Better World Books Book Drive

This news comes from a recent e-mail from UM Habitat for Humanity coordinator Kathy King:

The UM chapter of Habitat for Humanity is sponsoring a Better World Books book drive during finals and book buy-back week. We are asking students and teachers to donate used and sample textbooks and old editions by dropping them in collection boxes around campus. Boxes are located in Morgan computer lab, Harmon lobby, Carmichael Library, and the Student Union Building.

Better World Books collects millions of books and dollars for literacy programs around the world. You can read the whole story at www.betterworldbooks.com. Some facts:

• Books collected are either sold online to fund operations (including shipping and printing local language books), donated directly to literacy partners, or recycled.
• 100% of profits go to literacy partners. Room to Read is our chosen literacy partner. Room to Read was founded by John Wood, a former Microsoft executive, after he hiked through Nepal and saw the schools there. The school he visited had 30 books, and they were kept locked in a cabinet because they were too valuable. Since then, Room to Read has built libraries, computer labs, schools, as well as printing local language books.
• No book ever goes in a landfill.
  

If you need help hauling books, contact Kathy King at 6431 or via email.

Please help us support this worthy cause by dropping your new or used books by the library lobby!

New Entries in the Faculty Bibliography

New editions to the faculty bibliography (titled Montevallo Authors) include citations from Michael Patton, Alexander Bruce, and Linda Murdock. Want to see your favorite professor's recent publications? If so, click here.

The Teaching Professor

The library now has a site license to the online version of the journal The Teaching Professor, a great source for information on teaching at the university level. The latest issue includes articles on using media in the classroom, student learning in the major, undergraduate views of education. Faculty may register to receive the table of contents when each new issue is available.

Dr. Cornel West to speak at ASU

Next week brings the opportunity to see one of the nation's preeminent scholars right here in Alabama. Dr. Cornel West will speak on the campus of Alabama State University this coming Monday. From the ASU website:

The National Center for the Study of Civil Rights and African-American Culture at Alabama State University will host the Ralph D. Abernathy Civil Rights Lecture Series on Monday, December 3 at 7 p.m. at the Joe L. Reed Acadome. Dr. Cornel West will be the guest speaker. His topic will be “Democracy and African Americans in the 21st Century” The public is invited to attend.

One of America’s most gifted and provocative public intellectuals, West’s writing, speaking and teaching weaves together the American traditions of the black Baptist church, progressive politics, and jazz...

The National Center for the Study of Civil Rights and African-American Culture at ASU is located at 1345 Carter Hill Road. For more information, call (334) 229-4824 or (334) 229-4876.

You can read more about this visit at the link above.

Photo of Dr. Cornel West and Tavis Smiley by J&R Music & Computer World. Creative Commons license.

Bibliography of Resources on Suicide and Depression

Bibliography of Resources on Suicide and Depression

Books | Websites and More

The October 25, 2007 edition of the Shelby County Reporter included a story about the efforts of some of Montevallo's own to raise awareness about suicide. The Reporter piece highlights the unfortunate fact that incidents of suicide have been on the rise over the past year locally.

In September, members of UM's Chi Sigma Iota counseling honor society participated in an Out of the Darkness awareness walk. The goals of these events, which are sponsored by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, include raising money for AFSP's research and education programs to prevent suicide and save lives, increasing awareness about depression and suicide, and assisting survivors of suicide loss.

Carmichael Library presents these resources on the related issues of suicide and depression. All of the following books can be found in the library's circulating collection on the second floor. Check the catalog for availability.

Bolton, Iris and Curtis Mitchell. My Son - My Son -: A Guide to Healing After a Suicide in the Family. Atlanta, Ga.: Bolton Press, 1991. HV6545.B6

Capuzzi, Dave. Suicide Prevention in the Schools: Guidelines for Middle and High School Settings. Alexandria, Va.: American Counseling Association, 1994. HV6546 .C38 1994

Colt, George Howe. The Enigma of Suicide. New York: Summit Books, 1991. HV6545 .C596 1991

Daniell, Rosemary. Fatal Flowers: On Sin, Sex, and Suicide in the Deep South. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1980. HQ1438.A13 D35

Gilbert, Paul. Overcoming Depression: A Step-by-Step Approach to Gaining Control Over Depression. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. RC537 .G534 2001

Hawton, Keith, and Catalán, José. Attempted Suicide: A Practical Guide to its Nature and Management. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987. RC569 .H38 1987

Johnson, Wanda Yvonne. Youth Suicide: The School's Role in Prevention and Response. Bloomington, Ind.: Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation, 1999. HV6546 .J645 1999

Joiner, Thomas E. Why People Die by Suicide. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2005. HV6545 .J65 2005

Karp, David A. Speaking of Sadness: Depression, Disconnection, and the Meanings of Illness. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. RC537 .K367 1996

Keir, Norman. I Can't Face Tomorrow: Help for Those Troubled by Thoughts of Suicide. Wellingborough: Thorsons Pub. Group, 1986. HV6545 .K45 1986

Lester, David. Making Sense of Suicide: An In-Depth Look at Why People Kill Themselves. Philadelphia: Charles Press, 1997. HV6545 .L419 1997

Menninger, Karl A. Man Against Himself. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1985. RC569.5.S45 M46 1985

Miller, Leslie A. and Paul A. Rose. Suicide. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2000. HV6545 .S818 2000

Minois, Georges. History of Suicide: Voluntary Death in Western Culture. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999. RC569 .M55 1999

O'Malley, Nancy. Suicide on Campus: Caring and Coping. Madison, Wis.: Magna, 1987. HV6546

Reynolds, David K. and Norman L. Farberow. Suicide: Inside and Out. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976. RC569 .R49

Rickgarn, Ralph L. V. Perspectives on College Student Suicide. Amityville, N.Y.: Baywood Pub. Co., 1994. HV6545.8 .R53 1994

Shneidman, Edwin S. Death and the College Student: A Collection of Brief Essays on Death and Suicide by Harvard Youth. New York: Behavioral Publications, 1972. HV6545 .S354

Slaby, Andrew Edmund and Lili Garfinkel. No One Saw My Pain: Why Teens Kill Themselves. New York: Norton, 1994. RJ506.S9 S53 1994

Solomon, Andrew. The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression. New York: Scribner, 2001. RC537 .S598 2001

Vidal, John A. Student Suicide: A Guide for Intervention. Washington, D.C.: National Education Association, 1989. HV6546 .V54 1989

Web Sites and More

UM Counseling and Career Center - Resources for students. Professional staff members are available for consultation, training and intervention. To schedule an appointment call (205) 665-6262.

