DATE: Wednesday, April 5 TIME: 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. LOCATION: The Edge Workshop Room (Bostock 127) Register Now
From hashtag activism to public policy unfolding on Twitter, social media is trending as an important data source for our understanding of today’s socio-political atmosphere. In what ways can social media data provide researchers with a glimpse into social behaviors and human interactions? How are researchers harnessing, analyzing, and making sense of social media data? What are the ethical considerations of capturing and using this data?
Join us in the Ruppert Commons for Research, Technology and Collaboration (“The Edge”) as Dr. Negar Mottahedeh, Dr. Daniel Vallero, and Dr. Jennifer Ahern-Dodson discuss the role of social media as a source for their own research, as well as the limitations and ethical considerations at play.
This workshop will discuss the burgeoning phenomena of article retractions in the scientific and social scientific literature. No one plans to have an article retracted, so we will cover what to do to avoid a retraction and language the existing editorial literature can offer if you do find yourself dealing with a retraction as an author or one of a group of authors.
We will look at retraction notices, notices of withdrawal, errata, statements of editorial concern and other forms of announcement and notification used in journals. Participants will also learn how to find actual notices of retraction, where in databases and journals these statements may reside and how to decipher some of the coded language around articles that are in the process of being withdrawn.
Finals getting to you? One student’s note puts things in perspective
Mindfulness, anyone?
Who hasn’t heard or read that coloring reduces stress? There is evidence that even a short coloring or craft session helps to improve focus and spur creativity.1 In fact, at Lilly Library we are aware of this effect, so for the past several years we’ve offered Duke students the LillyRelaxation Station. Located in our first floor training room, the Relaxation Station provides games, crafts, puzzles, coloring, and markers for whiteboards so that students may take a moment (or two) to relax and recharge their gray matter!
Students created and shared origami
What: Lilly Relaxation Station
When: Tuesday, December 13ththrough Sunday December 18th
Duke Students are invited to drop in, “take a moment” (or however much time they wish – no pressure!) and enjoy themselves during Finals Week.
Check out the Lilly Facebook page for event details. Additionally, Lilly partners with Devils After Dark to offer snacks on the evenings of Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, at 8 p.m. in the Lilly foyer.
On a “final” note, sure to check out Duke Libraries’ helpful End of Semester Survival Guidefor lots of tips and information to get you through exams.
Good News! It’s time for a study bark! I mean, break.
Wednesday, December 14, Puppies in Perkins will be back! Puppies, wagging tails, and snuggles for all. From 12 pm-3 pm in Perkins 217 therapy dogs will be in the library to soothe all your finals woes and give you the cuddles you so richly deserve. There will also be fun, finals-themed button-making! Come take a study break and meet and greet the cutest pups on campus!
“Procrastination is something best put off until tomorrow.” –Gerald Vaughan
What: Writing and research help, finals prep, de-stressing, & snacks! Where: The Edge When: Tuesday, December 6, 7:00-11:00 pm
T-minus two weeks until finals are upon us! Don’t let final papers, presentations, and exams sneak up on you. Duke University’s Long Night Against Procrastination is a night set apart for maximum productivity–an evening you can devote to studying, snacks, and staying on stop of everything on your to-do list.
Staff from the Libraries, the TWP Writing Studio, and the Academic Resource Center will all be on hand to help with research and writing assistance. Whether it’s finding that last source for your research paper or polishing up your final essay, the LNAP staff can help you tackle those assignments that have you feeling stuck. You can even track your study progress and pick up free study materials throughout the evening. Also, tutors for Organic Chemistry 1 and 2 will be on hand from 8:00-11:-00 pm!
There will also be stress-relieving activities including coloring, button-making, and relaxation stations for when you need a short brain break. And, of course, there will be plenty of snacks and coffee to feed your productivity. Please help us make the event green by bringing your own coffee mugs and water bottles. Come out for a Long Night Against Procrastination to tackle your problem sets, papers, and study sessions and conquer your finals week!
