Tech Talk: Rosemary Arneson on Second Life

Please join us in the library next week for our second in a series of conversations with faculty on the use of technology to enhance teaching and learning. Carmichael Library director Rosemary Arneson will speak on Tuesday, April 1^st about her work in the virtual world of Second Life. The talk will begin at 3:30 in the library's Ebsco classroom. Rosemary's presentation will include a tour of the virtual version of UM's Ebenezer Swamp that she's created.

You may also be interested in our past posts on Second Life:

• Internet Librarian, Continued
• Live from Mississippi Library 2.0 Summit
• Carmichael Library goes virtual
  

Photo credit: Creative Commons license

Dr. Meirong Fu to speak tonight, March 24th, on "Education in China"

This evening brings an excellent opportunity to learn from UM's distinguished visiting scholar, Dr. Meirong Fu.

The numbers are staggering. Recent statistics estimate that the number of K-12 students in China is over 223 million. Another 11 million are enrolled in undergraduate programs at universities, and 651,000 are attending graduate programs. How then, do the Chinese continue to rise to the top academically? What can we learn from the education system in China?

University of Montevallo Fulbright Professor, Dr. Meirong Fu, will lead a lecture/discussion titled "Education in China" on Monday, March 24 from 5:45 p.m.—8:00 p.m. at the Parnell Library in Montevallo.

Dr. Fu will address the topic of education in China, as well as discuss the prestigious Fulbright Scholars Program. In this lecture, you can learn why the Chinese continue to dominate many academic fields.

The event is co-sponsored by the University of Montevallo TRiO programs—Upward Bound, Student Support Services, and the McNair Scholars Program—as well as the Montevallo Branch of AAUW.

The community is invited to attend. Admission is free.

Gale Databases

The Gale databases seem to be working again, as long as you access these databases through our web site and not through the Alabama Virtual Library (AVL). Please let us know if you are suddenly logged out of our databases, or if you experience any other problems.

Hopefully, we will have the issue with AVL resolved soon, and you can also access the Gale databases through the AVL website.

Tech Talk: Michael Patton on Podcasting

Last week, Rosemary announced the first in a series of conversations with faculty on the use of technology to enhance teaching and learning. In this first Tech Talk: Michael Patton will speak about his experiences with podcasting his classroom lectures and other materials. Please join us tomorrow, Wednesday, March 12 at 3:30 in the library’s EBSCO classroom.

Woman Earns Silver Star in Afghan War

This Associated Press wire story caught my eye over the weekend. A Texas woman is making history by earning one of the nation's highest military honors. Fisnik Abrashi reports for the AP:

CAMP SALERNO, Afghanistan - A 19-year-old medic from Texas will become the first woman in Afghanistan and only the second female soldier since World War II to receive the Silver Star, the nation's third-highest medal for valor.

Army Spc. Monica Lin Brown saved the lives of fellow soldiers after a roadside bomb tore through a convoy of Humvees in the eastern Paktia province in April 2007, the military said.

After the explosion, which wounded five soldiers in her unit, Brown ran through insurgent gunfire and used her body to shield wounded comrades as mortars fell less than 100 yards away, the military said.

"I did not really think about anything except for getting the guys to a safer location and getting them taken care of and getting them out of there," Brown told The Associated Press on Saturday at a U.S. base in the eastern province of Khost.

Brown, of Lake Jackson, Texas, is scheduled to receive the Silver Star later this month. She was part of a four-vehicle convoy patrolling near Jani Kheil in the eastern province of Paktia on April 25, 2007, when a bomb struck one of the Humvees...

Four Army nurses in World War II were the first women to receive the Silver Star, though three nurses serving in World War I were awarded the medal posthumously last year, according to the Army's Web site...

Problems with Gale Databases

On the 20th of February, I posted a note about problems with some of our Gale Databases. We're still working with Gale to try to take care of these issues, and, hopefully, we can fix the problems soon.

In my last post, I mentioned that if you're having problems with a Gale database (databases with a Gale logo in the top right of the screen), you might have better success if you access the database through the Alabama Virtual Library's website. Well, I'm sorry to say that we are now having trouble accessing Gale databases through AVL.

