"Where books are burnt, in the end people are also burnt."

~ Heinrich Heine

NEW ELECTRONIC RESOURCES

As indicated in the previous issue, this year’s materials acquisition budget has allowed the library to restore book purchases to the healthier level of a couple of years ago, to consider restoring some subscriptions we had canceled, and to contemplate new and highly desirable products. Ramsey Library is very pleased to announce the following electronic resources:

· Art Index Full Text ~ Ramsey Library has long offered an electronic version of Art Abstracts which providing citations and abstracts but lacked full text articles. This upgrade This offers full text plus abstracts and indexing of an international array of some 500 peer-selected publications with full text access to some 200 with expanded coverage of Latin American, Canadian, Asian and non-Western art, new artists, contemporary art, exhibition reviews, and feminist criticism.

· Cambridge Companions Online (SOON TO BE AVAILABLE) ~ Cambridge Companions are lively, accessible introductions to major writers, artists, philosophers, topics and periods. All are collections of specially commissioned essays, shaped and introduced to appeal to student readers. Together the chapters add up to a systematic critical account of, for example Plato, Luther, Jane Austen, Tom Stoppard or Stravinsky, the French Novel or Jewish American Literature, and each title is supported by reference features such as a chronology and guide to further reading. Addressing topics and figures as diverse as Gothic Fiction and Arabic Philosophy, WB Yeats and Martin Luther, the online collection contains over 3,000 downloadable essays, taken from 322 Cambridge Companions to Literature and Classics (195 volumes) and Philosophy, Religion and Culture (127 volumes). 2 new Companions have been added as part of the September 2009 update.

· Cambridge Histories Online (SOON TO BE AVAILABLE) ~ The Cambridge Histories have become an established and essential component of the academic research library, and now, for the first time, over 250 of these well-known, used and trusted volumes are available online, adding immense value to the texts and enhancing any aspect of historical research. 3 new volumes have been added to Cambridge Histories Online as of May 2009, bringing the total number of volumes included in the collection to 258.

· Oxford Scholarship Online (SOON TO BE AVAILABLE) ~ A large and rapidly expanding cross-searchable library which offers quick and easy access to the full text of 3,036 Oxford books in Economics, Philosophy, Political Science, Religion, Literature, Classics, History, Law, Business, Psychology, and Music with new and recently-published books are added each year.

RECENT NEWS OF NOTE

· Open Access to Research Is Inevitable
"I now believe that having public access to most scholarly communications is inevitable," said David Shulenburger, vice president for academic affairs at the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities. "Faculty are coming to understand, finally, that this has to happen if they're going to have the most scholarly opportunities to get things done."

· Course-Pack Company Loses Copyright Lawsuit
“A business in Ann Arbor, Mich., failed in its attempt to get around a legal precedent that guides the procedures for copying course packs.”

Posted by Brandy at 11:04 AM | Permalink

"Where books are burnt, in the end people are also burnt."
~ Heinrich Heine

Good News and a BIG Thank You!

Like the rest of the campus community, Ramsey Library faculty and staff have been holding their collective breaths as we hoped for the best possible budget outcomes and prepared as best we could for the worst. Given the complexities of differing renewal dates for periodicals and electronic resources, the library had to cancel some materials beginning last spring. And, like many areas of the University, the library has suffered significant personnel loses.

So far, our community is very fortunate and we are all greatly appreciative for the relatively low reduction in UNC Asheville’s recurring state funding. Chancellor Ponder, our Board of Trustees, and others have succeeded admirably in advocating the value of UNC Asheville’s mission while demonstrating both our efficiencies and our persisting lack of resources.

But in addition, I want to take advantage of this “bully pulpit” to personally and on behalf of the community to send a special thank you to Chancellor Ponder and all the members of the Chancellor’s Senior Staff. Recognizing the fundamental importance of books, journals, electronic databases, videos, and other library materials to the learning and research processes we so value, they worked diligently to provide a materials acquisition budget which is stronger than circumstances would lead to expect. And while we will continue careful stewardship of our funds by examining existing expenditures and seeking better ways to meet community needs, librarians have already begun the process of seeing what databases and products can and should be restored (e.g., an improved “Research Central is on the way) and will be working with faculty and students on those decisions. More later . . . .

Again, many thanks!

Jim Kuhlman

University Librarian

New Online Resource for Philosophers

The Chronicle of Higher Education recently announced a new online resource for philosophers “Billed as ‘a comprehensive directory of online philosophy articles and books by academic philosophers. . . .” Check it out at:

Archive Watch: Taking It Philosophically

PhilPapers

What They’re Reading on College Campuses

If you haven’t seen it lately, you might want to check out the Chronicle of Higher Education’s best seller list, “What They’re Reading on College Campuses.” Top of the list this month and last? Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith. Now who said great literature was dead???

“What They’re Reading on College Campuses”

Recent News of Note

Copyright-Law Curricula Face Each Other in a Duel

Chemistry Journals Go Digital-Only

University Presses Can Hang Together to Make E-Books, or All Hang Separately
Wired Campus: 5 Major Research Universities Endorse Open-Access Journals

And NOTES FROM RAMSEY’S personal favorite:

If You Dance With No Pants, a Well-Defined Body (of Slang) Helps

Posted by Brandy at 04:39 PM | Permalink

"Where books are burnt, in the end people are also burnt."

~ Heinrich Heine

NEW BOOKS!!!

Even though this year’s budget picture isn’t perfectly clear as yet, Ramsey Library is certainly more optimistic about the financial forecast and we’re back buying books at a moderate pace. Faculty should continue to request materials for the library collection through your library liaison.

Not only do we have new books to share, we are trying an enhanced display for the new books to spark interest. Many thanks to Barbara Svenson, Noel Jones, Anita White-Carter, and Brandy Bourne for making this happen. We are leaving the dust jackets on the new books until they’re transferred to the stacks and devoting two of the shelves in the display cases to take advantage of all the nice art work. We’re also trying the elimination of the pop reading shelves (those titles have been moved to the stacks and are in the catalog) to allow space and to emphasize that all books are popular. (Is NOTES FROM RAMSEY LIBRARY exposing its bias here? Hope so!)

Please visit the new new book display. In the meantime check it out at https://sites.google.com/a/unca.edu/new-book-display/.

INSTRUCTION RESOURCES FOR INFORMATION INTENSIVES

Like many areas on campus and as NOTES FROM RAMSEY mentioned earlier, the library enters the new academic year with fewer staff. We have been particularly affected by the loss of the professional librarian position previously devoted to coordinating and supplying a great deal of the library’s user education. While everyone is trying to do as much as possible to fill the gap, many instructors will inevitably find that we’re unable to help at the time requested. Please be patient as we all attempt to cope as well as we can.

NOTES FROM RAMSEY does want to invite instructors’ attention to digitally available resources that can help them in presenting information resources to their students (actually better than a librarian coming to your class because the students pay much more attention to their “real” teacher) and to help their students directly. On the “InfoLit” page on the library’s web site you can find learning modules on research basics, finding articles, finding and evaluating web resources, suggested sample assignments, and resources for LANG 120 and LSIC 379 instructors.

Check it out at http://bullpup.lib.unca.edu/library/infolit/Default.htm.

RECENT NEWS OF NOTE

· Research on Teaching Reading Shows What?

· Pricey Cost per Page Hurts Humanities and Social-Science Journals

· Google's Book Search: A Disaster for Scholars
“Geoffrey Nunberg gets lost in the metadata of digital books.”

· New Editing Process Seeks to Improve Wikipedia's Accuracy

Posted by Brandy at 11:29 AM | Permalink

"Where books are burnt, in the end people are also burnt."

~ Heinrich Heine

REMODELING TO ENCOURAGE PERIODICAL USE

For those of you who could get away, welcome back to campus! For the many who pushed on through the summer, NOTES FROM RAMSEY hopes you did have some good time away and that the fall semester is off to a great start for you. Many of you may have missed this announcement in an earlier NOTES FROM RAMSEY LIBRARY, so like the CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION in dealing with its summer vacation, NOTES wants to share our new periodicals layout with you one more time.

Under the expert eye of Noel Jones, one of Ramsey Library’s able circulation supervisors, keen minds and strong backs recently completed a no cost rearrangement in the current periodicals area of the main floor to encourage the reading of current magazines and journals. The project consolidated shelving of the majority of paper periodicals, grouped by subject according to their Library of Congress classification, into an area nearer the windows of the periodicals area in order to create more space for group work and comfortable seating. In addition, the library pulled some of the more popular titles from the single subject grouping and added new titles selected as a result of a student, staff, and faculty survey to create an easily accessible range of popular magazines suitable for browsing. Older titles included in this new grouping include:

American Craft

Ebony

Ecologist

Economist

Harper’s

Mother Jones

Ms.

Newsweek (NOTES FROM RAMSEY hates the new format!)

NYT Book Review

Rolling Stone

Scientific American

Time

U.S. News

Women’s Health

New titles added in response to survey requests include (note: less popular titles in the survey were canceled to allow for the change):

The Believer

Bitch

Bust

Dwell

Make

Men’s Health

Mental Floss

Paste

ReadyMade

Shambala Sun

Spin

Vanity Fair

Veg News

Week

See photos at: https://sites.google.com/a/unca.edu/ramsey-library-pop-periodicals/ and be sure to stop by for a visit!!

