Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Mercedes in Brazil, April Update


The adventures of Mercedes in Brazil continue as we enter the spring months. She's made recent trips to Brasilia and the southern city of Florianopolis. Above is a postcard that we received around the time of our last update on Mercedes. It's always neat to get a look at the stamps from different countries! Below is Mercedes' photo of Brasilia's Cathedral-Basilica of Our Lady Aparecida. The style of this building really captures the modernistic look of Brazil's capital city.


Last month, Mercedes wrote a post that should be of particular interest to current students who are considering Montevallo's study abroad opportunities. Among her tips for making the most out of the exchange program: "fully commit" to studying the language of the country that you'll be visiting.

With the spring term ending back here in the states it is easy to forget that our friend is in the thick of her studies down in Brazil. Thanks, Mercedes, for sharing your travels with those of us back home!

Monday, April 27, 2009

Extended Hours Continue Through May 7th


The library's end-of-semester extended hours began yesterday and will continue through Thursday of this week. The library will be open until midnight for the next four nights. We'll also be here late next week during final exams.

Monday, April 27 8:00 A.M. - 12:00 A.M.
Tuesday, April 28 8:00 A.M. – 12:00 A.M.
Wednesday, April 29 8:00 A.M. – 12:00 A.M.
Thursday, April 30 8:00 A.M. – 12:00 A.M.
Friday, May 1 8:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M.
Saturday, May 2 10:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M.
Sunday, May 3 2:00 P.M. – 2:00 A.M.
Monday, May 4 8:00 A.M. – 2:00 A.M.
Tuesday, May 5 8:00 A.M. – 2:00 A.M.
Wednesday, May 6 8:00 A.M. – 2:00 A.M.
Thursday, May 7 8:00 A.M. – 12:00 A.M.
Friday, May 8 8:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M.
Saturday, May 9 Closed
Sunday, May 10 Closed

Photo credit: Creative Commons license

Catalog Problems Resolved

Our apologies to those who experienced problems while attempting to access our catalog yesterday and this morning. We were notified of the issue a few moments ago and the problem has now been resolved.

As always, please report any problems you may have with our website by calling us at (205) 665-6100. You may also send us an e-mail at library(at)montevallo.edu.

Information Resources on Swine Flu

The outbreak of swine flu that started in Mexico and that is spreading into the United States has many people concerned. Listed below are some authoritative sites providing information on the disease.

World Health Organization

US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

CDC's Swine Flu and You

CDC's Key Facts about Swine Flu

Overview of swine flu from epidemiologist Tara Smith

WebMD

Swine Flu FAQ from WebMD

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Behind the Hedges...

Behind the Hedges...lurks secret deals, out of control personal spending, adultery,feuds, cover-ups, backstabbing, corporate shenanigans!

No I'm not talking about an episode of Days of Our Lives or Bernie Medoff's Wall Street firm! The phrase "between the hedges" refers to the famous football field at the University of Georgia in Athens. The late Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Rich Whitt has entitled his book Behind the Hedges, mowing down the duplicitous facade of the University of Georgia's President, Michael Adams.

Whitt alleges and presents evidence of misuse of funds($138,000 spent on parties in Hawaii and Georgia, for example). He presents many incidents of the rampant misconduct that occured on a personal and official level! Various constituencies such as the Board of Trustees, the Foundation Board,even officials at the state capital level become players in Whitt's investigation.

The book's publicity has upset students and faculty who fear a drop in donor support and a tarnishing of their school's reputation.

Let us appreciate the University of Montervallo's continued reputation for integrity and transparency. And let us wish our neighboring University the best and a swift plan to get their hedges out of the mud!

Sheldon Hackney, historian, former provost, Princeton University, former President of Tulane and the University of Pennsylvania writes about this book:

" This authoritative tale of colorful characters thrashing about in a tangled web of compromised moral principles should be required reading for everyone in higher education. Behind the Hedges is a clear demonstration that within our universities, the highest ethical precepts should be the foundation of both good politics and effective leadership."

There have been allegations that the book has been mysteriously disappearing from places that could sell it. I received my copy from amazon.com.

Patsy Sears

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Spring Reading Photos Now Online

Today marked our third library reading in as many weeks and we now have photos from all of them posted to Flickr and Facebook. Here's a sample:



University of Alabama Professor of English and Associate Provost for Academic Affairs, Hank Lazer, read his poems here on Tuesday, March 31st.



Mary Ward Brown read from her award-winning collections of short stories here on Friday, April 17th as part of the seventh annual Montevallo Literary Festival.



Lastly, Carmichael Library's own Alan May read from his recent book of poetry, Dead Letters, Tuesday, April 21st.