However, if you go to Gale Power Search, either though this link or through our "Databases by Name" page, you can click on any of the databases and, if you use the search box in the top right of the screen, you shouldn't have any problems accessing the information you need. (Please note, though, that if you click into the actual database from the database list on the first Gale Database page, there's a good chance you'll be prematurely logged off, so remember to use the Gale search box at the top left of the first page you access.

Again, please be aware that we're working with Gale to try to resolve these issues, and we're very sorry for the inconvenience.

(Gale databases include: Gale General OneFile, Gale Virtual Reference, Professional Collection, LegalTrac, General Reference Center Gold, Informe, Student Edition, Expanded Academic ASAP, Opposing Viewpoints, Academic OneFile, Literature Resource Center, Business & Company Resource Center, Contemporary Authors, Scribner's Writers Series, Twayne Authors Series, Biography & Geneology Master Index, Contemporary Literary Criticism, Health & Wellness Resource Center, Kids InfoBits, Dictionary of Literary Biography, and Business Index ASAP.)

Carmichael Library Celebrates Women's History Month

March is Women's History Month and your campus library is recognizing this observance with a special display in the library's foyer.

Just inside the library's doors you'll find a selection of books and DVDs, as well as a collection of biographies highlighting famous women from Alabama and beyond.

Women's History Month Resources Online:

• Carmichael Library Women's History Month Bibliography - Over 30 items chosen by library students and faculty
  
• Alabama Women's Hall of Fame - Located on the campus of Judson College in Marion, the Hall recognizes the lives and achievements of notable Alabama women
  
• National Women's Hall of Fame - Honors over 200 American women "whose contributions to the arts, athletics, business, education, government, the humanities, philanthropy and science, have been the greatest value for the development of their country"
• National Women's History Project
  
• Women's History Month - Biographies, learning activities, and links provided by Gale Cengage
  

I'd like to acknowledge the many here in the library who assisted with this project, including Carey Heatherly, Kathy Lowe, and Patsy Sears, who all made contributions to our bibliography. Patsy also provided items for our display. The display itself is the creative work of Mary Seagle and our Technical Services student assistants Cierra, David, and Tiffany.

Finally, I'd like to take a moment to recognize Carmichael's own Barbara Belisle, who graciously consented to the use of her story for this first Women's History Month display. To those who don't know Ms. Belisle's story, I hope you'll have a chance to come in to the library and read about it. Thank you, Barbara, for sharing your story, and for your continued contributions to the Montevallo community.

More Women's History Month display photos are available at our Flickr. Photos by Joel Bullock.

Rare Helen Keller Photo Discovered

With Women's History Month now under way, this headline from the Associated Press is particularly timely:

BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) - Researchers have uncovered a rare photograph of a young Helen Keller with her teacher Anne Sullivan, nearly 120 years after it was taken on Cape Cod.

The photograph, shot in July 1888 in Brewster, shows an 8-year-old Helen sitting outside in a light-colored dress, holding Sullivan's hand and cradling one of her beloved dolls.

Experts on Keller's life believe it could be the earliest photo of the two women together and the only one showing the blind and deaf child with a doll -- the first word Keller spelled for Sullivan after they met in 1887 -- according to the New England Historic Genealogical Society, which now has the photo.

"It's really one of the best images I've seen in a long, long time," said Helen Selsdon, an archivist at the American Federation for the Blind, where Keller worked for more than 40 years. "This is just a huge visual addition to the history of Helen and Annie." ...

Check out the rest of the story at CNN, and check back tomorrow for the unveiling of our Women's History Month bibliography and other resources.

ProQuest Historical Newspapers, The New York Times (1851-2004)

Want to look at old issues of the New York Times, but you don't want to deal with microfilm?

We just recently added ProQuest Historical Newspapers to our Collection of databases. With this database, you can search citations, abstracts, and full text of the NYT from 1851-2004. The newspaper pages are displayed in nice, crisp PDF files, and you can view them from on or off campus. Plus you can now limit your search to a specific document type (articles, comics, ads, obituaries , etc).

Here's the link:

ProQuest Historical Newspapers, The New York Times (1851-2004)

(or you can go to our home page and look under "Find Articles" and "Databases by Name").