Time Does Indeed Expand

By popular demand, the library has extended hours on Friday (open until 7 pm) and Saturday (open until 9 pm.) This includes all Checkout and Reserve services. For a complete list of library hours and extended hours for Finals, see www.usi.edu/library/hours.asp.

Going the Distance!

Phil Orr of Rice Library was recognized October 19, 2009 for his outstanding leadership and service to the statewide library community. Distance Learning Librarian since 2001, Phil received the Indiana Library Federation 2009 Federation Leadership Award, honoring a librarian whose leadership performance within the group far exceeds expectations. He founded and chaired the ILF Distance Learning Division (2006-2009) and recently was Guest Editor for a distance-education themed issue of Indiana Libraries. The Distance Learning Division promotes and supports the delivery of library services for distance and off-campus students and faculty in Indiana institutions. Susan Akers, ILF Executive Director, says “the awards committee was impressed with Phil’s determination and desire to improve library services and his tireless commitment to achieving excellence in the distance learning setting.”

Prior to coming to USI, Phil held professional library positions with Saint Louis Christian College in Florissant, MO, Kaskaskia College in Centralia, IL, and the Mississippi Library Commission in Jackson, MS. He also has twelve years experience as a public school teacher and a school library media specialist in Nashville, IL. He earned his B.A. in History and an M.S. in Ed. In Instructional Materials, both from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, as well as an M.S. in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

In bestowing this award, ILF has manifested what USI’s distance faculty and students as well as Phil’s colleagues have known for years: he is a consummate librarian, always thinking of ways to improve programming and resources, while providing excellent direct service to users. Your teammates are proud of you, Phil!

Flatlined: Resuscitating American Medicine

Just in time for the current health care debate, NetLibrary is making available as its eBook of the Month a relevant work entitled Flatlined: Resuscitating American Medicine. "In Flatlined, author Guy L. Clifton, M.D., lifts the veil of secrecy on twenty-first century health care and delves into the realities of people caught in a bad medical system. Arguing that a lack of coordinated care and quality medical practice benchmarks result in high levels of redundancy and ineffectiveness, Clifton proposes that the key to reducing health care costs, improving quality, and financially protecting the uninsured, is to reduce wastefulness, and offers a solution for achieving success."

This electronic book will be freely available to USI personnel (students, faculty, and staff) during the month of September. To access this title, simply go the the library's Databases page. Once in the NetLibrary database, a link to the title is provided along the right side of the screen. For help with this or other NetLibrary eBooks, contact the Rice Library Reference Desk: (812) 464-1907, (800)246-6173, libref@usi.edu, or in person on the 1st floor.

Hectic Return of School Got You Thinking About Vacation Already?

We know, the new term just started, but maybe you'd like to daydream a little about someplace you've never been...or plan exploration of a new city....Rice Library has just the thing for checking out some major cities in the U.S. and around the world. Thirteen e-books in the DK Eyewitness Travel Guides have just been added to our Safari Books Online service. Stateside, have a detailed look at Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, or Washington, D.C. If travel abroad appeals, how about checking out London, Rome, Paris, Hong Kong, Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, or Munich?

Safari Books Online is on the library's Databases A-Z page. Using the left navigation pane, search Book Titles Only, and enter the terms " DK Eyewitness" to see all thirteen e-titles.

These titles will also be useful for students working on culturally-oriented projects or speeches; please recommend them to others! Questions? Call the Reference Desk at 464-1907. Happy Trails!

Rice Library Welcomes New and Returning Users!

The library is excited to see all the new faces and old friends with the start of Fall semester.


There have been a couple of personnel changes here....our Reference and Interlibrary Loan Librarian Margie Ruppel departed in July for a new position in Boise, Idaho. We miss her, wish her well, and await someone new to fill the vacant spot. Fear not, ILL service continues without missing a beat!


Please welcome our new Instructional Services Librarian, Johanna MacKay. She has her BA in English and American Literature from New York University, and her MLIS from SUNY-Buffalo. Johanna has already accomplished many good things for us since beginning work July 20.


Another BIG change for Fall are the new editions of the MLA and APA style guides. We have both in Reference, and have prepared single-page tip sheets for each: http://www.usi.edu/library/citeyoursources07.asp



The Reference Team encourages faculty and students to visit us in the library, give us a call at 812-464-1907, [800-246-6173] or seek help through our email reference service at libref@usi.edu. Have a terrific start to the semester and drop by soon!

