Welcome for the Fall Semester

Posted on August 30, 2006 by Steven Bell

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

Digital National Security Archive Improved

Posted on August 30, 2006 by Gerald Doyle

ProQuest recently announced improvements to the Digital National Security Archive (DNSA). Significant enhancements include:

— Faster, simpler searching via a Quick Search box
— Easy bookmarking of content via durable URLs for reading lists and course web pages
— Quick results review supported by hit-term highlighting in the full record display
— Seamless emailing and printing records through a marked list
— Easy saving of content and bibliographic records between work sessions through an individual MyArchive feature and citation software support

—David C. Murray

Dreaming of the End

Posted on August 28, 2006 by Fred Rowland

There are strong apocalyptic elements to each of the major Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Among the events prophesied are things like the appearance of a messiah, huge cataclysms, a last judgment, and the end of the world. Given the current awful conflicts in the Middle East–home to these religions–and the religious passions involved, the following articles and books might provide some food for thought.

Apocalypse: An Overview // Eschatology: An Overview // Armageddon, battle of// Millennialism // Mahdi // Messiah // Antichrist // Judgment of the Dead //Revelation, book of // Shia: Imami (Twelver) // Jerusalem in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam // Prophecy // Isaiah
Encyclopedia of Apocalypticism // Left Behind Series // Rapture, Revelation, and the end times // Contemporary Muslim apocalyptic literature // The resurrection and the afterlife // Eschatological themes in medieval Jewish philosophy // The fate of the dead : studies on the Jewish and Christian apocalypses // On the road to Armageddon // The battles of Armageddon

Evangelical Solidarity with the Jews // Ideological Roots of Christian Zionism //The Legend of al-Dajjal (Antichrist) // Eschatology: Some Muslim and Christian Data // Time, Culture and Christian Eschatology // Bin Ladin: The Man Who Would Be Mahdi // Waiting for the Messiah // Romance Between Christian Right, Jewish Establishment Seems to Be Cooling Off // Farrakhan: This is time of doom// Jerusalem in Islamic fundamentalism

–Fred Rowland

Historic Philadelphia Photographs

Posted on August 25, 2006 by Gerald Doyle

A partnership between the Philadelphia City Archives and the for-profit Avencia, Inc. has resulted in the creation of Phillyhistory.org, a website that provides users with an extensive online photo archive, historic streets index, and index to print photographs held in the Archives. According to Avencia, the site now provides access to “more than 20,000 scanned historic images” of Philadelphia (Avencia.com). —David C. Murray

Introducing Kristina De Voe, Librarian

Posted on August 25, 2006 by carol

devoe.jpe We are pleased to announce the appointment of Kristina De Voe as a librarian on the Paley Library staff. Kristina comes to the Temple University Libraries from Ohio Dominican University in Columbus, Ohio. She received her Masters in English with a specialization in Rhetoric and Composition Studies from The Ohio State University and her Masters in Library and Information Science from Kent State University. While an undergraduate at St. Cloud University, where she double majored in English and History, she spent a summer studying at Oxford University.

Kristina will work in the Paley Reference and Instructional Services Department. She will serve as liaison for collection development, reference, and instructional services for the following departments: English Broadcasting, Telecommunications, and Mass Media Communications Journalism We are delighted to welcome Kristina to Temple University and Philadelphia, and to have her on our staff. She is eager to assist students with their information needs and to meet with the faculty in her subject areas to ensure that we are building collections to serve their research and teaching needs. Her email address is devoek@temple.edu and her phone number is 215-204-4583.

Larry P. Alford, Vice Provost for Libraries and University Librarian

2006 is Bertolt Brecht Year!

Posted on August 17, 2006 by Anne Harlow

Bertolt Brecht Manuscripts Discovered in Switzerland

Previously unknown manuscripts of Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956), influential 20th century poet and playwright, have been recently discovered in Switzerland and delivered to the Brecht Archive at the Academy of Arts in Berlin. The playwright with arguably the most influence in shaping modern theater in the twentieth century, Brecht is a controversial social critic while at the same time his works entertain. The year 2006 is “Brecht year”, with many venues commemorating 50 years since his death. An article about the discovery of the manuscripts is available from Deutsche Welle , as well as other articles on his life and works.