Birmingham Crisis Center - Crisis and Suicide Line is (205) 323-7777 or 1-800-273-TALK.

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

Out of the Darkness Community Walks - A project of the AFSP

Suicide Prevention Resource Center

Suicide Prevention and Survivors' Resources - Provided by GriefNet

Bibliography compiled by Jason Cooper, Maribel Martinez, and Tiffany Walker

Connect with the library from your Facebook

There's a new way to connect with Carmichael Library—from your own Facebook profile! If you're a member of the Montevallo network, you'll see a Carmichael search box every time you click into the Facebook Librarian application. Once you've added this application, you'll be able to:

• Search our catalog
• Click into our homepage and blog
• Ask a Carmichael librarian a question
  

All from your Facebook profile. Give it a try and if you like it, tell your friends!

Day of the Dead 2007 Program Pics

It's been a busy couple of weeks but we've finally gotten photos from our 2007 Day of the Dead programs posted to our Flickr. Also, if you haven't yet seen them, we posted a half dozen shots of the brickwork that's been taking place at the intersection of Highland and Boundary Streets. Check them out!

Have a SIP! And while you're at it, get googlewhacked

I must admit that my favorite part of participating in our wired world is discovering the kooky jargon that evolves and affords us the fodder to "word-drop" during party chatter or committee meetings or any situations in which we want to appear technologically savvy. Here are two terms that I recently added to my brain's virtual dictionary:

SIPS--which stands for statistically improbable phrases. It is actually a system developed by Amazon.com to compare all the books they index and to find phrases in each that are most unlikely to be found in any other book. For example, if you are interested in the phrase "global urbanization", Amazon's program helps you find books that use that phrase somewhere in the text. Scientific research programs are providing similar tools, referred to as "text mining" tools. Of course, librarians, always ahead of the curve, have long been using creative and original cataloging in their catalog subject headings to promote the finding of a unique subject.

Another word I recently discovered was googlewhacked. It's a term and game that have been around for awhile...which is why I emphasize that I just discovered it. Characterized by C/net.news as "the latest pursuit of legions of bored and increasing obsessed Web Surfers searching for the next big thing. " The googlewhack game begins by typing two words into Google's search bar. A googlewhacker's ultimate goal is to see the words "Results 1-1 of 1." It has become more and more challenging to find a googlewhack because of the enormous size of Google.

Gary Stock, who invented the term, humbly says that people have been searching for odd combinations for years. He likes to view googelwhacking, not as a waste of time, but as an incentive to get people to explore the Web.

Please share your favorite or just some fun tech terms with me. I'm going to a committee meeting and a soiree party soon and need some fresh buzz words to oh so casually drop into the conversation!

Lastly, I need a fresh tech web resource to compliment my Urban Dictionary. So recommend one to me if you please.

Patsy
searsp@montevallo.edu

University Scholar’s Presentation Today, November 14th

Please join us today in the library for the 2007 University Scholar's presentation.

University Scholar Lee Rozelle, assistant professor of English, will give the University Scholar’s presentation. Rozelle’s book, Ecosublime: Environmental Awe and Terror from New World to Oddworld, established him as a visionary leader in the emerging field of ecocriticism. His articles have been published in scholarly journals such as Twentieth-Century Literature, ISLE, Critical Studies and the University of Paris Press-Sorbonne’s Frontières collection. He offered a plenary address at the ASLE-UK First Biennial Graduate Conference at the University of Glasgow, and has given scholarly presentations in places such as Warsaw, Calgary, Istanbul, Alaska and, closer to home, Disney World.

The 2007 University Scholar award was presented to Dr. Rozelle at the annual Founders’ Day convocation held Thursday, Oct. 11. Rozelle earned a B.S. degree in English and biology education from the University of South Alabama, then went on to earn a Master of Arts degree in English and a Ph.D. in American literature from the University of Southern Mississippi. Prior to joining the UM faculty in 2003, Dr. Rozelle was on the faculty at L.S.U.

For more information on Dr. Rozelle and the University Scholar tradition, read this piece from the October 17^th Wednesday Memo.

The presentation will take place this afternoon at 3:30 pm on the ground floor of the library. A reception will immediately follow the presentation. Refreshments will be served.

Making the Difference

Looking for a good job after college? The October 26, 2007 Chronicle of Higher Education Newsblog reports on a campaign to fill thousand of Federal jobs opening up soon.

The campaign for jobs, dubbed Making the Difference, will appeal to the service-minded college graduates by highlighting the work the federal government does, for example, to fight poverty, maintain national security, and protect the environment.

Making the Difference site offers links to Hot Jobs, Cool Internships and information on What Kinds of Jobs are There and Why Choose a Federal Career.

I found some cool jobs for Art Majors. Want to work for the National Parks Service? A Special Events Coordinator? Check out the jobs for Communcation Majors.

Classical Music Library Scheduled Outage: Saturday, November 10th

This just in from Alexander Street Press, CML will be unavailable Saturday evening:

Alexander Street Press databases will be unavailable on Saturday, Nov 10 from approximately 7:00pm to 11:00pm Eastern Standard Time, as we perform some routine maintenance and implement several upgrades to our servers.

Note the time difference as this planned outage will affect us from around 6:00 to 10:00pm Central Time.

You can read more news about Classical Music Library, including their free music downloads on ASP's music blog.

Harper Lee Receives Presidential Medal of Freedom

The Birmingham News has picked up an AP report about one of Alabama's best known authors. Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird, has been awarded the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

You can find copies of Lee's classic in the library's circulating collection at PS3562.E353 T6.

