Get to Know Us - Denise Sneller

Hi! I’m Denise and I started working at Ramaker Library when some of you college students were still in diapers! Wow! That’s a long time ago!

 

18 years ago I decided that I wanted a change from substitute teaching in the elementary schools.  So I was really excited when I was hired for this job and I have loved every day being the Circulation Coordinator at Ramaker Library.  It has been a joy to serve the college community and I especially love getting acquainted with so many college students.  The circulation department in the library makes sure that all library materials are checked out, checked in and shelved properly.  So I have 24 work study students who help me do these jobs well.  Yes, they’re the lucky students you see working at the circulation desk each day!

 

Let’s see if you can guess which one of these statements is NOT true about me:

1.   I graduated from Northwestern College

2.   I have lived in 10 different cities.

3.   I am an avid Northwestern Red Raider fan.

4.   I love being a grandma.  It’s the best job in the world.

Yes, it’s sad but true — #1 is not a correct statement!  I attended Northwestern College for 2 years, but my Alma Mater is Hope College in  Holland, Michigan.

My father was a Reformed church minister so we moved around the midwest several times when I was growing up.  After I graduated from college, I married a Naval officer and he moved me around the world!  Our oldest son was born in Key West, Florida and our youngest son was born in Sigonella, Sicily.  Yes, that old saying is true - “Join the Navy and see the world”!  We loved it!

I am probably one of the most competitive and enthusiastic Red Raider fans that you can find!  I absolutely love attending all kinds of Northwestern athletic events and you’ll often see me jumping up and cheering when the rest of the crowd is sitting down.  I guess I get carried away sometimes!

I just love to spoil my 4 young grandchildren - 2 in Minneapolis and 2 in Chicago. Come to my office and look on my desk and you’ll see why they’re so dear to my heart.

So now you know a little bit more about the lady who lives in the office behind the circulation desk.  Stop in anytime for a piece of candy!

Access EBSCOhost from off campus

You can access EBSCOhost, JSTOR, ProjectMuse and other electronic resources from off campus:   

1.  Go to the library homepage:

<http://www.nwciowa.edu/library/>.  

2.    Click on the “Off-campus Access” link on the library homepage.   

It is under both the “For Faculty” and “For Students” sections.  

3. After clicking on the link, you will see some instructions and another link <Vpn.nwciowa.edu>. Click on this link.  

4.  You will come to a page (a very red page!) at the top of which you will see a link to Ramaker Library.  Click this link.  

[You may encounter a Microsoft message to the effect of "this is not a recommended site."  Disregard the message and continue.]  

5. After completing step 4, you should see the library homepage again.  You can now access all the resources just as if you are on campus. 

Library Hours over Easter Weekend

The library will close Thursday, March 20 at 5:00 pm and will open on Monday, March 24 at 8:00am. We will be closed from Friday, March 21 through Sunday, March 24.

Have a blessed Easter.

Earliest Easter In Our Lives

I received an interesting e-mail forward the other day about the timing of Easter this year:

This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our lives.  And only the most elderly of our population (those 95 or older) have ever seen Easter this early. And none of us has ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier than this.  The facts:

1. The next time Easter will be this early (on March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early was in 1913.
2. The next time it will be a day earlier (on March 22) will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818. No one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year.

Get to Know Us – Anne Mead

I LOVE BEING A LIBRARIAN!  As a librarian I learn new information everyday whether I’m helping a student at the research help desk or looking up topics for a library instruction class.  My career started in a Seminary Library (that’s how I became a preacher’s wife).  After taking time off to stay home with my kids, I worked in a small university library where I always had to be on my toes and ready for the wide variety of questions that would come up.  Now I’m here at NWC as the Electronic Resources Librarian and I’m constantly learning about new technologies.  Each library job has challenged me and provided me with numerous opportunities to learn new things.  

  

Here are a few statements about me; can you tell which one is NOT true?

1. Brian Regan is my favorite comedian.
2. I graduated from High School in New Jersey.
3. I threw a rock and broke the windshield of a chauffer-driven Cadillac.
4. I studied voice in college.

Besides my work as a librarian, I am married and have two children.  I am currently involved in a quilting group at my church and I recently attended a Zumba (dance based fitness) class. 