Sponsored by Duke University Libraries, the TWP Writing Studio, the Academic Resource Center, and the Duke Student Wellness Center
Refreshments provided by Saladelia, Pepsi, Duke University Campus Club, and Friends of the Duke University Libraries
The Office of the Vice Provost for Research is announcing a data visualization challenge focused on a rich dataset describing research activity and output of Duke researchers. The datasets are from Scholars@Duke and they describe publications, authorships, and scholarly collaborations from university researchers.
The challenge. Create visualizations to capture the richness and dynamism of Duke research. Envisioning Duke Research | Visualizing Scholars@Duke
The dataset encompasses bibliographical information and abstracts, publication venue (including journals and conferences), and a co-authorship network. More information can be obtained on the Scholars@Duke website.
In order to participate in the challenge, simply download the data and indicate your intent to submit visualization by midnight on Sunday, January 15, 2017. The visualization will be presented at a poster session on January 19 and at the Duke Research Computing Symposium on January 20.
First prize is $500, second prize is $250, and third prize will be awarded $100. Judges of the posters are experts in data analysis and visualization in the Duke community. All are invited to participate in this amazing opportunity to showcase skills in data visualization!
Entries for the contest will be due February 14, 2017.
The Friends of the Duke University Libraries are proud to present the 2017 Andrew T. Nadell Prize for Book Collecting. The contest is open to all students enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate/professional degree program at Duke and the winners will receive cash prizes!
First Prize Undergraduate: $1,000 Graduate: $1,000
Second Prize Undergraduate: $500 Graduate: $500
Winners of the contest will also be eligible to enter the National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest, where they will compete for a $2,500 prize and an invitation to the awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., at the Library of Congress.
Students do not have to be “book collectors” to enter the contest. Past collections have varied in interest areas and included a number of different types of materials. The collections will be judged based on adherence to a clearly defined unifying theme, and rarity and monetary value will not be considered during judging.
Students who are interested in entering can visit the Prize for Book Collecting homepage for more information and read winning entries from past years. Students may also contact Megan Crain at megan.crain@duke.edu with any questions.
Join us on Thursday, November 10th, as we write thank you notes to our incredible Duke Annual Fund donors, made up of thousands of Duke’s loyal alumni, parents, students, faculty, staff, and friends!
The event will take place in Perkins Library, as well as seven other locations around campus, and will give students the opportunity to share their thanks for the many contributions made to Duke University Libraries and other sects of the Duke community.
Gifts to these 16 Annual Fund designations across campus allow deans and directors to say “yes” to innovative programs, research projects, and hands-on learning opportunities. Without Annual Fund donors, Duke would simply not be Duke.
All are welcome to come out to the Libraries’ location next Thursday for a day of philanthropy and fun!
In case you can’t get enough of politics in this election cycle, Lilly Library’s exhibit Reel Politics: Focus on Elections highlights the wide range of political or politically themed films in our collections. Duke students, staff and faculty can “write-in” their favorite film or choose from some of the titles represented.
Veep Lilly DVD 26598Mr. Smith Goes to Washington Lilly DVD 605
The American political process and environment are explored, celebrated and, yes, deplored in all genres of film and television programs: romances, satires, and searing dramas, cynical and sometimes insightful documentaries. Films available in the Lilly Library collections include classics such as Mr. Smith Goes to Washington or its cynical counterpart, The Candidate, idealized romances such as The American President, comedies such as Election, and documentaries such as Weiner or The War Room. Television series also portray the American political scene in a variety of ways – what starker contrast in depictions of the Presidency can be found than between that of The West Wing and the recent series, House of Cards?
What are the bestfilms , documentaries and television series about American elections? The films and television series in the exhibit represent just a very few of the hundreds of films and series about American elections and politics that the library offers. Explore the possibilities with a search of our library catalogue, peruse the Lilly Video Spotlight on Political Documentaries, and remember, just like the candidates, films have their champions and detractors.
