Cites & Bytes @ Bailey

National Book Awards - 2009

2009-12-09T09:34:00.004-05:00

Looking for the perfect book to either give as a gift or to get as a gift... The National Book Awards might be a great place to start. The 2009 winners have been announced, and, as always, the categories are broad enough to please almost any reader: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Young People's Literature. If you aren't looking to purchase the book, stop by Bailey Library. We have a great selection of National Book Award winners both past and present.

International Ornaments & Emblems

2009-12-04T08:00:00.005-05:00

Dr. Myra Balok’s International Fyrst Seminar and April Longwell’s Honor’s Fyrst Seminar students made these ornaments and emblems of their countries on display in the first floor Reference area at Bailey Library.

Name Our Newsletter Contest

2009-12-01T10:36:00.004-05:00

Bailey Library needs your help. We plan to launch a newsletter starting next semester, but we can't decide on a name. So, we are enlisting your help, and we are asking you to enter our "Name Our Newsletter Contest." The top 3 suggested names will be voted on early next semester. The person who submitted the winning name will win a $10 SGA Bookstore gift card, along with bragging rights. Those who submitted the second and third place names will win $5 SGA Bookstore gift cards.

How to Enter:

E-mail your newsletter name suggestion to catherine.rudowsky@sru.edu by Thursday, Dec. 17 with the subject line "Newsletter Name."
Provide your name and contact information in the event that your suggestion is the winning entry.
Check back in January to vote on the winning name form a list of the top three suggestions.

Gobble, gobble, gobble

2009-11-24T09:44:00.003-05:00

I never knew how many things I didn't know about Thanksgiving. Thanks to the History Channel, I now know enough to annoy everyone at the dinner table this Thursday.

Take the Thanksgiving Quiz to see how much you know, and if you don't know as much as you thought, take a minute to have fun learning.

Thanksgiving Fun Facts

Mayflower Myths

The First Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Proclamation

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Smell That Smell

2009-11-23T11:57:00.002-05:00

Now this is an interesting research project... Henry Fountain writes about Digging Into the Science of That Old-Book Smell in the NYT. For all of those who have sniffed and wondered, you aren't alone.

Who Can Serve?

2009-11-09T08:12:00.002-05:00

According to a newly released report from Mission Readiness, 75% of young people in the United States are ineligible to serve in the military. Many are under-educated (1 in 4 lack a high school diploma), have a criminal record that precludes their service (1 in 10 have a previous felony or serious misdemeanor conviction), or are physically unfit (27% are overweight). This report has generated a lot of press and concerns about these issues might affect national security. One response is a proposal from Congress that focuses on early intervention to provide early education opportunities.

Snapshot PA Day

2009-11-05T14:43:00.007-05:00

Libraries of all types all across PA recently celebrated Snapshot PA: One Day in the Life of Pennsylvania Libraries. Snapshot PA is a project, initiated by the Pennsylvania Library Association and Commonwealth Libraries, to capture the impact that PA libraries have on their communities on a typical day. Once the information from all libraries is gathered, processed, and disseminated, I will share it. In the meantime, here is what we reported from Bailey Library:

Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Door count/Customer visits: 2,959
Circulation of monographs and media: 190
Materials borrowed via ILL: 60
Materials loaned via ILL: 30
Reference desk questions: 54
One-on-one (in librarians’ offices) reference questions: 11
Instruction sessions: 1 class / 16 students
Online databases searches: 10,440

We also gathered some wonderful comments, such as the following:

"When I typically think of a library, I have images of women in tiny glasses with angry expressions prowling the aisles of books to pounce on anyone who isn’t being silent and still. While we do have our fair share of women with small glasses, all of the librarians are pleasant to work with. The atmosphere is laid-back, which has allowed Bailey Library to become a central hang-out for students at Slippery Rock University."

If you have any questions about our findings or about Snapshot PA, please contact Cathy Rudowsky at catherine.rudowsky@sru.edu or at 724-738-2657.

We All Have A Story--Or Do We?

2009-11-02T09:38:00.004-05:00

This video, in which Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Adichie reminds us that we need multiple stories, is well worth watching. It's good to remember that we should look at people and cultures through a wide lens--

At The End of Slavery

2009-10-28T12:44:00.003-04:00

Think slavery ended with the Civil War? Think again. Millions of people today are held in slavery worldwide. According to Foreign Affairs, "it seems almost certain that the modern global slave trade is larger in absolute terms than the Atlantic slave trade in the 18th and 19th centuries."