RESEARCH CENTRAL CANCELED

"Research Central" was the name for a commercial product embedded on the library's web main page which allowed you to put in a search term or phrase and retrieve results from the catalog (books, primarily) and the library's electronic databases (largely citations to articles and full text) all in one search. This is a feature known as "federated searching" for all you library groupies out there. Library staff had worked with this product for about a year while making it available to you in "Beta." While we felt there were still functional problems we also recognized that some faculty and more students found this an easy and productive way to search. Unfortunately, it also cost us $6,500 a year. In light of the anticipated limitations of this year's budget and the somewhat less than dependable performance, the library recently canceled the product so that we can spend the $6,500 on books and electronic information content that we would otherwise not be able to provide. When the library's budget begins to recover (and it will!) we'll return to our search for an affordable and functional federated search engine.

RECENT NEWS OF NOTE

* Google Hopes Readers Can Download, Share, and Use Books
"The company announced . . . that it will work with Creative Commons to let authors decide how their works can be used and cited."

*A Laboratory of Collaborative Learning

"How can we put the library back at the center of undergraduate education where it belongs?"

AND FOR THE ANNUAL BACK TO SCHOOL REALITY CHECK

* Beyond the Experience of Today's College Freshman: Johnny Carson and the KGB
blockquote>"As professors dust off their lecture notes in preparation for the new academic year, they might want to vet their cultural references with the folks at Beloit College."

Posted by Brandy at 10:16 AM | Permalink

"Where books are burnt, in the end people are also burnt."
~ Heinrich Heine


REMODELING TO ENCOURAGE PERIODICAL USE

Under the expert eye of Noel Jones, one of Ramsey Library’s able circulation supervisors, keen minds and strong backs recently completed a no cost rearrangement in the current periodicals area of the main floor to encourage the reading of current magazines and journals. The project consolidated shelving of the majority of paper periodicals, grouped by subject according to their Library of Congress classification, into an area nearer the windows of the periodicals area in order to create more space for group work and comfortable seating. In addition, the library pulled some of the more popular titles from the single subject grouping and added new titles selected as a result of a student, staff, and faculty survey to create an easily accessible range of popular magazines suitable for browsing. Older titles included in this new grouping include:

American Craft
Ebony
Ecologist
Economist
Harper’s
Mother Jones
Ms.
Newsweek (NOTES FROM RAMSEY hates the new format!)
NYT Book Review
Rolling Stone
Scientific American
Time
U.S. News
Women’s Health

New titles added in response to survey requests include (note: less popular titles in the survey were canceled to allow for the change):

The Believer
Bitch
Bust
Dwell
Make
Men’s Health
Mental Floss
Paste
ReadyMade
Shambala Sun
Spin
Vanity Fair
Veg News
Week

Posted by Brandy at 10:33 AM | Permalink

Library Book Orders for Fall Classes

Like the rest of campus and the UNC system, Ramsey Library is awaiting budget news on pins and needles. However and in spite of uncertainty, we know that fall classes inevitably loom. The library is now accepting from faculty book and media requests to support fall classes or research projects. We will go ahead and order these materials as soon as possible in order to have them in time for classes. Please limit requests to essential materials in support of this fall’s work until we know more about next year’s budget. Check the library’s web site for your department’s bibliographer.

Ramsey Library Subject Bibliographers

http://bullpup.lib.unca.edu/library/libdir/bibliographers.html

Recent News of Note You May Have Missed

· United Nations Opens World Digital Library

· How a Student-Friendly Kindle Could Change the Textbook Market

The expected introduction of Amazon's wide-format Kindle could revolutionize the delivery of textbooks, or the new product could get as lukewarm a reception as previous e-book readers.

· Physicist Set to Unveil 'WolframAlpha' Web Site, a New Kind of Research Helper

Notes From Ramsey thinks this is one amazing product. Check it out at http://www.wolframalpha.com/

· Google Books Mutilates the Printed Past

Lest Notes from UNCA ITS’ buddy Google takes this the wrong way, please note this isn’t our headline!! “Google Book Search promised to bring the world's archives to our computers. Instead, too often, we're getting the digitally mutilated remains, writes Ronald G. Musto.”

· 10 University-Press Directors Back Free Access to Scholarly Articles

Posted by Brandy at 01:25 PM | Permalink

ABC Express & Interlibrary Loan

Several folks have asked about the less than clear reference in the last NOTES FROM RAMSEY LIBRARY to being able to continue ABC Express and Interlibrary Loan (ILL), at least for now. Please excuse the ambiguity.

The concern applies only to the remainder of this fiscal year. The money that supports the Western North Carolina Library Network (WNCLN) and, thus, ABC Express is handled by Financial Affairs at ASU. So far, their interpretation of the state’s spending ban is that we can continue to put gas in the ABC Express truck. As long as we can do that, ABC Express will continue to run. If the state or ASU determines that we can’t put gas in the truck, we stop. The same’s true for ILL. We can continue to mail materials under NC guidelines. If those change and paying for mailing is prohibited, we’ll have to stop. On the ILL side of things, another complicating factor is that we may be borrowing materials from libraries in states where mailing is no longer allowed.

Ramsey Library will not willingly let ABC Express or ILL go, nor would I expect that from our campus. State regulations are another matter.

Posted by Brandy at 05:37 PM | Permalink

LIBRARY CANCELLATIONS

Like all campus units, Ramsey Library began this year with a significant cut to its operating budget and the attendant reduction in the information resources we could buy. The first law of library economics is that the cost of books, journals, and electronic subscriptions rise every year. In aggregate, this increase has averaged about 8% a year over several decades depending on many factors including the strength of the dollar. Journals, continuations, and electronic products tend to increase more rapidly and regularly averaging about 10%. Book prices increase at a much lower rate closer to the increase in the Consumer Price Index. Inevitably, a library’s tendency is to pay the increasing prices of the serials and continuations devoting whatever is left to the more discretionary book requests or perhaps new serial titles. It’s not difficult to envision what happens when the overall library materials budget fails to grow, much less the potentially dire consequences of materials budget reductions. Maintaining current serial subscriptions reduces funds available for books. And since the most costly serials, both paper and electronic, tend to be in the natural sciences there is a disproportionate effect on those disciplines that rely more heavily on books, particularly the humanities.

Given this year’s budget reduction, Ramsey Library sought to maintain as much of our book buying capability as possible. Late in the fall library bibliographers consulted with some faculty and made difficult decisions to cancel lesser used serials in both paper and electronic formats that were judged to have least impact on teaching and research. Obvious targets were subscriptions to the paper versions of journals where we already subscribed to an electronic version in a stable format. In such cases we lost no content while eliminating the cost for the paper subscription as well as an associated expenses for binding, staff processing, and library space. The canceled electronic products were judged to have high cost relative to benefit or that they duplicated information available in a less costly or free resource. For example, we canceled INFOTRAC ($5,115), a basic full-text periodical database we’ve long maintained, because we also receive Academic Search Premier, a very similar product, at no cost through NC LIVE. Please note also that one advantage of electronic products as compared with more traditional library serials subscriptions is that we can restart them when budgets permit and demand requires. You can find a listing of cancellations at http://facstaff.unca.edu/kuhlman/Ramsey_Library_Cancellations.pdf. Savings totaled just over $64,000.

Like the rest of campus and most of higher education, Ramsey Library anticipates at least as much financial difficulty over the next few years as we’ve already experienced. Accordingly, library bibliographers are working on initial prioritization of potential cancellations of additional electronic products, continuations, and journals, and will be working with available faculty and the Library, Information Resources & Technology Committee (LIRTC) over the summer and into the fall in order to exercise the greatest possible stewardship with the resources we have. This will require creativity and flexibility from us all. We appreciate your help and patience.

LIBRARY STAFFING

As you plan for the fall, please keep in mind that the library will be operating with fewer staff as will many areas on campus. You already know that Classroom Instruction & Technology Support (CITS) will not be able to fill Rudy Moorrees’ position and that we anticipate losing it permanently. In addition, we lost our User Instruction & Reference Librarian at the end of the fall semester and have not been able to fill that position. I anticipate that it will also be lost permanently. With the loss of two professional positions everyone in Ramsey Library and CITS is intensifying their efforts to continue to provide the very best information services possible, but there will be some diminishment. This will be particularly true when it comes to our ability to support information literacy efforts next fall since we have lost the primary professional position devoted to that effort.

REDUCED BOOK PURCHASES

As indicated above, fixed or reduced library materials budgets tend to reduce book purchases as a first casualty. This affected Ramsey Library purchasing from the beginning of the year and motivated the serials cancellations indicated above. Unfortunately, book ordering was halted with a bit more than $70,000 in book funds unencumbered more than eliminating book purchases we had planned to make with the $64,000 savings from serials cancellations noted above. The combined effect of the initial reduction and the early stoppage is represented in the following table:

Academic Year-----------------Book Volumes Added

2006-2007------------------------------7,079

2007-2008------------------------------6,258

2008-2009------------------------------3,269

We face great unknowns, but at this point Ramsey Library estimates that without cancelling additional electronic products and assuming a materials budget at least equaling this year’s expenditures (optimistic, perhaps) we may only be able to purchase 1,000 to 1,500 new books next year.

IMPACT

NOTES FROM RAMSEY LIBRARY reports these figures so that instructors realize that students are already encountering diminished resources in terms of books and a few electronic resources. Please anticipate greater impact as you plan for next year. While we are fortunate in being able to tap the collections at ASU and WCU through ABC Express (note: we’re not sure how long that service will be allowed), they anticipate significant cuts in funds as well. The library at ASU has begun a serials cancellation project of far greater scope than we anticipate. Many thanks in advance for your help and understanding.

Posted by Susan at 03:09 PM | Permalink

NEW LEADERSHIP IN CITS

As most of you know, Ramsey Library, Classroom & Instructional Technology Support (CITS), and the entire UNC Asheville community has lost the long serving and loved Rudy Moorrees to the temptations of retirement and Hawaii. In addition to losing Rudy’s notable experience, expertise, and commitment to UNC Asheville and like many areas on campus, we have lost Rudy’s position apparently indefinitely. The silver lining in that very black cloud is the also talented and committed John Myers, our Moodle and course support expert, has agreed to assume Rudy’s management duties on an interim basis in addition to his own important work with Moodle much to my delight.