In keeping with the season, perhaps you can conduct your own poll!
Reel Politics: Focus on Elections Exhibit on display through October Lilly Library foyer
The treasures of Duke’s branch libraries are often hidden. The circulating collections and services of these smaller libraries often claim the pride of place. Both libraries on East Campus, Lilly Library and Music Library, however, hold precious material relating to their subject collections. Known in the library world as “medium rare” (as opposed to the rare materials located in the David M. Rubenstein Library) such primary source materials allow students to examine history first hand.
This fall the Lilly Library added a lobby display case to highlight its unique collections. The inaugural display is one volume of our three-volume Vitruvius Britannicus, a large and early folio devoted to the great buildings of England to be seen in 1717.
Vitruvius Britannicus
An outstanding example of a folio (book) format as well as the awakening of interest in British architecture by its own architects – quoting from the Oxford Art Online – Vitruvius Britannicus was a cooperative venture that appears to have developed out of the desire of a group of booksellers to capitalize on an already established taste for topographical illustration.
Published in 1715 and 1717, the two original volumes each consisted of 100 large folio plates of plans, elevations and sections chiefly illustrating contemporary secular buildings. Many of these plates provided lavish illustration of the best-known houses of the day, such as Chatsworth, Derbys, or Blenheim Palace, Oxon, intended to appeal to the widespread desire for prints of such buildings as well as providing their architects a chance to publicize their current work.
We invite you to visit the Lilly Library on East Campus and to enjoy this “medium rare” folio on exhibit. For more information about the Lilly Library folio or art and image collections, contact Lee Sorensen, the Librarian for Visual Studies.
Learn to “swim” – and to keep swimming – in the Libraries!
The Libraries welcome the newest Blue Devils
On East Campus, after students settle in and begin classes, the Lilly Library and Duke Music Library offer several ways for the newest Blue Devils to learn and benefit from the incredible resources of the Duke Libraries. Lilly and Music sponsor Library Orientation events – including a film on the East Campus Quad and an Open House to introduce students to library services and collections. In recent years, students ventured into a library-themed Jurassic Park, played The Library Games, and were wowed by theIncredibles and our libraries’ super powers. This year, the Class of 2020 will explore the power of discovery and the rewards of research, and learn to “keep swimming” in our resources when they …
Dive Into the Libraries
Schedule of Library Orientation Events for Fall Semester 2016
After the excitement of the beginning of the new semester subsides, the Duke University Libraries continue to reach out to our students, always ready to offer research support and access to resources in support of their scholarly needs.
Here’s to a great fall semester!
Keep swimming! And, remember – we’re available to help you “keep searching”!
Thanks to Devils After Dark for partnering
with the East Campus Libraries for our orientation events.
… What are the libraries’ hours? … How do I find a book? … Who can help me with research? … Where can I print?*
Duke University’s newest students will find the answers to these questions (and more!) on the Library’s First-Year Library Servicesportal page.
Lilly Library on East Campus
Each August, a new class of undergraduates arrives in Durham ready to immerse themselves in the Duke Community. Duke University Libraries serve as the core of intellectual life on campus. Because East Campus is home to the First-Year students, Lillyand Music Libraries have the unique opportunity to introduce our newest “Dukies” to the array of Library resources and research services available.
To help navigate the vast library resources, there is a portal especially for First-Year Students. Through this portal page, new students (and even some not-so-new) can discover all that the Duke University Libraries offer:
I don’t know about you, but when it’s as hot as it’s been this week, all I want to do is stay inside in the air conditioning with a good book (assuming escaping to a lovely beach isn’t an option). If reading sounds good to you too, you might find some good titles in either our New and Noteworthy or Current Literature collections.
The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee. From a writer praised by Junot Díaz as “the fire, in my opinion, and the light,” a mesmerizing novel that follows one woman’s rise from circus rider to courtesan to world-renowned diva . You can read a NYT review here.