I learned about Brian Regan from my nephew and have enjoyed his comedy ever since.  I have the DVD “I Walked on the Moon” and his CD “Brian Regan Live” that I listen to in the car.  My favorite sketch is “Hooked on Phonics”.

Yes it’s true, I threw a rock across the street and broke the windshield of a black cadillac.  It was terrifying!  My cousins who were with me disappeared immediately and I was left alone to face the consequences.  My Dad had to pay $100 for a new windshield and that was a lot of money then.

I minored in voice at college because I’ve always loved to sing. When I was growing up I drove my family crazy singing in the car and all around the house.

Statement #2 is not true.   I graduated from High School in Havre de Grace, Maryland.

Dakota

Dakota: A Spiritual Geography by Kathleen Norris was one of the first books I read when returning to South Dakota after graduating from college in Illinois. Frankly, I did not want to be back in my home state, yet pressing family needs made my return necessary. The book helped give me a new perspective on a place I always thought of as the middle of nowhere - and certainly nowhere I wanted to be. Rather than rejecting the solitude and insularity of small town rural life, Norris shows how that solitude can be the environment that teaches us to do what Christ asks of us most: to love.

As you may know, Kathleen Norris will be visiting campus on April 9 for Northwestern College’s first Day of Learning in Community. I’m looking forward to reading this book again in preparation for her visit; it’s definitely a book that deserves a re-read.

Norris’s books, including Dakota, and works by symposium guest Jim Heynen are available at Ramaker Library. Most are currently on display in the first floor Browsing Collection.

Media and Missiles

Greetings from the Interlibrary Loan (ILL) office!  I am the library staff member Dan mentioned earlier, who has experience with missiles.  You can actually find out more about the missile system

  that I used while I was in the National_Guard, at the link from a  search I did in Google.  (scroll to the bottom of that search page to see more pictures)  Or, you could find even more scholarly information at the link on Ramaker’s website to do a search for the TOW missile,

  and come up with the full text results found in EBSCOhost or JSTOR. (I would sort from most recent to oldest)  Of course, it would be best to start your search for missiles in  Ramaker’s current holdings or any of these sites before you submit a request to ILL! 

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “How does your missile experience qualify you to work in a library?” 

  Here’s your answer:  “I don’t know!”  But I will say this.  Using the missile system I used does have a relationship to ILL.  When I fired that missile at a tank,

  I had to keep my sights on that target until the missile reached it.  Otherwise, the missile would have                  flown off into the sky  

                 or into the ground.       

I couldn’t stop tracking it until the target  was hit.  When you submit a request for an item through ILL, that item becomes my target.  I stay focused on that target and don’t take my sights off it until it is hit.  If your request comes back unfilled, I fire again at different libraries until that target is reached, or every option is exhausted.  If I didn’t, your request would go off into cyberspace

   never to be seen again, and I would have missed the target.  So, everytime you submit a request to ILL, think of the book-and-article-requesting “missile system”

  in Ramaker. (It’s in the office to the left of the circulation desk)  I’m here to help you meet your educational needs and goals  by getting you the information you desire. 

       If you ever have any questions, want to talk about missiles or the military, or about my last job as a high school choir director,

     email me or come on over to my office .  My door is always open!  

 Bryan Van Gelder, ILL and Curriculum Library Coordinator

Spring Break Hours

Friday, February 29:  Closes at 4:30pm
Saturday, March 1: Closed
Sunday, March 2: Closed
Monday, March 3 - Friday, March 7: Open from 8:00am - 4:30pm
Saturday, March 8: Closed
Sunday, March 9: Closed
Monday, March 10: Open from 8:00am - 4:30pm
Tuesday, March 11: Open from 8:00am - midnight

Regular hours resume on Wednesday, March 12.

Happy Leap Day - February 29 - (aka “Ladies Privilege Day”)!

     A leap year occurs every 4 years when an extra day is added to the calendar to make up for the fact that a solar year is longer than 365 days.  A year which is not a leap year is called a common year. 

 * In common years, a person born on February 29 may celebrate their birthday on February 28 or March 1. 

 * The chance of being born on a leap day is about 1 in 1500. 