Day of the Dead at Bare Hands Gallery

During Friday's presentation of Day of the Dead altars here at the library, Eric Vaccarella mentioned a piece in the Birmingham News about the Day of the Dead display at Bare Hands Gallery. This morning, I found a short video clip produced by the News on this popular exhibit and festival in the Magic City.



Bare Hands celebrated their fifth Day of the Dead last week establishing them as one of the first known major observances of this unique Mexican holiday in the Birmingham area. It just so happens that we've been celebrating here at Carmichael Library for six years now! :) Thanks to Dr. Vaccarella, Dr. Michelle Duran-McClure and all of our talented students for putting on another terrific event again this year.

Finally, those interested in the Day of the Dead tradition, and/or the local art scene won't want to miss this second video, produced by Bare Hands Gallery. It features local artists Tracy Martin and Wendy Jarvis, who talk about the history of Day of the Dead at BHG.

Day of the Dead 2006 Video Review

Carmichael Library presents highlights from last year's Day of the Dead event. Under the direction of professor of Spanish Eric Vaccarella, UM students present ofrendas to Steve Irwin, Johnny Cash, Fred Rogers, Charles Schultz, and Pat Morita. Also mentioned in this clip are Claude Monet, Don Knotts, John Lennon, Mitch Hedberg, and Luther Vandross.



Video taken by Joel Bullock

Internet Librarian, Continued

You never know when you'll run into someone from Montevallo! I began my presentation on Tuesday by asking if anyone knew the University of Montevallo. Right in the front row, there was Virginia Haynie Gause, now the Web Librarian at the University of Texas Pan American. She's a graduate of UM and proud of it.

From my side of the podium, our panel on Second Life went very well. We showed the potential that Second Life and similar virtual worlds have for reaching out to people, as venues for instruction and experiential learning, for connecting people from around the world, and for having fun. Before I got into Second Life, I never would have thought I'd stand in front of a room full of people and discuss what to do when zombies attack a library, but I did it on Tuesday.

Yesterday, I attended a fascinating presentation on mobile technologies and their potential for library applications. This is a rapidly changing arena, as anyone who has seen the iPhone knows. Imagine being able to carry around your library catalog in your pocket! Or being able to use your smart phone to register for classes through the Forum portal!

I'm heading out on a whale watch this morning and then home again tomorrow. See you all next week!

Paranormal Group Seeks King's Spirit

UM alum Justin Averette has written an interesting piece about a group that's been active here on campus looking for evidence of the haunts of King House.

Writes Averette, "The Gulf States Paranormal Society is made up of mostly Shelby and Jefferson County residents. They get together about twice a month and investigate 'haunted' places like King House."

I spoke to a member of this group earlier in the week, who claimed that they heard footsteps and voices on the second floor of the historic structure when they were here most recently.

Averette's story was published in the Shelby County Reporter on October 31, 2007.

Access to FirstSearch and BooksInPrint Restored

As of a few minutes ago, access to FirstSearch and BooksInPrint has been restored. Sorry for the inconvenience. Please let us know if you have any problems.

Access to FirstSearch and BooksInPrint

We have temporarily lost access to FirstSearch and BooksInPrint. Sorry for the inconvenience. Hopefully, we can get this fixed by some time tomorrow. Stay "tuned" to the blog for more info.

IL Day 2

I have arrived at the epicenter of Library geekdom. Everywhere I look, there are librarians on laptops, using Palms and Blackberries, and talking on cell phones. These are my people.

This morning, however, I decided to skip the day's keynote address so I could catch up on sleep (Sunday was a LONG day of travel) and get my daily workout by walking along the seafront. The chorus of seals was amazing! They are everywhere in the harbor. The noise they make, especially when they're barking while under the wharf, is amazing.

Back to the conference. Yesterday, I attended a couple of interesting sessions on web design and web tools. I have a long list of new tools (toys?) to check out, and I'll be posting here about them as I experiment with them. Two speakers talked about the process their institution used to redesign the library web site, and I hope to use a lot of that information as we take a closer look at Carmichael's web site this spring.

Today, I'm in a day-long session on libraries in Second Life, and I'm speaking as part of a panel this afternoon. It's interesting to get to meet many of my SL colleagues face to face and to hear more about what they're doing in world.

I'll let you know how the presentation goes later today.

Internet Librarian

I'm on the road again, attending the Internet Librarian conference in Monterey, CA. I'm speaking tomorrow with a panel of other librarians working in Second Life, but today I get to be part tourist, part conference attendee.

After a long, long day of traveling yesterday (it's not a good sign when you arrive at the airport in a tow truck!), I took a quick walk down to Fisherman's Wharf this morning to watch a group of seals cavorting in the bay. At that time, it was sunny and quite pleasant, but by the time the sessions let out for lunch, it had become cloudy and cool.

The most interesting session so far was the keynote address from Lee Raine, Director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project. This project has been studying how Americans of all ages use and interact with the Internet. One of their most recent projects, and one that Raine discussed, is the Typology of Information and Communication Technology Users. Types range from the Omnivores, who have all the latest gadgets and are highly engaged with creating content to the Off the Network people who neither have nor want information technologies. You can take a brief online quiz to find out your own type.

I've taken the quiz a couple of times, and my results seem to vary with my mood. For example, today, when I'm away from home and dealing with car problems by long distance, I appreciate the connectivity my laptop and cell phone give me. When I took the quiz just now, I showed up as an Omnivore.

The type I identify with, however, when I read the descriptions is the Lackluster Veteran. These folks use information technologies a great deal, but they aren't thrilled with the idea of being connected to everyone all the time. Even though I have high-speed internet at home, there are days when I deliberately don't bring the laptop home so I can just ignore the rest of the world, read a good book, and spend some quality time with the cats and the dog. Given the cost of the car repair I'll have to pay for when I get home, I may be doing a lot more of that in the future!

I'm sending some photos to Jason Cooper to post on the Flickr site, so watch there for sightings of marine animals, crazy librarians, or interesting scenery.

Day of the Dead

Don't miss the chance to see the annual presentation of Day of the Dead altars here in the library. Student groups were here on Friday to construct the altars and they'll be up all week. Also, check our Flickr account for new Day of the Dead photos, which will posted in the coming days.

