Changes for JStor

JSTOR, one of the journal databases available to students, recently made significant changes to its web site.

In addition to a new look, JSTOR also changed some functional aspects of the site:

• You can create an account and save citations indefinitely, allowing you to better track your research.
• You can limit searches by discipline and by journal title, making for more targeted results.
• When you are presented with a Results list, you can search within those results as well. 

The Quick Tips box on the search page is helpful and is a great place to go if you want to learn more.  And, of course, you can always ask a reference librarian if you have any questions about JSTOR.

Goodbye from ILL

I’d like to take this opportunity to say that it has been a pleasure to serve you this past year in all your interlibrary loan needs.  As we wind down the end of the year, please make sure that you are aware of the following important dates:

LAST DAY TO REQUEST BOOKS

Monday, April 28

LAST DAY TO REQUEST ARTICLES

Wednesday, April 30

ALL BOOKS BORROWED THROUGH ILL DUE BACK

Friday, May 2

Good luck in all your finals, term papers, projects, etc. during the next couple weeks, and best wishes to all those who are graduating and moving on!

To those who are returning, ILL will have a very different look next fall.  Over the summer we will be implementing a new ILL management system called ILLiad.  (See what they did there?  They used ILL, which stands for Interlibrary Loan, and then added the ”-iad” to create the word Illiad, just like the story by Homer.)  This program also uses a document delivery system called Odyssey.  (Isn’t that all so clever?!) 

This software will streamline the way you request and receive items, and will put more control in your hands (i.e. you will be able to track every request you make from the time you submit the request, until the time it is ready to be picked up). 

When you return to campus in the fall, you will have the opportunity to create your own ILLiad account, and start to see and use the benefits of this new program.  We’re very excited to have this wonderful system coming to Ramaker and NWC!

Enjoy your summer, and God bless in whatever you may do!

National Library Week Winners!

Congratulations to our National Library Week winners!

Jesse Nieuwenhuis (student)

Ardith De Jong (staff)

Thank you to everyone who participated in our drawing

and/or attended our open house!

~ Ramaker Library Staff ~

Get to Know Us — Anita Vogel

 

 It has been said that the “Best Things in Life are Free” AND that“Money can’t buy the Most Important Things in Life.”  Some of these FREE things that I enjoy in my life are:

 

Free Learning…

 

At Northwestern I learn something new everyday.  This learning comes in variety of ways —student and faculty research, community people sharing stories and projects, new books arriving at the library, Kathleen Norris, Minding Place workshops….the list is endless!!!  Libraries are the best place in the world—FREE to everyone with no discrimination allowed — a wonderful place that supports lifelong learning!!

 

Free Events…

 

Northwestern students, faculty, and special guests sharing their gifts and talents through music, theatre, and athletic events, lectures, discussions, poetry readings, not to mention host family activities, Ethnic Fair, SSP & SOS stories….all FREE!

 

Other Free Things I Enjoy in my Day to Day Life

 

Nature – Outdoor activities such as flower gardening, long walks, bicycling, camping, as well as Iowa vistas and sunsets.

 

Conversations – with grandchildren, friends, and family and listening to the wisdom of our elders.

 

Comfort food – Cooking old family recipes and trying new recipes.  When my granddaughter asked me, “What is a cannoli?’ (which was mentioned in a book she was reading) we had to give a new recipe a try and we were delighted with the results.

 

Random free things we can give away—smiles, laughter, honesty, kindness, compassion, gratitude, acceptance, and making a difference where we can.

 

The Best things in life are really FREE!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Book Review

This winter I read a wonderful book called Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. It was published in 2007 and is the true story of one man’s journey as he climbed K2, (the second highest peak in the world) located in northern Pakistan.

After failing to reach the summit he descended through the mountains feeling sick and lost. He ended up in a remote rugged mountain village in Baltistan. The people of the village took him in and showed him great kindness. Seeing their isolation and poverty, when he left Greg promised to return and build a school for their village. Back home Greg worked very hard to raise the money to build the first school. His personal sacrifices and dedication in keeping his word to the villagers inspired him to follow through and build the school. Greg and his organization have built many more schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan in the last decade. Three Cups of Tea is an amazing story and I highly recommend it!

National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month. First celebrated in 1995, National Poetry Month is the Academy of American Poets’ annual celebration of poetry.

I wondered why they picked April. I had some guesses, but thanks to the Academy of American Poets’ web site, I now know for certain:

With input from booksellers, librarians, poets, and teachers, the Academy chose a month during the school year so that schools and students could participate fully. February is Black History Month and March is Women’s History Month, so April seemed a logical choice. Also, there are many wonderful poetic references to April:

T. S. Eliot wrote, “April is the cruelest month.” It is our hope that National Poetry Month lessens that effect.

On a lighter note, Chaucer wrote:

Whan that April with his showres soote
The droughte of March hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veine in swich licour,
Of which vertu engendred is the flowr

Finally, Edna St. Vincent Millay asked, “To what purpose, April, do you return again?” For National Poetry Month, of course!