Some resources at Temple University Libraries on Bertolt Brecht include:

Works by Bertolt Brecht at Temple University Libraries
Works about Bertolt Brecht

Books at Temple University Paley Library
Both analyses and biographies.

*From “Contemporary Authors”
Nice works list, brief biography.

*From Grove Music Online
Brief biography emphasizing works put to music.
Criticism and Analysis

*International Index to the Performing Arts
A variety of sources including scholarly and popular press. Articles are full-text and full-image.

*JSTOR
Full-text articles from the Performing Arts, Language and Linguistics, and Music Collections.

*Literature Online (LION) – Bertolt Brecht, short biographies, links to articles with analysis, some full-text works.

*MLA International Bibliography – full-text articles on criticism and analysis. For more articles on Brecht, search the database MLA lists over 3,000 citations about Brecht.

*RILM – Criticism and Analysis about Brecht-Weill works in a database that is international in scope.
Internet Resources

International Brecht Society

Bertolt Brecht and the Epic Theater

“Bertolt Brecht: The Man Who Never Was” provides insight into the complexity of Brecht as a writer and a person.
* To access resources preceded by an asterisk off-campus, enter your AccessNet username and password.

-Anne Harlow

Interesting stuff about books

Posted on July 26, 2006 by Fred Rowland

Here are some interesting books/articles/databases/web sites on the history and evolution of the book, in no particular order. Thanks to librarian Anne Harlow for pointing me to Book 2.0, the source for the first four entries below.

GAM3R 7H3ORY, by McKenzie Wark

Books In Time, Carla Hesse

On the Future of Academic Publishing, Peer Review, and Tenure Requirements

Institute for the Future of the Book

Book 2.0 (Temple user name and password for the Chronicle is in Journal Finder)

The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe, Elizabeth Eisenstein

The Nature of the Book, Adrian Johns

Book History Online (BHO)

Self, Culture, and Self-Culture in Modern America: The Early History of the Book-of-the-Month Club, Joan Shelley Rubin

John Playford and the Stationers’ Company, Nicholas Temperley

Learned Publishing (Temple does not subscribe to this journal, but much of the content is free.)

The European physics publications scene: avant-garde and traditionalism, Claus Montonen

Alternative Futures for Library History, Jonathan Rose

The Great Library of Alexandria Burnt: Towards the History of a Symbol, Jon Thiem
—Fred Rowland

Your Library in Your Hand

Posted on July 25, 2006 by carol

Diamond, the online catalog of the Temple University Libraries, is now available through your mobile phone, PDA, or other small screen device (SSD). Say, “goodbye,” to those scraps of paper and stop hunting for pens that write (or a free computer). Now you’ve got your library in the palm of your hand! Just enter http://diamond.temple.edu/ into the web browser on your phone or wireless PDA, and click the “Text-only / AirPAC” link to check it out. Once connected you can search the library catalog from almost anywhere. Find a reference book without leaving your stuff. Renew that novel you’re reading while you’re in the coffee shop. Save your laptop for the hard stuff because seeing what we’ve got has never been easier at your library! — Byron C. Mayes, Head of Library Systems & Technology

Historical Statistics of the United States, Millennial Edition

Posted on July 20, 2006 by Gerald Doyle

Temple University Libraries has acquired Historical Statistics of the United States: Earliest Times to the Present, Millennial Edition (c2006). This resource is available not only online but as a 5-volume print work located in Paley Library’s 1st floor reference stacks. The Millennial edition is a greatly updated and expanded version of the previous 2-volume 1970 edition, which has been available both online and in print for many years.

The online Millennial edition represents a major step forward in the researcher’s ability to gather and compare historical U.S. statistics. “It has now been expanded to include over 37,000 data series, which is three times more than the previous edition. This edition includes dozens of new topics including slavery, American Indians, and poverty” (HSUS Introduction, Cambridge Online). Topics are “placed in historical context by a recognized expert in the field. The fully searchable and downloadable electronic edition . . . permits users to graph individual tables and create customized tables and spreadsheets reflecting their own particular areas of interest” (ibid.). Additional features include:

* Save your search criteria
* Search within a chapter or volume
* Bookmark tables or essays
* Searchable term and contributor indexes
* View tables in PDF or HTML format
* Tables online include full documentation, sources, and footnotes
* Select certain years or series of years to view, download, print, or graph
* Download unrounded table data, for more detailed statistical analyses.
* Enhanced table display features: jump to a certain table column (series), skip over blank data cells, highlight table rows and columns for readability
* Toggle table sorting by ascending or descending year
* Create and download colorful charts, graphs, and plots
* Email a table or essay to a colleague

