Monday, July 29, 2013

BOOKER PRIZE LONG LIST ANNOUNCED



The Man Booker Prize Long list for 2013 was announced last week by this year’s panel of judges.  The prize promotes the finest in fiction by rewarding the best novel of the year written by a citizen of the United Kingdom, the Commonweatlh or the Republic of Ireland. The winner of the prize receives £50,000, and, like all the shortlisted authors, a check for £2,500 and a designer bound copy of their books.

The Long List includes 13 novels:
Almost English by Charlotte Mendelson
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki*
Five Star Billionaire by Tash Aw
Harvest by Jim Crace*
The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Kills by Richard House
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
The Marrying of Chani Kaufman by Eve Harris
The Spinning Heart by Donl Ryan
The Testament of Mary  by Colm Toibin*
Transatlantic by Colum McCann
Unexploded by Alison MacLeod
We Need New Names by Noviolet Bulawayo*

*These books have been ordered. Transatlantic is owned by the library and has been checked out. The short list will be announced in September and the prize awarded in October. Last year’s winner was Hilary Mantel for Bringing Up the Bodies.

Friday, July 26, 2013

NEW SERIES BY RICHARD PAUL EVANS

The library has the first two books in the Michael Vey series by Richard Paul Evans.
The Prisoner of Cell 25 (2012)
Rise the Elgen (2013)

We also have the first book in Evens The Walk series. All three are highly recommended by members of the Goodwin community.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"Space is intrinsically political. That is, it is a medium for the distribution of power, rights, fantasy, and pleasure. In an age increasingly dominated by issues of shortage, inequality, and the corporate manipulation of desire, space--and the city in particular--is the territory on which the struggle for good lives and good planetary citizenship must be waged."

By Michael Sorkin, Professor of Architecture and director of the graduate program in urban design at the City College of New York in Unpacking My Library: Architects and Their Books.

CONGRATULATIONS, CONNECTICUT RIVER!

The Connecticut River that we look at every day recently became the first National Blueway, thanks to a collaborative process through which the Department of the Interior and the four states of the Connecticut River Watershed Council (CRWC) "prioritized conservation, recreation and restoration in the Connecticut River Watershed."

A Blueway is a designation that acknowledges how this river enriches so many aspects of our quality of life. CRWC is currently focusing efforts on water quality monitoring groups in the watershed. The website www.ConnecticutRiver.us allows river users to access bacteria date for sites along the river.

Source: Currents and Eddies Vol. 62 No. 2 Spring 2013

Friday, July 19, 2013

INTELECOM VIDEO CLIPS DATABASE



What is the INTELECOM Online Resources Network®?
It is a fully-hosted and searchable video on demand database designed to meet the growing demand for rich media in support of online, hybrid and face-to-face classes. Enrich instruction with curriculum aligned content from a respected name in instructional media development.

Why Use the INTELECOM Online Resources Network®?
It builds on best practices in content delivery and search logic to offer a reliable "streaming-as-a-service" content solution that is simple, affordable and easy to use. Enjoy best-in-class technology and broadband video without the server costs and hassles. No more tedious internet searches. No risk of copyright infringement.

Where is it?
Click on Faculty Services in the gray band above Hoffman Family Library.
From the dropdown menu, choose video database start using it!

We have a printed copy of the user guide in the library, but you can get that right at the site.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

NEW TITLES IN EBRARY

We are pleased to announce the addition of over 1,100 new titles  to our ebrary subscription collection,  College Complete with DASH! (Data sharing, Fast)  from  publishers such as Wiley, AMADCOM, Packt Publishing, Nova Science and more.  Now with more than 31,100 titles, College Complete serves as a great basic academic collection.

NEW BOOKS



There seems to be a theme or two here.

All That is Solid Melts into Air: The Experience of Modernity by Marshall Berman
Back to School: Why Everyone Deserves a Second Chance at Education by Mike Rose
Designing the Creative Child: Playthings & Places in Midcentury America by Amy Ogata
The Fault is in Our Stars by John Green
Giving Kids a Fair Chance: A Strategy That Works by James Heckman
Giving Our Children a Fighting chance: Poverty, Literacy, and the Development of Information Capital by Neuman and Celano
Literacy for All Students: An Instructional Framework for Closing the Gap edited by Powell & Rightmyer
Meditations on a Hobby Horse and Other Essays on the Theory of Art by E. H. Gombrich
Reading With Meaning: Teaching comprehension in the Primary Grades by Debbie Miller
The Rule of the Clan: What an Ancient Form of Social Organization Reveals About the Future of Individual Freedom by Mark Weiner

"American Students are a delight to teach."