Margaret the First by Danielle Dutton. Do you enjoy historical fiction? Then you might like this dramatization of the life of Margaret Cavendish, the shy, gifted, and wildly unconventional 17th-century Duchess. The eccentric Margaret wrote and published volumes of poems, philosophy, feminist plays, and utopian science fiction at a time when “being a writer” was not an option open to women.
The Fugitives by Christopher Sorrentino, a National Book Award finalist. He has written a book that is a bracing, kaleidoscopic look at love and obsession, loyalty and betrayal, race and identity, compulsion and free.
The Girls: A Novel by Emma Cline is a not to be missed New York Times Bestseller. This debut novel about the Manson family murders has had a lot of good reviews, such as this, this, and this.
The After Party by Anton DiSclafani. Looking for more of a traditional beach read? The check out the book O Magazine describes as “One of the 3 Beach Reads You Won’t Be Able to Put Down.” This is the story of 1950s Texas socialites and the one irresistible, controversial woman at the bright, hot center of it all.
As finals loom ahead, Lilly Library is here to help the sailing go as smoothly as possible.
For those of you looking to study all hours of the night and day, Lilly is now open 24/7 beginning Thursday, April 28 at 8 a.m. and closing 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 7.
Join us for our Study Break at 8 p.m. on Monday, May 2 for beverages and lots of snacks, both healthy (fruit and veggies) and the kind you really want to eat (cookies, brownies and the like).
Puzzles, games and more await for a “Brain Break” in the Relaxation Station in Lilly’s Training Room
And a Lilly tradition for the past several years–the Relaxation Station–is back, opening on Tuesday, May 3 and running through the end of exams on Saturday. The Relaxation Station offers games, puzzles, coloring and crafts so that students may take a moment (or two) to relax and recharge their gray matter!
Finally, Lilly Library is partnering with Devils After Dark to offer snacks on the evenings of Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, usually starting around 8 p.m. and in the Lilly foyer.
This guest post has been written by Sean Swanick, the Librarian For Middle East and Islamic Studies, as part of our series of Shakespeare related blog posts.
A man lost at sea, having drifted far away from his native Iraqi lands, comes a shore in England. In due time he will be nicknamed the Bard of Avon but upon landing on the Saxon coast, his passport reportedly read: Shaikh Zubayr. A knowledgeable man with great writing prowess from a small town called Zubayr in Iraq. He came to be known in the West as Shakespeare and was given the first name of William. William Shakespeare of Zubayr.
Or at least this is loosely how a story goes about The Bard’s origins. It was purportedly first suggested by the famous Lebanese intellectual, Aḥmad Fāris al-Shidyāq and later popularised by the Iraqi intellectual Dr. Ṣafāʾ Khulūṣī. Khulūṣī in 1960 published an article entitled “The Study of Shakespeare” in al-Ma’rifa (1960) where he paid homage to the Bard while also expanding upon al-Shidyāq’s theory. This perplexing theory has generated much rebuttal and discussion. This theory rested upon “that most of Shakespeare’s language could be traced back to Classical Arabic…[t]o give one example : the Arabic adjective nabīl which means ‘noble’ and which occurs, naturally enough, throughout the plays and poems.” (“Shadow Language” in Ormsby, Eric L. 2011. Fine incisions: essays on poetry and place. Erin, Ont: Porcupine’s Quill.) The former Libyan dictator, Mu’ammar al-Qadhāfī is also reported to have supported the theory of Shaikh Zubayr.
At Duke, visiting Professor Abdul Sattar Jawad of Duke Islamic Studies Centre wrote a delightful article in The Chronicle in 2011 about the popularity of Shakespeare in Iraq. He noted, “[i]n Iraq, Shakespeare’s works are regarded as the second Bible and the center of Western canon. He became a mandatory course in schools and universities alike. “To be or not to be,” “as you like it,” and “that is the question,” were frequently cited, even by the illiterate. They are heaven’s gift, backed by thorough knowledge of the highest professionalism put into poetry and the dramatic art” (Abdul Sattar Jawad, “Shakespeare in Baghdad,” The Chronicle, 2 December 2011).
