Let's Talk Library

Sounds From the Past

2012-01-12T16:16:00.000-06:00

The last “Let’s Talk Library” Blog featured information regarding the Library of Congress’s efforts to archive and preserve one of the most contemporary forms of communication—Tweeting. Today’s post showcases another program at the Library of Congress to preserve an important form of communication—this one from the past. It is known as the National Jukebox and it attempts to “make historical recordings available to the public free of charge. The Jukebox includes recordings from the extraordinary collections of the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation (pictured above) and other contributing libraries and archives.”

Here users may listen to the famous contralto Marian Anderson sing “My Lord, What a Mornin’” (1924) or a 1911 recording of Irving Berlin’s “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” performed by Collins and Harlan. The collection also includes a number of spoken word recordings, including speeches by famous political figures and comedies, monologues, dialogues, and recitations.

Significant historical details of each recording (author, performers, date and place of recording, and label name and number, etc.) have been meticulously preserved. One of the most interesting features of the site is the ability to view reproductions of the actual label on each recording. Other features include listings of all of the artists and the recordings by genre as well as featured playlists. One of my favorites is the selection of titles in the “Civil War Music” playlist.

For assistance with these or other library resources or services, stop by or contact the Rice Library Reference Desk (812/464-1907; 800/246-6173, libref@usi.edu).

P.O.

Tweet This: Library of Congress to Archive Tweets

2011-12-09T14:21:00.000-06:00

Last April the Library of Congress announced plans to digitally archive all public tweets from the Twitter information network. Soon all your carefully crafted 140 character messages will have a permanent home in the world's largest and most prestigious library. Sure this announcement bought the Library of Congress (LOC) some street cred with young people and technophiles but why would the LOC do this?

Time Magazine blogger Graeme McMillan stated the potential importance of creating a "kind of record [that] demonstrates a much more honest idea of what history was actually like for generations to come, much in the same way that pop culture ephemera like magazines, comic books and pop songs have done so in the past." Researchers could certainly benefit from the data-mining opportunities available within the archive. Soon analyzing Twitter feeds may be the go-to way to gauge real-time responses to current events and breaking news from 2006 to the present.

But there are still some answered questions. As it stands, tweets are automatically archived on all public accounts. What if you don't want your thoughts on the latest episode of Jersey Shore going down in history? Can you opt out of being part of the Twitter archive? Only time will tell how the LOC and Twitter handle privacy concerns. We'll continue to follow this story and keep you posted!

Nicole Tekulve
Instructional Services Librarian

KJV -- 400 Years And Counting

2011-12-02T16:10:00.001-06:00

The LTL Blog cannot let 2011 pass without taking note of an important literary milestone—the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible (KJV), sometimes referred to as the Authorized Version (AV). Work on this English translation of the Bible began in 1604 shortly after James VI of Scotland ascended the English throne as James I. The work of translation was done by 47 scholars within the Church of England and was completed in 1611. The KJV was not the first English translation of the Bible, nor was it the first sanctioned by the Church of England. Nevertheless, its popularity for hundreds of years, particularly among Protestant Christians, as well as its effect on future Bible translations and its influence on the English language in general make it one of the most significant pieces of English literature.

Rice Library has many works on the Bible and Biblical topics in several of its collections. For those interested in browsing these collections, the BS class is devoted to works related to the Jewish and Christian scriptures. Additionally, Rice library has dozens of works on the topic of the Bible as literature and at least three on the history of the King James Version, including:

Norton, David. King James Bible: A Short History from Tyndale to Today. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011. BS186.N66 2011

Nicolson, Adam. God’s Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible. New York: HarperCollins, 2003. BS186 .N53 2003

McGrath, Alister E. In the Beginning: The Story of the King James Bible and How it Changed a Nation, a Language, and a Culture. New York: Anchor Books, 2002. BS186 .M33 2002

For assistance with these or other library resources or services, stop by or contact the Rice Library reference desk (812/464-1907, 800/246-6173, libref@usi.edu).

Philip Levine Named Poet Laureate

2011-11-23T09:41:00.000-06:00

In August, Librarian of Congress James Billington announced Philip Levine as the new Poet Laureate for 2011-2012, making him the 18th recipient of this honor. Levine officially began his duties on October 17, by opening the Library of Congress’s literary season with a reading of his work.

In appointing Levine to this position, Billington was recognizing a lifetime of the poet’s scholarly and creative contributions, stretching back to the early 1960s. During that time he has written several books of poetry, translated collections of Spanish poetry, and authored works of literary criticism. Additionally, Levine has taught poetry for a number of years at California State University. He has also taught at New York University, Columbia, Princeton, Brown, and Tufts universities, and the University of California at Berkeley.

Rice Library contains several of Levine’s works in its print, electronic, and audiovisual collections. The CREDO reference database has multiple entries from various sources on Levine, the longest one coming from the Encyclopedia of American Poetry: The Twentieth Century. For additional biographical information, you might consult the Biography in Context database which will provide access to entries from reference works as well as journal, magazine, and news articles and audio pieces. The Literature Online (LION) database contains many Levine resources including full-text copies of several of his poems, a biographical sketch, a complete bibliography, literary criticism, and links to multiple web sites, including the Poetry Archive where one can listen to Levine read a selection of his poems.

Finally, for an interesting interview conducted with Levine by American Libraries in which he discusses his role as Poet Laureate and his love/hate relationship with libraries, click here.

P.O.

National Gaming Day @ Your Library

2011-11-07T15:09:00.000-06:00

Rice Library and thousands of libraries across the country will join the American Library Association (ALA) in celebrating the popularity and educational, recreational, and social value of games for National Gaming Day @ Your Library on Thursday, November 10, 2011 from 5-7pm in the 4th Floor Reading Room.

We'll be kicking it old school and playing a wide variety of board and card games including Scrabble, Risk, and Trivial Pursuit. Refreshments will also be served. Please join us!

Hoosiers and the Civil War: A Sesquicentennial Commemoration

2011-11-04T16:03:00.000-05:00

2011 marks the beginning of the United States’ five-year commemoration of the Civil War, and the State of Indiana has been active in preparing for and observing this significant historical event. According to the Indiana Historical Bureau’s website, “The Indiana Civil War Sesquicentennial Committee was appointed by the Indiana History Collaborative to encourage Hoosiers to commemorate the sesquicentennial of the Civil War (1861-1865), to provide online resources to help Hoosiers gain a better understanding of Indiana’s part in this most devastating conflict in the nation’s history, and to encourage communication among interested individuals, groups, and organizations.”

The sesquicentennial website itself features a wide range of materials that may be useful to students and educators, researchers, and private citizens in studying the Civil War and observing its 150^th anniversary. The major categories of information include “Hoosier Voices Then” which “provides primary sources on the reactions of Indiana residents to major events” of the war through newspaper articles, letters, and journals. A second section, “Hoosier Voices Now,” includes a series of new and original historical essays written by leading Civil War historians that “explore and interpret Indiana’s participation in the Civil War and its effects on Indiana’s people.” The final two sections—“Links & Resources” and “Calendar of Events”—respectively provide users with links to related online resources and primary sources and a chronological listing of sesquicentennial observances throughout the state.

It is worth noting that one of the core essays in the “Hoosier Voices Now” section was contributed by Dr. Thomas Rodgers, a professor in USI’s History Department. Dr. Rodgers’ essay is entitled “The Hoosier Soldier in the Civil War.” Drawing upon a number of contemporary records, Dr. Rodgers details many aspects of the life of Hoosier soldiers and sailors from enlistment and conscription to battle engagement and confinement as prisoners of war. The essay concludes, as do all of those in the “Hoosier Voices Now” section with a bibliography of additional sources.

Rice Library contains many items related to the Civil War, and in particular Indiana’s participation in the war, first-person narratives, correspondence, and primary sources. Why not check out and study one of these works as you commemorate this important event in U.S. history. A great place to start for resource ideas would be the Civil War section of the American Wars Libguide.

P.O.

Nobel Prizes 2011

2011-10-21T17:15:00.003-05:00

Earlier this month the Nobel Prize for each of six categories was announced by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden. With few exceptions, these prizes have been awarded annually since 1901 for achievements in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace. Since 1968 an additional prize, The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, has also been awarded. The prizes, which include a medal, a personal diploma, and a monetary gift, were established with funds willed for this purpose by Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, the creator of dynamite. Nobelprize.org is the official web site for the award, and it contains a great deal of information. There you can find a list of this year’s winners along with press releases announcing the awards, biographical information on Nobel, the names of winners from prior years, video interviews with previous recipients, and space in which to express congratulations to this year's winners.

Listed below are the recipients for each of the prizes for 2011 as well as some references to library materials related to their work:

10/3, Physics:
Saul Perlmutter, Brian P. Schmidt and Adam G. Riess “for the discovery of accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distant supernovae.”
RL has a number of works on the expansion of the universe and supernovae, including:
Gravity’s Fatal Attraction: Black Holes in the Universe by Mitchell Begelman and Martin Rees.

10/5, Chemistry:

Dan Shechtman “for the discovery of quasicrystals.”

RL has at least two books which discuss quasicrystals, including:

Nanoscale: Visualizing an Invisible World by Kenneth S. Deffeyes and Stephen E. Deffeyes.

10/3, Physiology or Medicine:
Bruce A. Beutler and Jules A. Hoffmann “for their discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity.”
And
Ralph M. Steinman “for his discovery of the dendritic cell and its role in adaptive immunity.”
RL has materials on all three of these topics (innate immunity, adaptive immunity, and dendritic cells), including:
Cellular Signaling and Innate Immune Responses to RNA Virus Infections edited by Allan R. Brasier, Adlolfo Garcia-Sastre, and Stanley M. Lemon.

