Cites & Bytes @ Bailey

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

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Bobby Seale Coming to Campus....


Bobby Seale will be speaking on campus on Wednesday, February 7, at 8:00 pm in the University Union. Why are these books still checked in?

A Lonely Rage: The Autobiography of Bobby Seale.
E 185.97 .S4 A33 1978
The Black Panthers Leaders Speak by Huey P. Newton, Bobby Seale, Eldridge Cleaver et al.
E 185.615 .B546
White justice: Black Experience Today in America's Courtrooms by Sara Blackburn.
KF 4757 .Z9 B4
Law's Stories: Narrative and Rhetoric in the Law.
K 213 .L398 1996
The Chicago Seven Political Protest Trial by Karen Alonso.
345.73 A4546c

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

The Snowy Day....

With apologies to Ezra Jack Keats, some indoor adventures for you....

  • Someone created art with book titles beginning with "The World of...." We have 519 "World of" books in our online catalog, from The World of A Market to The World of Zen.









  • Check out the Unshelved Book Club, books reviewed in comic book format every Sunday.... Overdue Media, creators of the Unshelved Book Club, also sponsored a fun "Pimp My Bookcart " contest. Read more here....

Monday, January 29, 2007

Recently Read by Steve*....

What is the What by Dave Eggers

I’ll be honest: I’ve never had any idea of what’s going on in Sudan. I understand that the country has been in a state of civil war for some time and the name Darfur rings a bell, but I never had any idea of the significance. When I read that Eggers was writing a book about a Sudanese refugee a while back, I was nonplussed. Is the situation so urgent than a contemporary writer needed to spend four years working on an autobiographical novel about one of these mysterious people? In a word, yes. What is the What is the harrowing story of Valentino Achak Deng, an account of his journey from his home village of Marial Bai to Ethiopia, to Kenya, and to America. The book is drenched in despair, but isn’t without its lighthearted moments. At 475 pages, the book is epic and sprawling, but never a bore. After reading it, I feel that I’ve gained some knowledge of what’s happening in Sudan, but there are so many groups and tribes to keep track of that the whole situation is still pretty perplexing.

King Dork by Frank Portman

This is the first novel to come from Frank Portman (better known to some as Dr. Frank of the Berkeley pop punk band the Mr. T Experience). Portman’s ability to craft wonderful three minute songs seems to have transferred well to the novel format. The book is clever and endearing; a very truthful account of an introvert’s sophomore year in high school. Though the book is categorized as a Young Adult/Teen, it seems the people who might enjoy it the most are in their early- to mid-twenties, as they will be more likely to catch Portman’s esoteric references to 70s rock music and 60s literature. The book has been a success both critically and commercially, and it might be wise for our library to think about buying a copy of it (hint, hint).

*Steve is one of our intelligent, thoughtful, and well read student library assistants.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

Curl up with a good movie from the Instructional Materials Center. Search over 5,000 titles here and in the online catalog... you might be surprised what we have in the library collection!

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Exciting New Search Engine

Recently at the Mid Winter meeting of the American Library Association we heard about a cool new Search Engine called PolyMeta. This site uses the major search tools, Google, Yahoo, MSN, and ASK and quickly provides compiled results. The cool thing is that in the left frame it provides topical navigation to allow the user to quickly zero in on exactly what they are looking for. With the sample searches I tried I actually found information on several favorite topics that I had missed out on. Check it out at http://www.polymeta.com

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Prizes....

for achievement in children's literature were announced on Monday by the American Library Association in Seattle. The biggies are the Newbery, the Caldecott, and the Coretta Scott King, but many others are recognized. Read more here... and watch for these titles to arrive in the IMC soon.


Friday, January 19, 2007

Book Sale!


The Friends of Bailey Library are sponsoring a used book and media sale next week, Monday, January 22, to Friday, January 26. Lots of goodies, including hardbound books for $1.00, paperbacks for 50 cents, children's books $1.00 per bag, videos and books on tape for $1.00, educational kits 2 for $1.00, and phonograph records for FREE! There are a lot of funky old pictures in the sale also.... everything from presidential portraits to old engravings to vintage teaching aids. Come check it out! There's something for everyone and the money goes to fund the reading room and other library projects.

UPDATE: Mary Purdy reports that the Friends of Bailey Library earned $550.00 with the book sale. That rocks! Thank you everyone!

Database Spotlight....

CQ Researcher is the perfect database to find comprehensive overviews on current and controversial topics.

Doing a speech on video games? A paper on identity theft? Need to choose a topic? College Writing II and Public Speaking students will find this database extremely useful when searching for in-depth, unbiased information about current issues in health, social trends, criminal justice, international affairs, education, the environment, technology, and the economy. Each issue is devoted to a single topic and provides a chronology of important dates, background, current situation, future outlook, additional reading suggestions, and a pro/con feature on a particular aspect of the issue.

This is also one of the databases that lets you email full-text articles (and complete issues,) tells you how to cite them, and lets you save your searches and favorite documents in a personalized account. Recent issues include: Factory Farms, The New Environmentalism, Video Games, Understanding Islam, Voting Controversies, and Stem Cell Research. Check it out here or find it with our other databases here....

Thursday, January 18, 2007

The Return of Friday Fluff....


Bringing you the best of barely relevant nonsense from the web....

Man returns book overdue from 1960...
Stop dog-earing pages, get book darts....
Quiz time! Name the book based on the first line...
Bizarre Japanese game show, set in a library....

New Personnel....

Welcome to Michael Hildreth, our newly hired evening security officer. Officer Hildreth will be supervising the building in the wee small hours of the morning, as we return to 2:00 am hours on Sunday, January 21.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Congratulations!