If you'd like to learn more about this evil and how you can become a modern-day abolitionist, come to a screening of the documentary At the End of Slavery: The Battle for Justice in our Time. Narrated by Danny Glover, this 25-minute film documents the reality of modern-day slavery. Following the film, Jane Smith, who has worked as a researcher for Stop Child Trafficking Now, will briefly discuss what viewers can do to help stop slavery.

November 3, Special Collections, 2nd floor Bailey Library

7:00 and 9:00

Healthfest 2009

2009-10-20T15:05:00.011-04:00

24th Annual Healthfest

"Keep Your Health Fine in 2009"

Bailey Library's display for this year's Healthfest (which was held at the Aebersold Student Recreation Center on 10/20/09) was all about some of the best foods (yogurt, eggs, dark chocolate, berries, oatmeal, almonds, Swiss chard & salsa) you can eat. The winner of our "good foods gift basket" was Linda Enis, and the poster was created by our student employee, Roxanne Rubash.

You're There and We're Here... Not a problem

2009-10-14T09:05:00.004-04:00

Feeling a little sluggish because you caught a bug? Not wanting to drive 30 minutes in a snow storm? Never fear... Bailey Library is here. And there. Everywhere really; as long as there is Internet.

Joining in with the University, the community, and the country, we are doing our part to prepare for a possible flu outbreak by spreading the word that we have been fairly well prepared all along, at least in terms of serving you from a distance. How can we serve you from here while you are there? Glad, you asked...

Remote Reference - Phone: 724-738-2641; e-mail: askalibrarian@sru.edu; IM: SRUBaileyLibrary

Remote Access to Databases -Access our databases the same way you do on campus, for example our Databases A-Z list, with one additional step requiring you to enter your SRU log on information. A screen asking for your information will appear after you click on the database link.

Remote Access to Over 150,000 E-Books and Over 30,000 E-Journals - Access various resources through records in our Catalog by following the Web Link and entering your SRU log on information.

As Bailey Library continues to devise a plan to serve you during a possible flu outbreak, we will keep you well informed. Please check our blog and our home page for updates, which will be posted as needed. And, most importantly, please stay well.

Job Hunting Anyone?

2009-10-08T16:55:00.003-04:00

Bailey Library has added a new database to our Databases A-Z list. Glassdoor.com provides salaries, reviews, and interview questions for over 30,000 companies. If you are on campus, you can pass directly to the database through our A-Z link. If you are off campus, use the A-Z link and enter your SRU information.

Happy hunting!

Congratulations Nobel Laureate Winners!

2009-10-07T13:48:00.003-04:00

From AIP... "The American Institute of Physics is proud to present a host of resources on this year's Nobel Laureates in Physics, Drs. Willard Boyle and George Smith, formerly of Bell Labs, for their invention of the charge-coupled device; and Dr. Charles Kao, of Standard Telecommunication Laboratories, Harlow, UK, and Chinese University of Hong Kong, for his work in development of optical fibers for telecommunications."

Get the full story and links to various resources here.

National Information Literacy Month

2009-10-06T14:07:00.002-04:00

In an official proclamation issued on October 1, President Barack Obama declared October 2009 as National Information Literacy Month. President Obama stated, among other things, that "National Information Literacy Awareness Month highlights the need for all Americans to be adept in the skills necessary to effectively navigate the Information Age... Though we may know how to find the information we need, we must also know how to evaluate it... In addition to the basic skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic, it is equally important that our students are given the tools required to take advantage of the information available to them. The ability to seek, find, and decipher information can be applied to countless life decisions, whether financial, medical, educational, or technical." Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

Not So Fun Friday Stuff

2009-10-02T08:19:00.005-04:00

Melba Tomeo, the founder of Cites & Bytes @ Bailey, used to post Friday Fun from time to time. On this particularly gloomy Friday, I thought that the following list of the 10 most depressing books might be more appropriate. The list is a result of a survey conducted by Abe Books and has been brought to our attention thanks to Lynn Hoffmann, Reference Librarian here at SRU. You can read the full "book report" here.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
1984 by George Orwell
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Night by Elie Wiesel
On the Beach by Nevil Shute
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Lord of the Flies by William Golding

2009-10-01T11:33:00.006-04:00

Contemplating Autumn...

"Autumn... the year's last, loveliest smile.”
--William C. Bryant

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf's a flower. "
--Albert Camus

"Neither Spring nor Summer Beauty hath such grace As I have seen in one Autumnal face. "
--John Donne

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. "
--George Eliot

"I've never known anyone yet who doesn't suffer a certain restlessness when autumn rolls around... We're all eight years old again and anything is possible."
--Sue Grafton

"Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all. "
--Stanley Horowitz

"October is a symphony of permanence and change."
-- Bonaro W. Overstreet

"October. This is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to speculate in stocks. The others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August, and February. "
--Mark Twain

Thanks Dr. Brown!