10/6, Literature:
Tomas Tranströmer “because, through his condensed, translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality.”

10/7, Peace:
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Leyman Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman “for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work.”
RL has:
This Child Will Be Great: Memoir of a Remarkable Life by Africa’s First Woman President by Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf

10/10, Economic Sciences:
Thomas J. Sargent and Christopher A. Sims “for their empirical research on cause and effect in the macroeconomy.”

RL has many works on macroeconomics as well as some authored or edited by Sargent, including:

Robustness by Lars Peter Hansen and Thomas J. Sargent.

In addition to the works listed and linked above, Rice Library has many titles on the Nobel Prize itself. Among these are:

Words of Peace: Selections from the Speeches of the Winners of the Nobel Peace Prize edited by Irwin Abrams.

Beginner’s Guide to Winning the Nobel Prize: A Life in Science by Peter C. Doherty.

Nobel Prize: The First 100 Years edited by Agneta Wallin Levinovitz and Nils Ringertz.

Champions for Peace: Women Winners of the Nobel Peace Prize by Judith Hicks Stiehm.

Two rather unique titles based on this subject are Prizes, a novel by Erich Segal and Oxygen: A Play in Two Acts by Carl Djarassi and Roald Hoffman. Also, one cannot overlook the feature film A Beautiful Mind which tells the story of Nobel Laureate John Nash. Finally, for more information on Alfred Nobel, consider the CREDO reference or Biography in Context databases.

2011-10-17T10:51:00.001-05:00

Indiana State Archive at Risk

The Indiana State Archive is presently being housed in an old warehouse on the west side of Indianapolis. According to a recent article in the Indianapolis Star, the archive was temporarily moved there ten years ago. The building has many problems and the collections have been at danger many times. The State Archivists, Jim Corridan speaking at a workshop to the Society of Indiana Archivists told two stories about how close the residents of Indiana came to losing important collections. One involved a recently discovered survey map of the road from Jeffersonville to Vincennes that was made in 1805. The map was encapsulated and just two days later the roof leaked right over the map. Had this map not been protected it would have been destroyed. The other was about new shelving that was installed and had not been loaded with materials yet when another section of the roof leaked and the entire unit was covered in water.

The building currently holding the archive’s material was built in 1968 and is essential a pole barn type building with inadequate heating and cooling, as well as a roof that has had many incidents of leaking. While in today’s the world researcher are always looking for online accessible material, which the state archives has many, this does not mean the physical documents, artifacts, and records should be sacrificed. Aside from housing both of Indiana’s original constitutions, the 1816 and the 1851 versions, and many documents about the development of the state, it also has many items related to the Northwest Territorial government. All these precious resources are at risk if not properly maintained and protected. There are funds being made available to put a new roof on the structure, and this would certainly be helpful considering the number leaks that have happen during its time at this location, but it does not address primary concerns of temperature and humidity controls not to mention space for adequately housing all of the materials presently at the facility as well as future growth.

Indiana is soon approaching its 200th anniversary in 2016 and it needs to address the concerns of how we protect and maintain the history of our state. Perhaps, as suggested by the writer of the article that appeared in the Indianapolis Star, Stephen Towne, a fitting tribute to our state would be to encourage the legislators and citizens to take an active role in building a proper facility for the archives as a monument to the state’s achievements.

Towne, Stephen. “Protect priceless papers with new home for archives.” Indianapolis Star, October 11, 2011: A11

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011110110316

Indiana State Archive

http://www.in.gov/icpr/2358.htm

Collections of the Indiana State Archive

http://www.in.gov/icpr/2722.htm

Indiana Digital Archives

http://www.indianadigitalarchives.org/default.aspx

Preservation at the Indiana State Archives

http://www.in.gov/icpr/2354.htm

Friends of the Indiana State Archive

http://www.fisa-in.org/

Jennifer Greene

Reference & Archives Librarian

To Your Good Health, Women!

2011-10-07T16:09:00.000-05:00

In February the Office of Women’s Health, a project of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, published a 70-page book entitled A Lifetime of Good Health: Your Guide to Staying Healthy.

According to the publication’s Web site, this guide offers women “a plan for health at all stages of life.” In addition to behaviors for preventing and managing many health conditions that affect women, it also addresses things that are important to them, including pregnancy, breastfeeding, menopause, and breast cancer.

The guide is available online in English, Spanish, and Chinese translations. Print copies of the English (RA564.85 .L54 2011) and Spanish (RA564.85 .L5418 2011) editions are also available in Rice Library’s General Collection at the call numbers given.

Check it out!

PO

JSTOR Announces Free Access to Early Journal Content

2011-09-30T16:27:00.000-05:00

Earlier this month, JSTOR announced that it was making a significant portion of its journal content freely available to anyone, anywhere in the world. This material, known as the Early Journal Content, will include journals published in the United States prior to 1923 and journals published elsewhere prior to 1870. This development will allow independent scholars who are not affiliated with the more than 7,000 institutions in 153 countries worldwide which subscribe to JSTOR to have free access to a sizeable collection of scholarly resources. JSTOR is encouraging "broad use of the Early Journal Content, including the ability to reuse it for non-commercial purposes." They do ask, however, that users "acknowledge JSTOR as the source of the content and provide a link back to [their] site."

For the complete announcement, including a link to the Terms & Conditions of Use as well as a quick tutorial on how to access this content, click here.

P.O.

Steamboat Bicentennial

2011-09-23T11:04:00.000-05:00

200th Anniversary of the First Steamboat down the Ohio River

This fall marks the bicentennial of the first steamboat, the New Orleans, to travel down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Nicholas Roosevelt and his family started the journey at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania in 1811 and arrived at New Orleans in January of 1812.

Do you know what else happen that eventful year?

 It was the year of a great squirrel migration across the Ohio River from Indiana to Kentucky.
 There was the New Madrid Fault System earthquake of 1811 with a reading over 7.0
 The Battle of Tippecanoe began on November 7, 1811
 The Great Comet passed over North America

This year there will be numerous events about the steamboat and its impact on the Evansville and the Northwest Territory. You can read more about the history and the incredible journey of the Roosevelt family at the Hanover College River Institute, http://rivers.hanover.edu/ .

Here is a list of events happening in Evansville and surrounding areas.

Steamboat Bicentennial Celebration
Howard Steamboat Museum, Jeffersonville, IN September 23 - 25, 2011

University of Southern Indiana Colloquium
River Colloquium September 29, 2011

Historic Southern Indiana

Indiana’s Historic Pathways Teacher’s Workshop 3rd and 4th grade teachers
   October 4, 2011

Steamboat Celebration at Madison, Indiana

   October 14-16, 2011

River Institute at Hanover College Steamboat Symposium
   October 21, 2011

Evansville-Vanderburgh Public Library

“Steamboat a Comin’: The Legacy of the New Orleans" Exhibit
   October 25-November 30, 2011

Evansville Museum
"Evansville on the Ohio" Exhibit
   November 6, 2011-February 26, 2012

Belle of Cincinnati at Evansville
Dinner Cruise - November 8, 2011 7:00pm to 9:00pm

Sporting some winning resources!

2011-09-19T22:45:00.033-05:00

Fall is nearly here, and that means football! High school, college, pro – wherever your loyalties lie, Rice Library can help you locate some hard-hitting resources showcasing the game on the gridiron.

Here are just a handful of sources about football available to you in the Rice Library "playbook" (aka online catalog):

The Big Scrum : How Teddy Roosevelt Saved Football by John J. Miller - 2011

Fifty Years of College Football: A Modern History of America’s Most Colorful Sport by Bob Boyles and Paul Guido - 2007

The games that changed the game : the evolution of the NFL in seven Sundays by Ron Jaworski, Greg Cosell, and David Plaut - 2010

How Football Explains America by Sal Paolantonio - 2008

Kicking Off the Week: A History of Monday Night Football on ABC Television, 1970-2005 by Wesley Hyatt - 2007

For the “armchair” researchers among you, Rice Library also has several electronic book titles, available to USI students, faculty, and staff with their MyUSI username and password. These books can be read right from your computer and in the comfort of your favorite comfy furniture (where you like to watch sports):

Integrating the Gridiron: Black Civil Rights and American College Football by Lane Demas - 2010

The Man Who Built the National Football League by Joe F. Carr and Chris Willis

Scoreboard, Baby A Story of College Football, Crime, and Complicity by Ken Armstrong – 2010

How about a DVD?

Brian’s Song – Columbia Pictures - 1971

Jerry Maguire – TriStar Pictures - 1997

Remember the Titans – Walt Disney Pictures/ Jerry Bruckheimer Films – 2000

Rudy – TriStar Pictures -2000

You may also wish to try out the Rice Library databases to delve deeper into the glorifying (and sometimes not so glorifying) aspects of the game. Search such topics as: the positive effect of participation in football on teamwork, strength conditioning, and sportsmanship; the generous philanthropy of professional athletes; the positive/negative aspects of free agency and collective bargaining; commercialization/exploitation of college football; football-related concussions and other injuries, etc. We suggest the following databases to collect resources on these and many other aspects of football, or to grab some basic, background information on your favorite sporting event:

SPORTDiscus with Full Text
Health Source: Consumer Edition
Academic Search Premier
ProQuest Research Library
Credo
CQ Researcher
Britannica Online

Team up with Rice Library to tackle all your football or sports-related topics.