What: Help with writing, research, finals prep, and de-stressing Where: The Edge When: Tuesday, April 19, 7:00-11:00 pm
So you think you have lots of time before finals. That’s weeks away right? But finals are speeding towards us, and with them sleepless nights and too much caffeine. Don’t let all the final papers, presentations, and exams sneak up on you! Duke University’s Long Night Against Procrastination is a night set apart for maximum productivity–an evening you can devote to staying on stop of everything on your to-do list, and making your finals week that much easier.
Staff from the Libraries, the TWP Writing Studio, and the Academic Resource Center will be on hand to provide research and writing assistance. You can track your study progress and pick up free study materials throughout the evening. There will also be stress-relieving activities including coloring, button making, and relaxation stations for when you need a short brain break. And, of course, there will be plenty of snacks and drinks to feed your productivity.
To keep you motivated throughout the night there will be a t-shirt raffle every hour. Anyone who enters a goal on our goal wall, attends a writing session with the TWP Writing Studio staff, attends a reference help session with the librarians at the event, makes a button, or posts about the Libraries on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram will be able to enter the raffle.
Come out for a Long Night Against Procrastination and conquer your finals week!
Sponsored by Duke University Libraries, the TWP Writing Studio, Duke Student Wellness Center, and the Academic Resource Center
Refreshments provided by Duke University Campus Club and Friends of the Duke University Libraries
Earlier this year, Duke University Libraries conducted a survey to obtain feedback about the services and facilities we provide to our users. Lilly Library, on East Campus, was one area of focus within the broader survey.
Here is your opportunity to share your thoughts about ways to improve and enhance Lilly Library services, spaces, and resources in a one-hour moderated focus group. In particular, because Lilly Library is being considered for renovation in the near future, feedback from interested library users like you is a vital part of our planning process.
In return, we’ll feed you… Monuts, anyone?
Register for ONE of the sessions:
What: Focus Group I for Lilly Library
When: Tuesday, April 19th 5 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Where: East Union Lower Level Classroom 1 — Room 041
The paradoxes of time travel are a never ending source of fascination for sci-fi film buffs. Lilly’s robust collection includes a few lesser known, but intriguing examples. In Timecrimes (2007) a man is drawn to a young woman who appears mysteriously in the woods near his house. The resulting events pull him into a series of time loops.
Primer (2004), which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, is the tale of two men who invent a rudimentary time travel device in their garage. The Navigator (1988) tells the story of a band of 14th century townsfolk who, while trying to escape the Black Death, stumble upon a fissure in time and end up in the 20th century. Jacques Rivette’s Celine and Julie Go Boating follows the evolving friendship of two women and their magical trip into the past as they attempt to rescue a young girl.
Explore the Duke Libraries film and video collection for more time travel-related titles.
Your opinion counts! Share your thoughts about ways to improve and enhance library services, collections, and spaces in a one-hour moderated focus group. In return, we’ll feed you!
Here in the Libraries, we’re always trying to up our game. To help us serve our Duke students and faculty better, we conduct periodic focus groups with undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty members.
Your opinion counts! Share your input and make a difference. Focus groups help us improve our existing services and develop new ones to meet emerging needs. Click on the links below to be part of a focus group session.
Welcome to our blog series on innovative projects coming out of The Edge! The Edge is a collaborative space in Bostock Library where students, faculty, and staff can work on research projects over the course of a semester or academic year. If you have a project that would be ideal for the Edge, head over to our project spaces page to submit an application.
The Wilbourn Infant Lab at Duke (WILD)
The Wilbourn Infant Lab at Duke (WILD) is a developmental research lab in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University. In the WILD, we study how infants and children learn language and how different modes of input, such as gestures, may influence early language and cognitive development. In addition, we are interested in how different cultural backgrounds and linguistic experiences influence young children’s language learning.
