Did you know that the Temple University Libraries offer access to hundreds of thousands of full-text electronic books? Through agreements with multiple eBook providers, University faculty, staff and students can access this content through the library catalog or the dedicated “eBooks” page within the library web site.

One of our premier eBook providers, NetLibrary, offers a free eBook each month, and this month’s choice is especially significant for Temple University. In honor of Black History Month, NetLibrary’s free eBook for February 2007 is A Companion to African-American Studies.

The book’s editors are Temple’s own Lewis R. Gordon and Jane Anna Gordon. Lewis R. Gordon is the Laura Carnell University Professor of Philosophy and Religion and Director of Institute for the Study of Race and Social Thought and the Center for Afro-Jewish Studies, at Temple University. He is the author of Her Majesty’s Other Children (1997), Existentia Africana: Understanding Africana Existential Thought (2000) and of anthologies that include the co-edited Not Only the Master’s Tools (2005).

Jane Anna Gordon teaches in the Department of Political Science and is Associate Director of the Institute for the Study of Race and Social Thought and the Center for Afro-Jewish Studies at Temple University. She is the author of Why They Couldn’t Wait: A Critique of the Black-Jewish Conflict Over Community Control in Ocean-Hill Brownsville, 1967-1971 (2001) and co-editor (with Lewis R. Gordon) of Not only the Master’s Tools: Theoretical Explorations in African-American Studies (2005).

The Gordons’ new volume chronicles the challenges that African-American Studies programs confronted in an effort to achieve acceptance in colleges and universities throughout the nation. Now, academia takes these programs for granted, but this collection of original essays by expert scholars reflects on the pitched battles to establish African-American studies as a bona fide academic discipline. The Gordons, in their Introduction: On Working through a Most Difficult Terrain, let the reader know that it was not always so easy to set up African-American Studies programs:

“The academic ‘field’ [African American studies] according to some proponents, ‘discipline’ according to others, has gone through a variety of conceptual transformations as it moved from ‘Black Studies’ to ‘Afro-American Studies’ ‘African-American Studies’ and now ‘African Studies’. During this decades long process it has met scholarly prejudice from all quarters of the university/college hierarchies.”

Now the Gordons bring together an elite group of scholars to continue their exploration of issues of ethnicity, identity, and racial politics. The publication ofA Companion to African-American Studies in electronic format is an opportunity for the Temple University community to discover the world of electronic books.

If you need additional information about any of our electronic books please drop in or use our Ask A Librarian service.

Al Vara, Reference Librarian and Subject Specialist for African-American Studies
Steven Bell, Associate University Librarian for Research and Instructional Services

The Libraries have revamped the “Ask a Librarian” Tech Center program. Beginning this semester we’ve moved from the 2nd floor lobby to Room 205A, a breakout room, in the general lab area. Three librarians — Susan Golding, Derik Badman, and David Murray — will alternate workshops and drop-in consultations on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 1-2 p.m. all semester long.

Jan.18th- Feb 1st (T,W,Th) — Librarian available for drop in consultations

Feb. 6th, 7th, 8th — Better Grades in Less Time
You work too hard! Sharpen your research skills to cut down on time and get better results. Temple Libraries have the resources you need right at your fingertips. Join a Temple University Librarian for this session covering basic timesaving tips about using library resources.

Feb. 13th, 14th, 15th — Librarian available for drop in consultations

Feb. 20th, 21st, 22nd — 10 Ways to do Scholarly Research in Your Pajamas
Pizza delivery? Take out Chinese? Now you can get your research to go. Temple University Libraries offer thousands of online resources and services. Join the librarian to learn how to make the library come to you! Take out menu provided.

Feb. 27th,28th, Mar. 1st — Librarian available for drop in consultations

March 6th, 7th, 8th — (Spring Break)

March 13th, 14th, 15th — Getting Organized Online
Forgot about a paper that’s due? Forget to pay your phone bill or to call back that cute classmate? In this session a Temple University Librarian will demonstrate online applications that help you organize “to do” lists, events, and documents. Get text message or IM reminders! Access your calendar from any computer, anywhere!

March 20th, 21st, 22nd — Librarian available for drop in consultations

March 27th, 28th, 29th — Stuff You Didn’t Know You Could Do With Google
“Google gave me 8,956,441 hits. This stinks.” Decrease your frustration with Google by learning how to use it like any other library database. In other words, like a pro! In this session a Temple University Librarian will cover how to find books, journal articles, news, maps, and more through Google. Learn how to use Google’s advanced options to focus a search and get the most relevant results.

April 3rd, 4th, 5th — Librarian available for drop in consultations

April 10th, 11th, 12th — To Google or Not to Google
Google provides fast but often ineffective results. Will you really impress your professor by citing a Wikipedia article as a source for a research paper? In this session a Temple University Librarian will discuss the pros and cons of using Google for academic research. Discover how to just as quickly access more appropriate sources without over relying on Google. This session will cover a new open source Wiki alternative, as well as some of the more traditional reference tools that have been digitized for easy web access.