Hurrican Irene- In Pictures

2011-09-01T09:39:00.000-05:00

The Boston Globe's excellent blog, The Big Picture, highlights high-quality, amazing imagery, with a focus on current events. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday the blog is updated with collections of photographs from some of the world's most important news sources including the Associated Press and Reuters.

The collection of images from Hurrican Irene is awe inspiring. Perhaps the most recongnizable image from this group of photos is of a deserted Grand Central Station. When Mayor Bloomberg shut down the MTA and ordered residents to stay indoors, the Station became eerily quiet.

Credit: Marjorie Anders/NY Metropolitan Transportation Authority/AP

The following photo of Billy and Erin Stinson sitting on the steps of their washed away cottage gives viewers a sense of the immense loss that many people suffered. Erin Stinson remarked, "We were pretending, just for a moment, that the cottage was still behind us and we were just sitting there watching the sunset".

Credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images

To subsribe to The Big Picture blog via RSS feed, visit this page and scroll down to "News Blogs". They also have Iphone and Android apps available via a link on their homepage.

Happy 40th Birthday, WorldCat!

2011-08-26T16:46:00.000-05:00

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the launch of WorldCat, the world's most comprehensive online library database (and as I've told scores of USI students, my personal favorite). In addition to the subscription version of WorldCat, which is available to all USI students, faculty, and staff, there is now a free version, known as WorldCat.org. The database currently has in excess of 240,000,000 bibliographic records, representing 2 billion items of all types held by over 72,000 libraries worldwide. (See the database's stats sheet.) It's always fascinating to "Watch WorldCat Grow" in real time. For the complete text of the press release announcing the anniversary, click here.

P.O.

Surviving the Summer Heat with Good Books (and Videos)

2011-07-22T13:48:00.000-05:00

“Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.”

At least one of the topics that’s been a part of our conversations this past week (aside from Washington politics and investigations of British tabloids) has been the weather—more specifically, the temperature. In the words of Porky Pig, “Gosh, I’m roastin’!” With that in mind, the LTL Blog thought it might be interesting to look at some library resources related to heat and temperature.

We begin with Heat. Searching this word as a subject term in the RL catalog uncovers over 80 items, including Heat and Thermodynamics: A Historical Perspective and the Excessive Heat Events Guidebook. The latter is a U.S. government document which defines excessive heat events (EHEs) and explains how best to respond to them. A print copy of the document is available in RL’s General Collection, but it is also available online. For those able to tackle physics, upper level mathematics, and probability, let me recommend Random Walk and the Heat Equation, a 2010 work by Gregory F. Lawler. According to reviewer Miklos Bona, “This is a very readable introductory course resource on topics . . . that have more than their fair share of unreadable textbooks. Even so, definitely not a beach read for most of us. For those, like me, needing a simpler explanation of the scientific principles of heat, try Rob Moore’s children’s book Why Does Water Evaporate?: All About Heat and Temperature, a title from RL’s Curriculum Materials Collection (4^th floor).

There is also a subject term for Body temperature. With this search, I uncovered Mark Blumberg’s 2002 work entitled Body Heat: Temperature and Life on Earth. The book’s synopsis from the publisher (Harvard University Press) states, “Whether you're a polar bear giving birth to cubs in an Arctic winter, a camel going days without water in the desert heat, or merely a suburbanite without air conditioning in a heat wave, your comfort and even survival depend on how well you adapt to extreme temperatures.”

Next I searched the catalog using Global temperature changes and Global warming and received 32 results and 225 results respectively (as of 7/22). Among the items found with these subject term searches were the books Life in the Hothouse: How a Living Planet Survives Climate Change by Melanie Lenart and How to Cool the Planet: Geoengineering and the Audacious Quest to Fix Earth’s Climate by Jeff Goodall. Interestingly enough, at the top of the result list was Karen Dionne’s 2011 novel Boiling Point, available in RL’s Popular Reading Materials (1^st floor). This ecothriller is definitely a beach read. And for scores of other suggestions related to these topics, don’t overlook the Global Warming and Climate Change LibGuide.

Finally, for those who would prefer to watch a video rather than read a book, let me recommend the Frontline/NOVA production, What’s Up With the Weather? (science), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (drama), or Some Like it Hot (comedy).

Oh, and the quote above? Historically, many have attributed it to Mark Twain, but you might be interested in reading what the online source Quote Investigator has to say about its origin as well as Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations, available in Rice Library's CREDO reference, a collection of electronic reference books.

Have fun reading (or viewing), everyone, and stay cool!

PO

Annual Awards for Best in Children's Literature

2011-07-15T09:52:00.000-05:00

Each year during its Midwinter Conference, the American Library Association (ALA) announces winners for a number of awards for children’s literature and media, including the Newbery and Caldecott Medals. The winners of these two highly sought-after awards are selected by separate committees made up of members of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of ALA.

The John Newbery Medal is given for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature. This year’s winner was Moon over Manifest, written by Clare Vanderpool and published by Delacorte Press. Vanderpool’s fictional story, set in 1936, tells of twelve-year-old Abilene Tucker who is sent to Manifest, Kansas for the summer by her drifter father. While seeking to learn more about her father’s past, Abilene becomes involved in “an honest-to-goodness spy hunt” and uncovers some of the secrets of the town’s past and her father’s life. Other works recognized as Honor Books by the selection committee were: Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm (Random House), Heart of a Samurai: Based on the True Story of Manjiro Nakahama by Margi Preus (Amulet Books), Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman (Houghton Mifflin Books for Children), and One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia (Amistad).

The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott and is awarded annually to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. This year’s medal was presented to Erin E. Stead who illustrated A Sick Day for Amos McGee, written by her husband Philip C. Stead and published by Roaring Brook Press. When zookeeper Amos McGee’s daily routines are suddenly interrupted by a bad cold, the animal friends he has made at the zoo pay him a visit which succeeds in cheering him up. Stead’s illustrations are successful too. In the words of Booklist reviewer Hazel Rochman, “Like the story, the quiet pictures, rendered in pencil and woodblock color prints, are both tender and hilarious.” The 2011 Caldecott Honor Books included Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave, illustrated by Bryan Collier and written by Laban Carrick Hill (Little, Brown and Company) and Interrupting Chicken, written and illustrated by David Ezra Stein (Candlewick Press).

Once the awards are announced, the medals are presented to the recipients during ALA’s annual conference held during the following summer. Each winner makes an acceptance speech, and the speeches are published annually in the summer/fall issue of Children and Libraries and the June/July issue of Horn Book. Rice Library has at least two books which include copies of some of these acceptance speeches. They are:

Newbery and Caldecott Medal Books, 1956-1965: With Acceptance Papers, Biographies, and Related Material Chiefly From the Horn Book Magazine [GEN COL: Z1037 .A2 K5 1965]
Newbery and Caldecott Medal Books, 1966-1975: With Acceptance Papers, Biographies, and Related Material Chiefly From the Horn Book Magazine [GEN COL: Z1037 .A2 N48]

Rice Library’s collections also include copies of most of the books which have received these prestigious awards over the years (since 1922 for the Newbery Medal and since 1938 for the Caldecott Medal) as well as many of the Honor Book selections. Additionally, the library has a number of resources for those interested in using the books in classroom settings. Among these are such works as:

Teaching With Favorite Newbery Books [GEN COL: LB1575.5 .U5 L53 1999]

Developing Better Readers and Writers Using Caldecott Books [GEN COL: LB1576 .M3934 2006]

Newbery/Prinz Companion: Booktalk and Related Materials for Award Winners and Honor Books [Z1037 .A2 G56 2006]

The Newbery and Caldecott Awards: A Guide to the Medal and Honor Books [REF COL: PS374 .C454 N46 2006]

Finally, don’t overlook the Children’s and Young Adult Literature LibGuide as an excellent introduction to the topic and a gateway to the library’s many resources.

For assistance with these or other Rice Library resources or services, please contact the library’s Reference Desk at 812/464-1907.

Happy Birthday, America: Let Freedom Ring!

2011-06-30T13:55:00.002-05:00

As our nation prepares to celebrate the 235th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence from Great Britain, the LTL Blog thought it would be interesting (and fun) to highlight some of Rice Library’s newest books related to Fourth of July themes. For books that deal with freedom in a contemporary context, you might enjoy reading John Kampfner’s Freedom for Sale: Why the World is Trading Democracy for Security or Evgeny Morozov’s The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom. The ideas of both of these authors will challenge mainstream thought on the topics they address.

For recently published books on the American Revolution itself, you might want to consider the hefty collection of primary source material contained in John Adams: Revolutionary Writings, 1775-1783 edited by Gordon Wood or Thomas Kidd’s God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution. The second of these two titles is available as an electronic book from ebrary. Another history book covering a later event that celebrated the ideals of the Revolution is Sabina Yasmin Khan’s Enlightening the World: The Creation of the Statue of Liberty.

For treatment of an event closer to our own time, let me recommend Behind the Dream: The Making of the Speech That Transformed a Nation by Clarence B. Jones and Stuart Connelly. Jones was a confidant of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and assisted him in crafting the famous “I Have a Dream” speech. For another work that deals with the quest for freedom by African Americans, you might enjoy Frederick Douglass and the Fourth of July. Although not as recently published as the others here listed, this work nevertheless causes its readers to reflect on the true meaning of the holiday, especially for the disenfranchised among us.

