doug Zemke, and several coupons for meals and services from local businesses. (And this is only 6 months after another library staff member, Marsha Leach, was named Employee of the Month for February.)

Todd has worked at the library as Archival Associate for nearly three years. The recognition committee cited Todd’s helpfulness to Millikin alums during Homecoming weekend, creation of interesting exhibits and displays, help with history-related student projects, and overall enthusiasm for his work.

Please congratulate Todd when you see him on campus!

Labor Day Weekend and Statistics from Last Year

It’s the Friday after classes began (on Tuesday), and it’s good to see so many students using the library already. We’re seeing students at the circulation desk checking out books from the stacks and reserves, students using the computers, and groups studying together.

We saw lots of students last year too! Here are some numbers for
July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008:

Educational Technology Training Sessions 39

Library Instruction Sessions 148

Research Assistance and Educational Technology Inquiries 4,164

Interlibrary Loan Transactions 9,284

Circulation Transactions (charges + renewals) 26,836

Gate Count 90,735

Database Searches 176,759

We hope you continue take advantage of the physical and virtual library spaces during this academic year.

Speaking of virtual spaces, remember that you can still use our library web site (with the many resource links) this weekend, even though the library’s physical space will be closed for the Labor Day holiday. We’ll reopen on Sunday evening from 6pm to midnight.

Have a great weekend!

The Semester Begins!

With the new semester upon us, here are a few new things you may want to know about:

New Faces

We have a new librarian on board! Denise Green joined the library faculty as of May 15th. She comes to us from University of Illinois at Springfield, with many years of great experience. She is coordinating Electronic Resources and Technical Services, and along with other library faculty, sharing in Reference and Instruction responsibilities.

We also have a new Cataloging Associate, Eric McKinney. Eric’s previous experience at Warrensburg Public Library and Rolling Prairie Library System made him a natural fit for this position.

New and Improved Resources

A new database, SocIndex with Full Text, is replacing our former Social Sciences Abstracts and Criminal Justice Abstracts databases. SocIndex with Full Text covers social science areas (including criminal justice) and contains many full text resources. We hope you enjoy using it.

All of our EbscoHost databases now have a new, more user-friendly interface. Ebsco has also included a new visual search for those of us who are better visual learners; just click “Visual Search” under the search boxes to take advantage of it.

PubMed, an National Library of Medicine database of medical literature citations, now includes “FindIt” links to connect PubMed citations to our own full-text resources when available.

Although this has been available for a while, just to make sure that you’re aware of it, Google Scholar now includes a “Find It at Millikin” link when a cited source is available as full text in one of our library databases. You may also see “InterlibraryLoan@Millikin” link, which will link you through to an interlibrary loan form populated with your article information.

Need a flip chart?

You’ll now see a couple of flip charts around the library that may come in handy for group projects. If you don’t have your own markers, you can check out a pack of markers at the Circulation desk.

Remember, we’re here to help!

If you need help with a research project, from getting started, to finding sources, to creating your bibliography, you can ask a librarian either in person at the library, on the phone, by instant message or email: http://www.millikin.edu/staley/contact/default.asp . We love to answer your questions, so don’t hesitate to ask us!

Have a great semester!