 So says Terry Eagleton in an article in this week's Chronicle of Higher Education. This what he says about American students:

"Generally speaking, American students are a delight to teach. Yet they are not always able to voice a coherent English sentence, even at the graduate level. Some of them are easy to mistake for Turks or Albanians who have only just arrived in America and are still struggling with the language. Only later does one realize that they grew up in Boston. They tend to tie themselves up in great chains of unwieldy syntax, overlain with a liberal layer of jargon. Disheveled syntax is true of both genders, but jargon is confined largely to the men. This is part of the painful demise of the spoken word in the United States.
Perhaps the real threat to freedom of speech in the United States is not to freedom but to speech. Perhaps the nation will end up free to say anything it likes while being incapable of saying it. Nor is logical precision a strength of American students. Many of them have had their brains severely addled by an overdose of media. Perhaps they should all have a compulsory first year in which they learn nothing but how to think and speak straight, ridding themselves of the language of texting as a clinic purges its patients of cocaine.
Despite all this, no more generous, open-minded, and enthusiastic group of students can be found in the world. American students tend to be courteous, responsive, cooperative, eager to acquire ideas and ready to criticize anything whatsoever, not least themselves. They are also the last group of students on the planet who are prepared to speak up in class."
 "No Self-Mockery, Please, We're American" by Terry Eagleton
The Chronicle of Higher Educatin
July 5, 2013 Volume 59, Number 4
B11-B13

The Chronicle is in the library periodical section, but it is also full text in the  MasterFILE Premier database.
Terry Eagleton is a visiting professor at Lancaster University in England, the National University of Ireland, and the University of Notre Dame.

Tuesday, July 09, 2013

Library Habits and Expectations of Younger Americans

Latest Pew Internet Study Reveals Library Habits and Expectations of Younger Americans
Younger Americans—those ages 16-29—exhibit a fascinating mix of habits and preferences when it comes to reading, libraries, and technology. Almost all Americans under age 30 are online, and they are more likely than older patrons to use libraries’ computer and internet connections; however, they are also still closely bound to print, as three-quarters (75%) of younger Americans say they have read at least one book in print in the past year, compared with 64% of adults ages 30 and older.
Source: 

From Pew Internet & American Life Project by Africa S. Hands
Resource Shelf, July 9

CHILD POVERTY RISING



Twenty-three percent of America's children are currently living in poverty, reveals the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey for 2011.  This poverty rate is seven percentage points higher than it was in 2000.  Only three years have recorded higher child poverty rates dating back to 1965.  Child poverty rates are especially acute in major urban areas, with the following cities at the top of the list....
  1.
Detroit
 57.3%
  2.
Cleveland
 53.9%
  3.
Buffalo
 46.8%
  4.
Cincinnati
 45.3%
  5.
Newark
 44.0%
  6.
Miami
 43.8%
  7.
Toledo
 43.7%
  8.
Milwaukee
 43.0%
  9.
New Orleans
 42.2%
  10.
Memphis
 42.1%

“These numbers shame our nation,” says Curtis Skinner, PhD, director of family economic security at the National Center for Children in Poverty.” 

Sources: Exchange Every Day July 9  U.S. Census Bureau is great resource for national statistics.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC VIRTUAL LIBRARY

 DATABASE OF THE WEEK

The Hoffman Family Library now has the National Geographic Virtual Library Database. This vast collection brings together a complete archive of National Geographic magazines starting in 1888--every page of every issue--along with a cross-searchable collection of National Geographic books, maps, images and videos. I tried searching this morning for canals in Manchester, England. It brought me to a 1905 article about the building of the canals--very cool!

Monday, May 20, 2013

WOW! ONESEARCH AVAILABLE JULY 1

OneSearch for colleges  and universities searches simultaneously all content in iCONN considered to be most useful to colleges and universities of Connecticut, using one search interface and a unified index of all content. That content includes:
  • Academic Search Premier
  • Biography Reference Bank (H.W. Wilson)
  • Christian Science Monitor (1997 – present)
  • CINAHL with Full Text
  • Connecticut Digital Collections
  • ERIC
  • GreenFILE
  • History Reference Center
  • Legal Information Reference Center
  • MainFILE
  • MAS Ultra
  • MasterFile Premier (includes Consumer Reports)
  • Newspaper Source
  • OneClickdigital audio books (Recorded Books) (requires public library card)
  • Professional Development Collection
  • PsycINFO
  • Referencia Latina
  • Science Reference Center
  • Teacher Reference Center
  • TOPICSearch
HFL EBSCO DISCOVERY SERVICE BEGINS SOON THAT WILL INCLUDE ALL OF ICONN SOURCES AND ALL OF HFL SOURCES!