 * About 4 million people worldwide were born on Leap day. 

1908 - Leap Day Postcard

     According to Irish tradition, February 29 is also known as “Ladies Privilege Day”.  On this day, women have the opportunity to propose marriage.  It is believed this tradition was started in 5th century Ireland when St. Bridget complained to St. Patrick about women having to wait for so long for a man to propose.  St. Patrick refused at first but later agreed to allow “Ladies Privilege” once every seven years - St. Bridget resisted his offer and persisted this day be every four years and the tradition was established.  Over the years, this practice was often justified that since the leap year day fixed a problem in the calendar, it could also be used to correct an unjust custom that only let men propose marriage. 

     So what are your thoughts?  Should we continue celebrating February 29 as “Ladies Privilege Day” or should women have the privilage to propose to men on any day?  :  )

Murder in the Stacks 

A Mystery Writing Event Celebrating the Minding Place Symposium

Do you like to write? Do you like mysteries? Would you like to write the first chapter of a mystery? The staff of Ramaker Library invites you to submit the first chapter of a mystery that is set in a library—the library in your hometown, the library of your alma mater, the library of your imagination, or even Ramaker. The title for this event comes from the 1934 book, Murder in the Stacks by Marion Boyd Havinghurst.  Havinghurst wrote most of her mystery in the library at Miami University (Oxford, OH), and she sets the murder in a library similar to one at Miami University.   Havinghurst opens her work by writing, “In a particularly charming spot in one of our maligned middle western states…”   

Sound familiar?  With the time, place and characters set out before you, she concludes the first chapter with the discovery of a body in the stacks and leaves you wanting to read on.   You, too, can write the first chapter of a mystery.  All students, staff, and faculty are invited to submit a first chapter.  A panel of library staff and others from across campus will select three pieces to be dramatically read on the Day of Learning in Community.  On the afternoon of April 9, during the workshop sessions, three of the submissions will be read to an audience in the library.      

Please submit your chapter as a Microsoft Word document to Dan Daily ddaily@nwciowa.edu by April 1.  When submitting…  

·        Include your name and e-mail address 

·        Limit your piece to 1,000 words ·        Indicate if are willing to have your chapter read at the Day of Learning in Community (April 9).   

·        Indicate if you are willing to have your chapter included in a collection of submissions that will be kept in the library and available for others to read. 

Murder in the Stacks by Marion Boyd Havinghurst is on reserve in Ramaker Library.        

Local Newspaper Archives Is Now Online

If you are researching local history, the process just became easier. Many Sioux County newspapers have recently been digitized for online access. The Newspaper Archives of Sioux County is available to learn more about the region’s past, including your own family’s history in Siouxland.

Area newspapers, dating back to 1872, are searchable by keyword, by date and by newspaper. The database includes over 180,000 newspaper pages from Sioux County, and pages are still being added to the database. Papers available include:

• Alton Democrat
• Alton Review
• Boyden Reporter
• Hawarden Independent
• Hospers Tribune
• Hull Index
• Independent
• Ireton Clipper
• Ireton Weekly Ledger
• Maurice Times
• People’s Friend
• Reporter
• Rock Valley Bee
• Sioux Center News
• Sioux Center Nieuswbland
• Sioux County Capital
• Sioux County Herald
• Sioux County Index Reporter
• Sioux County Index

The project was made possible by a grant from the Sioux County Community Foundation and by the efforts of the Sioux County Library Association. Visit the Newspaper Archives to see this great resource.

Get to Know Us - Sherri Langton

Guess which one of these statements is NOT true of me,

Sherri Langton. 

a.  I have been to Ethiopia.

b.  I was proposed to in a cow pasture.

c.  I used to teach middle school.

d.  I wear size 10 shoes.

While you think about that, I’ll share a little more about myself.  I am the Cataloger/Library Systems Specialist for Ramaker Library.  So, I catalog all of the books, media, etc. that come into Ramaker Library and the LRC.  I also manage the library’s software.  This software helps us keep track of purchases, checkouts, journals, and many other things.

My husband, Ben, and I have 2 children:  a daughter who is 3 1/2 and a son who is 1 1/2.   They keep us very busy. 

When I am not busy with work or the kids, I enjoy reading and photography. 

