Cites & Bytes @ Bailey

a library newsletter, a compendium of interesting tidbits, a communication tool....from Bailey Library @ Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania. (Site Feed)

Thursday, September 28, 2006

A Wealth of Web Worthiness...

Cruising the web so you don't have to...

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Recently Read....

Bang! by Sharon Flake
Sharon Flake, you are breaking my heart. This is a grim and unrelenting book about a boy, his grieving family, and the random violence that careens through their neighborhood. Mann is the young hero, an artist, a boy who loves horses, whose little brother was senselessly shot on the porch one day. Pain shreds his family and they struggle to cling to their separate life rafts, with devastating results. Mann's father's desperation is alternately frightening and moving... he actually abandons Mann and his friend at a campground with a handgun in an attempt to teach them survival skills. Flake is very real in her writing and this one is gripping.

Love That Dog by Sharon Creech.
And you, too, Sharon Creech... also breaking my heart with the poem about the boy's dog being hit by a car. This quick read traces, in verse, a young boy's aversion to poetry and his gradual embrace of expression. I read this one day during lunch. Simple and effective first person... the poems that Jack's teacher uses in class are reproduced in the back of the book.



Educating Esme: Diary of a Teacher's First Year by Esme Raji Codell. Education majors, you should run right out and read this book! Also a quick read and hard to put down, Esme Codell is funny, inspiring, and innovative. From leering principals to abusive parents, Esme somehow keeps her soul alive and finds the energy and nerve to sass back. Most importantly, she keeps the well-being and the education of her students always foremost, even on the darkest days. Liberally sprinkled with f-words and laugh-out-loud descriptions, this book is extremely funny, extremely sad, and extremely real, all in one package. You have to enjoy a book about teaching that includes these lines: "They stabbed the substitute today. In the back, with a pencil. The paramedics said it was only a flesh wound." She made little miracles in the Chicago public school where she worked... she should be proud.

Educating Alice: Adventures of a Curious Woman by Alice Steinbech. Lucky (and hard working and talented) Alice travels and writes about it for a living. In this autobiographical/travelogue/continuing education book, she undertakes cooking school at the Ritz in Paris, dancing in Kyoto, border collie training in Scotland, and architecture in Havana. Very pleasant reading, although the recurrent references to the Scottish grandmother in the cape and tam and the mysterious Japanese romance seem a little out of place, sort of like someone breaking into the first person on a library blog. Perhaps reading her first book, Without Reservations, is a prerequisite to appreciating the personal references. Love the premise of exploring the world by following your interests and her descriptions of people and places are very expressive.

Educating Rita by Willy Russell. This play about a beautician who wants an education became a movie starring Michael Caine as the world weary professor who is educated by her.... a Pygmalion-like tale wherein the creation ultimately must break with the creator, also a reflection of Russell's own working class roots. It's been a long time since I read a play... very enjoyable, touching and funny. Frank, the professor, claims at one point he would have to "bugger the bursar" in order to be dismissed from the university, which made me smile. I particularly liked Russell's "reluctant" introduction relating the obstacles he overcame to achieve his own educational aspirations. Russell is also the author of Shirley Valentine and active in music today.

Yeah, I know, what's with the Educating titles? Just a whim...

Some quick picture books... poor me, part of my job... Dona Flor, Celia Cruz, Queen of Salsa, Mahjong All Day Long, and Are We There Yet? All beautifully illustrated multicultural books for children.

Saturday, September 23, 2006

Banned...

"Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us."—Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas," The One Un-American Act." Nieman Reports, vol. 7, no. 1 (Jan. 1953): p. 20.

Banned Books Week is September 23-30... a good time to talk about censorship and intellectual freedom. The American Library Association has a variety of resources available, including background information, banned book lists, and an action guide. (Also, being the ALA, selling bracelets, posters, etc.)

American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression has a fun poster of the Statue of Liberty reading the book in her hand...
Google takes a break from digitizing to urge us to Celebrate Your Freedom to Read...
Good news from USA Today... Challenged books drop to a new low...

Library Thing, the you-catalog, is sponsoring a banned book "bookpile" (see image.) A bookpile signifies the number of books in your virtual listing that correspond to a theme... last week pirates, this week banned books.

And locally, watch for displays and special Banned Book READ posters produced by the Public Relations committee and student assistant K-Ci. Have your own little party and read some of the titles that have been challenged... it's a mark of distinction. After all, "if you are not offending people who ought to be offended, you are doing something wrong" ... Noam Chomsky.

Friday, September 22, 2006

Honorable Mentions....

Library Director Phil Tramdack recommends topix.net, a useful news site... and American Rhetoric, an online speech bank....
Librarian Jane Smith refers to Congoo, offering the NetPass toolbar to provide free access to premium websites, like the New York Times...
Librarian Del Hamilton informs us about the ERIC web site redesign...
Librarian Lynn Hoffmann tells us about new additions to Book Index with Reviews, now featuring music and videos....

and you guys thought I wasn't paying attention!

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Pop Quiz....

Here's some favorite Friday fun: Take the book quiz and discover which famous book (64 classic choices) matches your personality! I took it twice and am apparently schizophrenic.














The university quiz is fun, too. Quel suprise! I am the University of California at Berkeley.

Bibliotrivia Time...