New Reference Book

Rice Library recently received a reference book that may be interest to many people.

Barnet, Richard D. et al. The Story Behind the Song: 150 Songs That Chronicle the 20th Century. Westport, CT:

Greenwood Press, 2004. REF ML3477 .B36 2004

“Songwriters often use lyrics to describe the current events and social attitudes of a particular period or people. An examination of America's popular songs--and the stories behind their creation--can help us better understand our history and culture. This chronologically organized volume provides the stories of 150 songs in 20th-century American history. Each chapter begins with an historical overview of how songs from the period reflected the political, social, and economic culture of the decade. A discussion of 15 influential songs from each decade provides the songs' histories, what inspired the writers to create them, and why they have resonated over time. Included are patriotic songs, such as "The Yankee Doodle Boy" and "God Bless America," protest songs of the civil rights and women's rights movements, such as "We Shall Overcome" and "I Am Woman," songs that defined musical genres, such as "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Stayin' Alive," and contemporary, often controversial music like Eminem's "Stan." Each song's entry includes the song title, songwriter(s), publication information, and current availability. A selected bibliography includes web sites and books helpful for researching songs, songwriters, and events of the 20th century. Indexes are arranged alphabetically, by song title, by songwriter name, and by subject, making this an excellent research tool for students and general readers alike.”
(annotation from booksinprint.com)

Summer Reads: Movie/Book Tie-Ins IV--"Something for Everyone: A Comedy Tonight!"

This blog posting is going to start out with a little bit of a cheat: the first movie discussed is not on AFI's Top 100 Movies list, but it does set the theme. The quotation in the title to this posting is from A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM. The original Broadway production premiered in 1962 and won a Tony Award in 1963 for best musical. The 1967 film version won an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment. The music is by Stephen Sondheim (Stephen Sondheim: A Life by Meryle Secrest, Sondheim & Co. by Craig Zadan, Art Isn't Easy: The Achievement of Stephen Sondheim by Joanne Lesley Gordon). The movie starred a number of leading comedians, starting with Zero Mostel (Zero Mostel : A Biography by Jared Brown) in the role of Pseudolus, a slave to Hero, played by Michael Crawford (Parcel Arrived Safely, Tied with String: My Autobiography by Michael Crawford). As a sidebar, most fans today would better know Michael Crawford as the Phantom in Phantom of the Opera. Phil Silvers (This Laugh is On Me: The Phil Silvers Story by Phil Silvers and Robert Saffron) and Jack Gilford (170 Years of Show Business by Kate Mostel and Madeline Gilford—written by the wives of these actors) also starred. Forum was the last film of the great Buster Keaton, a.k.a. “The Great Stone Face,” a silent film star who successfully transitioned to sound (Keaton, The Man Who Wouldn't Lie Down by Tom Dardis, Keaton: The Silent Features Close Up by Daniel Moews, Buster Keaton Remembered by Eleanor Keaton, Jeffrey Vance, and Manoah Bowman).

On the AFI list, numbers 74, 76, and 81 (GOLD RUSH, CITY LIGHTS, and MODERN TIMES) are all the work of silent film star Charlie Chaplin. Chaplin was probably best known for his character The Little Tramp, “a well meaning man in a raggedy suit with cane, [who] always found himself wobbling into awkward situations and miraculously wobbling away.” http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/charlie-chaplin/about-the-actor/77/ There are many books available about Chaplin, including My Autobiography by Charlie Chaplin, Chaplin, His Life and Art by David Robinson, Tramp: The Life of Charlie Chaplin by Joyce Milton, and Chaplin by Roger Manvell. In 1952 Chaplin was accused of having communist sympathies and was blacklisted (Red Scare: Memories of the American Inquisition: An Oral History by Griffin Fariello, Tender Comrades: A Backstory of the Hollywood Blacklist by Patrick McGilligan and Paul Buhle, A Shadow of Red: Communism and the Blacklist in Radio and Television by David Everitt). (Zero Mostel, mentioned above, was also blacklisted.) Until the invention of sound on film, silent films were quite popular and played to huge audiences across the country. According to a June 21, 1932 article in Variety, Gold Rush (1925) grossed $4,250,000. To learn more about the silent film era, try Spellbound in Darkness: A History of the Silent Film by George C. Pratt, The Movies in the Age of Innocence by Edward Wagenknecht, or The Silent Clowns by Walter Kerr.

