Rapid Reviews: A Valentine to your favorite books…

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Would you like to share your favorite books with the Marlboro College Community?  The library is still looking for a couple students and a faculty member who would like to review their six to ten all-time favorite books,  talking about each one in a minute or less during Rapid Reviews at the end of the semester.

Think of it as sharing your valentine to the books you love the most!  You would also be helping the library add awesome books to it’s collection, since we buy any book being reviewed that we don’t already own.  Yes, that means we would purchase a copy of your favorite cookbook, a copy of that beloved novel you read every year in high school and the book of Chinese Proverbs you drove your family crazy with last year.  Or why not a book of love poems?

Would you like to learn more?  Watch last semester’s Rapid Reviews Dec. 2011 or  email Bonny at bwhite@marlboro.edu.

Interested in being a Rapid Reviewer in May?  Email Bonny now to express your interest!

 

Chicago Manual of Style Online Trial

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The library recently started a three month trial of the Chicago Manual of Style Online. The trial is available to current faculty, staff, and students until the end of April.

The trial includes access to the entire 15th and 16th editions for all your grammar, punctuation, and documentation needs. Chapter 5 has some very helpful information. Check out 5.46 the singular “they” or 5.225 Nine techniques for achieving gender neutrality.

Let us know what you think to help us decide if we should subscribe. You are welcome to post comments here or email library@marlboro.edu.

Extra! Extra! New magazines have arrived!

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This month the library has added several exciting magazines to its print periodicals collection:

  • McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern
  • Hunger Mountain
  • The believer
  • n+1
  • The wire

An interesting assortment of editorial content can be found within the pages of these journals.   The Wire is a monthly music magazine published in the UK.  Hunger Mountain features poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, and photography, and is published annually by the Vermont College of the Fine Arts.  McSweeney’s, The Believer, and n+1 are literary magazines that focus on literature, contemporary events, and popular culture.

These magazines will be of assistance with various academic projects, and they have the added benefit of being highly entertaining to read.  Recent issues of these magazines (with the exception of n+1, which is expected to arrive soon) can be found in the periodicals area of the middle floor, near Room 102.  Current issues of all periodicals are kept here, and the magazines are shelved alphabetically by title. Older issues of periodicals are located in the ground floor Bound Periodicals Room.  Here’s a handy map that highlights how to locate both areas: http://www.marlboro.edu/academics/library/print_journals?.

Magazines cannot be checked out or removed from the library, but feel free to enjoy them in the library building itself.  Luckily, there are some chairs and a couch adjacent to the middle floor periodicals section, so you don’t need to travel far to find a comfortable place to flip through the magazines.

Databases by subject? Yes, please!

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Have you noticed that tools on the library homepage have been turning an attractive purple and functioning better over the last few years? Like the Journal Lookup or the Library Catalog? Well, we have another!

Introducing the library’s new Research Databases page!

All our electronic resources are now organized by subject! You will initially be directed to a page listing databases that are your best bets for any topic. On the left side of the screen, you can click on a subject and you’ll find links to recommended article databases, e-books, related research guides created by librarians, and even links to email librarians if you need help.

If at any time you want to look at an alphabetical list of all our suggested resources, look for the Research Databases A-Z link.  Click on the image above to try it out!

SOPA/PIPA blackout: Who turned off the lights on the Internet?

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On Wednesday, January 18, a number of prominent websites — including Wikipedia, Reddit, the Internet Archive, and many more — will go dark to raise awareness about the implications of two pieces of legislation — the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT-IP Act — that are currently under consideration in Congress.

Wikipedia talks more about their actions.

The Swiss Army Librarian collects some useful links about what SOPA and PIPA could mean for citizens, libraries, and scholars.

Link to SOPA bill summary and status on THOMAS.

Link to PIPA bill summary and status on THOMAS.

Feel free to leave comments below — and if you are inclined, share them with your Congressional delegation as well.

Emily Alling
Library Director

New Year’s Resolutions

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Happy New Year!

In my former profession as an Alcohol and other Drug Abuse Counselor I got to talk with folks about resolutions a lot!  I’ve always found it easier to keep resolutions to do more of something, rather than to do less of or stop a behavior.   So along with promising yourself to drink or use less,  lose some weight or stop throwing your dirty laundry on your roommate’s bed, make some resolutions to do more of something!

