Literature Criticism Online

Posted on January 29, 2008 by John Schoolar

TU Libraries has recently added Literature Criticism Online to its suite of electronic resources!

Literature Criticism Online is an outstanding reference literature database, offering biographical and bibliographical information on over 3,000 20th century and contemporary literary figures (novelists, poets, playwrights, short story writers, and literary theorists), in addition to scholarly and popular commentary from books, journals, magazines, broadsheets, pamphlets, diaries, and newspapers.

This collection contains the scanned pages of every single volume from two of Gale’s popular, print literary series: Contemporary Literary Criticism (245 volumes currently) and Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism (196 volumes currently). Just think how much shelf space that would be! Users can search by known author, text, critic, or source title, as well as by keyword.

Literature Criticism Online is a valuable literary resource and complements well with the Libraries’ subscription to Literature Resource Center which contains select collections of critical material from Gale’s other literary resources: Children’s Literature Review, Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism, Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism, and Short Story Criticism.

Be sure to check it out!

-Kristina De Voe, English & Communications Librarian

New Carpet and Chairs Improve Study Spaces

Posted on January 28, 2008 by Steven Bell

We hear you. You’ve told us you want better study spaces – and as much of it as we can provide. To better accommodate the needs of our library user community we’ve recently upgraded several spaces on the second and third floors of the Paley Library. These areas are all newly carpeted and new, comfortable chairs, many with tablet arms, are available in several of the improved study areas. Here are photos of two of the nine enhanced study spaces: These new study spaces will be found on the far ends of both the second and third floors of Paley Library. Look for them in center and/or corners of these areas. We hope you enjoy these improved spaces. If you would like to provide feedback or suggestions for additional enhancements, please use our suggestion form.

– Steven Bell, Associate University Librarian

Professors Strike Back

Posted on January 23, 2008 by Steven Bell

What do university faculty think about Rate My Professor and what their students are saying about them at that site? Well, the folks at MTVU recently gave a group of faculty members a chance to react – on camera – to comments their students posted about them at RMP. The videos found at “Professors Strike Back” make for compelling drama, entertainment and even a few “stop and think about that” moments.

Even better, two professors from Temple University are among those featured.Terence Oliva, of the Marketing Department, and Laura Shinn, of the Economics Department, share thoughtful comments about Rate My Professor. But I have to say that one of my favorites comes from Professor David Linton at Marymount Manhattan College. I’d like every student to spend 20 seconds to hear what he has to say about college. In short he says, it’s not about getting a degree – it’s about getting an education. If you approach it as a consumer experience, like buying a car, you are bound to be disappointed.

– Steven Bell, Associate University Librarian

The Teaching Professor

Posted on January 21, 2008 by Gerald Doyle

The Libraries have recently acquired a site license to The Teaching Professor, an online newsletter designed to assist faculty with the practical side of teaching. The Teaching Professor helps instructors to:

Overcome obstacles to effective teaching
Stay abreast of the latest pedagogical research
Hear what’s working for colleagues “in the trenches”
Hone skills and stay on top of teaching innovations
Truly connect with students

Here’s an excerpt from an article titled Faculty Self-Disclosures in the College Classroom from the April, 2007 issue: “While interviewing university faculty for a study about classroom communication, ‘Jim,’ a professor of history, made this comment about a colleague he had observed teaching: ‘I was really amazed, when I saw him teach, how little of his personality you see.’ This starkly contrasted with his perception of his own teaching style, about which he said, ‘I try to use humor a lot. My dad says I just think funny, you know, and I do; it’s hard for me not to joke around.’ This comment started me wondering about how much of ourselves we let our students see.”

The articles in The Teaching Professor are brief and to the point. Worth a look.

—David C. Murray

Web of Science Backfiles Added

Posted on January 11, 2008 by Gerald Doyle

We are pleased to announce that Temple University Libraries has acquired Web of Science backfiles to the year 1900. The breakdown by discipline is:

Arts & Humanities back to 1975
Social Sciences back to 1956
Science back to 1900

Web of Science is a repository of historic, multi-disciplinary journal literature. The backfiles are critical to locating a wealth of useful historic source and citation information. Of the 50 most highly cited items in Web of Science, more than 60% were published over 20 years ago. Via the powerful linking capabilities of the Web, retrospective data becomes easily available and maximizes serendipitous discovery. —Kathy Szigeti

Start Better Study Habits By Avoiding All-Nighters

Posted on January 4, 2008 by Steven Bell

With the spring semester starting soon it may be a good time to share with students, and their instructors, some timely tips for better study habits. The Study Hacks blog recently featured a post titled “Five Bad Study Habits You Should Resolve to Avoid in 2008“. Well, it is the time of the year for resolutions. Their five bad habits to eliminate include: (1) studying without a plan; (2) skipping classes; (3) rote review; (4) studying after midnight; and (5) not taking notes while reading. Read the post for more details on how and why to eliminate these bad study habits.