#85, 1933’s DUCK SOUP, starred the wild and crazy Marx Brothers: Groucho, Harpo, Zeppo, and Chico. Groucho (Groucho: The Life and Times of Julius Henry Marx by Stefan Kanfer, Groucho and Me by Groucho Marx) was the middle brother (there was another brother not in Duck Soup—Gummo), easily identified by his bushy eyebrows, thick mustache, and cigar; in point of fact, the famous gag disguise of black eyeglasses, a big nose, and mustache was patterned after Groucho. Harpo (Harpo Speaks! by Harpo Marx) was the next oldest brother, the curly headed one with a top hat who never spoke. Chico was the eldest brother, who adopted an Italian accent in their act. Zeppo was the youngest brother, and usually played the straight man. For more about these talented brothers, try Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Sometimes Zeppo: A History of the Marx Brothers and a Satire on the Rest of the World by Joe Adamson, Monkey Business: The Lives and Legends of the Marx Brothers: Groucho, Chico, Harpo, Zeppo, with Added Gummo by Simon Louvish, or look for other of their movies: Animal Crackers, Horse Feathers, Monkey Business, A Night at the Opera, etc.

IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (#35) is a romantic comedy starring the dashing Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. Regarding working with Clark Gable, Colbert said, “I was so happy to be within two feet of him.” Despite having been nominated for an Oscar for her role as Ellie Andrews, Colbert was convinced that she would not win and was not even in the audience when the awards were presented and had to be summoned from a train station to pick up her award. Gable (Long Live The King: A Biography of Clark Gable by Lyn Tornabene, Clark Gable: A Biography by Warren G. Harris, Gable and Lombard by Warren G. Harris) also won his only Oscar for his portrayal of Peter Warne. Interestingly, Gable gave his award away and in 1996 Steven Spielberg purchased it anonymously and donated it to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It Happened One Night was directed by Frank Capra ( The Name Above the Title: An Autobiography by Frank Capra, Frank Capra: The Catastrophe of Success by Joseph McBride, Frank Capra by Charles J. Maland) who won the first of his three Best Director Oscars with this film. The film also won the Best Picture Oscar in 1935, and another went to Robert Riskin for best writing, adaptation. 1935 was only the 7th year that Academy Awards (they weren’t officially called Oscars until 1939) were presented (Behind the Oscar: The Secret History of the Academy Awards by Anthony Holden, The Big Show: High Times and Dirty Dealings Backstage at the Academy Awards by Steve Pond, And the Winner Is--: The History and Politics of the Oscar Awards by Emanuel Levy).

BRINGING UP BABY (#97)—what can you say about a film that contains a brontosaurus bone, a terrier named George, a leopard, and stars Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant? Of Hepburn (Me: Stories of My Life by Katharine Hepburn, Kate Remembered by A. Scott Berg, Tracy and Hepburn: An Intimate Memoir by Garson Kanin), Grant said. “She was this slip of a women and I never liked skinny women. But she had this thing, this air you might call it, the most totally magnetic women I'd ever seen, and probably ever seen since. You had to look at her, you had to listen to her, there was no escaping her.” She was much more concise about Grant (Cary Grant: The Lonely Heart by Charles Higham and Roy Moseley, Cary Grant: The Biography by Marc Eliot, Cary Grant: A Class Apart by Graham McCann), “He is personality functioning.”

The newest comedy on AFI’s Top 100 Movies list is #62, 1982’s TOOTSIE, Jessica Lange won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Julie Nichols. Dustin Hoffman (Dustin Hoffman, Hollywood's Anti-Hero by Jeff Lenburg) was Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels, an actor who could not land a role until he disguised himself as a woman and became a soap opera heroine. The film has an all star cast with Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, Charles Durning, Geena Davis, Sydney Pollack (Sydney Pollack by William Robert Taylor), and Bill Murray in supporting roles. Hollywood has long been fascinated by gender role (Working Girls: Gender and Sexuality in Popular Cinema by Yvonne Tasker, High Contrast: Race and Gender in Contemporary Hollywood Film by Sharon Willis, Sexual Politics and Narrative Film: Hollywood and Beyond by Robin Wood). And there’s the popularity of Australian comedian Barry Humphries’ Dame Edna character. During the American Civil War, it’s estimated that more than 200 women disguised themselves as men and went into battle. For more about this, try America's Women: Four Hundred Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines by Gail Collins, All the Daring of the Soldier: Women of the Civil War Armies by Elizabeth D. Leonard, or Patriots in Disguise: Women Warriors of the Civil War by Richard Hall. Women also fought in the Revolutionary War; one of the best known of these was Deborah Sampson (Masquerade: The Life and Times of Deborah Sampson, Continental Soldier by Alfred Fabian Young, America's First Woman Warrior: The Courage of Deborah Sampson by Lucy Freeman).