Along those lines, the library has collected some books to help you with your new goals.  Whether you want to hike more in the area, learn to knit, or begin a recovery program, the library has something for you.  Check out some of the selection here or on the display inside the library entrance:

Have a great semester… and an even better year! — Bonny

The secret lives of Marlboro library users

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You, Marlboro, were busy in 2011. Nowhere was this more apparent than in the library.

Much of what you do here in the library building can’t be quantified:

  • The satisfaction of curling up in a nook and steeping yourself in an author’s ideas;
  • The exhilaration of pouring out years of learning via a keyboard into your Plan;
  • The impromptu conversations with other library-goers that lead to great ideas and inspirations
Some of what you do here could be quantified, but isn’t:
  • The number of times you (collectively) visited the building (most libraries keep track of this with electronic gate counts; we don’t have ‘em. It’s common knowledge, though, that the library is one of the busiest places on campus, especially after dark.)
  • The number of cups of coffee consumed in the building (based on morning-after evidence, I’d say we rival the coffee shop)
  • The number of all-nighters pulled (would need to work out methodology for counting those…any ideas?)
But other types of library use can be quantified — easily — and are compiled regularly, both for our own curiosity and because we need to submit this type of information to various agencies annually. So, here is some of what we counted in 2011:
  • Number of books checked out/renewed per full-time enrolled student: 36. That rises to 44 if you count the books that people borrowed but forgot to check out. (To give you a sense of your extreme collective devotion to the printed word: national median for academic libraries in 2010 was 5.9 checkouts per full time student [source], making Marlboro 7.5 times more bookish than your average college/university.)
  • Number of books you borrowed from other libraries via interlibrary loan: 550
  • Number of articles you got copies of from other libraries: 270
  • Number of searches you performed in EBSCOHost databases: 56,857
  • Number of articles you downloaded from JSTOR: 21,327
  • Number of times you looked at ebooks on ebrary: 16,314
  • Number of times you’ve viewed one of our Library Guides: 5978

Suffice it to say, Marlboro, you deserve this winter break that you’re getting. The library looks forward to being a part of your lives again in 2012. Happy New Year!

Library hours: End of semester and Winter Break

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As the semester draws to a close, here’s what you can expect at the library:

The due date for all library items this semester is Wednesday, December 14.

  • If you’ll be here next semester, you can keep your Marlboro College library items over break (as long as no one else needs them) — just log in to your account to renew them.
  • Interlibrary loan items cannot be kept over break; they must be returned by December 14.
  • Questions? Email library@marlboro.edu or stop by and ask!
End of semester service desk and Reserve/AV room hours will change:
  • Sunday, December 11: 12:30 pm – 5:30 pm
  • Monday, December 12 – Thursday, December 15: 8:30 am – 4:30 pm

The library building will be open as usual until Thursday, December 15 at 4:30 pm (which is also when dorms close for the semester). A book drop will be placed outside (near the entrance by the librarians’ offices) in case you’d like to return things while the building is closed.

Please remove all personal belongings from the library by 4:30 pm on Thursday, December 15! This includes things on tables, empty shelves, etc. On Friday, December 16, library staff will be cleaning up and moving any personal belongings left behind to lost and found/discarding them.

The library’s winter break hours (Thursday, December 15 – Saturday, January 14) are:

  • Monday-Friday: 8:30 am – 4:30 pm
  • Saturday-Sunday: Closed

The library will be closed from Friday, December 23 through Monday, January 2.

We’ll reopen for spring at 12:30 pm on Sunday, January 15. 

You can still do research over break! Visit the library website to access tens of thousands of online books and journal articles. Requests for interlibrary loan articles will continue to be processed (except from December 23-January 2). And librarians will remain “on call” — just email library@marlboro.edu if you have questions while you’re away.

Have a wonderful break; congratulations to our December 2011 graduates; and hope to see the rest of you in January!

Emily Alling
Library Director

 

Rapid Reviews — Thursday, December 8, 3pm in Appletree

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Are you a huge Calvin and Hobbes fan or maybe you just want to play a better game of chess or improve your ability to tell a good joke at a party? Perhaps you are just looking for a good read. There is truly something for everyone at this semester’s Rapid Reviews! You will hear about 40 books in 40 minutes as students Casey Friedman, Molly Booth and Jack Rossiter-Munley, along with faculty member Jaime Tanner and staff member Travis Trumbly talk about their all-time favorite books, reviewing each one in a minute or less. Milk and homemade cookies, as well as vegan and gluten free goodies, will be served.

All the books you hear about at Rapid Reviews will be at the event for you to check out over break. Here’s a sample: