Anagama Gallery at Eclipse

I had the good fortune to be at Eclipse Coffee and Books last night for the opening of the Anagama Art gallery. The front half of Cheryl Patton's shop has been transformed into a showplace for original pieces by Montevallo students and faculty.

The festivities began at seven, and I arrived about an hour later to hear UM professor and anagama kiln founder Scott Meyer speak about his art and his work with Montevallo's gifted student artists.

The crowd was treated to a short documentary piece directed by UM's John Hoerner, followed by a Q&A session. Scott spoke of how the extreme heat in the kiln kicked off chemical reactions that can lead to radical differences in color and texture. On the improvisational nature of the process Meyer concluded that "every firing [of the kiln] is like jazz." I really liked that idea.

I hope you enjoy these scenes from the evening. We've posted a few more shots from the event on the library's Flickr.

Back-to-School Bash Pics!

We told you that they were coming and here they are! The library snapped almost 30 shots of the action at Monday's Fair & Bash. Here's a sample:


From the Carmichael Library booth, this was our message to students at the Fair. The poster, which is currently in the library foyer, highlights our DVD collection and our popular Get Caught Reading campaign. Thanks to our own Rachel Barnes for helping us put the display together!


We gave these bookmarks, emblazoned with the library's web address, to students passing by.


Here are just a couple of the many smiling students who visited our booth to get a bookmark for themselves.


The ladies of Phi Mu strike a pose for the Carmichael camera.


DJ Big Sweatt and his crew set up and do a mic check before his set.


To look at the crowd, Sweatt could do no wrong at this show. Students dance to the beat as the DJ spins the records.

We've got 22 more pictures from Monday's Fair & Bash waiting for you at the library's Flickr account, so go check them out! We look forward to seeing all of you here and online throughout the year.

Student Info Fair Wrapup

Rosemary, Alan, Charlie, and I all had a terrific time meeting students at today's Information Fair/Back-to-School Bash. As in past years the heat was unrelenting, but Montevallo's smiling students made up for that.

On our way out tonight the sun was setting, but DJ Big Sweatt had the crowd in Main Quad on their feet and rocking. If you're a regular reader of our blog then you already know that we'll have some of the best coverage of the festivities anywhere, so check back for pics of all the action coming soon to your campus library blog.

Meet Us at the Student Information Fair

Carmichael library faculty and staff will be on hand at the Student Information Fair and Back-to-School Bash today from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. on the Main Hall Quad. We hope to meet a lot of new students and catch up with some old friends while we're there. Come by and say hello, pick up a bookmark, and let us talk to you about what we're doing to meet your information needs throughout your college career.

Carmichael Library: It's All Here.

Welcome!

Welcome, new students and faculty, and welcome back to those of you who'd been away for the summer! We are pleased to welcome two new colleagues to the library's staff as well. Charlie Conway, a Music major and President of the Philosophy Club, is our new Public Services Assistant. You'll find him on duty at the Ask Here desk in the evenings. Gloria Beasley, an Art major, is our new Circulation Manager. She starts her job on Monday, August 27. Talk about jumping into the deep end!

If you've followed this blog over the summer, you know we have added JSTOR to our list of databases. JSTOR provides online access to the complete runs of 119 distinguished scholarly journals in the arts and sciences. We added this service in response to your comments on last spring's LibQual+ survey.

Sometime this fall, we'll be replacing all the computers on the main floor of the library with new machines. Again, we are doing this because we had so many comments about our dated equipment on the LibQual+ survey.

We have some great new books in the Browsing Collection and some wonderful films on DVD. Stop by and have a look. We're looking forward to working with you this year.

Wiki Replaces Textbook

Gerald Kane, A Boston College professor, has replaced his course textbook with a wiki he and his students write and edit. Quote from the article in Computer World:

"[The wiki] has become a really robust tool and has changed the way I teach, primarily because it means I am more of a guide to them rather than a lecturer," Kane said. "My job is to teach them how to navigate this information on the Web. The wiki is now the basis and the platform on which my class is based."

Read the full article here.

I think it's interesting that Kane says that his job is to teach his students "how to navigate information on the Web." I think many librarians see this as part of the library's role, too.

The authority of wikis and especially Wikipedia have been the cause of some pretty serious debate.

If you're interested in this topic, you should check out previous posts by Kathy Lowe here
and here.

Library closed this weekend, August 11-12

With the Summer II session drawing to a close, Carmichael Library will be closed for the next three weekends. The library will remain open on weekdays from 8:00-5:00 through the university intersession period.

By now many of you are probably aware of the tragic events surrounding the death of Ralph Burke. It was the morning accident near the intersection of Shoshone Street and Overland Road that resulted in yesterday's power outages and the subsequent closing of the university. Our hearts go out to the family of Mr. Burke and to all City of Montevallo employees at this trying time.

Library Closed today, August 9th

If you were in the library this morning then you may be aware of the on-again-off-again power situation. After getting electricity temporarily restored this afternoon we were advised to keep all of the computers and other machines such as printers powered down as a precaution while crews continued to work on the problem.

This afternoon, President Williams asked us to close the building so that the proper repairs can be made to our electrical system. At this point we plan to return to normal operating hours tomorrow, Friday, August 10^th at 8:00 AM. We'll post here again should that timetable change.

Today 8/1/07 @ your Ask Here desk

Today @ your Ask Here desk
Originally uploaded by carmichaellibrary

This is our first Flickr photo in a while: the view from the Ask Here desk today, 8/1/07