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Arr!

I totally forgot it was Talk Like a Pirate Day! I hope it's not too late to throw a few "ahoys" and "avasts!" I am so sorry I missed the opportunity to embarrass myself in front of my classes today. Check the following sites for additional piratical lore...
Blackbeard the Pirate and the Presumed Wreck of the Queen Anne's Revenge
Pirate Activities for Children from National Geographic
All About Pirates from the National Maritime Museum

Monday, September 18, 2006

Spotlight: Sports Business Research Network...

or SBRnet, as its friends like to call it. Want to know the average attendance at a Steelers game? Want to know how much U.S. consumers spend on sneakers? This subscription website/database is licensed for use by Slippery Rock students, faculty, and staff and contains a large quantity of sports marketing information.

Librarian Lynn Hoffmann informs us that the site premiered a new look today... users can more easily locate information on individual sports, products, and topics. Of interest to sport management majors are statistics and fact sheets on sport facilities, for example. Physical education majors might find statistics on sports participation. Business majors may be interested to see market research on consumer expenditures, import statistics, and attendance by sport. The new web interface makes searching SBRnet a more streamlined and seamless experience... take a look.

Friday, September 15, 2006

We are 75% Cheerful...


The American Film Institute has named the 100 most inspiring movies... 100 Years, 100 Cheers. Just wanted you to know that we own 75 of the 100, so stop by the IMC and check one out if you're feeling low. The IMC popular video index is here...

Thursday, September 14, 2006

For the Child in All of Us....


Celebrity Baby Names... sleep tight, little Moxie Crimefighter! Beddie-bye, little Bogart Che!
What does the piggy say? Groin Groin? Animal sounds in different languages...
and the annual Best Books for Babies list from Pittsburgh-based Beginning with Books...

If you are in our neighborhood on Saturday, the Early Childhood Club is doing a storytime at 1:00 in the Instructional Materials Center. Don't be a baby... stop by!

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Congratulations Are in (Alphabetical) Order...

Congratulations to retired librarians Jane Scott Cleary and Susan Ferrandiz, who have been awarded Emeritus status and to Librarian Judy Silva, who was recently tenured.

but wait, there's more... Librarians Martina Nicholas and Cathy Rudowsky have had their research on library anxiety among business students accepted at ACRL... a huge deal in the library world!

We are proud and happy for all!

When do we adjourn to the brewery to celebrate?

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

An@tomy n'at...

A new resource of interest to all health related majors: An@tomy.tv... Access it here
or via the Databases page...

From the official description: The world's most detailed 3D model of human anatomy available online and on CD-ROM. Includes features such as interactive zoom, rotation, angle, interactive layers, extensive text, MRI, clinical slides and xrays, live action movies, animations, radiology slides, dissection videos and slides, surface anatomy videos and slides. Focuses on muscles, ligaments, nerves, veins, arteries, bones.

Monday, September 11, 2006

New Trial Databases...

These databases are currently available on a trial basis here.... Please send feedback to Librarian Lynn Hoffmann.

Curriculum Resource Center: Junior Edition (9/5/06 - 10/3/06)
For the elementary teacher this resource can supplement texts and lesson plans with printable handouts such as maps, timelines, science diagrams, etc.
World Atlas (9/5/06 - 10/3/06)
Printable full color maps of countries, provinces and states as well as statistics and local information can be found in this resource.

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Remembering...



September 11 Resources and Archives from Resource Shelf

War Against Terrorism Documents from the University of Michigan

Remembrances left on the fence surrounding the World Trade Center site, flickr.com photo by Raul

Saturday, September 09, 2006

Clippings Run Amuck...

I use Bloglines to track various news sources and "clip" those that are interesting to me or perhaps blog-worthy. Occasionally, the clipping list gets very, very long and I must tidy up with what is known in the blog world as a "linkdump." For example:

The Library Metaphor, an editorial on learning and knowledge, by Roger Schank...

Google has launched a News Archive search... 200 years worth!
Resource Shelf gives a good summary of various online reference services... AskHere PA didn't make the cut... yet. California, Maryland, Colorado, Indiana, and Oregon did.
The Resource Shelf people never sleep... here is a good summary of search engines for radio and TV transcripts....
Microsoft just launched their online question service....

RedLightGreen is going offline, with interesting comparisons to the newly released WorldCat, from Resource Shelf...
LibraryThing notes some book swap sites... What's on My Bookshelf?, the previously mentioned Book Mooch, and Read It Swap It...

Ancient Writings Revealed... hidden messages from Archimedes... from the National Science Foundation, Stanford, and others...
Free printable Highway Travel Guides...
Some fascinating card catalog art, from the University of Iowa, via librarian.net...
While you're at it, have some fun with the catalog card generator, same source...
Curious George finally got his own TV show... or is that a step down after the movie?

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Roethlisberger and Reading...


Ben Roethlisberger graces the newest ALA READ poster (and my office door... Go Steelers!)

Monday, September 04, 2006

In Comments...


Interesting piece from the New York Times Sunday Book Review on the conversation John Adams had with his books... making notes in the margins, carrying on whole discussions and debates with the authors of the times like Mary Wollstonecraft and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. ...And an interesting conclusion, comparing blogs and the comments on blogs to this same sort of marginalia.