And speaking of staying up late to study (item 4), particularly at exam time, a researcher at St. Lawrence University studied the correlation between student sleep time and their grade-point averages. Students reported that they had pulled at least one all-nighter during a semester and that those who did it regularly had lower GPAs. Sounds like avoiding all-nighters is a good way to begin improving study habits in 2008.

-Steven Bell, Associate University Librarian

New Platform for ABC-CLIO Databases

Posted on December 8, 2007 by Gerald Doyle

The two ABC-CLIO databases, America: History & Life and Historical Abstracts, are now available on the familiar EBSCOhost platform. Advantages of having these core history databases on Ebsco include multiple database searching; easy linking to full-text databases such as JSTOR; personalized folders, a part of My EBSCOhost, for those who choose to create personalized accounts; the Historical Period Limiter, a way to find articles that discuss an event or events that occurred within a specific time frame; and a new cited reference search encompassing both databases. This last feature can be used in conjunction with Web of Science to more accurately gauge the importance to the field of history of any refereed journal article. —David C. Murray

Sandi Thompson is Head of Suburban Campus Libraries

Posted on December 3, 2007 by carol

s_thompson[1].jpe It is with great pleasure that I inform you that Sandi Thompson has accepted the position of Head of Suburban Campus Libraries, effective December 3, 2007.

Sandi began working in the Temple University Libraries in 1969 as a Bibliographic Assistant, first in the Acquisitions Department followed by service in the Business Library, Government Documents, and finally in the Mathematical Sciences Library. In 1985 after earning her M.S.L.S. at Drexel, Sandi was named the Bibliographic Services Librarian at the Ambler Campus Library. In that role, she has been deeply involved in the Ambler campus and its library as well as in many services and activities on the main campus. She has been very active professionally in regional and national library organizations. Since September 2006, she has served as the Interim Head of Suburban Campus Libraries.

Sandi looks forward to continuing her work with faculty and students at both the Ambler and Tyler campuses. She can be contacted at sandi@temple.edu or by telephone at 267-468-8645.

Larry P. Alford, Dean of University Libraries

Get Great Teaching Tips

Posted on November 9, 2007 by Steven Bell

…from The Teaching Professor.

Rare is the instructor who hasn’t encountered a challenge in the classroom. Equally rare is the instructor who couldn’t benefit from proven techniques shared by colleagues who’ve discovered ways to enhance the teaching and learning process. Within higher education, a respected and popular source that faculty use to share their ideas and best practices in teaching and learning is a publication called The Teaching Professor. Published 10 times a year, it incorporates into 6-8 pages of fast reading tips and techniques for everything from better tests and quizzes to improved classroom discussions to effective technology integration.

Temple University Libraries has just made it easy for all University instructors to be up-to-date with every new issue of The Teaching Professor. The Libraries now offer institutional access to the electronic version of the publication, both on and off campus. There is also an audio MP3 version of each issue. You can directly access The Teaching Professor here.

There you can examine the latest issue, any issue in the archive, or you can search for articles on a particular topic (e.g., lectures, quizzes). The November 2007 issue features articles on engaging large science classes, dealing with students who participate too much, and making the syllabus more than a contract.

In addition, interested faculty and administrators can sign up to receive e-mail alerts of the latest issues. To do so, register using this account information:

Voucher code: TEMPLE
PIN Number: 2310

-Steven Bell, Associate University Librarian

Juan Williams Audio Interview

Posted on November 1, 2007 by

On Monday, October 22, Temple University Libraries, the College of Liberal Arts, the General Education Program and the Office of the Provost welcomed distinguished journalist and NPR Senior Correspondent Juan Williams to a packed house.

Williams, one of America’s leading political writers and thinkers, gave his engaging lecture, “Eyes on the Prize: The Truths of American Race Relations” to a capacity crowd in Paley Library Lecture Hall. Williams is a Senior Correspondent for National Public Radio, a political analyst for Fox Television and a regular panelist on FoxNews Sunday. He has written prize-winning columns and editorials for The Washington Post. Williams has also worked extensively in the documentary medium, having won an Emmy Award for his television writing.

After his lecture, Williams sat down with reference librarian Fred Rowland to talk about his most recent book, Enough : the phony leaders, dead-end movements, and culture of failure that are undermining Black America– and what we can do about it. The interview was recorded and is available as a downloadable mp3 file:

Listen to the audio (22:00, 5.2MB mp3 file)

You can also subscribe to our podcast feed for future audio content from the Temple University Libraries.

-Nicole Restaino, Library Communications Specialist

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