Keep laughing...and keep on reading!

Summer Reads: Movie/Book Tie-Ins III - More Harmonious Reading

Want more summertime escapist fare? Continuing with the "Harmonious" summer reads blog entry from May 20, here are some more ideas for your reading/viewing pleasure.

Moving back “across the pond,” give #100, YANKEE DOODLE DANDY, a try. It’s based on the life of George M. Cohan, an actor, singer, dancer, playwright, composer, librettist, director, and producer. To learn more about this multi-talented man, you might read George M. Cohan: The Man Who Owned Broadway by John McCabe or George M. Cohan, Prince of the American Theater by Ward Morehouse. The Cohans were a theatrical family—by the time he was 11 he and his older sister had fully joined their parents in their vaudeville act. The world of the vaudeville theatre is in itself fascinating: American Vaudeville as Seen by its Contemporaries by Charles W. Stein, No Applause, Just Throw Money, or, The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous: A High-Class, Refined Entertainment by Trav S. D., and The Vaudevillians by Bill Smith should give you some insight into this very popular venue. The equally multi-talented James Cagney won a Best Actor Oscar playing George M. Cohan. Cagney by Cagney by James Cagney, James Cagney, The Authorized Biography by Doug Warren and James Cagney, and City Boys: Cagney, Bogart, Garfield by Robert Sklar are just a few of the resources you could check out.

When Professor Henry Higgins asks, “Why can't a woman be more like a man?,” Eliza Doolittle sets him straight in #91, MY FAIR LADY. The professor finds Eliza, a Cockney flower girl, and bets that he can turn her into a “lady.” You might wish to check out the play from which this musical is adapted, Pygmalion, by George Bernard Shaw. Learn more about the works of this Irish playwright in A Guide to the Plays of Bernard Shaw by C. B. Purdom. The actor who played the professor won an Best Actor Oscar, which followed his 1957 Tony Award for the same role on the stage—Rex Harrison (A Damned Serious Business by Rex Harrison, Rex; An Autobiography by Rex Harrison, Fatal Charm: The Life of Rex Harrison by Alexander Walker). The costumes are gorgeous, and Cecil Beaton (Cecil Beaton: A Biography by Hugo Vickers) also doubled his awards, winning both a Tony and an Oscar for costume design. The music is composed by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe (Inventing Champagne: The Worlds of Lerner and Loewe by Gene Lees) who won the Tony for Best Musical. If you like this music, you might also view some of their other works: Brigadoon, Camelot, Gigi, and Paint Your Wagon. Audrey Hepburn (Audrey Hepburn: An Elegant Spirit by Sean Hepburn Ferrer (her son), Enchantment: The Life of Audrey Hepburn by Donald Spoto, Audrey Hepburn: An Intimate Portrait by Diana Maychick) played Eliza Doolittle in the movie version (Julie Andrews had the role on stage).

#68, AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, shares many things with other movies listed in this blog posting. Gene Kelly (Singing in the Rain) is Jerry Mulligan, a struggling American painter in Paris. Alan Jay Lerner (My Fair Lady) wrote the story—and won the 1952 Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay. MGM (also Singing in the Rain) was the studio that produced this. Oscar Levant (The Memoirs of an Amnesiac by Oscar Levant, A Talent for Genius: The Life and Times of Oscar Levant by Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger, The Unimportance of Being Oscar by Oscar Levant), a talented musician in his own right, plays Jerry’s pianist friend, Adam Cook. Jerry’s love interest is played by Leslie Caron; Gene Kelly discovered her and cast her in this, her first film. Vincente Minnelli (Directed by Vincente Minnelli by Stephen Harvey, I Remember It Well by Vincente Minnelli and Hector Arcewas) was the director. (Film buffs know that Vincente Minnelli was married to Judy Garland and is the father of Liza Minnelli.) The very title of this film is the title of a musical work composed by the very famous George Gershwin (George Gershwin: His Life and Work by Howard Pollack, Fascinating Rhythm: The Collaboration of George and Ira Gershwin by Deena Rosenberg, George Gershwin: A New Biography by William G. Hyland). The music of George and his brother Ira is used in other films such as A Star is Born (the 1954 version) and Funny Face, and they are the composers of what is probably the most popular American opera, Porgy and Bess.