In spite of John’s commitment, expertise, and devotion to UNC Asheville, he will not be able to devote the time and energy to both Moodle and CITS leadership as had two experienced and consummately talented professionals have in the past. His teammates in CITS, as well as all the folks in Ramsey Library and ITS, will do all they can to help, and we’re looking for ways to increase support. Everyone on campus can help by being sure to direct questions and requests to the folks best equipped to respond. These include:

Leigh Svenson (Auditoriums (Lipinsky, HLH)), lsvenson@unca.edu, 251-6630

Greg Dillingham (Distance Learning Services), gregd@unca.edu, 251-6333

Emily Ellis (Distance Learning Services), eellis@unca.edu, 251-6333

Chris Asbill (Equipment setup & circulation, duplication), casbill@unca.edu, 251-6996

John Myers (Moodle, course improvement), jmyers@unca.edu, 250-3885

Kent Thompson (Television production), thompson@unca.edu, 251-6425

Many thanks for all your help, patience, and understanding.

RECENT NEWS OF NOTE YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

A Digital Window on the Medieval World

“Thousands of medieval manuscripts have been digitized by libraries around the world. The trick has been finding them. Matthew Fisher, an assistant professor of English at the University of California at Los Angeles, thought up a solution: the Catalogue of Digitized Medieval Manuscripts, a centralized online archive of holdings around the world.”

MIT's Management School Shares Teaching Materials Online

“Though some business schools charge for the “case studies” they develop as teaching aids, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced today that it is making a set of teaching materials available free online.”

U. of Manitoba Researchers Publish Open-Source Handbook on Educational Technology

“To help get colleges thinking about how they might adapt their teaching styles to the new ways students absorb and process information, Mr. Siemens and Peter Tittenberger, director of the center, have created a Web-based guide, called the Handbook of Emerging Technologies for Learning.”

MIT Professors Approve Campuswide Policy to Publish Their Scholarly Articles Free Online

“Last week MIT’s professors voted unanimously to adopt a policy stating that all faculty members will deposit their scholarly research papers in a free, online university repository (in addition to sending them to scholarly journals), in an effort to expand access to the university’s scholarship.”

Posted by Susan at 02:54 PM | Permalink

“SHAW-SHOEMAKER” NOW AVAILABLE AT RAMSEY LIBRARY

Ramsey Library is very pleased to announce the availability of the microfiche collection Early American Imprints, Series II: Shaw-Shoemaker, 1801-1819. The “Shaw-Shoemaker” collection is based on the classic American Bibliography, 1801-1819 compiled by Ralph R. Shaw and Richard H. Shoemaker and presents more than four million pages from more than 36,000 sources. This is considered one of the definitive resources for researching late 17th and early 18th century America.

We are very grateful to our generous and thoughtful colleagues at Appalachian State’s Belk Library for remembering us when they were able to upgrade to an online version of this collection which we, unfortunately, cannot afford. At least this valuable collection is now readily available for use in Asheville.

RECENT NOTES FROM THE PUBLISHING WORLD YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

University Press, With Amazon, Revives Out-of-Print Books
The University of Minnesota Press is announcing a new program to make almost every book it has ever published available on demand.

Book Drop: University Presses Report Fall in Sales
Net sales for books published by university presses fell more than 9 percent in the last half of 2008, compared with the same period in 2007, a survey found.

Physicists Set Plan in Motion to Change Publishing System
One signature at a time, national research agencies and university libraries have pledged to support a new system of publishing in high-energy physics that would replace expensive subscriptions to journals with membership in a nonprofit group.

The Undead Soul of Today's College Best-Seller List
“College students’ reading habits ain’t what they used to be, laments Ron Charles, a senior editor at The Washington Post’s Book World.”

Posted by Susan at 03:12 PM | Permalink

A Blessed and Happy New Year from all your friends and colleagues in Ramsey Library!

“OLD” ONLINE CATALOG UNAVAILABLE THRUSDAY, 1/8

Ramsey Library’s old and familiar online catalog will be unavailable most of the day Thursday, 1/8 in order to install a new catalog server at Appalachian State. You can, however, still search the library’s catalog by taking advantage of the Beta version of our new and much improved interface, AquaBrowser. You can access AquaBrowser from a link on the library’s home page or more directly by going to http://aquabrowser.wncln.org. Take it for a spin. We think you’ll be impressed. PLEASE NOTE: While the main server’s being replaced AquaBrowser will work but will not show call numbers.

A NEW GUIDE TO THE BEWILDERING QUESTION OF “FAIR USE”

In a mid-November release, the Chronicle of Higher Education announced that a new guide by American University’s Center for Social Media offers free legal advice to clarify the fair use provisions of copyright law “. . . —and its authors say that the "fair use" provisions of copyright law are more permissive than many professors may think.” The “Code of Best Practice in Fair Use for Media-Literacy Education” was created over 10 meetings involving more than 150 educators before being reviewed by a panel of lawyers “who are experts in fair use.” Be sure to check it out as well as other guides to the use and ownership of intellectual property at UNC Asheville’s intellectual property web site.

“Panel Issues Guide to Using Copyrighted Material in the Classroom”
Chronicle of Higher Education
11 November 2008

The Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education
American University Center for Social Media
UNC Asheville Intellectual Property/Copyright

UNC Asheville Intellectual Property/Copyright ~ Copyright Information

IS THE REIGN OF GREAT BOOKS OVER? AGAIN??

If you missed this in the Chronicle due to end-of-semester crunch, you may want to give a look to The Chronicle Review’s December 19, 2008 essay, “What Ails Literary Studies; Reading’s Next Chapter; Great Books and the Consensus Canon Breathe Their Last.” The essay also asks “What will take their place?” Well, whatever it is, NOTES FROM RAMSEY LIBRARY hopes we already have it! See where you stand on the argument!

“What Ails Literary Studies”
The Chronicle Review
December 19, 2008

Posted by Susan at 05:54 PM | Permalink

ELECTION DATA ANALYSIS

NOTES FROM RAMSEY is pleased to thank its newest reporter, Merianne Epstein, for sharing most timely information about a new web resource. The University of Richmond’s Digital Scholarship Lab recently announced a collaboration with Google as part of a project to share historical data for U.S. presidential elections. The data comes from a standard source, VOTING AMERICA: UNITED STATES POLITICS, 1840-2008. “Google will make digital maps of presidential elections from 1980 to 2004 available in Google Earth. These maps detail how people voted in every county in the United States, providing far more detail and information than what is currently available in Electoral College maps. The voting returns are also paired with population data—including information on race, age, gender and income levels—in every county, allowing people to examine the factors that affected voting in any given election.” “Anyone can access the Google Earth layer by going to Google's 2008 Election site, Google 2008 U.S. Election.”

In a complementary discussion, the Chronicle of Higher Education’s “The Wired Campus” alluded to the University of Richmond/Google project before asking “As more scholars try similar map-based data projects, should they use Google as a platform?” You can join that discussion at:

Is Google Earth Becoming a Platform for Academic Scholarship?

WIKIPEDIA REVISITED

This is a bit dated but NOTES FROM RAMSEY loves anything to do with WIKIPEDIA. Back on April 10, the Chronicle’s “The Wired Campus” reported that the venerable Oxford University Press’ publisher, Niko Pfund (glad this is in writing!), “. . . paid Wikipedia the ultimate compliment: He compared it to the Oxford English Dictionary.” Pfund went on to note that “After all, the Oxford English Dictionary, arguably the greatest reference work in the English language…found its origins in a wiki model, whereby scholars put out the word to English speakers far and wide that they would welcome hard evidence of the earliest appearances of English words.”

And the best part is that you can find links both to the OED and Wikipedia via the library’s tried and true web site. Check it out at:

Ramsey Library
http://bullpup.lib.unca.edu/library/

Publisher Compares Wikipedia to Oxford English Dictionary

Posted by Brandy at 02:33 PM | Permalink

LIBRARY IMPROVEMENTS

Recent NOTES FROM RAMSEY have shared information on formative plans to create more user-friendly library space and provide for a “Collaborative Learning Commons” (see http://facstaff.unca.edu/sinclair/spaceplan/). Most recently we invited you to see the more open current periodicals area which is one step along the path of converting that space to the “Collaborative Learning Commons.” Last week we took a next step by moving current newspapers from current periodicals to what I think of as the far, left-hand corner of the library’s main floor. This was done to afford our newspaper readers with a quieter, less-trafficked environment in what will be the eventual new home for all current periodicals, probably by next summer. In the meantime, check out the new newspaper reading area which will soon include a new package of popular magazines. From the old newspaper reading area, check out the two, new plasma screen work areas for students. Each will allow students to project work from a laptop or fixed station computer or to view instructional web sites.

NEW INFORMATION LITERACY/OUTREACH LIBRARIAN

NOTES FROM RAMSEY is delighted to announce the library’s newest colleague, Heather Stewart Harvey, who has accepted the position of Information Literacy & Outreach Librarian who started 4 August. Heather comes to us from AB Tech where she has been working as a Reference and Instructional Librarian. Before that, she had a wide array of experiences working as a public librarian, a paralegal, a translator in Madrid, and a teacher in Barranquilla, Colombia, to name just a few. She holds a B.A. in Anthropology from University of California, Davis, and earned her M.L.I.S. degree from San Jose State University. Please join us in welcoming Heather to our community.

