Tuesday, September 18, 2012

October is Information Literacy Awareness Month



Great news!  Governor Dannel P. Malloy signed a proclamation declaring October to be Information Literacy Awareness Month!There are now 10 states that have proclamations:  Alaska, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Texas.


This proclamation is a result of efforts by library directors in the state and members of the Connecticut Library Association.Congratulations to Carl Antonucci - co-chair Connecticut Library Association Legislative Committee - Director of Library Services Central Connecticut State University; Jay Johnston - co-chair Connecticut Library Association Legislative Committee - Executive Director Farmington Libraries; Carl  DeMilia - President Connecticut Library Association - Director of Library Services New Milford Public Library who led this successful effort!

Monday, September 17, 2012

The Home Encyclopedia

The Homer Encyclopedia

Editor/Author: Editor: Finkelberg, Margalit
Publication Year: 2011
Publisher: Wiley
Category: literature

Represents the first comprehensive reference work encompassing the world and artistry of Homer, the historical and cultural background of the Iliad and the Odyssey, Homeric scholarship, and Homeric reception from antiquity to the present.

This encyclopedia is now available full text in the Credo Reference Database.

Credo Reference New & Updated Titles



Latest Additions from Credo General Reference Database

Credo's General Reference collection continues to grow each month and now has over 600 titles. The following well-regarded titles were recently added.
•           The Italian Renaissance State, Cambridge University Press
•           International Encyclopedia of Marriage and Family, Gale
•           The Homer Encyclopedia, Wiley

They have also updated many  titles to the latest available editions. The following updates title were recently released. Expect more soon!
•           CIA World Factbook, OECD
•           The Wisden Archive of Cricketers' Lives 2012, John Wisden & Co. Ltd.
•           The Hutchinson Chronology of World History, Helicon
•           The Hutchinson Dictionary of Scientific Biography, Helicon

CONSTITUTION DAY WITH THE NAVIGATOR

The Navigator stopped by to help us celebrate Constitution day! 

America's Constitution: A Biography

 On Display in the Library
America's Constitution: A Biography                                                         
KF4541.A87 2005

In America’s Constitution, one of the most accomplished constitutional law scholars, Akhil Reed Amar, gives the first comprehensive account of one of the world’s great political texts. Incisive, entertaining, and occasionally controversial, this “biography” of America’s framing document explains not only what the Constitution says but also why the Constitution says it.Amar is a member of the Yale Law School faculty.


Friday, September 14, 2012

SEPTEMBER 17: CONSTITUTION DAY



September 17 is recognized in the United States as Constitution Day and Citizenship Day. The purpose of Constitution Day and Citizenship Day is to commemorate the creation and signing of the supreme law of the land and to honor and celebrate the privileges and responsibilities of U.S. citizenship for both native-born and naturalized citizens. Federal law requires that all schools receiving federal funds provide  educational opportunities for their students on September 17 of each year. At Goodwin College, we call it Constitution Week since we extend our commemoration to more than one day.

On September 17, 1787, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention met for the last time to sign the document they had created. All Americans are encouraged to observe this important day in our nation's history.. Celebrate Constitution Day this year by learning something about the Constitution that you didn't know before. There will be many opportunities throughout the week.

Here is the link to the Constitution LibGuide that Cynthia Clynes, Goodwin Reference Librarian, created for faculty and students: 
http://goodwin.libguides.com/aecontent.php?pid=377827&sid=3096081. It will also be available on the library page and Twitter.

Re-examining the Constitution: CQ Researcher

"The 225th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution finds Americans in a less celebratory mood than they were during the Bicentennial a quarter-century ago. The Constitution's intricate system of checks and balances and separation of powers is sometimes blamed for the political gridlock in Washington. Some of the basic structural features are also viewed as outmoded, such as the Electoral College, equal representation for each state in the Senate and life tenure for Supreme Court justices. And many conservatives and libertarians, including the Tea Party movement, complain that the federal government has taken on powers beyond what the Constitution was intended to allow. Simmering discontent on both the left and the right has led to efforts to force Congress to call a convention to propose constitutional amendments. Public opinion polls indicate, however, that most Americans view the Constitution favorably."