2009-09-28T12:59:00.002-04:00

Dr. George Brown was recently awarded a grant from the Nippon Foundation, which provided SRU with 100 books on Understanding Contemporary Japan. The books have been added to Bailey Library's Japan Collection and are in the online catalog. To view these and other materials in the Japan Collection perform a Keyword Boolean Search in the online catalog for "Japan Collection." Congratulations Dr. Brown and thank you!

The Freedom to Read

2009-09-25T14:32:00.005-04:00

Banned Books Week, an annual celebration of the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment, is running from September 26th - October 3rd this year.

Last year alone, 520 books were challenged and over 70 were removed from library shelves. Preserve your First Amendment Rights; don't take your freedom for granted and READ!

Learn More:

ALA Banned & Challenged Books Website

Top 10 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2008

Books Challenged or Banned in 2007-2008

Banned or Challenged Classics

Ahhh... Open Access

2009-09-15T09:14:00.003-04:00

Inside Higher Ed reports about a "Breakthrough on Open Access":

"On Monday, five leading universities announced a new "Compact for Open Access Publishing Equity" in which they have pledged to develop systems to pay open access journals for the articles they publish by the institutions' scholars. In doing so, the institutions are attempting to put to rest the idea that only older publication models (paid and/or print) can support rigorous peer review and quality assurance. "

Read the full article.

Flu season is fast approaching. Are you armed with information?

2009-09-14T12:48:00.007-04:00

From EBSCO, one of Bailey Library's primary database vendors...

"As public concern about Pandemic H1N1 and the upcoming flu season continues to grow, the medical and nursing editors from EBSCO Publishing (EBSCO) respond by offering the latest evidence-based flu-related information available for free.

This free flu information resource is located at http://www.ebscohost.com/flu and will provide continually updated, evidence-based clinical information from DynaMed™ and Nursing Reference Center™, EBSCO’s clinical and nursing point-of-care databases, along with patient education information in 17 languages from Patient Education Reference Center™. Please visit this site often and feel free to share, post, and email this link to your colleagues, patrons, family and friends."

Information can also be found from...
SRU
PA Department of Health
CDC (Seasonal Flu)
CDC (H1N1 Flu)
Flu.gov

Thinking about changing your major...

2009-09-03T15:23:00.005-04:00

It is only the first week of school, so give it some time. But, if you are undecided or are pretty sure you want to follow new pursuits, consider these 5 disciplines, which according to Smart Money are linked to expanding industries with strong potential for job growth:

Engineering

Life Sciences

Statistics

Environmental Studies

Finance

Read the full article here.

A Beach, a Blanket, and a Book... Ahhhhh!

2009-06-22T11:30:00.004-04:00

Since today is the first full day of summer, I have summer reading on the mind. In case you do too... Below are a few summer reading lists to get the party started. Happy reading!

NPR: Librarian Nancy Pearl Picks Summer's Best Books
The Boston Globe: The books of summer
UC Davis: Smart Summer Reading
Read Street: Summer reading: more dirty books
Buzz Sugar: Summer Reading: 12 New Books to Check Out
Oprah's 2009 Summer Reading List: 25 Books You Can't Put Down
LA Times 60 New Books to Read This Summer
Pittsburgh Post Gazette: Hot summer of reading

2009-06-03T13:23:00.007-04:00

Joey Kennedy (who took most of the photos on our library web page) currently has a solo exhibit Friday 6/5/09 from 6-9pm at 5427 Penn Ave. in Pittsburgh

Friday also is the start of the 3 Rivers Arts Festival in Pittsburgh

Here are links to the festival: http://www.artsfestival.net/

and to the Penn Ave. Unblurred Art Walk: http://www.pennavenuearts.org/unblurred/unblurred.php

2009-05-13T18:44:00.005-04:00

Summertime

Then followed that beautiful season...SUMMER...
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape
Lay as if new-created in all the freshness of childhood.

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Summer Reading Available at Bailey Library:

Sand Dollar

Summer Song of the Water Boatman

Summertime Waltz

Monsoon Summer

Hot Day on Abbot Avenue

Olive’s Ocean

Second Summer of the Sisterhood

Freedom Summer

Julian’s Glorious Summer

Memories of Summer

Bluebird Summer