ASSISTED SUICIDE: CQ RESEARCHER May 17, 2003

Should doctors  be allowed to help terminally ill patients die?
Introduction--Decisions about sustaining life, allowing it to end or even hastening death are among the most difficult choices terminally ill patients and their families can face. Such decisions also are at the heart of a debate about what is commonly called “physician-assisted suicide” — or “aid-in-dying” by supporters. Oregon and Washington — and now likely Vermont — allow physicians to write a prescription for lethal drugs if requested by someone who is terminally ill and mentally competent. A Montana court also has allowed the procedure. Supporters of assisted suicide say it allows the terminally ill to avoid unnecessary suffering and meet death on their own terms, and they say safeguards in the laws prevent abuse of the procedure. But opponents say assisted suicide devalues life, opens patients to exploitation by relatives or others and could lead to widespread euthanasia of the sick and vulnerable.

THE REPORT INCLUDES THIS INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND, OVERVIEW, CURRENT SITUATION, OUTLOOK, PRO/CON, CHRONOLOGY, SHORT FEATURES, MAPS/GRAPHS, BIBLIOGRAPHY, NEXT STEPS, CONTACTS, AND FOOTNOTES.


HINT: BEST PLACES TO FIND TOPICS FOR PAPERS AND SPEECHES!
CQ RESEARCHER ONLINE AT HFL

Monday, May 06, 2013

HAPPY NATIONAL NURSES WEEK!

Delivering Quality and Innovation in Patient Care

National Nurses Week is celebrated annually from May 6, also known as National Nurses Day, through May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing. For Nurses Week, American Nurses Association  is offering a free continuing education webinar, "Innovation in Nursing Practice: Are :You leading the Charge?" on May 9 at 1 p.m. EST. The webinar will focus on incorporating innovation into nursing practice and leading the innovation process within organizations, and spotlight innovations that are improving patient outcomes.

For more information, go to http://nursingworld.org/nnw





Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Website Compatability: BrowserStack

Incredibly useful site for testing website compatability: BrowserStack.


BrowserStack lets users test websites on all different browsers and operating systems. This ist invaluable since one usually doesn't  have immediate access to computers that run IE, Firefox, Safari, Chrome, Opera, and various iOS mobile browsers in all their varieties. With BrowserStack, users can create a free trial account (which is limited to 30 minutes of testing time) and then enter the URL and the operating system/browser pair they would like to test. How great is that?

Source: Chronicle of Higher Education from a guest post by Joanna Swafford, a PhD candidate in English at the University of Virginia April 9.

Tuesday, April 09, 2013

2013 Orion Book Award

Apocalyptic Planet Wins the 2013 Orion Book Award!


Congratulations to Craig Childs, whose book Apocalyptic Planet: Field Guide to the Everending Earth has won the 2013 Orion Book Award. "An engaging mix of adventure, science, and thoughtful storytelling," is how Orion's editors describe Childs's book, which puts an entirely new spin on our usual preoccupations with climate change and catastrophe in general. It will soon be in the Hoffman Family Library.

Thursday, April 04, 2013

HOFFMAN FAMILY LIBRRY MAKERSPACE BEGINS

Professional Button Machine

The Hoffman Family Library has purchased a professional Button Machine for our Maker Space. We have  button machine a\nd circle cutter that allows us to design online and make our own buttons in a wide variety of types. Our first run of buttons was this afternoon and only a few are left.


Picture of the Week

Rush hour traffic takes on a whole new meaning at Yellowstone National Park.Photo: National Park Service

Rush Hour takes on a whole new meaning at Yellowstone!
Picture from the National Park Service

Tuesday, April 02, 2013

84,900 EBOOKS IN EBRARY!

ebrary has recently added over 3,800 scholarly titles to our subscription database, Academic Complete, from over 150  publishers. An ideal base collection, Academic Complete now includes a growing selection of more than 84,900 e-books.
But, that's not all. The most used e-book titles in universities and colleges are often backlist! In addition to adding 3,500 quality titles to Academic Complete, ebrary has also added must-have 850+ backlist titles selected from featured lists such as CHOICE Outstanding Academic Titles and Doody’s Core Titles.

In addition, Wiley E-books is coming to Academic Complete soon and will add 2,000 front-list titles over the coming months. A full title list and update schedule will be available shortly.

Workshops on using ebrary are available for faculty and students.