Heather Stewart Harvey
Ramsey Library 128
e: hharvey@unca.edu
v: 251.6632

Posted by Site Administrator at 02:17 PM | Permalink

LIBRARY IMPROVEMENTS
You’ll recall from the previous NOTES FROM RAMSEY our plans to improve the appearance of the current periodicals area while beginning the evolution of that area into a Collaborative Learning Commons. We very much appreciate your patience with any disruption or inconvenience the work may have caused you, but are very pleased to invite you by the library to see the results. With a tremendous amount of hard work and creativity, Bryan Sinclair, Laurie Edwards, Sammy Hughes, Noel Jones, and Jason Reed planned the project and put a lot of physical effort into moving periodicals and even ranges of shelving. NOTES FROM RAMSEY congratulates and thanks them for a job very well done!

When you get a chance, be sure to stop by and see what you think. For more on future planning, check out Bryan Sinclair’s “space planning project” page at http://facstaff.unca.edu/sinclair/spaceplan/.

NEW ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCE
Ramsey Library is very pleased to announce the availability of a new electronic data base. GreenFILE offers well-researched information covering all aspects of human impact to the environment. Its collection of scholarly, government and general-interest titles includes content on global warming, green building, pollution, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, recycling, and more. The database provides indexing and abstracts for more than 384,000 records, as well as Open Access full text for more than 4,700 records. From the library home page, you can find GreenFILE under the “sciences” listing of electronic resources.

GreenFile

“MY READING HISTORY”
In collaboration with our WNCLN partners (the libraries at ASU & WCU) we have enabled a new function on the online catalog, 'My Reading History'. If you choose to use this feature, after you enable your Reading History, the system will start collecting a list of items you check out from the library from the that time. Items currently checked out at the time of opting in will not be added to your reading history. Please note that Reading History is set so that you must log into your library account and enable Reading History by clicking the Opt In link. You may then opt out at any time by choosing that option. The system will not let you opt out until you have deleted your entire reading history list. You may also delete selected circulation history entries at any time by checking the entry in the *mark* column and clicking the "Delete Marked" link or delete all circulation history entries by clicking this "Delete all" link.

PLEASE NOTE: Deliberately, the library currently does not retain a record of materials you’ve checked out beyond the record when you were the last person to check an item out. The next time it circulates, your information is permanently separated from the item record. We do this to ensure the greatest feasible privacy for our patrons. While all circulation data is confidential, it is always subject to disclosure in response to legally executed search warrants or subpoenas, and, in some cases, requests for information under the Patriot Act. If you do choose to take advantage of the “My Reading History” feature, its contents will be subject to the same legal requests for records.

See “my account” in the right block on the catalog search screen.

GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS REPORT
For those of you who have been waiting, the 2007 / 2008 edition of the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report has finally arrived and is available in Reference under the call number REF/HF114.G559.

Posted by Brandy at 10:11 AM | Permalink

LIBRARY IMPROVEMENTS

During the week of June 23 we expect to begin a project to improve the appearance of the current periodicals area while beginning the evolution of that area into a Collaborative Learning Commons. A construction company will be assisting in lowering the current periodical shelving to create a more open feeling in the area while providing a sight line to plasma screens for use by students working collaboratively with laptops. We apologize in advance for the associated noise and inconvenience while this work proceeds in this area and in the bound periodicals area while the company helps us to reinforce damaged shelving. For current thinking on library space planning, check out Bryan Sinclair’s “space planning project” page at http://facstaff.unca.edu/sinclair/spaceplan/.

READER RATINGS

The WNCLN libraries recently agreed to implement the "Patron Ratings" feature has been turned on in the online catalog. The rating will appear in both the Browse screen display and in the full bibliographic record resulting from searches. In the latter it appears under the "Additional Info" option. To input your rating, clicking on the word "Rating" will take you to http://wncln.wncln.org/screens/ratings.html which provides the options. The Rating option is just that -- the ability to pick one of the options available. It does not include any option for inputting comments, etc.

When you click on the stars, you will be prompted to login. You can rate the material by clicking one of the five indicators to rate it on a scale of one to five, with one being the lowest and five being the highest rating. If you not logged in to My Millennium cannot change the rating of the material. However, once logged in, you can delete or change their own rating.

I’m on my way right now to provide my highly impartial rating to The Pencil : A History of Design and Circumstance by Henry Petroski. Check it out and then have fun!!

Posted by Site Administrator at 03:32 PM | Permalink

GREENWOOD DIGITAL COLLECTION

Ramsey Library is very pleased to announce the availability of the Greenwood Digital Collection provided under the auspices and funding of NC LIVE. This is a collection of complete e-books all searchable by keyword, subject, author, title, or any Boolean search method. It includes the series Daily Life Through History, Critical Companions to Popular Contemporary Authors, Historic Events of the 20th Century, Literature in Context, as well as American Slavery: A Composite Autobiography. This is brand new. I haven’t even found out how many titles are available and have barely played with it, but give it a try at:
http://bullpup.lib.unca.edu/scripts/redirect.pl?db=www.nclive.org/cgi-bin/nclsm?rsrc=229.
At present, ACCESS IS LIMITED TO ON-CAMPUS, ONLY.

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MORE ON ELECTRONIC BOOKS

In most recent issue of its “practitioner’s journal,” EQ: Educause Quarterly, the preeminent association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology addresses the evolution of electronic books in relation to higher education. In a brief essay, Charles Edward Smith, a computer administrator, argues in favor to Google’s library scanning project in spite of the associated complexities including copyright and indexing. He concludes that “. . . the successful transfer of knowledge is the task that lies before us,” and that “Any effort that responsibly furthers the task benefits all of us.”

Smith, Edward Charles. “A Few Thought on the Google Books Library Project.” EQ, 31:1 (2008), 10-11.

On another and intriguing front, an Associate Professor of Information Technology Leadership explores “E-Texts in the Classroom.” You may not realize it, but several UNC Asheville faculty are using electronic texts as their textbook already giving their students the opportunity to “rent” these e-texts for the semester at very competitive rates. Opportunities are likely only to improve as does the technology. Check out EQ’s take and information about the new Kindle reader at:

Hannon, Charles. “E-Texts in the Classroom.” EQ, 31:1 (2008), 12-13.

AMAZON.COM ~ The Kindle

Levy, Steven. “The Future of Reading.” Newsweek, November 26, 2007, pp. 58-64.

Posted by Brandy at 02:49 PM | Permalink

My Antonia: The Story in Sign
The Friends of Ramsey Library and Ramsey Library are very pleased to announce our support of a very special event which is free and open to the public. Acclaimed actress and American Sign Language practitioner Barbara Bates Smith will perform passages of My Antonia in sign and spoken word with Marilyn Edwards, Telecommunications Specialist, Asheville office, N.C. Division of Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. This program is a component of the region’s celebration of the National Endowment of the Arts THE BIG READ, which is featuring Willa Cather’s My Antonia under the auspices of Western North Carolina’s Together We Read.

My Antonia: the Story in Sign (poster)
Sunday, March 16
2:30 PM
Reuter Center
UNCA Campus

AUDUBON’S BIRDS ONLINE
In its 4 March issue, the Chronicle’s “The Wired Campus” reported that Pitt’s Digital Research Library “. . . used a high-resolution scanner to create the digital set (of Audubon’s 435 birds) for the Web, along with reprints from Audubon’s Ornithological Biography, his five-volume text describing each of the birds.” “The naturalist John James Audubon attempted, in the 19th century, to paint every species of North American bird. He got through 435 of them before running out of time and money.” Only 120 sets of the large, hand-colored works are known to exist. To view the plates and text directly, go to the University of Pittsburgh’s beautiful Audubon’s Birds of America.

Audubon's 435 Birds Mounted Online at Pitt

AND FROM THE SHADIER SIDE OF ACADEME
The Chronicle’s “Today’s News” of 6 March reported that a researcher at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology has been suspended for fabricating data which “. . . appear in two papers about ways to manipulate human cells that were published in highly influential journals. The articles by the scientist, Tae Kook Kim, appeared in 2005 and 2006 in Science and Nature Chemical Biology, and had both already been cited several times by authors of other articles, an indication of their importance.”

Biology Papers in Prominent Journals May Be Frauds

Posted by Brandy at 05:39 PM | Permalink

Negro Baseball League: Sounds and Voices of an Era

Tuesday, March 11, 2008, 12:30-1:30
Lipinsky Hall 018 (UNC Asheville Music Department)

Ramsey Library takes great pleasure in inviting you to "Negro Baseball League: Sounds and Voices of an Era," a celebration of the athletes who broke baseball's color barrier and the contributions of African Americans to sports, the arts, and culture. This event will feature music, poetry, spoken word, and history of the Negro Baseball League set to jazz accompaniment. Featured performers will include the UNC Asheville Big Band, directed by Dr. David Wilken, and the spoken word talents of UNC Asheville students, faculty, and staff. Lunchtime refreshments will be served. Contact event coordinators Anita White-Carter (whitecar@unca.edu; 251-6436) and Bryan Sinclair (sinclair@unca.edu; 251-6636) for more information.

This event is part of a week-long series of community events, "Spring Training: Baseball in Black and White," March 11-15, 2008, celebrating the Negro Baseball League and involving the Asheville Symphony Orchestra and Symphony Guild, UNC Asheville, Asheville High School, Asheville Middle School, Asheville Tourists, Lake Eden Arts Festival, Reid Center, YMI, Stephens-Lee Alumni Association, North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement, Center for Diversity Education, and a broad cross section of our Asheville community. The culminating event will feature a performance of “Pastime,” a new composition by Richard Danielpour based on a poem by Michael S. Harper, as part of the Asheville Symphony Orchestra’s program on Saturday, March 15th. Both the poem and music honor the Negro League and three of its biggest stars: Josh Gibson, Jackie Robinson, and Henry Aaron.

