When you log into Refworks, you now have the option to try out the Refworks 2.0 beta version. Just click on the link in the upper right corner for “Refworks 2.0.” When using Refworks 2.0, you will have access to all the citations in your Refworks database. From Refworks 2.0, you can switch back to the traditional interface by clicking “Refworks Classic” in the upper right corner. Make sure you save any new work before switching between the two interfaces.
Bryant Simon
Temple history professor Bryant Simon is the author of Everything But the Coffee: Learning About America From Starbucks, published by University of California Press in 2009. It describes how the Starbucks phenomenon reflects many of the social and cultural trends in American society and business. On March 24, 2010, he stopped by Paley Library to talk to me about his new book. He discussed the history of the company, the research methods he employed, the coffeehouse tradition, the shrinking of public spaces in America, and how we might renew our civic culture.
Listen to the audio of the interview
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iTUnes U link (for downloads)
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The Urban Archives Reading Room is undergoing improvements that require extensive renovations, scheduled to take place between May 3 and July 2. During that time, some services may be limited. Full services at the Archives will resume on Tuesday, July 6. We encourage you to contact the Archives ahead of time, at 215-204-8257 or urban@temple.edu, for the best possible research assistance. Ongoing updates about these improvements will be posted at http://library.temple.edu and http://library.temple.edu/collections/urbana, so check back for additional information.
On March 18, 2010 I had the opportunity to speak with Classics professors Dan Tompkins, Robin Mitchell-Boyask, and Sydnor Roy. I wanted to understand how Classics research–and humanities research more generally–had changed in the course of the past few decades in the wake of broad transformations in academia, technology, and society.
Dan Tompkins received his PhD from Yale University in 1968 with a dissertation entitled Stylistic Characterization in Thucydides. Robin Mitchell-Boyask graduated in 1988 from Brown University with a dissertation entitled Tragic Identity: Studies in Euripides and Shakespeare. Sydnor Roy is a 2010 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her dissertation is entitled Political Relativism: Implicit Political Theory in Herodotus’ Histories.
We began by discussing their respective dissertation experiences: where they studied, what kinds of sources they used, the technology that was available, and the scholarly community that surrounded them. Since the three dissertations spanned the years from 1968 to 2010, the discussion revealed interesting similarities and differences in the academic environment over the past forty years. Below is Part 1 of our discussion. Parts 2 and 3 will follow.
Listen to the audio of the discussion, Part I
[ensemblevideo contentid=xoGjjJfmXEydHowYpXDNrQ audio=true]
iTunes U link (for downloads)
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We’ve created a cellphone tour to guide you through the current exhibition at Paley Library: The Radical, The Alternative, The Political—Posters from the Contemporary Culture Collection. The exhibition presents a rare glimpse into the political, the graphic, the radical—with broadsides, posters and other print-based materials from the Contemporary Culture Collection. The exhibition, which is culled from this outstanding collection of materials from radical, alternative, and independent presses, explores the theme of accessibility and dissemination of print materials. The Contemporary Culture Collection is one of the region’s most extensive collections of publications by alternative, independent, and small literary publishers; social reform and liberation movement organizations; and political organizations of the far left and right. The collection contains 5,000 journal, newsletter and newspaper titles, books, pamphlets, microfilm, audiotapes, posters, broadsides, artist books and prints. To participate in the tour, drop by Paley Library, proceed to the exhibit cases on the first floor and dial in at 215-525-1543, then hit prompt 50# to begin.
Congratulations go to all Library Prize applicants. The honorees this year are:
Winners (alphabetical order)
Donald Bermudez – Keystone of the Keystone: The Falls of the Delaware and Bucks County 1609-1692 (History 4997) – Faculty Sponsors: Dr. Rita Krueger and Dr. Travis
Glasson Brian Hussey – Setting the Agenda: The Effects of Administration Debates and the President’s Personal Imperatives on Forming Foreign Policy During the Reagan Administration (History 4997) – Faculty Sponsors: Dr. Rita Krueger and Dr. Richard H. Immerman
Charise Young – African American Women’s Basketball in the 1920s and 1930s: Active Participants in the “New Negro” Movement (History 4296) – Faculty Sponsors: Dr. Bettye Collier-Thomas and Dr. Kenneth L. Kusmer
Honorable Mentions (alphabetical order)
Adam Ledford – A Research Based Studio Practice in Ceramics (Crafts 4162) – Faculty Sponsors: Nicholas Kripal and Chad D. Curtis
Hung Pham – The Identification of Transcription Factors Mediating Homocysteine Pathology in Human Endothelial Cells (Biology 3396) – Faculty Sponsors: Dr. Deborah Stull and Dr. Hong Wang
We recently received a notice from our colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania Van Pelt Library informing us that they will be instituting a restricted access policy for Van Pelt-Dietrich Library during reading days and the final exam period, This new policy will be enforced between April 28 and May 11. Weekdays beginning at 3 pm and all day on weekends, access to the Van Pelt building will be limited to PennCard and Library Courtesy Card holders. This policy change is being enacted to ensure that all seating in the building is available for Penn students during the busiest time of the semester. If you regularly visit the Van Pelt Library for research or to study there, please know that their door guards are distributing flyers that detail the change in policy to all visitors.
Temple is honored to have been selected to participate in the University of Washington’s Project Information Literacy program! This week, a survey will be deployed to a random sampling of sophomores, juniors and seniors, seeking information on what it’s like to be a college student in the digital age. If you are selected, we encourage you to participate, and not just because you will be eligible for a $150 gift certificate from Amazon! PIL is a national study about information-seeking behaviors, competencies, and the challenges. The survey will help us learn more about the opportunities and challenges that online research presents to you — and the strategies you’ve developed to find information for course work and for use in your life. This information will help the Temple Libraries to better serve you. Watch your email for the survey announcement. Just be sure to complete the survey by the April 28, 2010 deadline.
A recent press release by the Getty announced that the art database, Bibliography of the History (BHA) will now be available free of charge via the J. Paul Getty website. You can read the entire release here. Please note that the content available is only the archive of BHA. The database is currently not being updated. There is a sigh of relief in the art research community over this news. Despite the lack of updated content, BHA remains one of the most useful resources for art historical research.
The Temple University Libraries were notified today that the Getty Research Institute has discontinued publication of the Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA), a critical database in the field of art history. Furthermore, we regret to report that the Getty will switch off all access to the BHA at the end of March 2010. Proquest, the distributor through which Temple has had access to the BHA, confirmed in writing to us that the Getty had been looking for a buyer for the database but that as of last week, no other publisher was willing to buy and continue the database. So Getty is pulling the plug. ProQuest maintains that no extension of access for any customers will be possible after March 31.
Alternatives:
Again, all access to the Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA) will cease on Wednesday, March 31, 2010. Please continue to use this resource until then.
— by Jill E. Luedke, Reference & Instruction Librarian / Art Subject Specialist