We do research with infants, children, and adults in the Social Psychology building on campus. After we collect the data, we analyze it. In the Edge, our project group meets to turn those analyses into something meaningful (e.g., journal articles) — so that we can make sense of our findings and better understand early development!
What inspired this project?
We think how babies learn language is fascinating! In just a short amount of time, infants can learn so much. Figuring out what they know and how they learn it is a mystery because we can’t ask babies questions or give them surveys. So, we devise creative experiments (usually relying on looking time) to tap into their knowledge!
Who are the members of your team? What departments and schools are they part of?
Makeba Parramore Wilbourn, a professor in the Department of Psychology & Neuroscience at Duke, is the director of our team.
We also have a team of graduate students (PhD students in the Department of Psychology & Neuroscience at Duke University, Master’s Psychology student at North Carolina Central University), undergraduate students (including students developing their honor’s thesis project, or working on independent study projects), summer interns, in addition to research scholars in Psychology.
How has working in The Edge influenced your work?
Having a space outside of where we collect our data has been very helpful for us. This helps us see our work in a new light, while also giving us access to new resources.
What tools do you use for your team collaboration?
Our team really likes to take advantage of the white board walls. In addition to trying to understand previously collected data, we also brainstorm new project ideas. Rather than just talking about our ideas, we’ll often use the white boards to visualize our ideas and form concept maps.
What are you learning as part of this project that is surprising to you?
Babies are always surprising us with how much they know! One of the most fascinating findings so far is that infants are active contributors to their development. They want to learn, and in many ways shape their own learning experiences – this is really exciting to see!
What are the difficult problems you are trying to solve?
Many theories of Developmental Psychology were formed by studying WEIRD (white, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic) babies. However, this is problematic because it provides a very narrow view of human development. Some of our future work is aiming to widen our understanding of developmental processes by studying non-WEIRD populations.
What would you do with your project if you had unlimited resources?
Studying non-WEIRD populations is a difficult task because it is not always easy to get families to come into our research lab on campus. With unlimited resources, we would be better equipped to study infants from many diverse backgrounds!
This post was written and compiled by Hannah Pope, a Master’s of Library Science student at UNC-Chapel Hill. She is interested in instruction, helping with research, and encouraging student innovation in libraries. She is currently working as a field experience intern in the Assessment and User Experience department and with The Edge at the Duke University Libraries.
In the mid 1980s Spike Lee opened the door for many African-American filmmakers. It is sometimes easy to forget those who laid the groundwork for his success. Ivan Dixon’s 1973 film The Spook Who Sat by the Door takes a look at discrimination within the CIA. Haile Gerima, the first important African-American female director, gave us Bush Mama (1975), which details the difficult life of a single mother.
Past Full Frame entries available at Lilly Library
It’s that time of year again!
Each spring, international filmmakers and film lovers flock to the Full Frame Documentary Film Festivalto experience the latest in documentary, or non-fiction, cinema showcased in our very own historic downtown Durham. Film showings highlight new programming in competition, and other events include expert panel discussions and themed screenings. Tickets go on sale April 1st.
Duke University Libraries support and highlight films from past festivals. One resource is the Full Frame Archive Film Collection, that includes festival winners from 1998-2012. The film and video collection at Lilly Library includes many more Full Frame titles available to the Duke community.
Full Frame 2015 exhibit
This year’s 19th Annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival honors independent director and documentary cinematographer, Kirsten Johnson, with the 2016 Tribute Award. Cameraperson, Johnson’s newest film, will be screened and a retrospective of her work will be presented. This year’s Thematic Program is a series titled “Perfect and Otherwise: Documenting American Politics,” curated by filmmaker R.J. Cutler, known for such films as The War Room and The World According to Dick Cheney.