OPEN ACCESS

A recent item in the Chronicle of Higher Education’s News Blog noted that “Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences (has) adopted a policy . . . that requires faculty members to allow the university to make their scholarly articles available free online.” In a news release following the vote, “Stuart M. Shieber, a professor of computer science at Harvard who proposed the new policy, said . . . that the decision ‘should be a very powerful message to the academic community that we want and should have more control over how our work is used and disseminated.’” Check out the article and comments at “Harvard Faculty Adopts Open-Access Requirement.”

In other news from the world of “open access,” on February 15 the Chronicle reported that “The American Anthropological Association's journals will be disseminated through a for-profit publisher for at least the next five years, but scholars are still debating the merits of open access.” See “Some Anthropologists Continue the Slow Push Toward Open Access.”

And finally, in a landmark announcement, the Chronicle of Higher Education recently announced that “Columbia University Press has radically restructured its high-profile experiment with history monographs (and that) . . . Its books are being made available in two online forms, one of them open access.” See “Landmark Digital History Monograph Project Goes Open Access.”

Did you notice my theme?? J

Posted by Brandy at 03:50 PM | Permalink

From all in Ramsey Library we hope that you and yours enjoyed a safe and wonderful holiday season, and we wish you the very best of new years!!

STREAMING VIDEO ACCESS TO PBS PROGRAMS

As we begin an exciting new semester, Ramsey Library is very pleased to announce the availability of some of the best and most popular PBS educational and documentary programming from accessible via the Internet. Provided by NC LIVE -- North Carolina’s virtual library cooperative -- students, faculty, and staff can view these programs via computer on campus, in classrooms, from home, or wherever you have access to the Internet (off campus users please note that a high speed internet connection and Flash Media Player 9.0 or higher are required to use this resource) . The collection offers nearly 250 PBS programs including the Emmy award winning series “American Experience” and “Frontline,” as well as groundbreaking programs such as Ken Burns’ “The Civil War, “ “Baseball,” and “Jazz.” We anticipate that a second group of videos will be available later in January 2008 that will include children’s programming from the highly acclaimed “Cyberchase” and “Liberty Kids” series.

The NC Live PBS Video Collection is accessible via the Ramsey Library web site. Choose Research Databases and find the NC Live PBS Collection listed under General Indexes, Audio/Video Resources or the title list.

Check them out at:

NC LIVE Media Collection
http://0-media.nclive.org.wncln.wncln.org/

RAMSEY OFFERS RSS FEEDS

Hard at work toward the end of the fall semester, Ramsey Library and the WNCLN network now offer RSS (really simple syndication?) feeds. Check it out at http://wncln.wncln.org/screens/feeds_example.html or go to any WebPac search screen and click on 'Our RSS feeds' in the right-hand (crème colored) box. If you have any suggestions for additional feeds, please contact Janet Ferguson (jferguso@unca.edu) or Brandy Bourne (bbourne@unca.edu) in Ramsey Library.

SCIENCE & JSTOR

Good news! Our friends at JSTOR (http://www.jstor.org/) have just announced that the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and JSTOR reached an agreement at the end of 2007 under which Science will continue its participation in JSTOR (read online availability via Ramsey Library). Science will be available with a 5-year moving wall. In addition, JSTOR officials expect to introduce more opportunities within the JSTOR site for users to link directly to Science's website from Science legacy content (backfiles) located in JSTOR.

Posted by Brandy at 11:19 AM | Permalink

THANKSGIVING HOURS ~ RAMSEY LIBRARY

Tuesday, November 20 8 a.m. – 9 p.m.

Wednesday, November 21 8 a.m. -- 6 p.m.

Thursday, Nov. 22 -- Saturday, Nov. 24 CLOSED

Sunday, Nov. 25 1p.m. – midnight

NEW DISTANCE LEARNING TECHNOLOGY

Greg Dillingham reports that UNCA’s Distance Learning Services has been selected as one of nine NCREN locations (out of 24) to receive new Polycom High Definition (HD) video conferencing systems this fall. Greg will deploy the units in our RBH 136 teleconference room and the camera and microphones associated with this unit will actually be controlled from within the room via remote control. Look for this, soon.

A BIT MORE DEPRESSING NEWS

Today’s eChronicle notes that a report scheduled for release today by the National Endowment for the Arts finds that “Americans aren't just reading fewer books, but are reading less and less of everything, in any medium.” Dana Gioia, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, writes in the report’s preface, that "Most alarming . . . both reading ability and the habit of regular reading have greatly declined among college graduates." Read all about it, if you can, at:

Americans Are Closing the Book on Reading, Study Finds
http://chronicle.com/daily/2007/11/742n.htm

Posted by Brandy at 09:32 AM | Permalink

NC COPY OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS
This is “Bill of Rights Week” at UNCA featuring the exhibit of North Carolina’s copy. Be sure to check out history, resources and campus events at http://www.unca.edu/bill-of-rights/. Lindsay Hearn and many on campus have put in a lot of work and arranged stimulating programming for the campus and the Asheville community. Be sure to join in and encourage your students to take advantage of this unique local opportunity.

UNCA ON THE RIGHT TRACK
An article in yesterday’s eChronicle reports that this year’s National Survey on Student Engagement shows that “Special experiences like study abroad and undergraduate research make a real difference . . . .” Check it out. Many thanks to Bruce Larson for spotting this!!

“Helicopter Parents Help Students, Survey Finds: Study abroad, research, and big projects are said to improve learning”
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v54/i11/11a00104.htm

ON THE GLOOMIER SIDE
Say it ain’t so ~ especially about UNCA students, but a recent note in the Chronicle’s “Wired Campus” reports that “Michael L. Wesch, an assistant professor of cultural anthropology at Kansas State University, has posted another YouTube video about how students learn. This latest one was produced with 200 of his students and is more provocative than his first video, uploaded to YouTube eight months ago, since it seems to indicate that higher education—-or perhaps just Kansas State University—-is failing to engage students.”

Kansas State U. Students Read Half of Class Material
http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/2462/kansas-state-u-students-read-half-of-class-material?at

Posted by Brandy at 09:18 AM | Permalink

IMPROVED ELECTRONIC RESOURCE

The library is very pleased to announce the availability of a new version of Infotrac, long one of our most useful and popular sources for journal articles in all disciplines. The new version, Academic OneFile, has nearly twice the content, indexing Over 8,000 academic journals, the majority in full-text, available in HTML and PDF formats. Covered subject areas include the physical sciences, technology, medicine, social sciences, the arts, theology, and literature. Other features: Persistent urls so you can add an article link to an email or web page (TIP: use the "bookmark" link to do this), Email & RSS search alerts and Direct links to JSTOR & Web of Science content. Read more about it at:

Ramsey Library News
http://bullpup.lib.unca.edu/mt/2007/09/new_eresource_infotrac_onefile.html

OneFile Web Site
http://gale.cengage.com/pdf/facts/AcademicOneFile.pdf

NEW BOOK ABOUT ASHEVILLE

Helen Wykle, Curator of Special Collections, is very pleased to announce an exciting program!!

EVENT: Nan K. Chase, author Reads from her new book "Asheville: A History"
WHERE: D. H. Ramsey Library Special Collections
WHEN: October 22, 2007
TIME: 6:00 p.m.

RECEPTION AND BOOK-SIGNING TO FOLLOW

Nan Chase’s exciting new book published by McFarland & Co., a North Carolina publishing company, uses a substantial number of images from the UNCA Special collections and is one of the first well-researched books to look at Asheville's urban development with a fresh and critical eye. See http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-3176-2 and also the recent note regarding her reading at Malaprops, Saturday Oct. 6th. http://www.malaprops.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp?s=storeevents&eventId=358219

For more information, visit the Special Collections web site at:
http://toto.lib.unca.edu/WNC_women/chase_nan_k.htm

NOT THAT ANYONE THOUGHT COMPUTERS MADE THINGS EASIER, BUT . . .

From the 17 August Chronicle of Higher Education ~ “Shakespeare didn't have a word processor, but almost all writers today do. Scholars must play a major role in deciding how to preserve and study the various electronic versions of literary works, writes Matthew Kirschenbaum, an associate professor of English at the University of Maryland at College Park.”

“Hamlet.doc? Literature in a Digital Age”
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i50/50b00801.htm

Posted by Brandy at 01:39 PM | Permalink

GOOGLE – READ ALL ABOUT IT!!
Want to know more about GOOGLE than you can find out by “Googling?” Check out Ramsey Library’s blog and Brandy Bourne’s posting “NEW READINGS on Google.” You’ll find everything from The Google Story and Google Hacks to the more sociological The Search: How Google ant Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Changed our Culture!

NEW READINGS on Google
http://bullpup.lib.unca.edu/mt/2007/09/google.html

IMPORTANT NEW SOURCE FOR SPORTS & HEALTH
Ramsey Library recently added the electronic resource SPORTDiscus, “the world's leading database in sport, health, fitness and sports medicine … providing access to fulltext and bibliographic references in such areas as sport medicine, physical education, coaching and training, arts and history, corporate wellness, engineering and health and safety.” This electronic and remotely accessible database “has over 700,000 qualified references from thousands of international periodicals, books, e-journals, conference proceedings, theses, dissertations, and websites as well as has direct links to fulltext articles.”