OK, time for the answer . . . I do NOT wear size 10 shoes!  I have been to Ethiopia, twice actually.  Both of our children were born in Ethiopia, and we travelled there to adopt them.

Yep, my husband proposed in a cow pasture, and I still said “yes.”  It was a very beautiful cow pasture. 

I taught middle school computer for 3 years and loved it!  My husband got a new job in the Orange City area, and I was interested in learning more about computer support.  NWC had a position that included computer support for the library.  I gave it a try and am still here 7 years later!  Who would have thought that a student who was a “library avoider” would love working in one so much?!

A Few Good Men Wear Bow Ties

Recently, I received the summary of my evaluations for HIS 101 Western Civilization to 1789.  Among the comments, a student mentioned I should wear bow ties more often.  When mentioning this at dinner one evening, my high school daughter made it clear to me that the student was making fun of me.  Oh well, I still think bow ties are great. I have been wearing bow ties for nearly 20 years.  The few of us on campus that wear them are in good company.  Consider….

Henry Fonda, in the Academy Award winner, On Golden Pond (1981), wears a bow tie http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082846/.  Fonda co-starred in this movie with Katherine Hepburn, and played the part of a lovable, but cranky retired professor.  Even when at his summer home in Maine, Norman Thayer (Fonda) dons a bow tie for his 80th birthday. That’s class!  On Golden Pond is not among my favorite flicks because of Fonda’s bow tie.  Rather, I love it because its a great story.  Also, in its original form as a play, the story was set in the Belgrade Lakes region of Maine.  As a teenager, I grew up in the Lakes region and spent a lot of time at the lakes.  Now, my family and I continue to vacation there nearly every summer.   Trivia question:  Who else on the Northwestern staff spent summers at the Belgrade Lakes?  He was a kid at the time. 

Let’s skip from the movies to everyday life.  C. Everett Koop, former Surgeon General of the United States, is a bow tie guy.  I became acquainted with Dr. Koop when I served as an archivist at Dartmouth College.  Before I joined the staff at Dartmouth, Dr. Koop had retired to the faculty of the Dartmouth Medical School http://dms.dartmouth.edu/koop/cek/.  I had the opportunity to work with him on a project, and thoroughly enjoyed spending time with him.  Though a leader in American Christianity during the last quarter century, he remains genuine and humble. 

Love Your Library Quiz Winner!

Congratulations to Shateen Lichter, the winner of our Love Your Library Quiz! 

Shateen wins a $10.00 gift card to Mr. Movies and valentine chocolates.

Winner of the honorable mention for most creative answers goes to Taylor Mugge.  Thanks for the laughs, Taylor.

 Thank you to all who participated in our quiz!  Here are the correct answers.

 

1.  Anita Vogel’s official job title is Senior Reference and Information Literacy Librarian.

2.  Ramaker currently has 1 electronic reference book in the area of political science.  It is The Encyclopedia of U.S. National Security.

3.  There are currently 21 different material types in RaiderLink, 22 if you count ANY.

4.  To find out which books you currently have checked out, go to the My Millennium link in RaiderLink.

5.  The online forms for InterLibrary Loan are Request a Book/Media, Request an Article, and Request a Renewal.

6.  The Children’s Library is housed in the Stegeman Room.  It was started with books purchased from Westmar College.

Happy Valentine’s Day from Ramaker Library!

Love Your Library Quiz!

Win $10.00 gift card from Mr. Movies plus some valentine chocolates just for learning about Ramaker Library! 

All of the quiz answers can be found using the library’s website and RaiderLink (Ramaker’s online catalog).  Here are the quiz questions . . .

1.  What is Anita Vogel’s official job title?

2.  How many electronic reference books does Ramaker Library currently have in the area of Political Science?  List the title(s).

3.  How many different material types are currently used in Ramaker’s online catalog, RaiderLink?

4.  Where (online) could you look to find out which books you currently have checked out?

5.  Name the online forms available for use with Interlibrary Loan.

6.  What is the name of the room which houses the Children’s Library?  This collection began with books purchased from which college?

**Please put your answers, along with your name and email, in the box @ the Reference Desk by February 13.**  The winner will be announced on February 14.