Finally, one can hardly think about American independence apart from the rights that would eventually be guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. For those interested in studying this foundational document, they might want to consider The Annotated U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence edited by Jack N. Rakove. This too is an electronic book. For a work that examines how the Constitution has affected an important aspect of American life, don’t overlook Rodney Smolla’s The Constitution Goes to College: Five Constitutional Ideas That Have Shaped the American University, and for a general reference book that treats all aspects of the Constitution’s First Amendment guarantees, be sure to consult the Encyclopedia of the First Amendment.

Each of the works above was located by searching the library’s catalog using one of the following subject terms:

Civil rights

Freedom

Fourth of July

Liberty

United States. Constitution. 1st Amendment

United States. Declaration of Independence

United States—History—Revolution, 1775-1783

Additional materials on these topics may be found by clicking on the subject terms above. And lastly, don’t overlook the many excellent resources suggested by the following relevant LibGuides:

Civil Rights

American History 101: To 1865

American Wars

Enjoy your holiday, everyone, and happy reading!

For assistance with these or other Rice Library resources or services, please contact the library’s Reference Desk at 812/464-1907.

CREDO Adds New Reference Books

2011-06-29T08:01:00.000-05:00

CREDO reference has announced the addition of four titles to its ever-growing collection of electronic reference books. These include:

Encyclopedia of Archeology (Elsevier Science & Technology, 2008) – A 3-volume encyclopedia that encompasses all aspects of archaeology, including the nature and diversity of archaeology as a scientific discipline, the practice of archaeology, archaeology in the everyday world, and the future of the discipline. [See also CREDO’s Encyclopedia of Archaeology: History and Discoveries.]

The Human Brain Book: An Illustrated Guide to its Structure, Function and Disorders (Dorling Kindersley, 2009) -- A complete guide to the one organ in the body that makes each of us what we are—unique individuals. [See also CREDO’s Encyclopedia of the Human Brain.]

Key Concepts in Sport & Exercise Science (Sage UK, 2008) – A very useful introduction to the key concepts in five main areas of study in sport and exercise science.

The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics – A comprehensive reference work dealing with all aspects of its subject: history, types, movements, prosody, and critical terminology. [See also CREDO’s Encyclopedia of American Poetry. The Twentieth Century.]

For assistance with these or other Rice Library resources or services, please contact the library’s Reference Desk at 812/464-1907.

PO

Still Going Green

2011-06-28T10:46:00.000-05:00

In April, the LTL Blog informed readers about six new electronic books from the Sage Reference Series on Green Society (see post for 4/18/11). These titles were:

     Green Business: An A-Z Guide
     Green Cities: An A-Z Guide
     Green Consumerism: An A-Z Guide
     Green Energy: An A-Z Guide
     Green Food: An A-Z Guide
     Green Politics: An A-Z Guide

Today the Blog announces the addition of six more electronic titles in this series:
     Green Culture: An A-Z Guide
     Green Education: An A-Z Guide
     Green Ethics and Philosophy: An A-Z Guide
     Green Health: An A-Z Guide
     Green Issues and Debates: An A-Z Guide
     Green Technology: An A-Z Guide

The Green Society series attempts to explore all aspects of environmentalism, and the fact that these resources are available 24/7 is a real plus to student and faculty researchers. Each title contains approximately 150 articles, photographs, numerous cross references to entries both within a specific volume and across the volumes in the series, and many lists of additional references.

For other resources related to environmentalism, be sure to check out the following LibGuides:
     Environmental Science
     Green Guide
     Global Warming and Climate Change
     Oil Spills
     Energy and Alternative Energy

PO

All Things Presidential

2011-06-06T08:15:00.000-05:00

The May 27 issue of the Friday Facts, an electronic newsletter published by the Indiana State Library included an interesting piece on The American Presidency Project, an online clearinghouse of information related to U.S. presidents. The site was begun in 1999 by John Woolley and Gerhard Peters, professors at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and it contains over 90,000 documents, including radio addresses, media clips, executive orders, and State of the Union Addresses. One of the website’s most interesting features is the presidential Data Archive page which has sections on such topics as Relations with Congress, Popularity, and Public Appearances. It’s good to know that this important site is included in several of Rice Library’s LibGuides, including the American Presidency, Civil Rights, and JFK.

Students of the American presidency may find a number of other useful resources available to them on the Internet as well as within Rice Library’s collections. The Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States dating back to 1991 are available online, and will be an important resource for the serious researcher. Among the periodical resources available in Rice Library are such publications as Congress & the Presidency, Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents, Presidency (Washington, D.C.), and Presidential Address. In the library’s Reference Collection, students will find several useful items, including Facts About the Presidents: A Compilation of Biographical and Historical Information [REF E176.1 .K3 2009], Vital Statistics on the Presidency: George Washington to George W. Bush [REF JK518 .R34 2009], Presidential Scandals [REF E176.1 .S353 2000], and How to Research the Presidency [REF JK516 .M365 1996], to name just a few. Lastly, let me mention that a search for the subject terms “presidents” AND “united states” AND “sources” uncovers a number of interesting items, including Inside the Oval Office: The White House Tapes from FDR to Clinton [E176.1 .D73 1999], Nixon Presidential Press Conferences [E855 .N4747], The Papers of Andrew Johnson [E415.6 .J66 1967] and The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant [E660 .G74].

If you need assistance locating or using any of the resources listed above or other materials related to the American presidency, please don’t hesitate to stop by the Rice Library reference desk or contact us by telephone or e-mail (812/464-1907, toll free 800/246-6173, libref@usi.edu).

PO

Yale University Makes Digital Images of Its Art and Artifacts Available to All

2011-05-13T15:52:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday, May 10, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported that Yale University had announced “that it is making digital images of objects in its many collections freely available online.” The university’s official announcement stated, “In a departure from established convention, no license will be required for the transmission of the images, and no limitations will be imposed on their use. The result is that scholars, artists, students, and citizens the world over will be able to use these collections for study, publication, teaching, and inspiration.”

Currently more than 250,000 images are available, with thousands more to be made accessible in the future. All of the items are searchable through an online catalog with basic, advanced, and faceted search modes. The digital images are drawn from the following institutions: Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale Center for British Art, Yale University Art Gallery, Yale University Library, Yale University on iTunes U. Among the images being made available are the war bonnet of Sioux chief Red Cloud, a Mozart sonata in the composer’s own hand, an 1810 map based on the Lewis and Clark Expedition, John Turnbull’s painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and a fossil of an extinct trilobite Cambropallas telesto from Morocco. Click here for a slideshow of some highlights.

P.O.

Patent Searching: Necessity is the Mother of Invention, or Apparatus for Facilitating the Birth of a Child by Centrifugal Force

2011-04-29T09:42:00.000-05:00

If your research involves looking for patents, there are both subscription and free sources that you might find useful. One of the subscription sources available through Rice Library is LexisNexis® Academic (LNA). To complete a patent search in LNA, from the database’s main page open the “US Legal” section located along the left sidebar menu and click on the link labeled “Patents.” The “Patents” search screen allows you to search by keywords and phrases anywhere in the patent or limit your search to patent number, applicant name, application number, assignee, inventor, or patent title. Users may also limit the search to specific dates or date ranges and to specific patent sources, including both foreign and domestic patents.

One of the free sources which many patent hunters find useful is Google™ Patents. For those serious researchers using this source, the “Advanced Patent Search” mode is recommended. Here you are able to search by patent number, title, inventor, assignee, U.S. or international classification, document status, patent type, and issue or filing dates.

Perhaps one of the best free patent search engines is FreePatentsOnline. Users of this site are encouraged to create their own free account to make use of its full functionality and to avoid much of the advertising that clutters the result lists if the user is not logged in. The site provides multiple search methods, including both Quick and Expert modes for patent searches as well as a Chemical Search. There are also a number of value-added features, including a University Patent search, a section on Design Patents, and lists of Most Popular Patenting Companies and Most Popular Patent Topics. One of my favorite features is Patent Maps which shows graphically the patents that were awarded within specific geographic areas within the U.S. Another is Crazy Patents which does indeed include a patent for an “Apparatus for facilitating the birth of a child by centrifugal force” along with several others including “Subliminal Glasses” and “Dog Nose Art.” The site continues to add new features and functionality. Most recently it has added the full text of thousands of articles drawn from over 150 research journals. Those seeking a brief introduction to FreePatentsOnline might benefit from a tutorial developed by the MIT Libraries. This tutorial along with three others related to patents are available here.

There are, of course, other useful sources for searching patent literature, including the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. For an excellent summary comparison of the features available in four of the most popular of these sources, visit the MIT Libraries’ Patents LibGuide.

For assistance with these or other Rice Library resources or service, please contact the library’s Reference Desk at 812/464-1907.

P.O.

Green From A-Z!

2011-04-18T13:55:00.008-05:00

The library has just acquired a series of online, reference books perfect for an environment enthusiast. These guides from SAGE offer a user-friendly method for researching a wide variety of green topics.

In Green Food discover the differences among Locavores, Vegans, and Vegetarians.

What does NIMBY stand for? Find out in Green Politics.

Look into Green Cities to see which locations in the country and around the world are taking the largest initiatives to be eco-friendly.

Users can browse by subject or use a simple search box to look up topics.

There are currently 6 Green Guides in Rice Library’s collection with 6 more to come this summer. Try them out!

Green business: An A-to-Z guide

Green cities: An A-to-Z guide

Green consumerism: An A-to-Z guide

Green energy: An A-to-Z guide

Green food: An A-to-Z guide

Green politics: An A-to-Z guide

Want to Organize Your Research? You Can “Account” on Us!