SPORTDiscus
http://bullpup.lib.unca.edu/scripts/redirect.pl?db=0-search.epnet.com.wncln.wncln.org/login.aspx?authtype=ip,uid&profile=ehost&defaultdb=s3h

NEW WEB RESOURCES
In separate articles, the Chronicle of Higher Education recently announced the advent of two new web resources that are of significant interest to higher education:

* On August 27 the Chronicle reported that “NASA’s storehouse of historic photographs, film, and video will be digitized and made available free on the Internet with the assistance of the Internet Archive, a nonprofit digital library, according to a written statement released Thursday by the two organizations.” See more at:

http://bullpup.lib.unca.edu/scripts/redirect.pl?db=chronicle.com/wiredcampus/index.php?id=2335?=atwc.

* A bit earlier, on August 6, the Chronicle announced the debut of the online “Open Library” ~ “. . . a vast digital card catalog, (where) Web surfers will be able to edit entries, much like in Wikipedia . . . (and which) will also collect books in the public domain, a mission that will bring the library into competition with Google’s much-publicized book-scanning service.” Read more at: http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/index.php?id=2235?=atwc.

Posted by Brandy at 10:03 AM | Permalink

FRIDAY HUMOR

A treat for the end of your week ~ this week’s Chronicle of Higher Education reports that the editors of Motto magazine have come up with a list of “the 10 best college mottos” while casting critical aspersions towards the selection of Stanford’s “The wind of freedom blows” for being somewhat vulnerable to mockery. Following in the tradition of light night talk shows, the Chronicle then speculates on those that might not have “made the cut?” My personal favorites:

"Catering to 'C' students since 1987"
"Where the ill informed become somewhat-less-doltish"
"Now with fewer books!"

Check it out at:

“Dept. of Bad Ideas”
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v54/i03/03a00701.htm

“The Top Ten College Mottos”
http://www.whatsyourmotto.com/Blogs/2007/08/08/college_mottos/

RESEARCH ON UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH

If you haven’t seen it, you’ll want to check out “What Good Is Undergraduate Research, Anyway” in the 17 August Chronicle of Higher Education. Author Lila Guterman notes that “In the past few years, a small cadre of social scientists have, with grants from some of the largest supporters of undergraduate science research, begun systematically studying the effects on students. Three large studies verified some widely held notions about undergraduate research but challenged other assumptions.”

What Good Is Undergraduate Research, Anyway?
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i50/50a01201.htm

Research on Undergraduate Research
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i50/50a01401.htm

AROUND THE STATE

The 7 September Chronicle reports that a “major biotechnology center in a downtrodden North Carolina mill town (Kannapolis) will test supporters' beliefs about economic renewal. Read all about it at:

Building a New Economy With Biotechnology
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v54/i02/02a00101.htm?=attw

Posted by Brandy at 12:44 PM | Permalink

All the folks in Ramsey Library extend a warm welcome to all the new members of our community, welcome back those who were away over the summer, and congratulate all who stayed around for all their hard work. We wish you all the most fulfilling and joyful year.

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CITS

You’ll recall that late last spring Distance Learning Services (Greg Dillingham & Emily Ellis) as well as John Myers (Instructional Technology Consultant) moved organizationally though not physically to become part of the Library’s Media Services under the able leadership of Rudy Moorrees. Recognizing the broadening of mission and following an agonizing search for just the right name, we’re pleased to announce that this new grouping of old friends and reliable professionals is now known as CLASSROOM & INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT (CITS). Be sure to visit their web site.

http://bullpup.lib.unca.edu/library/about/cits.html

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DISTANCE LEARNING CHAMPIONS

As one of the smaller campuses served by NCREN, the North Carolina academic internet system, you wouldn’t necessarily expect us to be among the leaders in the number of total video hours. Nevertheless, Greg Dillingham reports that UNCA’s Distance Learning Services was among the top two institutions for fiscal 2007 with 1,774 hours second only to UNC Wilmington’s 1,798. And we’ve been among the top two nine years running! Many thanks and congratulations to Greg, Emily Ellis, and their student workers. Check out the numbers:

Total Video Hours by Site FY 2007
http://facstaff.unca.edu/kuhlman/2007_site_hours_%20by_month.XLS

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NEW READINGS ON ACADEMIA

The previous issue of NOTES FROM RAMSEY proudly announced the library’s new blog and news section featured in the lower left corner of the library main page < http://bullpup.lib.unca.edu/library/>. As we begin the new year, you’ll want to check out the recent listing of new readings on academia. Who knows? We may find just the thing to make us even better?

New Readings of Academia
http://bullpup.lib.unca.edu/mt/2007/08/new_readings_on_academia.html

Posted by Brandy at 11:20 AM | Permalink

LIBRARY BLOG & NEWS

If you haven’t already seen it, you’ve GOT to take a look at the library’s new blog and news section featured in the lower left corner of the library main page < http://bullpup.lib.unca.edu/library/>. Brandy Bourne, the library’s Web Services Librarian, has worked hard in perfecting this significant addition to the library page and her library colleagues are endeavoring to populate the service with new, useful, and interesting information. When you click on “NEWS” you’ll find yourself in the most recent issue of NOTES FROM RAMSEY LIBRARY and access to an archive preserving all of my mistakes (see especially my having left the sport out of Leigh Svenson’s recent BRONZE MEDAL at the NATIONAL SENIOR GAMES – badminton for those of you who may not know Leigh well). You’ll also find more exciting content such as listings of NEW READINGS posted by Brandy and complete with book jackets and hot links to the catalog record. Brandy’s recent suggestions have included New Readings on American History, American Life, Immigration, and Men & Fatherhood. You’ll also find links to other features such as UNCA student Sasha Hussey’s animated film featured on UNC-TV’s North Carolina Visions and “Bluets & Wilma Dykeman” in Special Collections.

Many thanks to Brandy for all her work and congratulations on a job very well done. We’re very proud of her achievement.

Posted by Brandy at 11:17 AM | Permalink

RAMSEY’S LEIGH SVENSON CONQUERS AGAIN
Continuing his celebrated career, Ramsey Library’s own LEIGH SVENSON and his partner recently claimed the BRONZE MEDAL for their age group at the NATIONAL SENIOR GAMES in Louisville, KY. Congratulations Leigh!!

ARTSTOR EXPANDS ACCESS TO IMAGES
Looking to spruce up your manuscripts?) ARTstor and The Metropolitan Museum of Art began a new collaboration, Images for Academic Publishing (IAP) that allows scholars at ARTstor participating institutions (including UNCA) to download and use, free of charge, high-resolution digital images for academic publications. Initially, nearly 1,700 images representative of the renowned Metropolitan Museum's encyclopedic collection became available through the ARTstor interface to users at all ARTstor participating institutions. For more information and to register see:
http://www.artstor.org/info/tools/tools_iap.jsp

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF LIFE
Students of the life sciences will want to check out the remarkably ambitious ENCYCLOPEDIA OF LIFE, an amazingly ambitious web venture that the CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION has described as planning to catalog over the next 10 years all 1.8 million species of plants and animals known to reside on earth. Better start reading early or you’ll never catch up!!
An Awfully Ambitious Encyclopedia
http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/index.php?id=2055

Posted by Brandy at 04:28 PM | Permalink

PROPOSED WITHDRAWAL OF BOUND JOURNALS

You’ll recall a mid-April email (http://facstaff.unca.edu/kuhlman/Bound_Journals.pdf) describing emerging and evolving plans for Ramsey Library and, most immediately, the library’s recommendation that we withdraw bound journals to make space for future development. You’ll also recall that these bound copies of paper journals and microforms duplicate “. . . holdings that we currently and will continue to subscribe to in a stable electronic format (JSTOR) and for which there is a duplicate and readily available hard-copy at either ASU or WCU (in some instances, both).”

Many thanks for your thoughtful responses. As a result, the library will retain the bound, paper copies of the following titles:

Art Journal

Bound: v. 32, 1972/73 - v. 64, 2005

Classical Journal
Bound: v. 52, 1956/57Bound: v. 55, 1959/60 - v. 71, 1975/76

Once again, many thanks for your help.

Related Links:
Proposed Withdrawal of Bound Journal (email of 4/17/07)
http://facstaff.unca.edu/kuhlman/Bound_Journals.pdf

Proposed Journal Backfile Withdrawals (Microform and Bound)
http://bullpup.lib.unca.edu/library/collections/journal_withdraw07.html

Library Space Planning Project
http://facstaff.unca.edu/sinclair/spaceplan/

Collaborative Learning Commons Proposal
http://facstaff.unca.edu/sinclair/spaceplan/clc.html

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Posted by Site Administrator at 04:52 PM | Permalink

EXTENDED LIBRARY HOURS

Based on student interest and library night supervisor Jon Wheeler's willingness, Ramsey Library extended evening hours to 1 A.M. beginning Sunday, April 29. Updated library hours for the end of semester are as follows:

Sunday, April 29
1 pm - 1 am
Monday, April 30 - Thursday, May 3
8 am - 1 am
Friday, May 4
8 am - 9 pm (Final exams begin)
Saturday, May 5
10 am - 9 pm
Sunday, May 6
11 am - 1 am
Monday, May 7 - Wednesday, May 9
8 am - 1 am
Thursday, May 10
8 am - Midnight (Last day of final exams)
Friday, May 11
8 am - 6 pm

Many thanks to Jon and the Public Services staff serving our students in this way.

Continue reading "NOTES FROM RAMSEY LIBRARY; 2007-9" »

Posted by Brandy at 11:40 AM | Permalink

DON'T MISS THIS EXHIBIT

It's worth a special trip. The next time you're near Ramsey Library stop by opposite the circulation desk and spend some time with Biology's Professor Micael Stuart exquisite wood carvings. He's only been carving for four years, but you'll be amazed by his artistic representations fo wildlife carved in local woods. And, don't miss his sense of humor, either!!