This is the introduction to the September 7th CQ Researcher report entitled " Re-Examining the Constitution: Are Major Changes Needed?" CQ Researcher is available through the Hoffman Family Library. Please contact the library for user name and password.

Human Body Systems DVD Series



We had the series in VHS format, which was used until it wore out. We have been waiting for the series to be available in DVDs.  

“The Human Body: Systems at Work” DVD Series is now here! The series is highly recommended by Debra Rajaniemi, Associate Professor of Science.
 
Seven DVDs:
Your Immune System
Brain and Nervous System: Your Information Highway
Digestive System: Your Personal Power Plant
Skeletal System: The Infrastructure
Circulatory System: The Plasma Pipeline
Muscular System: Your Inner Athlete
Respiratory System: The Inner Athlete

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

arXiv: Free Online Server for Scientists and Students

General Information About arXiv

arXiv.org (formerly xxx.lanl.gov) is a highly-automated electronic archive and distribution server for research articles. Covered areas include physics,mathematics, computer science, nonlinear sciences,quantitative biology, and statistics. arXiv is maintained and operated by the Cornell University Library with guidance from the  arXiv Scientific Advisory Board and the arXiv Sustainability Advisory Group, and with the help of numerous subject moderators.Users can retrieve papers from arXiv via the web interface.Listings of newly submitted articles in areas of interest are available via the web interface.
Access with this URL:  http://arxiv.org/.

Source: Science September 7

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

How Not to Blow it With Financial Aid!!

A special section of the Wall Street Journal yesterday, "How Not to Blow It With Financial Aid", outlines the common mistakes parents and students make when seeking help with college costs. Students and parents need to know what hurts your chances of landing financial aid. They cover some of the biggest mistakes families make in the aid process.

The Wall Street Journal is in the library every day with important information that you need to know.

University Copyright Update

The publisher plaintiffs who accused Georgia State University of copyright infringement in a lawsuit over course e-reserves aren’t happy with the outcome of that case. On Monday they said they would appeal a federal judge’s decision, handed down in May, that was largely a win for the defendants.
Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press USA, and SAGE Publications said that the decision had left them “no alternative but to appeal, to protect our authors’ copyrights and advocate for a balanced and workable solution” to the challenge of accommodating both copyright and fair use.

The case,  Cambridge U. Press et al. v. Becker et al., has been closely tracked by publishers, librarians, and fair-use advocates.In her May ruling, Judge Evans found only five instances of copyright infringement by Georgia State out of 99 claims originally advanced by the publishers. In August she rejected the plaintiffs’ “highly regimented” request for injunctive relief, and ordered them to pay legal fees for both sides. She required the university only to maintain copyright policies consistent with her May 11 ruling.

The Association of American Publishers, along with the Copyright Clearance Center, bankrolled the lawsuit. This is an important case that will affect how we in education do business in the changing world of electronic publishing. Stay tuned.

Wednesday, September 05, 2012

Points of View Database News



Welcome to another academic year! We have new content on Points of View Reference Center (PoV) and Points of View Debate Blog. More updates are on the way. 

New Content - On Points of View Reference Center, you'll find articles about "Arab Spring," "Conspiracy Theories," and the "Transportation Infrastructure." Transportation dominated as the 2012 National Debate Topic, and summoned lively debate this summer at the National Forensics League annual tournament. 

The debut topic on Points of View Debate Blog this year is gun violence, focused primarily on the recent tragedies in Aurora, Colorado, at the Empire State Building, and a Sikh temple in Wisconsin. These events have dominated news coverage and relate to many significant debates in the U.S., including gun control, racism, psychology and the media.