–David C. Murray

Changes for the Science, Engineering & Architecture Libraries

Posted on July 17, 2006 by Gretchen Sneff

*** As of July 21, the closing dates have been revised. See new dates on the schedule below. ***

As previously announced, the Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematical Sciences libraries will close later this month. This article describes the redeployment of books and journals, the relocation of library staff, and the collection and services to be offered in a newly created Science, Engineering and Architecture Library.

New locations for science materials
Most older and lesser used materials will be moved into the new Library Depository, a closed-stack shelving and retrieval facility which opened in late June. Materials going to the Depository include books more than 13 years old that have not circulated in the past ten years and bound journals that are available in full-text electronically, such as titles available via Science Direct, American Chemical Society, Nature Online, and the American Physical Society. In addition, all journal volumes published before 1985 will be sent to the Depository.

Some materials will be moved to Paley Library including bound journal volumes published after 1984 and books published before 1997 that have been borrowed in the past ten years. All material currently housed in the Mathematical Sciences library will be moved to Paley Library.

The newest materials from the science libraries will be consolidated in the location previously occupied by the Engineering & Architecture Library, which will be reconstituted as a Science, Engineering and Architecture Library.

The Science, Engineering and Architecture Library (SEAL)
The new Science Engineering & Architecture Library will include current issues of print journals, a collection of reference materials and the most recent ten years of monographs in architecture, biology, chemistry, engineering, geology, physics and general science. Architecture bound journals will be held in SEAL. Services will include reference, course reserves, and library instructional services. We will also offer a slate of new online services such as Instant Messaging reference, new book lists, a SEAL blog site featuring new tools, resources, library events and news. Twenty-two computer workstations will be available and SEAL will offer expanded service hours seven days a week.

The Move

The transfer of materials to the Depository is already well underway in the Paley Library. Movers will start to work in the branch libraries in the later part of July. The Libraries will close the day before the movers arrive.

Scheduled dates of library closings, as of July 21st:

Physics Library, Tuesday, July 25 at 5pm
Chemistry Library, Friday, July 28 at 5pm
Biology Library, Friday, July 28 at 5pm (Previously August 1st)
Mathematical Sciences Library, Monday, July 31 at 4.30 pm (Previously August 3rd)
The Library catalog is updated daily as the move progresses to clearly indicate the new location of materials. Items relocated to the Depository may be requested using a form linked to each record in the catalog. Books will be delivered to Paley or SEAL within 24 hours and needed journal articles will be delivered via email. For more information about the new Library Depository, see the Temple Times article of April 27, 2006, the Library Blog article of June 21, 2006, and the Depository FAQ.

Staff
The library closures and other changes also mean changes for several of our staff. Joyce Dennis, Bibliographic Assistant (BA) in the Mathematical Sciences Library, has elected to take a position in the Collection Development Department in Paley Library. Joyce has a long history of library service at Temple, and already experienced an earlier transition when the library at TU-Center City was closed. Katerina Montaniel, currently in the Chemistry Library, will move to Access Services, as the BA with primary responsibility for the provision of services in the Library Depository.

Staff who will be located in SEAL include Gretchen Sneff, Head, SEAL Library, and librarian for engineering and architecture; Laura Lane, Science Librarian for physics, mathematics, geology and general science; Kathy Szigeti, Science Librarian for biology, chemistry, and computer science. Cathy Zabroski, Bibliographic Assistant currently in the Engineering & Architecture Library, will head circulation and supervise student workers in SEAL, and Marianne Sanville, BA currently in the Biology Library, will relocate to SEAL and oversee course reserves, collections and document delivery.

We hope that SEAL will become a popular gathering space for students in science, engineering and architecture. Having concentrated staff, services, and the most current books and journals across the sciences and engineering, SEAL will provide students and researchers the most current discipline-specific and cross-disciplinary information needed for study and research.

Please contact me with any questions or concerns.

Gretchen Sneff, 215-204-4724, gsneff@temple.edu
Head, Engineering & Science Libraries

Temple University Libraries News

— A Temple Libraries' Blog

Tag Archives: Top News