Continue reading "Notes from Ramsey Library; 2007-8" »

Posted by Brandy at 03:30 PM | Permalink

WOMEN’S HISTORY RESOURCES

Well, I’ve managed to miss Women’s History Month (March), but better late than never, I hope. You and your students will want to visit new slide show on Ramsey Library’s “Women's History Resources in D. Hiden Ramsey Library's Special Collections” page. Many thanks to Brandy Bourne, Web Services Librarian, Helen Wykle, Curator of Special Collections, and Jamie Patterson, Special Collections Assistant, for another job very well done in sharing the collections’ contents with us!

Women's History Resources in D. Hiden Ramsey Library's Special Collections

See also:

The National Women's History Project (NWHP)

Continue reading "NOTES FROM RAMSEY LIBRARY; 2007-7" »

Posted by Brandy at 05:42 PM | Permalink

RENOVATION UNDERWAY!

SPECIAL COLLECTIONS CLOSED MARCH 26-30

Ramsey Library Special Collections is transitioning to new shelving which will better accommodate our archival boxes and will expand and refine our available space to better accommodate the new collections we have received over the last half-decade. Unfortunately, for what is a large project we were unable to schedule our vendor during spring break or after classes. We very much regret any inconvenience you or your students may experience and will make every effort to accommodate students and faculty seeking reference assistance. We expect to have our collections back on the new shelves by March 30, but will still have limited time to serve walk-in patrons. It is expected that we will be in full operation by the week of April 9. For an appointment or further information, please call 251-6645.

Please note and remind your students that well over three-quarters of our finding aides are available online at http://toto.lib.unca.edu and http://www.wncheritage.org. Many of the online collections contain full-text and images and access may be satisfied by the electronic surrogate.

Thank you for your patience with this process during a busy semester. We invite all to come see us when the move is completed and re-familiarize yourself with the depth of primary source material that is available for research by students, faculty, and the general public.

Continue reading "NOTES FROM RAMSEY LIBRARY; 2007-6" »

Posted by Brandy at 05:51 PM | Permalink

TEXTBOOKS IN THE UNC SYSTEM

In an article titled “Who Controls Textbook Choices?” in the March 16 edition of INSIDE HIGHER ED (http://insidehighered.com/) reports that the “U. of North Carolina may adopt system wide rules limiting faculty options (with respect to textbooks)...” and that it “...is considering adopting a plan that would require all its campuses to create a guaranteed rental or buyback program for large, lower-division courses.” Read more at http://insidehighered.com/news/2007/03/16/unc.

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INFORMATION LITERACY

An article in the 9 March CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION describes the academe’s growing emphasis on the importance of information literacy and reflects much of UNCA’s current philosophy and practice. You will find an important discussion of current developments in assessing to what extent institutions successfully equip their students for a life of continuing and independent discovery enabled by information literacy – a topic UNCA will need to confront.

“Information Navigation 101”

http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i27/27a03801.htm

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OUR CHANGING INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT

Two essays in THE CHRONICLE REVIEW of 9 March grapple with issues of our current information age. In “The Intellectual in the Infosphere,” Peter J. M. Nicholson. president and chief executive officer of the Council of Canadian Academies, asks if “In the rapidly growing infosphere, has the wisdom of crowds left no room for the sagacity of experts?” In the following article, Edward Tenner argues that “Books, newspapers, and other printed media have enduring advantages, even in the digital age . . .” – especially because they’re more difficult to produce.

“The Intellectual in the Infosphere”

http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i27/27b00601.htm

“The Prestigious Inconvenience of Print”

http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i27/27b00701.htm

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Posted by Site Administrator at 10:14 AM | Permalink

AS STUDENTS BEGIN THOSE PAPERS . . .

In the "long ago past," before the Web at any rate, instructors combated student use of encyclopedia articles and other non-scholarly resources in papers. A common admonition was that student authors could only use materials from "refereed journals." Today's internet-enabled student often poses an even greater challenge. You might want to check out a recent report in the Chronicle of Higher Education that notes that "THIS SPRING, STUDENTS IN HISTORY COURSES at Middlebury College will find a new disclaimer on syllabi warning them that, while Wikipedia is fine for some background research, it is not to be used as a primary source."

SEE http://chronicle.com/daily/2007/02/2007020101t.htm
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HISTORICAL STATISTICS OF THE UNITED STATES ONLINE

When you're students are looking for just the right source for that historical data to verify what they've found on Wikipedia, send them to Ramsey Library's Historical Statistics of the United States, Millennial Edition (Cambridge University Press). There they'll find the hard data on population, work and welfare, economic data, government and international relations from colonial times to the present.

http://bullpup.lib.unca.edu/scripts/redirect.pl?db=hsus.cambridge.org

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STUDENT RETENTION

First among UNC system priorities approved by the Board of Governors in May 2006 is "Student Success: Access, Retention, Graduation, and Affordability." An ad in Presidency, a publication of the American Council on Education, describes the contents of a relatively new book by stating that "In spite of all of the programs and services to help retain students, only 50 percent of those who enter higher education actually earn a bachelor's degree, according to the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Enrollment management and the retention of students remain top priorities of federal and state government, colleges, universities, and parents of students who are attending college and of students themselves. This book offers a formula for student success intended to assist colleges and universities in retaining and graduating students." College Student Retention: Formula for Student Success Edited by Alan Seidman is available in Ramsey Library under the call number LC148.2 .C65 2005. You may also be interested in:

Retaining African Americans in higher education: challenging paradigms for retaining students, faculty, and administrators / edited by Lee Jones Publisher Sterling, Va.: Stylus Pub., 2001, ASU/LC148.2 .R48 2001

Changing student attendance patterns: challenges for policy and practice / Jacqueline E. king, Eugene L. Anderson, Melanie E. Corrigan, editors. San Francisco, CA : Jossey-Bass Publishers, 2003, UNCA/LB2331.72 .N48 no.121 2003

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RESEARCH RESTRICTIONS

On March 2, the electronic Chronicle of Higher Education reported that "PUBLIC ACCESS TO PRESIDENTIAL RECORDS came under scrutiny in the U.S. House of Representatives as a panel of archivists, historians, and lawyers told a subcommittee about threats to access, and lawmakers introduced two bipartisan bills that would reform key aspects of how presidential documents are preserved and controlled." For more, see

http://chronicle.com/daily/2007/03/2007030201n.htm

Posted by Site Administrator at 11:45 AM | Permalink

The Information Commons and the Future of Innovation, Scholarship, and Creativity

Please excuse the late invitation. If interested and if time permits, I hope you will all be able to join in an EDUCAUSE online seminar entitled “The Information Commons and the Future of Innovation, Scholarship, and Creativity.” The program will be from 1 to 2 pm, Thursday, 2/15 in the Kimmel Lab (behind the Reference Desk on the main floor) in Ramsey Library.

This seminar will discuss how intellectual property law and communications policy affect competition, innovation, creativity, and free speech. Gigi B. Sohn, cofounder and president of Public Knowledge, a nonprofit organization that addresses the public’s stake in the convergence of communications policy and intellectual property law, will discuss current policy debates before Congress, the Federal Communications Commission, and the U.S. Copyright Office that could impact these values and the higher education community.

For more information see http://www.educause.edu/LIVE073.

Posted by Brandy at 10:53 AM | Permalink

BLACK HISTORY MONTH AT RAMSEY LIBRARY

Take just a moment to visit a very special new web page featuring Black History Resources in D. Hiden Ramsey Library's Special Collections. You’ll find an excellent slide show crafted by the library’s Web Services Librarian Brandy Bourne drawing on Special Collections’ images and the expertise of Curator of Special Collections Helen Wykle.

http://bullpup.lib.unca.edu/library/projects/slideshow.html

Collection: Heritage of the Black Highlanders
photographs, oral histories, and ephemera (late 1800s - 1970s)

Lucy S Herring Collection
personal correspondence, photographs and papers of educator Lucy S. Herring

Voices of Asheville Oral History Collection
abstracts and transcripts of recordings held in Special Collections

"Making Congregation out of Segregation: the African American Culture and Community in Asheville, early 20th century" research conducted by student, Jenny Wallace

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THE HIGHLAND MESSENGER

The next time you're by Ramsey Café for a coffee and Danish, or if you just need a break, be sure to stop by the current newspaper area on the main floor of Ramsey Library. There you’ll find four pages of the Highland Messenger newspaper of 1841, vol. II, issue 15, an early Whig newspaper published in Asheville, North Carolina, representing one of the earliest newspapers to be printed in western North Carolina. Only the North Carolina Spectator and Western Advertiser and the Carolina Gazette, both Rutherfordton, NC newspapers, appear to be earlier. The pages (two, front and back), in remarkably good condition, contain a prospectus of the newspaper, want ads, local information on slaves, education, women's rights (or non-rights), medical practice, political commentary, humor, and other topics of current interest and entertainment. The early newspaper, published weekly, was priced at two dollars and fifty cents per annum in advance (or "THREE dollars if payment be delayed of the receipt of the 10th number from the time of subscribing.") The circulation is unknown, but it is known that the city of Asheville around 1841 had a population of approximately 500 people. In 1860 the population had more than doubled to approximately 1,100. The newspaper, which began in 1840 and apparently persisted until 1848, when it ceased, would have been published during a time of rapid growth and change in the city. During its brief life the newspaper was also published as the Asheville Messenger, later to be called, simply, The Messenger, from July 22, 1842, to February 3, 1843. The last known issue of the paper was on August 17, 1848.