The library would like to invite the entire UM community to join us for presentations of the altars, as well as a discussion of Day of the Dead traditions. On Thursday, art professor Michelle Duran-McClure will be here with her class from 2:00 to 3:15. On Friday, we'll host professor of Spanish Eric Vaccarella and his students from 12:15 to 1:30. Dr. Duran-McClure's class is honoring children while Dr. Vaccarella's class will honor adults. Refreshments will be served during both presentations this week.

Day of the Dead Ofrenda to Ronald Reagan uploaded by Carmichael Library.

Bibliography of Ghost Stories

Call it a just-for-fun, just-in-time bibliography: here is but a small sample of the ghost stories that can be found in our catalog. YP indicates a book in our Young People Collection; all other items can be found in the Circulating Book Collection.

Almond, David. Kit's Wilderness. (2000) YP PZ7.A448 K5 1999

Brown, Alan. Shadows and Cypress: Southern Ghost Stories. (2000) BF1472.U6 B745 2000

Greenberg, Martin Harry. A Newbery Halloween: Thirteen Scary Stories by Newbery Award-winning Authors. (1993) YP PZ5 .N395 1993

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The House of the Seven Gables. (1967 ed.) PS1861 .A1 1967

Haskins, James. The Headless Haunt and Other African-American Ghost Stories. (1994) YP PZ8.1.H267 H4 1994

Leodhas, Sorche Nic. Ghosts Go Haunting. (1965) PZ8.1 .L4237 G 1965

McKissack, Pat. The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural. (1992) YP PZ7.M478693 D3 1992

McSherry, Frank D, ed. Great American Ghost Stories. (1992) PS648.G48 G7

Scarborough, Dorothy. Humorous Ghost Stories. (1921) PZ1.S285 H8

Wagenknecht, Edward. The Fireside Book of Ghost Stories. (1947) PZ1.W12 F5

Windham, Kathryn Tucker. 13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey. (1969) GR580.W55 (Also available as an electronic book.)

--. Jeffrey's Favorite 13 Ghost Stories. (2004) YP BF1472.U6 W563 2004

Also, if you're looking for some spooky audio downloads, here are a couple of titles that may be of interest:

Estleman, Loren D. Journey of the Dead. (2005)

Massey, Brandon. Dark Corner. (2006)

Montevallo Ghost Stories

As warm as it's been it hardly feels like October, but this is the time of year when interest in Montevallo's ghost stories reaches its peak. Alan May contributed a series of posts last year on UM's famous haunts, which include sightings in Main, King, Hanson, and Reynolds Halls. For a more complete list of these spooky tales, check the circulation desk for our collection, which is on a one-hour reserve. Also, stay tuned for a bibliography of ghost stories to be posted here in the coming days.

Photo of Jack-o-lanterns by Peter Dutton. Creative Commons license

Now in Carmichael Lobby: Student Book Art

For the third time since 2005, Carmichael Library presents an exhibit of student book art. The projects currently on display in the library foyer are the result of two projects in Professor Patrick Mayton's popular Book Arts class: an origami book project, and a book alteration using books donated by the library.






Our two previous showings were during summer terms and this year's display marks the first time that visitors to the library can see these works in the heart of the academic year. If you've already seen these unique pieces be sure to check back often as the display will be updated throughout the coming weeks.

Joel Bullock took the terrific photos posted in this blog and you can see even more by heading over to our library Flickr page.

Playing Soon at UM Theatre: The Seagull

If you've been anywhere on campus over the past week you won't have missed these signs advertising the opening act of this year's theatre season. Anton Chekhov's The Seagull will open on Friday and play through the weekend.

The Mass Communication department produced a video with cast members Carl Maguire, Megan Stein, B. J. Underwood, Kelsey Sherrer, and Stephen Elkins. In it, a student interviewer asks the actors to talk about their characters in the play. Also appearing in the video is director Vladimir Rovinsky, who makes comments on the cast and his last Montevallo show. You can watch the video at the Mass Comm website. More information on this weekend's production can be seen here.

Finally, you can find a copy of The Seagull here in the library on the second floor at PG3456.A19. Check availability of our copies here.

Common Errors in English

Paul Brians, a professor of English at Washington State University, has produced an excellent resource for students and others with his Common Errors in English. Here is a sample entry from Dr. Brian's website:

Affect/Effect

There are five distinct words here. When “affect” is accented on the final syllable (a-FECT), it is usually a verb meaning “have an influence on”: “The million-dollar donation from the industrialist did not affect my vote against the Clean Air Act.”

Occasionally a pretentious person is said to affect an artificial air of sophistication. Speaking with a borrowed French accent or ostentatiously wearing a large diamond ear stud might be an affectation. In this sort of context, “affect” means “to make a display of or deliberately cultivate.”

Another unusual meaning is indicated when the word is accented on the first syllable (AFF-ect), meaning “emotion.” In this case the word is used mostly by psychiatrists and social scientists— people who normally know how to spell it.

The real problem arises when people confuse the first spelling with the second: “effect.” This too can be two different words. The more common one is a noun: “When I left the stove on, the effect was that the house filled with smoke.” When you affect a situation, you have an effect on it.

The less common is a verb meaning “to create”: “I’m trying to effect a change in the way we purchase widgets.” No wonder people are confused. Note especially that the proper expression is not “take affect” but “take effect”—become effective. Hey, nobody ever said English was logical: just memorize it and get on with your life.

The stuff in your purse? Your personal effects.

I'll admit it: I still have to look that one up. Anyway, this is a terrific website.

Founders Week at UM

This week marks the 111th observance of Founders Day at the University of Montevallo. In addition to Thursday's official ceremony at 11:00 a.m. in the McChesney Student Activity Center there are a number of events on campus this week, including:

• Spruce-Up Day this afternoon, coordinated by the Environmental Club
• The inaugural Heritage Concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 9, in LeBaron Recital Hall featuring the Miami String Quartet
• “Battle of the Bands,” which will tentatively include at least five bands competing Wednesday evening, Oct. 10, at the Alabama Coach Company restaurant (time: TBA)
• The hiding of the Crook, a UM tradition since 1926
  
• The 10th annual Life Raft Debate on Thursday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. in the McChesney Student Activity Center

You can always celebrate the founding of UM at your campus library. Perennial favorites in our collection include Years Rich and Fruitful: University of Montevallo 1896-1996, by former library director and UM alum Mary Frances Tipton, and White Columns & Red Brick: the University of Montevallo Buildings, by Lucille Griffith.