I recently discovered a short poem I like by a former American poet laureate, Ted Kooser. Since the Northwestern community has spent time recently analyzing our place here on the prairie, Kooser’s A Birthday Poem resonated with me. Using a cow as the comparison, he describes both the sun and himself. A fellow Midwesterner (born in Iowa, even), Kooser uses what he encounters everyday to describe more than what is there. You can read the entire text of the poem on the Library of Congress web site.

Ramaker Library holds most of Kooser’s books in its collection, if you’re interested in reading more.

Celebrate with Us!

 

 

 

National Library Week is April 13 - 19

Ramaker Library will be celebrating with prize drawings and refreshments.

We encourage faculty, staff, and students to register for $25 to Barnes & Noble at any time during the week.

(Register in the library OR type your name and campus email in the following form and click submit.)

Join us for cake, cookies, & coffee on Wednesday, April 16 — 1:30 - 4:30 pm in the library lobby.

We hope to see you there!

Name (required)

Email (required)

Website

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Day of Learning in Community at Ramaker

On Northwestern’s first Day of Learning in Community, Ramaker Library is hosting two sessions of its own:

• Murder in the Stacks - April 9, 1:30 - 2:30pm, Ramaker Library
  Ramaker Library invited students, staff and faculty to write the first chapter of a murder mystery that is set in a library. We invite all who are interested to join us for the readings of 2 of these chapters during our session.The title for this workshop comes from a 1930s mystery novel by Marion Havighurst that is set at Miami University (Ohio). Havighurst’s novel reflects a tradition of setting mysteries in libraries. The tradition counters the stereotype of libraries being palces where routines and schedules reign, and nothing unusual occurs.

  Now, in reality, there is nothing routine about libraries. They are places of discoveries and adventures, adventures in the life of the mind. Thus, it is fitting to set a mystery in a library. The notion of a mystery in a libray symbolizes the reality that behind the quiet and seemingly placid state of affairs there is much that is not ordinary or routine as readers encounter the world of knowledge and ideas.

• The Best Place in the World - April 9, 3:00 - 4:00pm, Ramaker Library
  Join Ramaker for an interactive workshop where we’ll discover together why libraries are the best places in the world.  You’ll hear stories and remembrances from other library lovers and, if you wish, share your memories as well. Ramaker decided to host this session becauses libraries evoke fond memories. Why do people love libraries? The American Library Association states that the library is important ”because it is the only institution in American society whose purpose is to guard against the tyrannies of ignorance and conformity, and its existence indicates the extent to which democratic society values knowledge, truth, justice, books and culture.” 

We look forward to hosting these sessions, and we welcome your participation!

Pop-Up Books . . . not just for kids anymore

Ramaker Library recently purchased 3 books that would put your childhood pop-up books to shame.  These books include truly amazing paper engineering.  Yes, paper engineering.  Once you see them you’ll understand why it’s called engineering.

Wikipedia mentions the recent pop-up book revival . . . Traditionally, pop-ups have been seen as little more than children’s books but beginning in the 1990s, they have grown in prominence, chiefly due to the innovations of Robert Sabuda, Matthew Reinhart, and other great paper engineers.

Here is where you can find them if you would like to take a look.

 America the Beautiful- PS1077.B4 A8 2004b - Children’s Library (Robert Sabuda, paper engineer)

 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland- PZ7.S1178 Al 2003 - Children’s Library (Robert Sabuda, paper engineer)

 Dinosaurs: Encyclopedia Prehistorica - QE861.3 .S33 2005 - Children’s Library (Robert Sabuda & Matthew Reinhart, paper engineers)

The Best Place in the World!

Minding Place - Day of Learning in Community

Workshop Session 2

Hear fond memories about libraries from . . . .

Michael Kensak          Dean Jasper Lesage          Joonna Trapp

Ella Jameson          Brenna Lura          Carri Manifold

Library Staff

This will be an interactive workshop where together we can explore why libraries are “the best places in the world!”

What’s that word mean?!

So, you’re doing your reading assignment for one of your classes and run into a word you don’t know.  What in the world does [blank] mean?!

How can Ramaker Library help you answer this question?  It’s easy!  Just use Oxford English Dictionary Online.  Go to www.nwciowa.edu/library and select the Oxford English Dictionary link under Quick Links at the left.

We can easily help you find the answers to questions such as these . . .

Is studying soporific for you?

Does it drive you nuts when people flummer?

Is your roommate a valetudinarian, a gadabout, or a solitudinarian?

Have fun with these and other definiendums and definiens!

Northwest Iowa Vietnam Veterans: An oral history project

The library has recently published a web site called Northwest Iowa Vietnam Veterans: An oral history project. The site grew out of an assignment in History 351: America and the Vietnam War, taught by Professor Doug Carlson. In the course, students interview area veterans about the experiences in the Vietnam War.

Nine interviews, conducted in the spring of 2007, are currently available on the web site.

The library hopes to continue to grow a digital collection about the Vietnam experience from the perspective of northwest Iowans. The library is grateful to the veterans who willingly shared their experiences with students, and now share them with the larger Northwestern community. Hear their stories by visiting the web site.