April 17th, 18th, 19th — Librarian available for drop in consultations

April 24th, 25th, 26th — Citations Without Tears
Save time on your papers, and throw out all those long citation guides. Learn to use Refworks, a web based application (free to Temple students!) that allows you to easily and quickly gather your citations and organize them for the creation of bibliographies and in-text citations in almost any format– APA, MLA, Chicago, and more.

May 1st, 2nd, 3rd — Librarian available for drop in consultations

May 8th, 9th, 10th — Librarian available for drop in consultations

Please join us all semester long in Room 205A in the Tech Center! And please do let us know what you think of our new services.

—David C. Murray

I would like to apologize for any inconvenience caused by the unavailability of the Libraries’ website during the holiday closure.

The Libraries’ website, including our extensive menu of links to external databases and full-text journals, was unavailable intermittently during Temple’s holiday closure. Security software installed on our webserver registered recurrent attacks or other suspicious activity and shut down the server to protect data. Library staff on call brought the system back online during the University closure as they became aware of the problems, but subsequent apparent attacks prompted repeated shutdowns.

The webserver and its firewall were stabilized early Tuesday morning (1/2/07) and have been continuously available since then.

We have taken additional steps behind the scenes to prevent recurrence of such extensive outages which we all recognize as having impeded research activity by faculty and students working over the break. Further hardware and software modifications will continue during the spring so that we can continue to improve the reliability of access to the increasingly broad and indispensable array of online resources and services we now offer. Again, I apologize for the inconvenience this problem caused. We will do our best to ensure that it does not happen again.

Larry P. Alford,
Vice Provost for Libraries

A growing number of librarians are offering office hours in various departmental lounges across the University. The librarians are there for quick questions, in-depth research sessions, or just as a way to get to know you.

The departments, librarians, hours, and locations currently involved:

Department: English
Librarian: Kristina Devoe
Location: 1044 Anderson
Hours: 3-4:30 Monday and Tuesday

Department: History
Librarian: David Murray
Location: History Lounge, 9th floor Gladfelter
Hours: 11-noon, Monday and Thursday

Department: Religion
Librarian: Fred Rowland
Location: Religion Lounge, 6th floor Anderson
Hours: 10:15-11:45 Tuesday

Department: Boyer College of Music
Librarian: Anne Harlow
Location: Presser Learning Center, 1st floor Presser Hall
Hours: 2:30-3:30, Monday

Department: Conwell Center
Librarian: Anne Harlow
Location: Tutoring Lab, 2nd floor 1700 N Broad St
Hours: 2:30-3:30 Wednesday

Department: Theater
Librarian: Anne Harlow
Location: to be determined
Hours: 2:30-3:30 Friday

Department: Honors
Librarian: Susan Golding
Location: Honors Lounge, 2nd floor, Tuttleman
Hours: 12-1 Wednesday and Thursday

Tomorrow is the last day that you can transfer any money remaining on your Ikon copy card.

Beginning August 1, 2006, new photocopiers provided by Xerox have replaced the IKON photocopiers located throughout Temple University, including all libraries. As part of this transition, after August 1st, photocopiers located in the libraries and elsewhere at Temple no longer accept Copy Cards issued by IKON under its expired contract with Temple. All photocopiers provided under the new Xerox contract accept Diamond Dollars; some will also accept coins/cash.

Temple University students, faculty, staff and guests who currently have an IKON copy card with any cash value remaining may transfer the value left on the Copy Card to their Diamond Dollars account until October 31, 2006.

To transfer Copy Card value to your Diamond Dollars account, please follow the two steps below as soon as possible after August 1st:

1) Print and complete a value transfer form
2) Bring the completed form AND your IKON Copy Card(s) to one of the following locations:

Main Campus
Diamond Dollars Office (through October 31, 2006)

Health Sciences Campus 
Kresge Hall Library 2nd Floor – Circulation Desk (through October 31, 2006)

Please allow up to 72 business hours for the funds to transfer into your Diamond Dollars account.

Departments and grant offices will be notified when they can pick up their new cards at the following locations: Diamond Dollars Office, Kresge Hall, Ambler Library, TUCC, and Podiatric Medicine.

For faculty, students, and staff who were not on-campus during August 1-October 31, special arrangements will be made later.

For further information, contact the Diamond Dollars Office, 1910 Liacouras Walk, Rm 202, phone 215-204-3140.

— Jonathan LeBreton, Sr. Associate University Librarian

As the Fall 2006 semester begins, the library welcomes all new students and faculty to Temple. We also welcome back all returning students and faculty. The library has been going through a period of great change, and we didn’t slow down during the summer. To hear the latest and greatest news, I recommend the following blog posts from the past few months: New Photocopiers and Printers Run on Diamond Dollars Consolidation of Science Libraries Library Materials Moved to Depository Zahn Library Closed You may also want to browse through our New Electronic Resource Announcements or the list of New eResources. And if you are looking for some recreational reading, don’t forget about our Leisure Reading Collection. If you have any questions feel free to Contact Us. —Derik A Badman