2011-04-14T16:11:00.006-05:00

Rice Library databases and the Online Catalog do more than just search indexed articles and catalogued books. For instance, did you know:

that with EBSCOHost, ProQuest, and JStor, you can set up accounts to save your articles and searches?
you can manage your Rice Library Catalog account anytime, anywhere online?
that articles, books, and other items held at libraries from all over Indiana and the United States are just a few clicks from being on their way to you?

If you are able to answer “yes” to all of the questions above, well done! You should hereby consider yourself an honorary librarian!

If your answer was “no” to any or all of the questions above, read on! (Read on anyway!) : )

Each of the above-mentioned database vendors provide their users with account-creating capabilities. Creating an account with each is free and takes just a few moments. Typically, the accounts ask for you to create a username, password, and provide some contact information. Once you have created an account, you can create research folders and/or save articles. Each database vendor offers their account capabilities a little differently, but all allow users to save articles.

Of course, if a user prefers not to create an account but still wants to take action on a number of articles found in a single session, they may do so by selecting each article according to the database procedure, then clicking on the print, email, or save icons from the saved “folder view” or “my research” link. For additional information on ways to utilize EbscoHost for your research, please see the posting below entitled, “Oh, The Research You Can Do With EBSCOhost!” You may also want to visit the EBSCOHost LibGuide.

If, like many of us, you have ever forgotten your due date for your library books and want to check what it is, or if you want to renew your items from home, you can do both. Here is how:

1. In the top-right corner of the Rice Library online catalog, click on “Login to your Library Account.”

2. Your ID is the 14 digits on the back of your Eagle Access Card, beginning with the numbers 292.

3. Type in your last name.

4. Click on the “My Account” tab.

5. From this page, you can review all the items you have checked out with Rice Library, plus renew any items not already overdue, modify your profile information and arrange any searching preferences you might have.

6. Like the databases above, users can, without logging in, print, export, and/or email selected titles searched in any given session.

Finally, we encourage you to sign up for an Interlibrary Loan account. You may do so by locating the "Interlibrary Loan" drop-down menu on the Rice Library home page. From the drop-down menu, click on "ILLiad Logon;" you use your MyUSI username and password. Once you fill out a profile page, you are eligible to request articles not available in full text from our databases, and books not in the Rice Library collection. This opens up literally every library in Indiana, and collections from all across the United States. To learn more about Interlibrary Loan, please visit the Interlibrary Loan LibGuide and watch the brief tutorial.

Be sure to write your account user/password information down somewhere safe and handy, then visit your saved information anytime, anywhere, at your convenience. To learn more about these and other valuable resources, please visit our Research 101 LibGuide, or ask a Rice Library Reference Librarian.

BR

New Titles Added to CREDO Reference Collection

2011-04-14T10:39:00.000-05:00

The CREDO Reference collection continues to gain popularity among USI’s students and faculty as a good first stop for starting many research projects. This collection also continues to grow by adding several new titles every few weeks. Most recently the collection added five new works, including Encyclopedia of American Studies, Encyclopedia of Cremation, New Encyclopedia of the American West, and the OECD Factbook 2010: Economic, Environmental and Social Statistics. The fifth reference book was Meet the Philosophers of Ancient Greece and was the database’s featured title of the month. Here’s a description of its contents.

“Ancient Greece was the cradle of philosophy in the Western tradition. Meet the Philosophers of Ancient Greece brings the thoughts and lives of the pioneers of Western philosophy down from their sometimes remote heights and introduces them to a modern audience. Comprising essays written by internationally distinguished scholars in a lively and accessible style, this book presents the values, ideas, wisdom and arguments of the most significant thinkers from the world of ancient Greece.

“Commencing with Thales of Miletus and continuing to the end of the Ancient Period of philosophy by way of Heraclitus, Parmenides, Protagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Archimedes, Epictetus this book explores the major contributions of each philosopher as well as looking at archaeological and historical sites where they lived, worked and thought. This book is an outstanding introduction to the world of the philosophers of Ancient Greece.”

P.O.

Doing Research at a Distance

2011-04-08T14:05:00.000-05:00

Academic research has certainly been dramatically affected by online access to databases and digitized collections. Even so, sometimes it becomes necessary for the serious researcher to travel geographically to a location where specialized or a larger quantity of resources are available. For USI researchers this is much easier with the Academic Libraries of Indiana’s (ALI) Reciprocal Borrowing Program. The program was established to promote, enhance, and facilitate research, teaching, and learning in Indiana academic institutions. Academic libraries participating in the program agree to extend in-person borrowing privileges to faculty, staff, and students of member institutions. To participate, the borrower needs a signed ALI Borrowers Card form the home institution library, campus identification, and a photo ID with a current address. The ALI Borrowers Card may be acquired from Rice Library’s Checkout Counter. There are certain limitations to the program, and the borrower is subject to the rules and regulations of the lending library. For a complete description of the program along with a link to a printable application form, click here. Materials borrowed from participating Indiana academic libraries may be dropped off at Rice Library’s Checkout Counter for return to the lending library. For questions concerning the program, please contact Rice Library’s Checkout Counter at 812/464-1913.

P.O.

ARTstor Mobile is Here!

2011-03-14T14:17:00.000-05:00

http://help.artstor.org/wiki/index.php/ARTstor_Mobile

All 1,000,000+ images from the ARTstor Digital Library are now accessible through iPad, iPhone, and the iPod Touch to registered ARTstor users.

ARTstor Mobile provides read-only features such as searching, browsing, zooming, and viewing saved image groups. Also try the new Flashcard View, which allows you to test your knowledge by viewing the image without textual information, and then flipping the image to reveal the image record.

There's no need to dowload special software, just go to ARTstor from your mobile device. ARTstor Mobile is only available through the Safari browser; for more details visit ARTstor's Help page.

PO

Statistical Abstract--something for everyone!

2011-03-01T12:35:00.000-06:00

Perusing the 2011 Statistical Abstract

(copied from the Feb. 28, 2011 posting to GovernmentBookTalk http://govbooktalk.gpo.gov/)

Can a blog about Government books not talk about Census Bureau’s Statistical Abstract? I don’t think so. The 2011 edition is now available and, as usual, it’s filled with all kinds of data that tell us who and what we are as a nation and a people. Of course, many of its tables have appeared in edition after edition, but I like to focus on those that seem most in tune with current concerns and interests. After all, the Abstract’s ability to remain relevant accounts for its longevity (since 1878!)

Take, for example, Table 191, Insufficient Rest or Sleep by Number of Days and Selected Characteristics: 2008. I’m writing this on a Monday morning and feeling as if I haven’t had sufficient sleep since the late 1980s. You can’t get any more relevant than that! Data that seems ripped from the headlines is in Table 336, Financial Crimes: 2003 to 2009. Corporate fraud, securities and commodities fraud, mass marketing fraud…you get the picture.

There’s a lot of more upbeat information, too. Table 295 tells us that more and more Americans are receiving degrees every year, while Table 1237 indicates how many of us are turning out for the arts – something personally cheering for me is that 7.8 million people went to a jazz concert in 2008.

Family debt, manufacturing, national security, international statistics – there doesn’t seem to be anything that the Statistical Abstract doesn’t cover. At more than 1,000 pages, it’s an America watcher’s dream. You can lose yourself in its pages here, get a personal copy here, or peruse it in a library. Meanwhile, let me see if I can find anything on book blogs…

Oh, The Research You Can Do With EBSCOhost!

2011-02-02T12:42:00.003-06:00

You probably have a favorite EBSCOhost database where you go day-in and day-out for your research needs, but you may not know about all the great features provided in that database.

Rice Library’s latest LibGuide, EBSCOhost Databases, unveils all the ways to take advantage of EBSCOhost’s resources though a series of online tutorials and an in-depth factsheet. Some of the features discussed in this LibGuide include:

Personal Accounts: Create your own account to save searches and results, create customized folders, and share resources with other account users.

Controlled Vocabulary: Discover the search terms unique to each database for subject searching.

Limiters/Expanders: Learn about all the many methods to narrow or broaden searches.

Cited References: Find out just how much influence an author or article has had in their field.

Alerts: Produce reminders for the latest issues of your favorite journals and rerun searches for long-term research.

Once you learn about all these features, you’ll never know how you did research without them!

Journal Articles...for...Freeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

2011-01-24T13:02:00.003-06:00

OK, cheesy reference to the movie "Bedtime Stories" aside, Rice Library Reference Team has published a new LibGuide called Open Access Resources. It was created to aid Rice Library patrons in locating free, open source journals and other resources for all disciplines, plus pages dedicated to specific resources including: institutional repositories, theses/dissertations, books, manuscripts, popular magazines, and more.

Open access resources are documents and links freely accessible through the World Wide Web. Many authors and scholars consent to free, unrestricted access and dissemination of their scholarly works. Many of these works are published in open access journals such as those listed in our Open Access Resources LibGuide.

We hope you find the resources found in this LibGuide useful to your research, and welcome you to use all of our other 200+ LibGuides as well. They, like the Open Access Resources, are also...for... Freeeeeeeeeeeeee!

BR

New Biographies in Literature Online Database

2011-01-17T13:29:00.001-06:00

The latest release of Literature Online sees the addition of 36 new or revised biographies, including biographies for Gillian Beer, Robert Bridges, Bernard Cornwell, Harper Lee, Michael Palin, Frank Spicer, Frank Topping and William Hale White. Literature Online now contains over 4,500 biographies. Author biograhies are specially commissioned for Literature Online,and give an authoritative and accessible overview of the author's life, work, and critical reception. These biographies can be found by following links from Author Pages, by using Search: Criciticism & Reference, or simply by entering an author's name in Quick Search.

