Election 2008 Resources

The Presidential candidates have their own sites of course. Check out these two sites that claim to keep the politicians honest by checking the facts.

FactCheck is a good one. The site is from the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center. FactCheck accepts no funding from business corporations, labor unions, political parties, lobbying organizations or individuals. It is funded primarily by the Annenberg Foundation.

Politifact is from the St. Petersburg Times and Congressional Quarterly, a trusted name in the information world. I like their Truth-O-Meter. Pictures make it so much easier.

Library of Congress Places 3,000 Photos on Flickr

Last week brought the news of an exciting development from the photo sharing website Flickr and the Library of Congress. The Library of Congress has uploaded over 3,000 photos to Flickr. The photos have been placed into an experimental pool of images called The Commons; all of these photos have a designation of "no known copyright restrictions."

I was encouraged to read what LC Director of Communications Matt Raymond had to say about this project: “The real magic comes when the power of the Flickr community takes over. We want people to tag, comment, and make notes on the images, just like any other Flickr photo, which will benefit not only the community but also the collections themselves. For instance, many photos are missing key caption information such as where the photo was taken and who is pictured. If such information is collected via Flickr members, it can potentially enhance the quality of the bibliographic records for the images."

From statements like these, it's clear that Raymond and others at the Library of Congress understand what Library and Web 2.0 are all about. In the case of Flickr, it's all about empowering the individual to tag content and organize images in a way that's meaningful to them. See these historic photos for yourself! Check out Photos from the Library of Congress on Flickr.

Annual Book Review Competition

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Enter Our Annual Book Review Competition!

Deadline: February 25, 2008.

Winners will be announced on Honors Day, April 16, 2008.

Click here for more info.


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Martin Luther King Online Resources

I wanted to share a web page that we found last week, a collection of speeches and television appearances given by Martin Luther King from 1957 to 1968. The Detroit Area Library Network compiled this page, which uses uploads from YouTube so that you watch all of the video instantly.

Also, Birmingham Public Library has put together their own King resources page, which includes links to their catalog holdings and a list of Internet resources.

Catalog Problems Resolved

Our apologies to those who were inconvenienced while attempting to use our catalog earlier today. The issue is now resolved.

A reminder about our special hours today: Carmichael Library is open this evening at 6:00 pm and will close at 11:00 pm. The Library will be closed tomorrow for the Martin Luther King Holiday. Normal hours will resume Tuesday morning at 8:00 am.

See it here: snow in Montevallo!

Snow in Montevallo!
Originally uploaded by carmichaellibrary

We thought everyone would enjoy this scene from today's rare snowfall in Montevallo. This was taken by our student assistant, Joie Molden, and is used with permission.

Chronicle of Higher Education

On-Campus Access to the Chronicle

UM faculty and students now have full access to The Chronicle of Higher Education through The Chronicle's website. To access The Chronicle on campus go to http://chronicle.com/ and you should be recognized as a UM patron.

Off-Campus Access

To access The Chronicle from off campus, do a journal title search for "chronicle of higher education" in the Library's Catalog or go here. To get full access to The Chronicle's website, click on the "Single Journals" link, and you will be asked for your UMID.

If you have any trouble with on or off-campus access, please contact us.

MLK Celebration Wednesday, 1/16

The Black Heritage Committee will sponsor its annual Martin Luther King Celebration on Wednesday, January 16, 2008 at 1 p.m. in Comer Hall Auditorium. The speaker will be Robert Robinson, who serves as Coordinator of Intercultural Student Affairs at UM.

Here are some links to a few other area events that will honor the life and legacy of Dr. King:

• Martin Luther King, Jr. Annual Celebration Saturday, 1/19 at 6:30 pm - National Speaker Rev. Lennox Yearwood, founder of the Hop-Hop Caucus, a social action coalition, is joined by Alabama blues artist Willie King for Birmingham Peace Project's Annual Martin Luther King, Jr, Celebration
• Reflect & Rejoice: A Community Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday, 1/20 at 3:00 pm - The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Alabama Symphony Orchestra and the Alys Stephens Center unite to present a program of celebration
• Images of Martin Luther King, Jr.: From the Collection of Paul R. Jones On display through 2/24 - Birmingham Civil Rights Institutes' fourth exhibition from the collection of Bessemer, Alabama native Paul R. Jones. His collection of works by African American artists is the largest in the country

UM Closes Today, January 10th at 1:00 pm

We have received this information from the University's Public Relations office:

Due to the threat of potentially severe weather predicted by the National Weather Service, the University will close at 1 p.m. today.

Please monitor weather reports closely, especially keeping abreast of the tornado watch currently in effect.

The University will reopen tomorrow following its regular schedule, unless a contrary message is issued.

Whether you're on campus or off, stay safe. Please tune in to your local media for weather updates and to the UM website for schedule information.

Alabamians Head to the Polls, February 5th

In exactly four weeks, Alabama will join over 20 other states in conducting its primary elections. In addition to the presidential contest, there are several statewide offices on the ballot.

If you're not already registered to vote, there's still time! In Alabama, voter registration is closed for the ten days before an election, so you still have a couple of weeks to get on the rolls for the February 5^th vote.

To download a registration form or to get more information on the upcoming election, check out the Alabama Secretary of State's Elections Division. You can also pick up your registration form at the library's circulation desk. To complete your application, mail or hand-deliver the form to your county Board of Registrars office.

Photo credit: I Voted sticker taken by Daniel Morrison. Creative Commons license.
Image credit: Sidebar Vote button. Creative Commons license.