UC Berkely Offers Full Courses on YouTube--But Not for Credit

UC Berkeley now formally offers videos of full course lectures via YouTube. According to an article in today's San Francisco Chronicle, the University plans to record 50 classes each semester and make them freely available. As it turns out, Berkely began offering courses over the Internet in 1995, and the University sees the YouTube classes as an extension of the courses offered at http://webcast.berkeley.edu/.

Read the Chronicle article here.

Celebrate Your Freedom to Read: Check out a Banned Book!

Celebrate Your Freedom to Read @ Your Campus Library

Today marks the official start of Banned Books Week. This year marks the 26^th year that libraries and bookstores across the country have highlighted books that have been banned or challenged over the previous year.

The question of whether to allow censorship of ideas is a debate that can only take place in a free society. Do we allow an individual or group to restrict what is available to rest of us, or do we insist that libraries and bookstores acquire and make available materials representative of all the people in our society?

This week we encourage you to visit the library and check out a book that some may have not wanted to be available to you. We've identified dozens of these titles and we'll be restocking our display throughout the week as these are checked out.

On Thursday, Charlie Conway wrote a review of one of our latest additions to the Reference collection, Banned Books. You'll find those volumes shelved in the Zs at Z 658.U5 B36 2006 v.1-4

We get a lot of questions about individual challenges to books. In addition to our print resources, you may find these websites helpful.

• Banned Books Week - the official website from the American Library Association's Office of Intellectual Freedom (OIF)
  
• The Banned Books Week pages maintained by Marshall University Libraries provide basic information on challenges to books from 2001 through 2006
• Explore Banned Books at Google Book Search

We hope these resources help you in your studies of book challenges. Whether exploring this topic on your own or pursuing it for an assignment, there are a lot of challenges to study: the OIF recorded 8,332 challenges to books between 1990 and 2004. According to the American Library Association, "research suggests that for each challenge reported there are as many as four or five that go unreported."

More Banned Books Week display photos are available at our Flickr. These shots taken by Sarah Bagby.

Eugene Sledge Papers Available Online

Eugene Sledge, author of With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa, taught Biology here for many years. His papers are held at his alma mater, Auburn University, and the AU library has digitized many of these materials. The collection is available online and through Alabama Mosaic. The collection includes photographs from Dr. Sledge's time at Montevallo.

With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa has been called one of the finest war memoirs ever written. Sledge's World War II experiences will be discussed in the episode of The War airing on PBS on Sunday, September 30, at 7 p.m.

Banned Books: Literature Suppressed

Banned Books, a new 4-volume set of reference books recently acquired by Carmichael Library, has at its heart a "dedication to freedom of inquiry," which is a fragment I've plucked from the dedication inscribed at the start of the series.

The four volumes cover respectively literature suppressed on political, social, religious, and sexual grounds. Right away one must notice the impossibility of neatly containing such grounds one from the other. Certainly some political motivations are sexually charged and vice versa, and doubtless it becomes hard to distinguish the sexuality of religiosity from the religiosity of sexuality, much less the necessity of a social layer to any of these particular groupings. Banned Books succeeds in elegance, however, in that it provides pragmatic, provisional divisions. Utility, in this case, outweighs integration.

Rosemary Aud-Franklin writes in Reference & User Services Quarterly:

"The general editor of the series is Ken Wachsberger, who also directs the journal division of Pierian Press and is the author of Voices from the Underground. The authors of the individual volumes have published previously in this area and include Margaret Bald, Dawn Sova, and Nicholas Karolides.

"The series covers more than four hundred books, spanning from the Bible to The Satanic Verses. Individual volumes are arranged in sections--introduction, forward, preface, content (alphabetical by title of banned book), biographical profiles, and bibliography. Entries give the author's name, the date and place of publication, summary, censorship history, and further readings."

Reference & User Services Quarterly

Why would one want to investigate suppressed literature? Does a work have a value disparate from what is generally conceived as its interior construction, e.g. its motivated uses of metaphor, metonymy, irony, assonance, dissonance, imagery, the old iron horses and all? Does one read merely what one thinks of as the work, or does one also read its traces, its contexts, its infamy? If one views the work decentralized, as part of a constellation, as a multiplicity, as a body without organs (to allude to a notion of Deleuze and Guattari) that shifts and emerges to fit a moment's demand of relevance, one witnesses the work stretch out to include in its aura its own canonical in/ex-clusion and all the supporting literatures therein. In such a view, a work's suppression within a culture does two things: 1. adds to the body of interesting works a series of dissenting and differing ruptures & 2. adds the body of the work as a dissenting and differing rupture to the master narrative of whatever regime or party has suppressed it.

Regardless of one's tack, Banned Books marks a good place to organize one's research on the various literatures which have suffered marginalizing (and often fame-inducing) dissent or upon the literatures which have by their very objectification by a suppressing system given us a deeper insight into how such a system operates and persists.

Michael Patton Gets Caught Reading

Today we bring you our ninth installment of Get Caught Reading. It's also our first to take place off campus. Carmichael Library caught up with UM professor of philosophy Michael Patton at Eclipse Coffee and Books on Montevallo's Main Street.

It seems appropriate to the start of Banned Books Week on Saturday that Dr. Patton is reading Kingdom of Fear, by the late gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson. The subtitle of the book is "Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century." Said Patton of his reading choice, "It's political insight and humor that makes me laugh out loud."

Since we started taking these pictures last April, we've asked for your nominations for the UM community member you'd most like to see here. Whether it's your favorite prof, your best friend, or a student organization, we hope you'll keep sending us your ideas.

Tracking us in My Yahoo! Beta

A while back I wrote about how to read our blog using a desktop widget, but if you're like me you follow many more blogs than just one a day. After using My Yahoo! for some time, I've been using Bloglines for most of the past year to track the dozens of sites and feeds that interest me.