Literature Online now contains over 19,000 author records. Each of our author records contains at least one of the following: an authoritative and accessible biography, full-text of the author's works, a comprehensive bibliogrpahy of primary works or a list of full-text critical and reference materials relating to the author. Author records can be accessed by searching in the Search: Authors or Search: Texts pages or from the Quick Search feature from any page.

Did you know that free training for Literature Online is available at www.proquest.com/training?

P.O.

SAGE Advice for Researchers

2011-01-10T15:57:00.001-06:00

As part of our ongoing commitment to meet the needs of students and faculty around the clock, the library has recently added online encyclopedia titles in a variety of disciplines from SAGE publications. Accessible through the catalog 24/7, these scholarly sources will help researchers of all levels start or supplement their work. Each title’s opening page includes links to information about the editorial board and contributors, as well as to a lengthy introduction to topic coverage and treatment. Users can browse by broad topic or do an advanced search. Which title will work for YOU? (You might find more than one!)

Encyclopedia of social movement media features 250 essays on the varied experiences of social movement media globally in the 20th and 21st centuries. Thematic essays address selected issues such as human rights media, indigenous peoples' media, and environmentalist media, and on key concepts widely used in the field such as alternative media, citizens' media, and community media. The encyclopedia engages with all communication media: broadcasting, print, cinema, the Internet, popular song, street theatre, graffiti, and dance.

Encyclopedia of identity seeks to explore myriad ways in which we define ourselves in our daily lives. Comprising 300 entries, it offers readers an opportunity to understand identity as a socially constructed phenomenon - a dynamic process both public and private, shaped by past experiences and present circumstances, and evolving over time. Offering a broad, comprehensive overview of the definitions, politics, manifestations, concepts, and ideas related to identity, the entries include short biographies of major thinkers and leaders, as well as discussions of events, personalities, and concepts. This title is designed for readers to grasp the nature and breadth of identity as a psychological, social, anthropological, and popular idea.

Encyclopedia of research design At its heart, research might be described as a formalized approach toward problem solving, thinking, and acquiring knowledge—the success of which depends upon clearly defined objectives and appropriate choice of statistical tools, tests, and analysis to meet a project’s objectives. With more than 500 entries, this encyclopedia explains how to make decisions about research design, undertake research projects in an ethical manner, interpret and draw valid inferences from data, and evaluate experiment design strategies and results. Two additional features carry this encyclopedia far above other works in the field: bibliographic entries devoted to significant articles in the history of research design and reviews of contemporary tools, such as software and statistical procedures, used to analyze results.

Encyclopedia of law and higher education is a compendium of information that tells the story of law and higher education from a variety of perspectives. As many of the entries in this encyclopedia reflect, the editor and contributors have sought to place legal issues in perspective so that students of higher education and the law can inform policy makers and practitioners about the meaning and status of the law and also raise questions for future research as they seek to improve the quality of learning for all.

Encyclopedia of health services research Health services research is a highly multidisciplinary field, including such areas as health administration, health economics, medical sociology, medicine, political science, public health, and public policy. This is the first single reference source to capture the diversity and complexity of the field. More than 400 entries investigate the relationship between the factors of cost, quality, and access to healthcare and their impact upon medical outcomes such as death, disability, disease, discomfort, and dissatisfaction with care.

JRA

Study Break

2010-12-09T15:31:00.010-06:00

As students (and faculty) move further into the thick of semester finals, the need for study breaks is greater than ever. You have worked extra hard this entire semester, especially these last few weeks. Take some time to relax, recharge, and to celebrate a job well done with a well-deserved study break!

Be sure to visit the Rice Library information wall, located just around the corner from the Checkout desk. Here you will find an assortment of reader’s guides and DVD lists to help you find that perfect “brain needs rest” escape.

The reader’s guide lists include:

• Adventure and Humor Fiction

• History and Biography Fiction

• Mystery and Suspense Fiction

• Science Fiction and Horror Fiction

• Autobiographies and Memoirs

• Recommended Titles from Rice Library Staff

• Diversity Fiction

• Religious and Cross-Cultural

• Audio Books

If it is a DVD you desire, check out our guides for:

• Weekend Entertainment

• AFI Top 100 Movies

• Movies “Based on the Book”

• Movies and music CD’s already set out for the quick “grab and go.”

Once you find a title to your liking, find all of the audio books, DVD’s, CD’s, and paperbacks on the first floor of Rice Library. Most fiction books will be located on the fourth floor; the reader’s guides will provide the call number for each item.

The Rice Library Information Wall also includes all of the following; Please feel free to help yourself:

• library/campus maps and information

• research guides and how-to’s

• citation “cheat sheets” for APA, MLA, Chicago, and Turabian

• career guides and resource lists.

The Rice Library Reference Team would like to wish all of our students our sincerest best wishes as you wrap up the fall semester, and a very Happy Holiday to all Rice Library patrons!

BR

24/7 Assistance With Lexis-Nexis Database

2010-11-15T15:53:00.000-06:00

Welcome news for faculty users: LexisNexis has extended its 24 X 7 telephone support service to faculty. The service has been available to librarians for many years. Far more than a tech support center, the LexisNexis Customer Support team includes subject area specialists who can answer questions about content and help with search strategies. To use the service, you simply need to identify yourself as a faculty member from the University of Southern Indiana.

We hope that you will take advantage of this service and encourage your colleagues to use it for advanced content or search strategy questions.

The Customer Support number is 1-800-897-3419 and it operates around the clock.

Local History On Demand

2010-11-12T12:01:00.001-06:00

Did you know you can listen and watch interviews with Eleanor Roosevelt?

Or watch Robert F. Kennedy give a speech in Muncie, Indiana?

Looking for artifacts or letters from important figures in American history such as Abraham Lincoln, Eugene Debs, Gus Grissom, or Amelia Earhart?

How about historical research? Are you interested in reading letters, land grants, or telegraphs logs from the Civil War?

You might say, “Well, of course, the world wide web has infinite materials.” But did you know all these things can be found in local libraries, archives and historical societies across the state?

There are more wonderful collections being made available today in ways that were not possible until now. Even just a few short years ago the most researchers, or enthusiasts, could hope was a finding aid or catalog record online. Thanks to technological advances in image software programs not only are these tools available but in many cases images of the primary sources can be uploaded. These are formatted to give an experience similar to seeing the actual item or reading the text in person.

So warm up the finger tips, grab your favorite beverage, drinks are allowed on this library trip, and take a little virtual tour that will give a glimpse of some of the larger, or more unique collections available around the corner and throughout the state.

Local History On Demand

Don't Let DOIs Leave You DOA

2010-11-01T09:40:00.000-05:00

With the publication of the sixth edition of the American Psychological Association's Publication Manual, authors are required, if possible, to include a DOI with each journal article citation in their lists of references. This chanage has prompted a series of questions with many Rice Library users:
1. What's a DOI? DOI stands for digital object identifier and is a permanent, unique alpha-numeric string assigned by the publisher and used to locate a document online.
2. Where can DOIs be found? Users may sometimes find DOIs included in the information given in a database's citation/abstract for the article. At other times DOIs may be located either at the top or bottom on the first page of a journal article (print or online). Sometimes the DOI is preceded by the letters DOI; at other times it is not.
3. How are journal articles cited if there is no DOI? According to the Publication Manual, if no DOI can be found, the author should cite the journal's web page, preceded by the phrase "Retrieved from".

A journal article that includes a DOI might look like this (with double-spacing and hanging indention, of course):

Borman, W. C. (2005). Role of early supervisory experience in supervisor performance. Journal of Applied Pschology, 78, 443-449. doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.78.3.443

Whereas, one without a DOI might look like this (also with double-spacing and hanging indention):

Hamilton, C. (1992). A way of seeing: Culture as political expression in the works of C.L.R. James. Journal of Black Studies, 22, 429-443. Retrieved from http://jbs.sagepub.com/

Students wanting to investigate the use of DOIs more thoroughly may find this tutorial available on the Database Tutorials / PsycINFO LibGuide helpful: DOIs and How To Find Them in a Record.

For additional help in citing sources according to the APA Publication Manual, see the How To Cite Your Sources LibGuide.

PO

My Word is Not Your Word, Without My Permission!

2010-10-27T11:58:00.000-05:00

Or is it? That may depend on who you are at USI: student or faculty? In My Word! Plagiarism and College Culture [Cornell, 2009], Notre Dame Professor of Anthropology Susan D. Blum explores the differences in knowledge and attitudes about plagiarism among faculty and students. Classroom instructors are reminded almost daily that many students operate under an entirely new set of assumptions about originality and ethics. Practices which ten years ago would have been regarded as academically dishonest are now commonplace.

Using extensive interviews conducted with students, My Word! presents the voices of today’s young adults speaking about their daily activities, challenges, and the meanings of their college lives. Outcomes-based secondary education, rising tuition costs, and an economic and social climate in which higher education is valued for its effect on future earnings- these factors each help explain why students might pursue good grades by any means necessary. And accustomed to referencing popular culture in peer conversation (or on Facebook) without credit because it is assumed to be understood, they may struggle with why this practice is unacceptable for academic work.

Blum suggests the real problem of academic dishonesty arises primarily from a lack of communication between two distinct university cultures. Professors and administrators regard plagiarism as a serious academic and ethical transgression, even a sin against an ethos of individualism and originality. On the other hand, students revel in sharing, in multiplicity, in accomplishment at any cost. This book is less likely to reassure readers who hope all they need to do is give strongly worded warnings against plagiarism on the first day of class. But it could open dialogue among faculty, and between teachers and their students, that may lead to mutual comprehension and alignment between student practices and professorial expectations.

