Easter Sunday hours

Carmichael Library hours for Sunday, March 31 are 6:00 pm. - 11:00 pm.

ARTstor and The New Yorker

ARTstor has reached an agreement with Condé Nast to share 25,000 images of cartoons from The New Yorker, highlights from the Condé Nast Archive of Photography, and selections from the Fairchild Photo Service.

The Condé Nast Collection, containing images dating back to 1892, represents one of the world’s greatest collections of magazine photography, encompassing fashion, celebrity, and lifestyle photography from publications such as House & Garden, Glamour, Vanity Fair, and Vogue. 

The Fairchild Photo Service, comprised of more than three million photos gathered over six decades, is the fashion world’s preeminent image gallery.

The release date is not yet set, but it looks to be in around six months.

Meet the Reference Books: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction

Meet the Reference Books introduces noteworthy encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other reference materials in Carmichael Library's print and digital collections.  Blog posts are contributed by student library employees as part of our Homegrown Book Reviews initiative.  

This post is written by Shannon Skelton, a French major.  The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction is available in digital format through the Virtual Reference Shelf and in the print reference section (Call Number PN3433.4 .P78). 

Don’t know what a Dalek is?  How about shipping? Do your friends speak in a code that you just don’t understand? Then you need Brave New Words: the Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction. Published in 2007, this book will introduce you to all of those strange and wonderful words that your friends and co-workers use.

Pulling terms from books, television, comics and the Internet, this book will give you a comprehensive overview of the science fiction vocabulary that is used around the world.

So come to the dark side, we have cookies!

by Shannon Skelton

Quick Bib: International Women's Day 2013

In honor of International Women's Day, we present a short list of volumes about the lives of women. All of these items can be found in the library's Reference Collection on the Main Floor.

Gaze, Delia, ed. Dictionary of Women Artists. London: Fitroy Dearborn Publishers, 1997. Ref. N 43 .D53 1997

Harper, Judith E. Women During the Civil War: An Encyclopedia. New York: Routledge, 2004. Ref. E 628 .H37 2004

Havranek, Carrie. Women Icons of Popular Music. Greenwood: Westport, CT, 2009. Ref. ML 82 .H39 2009

Hine, Darlene, ed. Black Women in America. New York: Oxford UP, 2005. Ref. E 185.86 .B542 2005

Krikos, Linda A. and Cindy Ingold. Women's Studies: A Recommended Bibliography. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2004. Ref. HQ 1180 .K75 2004

Love, Barbara J., ed. Feminists Who Changed America, 1963-1975. Urbana: U of Illinois P, 2006. Ref. HQ 1412 .F46 2006

United States. Cong. House. Committee on House Administration. Women in Congress, 1917-2006. Washington: GPO, 2006. Ref. JK 1030 .W66 2006

On the Web:

International Women's Day 2013

Official site. Also on Facebook

Facts for Features: Women's History Month: March 2013

Statistics compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau’s Public Information Office

A History of International Women's Day

From The Chicago Women's Liberation Union (CWLU) Herstory Website Archive, hosted by University of Illinois at Chicago

The National Women's History Project

Photo Credit: UN Women/Catianne Tijerina

"Opening of the Commission on the Status of Women."
The Commission on the Status of Women opens 4 March 2013 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

Meet the Reference Books: Facts About the Presidents

Meet the Reference Books introduces noteworthy encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other reference materials in Carmichael Library's print and digital collections.  Blog posts are contributed by student library employees as part of our Homegrown Book Reviews initiative.  
This post is written by Sara Frye, an Interdisciplinary Studies major who plans to go to graduate school to become a librarian.  Facts About the Presidents is available in our print reference collection (Call Number: E176.1 .K3).

Something about the US Presidents has always interested me, and flipping through the reference book Facts About the Presidents (published in 1989) was simply a delight. Whether you are a history major or simply enjoy glimpses into our former leaders’ lives, there is a little of everything in this gem of a reference book.

It includes detailed information about each of the first 40 US presidents, from George Washington to George HW Bush. Each entry includes loads of information such as detailed accounts of their families, nominations, elections, and administrations. The encyclopedia also contains important dates in their lives, and random informative and interesting tidbits about each of the presidents. 

The second half of the book shows comparative data and statistics for each of the presidents, their families, and their administrations. This book has everything from the presidents’ astrological signs (Martin Van Buren was a Sagittarius) to their political policies. It includes titles of books written by presidents, the ages of their life accomplishments down to the day, their fathers’ occupations, and even a list of presidents featured on postage stamps.

Some interesting things I learned while browsing this reference guide:

• George Washington had a black mole under his right ear.
• Millard Fillmore’s last words were concerning yummy food (“The nourishment is palatable”).
• Andrew Jackson killed a man in a duel.
• Grover Cleveland’s wife, Frances, became first lady at the tender age of 21.
• John Tyler had 15 children, 14 of which survived infancy. Two of his sons were named Tazewell and Lyon.

This guide is obviously great for someone studying United States history, especially since it contains a list of suggested further reading at the end of each president’s entry. It is also a great resource for someone writing a biographical essay, perhaps for an English class. Or of course if, like me, you just like reading about the idiosyncrasies and personal lives of the men who have ran this country throughout its lifetime. 

By Sara Frye

Meet the Reference Books: Oxford Companion to Philosophy

Meet the Reference Books introduces noteworthy encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other reference materials in Carmichael Library's print and digital collections.  Blog posts are contributed by student library employees as part of our Homegrown Book Reviews initiative.  
This post is written by Elizabeth Layton, a history major who plans to go to graduate school to become a librarian.  The Oxford Companion to Philosophy is available in digital format through the Virtual Reference Shelf and in our print reference collection (Call Number: B51 .O94).

Whether you’re just beginning to get your feet wet in the pool of philosophy or if you are a veteran philosophe, the Oxford Companion to Philosophy is an amazing book for you. Published in 1995 and compiled by Ted Honderich, this gem of a companion is much more than meets the eye. Not only does it cover the major and minor philosophers, it also alphabetically organizes all of the major arguments and schools of thought within philosophy today as well as throughout history.

While many people believe that books about philosophy are just for philosophy classes and majors, this is simply not the case. There is a philosophy to everything under the sun. There is a military philosophy; there has been a philosophy to how history should be viewed, to how the universe is established and even to argue whether or not we truly exist.  No matter what you are studying or teaching, the Oxford Companion to Philosophy can help you better understand your subject and assist you in looking at things from a different point of view.

And I know what you’re thinking, the idea of sitting back and contemplating the argument that we all only exist because of our own will, or debating that the only thing we experience together is primary characteristics (which was brought to our attention by John Locke by the way) but you can, and you do. We are all philosophers, lovers of knowledge, who strive to consume every nugget of information that we can. After all, this is why the professors are teaching and the students are attending classes, because we want to learn.

Within this encyclopedia, one of my favorite things that I have learned is metaphysical idealism versus metaphysical realism. In basic terms it is the argument of whether or not we actually have a soul, and if we do, where is it located? This argument has been made on both sides since the great philosophers Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates wrote their plays and studied in Greece. Some say that if the soul exists it must have mass, so where do we put the mass in our bodies? There are equally fascinating arguments as to where our souls are or where they go after we die. Does the soul exist? You be the judge: read the Oxford Companion to Philosophy, form your own opinions from those who have studied philosophy long before us, or learn from them and discover your own!

by Elizabeth Layton