Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Colossians 3:15
The staff at Ramaker Library wishes you a happy Thanksgiving. We also want to remind you that our hours do change for the holiday:
Tuesday, Nov 24: 7:30am – 5pm
Wednesday, Nov 25: 8am – 4:30pm
Thursday, Nov 26: Closed
Friday, Nov 27: Closed
Saturday, Nov 28: Closed
Sunday, Nov 29: 6pm – 12am (reference librarian available from 6-9pm)
Enjoy your break!
Today the New Oxford American Dictionary, part of Oxford University Press USA, announced its choice for Word of the Year: unfriend. According to Oxford, unfriend is a verb that means, “To remove someone as a ‘friend’ on a social networking site such as Facebook.”
While the word certainly has a new meaning, it’s not really a new word. In fact, when searching the Oxford English Dictionary Online, references will be found for the verb “unfriend” back in the 17th century — well before the Facebook era. Other words in the running for this year’s top word included birther, green state, deleb, hashtag, intexticated, funemployed and netbook. If you’re wondering what any of those means, check out this blog post by Oxford.
If you’re ever curious about the development of a word or phrase, give the Oxford English Dictionary Online a try; this authoritative source tracks the history and usage of the English language.
CQ Researcher is a VERY popular resource at Ramaker Library. It contains full-text reports on current issues and is a great place to start your research. Each report provides charts, graphs, stats, as well as background information.
The newest report is entitled:
Online Privacy: Do Americans Need Better Protection – As the author Patrick Marshall states, ”millions of americans store important personal data on the internet from credit-card numbers and bank account information to family photos”. How vulnerable is that information to being stolen by computer hackers? How do you feel about advertizers collecting information about your personal marketing behaviors(what you buy over the internet) and selling that information to others? Find some answers to these questions and more in this latest report.
Other interesting reports coming up include:
CQ Researcher is located on the library homepage in the Quick links box.
Finding journals can be a little tricky. Sometimes Ramaker has journals in print on our shelves, sometimes we subscribe to a single journal in its electronic version and sometimes we have access to a journal through a database subscription.
If you wonder whether we have access to a certain journal, your best first step is to visit our Journal Finder. (It’s the link at the very top of our Quick Links list on our home page.)
Here, type in the name of the journal you are looking for. NOTE: The search function here is for journal titles; entering an article title or article keywords will not return relevant results.
For example, let’s say you were looking for the Journal of American History. Type that title into the search box.
On the results screen, scroll to your title. The list below the title shows Ramaker’s holdings. Journal of American History is available in Academic Search Premier, E-Journals from EBSCO, History Cooperative, JSTOR and in the stacks at Ramaker. Be sure to pay attention to the dates; not all issues are available in all locations.
If you have any questions, please let a librarian know.
Last year we surveyed the juniors and seniors about the library, getting their feedback on our facility, services and collections. Students indicated their desires to have more titles, especially more current titles, that offer specifically Christian perspectives on current topics.
This fall, we added a number of titles in Religion and Christianity. While this is not a comprehensive list, some interesting additions include the following:
This summer Ramaker Library began creating subject guides for students. These guides, named LibGuides, are intended to help you begin researching in a topic. We understand that the library can be a confusing place at times; there are just so many online and print resources that it can be difficult to know where to look for information.
These guides point you to the best databases, reference books and journals we have. We also offer tips on how to conduct searches and how to use interlibrary loan. Some guides also include industry news, recommended web sites and even podcasts.
While we do not have subject guides created for every subject, we are continuing to add new ones frequently. 
To see what is currently available, visit our LibGuides home page. You can also click the Subject and course guides button on the Ramaker web site.
Each year, Ramaker staff looks through parts of the collection and removes items that are out-of-date or damaged. We did not want these books to end up in a landfill, so we began partnering with Better World Books, who resells them, donates them to literacy charities, or recycles them properly. Did you know that 97% of a book can be recycled as usable fiber? Here’s how Ramaker’s partnership with Better World Books has impacted our environment.
Pretty cool, huh?
Librarians aren’t the only ones saying it. Professor John Vonder Bruegge reminds students to read each time they walk into Ramaker. As the recipient of Northwestern’s Teaching Excellence award, his poster now hangs on the Ramaker mezzanine.
Ramaker continues to add to our collection – our furniture collection, that is. After we rearranged this summer, we thought a few end tables would be nice additions to our furniture groupings. Thanks to the generosity of a local citizen, we now have new (new to us, anyway) coffee and end tables in our cozy lounge areas. What’s next, Snuggies for everyone?
Google Books has recently digitized a large collection of LIFE magazines and made them available, free of charge, online. Back issues of LIFE Magazine are always a treat to thumb through, viewing the amazing photography and checking out the ads of the era. (I saw a great advertisement while flipping through this collection today — Giving a Party? Use plenty of Genuine Ice. Hmmm, genuine ice? Is there counterfeit ice? And who knew ice needed to advertise itself?)
To access the LIFE Magazine collection, visit Google Books. You can search the issues by keyword, or you can browse through them issue by issue. Google has also added a cool thumbnail view tool which allows you to see all the pages in one issue. To do so, click the thumbnail icon along the top; it’s circled in the screenshot below.
At Ramaker, we continue to expand our collection of great reference works. Here are two of the latest to hit our virtual shelves:
Great for:
Nursing, Psychology studentsGreat for:
Political Science , Social Work, Sociology students
This fall, Ramaker Library has a new display in our lobby. The collection, courtesy of Laurie Furlong and Todd Tracy in the Biology department, highlights the ecological varieties in our area. The collection includes beautiful photography and an impressive display of butterflies, beetles and other bugs. Next time you stop at the library, be sure to check this out. (There’s a library pun for you!)
On the mezzanine (aka top floor) of Ramaker Library, we have a collection of works that faculty have contributed to and written. This fall, we are highlighting the works of two Northwestern faculty.
Professor Emeritus Syl Scorza taught religion and Greek at Northwestern, and he has also served as president of the General Synod of the Reformed Church of America. A true scholar, Professor Scorza has continued throughout retirement to take classes from a variety of disciplines.
Professor Michael Yoder began teaching Sociology at Northwestern in 1982. While his work has explored many topics in sociology, one of his greatest scholarly accomplishments was completing a census of the Mennonite church. Having lived in both Brazil and Costa Rica, Dr. Yoder also has a heart for Latin American culture.
Works by both Dr. Scorza and Dr. Yoder are currently on display in our Faculty Collection.
Last fall, we conducted a survey of students to learn more about their opinions about Ramaker. We learned that students wanted more group study spaces, so this summer we worked on creating those. Throughout the library, you will find large tables set up for groups to work. We also improved the existing group study room.
For those of you interested in music, we reorganized the Kooiker Music Collection. Everything is now arranged together for easier browsing and locating.
Lounging areas were also modifed, and one of the new areas is particularly inviting.
Stop by Ramaker to see what we’ve done!
Welcome students, faculty, and staff!
Ramaker Library Hours (when classes are in session)
Monday – Thursday ==> 7:30 am – midnight
Friday ==> 7:30 am – 10:00 pm
Saturday ==> 8:30 am – 5:00 pm
Sunday ==> 1:30 pm – midnight
Research Help Desk Hours
Monday – Wednesday ==> 1:00 – 5:00 pm; 6:00 – 9:30 pm
Thursday ==> 1:00 – 5:00 pm
Friday ==> 1:00 – 4:00 pm
Sunday ==> 6:00 – 9:00 pm
Please let us know how we can help you! Have a great year!