Walt Disney received an honorary Oscar (in 1939) for his 1937 film, SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (#49). There have been many, many books about Disney and his studios, including Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination by Neal Gabler, The Art of Walt Disney; From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdoms by Christopher Finch, and Walt Disney: Hollywood's Dark Prince: A Biography by Marc Eliot. The brothers Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm (The Hard Facts of the Grimms' Fairy Tales by Maria Tatar, Grimms' Bad Girls & Bold Boys: The Moral & Social Vision of the Tales by Ruth B. Bottigheimer, Paths Through the Forest; A Biography of the Brothers Grimm by Murray B. Peppard) wrote this fairy tale and many more.

Another Disney classic is #58, FANTASIA. Disney chose eight great masterpieces of western classical music and created animation to accompany the music as played by the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Leopold Stokowski. Sometimes the animation uses Disney characters like Mickey Mouse, but other pieces are more abstract. The musical pieces and their composers are J. S. Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker Suite (selected pieces), Paul Dukas's The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, Beethoven's Sixth Symphony (the Pastoral Symphony), Amilcare Ponchielli's Dance of the Hours (from his opera entitled La Gioconda), Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain, and Schubert's Ave Maria. Some related book titles you may wish to explore are The Great Conductors by Harold C. Schonberg, Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician by Christoph Wolff, Tchaikovsky: The Quest for the Inner Man by Alexander Poznansky, And Music at the Close: Stravinsky's Last Years, A Personal Memoir by Lillian Libman, Beethoven: The Music and the Life by Lewis Lockwood, Musorgsky: His Life and Works by David Brown, and The Life of Schubert by Christopher Howard Gibbs. You should also be able to find works by these composers at your library for your listening pleasure.

How Does Your Garden . . . Grow?

Gardening and growth are the themes for the book display case located on Rice Library’s 1st floor near the elevators and stairwell. The display includes a wide range books developing these themes. Among the topics emphasized are of course gardening (The Glory of Gardens: 2,000 Years of Writings on Garden Design), natural foods (Tomorrow’s Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food), genetically-modified foods (Genetically Engineered Food: A Self-Defense Guide for Consumers), and the spiritual dimensions of horticulture (Food, Farming and Faith). It includes selections related to art (Nature’s Palette: The Science of Plant Color), poetry (The Garden Thrives: Twentieth-Century African-American Poetry), and children’s literature (I Heard It from Alice Zucchini) as well. Library users are encouraged to stop by the case and enjoy viewing its contents. Checkout staff can assist users in accessing any of the library materials on display. Also, don’t miss the other displays located throughout the building, including the ones on coffee, tea, and Dr. Suess books (2nd floor) and dental health (4th floor). Lastly, users may enjoy viewing a sample collection of materials which have been recently added to the statewide digital repository, Indiana Memory. A display of these materials is located on the 3rd floor near the University Archives and Special Collections, and the digital images of these collections should also be available through the Rice Library Image Collection by the end of summer 2009.

Are You Ready to Be INSPIREd for Test Taking?

INSPIRE ( available through Rice Library's alphabetical list of databases and from http://inspire.in.gov/), Indiana’s Virtual Library, now provides Hoosiers with the tools they need to take their studying to the next level. With the Testing & Education Reference Center (TERC), students and professionals have access to in-depth information on colleges and universities, graduate and professional programs, distance learning, corporate training, available scholarships and awards, preparatory entrance tests and much more. This free online education resource provides everything one needs to further their education and make informed decisions on their future.

The Testing & Education Reference Center helps users prepare for higher education and the working world by teaming with Peterson's, the most comprehensive and heavily traveled education resource on the Internet, to deliver detailed information on private high schools, undergraduate and graduate programs and executive education programs, searchable by location, major, tuition, sports and more. TERC also features interactive online practice tests for preparatory examinations including entrance exams and certification and licensing tests.

Professional and career resources are available through a new feature called TERC with Careers. This resource includes tools to help users match their personality to suitable occupations, build outstanding and appealing résumés, and learn valuable cover letter, interviewing, and salary negotiation tips specific to their career stage. For more information about TERC, including a complete listing of testing and career resources, tutorials, and search tips, visit http://www.gale.cengage.com/Testing&Education.