Check out our other online spaces to see more photos!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Alan May Reading


Alan May will be reading selections from his poetry on Tuesday, April 21, at 3:30 in the Carmichael Library lobby. Alan has authored two books of poetry, Notes toward an Apocryphal Text and Dead Letters.

Poet Hank Lazer describes Alan’s work as "poetry rich in a nightmarish beauty made of music, image, and vision." His works have appeared in The New Orleans Review, and others. Alan is the editor of the online poetry journal Apocryphal Text. Alan holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Alabama.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

2009 Montevallo Literary Festival, April 16-17


This week brings the seventh annual Montevallo Literary Festival.

This year's headliners include Rebecca Gilman, Anthony Grooms, Maurice Manning, and Mary Ward Brown. The festival will also feature Daniel Anderson, Emma Bolden, Christopher Chambers, Hartford Gongaware, The EatingAlabama Bloggers, Ariana-Sophia Kartsonis, and Michael Morris.

More information is available at the MLF website.

Thursday, April 09, 2009

Sexual Assault Awareness Month 2009

This is the second year that the library is teaming up with our partners in the Counseling and Career Center to raise awareness about sexual assault.

Just inside the library's doors you'll find brochures, books, and other resources designed to educate you, your friends, and your loved ones. All of the brochures are free for you to take and share with friends, and all of the books in the display are available for checkout.

In addition to the materials here in the library, you may consider the following list of organizations, which were compiled by Kassie Doggett of the Counseling and Career Center:
  • SafeHouse of Shelby County - www.safehouse.org Crisis Line: (205) 664-SAFE or 1-800 650-6522
  • Crisis Center - www.crisiscenterbham.com Rape Response Line: (205) 323-7273 (RAPE) or 1-888-323-7273 (RAPE)
  • Alabama Coalition Against Rape - www.acar.org
  • Rape Abuse Incest National Network: The nation's largest anti-sexual assault organization - www.rainn.org
  • National Sexual Assault Hotline - 1 (800) 656-4673 (HOPE)
Thanks to Kassie and her colleagues for their continued efforts on this important issue.

Related on Carmichael blog:

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Murphy Interviewed for Alabama Public Radio

Listen as Montevallo's own Jim Murphy is interviewed by Jeanie Thompson, executive director of the Alabama Writers’ Forum. Murphy is the author of Heaven Overland, published this year by Kennesaw State University Press. He is associate professor of English here at UM, and his poems have appeared in The Southern Review, Southern Humanities Review, Brooklyn Review, Painted Bride Quarterly, Cimarron Review, Fine Madness, The Alaska Quarterly Review, Puerto del Sol, and in other journals, as well as in The Memphis Sun (Kent State University Press, 2000). He serves as Director of the Montevallo Literary Festival, held on campus each spring, and as an editor in poetry for Red Mountain Review, a Birmingham-based literary journal.

Here's the link to the audio, to be aired on Alabama Public Radio: http://arts.alabama.gov/actc/1/20090414murphy.mp3

On the Web:

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Library of Congress Joins YouTube

Last year, we brought you the news that the Library of Congress had established a Flickr account. The Library announced today that it has joined YouTube, starting with more than 70 video clips. The launch collection of videos are divided into several categories including:
2008 National Book Festival author presentations, the Books and Beyond author series, Journeys and Crossings (a series of curator discussions), “Westinghouse” industrial films from 1904, scholar discussions from the John W. Kluge Center, and the earliest movies made by Thomas Edison, including the first moving image ever made (curiously enough, a sneeze by a man named Fred Ott).
LC Director of Communications Matt Raymond promises that the library will soon follow with more videos. For now, enjoy one of the classic Edison recordings of boxing cats! I don't think that he could get away with this one nowadays...



Related on Carmichael blog:
Related on the Web:

eRes Fax Line Now Working

Thanks to the quick efforts of our Physical Plant, the primary fax line for the course reserves server is again working. You may now send documents to the regular fax number.

We appreciate your patience as we worked with Computer Services to resolve this problem.

eRes Temporary Fax Number

A quick note to faculty and department secretaries: we’ve been notified that our primary fax number for the eRes server is not working. The Computer Services department has established a temporary fax number that should be used until problems with the primary line can be resolved. Please refer to the e-mail sent this morning for the temporary number. We’ll send another note when things are back to normal. As always, please call or e-mail us at the library should you experience problems faxing documents to the server.

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

YouTube Unveils New Viewing Experience

The popular online video hub YouTube has announced a new layout for its website. In unveiling the new look, YouTube has provided several tips for getting the most out of your viewing experience. You can check out our Día de los Muertos highlights video (taken in 2006) to get an idea of how this new layout will look on your monitor.