Recently, Yahoo! has upgraded their feed reading product with a beta version of My Yahoo! While I like the look and feel of My Yahoo! better than Bloglines, Yahoo! hasn't won me back just yet. Still, I thought I'd list the steps to tracking Carmichael Library's multiple RSS feeds in this popular feed reader.

1) From this blog, choose the library feed you want to follow from our list in the right-hand sidebar below. You can choose from this page, our New Browsing Books feed, our Flickr photos, or our events calendar. Right click on the corresponding orange RSS button and choose Copy Shortcut. (If you're a Firefox user, choose Copy Link Location.)

2) Once you've logged in to Yahoo!, go to your My Yahoo! page by pointing your browser to http://my.yahoo.com.

3) Click on the Personalize this page button toward the top of your screen.

4) Under the Add Content heading, click the link that reads Add RSS Feed.

5) Paste the RSS feed address into the box, and click the Add button. You're now subscribed to the library's feed!

6) Repeat steps two through five to add more feeds.

Firefox devotees know that there's an even easier way to do all of this: left-click on an RSS button and choose your feed reader from the drop down menu that appears on the following page. It doesn't get any easier than that! For still more information on adding content to your My Yahoo! page, check out Yahoo's FAQ on the topic.

If there's interest, we'll post more tips to tracking our feeds in Bloglines, Google Reader, and perhaps other places. As always, if you have questions or want to see us blog about a particular topic drop us a line.

The above screen shot is my own implementation of My Yahoo! featuring all four of our library feeds.

Scenes from the Academic Success Fair

Here are a few scenes from last week's Academic Success Fair in front of Main Hall.



President Williams meets with library faculty and staff at our booth.



Patsy, Amanda, and Gloria greet students at the library booth.



A student gathers information at the library booth.



Rosemary talks up library services at the Academic Success Fair.

Once again, there's a lot more to see at our Flickr page!

Poets Laureate

In the past month or so, two poets have have been appointed laureate positions. In August, the Librarian of Congress appointed Charles Simic as the 15th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry. Click here to read more about Simic and his work.

MTV recently appointed John Ashbery as the MTVU Poet Laureate, a new position to MTVU. More of Ashbery's work can be found here.

You can use Lion and Literary Reference Center, two of our literature databases, to find more works by these authors (not to mention criticism, reviews, essays, and bibliographies concerning them). (You'll have to log in using your UM i.d. if you're off campus. )

If you 'd like to check out books by Charles Simic, we have The World Doesn't End and The Metaphysician in the Dark.

Hopeflully, we'll have a few books by John Ashbery soon. In the mean time, you can see Ashbery read over 20 of his poems in Lion's Poets on Screen section.

Banned Books Week starts Saturday, September 29th

At the end of this week, the library will be putting up a special display of books that have been challenged in or banned from American libraries in recent years. This is something we've done almost every year I've been here, and it's always been a lot of fun to put together.

Students here at UM always seem to take to this display. I think it's because they understand the huge responsibility we have to provide access to a diverse range of voices in library collections, even when what those voices are saying is unpopular.

We've identified about 40 or 50 books, which represent only a fraction of those challenged in recent years. Once again, it's been interesting to see how many of those books are among those counted as classics, or at least important books in their respective genres. We'll be displaying these on Friday of this week and I hope that you'll come by the library soon to check one of them out.

Speaking of Observances, today is Constitution Day in the United States. Professor Jim Day will be leading the Students for Constitutional Reform at the University of Montevallo (SCRUM) and Phi Alpha Theta (history honor society) to begin a Jeter Beautification Project. Says Day, "If you’re interested in learning more about the U.S. Constitution, Alabama’s Constitution, SCRUM, or a spring-term course entitled The History of Alabama’s Constitutions, then join us outside the Jeter Building at 5:00 today."

One observance I hadn't heard of before is Unmarried and Single Americans Week. It's apparently fairly widely observed during the third week of September. According to a recent U.S. Census Bureau press release, there were 92 million unmarried and single Americans 18 and older in 2006. This group comprised a whopping 42 percent of all U.S. residents 18 and older.

Lesser known September observances include Ask a Stupid Question Day on the 28^th, World Tourism Day on the 27^th, and my personal favorite, International Talk Like a Pirate Day on the 19^th.

Pitzer College offers YouTube class

A few weeks ago, Alan posted the story about wikis being used in the classroom in lieu of the traditional textbook. Today, the Associated Press published a short piece about another Web 2.0 technology that's being used to teach. Here's a sample.

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Here's a dream-come-true for Web addicts: college credit for watching YouTube.

Pitzer College this fall began offering what may be the first course about the video-sharing site. About 35 students meet in a classroom but work mostly online, where they view YouTube content and post their comments.

Class lessons also are posted and students are encouraged to post videos. One class member, for instance, posted a 1:36-minute video of himself juggling...

...Class members control most of the class content and YouTube watchers from around the world are encouraged to comment, [professor Alexandra] Juhasz said...

The AP piece includes a link to the group Learning from YouTube, where students are posting their content for the class. Naturally, I had to go there and find the short video described in this story. This clip has the grainy, garage-band quality of a lot of user-generated video content, but it turns out that the guy and his friend are pretty talented jugglers! I also like the music used here:



On another note, you may have noticed that our own Charlie Conway has now joined our list of blog contributors. As many of you know, Charlie has a critical eye for movies. He'll be sharing some of his notes on our popular DVD collection here. Check back soon to read his dispatches from the Ask Here desk.

Finally, I wanted to mention that we have about a dozen pictures to share from this week's Academic Success Fair. With all that's been going on, time for photo editing has been in limited supply. I hope to have these posted sometime next week.

Join us at the Academic Success Fair

Carmichael Library faculty and staff will be at the Academic Success Fair tomorrow--that's Wednesday, September 12^th--from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The fair takes place in front of Main Hall, not far from where we met many of you at the recent Information Fair and Back-to-School Bash. This is the first year for the Academic Success Fair, which is being coordinated by Student Support Services, and we're very much looking forward to being a part of it.