Business and Electronic Access Librarian Cathy Rudowsky received her M.B.A. on December 17 from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Well done!

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Honoring Dr. King...

ResourceShelf points the way to a rich collection of resources on the life and work of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.

Sunday, January 07, 2007

This, That, The Other Thing....


....and one more from the Defacing Old Books to Create Tacky Craft Projects Dept:
Turn a book into a clock via Lifehacker (and Leigh Forbes)

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Recently Read, Heard, Skimmed, Abandoned....

I know I suggested that certain titles should have been read in 2006, based on those end-of-year "Best" lists... but what with being named Time Man of the Year and all (or was that You?) I haven't had a lot of time for reading those particular tomes. Here is a short summary of what I have been perusing instead:

From KidzWorld:

George Crum and the Saratoga Chip by Gaylia Taylor and Frank Morrison.
The story of the inventor of the potato chip with lively, vibrant illustrations. Very engaging, good multicultural resource, and doesn't gloss over the obstacles Crum faced trying to become a chef.



The Last Dance by Carmen Agra Deedy and Debrah Santini.
Childhood sweethearts steal away and dance around the graveyard in the moonlight, grow up, marry, and promise that the last one standing will dance on the other's grave. Some may find this sweet... I found it as creepy as the mother who crawls in the window in Love You Forever.



D is for Dragon Dance by Ying Chang Compestine and Yongsheng Xuan.
Gorgeous ABC of Chinese New Year traditions, full of information about Chinese culture. Not really an ABC for little children (Hello? V is for Veneration?) but successfully uses the ABC and picture book format to describe holiday preparations.

Duck and Goose by Tad Hills.
Loved it! Simple illustrations and a charming story about a duck and goose who try to hatch a soccer ball. This little gem about sharing and cooperating is definitely a good pick for little children.

Porcupining: A Prickly Love Story and Hokey Pokey: Another Prickly Love Story by Lisa Wheeler and Janie Bynum.
Sweet, charming, funny. Cushion the porcupine awkwardly attempts to woo other animals at the petting zoo and finally finds true compatibility with Barb the hedgehog. In Hokey Pokey, Cushion asks various animals to teach him to dance.


Mabela the Clever by Margaret Read McDonald and Tim Coffey.
Mabela... Melba... get it? The illustrations are unique and strong in this story of an alert little mouse who outwits a scheming cat. For those who like their literature with a lesson, this retelling of an African folktale conveys some important cautions for children and would be an excellent story hour choice.

A Movie in My Pillow/Una Pelicula En Mi Almohoda: Poems by Jorge Argueta and Elizabeth Gomez .
English and Spanish texts are provided for poems contrasting life in El Salvador with life in San Francisco. Bold, bright illustrations create context and enhance the poetry.


Big Susan by Elizabeth Orton Jones.
I am a sucker for dollhouse books and this one is enchanting, originally published in the 1940's and perfectly portraying the world from the dolls' point of view. Again, the illustrations do much to enhance the text and help to convey the innocent life of the dolls who come alive on Christmas eve. But please, someone, where was Big Susan? What happened to her? Why was she gone?

From TeenLand:

Here Lies the Librarian by Richard Peck.
I love Richard Peck's books, big fan of the Blossom Culp series, and thoroughly enjoyed The Teacher's Funeral. But who are these teens he writes for? I have never been able to interest one in these nostalgic comedies and the humor really seems lost on them. I'm sure every librarian in the world bought the book, but I am not sure they should have bothered.



The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.
Recommended by a patron who assured me I would cry, this book should also have an adult audience. It is narrated by Death, set in World War II Germany, and is indeed full of heartbreak. The book is beautifully crafted and appeals on many levels... any book lover can understand the young heroine's need to read, even to steal the books that help her preserve her sanity, and many of the main characters are unbearably touching: foster father Hans; Jewish refugee Max; and best friend Rudy. Even odd incidental characters like the mayor's frizzy haired wife present a complex human puzzle. Perhaps that is the book's strongest point... no one is solely good or evil, but more fully portrayed and shaded. Apparently, the book is based on the experiences of the author's grandmother and yes, I did cry.

Big People Books:

A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell.
Is it me? It must be me. This is a complex historical novel set in World War II Italy, centered on the efforts of the Italian people to rescue and harbor Jewish refugees. The characters were very interesting, particularly the young heroine, Claudette, but I just couldn't hold my interest as story lines switched back and forth rapidly. Perhaps it was the rush of the holidays that made me lose my place so often and drop this Thread. Russell has a solid fan base for her futuristic writings and I believe a more focused reading of this work would have been more rewarding. I believe this book is a composite of true stories and experiences.


My Life in France by Julia Child.
Although I listened to the abridged audio version of this autobiography, I would definitely recommend it to those interested in the culinary arts, France, and/or Julia Child. It's full of fascinating information about all of the above and great details about Julia's love affair with France... and how she tested all of the recipes (248 lbs. of flour for baguettes!) for her landmark cookbook. Brush with Fame moment: I once saw Julia Child at the Somerville Star Market in Boston and shamelessly gawked.

Christmas at the New Yorker: Stories, Poems, Humor, and Art by the New Yorker and John Updike.
A large collection to be enjoyed for many holidays to come, full of beloved New Yorker cartoons and those lovely period pieces about office parties and discontented couples.

Jesus Land: A Memoir by Julia Scheeres.
Just getting started on this Women's Studies Book Discussion choice and so far engrossed in the story of a young girl and her adopted black brothers in the midwest. More later....