The newspaper was donated in a matted and framed condition which was not archival. The decision was made to remove the paper from its original housing and to place it in a better archival housing that would allow for the two sides of each of the pages to be seen. Little regarding the provenance of the newspaper is known. Andrew Fischel, nephew of Richard Richards passed the framed paper to his uncle and Richard "Dick" Richards presented the item to the university in September of 2006. Small tears and holes had been repaired with archival tape, but other than these minimal degradations and the loss of pages [?], the newspaper is in remarkable condition for its age. Fragments were removed from the original frame, enclosed in museum glass, framed so that both sides of the two pages might be viewed, and the whole frame, mounted for public viewing by the UNCA facilities staff.

http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/mss/richards/richards_highland_messenger.htm

Posted by Brandy at 10:55 AM | Permalink

ENDNOTE WEB

Before the Holidays, Ramsey Library was very pleased to announce the availability of the bibliographic software package EndNote Web for free use by UNCA students, faculty, and staff. We want to repeat at the risk of sending you too much mail because this can of such great assistance to you and your students.

Provided as a complement to the citation database WEB OF KNOWLEDGE (i.e., WEB OF SCIENCE), EndNote Web is a Web-based reference organizer, and, as the company claims, "It is the ideal, time-saving solution for students and researchers." With EndNote Web you can:

* Search ISI Web of Knowledge, PubMed and hundreds of library OPACs directly
* Import references from hundreds of online bibliographic databases
* Store up to 10,000 records per user account
* Edit reference detail — add notes and keywords, modify any field
* Use over 2,300 publishing styles to format in-text citations and bibliographies
* Cite While You Write™ in Microsoft Word (requires plug-in)
* Format papers in other word processors using RTF (rich text format) files
* Simplify collaboration with colleagues — share EndNote Web folders
* Use EndNote Web toolbars in Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla® to access your reference library in one click, and capture citation data easily (requires plug-in)
* Transfer references between EndNote Web and EndNote X seamlessly (desktop to Web or Web to desktop)

To find more information about
EndNote Web, click on / or follow the EndNote Web link under "Spotlight" on the Library home page
http://bullpup.lib.unca.edu/library/. Be sure to check the "For More Information" block on the right of the page. There you'll find a link to follow to "Learn more via recorded presentations." The 8 minute "Introduction to EndNote Web" is very useful and provides instructions on how to set up your account.

I (Jim) did set up an account so it is possible for the near illiterate. It can be confusing. If trying from on campus:

1. Click on "start using EndNote Web today" under "For more information" on the EndNote Web information page http://www.isiwebofknowledge.com/endnoteweb. That will take you to the ISI Web of Knowledge home page.
2. On the Web of Knowledge home page, look to the RIGHT where you'll find "Please Register for More Features." If you have not registered previously, click on "Sign in to access EndNote Web."
3. The next screen will ask for your full email address (e.g., kuhlman@unca.edu) which become your user name to access EndNote and for you to create an 8 character password. Be sure to click on the rules for password construction. This password must contain at least one of a certain set of characters.
4. That should do it.

If signing up from off campus you must access the ISI Web of Knowledge home page by going through the library page so that the proxy server will recognize that you're an authorized user. If you simply click the link under spotlight, you won't see the part of the page that let's you create an account. try these steps:

1. Go the the library home page, http://bullpup.lib.unca.edu/library/.
2. Click on "Research Databases."
3. On the next screen, click on "Browse the Title List."
4. On the next screen, click on "S-Z".
5. On the next screen, click on "W."
6. On the next screen, finally, click on "Web of Science."
7. From here on out, it's the same as on campus access.

Please let us know if you have any questions or need any assistance. We hope that your semester is off to a great start.

Posted by Brandy at 11:08 AM | Permalink

ENDNOTE WEB

Ramsey Library is very pleased to announce the availability of the bibliographic software package EndNote Web for free use by UNCA students, faculty, and staff. I wanted to let the bibliographically enthused members of our community know of EndNote's availability as soon as I could in case you find yourselves sated with holiday feasting and looking for a project far from the madding crowd.

Provided as a complement to the citation database WEB OF KNOWLEDGE (i.e., WEB OF SCIENCE), EndNote Web is a Web-based reference organizer, and, as the company claims, "It is the ideal, time-saving solution for students and researchers." With EndNote Web you can:

* Search ISI Web of Knowledge, PubMed and hundreds of library OPACs directly
* Import references from hundreds of online bibliographic databases
* Store up to 10,000 records per user account
* Edit reference detail — add notes and keywords, modify any field
* Use over 2,300 publishing styles to format in-text citations and bibliographies
* Cite While You Write™ in Microsoft Word (requires plug-in)
* Format papers in other word processors using RTF (rich text format) files
* Simplify collaboration with colleagues — share EndNote Web folders
* Use EndNote Web toolbars in Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla® to access your reference library in one click, and capture citation data easily (requires plug-in)
* Transfer references between EndNote Web and EndNote X seamlessly (desktop to Web or Web to desktop)

To find more information about
EndNote Web, click on / or follow the EndNote Web link under "Spotlight" on the Library home page
http://bullpup.lib.unca.edu/library/. Be sure to check the "For More Information" block on the right of the page. There you'll find a link to follow to "Learn more via recorded presentations." The 8 minute "Introduction to EndNote Web" is very useful and provides instructions on how to set up your account.

I (Jim) did set up an account so it is possible for the near illiterate. It can be confusing. If trying from on campus:

1. Click on "start using EndNote Web today" under "For more information" on the EndNote Web information page http://www.isiwebofknowledge.com/endnoteweb. That will take you to the ISI Web of Knowledge home page. 2. On the Web of Knowledge home page, look to the RIGHT where you'll find "Please Register for More Features." If you have not registered previously, click on "Sign in to access EndNote Web." 3. The next screen will ask for your full email address (e.g., kuhlman@unca.edu) which become your user name to access EndNote and for you to create an 8 character password. Be sure to click on the rules for password construction. This password must contain at least one of a certain set of characters. 4. That should do it.

If signing up from off campus you must access the ISI Web of Knowledge home page by going through the library page so that the proxy server will recognize that you're an authorized user. If you simply click the link under spotlight, you won't see the part of the page that let's you create an account. try these steps:

1. Go the the library home page, http://bullpup.lib.unca.edu/library/. 2. Click on "Research Databases." 3. On the next screen, click on "Browse the Title List." 4. On the next screen, click on "S-Z". 5. On the next screen, click on "W." 6. On the next screen, finally, click on "Web of Science." 7. From here on out, it's the same as on campus access.

Actually, I hope your holidays are too interesting and too filled with joy for you to bother with this, but . . . .

From all of us at Ramsey Library, the HAPPIEST OF HOLIDAYS!!

Posted by Site Administrator at 05:34 PM | Permalink

USING HUMANITIES LECTURE HALL
A reminder from the stalwart folks in Media Services – when you book the Humanities Lecture Hall for any kind of a program, please be sure to schedule media tech support with Media Services (media_request@unca.edu) (6996 or 6540). The new equipment requires trained support and your reservation via Will White do not complete the arrangements.

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HISTORY & THE BURGEONING USE OF DIGITAL MAPS

Historian and Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at U. of Virginia Edward L. Ayers confesses that when he announced that he was going to grad school in history his mom, a 5th grade teacher, asked "What for, honey? We already know what happened.” So you know this guy has to be believed!? Anyway, take a look at Dean Ayers’ article on the use of digital maps and GIS to make historical data more visual. There’s much here for the application of technology and visualization techniques for UNCA.

From the Chronicle dated November 10, 2006

With Digital Maps, Historians Chart a New Way into the Past
A push to make historical data more visual could yield a better understanding of events

“While other disciplines have found ways to represent complex phenomena using illustrations that overlay many types of information, Mr. Ayers says, history has for the most part focused on written narratives, linear stories that set forth an overriding argument. But since life is messy, and the lives of so many individuals are sure to be influenced by a variety of forces in ways that are hard to describe, pictures might prove to be history's next frontier.”

http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i12/12a03301.htm

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UNIVERSITY PRESSES SET STANDARD FOR USE OF RECYCLED PAPER

As universities in general, and UNCA in particular, work ever harder to preserve and enhance our environment while serving as exemplars to our wider society, it’s good to note that scholarly publishing is helping to lead the way. This one you might want to share with your students.

From the Chronicle dated October 6, 2006

University Presses Set the Standard in Use of Recycled Paper

University presses are opting for recycled paper in their books, finding that they can do good while doing well.

http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i07/07a01901.htm

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Posted by Site Administrator at 05:47 PM | Permalink

NEW REFERENCE SOURCES FROM NC LIVE

You'll recall that Ramsey Library provides access to electronic products paid for by NC LIVE -- a collaboration of UNC system, public, community college, and private college libraries largely funded by the legislature.
These include some mainstays such as WorldCat, InfoTrac, and ABI-Inform and frees funds so that we can buy other materials you and your students need.
NC LIVE recently purchased some additional electronic reference sources which are available via the libraries web site . You'll find some of the titles in the Gale Virtual Reference Library more appropriate for K-12, some may be of particular interest to you or your students. The latest edition of the COLLEGE BLUE BOOK is available in this collection as well as several encyclopedias under "History." You'll also find the 9th edition of the AFRICAN AMERICAN ALMANAC, the 3rd ed. of the ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOETHICS, and the 2004 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ISLAM AND THE MUSLIM WORLD. You'll find these and more listed under GALE VIRTUAL REFERENCE LIBRARY at:

http://bullpup.lib.unca.edu/library/eres/erestitle.html

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CQ WEEKLY REPORT ONLINE

Another precious and important gift from our friends at NC LIVE is online, full-text access to the CQ (Congressional Quarterly) WEEKLY REPORT. The paper version and its annual cumulations into the CQ ALMANAC have long offered basic news and insiders' insights into goings on in the federal government. Give the online version a try if you're at all interested in national politics. Don't let your political science buddies use it up!

CQ WEEKLY REPORT: http://library.cqpress.com/index.php

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Posted by Site Administrator at 05:37 PM | Permalink