There will be a dozen booths in all and ours will be stocked with smiling faces and plenty of our popular @ bookmarks. We'll also have a selection of books on college life for you to enjoy. Finally, we'll be offering students the chance to be a part of our Get Caught Reading campaign. See you at the fair!

LexisNexis Access Problems Resolved

This is just a quick update to let everyone know that our access to LexisNexis Academic has been restored. We were notified shortly before 4:00 today that the database was not working. Thankfully, we were able to restore access after just a few minutes.

A note to our new students: please let us know should you have a problem getting into a database. The problem may be (like this one) an issue that effects everyone! You'll be helping the whole UM community by reporting these problems so that we can get them resolved in a timely manner.

An Ecletic Program of Original Chamber Music

Davis Music Building
LeBaron Recital Hall
Admission $6 / $3 Students
Free to UM Students

For more info, click here.

Chi Omega Gets Caught Reading

You loved it this spring, and now it's back!

Get Caught Reading is back in a big way with our first shot of an entire student organization. We caught up with the ladies of Chi Omega at one of their meetings last week in Comer Hall. Normally, we ask our participant(s) to tell us what they're reading and what they think of it but as you can see, that would have taken a while... :)

We're always catching more people reading, so stay tuned: you never know who will be featured here next time. By the way, we're still accepting nominations for the faculty member you'd like us to catch reading. Send your pick to me at cooperjd(at)montevallo.edu.

You can also send me e-mail if you'd like to see your student organization here. Get Caught Reading is all about celebrating the diverse faces of UM and the many ways the community uses their campus library!

Finally, if you missed all of the buzz a few months ago click here to see who we caught reading this spring.

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

Your Favorite Professor's Dissertation? Say What...!!

Ever wonder what your favorite professor's dissertation was about? What subject once fired that youthful academic passion (or perhaps in some situations and more pragmatically, what topic presented itself as the most expedient ticket to getting that holy grail ... the Ph.D!)

You can go to Carmichael Library's database WorldCat Dissertations and Theses. Enter your professor's name. (You can check UM's Bulletin listing of faculty for the correct name and degree granting university.) It may be a revelation to find out what your mentor spent years pondering and researching.

David Callaghan focused his research lens on the subject Representing The Vietnamese: Race, Culture, and the Vietnam War in American Film and Drama

Stephen Higley richly described with a wealth of detail The Geography of the "Social Register" (Upper Class, Class Status)

Paul Mahaffey's topic was "Dark-eyed Coras": Re-defining the bi-racial female in the nineteenth and twentieth century American Novel

Never one to be Eclipsed, Michael Patton philosophized on Nihilism, Thought, and Personhood: An Ontological Study

Ruth Truss unreservedly examined The Alabama National Guard From 1900-1920 (National Guard, World War I)

Clark Hultquist frankly publicized advertising a la francais with his dissertation French Advertising: The Price of Dreams: A History of Advertising in France 1927-1968.

Steve Parker gamely addressed adolescence with Early Adolescent Male Peer Cultures: The Importance of Organized and Informal Sport (Organized Sport)

Jody Landers, with great composure, wrote: "Nine Forty-Eight" for Large Orchestra ... pretty sharp!

For those of you contemplating a dissertation topic, the database WorldCat Dissertations and Theses is a way to explore previoiusly researched subjects. A keyword search, for example, will retreive the titles of dissertations written concerning that theme.

To view a list of theses written by graduate students at UM, go to our Catalog and click on the Subject search: type University of Montevallo-Thesis and seventy seven items should be retrieved.

Summer Happenings at UM; Free Music Downloads

Just because it's summer doesn't mean there isn't a lot going on in Montevallo.

The Public Relations office recently announced the publication of the 2007-2008 Undergraduate Bulletin. Paper copies will be available in most campus offices, including here in the library. Also, the Bulletin is available electronically on the UM website.



















Jill Wicknick has reminded the UM community about the campus' new recycling program. Dr. Wicknick has worked with the UM Environmental Club to make this service available to everyone in Montevallo. Click on the chart above to see what's accepted at the drop-off point, or check out the official press release to learn more about this program.

Jay Cofield has been busy working with his MC215 class this summer. Dr. Cofield's class is producing a summer newscast for the campus community. You can watch the newscast on the university website via Google Video.

Finally, a bit of news from the publishers of one of my favorite Carmichael Library databases. From the publishers of Classical Music Library this new program will pique the interest of music lovers across campus. Alexander Street Press is now offering free downloads of selected works! Here's a few details from a recent press release:

The program is simple: Every week or two, we select a work from Classical Music Library and make it freely available for download. You can select the format you would like (either MP3 or WMA), and then download the tracks onto your personal computer, transfer them to iPods and other MP3 players, or burn them onto discs. These tracks are DRM-free, so you are able to listen and share as much as you like.

To get started, go to http://musicdownloads.alexanderstreet.com/promo/ and follow the instructions. You can start downloading music immediately, and can sign up for email alerts letting you know when new music becomes available.

The first selection for this exciting new program is Mozart's Don Giovanni. Keep in mind that the free download isn't limited to highlights or selected arias. This is an authoritative recording of the entire opera available for download at the link above.

Sign up for updates on your free downloads today. Happy listening!

JSTOR

The library now subscribes to JSTOR Arts and Sciences I! This database includes the backruns of 119 e-journals in 15 disciplines. To check out JSTOR, click here, or go to "Databases by Name" in the "Find Articles" box on our home page and find the JSTOR link.

Dolls featured in Shelby County Reporter

The library's collection of WPA dolls are the subject of Catherine Legg's Community Columnist article in the July 11, 2007, Shelby County Reporter. The article includes information on the history of the dolls, which were made by the Alabama Visual Education Project during the Great Depression. The Alabama Visual Education Project was headquartered in Birmingham, and it made a number of visual aids for use in schools and libraries.

The dolls wear costumes of different countries and historical periods. Several of the library's dolls are on display on the main floor.