Find My Word! Plagiarism and College Culture shelved at PN176.B48 2009 (4th floor.)

JRA

IMAGEine That!

2010-10-26T12:51:00.007-05:00

Need to improve your image (that is, the one required for your presentation)? Take a look at just some of the resources available to you through Rice Library.

We would recommend beginning by locating the "Research 101" LibGuide, and selecting the "Finding Images" tab. Here you will find lists of free image resources, search engines and collections available on the open web. Sources found here include: flickr, PicFindr, New York Public Library Digital Collection, Smithsonian Photographs Online, and American Memory (Library of Congress). Additional image sources are available on the "Finding Images" tab through the "Journalism" LibGuide.

Many Rice Library databases also have images available, including:

CREDO Reference, which has an Image Search tab and also allows users to limit their retrievals to just those with images regardless of how they search.
ARTStor; an entire digital image library; in this collection you will find paint, sculpture, photography, and architecture images, among others.
Biography in Context advanced search, which allows users to limit by images

Academic Search Premier, as well as all EBSCOHost databases, which have an Image tab across the top of the search page.

The INSPIRE, Indiana's Virtual Library database, which allows users to search Image Collections through their Advanced Search page

Finally, please be sure to visit the Rice Library University Archives and Special Collections web site. In the Rice Library Image Collections you will find many fabulous image collections for communal studies, regional history, other special collections, plus additional links to image collections from several local, state, and national institutions.

Each resource has its own unique usage rights, so it is important to check carefully for permissions and to always cite your source of images, whether the image is free or not.

Let your IMAGEination run wild with the resources available to you through Rice Library!
BNR

Answers to the "Random Quiz"

2010-10-13T18:36:00.008-05:00

Here are the answers to our "Random Quiz" from last week. Hope you enjoyed playing and trying out the Credo Reference "Gadgets" link!

1. Having little or no adverse or harmful effect; harmless

"innocuous." Collins English Dictionary. London: Collins, 2000. Credo Reference. Web. 13 October 2010.

2. Theodor Seuss Geisel

"Dr. Seuss, (Theodor Seuss Geisel)." Marquis Who Was Who in America 1985-present. New Providence: Marquis Who's Who LLC, 2010. Credo Reference. Web. 13 October 2010.

"The Pyramids of Giza, c.2589-30 BC, Old Kingdom." The Bridgeman Art Library Archive. London: Bridgeman, 2008. Credo Reference. Web. 13 October 2010.

4. Pŏn’chər-trān’

"Pontchartrain." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2007. Credo Reference. Web. 13 October 2010.

5. Iditarod

"Iditarod." The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather guide. Abington: Helicon, 2009. Credo Reference. Web. 13 October 2010.

6. 8

"furlong." Chambers 21st Century Dictionary. London: Chambers Harrap, 2001. Credo Reference. Web. 13 October 2010.

7. Harry S. Truman

"Truman, Harry S. (1884 - 1972)." Bloomsbury Biographical Dictionary of Quotations. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Ltd, 1997. Credo Reference. Web. 13 October 2010.

8. "Halloween." Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations of the World Dictionary

"Halloween." Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations of the World Dictionary. Detroit: Omnigraphics, Inc., 2010. Credo Reference. Web. 13 October 2010.

BNR

Inspect Your Gadgets

2010-10-07T13:58:00.012-05:00

Rice Library invites you to take a random quiz…

1. What is the definition of the word innocuous?
2. What is Dr. Seuss’s real name?
3. What do the Pyramids of Giza look like?
4. I am taking a trip to New Orleans. How exactly do you pronounce Pontchartrain?
5. This week’s crossword puzzle has the clue “Great sled dog race.” I have the following letters… I?i??ro? (What is the name of this race that’s right on the tip of my tongue?)
6. Who famed the quote, "The buck stops here?"
7. What is the history behind Halloween
8. How many furlongs are in a mile?
9. Where can you go to find answers to each of these random quiz questions?

Answer to Question 9: Credo Reference “Gadgets” link.

This is just one more reason to love Credo Reference. This online reference source is an aggregate for hundreds of electronic books, encyclopedias, dictionaries, bibliographies, image searches, audio files, and much more. To find quick and easy answers to random questions like those above, Credo Reference’s “Gadgets” link is your perfect ready-reference information source.

To find Credo Reference and the “Gadgets” link:

→Go the Rice Library Catalog page

→Click on the Databases link

→Click on the A-Z List link and select Credo Reference

→The “Gadgets” link is sixth across the top of the page

The “gadgets” in this link include:
1. Definitions window
2. Person search
3. Images search
4. Pronunciation help
5. Crossword Solver
6. Quotation search
7. Holidays and Festivals finder
8. Conversion tool

Here you will find everything a growing trivia buff needs to:
• ace a test
• finish that crossword puzzle
• impress all with clear pronunciations, broad vocabulary, and quoting ability
• wow colleagues with stunning visual aids to punctuate your presentation

Please leave your answers to our random quiz by replying to this blog. We will post the answers to questions 1-8 on Thursday, October 14th. Thanks for playing!

For even more trivia fun, courtesy of Credo Reference, sign up for the Weekly Brainteaser at the following link: http://corp.credoreference.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=49&Itemid=160

bnr

A Search Engine That Specializes in Science

2010-09-21T16:31:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago (7/13) the “LTL” Blog presented information on BioMedSearch.com, a free biomedical search site. Another free search engine that Rice Library users may be interested in trying is Scirus, which is devoted to scientific information, including health, life, physical, and social sciences. According to information on the site, “Scirus is the most comprehensive scientific research tool on the web. With over 410 million scientific items indexed at last count, it allows researchers to search for not only journal content but also scientists’ homepages, courseware, pre-print server material, patents and institutional repository and website information.”

The site allows users to set a limited number of search preferences and features both a basic and advanced search interface.

As with BioMedSearch.com, Scirus does not automatically link to Rice Library’s ILLiad (interlibrary loan) service. Therefore, users will need to check the library’s catalog and Journal Finder to determine availability of items retrieved via Scirus. If needed items are not available in Rice Library’s collections, users may request them by copying and pasting the bibliographical information into the appropriate ILLiad forms in order to submit an interlibrary loan request.

For help with this or other library resources and services, contact the Rice Library Reference Desk: (812) 464-1907, (800)246-6173, libref@usi.edu, or in person on the 1st floor.

How Do I...?

2010-09-13T16:40:00.000-05:00

Have you ever found yourself in Rice Library or on the library's web page wondering "How do I...?" or "Where are...?" one thing or another? A newly-revised link on our web site may be just what you need. From the menu across the top of the Rice Library web page, select "How Do I...?" This takes you to a page with the most frequently-asked "How Do I...?" and "Where are...?" questions. Click on any of the five main headings to populate a dropdown list of questions below.

Once you find your particular question, click on it to be taken to the page with your answer. Here you will find answers to a variety of common questions, including:

how to check out a book
where to find images
how to renew your materials and manage your Rice Library account
how to access databases from off-campus
where other computer labs are around campus
plus much more.

We encourage all Rice Library patrons to view this site as it may just have the answer(s) to your question(s). Of course, the Reference Team is always more than willing to help you as well - in person, via email, or over the telephone...

Reference Desk hours:

M-Th.: 9am-9pm;
Fri.: 9am-5pm
Sat.:11am-4pm
Sun.: 1pm-8pm.

Reference Desk telephone: (812) 464-1907
Reference Desk email: libref@usi.edu - or click here to access our online Request Reference Assistance form (also available on the Rice Library home page).

We want to leave "no question" as to our desire to help with all of your inquiries. / bnr

Rice Library -- Come Early, Stay Late

2010-09-03T16:45:00.000-05:00

With the beginning of the Fall 2010 Semester, Rice Library has changed its hours to accommodate the early birds. The library now opens Monday-Friday at 7:00 a.m. It continues to be open until midnight Sunday-Thursday to accommodate the night owls, as well. A complete listing of the library’s hours for all of its public service units can be found on its web page under the "Quick Links" left hand sidebar menu. Or you may click here.

Attention Researchers: New Databases for Criminal Justice and Geology

2010-08-31T09:35:00.006-05:00

Just in time for the new Criminal Justice Studies program, we’ve subscribed to two new research tools, Criminal Justice Abstracts, and Criminal Justice Periodicals. Searched on the Ebsco platform, Criminal Justice Abstracts contains comprehensive coverage of international journals, books, reports, dissertations and unpublished papers on criminology and related disciplines. Prepared in co-operation with the Don M. Gottfredson of the Library of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University Law Library, the Abstracts cover crime trends, crime prevention and deterrence, juvenile delinquency, juvenile justice, police, courts, punishment and sentencing. The database contains indexes and summaries of international journal articles, books, and governmental and non-governmental reports on a wide range of topics in criminal justice. Coverage is historical and current, with links to full text when available through our other databases. As always, if the text is not available, you may request articles through Interlibrary Loan; book titles may be searched in our catalog or requested through ILL.

On the ProQuest platform, Criminal Justice Periodicals is a comprehensive database of U.S. and international criminal justice journals. The database provides research support for faculty and students interested in careers in criminal justice, law enforcement, corrections administration, drug enforcement, rehabilitation, family law, and industrial security. The database includes abstract and indexing for 250 titles, with more than 100 available in full-text. Sample titles include Journal of Forensic Identification; Crime, Law, and Social Change; Law Enforcement Technology; and New Criminal Law Review.

