Scholarly Journals drop-in workshop

Do you need to use scholarly journals in your research? Do you have questions about why these sources are so important, or where this knowledge comes from?

Come to Jones Center room 116 this Thursday, October 1 from 11:00 AM to noon for a drop-in workshop on journals and scholarly communication led by Armacost librarian Sanjeet Mann.

No reservations required - just bring your curiosity and interest in learning!

Sparky Awards

The Sparky Awards, a contest to promote the open exchange of information, is calling for entries.

The Sparky Awards are organized by SPARC, the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition, who promote the universal benefits of sharing ideas of all kinds. SPARC

Jimi Hendrix

On September 18, 1970, the famed rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix died in London of "unknown causes," according to the New York Times obituary that ran the following day. As one account relates his final days:

"His final concerts were largely frustrating, as the aims of the artist and the expectations of his audience grew increasingly separate. His final UK appearance, at the Isle of Wight festival, encapsulated this dilemma, yet still drew an enthralling performance. The guitarist returned to London following a short European tour. On 18 September 1970, his girlfriend, Monika Danneman, became alarmed when she was unable to rouse him from sleep. An ambulance was called, but Hendrix was pronounced dead on arrival at a nearby hospital. The inquest recorded an open verdict, with death caused by suffocation [...] Eric Burdon claimed at the time to possess a suicide note, but this has never been confirmed."

Source: "Hendrix, Jimi" in Encyclopedia of Popular Music, ed. Colin Larkin (London: Muze, 1998), 3:2489-2491.

New York Times, "Jimi Hendrix, Rock Star, is Dead in London at 27," September 19, 1970.

Armacost Library holds old New York Times articles on microfilm. If you already know what year you are looking for, just ask for it at the periodicals desk. If you're not sure what date your article was printed, try looking up the name of the person or topic you are researching in the New York Times Print Index, shelved on the study carrels by the reference desk.

Mexican Independence Day

Yesterday, September 16, was Mexican Independence Day. On September 16, 1810, the creole priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla led a revolt against Spanish rule in Guanajuato province. Hidalgo's force quickly swelled to 80,000 creoles, Indians and mestizos, but was defeated by a small Spanish force in November before they could reach the capital. The following year Hidalgo was captured and executed, but the revolt continued under the leadership of Jose Maria Morelos and led to the formal declaration of Mexican independence from Spain on November 6, 1813.

Source: Langer, William E. The New Illustrated Encyclopedia of World History, vol. 2. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1972:792.

For more information about the struggle for Mexican independence try subject searches in the catalog for Mexico -- history or Latin America -- history.

National Day of Service and Remembrance

Yesterday President Barack Obama proclaimed September 11 a National Day of Service and Remembrance as per Public Law 111-13 ("Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act"). This morning he spoke at a Pentagon wreath-laying ceremony honoring armed forces members killed on September 11, 2001:

"Let us renew the true spirit of that day. Not the human capacity for evil, but the human capacity for good. Not the desire to destroy, but the impulse to save, and to serve, and to build. On this first National Day of Service and Remembrance, we can summon once more that ordinary goodness of America -- to serve our communities, to strengthen our country, and to better our world."

Proclamations are preserved as official Presidential documents. You can find transcripts of these statements for 1945-present in print in the Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States.

You can also find Presidential documents for the years 1991-present available online via GPO Access.

Older Presidential proclamations can be found in a variety of sources. Our librarians will gladly help you find anything you need!

The Old Man and the Sea

Fifty-seven years ago today Ernest Hemingway published his seventh novel The Old Man and the Sea. This was the last novel Hemingway published during his lifetime, and it won him the 1953 Pulitzer prize for literature. Kurt J. Krueger writes that "the story of Santiago, an old Gulf Stream fisherman, depicts a world filled with struggle, pain and loss but also shows how a human being may find meaning in such a tragic world."

Two years later, Hemingway accepted the Nobel prize for literature with the following words: "For a true writer each book should be a new beginning where he tries again for something that is beyond attainment. He should always try for something that has never been done or that others have tried and failed. Then, sometimes, with great luck, he will succeed."

Sources: Kurt J. Krueger. "Ernest Hemingway." Encyclopedia of the Novel, Ed. Paul Schneider. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1998. 535-537.

World Almanac and Book of Facts. New York: World Almanac Books, 2008.

Calling all Students, Faculty, and Staff with an interest in Open Access publishing.

Don’t know what Open Access means?

Open Access is the basic assumption that all research should be freely accessible online, immediately after publication (See About the OA Movement @ http://www.openaccessweek.org/about-the-oa-movement/). According to the Budapest Open Access Initiative, “[r]emoving access barriers to this literature will accelerate research, enrich education, share the learning of the rich with the poor and the poor with the rich, make this literature as useful as it can be, and lay the foundation for uniting humanity in a common intellectual conversation and quest for knowledge” (http://www.soros.org/openaccess/read.shtml).

Interested in participating in Open Access Week, October 19-23, 2009? The Armacost Library wants you! Please contact one of your friendly librarians if you are an author that publishes in open access journals, that serves as a reviewer or editor for an open access journal, or uses Creative Commons licensing for your creative/scholarly input. Please also contact us if you simply have a passion for the Open Access movement or have a related project you would like to share.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,

The Armacost Library

Celebrating Labor Day

Today, Monday, September 7, the United States and Canada celebrate Labor Day. According to Robert E. Weir, the holiday originated from rallies and protests held by late nineteenth-century workers. In 1882, Knights of Labor members helped organize a large rally in Providence, Rhode Island. A few weeks later, the New York Central Labor Union (a consortium of local unions related to the Knights of Labor) planned an even larger event for Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in which approximately 30,000 to 40,000 laborers marched. Over the next ten years, workers in other states began to celebrate on the first Monday in September, and state legislatures began to recognize the day as a holiday. On June 28, 1894, Congress declared Labor Day a federal holiday. Weir concludes that "since the mid-1950s, the holiday has moved from a day of protest to a more commemorative event. Ideologues hold that Labor Day wraps America's bloody labor history in a false cloak of respectability, while its defenders see it as an important affirmation of working-class heritage and culture."

Source: Robert E. Weir, "Labor Day." Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor, v.1. Westport: Greenwood, 2004: 267-268.
Call number: REF HD 8066.H57 2004
Library subject heading: Labor -- United States -- History -- Encyclopedias

While most federal and state offices are closed to observe Labor Day, Armacost Library is open today from 8 am to 5 pm. Stop by and take a moment to learn more about the history of the American labor movement!

Welcome back!

It's been an eventful summer at Armacost, filled with the noise of construction on the new front entrance and ground floor offices for student services, University Human Resources and the new computing center. Several new librarians have arrived and settled in to life on campus, and our whole staff has been busy preparing for the new school year.

For those of you who are new to campus, we encourage you to take a moment to stop by the library, say hello, and ask any questions you have. We offer a full range of services, including remote access to electronic journals and databases, interlibrary loans, and print and electronic course reserves. Our helpful librarians can be found at the reference desk by the second-floor library entrance, online via IM and Facebook, and even visiting your class to provide instruction specific to your course. This semester we're offering new drop-in workshops to make it easier than ever to get help when you need it. And keep checking this blog for more information about library events, cool research tools and helpful tips to learn more about events on campus and in the news.

This semester our regular hours will be:
Monday-Thursday 8 am - midnight
Friday 8 am - 9 pm
Saturday 10 am - 9 pm
Sunday 1 pm - midnight

Good luck with the start of the semester. We look forward to seeing you around the library!