Harbert Writing Center Summer II Term Hours

The Harbert Writing Center is open for Summer II Term:

Monday-Friday 12:30 - 3:30 PM

HWC offers one-on-one assistance to writers at all stages of the writing process. The Center also offers computers for composing and revising papers, as well as grammar handbooks and MLA, APA and Chicago style books.

The Center is located in Room 311, Comer Hall

For more information visit HWC online: http://www.montevallo.edu/hwc/















Photo taken by Salt Lake Community College Writing Center. Creative Commons license.

New Audio Books for July

Whether your interest is readings from American poets, scintillating biography, or a good murder mystery, there's something for you in our latest batch of downloadable audio books. Here's a sampling of what's now available through our library catalog:

O Jerusalem, by Laurie King (1999). It's 1918. Nineteen-year-old Mary and her fiftysomething mentor are forced to flee England to escape a deadly adversary. Sherlock Holmes' well-connected brother Mycroft sends them to Palestine to do some international sleuthing. Here, a series of murders threatens the fragile peace.

Cooked: From the Streets to the Stove, From Cocaine to Foie Gras, by Jeff Henderson (2007). Barely old enough to drink legally, Henderson was clearing $35,000 per week as one of the most successful cocaine dealers in San Diego. But when he was 23, he was indicted on federal drug trafficking charges and sentenced to almost 20 years. Hardheaded, Henderson held firmly to his gritty street morals--until the day he was assigned to wash dishes in the prison kitchen. He immediately took an interest in food preparation and eventually determined that when he was released, he would become a chef, no matter what.

Yearnings: Embracing the Sacred Messiness of Life, by Irwin Kula with Linda Loewenthal (2006). Renowned Rabbi Irwin Kula explores and celebrates seven of our deepest desires. He opens the spiritual toolbox of Jewish wisdom--it has much to teach about the ambiguities and uncertainties we all encounter--and takes us on an excursion into our age-old questions, merging ancient wisdom and stories with contemporary examples and insights. Whether it's a woman struggling with a breach in her marriage, a child wondering about the tooth fairy, or Moses yearning for answers in the story of the burning bush, Yearnings offers a broader perspective to enrich our search for meaning.

Spoken Arts Poetry Collection, Volume II: 100 Modern American Poets Reading their Poems (2007). The most important anthology of American poetry ever recorded, this essential document is now available in three volumes from Recorded Books, digitally remastered with introductions and brief poet biographies. This volume includes works from the following poets: Yvor Winters, Oscar Williams, Langston Hughes, Theodore Spencer, Ogden Nash, Countee Cullen, Merrill Moore, John Holmes, Richard Eberhart, Robert Penn Warren, Stanley Kunitz, Kenneth Rexroth, W.H. Auden, Theodore Roethke, Paul Engle, Winfield Townley Scott, Elizabeth Bishop, J.V. Cunningham, Kenneth Patchen, Brother Antoninus, Hy Sobiloff, Karl Shapiro, John Frederick Nims, Delmore Schwartz, Muriel Rukyser, Barbara Howes, Randell Jarrell, John Berryman, Owen Dodson, Kean Garrigue, Ruth Stone, Hollis Summers, John Ciardi, Peter Viereck, John Malcolm Brinnin, and Robert Lowell. (The library also has Volume One of this series.)

All Together Dead, by Charlaine Harris (2007). Betrayed by her vampire beau, Sookie discovers a potential new lover in the devilishly handsome shapeshifter Quinn. But affairs of the heart must take a back seat to the summit. Perhaps the most important item on the docket is the dwindling power base of the vampire queen of Louisiana, who is in a difficult position following extensive hurricane damage. As behind-the-scenes deals are struck, Sookie must decide which side she's on--and the wrong decision could spell catastrophe.

Einstein: His Life and Universe, by Walter Isaacson (2007). The first full biography of Albert Einstein since all of his papers have become available. Biographer Isaacson explores how an imaginative, impertinent patent clerk--a struggling father in a difficult marriage who couldn't get a teaching job or a doctorate--became the locksmith of the mysteries of the atom and the universe.

Carmichael's collection of over 1,500 downloadable audio books are available to all UM students, staff, and faculty. Instructions on how to access the audio books are available on our website.

Happy listening!

"Navigation," by Misty Bennett

"Navigation," by Misty Bennett
Originally uploaded by carmichaellibrary

You won't want to miss our latest exhibition of faculty art, Misty Bennett's series of oil paintings entitled "Navigation." Professor Bennett's work is located in the northeast stairwell between the main and second floors.

In other art news, we have now cataloged the Prints and Poems 2006-2007 portfolio. It is housed in our Archives, NE 42 .M66 2007. As with all of our materials in the Archives, those wishing to view the folio must make arrangements with the Reference Department.

Wild Thing; SwampThing; Do the Right Thing; Where the Wild Things Are; And Now Presenting--- LibraryThing.com!

Social Web Networking for Bookworms?

LibraryThing (http://www.LibraryThing.com/) is a website that allows you to create a quality online catalog of your customized personal library. Simply enter words from the titles or the authors of books you own and the LibraryThing search engine pulls and displays books that match your descriptive data from 78 libraries around the world, (including the Library of Congress and Amazon.com) You can view your catalog of items instantly and sort them as you wish -- authors, for example, or tags that you specify like "books about SKA music" or "novels set on college campuses." Participants can catalog for free up to 200 books. The social aspect of the site is that you can discover shared favorites, swap recommendations, and learn about the collection of other members (however, privacy protection limiters are certainly available) Not only is there a Book Suggester search mode, there is a Book Unsuggester ... books that members suggest you steer clear of based on your posted taste.

The site was created by Tim Spalding, student of Greek and Roman litertature and a web developer and publisher based in Portland, Maine. Spalding states on the LibraryThing website that his site is in permanent beta development so that he can continue to enrich it with features such as reviews and links to retail book stores.

Several related sites you might explore are:
http://www.bibliotravel.com/ a free online resource for identifying books set in distinct locals. (Lonelyplanet.com does a nice job with books and film recommendations for the traveler.)

http://www.whatshouldireadnext.com/ and companion http://www.thisonenext.com/search is a recommendation service for cds, dvds, and books not just based on former purchase data but on expressed preferences in a created profile.

Patsy Sears