For faculty and students in geology and earth science studies, the new GeoScienceWorld (GSW) includes peer-reviewed articles and other materials with linked reference lists from more than 30 high-impact journals in a broad range of geoscience areas. The digital collection is updated continuously with the most current journal issues. All journals have a minimum of one back year, and most in the database start with the year 2000. A primary strength of GSW is the ability to search full text in a linked collection, but it is also integrated with GeoRef, the premier abstracting and indexing database in the field. Additional journals will be added annually, and over time, GSW will seek to offer access to other research information such as monographs, maps and data sets. The library continues to offer GeoRef separately through the Ebsco platform.

Access to these research tools is through the library's Databases page. Questions? Contact the Reference Desk at 812-464-1907, or email libref@usi.edu.

Welcome (Back) To USI!

2010-08-27T16:40:00.005-05:00

Rice Library extends a warm welcome to both new and returning USI students and faculty. We hope you will make significant use of our facilities, staff, resources, and services in your educational pursuits this coming year.

To stay up to date with the newest developments in Rice Library, consider subscribing to an RSS feed of the “Let’s Talk Library” Blog or become a fan of David L. Rice Library on Facebook. Have a great year and we hope to see you in the library. Come in and check us out!

GET CONNECTED . . . STAY CONNECTED, AT RICE LIBRARY!

A Database Feature That Deserves a Hearing

2010-07-22T08:05:00.005-05:00

Producers of subscription databases are constantly looking for ways to improve their products to make them easier to use and more functional for users. EBSCOhost, which produces a number of databases to which Rice Library subscribes (Academic Search Premier, CINAHL with Full Text, Historical Abstracts, etc.), has recently added a “Text-to-Speech” feature which reads the text of HTML content contained in the database.

Users that retrieve full-text HTML documents (not .pdf) in an EBSCOhost database may listen to the text read by one of three English language accents (American, British, or Australian) and at one of three speeds (slow, medium, or fast). Look for the “Listen” icon (pictured at right), located in the upper left hand corner of the full-text portion of the document. Select from the accent and speed options and click on the “Listen” button. The user may select specific text or have the document read from the beginning. As an added feature, the portion being read is highlighted, making it easier to follow along.

Library Expertise for You and Your Students

2010-07-20T10:47:00.004-05:00

Did you see this 7/16/10 post on the Inside Higher Ed website?

Rob Weir's Using Library Experts Wisely calls on faculty to re-think the same old library orientation for their students, and accurately describes the usual less-than-stellar outcomes that we librarians also observe. Your reference/instruction librarians have great ideas, and are eager to work with you for better student experiences and better work. We're always looking for chances to collaborate with faculty, to become more involved, and truly help your students succeed.

If you skim this article and are inspired to work more closely with one of us, please let us know. Contact Joanne Artz (jmailto:Jartz@usi.edu) or Johanna MacKay (jmmackay@usi.edu.) Let's make the most of your expertise and ours!

Looking for BioMedical Information? A New Free Database May Help

2010-07-13T08:36:00.006-05:00

In addition to Rice Library’s excellent subscription databases focused on nursing and health professions and those devoted to science and engineering, users may be interested in trying a new free biomedical search site This site, known as BioMedSearch.com, combines Medline/PubMed data with data from other sources to make it one of the most comprehensive biomedical literature databases available. It includes theses, dissertations, and other publications not found anywhere else.

The database includes simple and advanced search options along with a sophisticated search syntax, which if mastered, should help users to narrow their search strategies to produce more satisfactory results. Additionally, users are allowed to browse by subject clusters (e.g., Clinical Trials, Nursing Care and Education) as well as establish their own accounts, thus giving them access to greater functionality.

Although the database contains some full-text materials, it is not largely full text, and it does not automatically link to Rice Library’s ILLiad (interlibrary loan) service. Therefore, users will need to check the library’s catalog and Journal Finder to determine availability of items retrieved via BioMedSearch.com. If needed items are not available in Rice Library’s collections, users may request them by copying and pasting the bibliographical information into the appropriate ILLiad forms in order to submit an interlibrary loan request.
For help with this or other library resources and services, contact the Rice Library Reference Desk: (812) 464-1907, (800)246-6173, libref@usi.edu, or in person on the 1st floor.

Catch the Campus Express!

2010-01-12T13:26:00.037-06:00

It’s not too late to sign up for ILL Campus Express, a service provided by Rice Library’s Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Unit. Following a successful trial run, this service is now being offered to all interested USI faculty campus-wide. It will provide delivery of ILL books and other returnable materials via USI campus mail. At this time, this service is only available to USI Faculty.

Participants in the ILL Campus Express program receive an email notification when their ILL materials have arrived at Rice Library, and can expect delivery to their campus mailbox within 1-2 work days. Items arrive in a red nylon courier bag. Materials and bag may be returned to Rice Library through campus mail or dropped off at the Rice Library Checkout counter by the designated due date.

If you would like to participate, please read the Campus Express letter, print, sign, and date the attached form, and return to Erica Conn through campus mail.

If you have not yet taken advantage of the services Interlibrary Loan (ILL) can provide, we invite you to do so today! ILL allows USI students, faculty and staff access to materials not owned by Rice Library. ILLiad allows sharing of books, journal and newspaper articles, book chapters, dissertations, and other desired items from libraries in Indiana, the U.S., and elsewhere. Because we work with thousands of resource-sharing libraries, many needed materials are acquirable through ILL.

To sign up for Interlibrary Loan, patrons need to create a user profile by logging on to "ILLiad” using their MyUSI username and Password. The login page is located under the Interlibrary Loan tab on the Rice Library home page. Once a user profile is created, participants may continue using ILLiad to create new, cancel, or manage existing requests, request renewals, update their profile, etc.

For more information, please visit the ILL Web Pages, or contact:

Erica Conn – Interlibrary Loan Senior Library Assistant – efconn@usi.edu/ (812) 465-1683, or Brad Reel – Reference and Interlibrary Loan Librarian – bnreel@usi.edu/ (812) 465-1638

We look forward to serving you and wish you all a terrific Spring Semester!

Rice Library Ready to Roll With You!

2010-01-08T08:48:00.002-06:00

The library now has mobile-friendly access to basic features. Mobile device users who want to search the catalog while on the run, find an article through the databases, check our hours, or contact us- can do so through the Mobile Friendly portal at the top of the library's webpage, or go directly to http://www.usi.edu/library/Mobile/index.asp

Mobile Library

About the Library
Ask A Librarian?
Catalog
Contact Us
Databases AtoZ
Distance Learning Services
Faculty Services
Hours
Staff Directory

Going the Distance!

2009-10-20T12:18:00.001-05:00

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

2009-09-04T09:01:00.006-05:00

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.

Rice Library Welcomes New and Returning Users!

2009-08-31T15:37:00.002-05:00

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

2009-07-31T15:07:00.003-05:00

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)

Rice Library Receives Collection on Contemporary Japanese Culture

2009-03-20T09:56:00.003-05:00

In an effort to promote better understanding of contemporary Japanese culture among other nations, the Nippon Foundation of Tokyo, Japan offered to donate a collection of 100 books to three hundred libraries in the United States. Martha Niemeier, Associate Director and Collection Development Librarian, successfully applied for the program on behalf of Rice Library, and the collection has been received and processed and is ready for use by USI students, faculty, and staff.

Virtually every aspect of Japanese culture is addressed by the collection, including politics and international relations, economics and business, society and culture, literature and the arts, and history. For a complete list of the books as well as catalog descriptions of individual titles, visit: http://www.nippon-foundation.or.jp/eng/news/2008/20081217.html. Our thanks to sociology professor Dr. Stephen Zehr for passing along information concerning the book donation program to library staff.

For more help finding these books, and any other research question (just ask!), contact the Rice Library Reference Desk: 1-800-246-6173, (812) 464-1907, libref@usi.edu, or in person on the 1st floor.

Text a Call Number: Rice Library's Newest Service

2009-03-17T11:20:00.004-05:00

Tired of writing down book call numbers on old catalog cards or trying to memorize them? Use our newest library service: Text a Call Number in the Rice Library Catalog! Here's how:

Start in the Rice Library Catalog. Type any topic, title, or author. E.g. urban legends.
Select a book from the list by clicking on its title.
Click on "Text call number & location to your cell phone." Choose your cell phone provider and type your 10-digit phone number.
Take your cell phone with you to the stacks and locate the book - it's that easy!

Rose Scruggs, Electronic Services Coordinator, and Mike Adcock, Library Computer Services Administrator, added this new library service. Thanks, Rose and Mike!

Database Spotlight: Encyclopedia of Social Work

2008-10-28T17:51:00.002-05:00

The 20th edition (2008) of the Encyclopedia of Social Work (ESW) has arrived at Rice Library, in both online and print formats. USI students and faculty members who want to find reliable, succinct introductions to social work topics such as behavioral theory and culturally competent practice will find exactly what they are looking for in the ESW. Each ESW entry can be printed or sent to an email account. Reference librarians will help you with the ESW and any other research question. Visit, call or email the Rice Library Reference Desk: (812) 464-1907 / 1-800-246-6173, or libref@usi.edu. Links to other helpful social work resources are listed on the Social Work Subject Guide.

Faculty in BlackBoard: Making Use of Durable Links

2008-10-28T17:38:00.002-05:00

Are you linking to Rice Library's resources from within your course web site (Blackboard) and electronic documents? You could be. It’s an easy way to draw your students’ attention to subject and research guides as well as distribute copies of important articles and chapters that you expect your students to read. A link to an instructional document, "Getting Library Resources into BlackBoard" that will guide you in the process is available on the library’s Distance Learning Services web page under Guides.