When: April 7-10, 2016
Where: Various venues in Downtown Durham
The festival is a program of the Center for Documentary Studies and receives support from corporate sponsors, private foundations and individual donors whose generosity provides the foundation that makes the event possible. The Presenting Sponsor of the Festival is Duke University.
Virginia Woolf’s custom-made writing desk, recently acquired as part of the Lisa Unger Baskin Collection, is currently on display in the Rubenstein Library’s Michael and Karen Stone Family Gallery.
What: Virginia Woolf: Writing Surfaces and Writing Depths, with Dr. Leslie Kathleen Hankins Date: Thursday, March 3 Time: 4:00-5:00 p.m. Where: Holsti-Anderson Family Assembly Room, Rubenstein Library
Dr. Leslie Kathleen Hankins
Dr. Leslie Kathleen Hankins is a professor in the department of English and Creative Writing at Cornell College and past president of the International Virginia Woolf Society. She will give a talk on the various writing surfaces used by Woolf throughout her life, including the desk now on display in the Rubenstein Library that was acquired as part of the Lisa Unger Baskin Collection. How did this desk shape the apprenticeship of Virginia Stephen into a writer? What did she write at this desk? How did it launch her career? In addition to the desk at Duke, Hankins will discuss Woolf’s decorated writing table in Cassis, as well as an overstuffed chair and lap board in a storage room at Hogarth Press and in Woolf’s writing shed. Along the way, she will consider how Woolf’s desk selections demonstrate a nuanced negotiation of gender performance and the writing profession as she crafted an innovative writing space through standing/walking/and shabby chic desk strategies.
Here in the Libraries, we are always trying to improve our game. To help us serve our students and faculty better, we conduct periodic surveys to understand how you view our services, spaces, and materials, and how satisfied you are with your overall library experience.
From now until February 15, we will be conducting a brief user survey. Please take a moment and tell us how we’re doing.
As a way to say thank you for the feedback, all survey participants will be entered to win a $75 Amazon gift card. The survey only takes 4-5 minutes to complete, and all responses are completely confidential, so please tell us what’s really on your mind!
The more feedback we get, the better equipped we will be to improve our existing services and develop new ones to meet emerging needs.
So please take a few minutes to complete the survey. We value your feedback. And we look forward to reporting what we learn from the survey results in the coming weeks. Thank you!
Know someone who loves books? Make a gift in their honor or memory to the Duke University Libraries!
The holidays are just around the corner. What do you get that person on your list who already has everything?
Give a gift that matters to every member of the Duke community. Make an honorary or memorial gift to the Duke University Libraries!
Your gift to one of the funds below helps us continue to add resources and services that support the Duke and Durham community. Every gift, no matter the size, makes a difference.
You can direct your honorary or memorial gift to one or more Libraries’ funds, including:
The Library Annual Fund (1131070) provides flexible, unrestricted support for the Libraries’ varied operational needs
The Honoring with Books program gives Annual Fund donors who contribute $100 or more the opportunity to recognize a special person or event with an electronic bookplate
The Adopt-a-Book program (3940012) funds the conservation of an item from the collections, and provides flexible support for the Conservation Services department
The Lisa Unger Baskin Collection Fund (3940019) funds the acquisition and processing of the Lisa Unger Baskin Collection, one of the most extensive women’s history collections assembled by a private collector
Supporting technology for faster, easier research is a top campaign priority for the Libraries. Help fund our digital modernization efforts that are just as significant as our brick-and-mortar renovations, expanding our ability to accommodate the new ways our faculty and students teach and learn.
Thank you for helping to strengthen the Duke community by making a gift to the Duke University Libraries this holiday season!
PLEASE NOTE:
When you make an honorary or memorial gift online, please be sure to fill out the necessary information in the “Gift Dedication” section of Step 1 of our online giving form.
If you would like to make a gift to the Lisa Unger Baskin Collection fund or our technology program, please leave a comment in Step 2 of our online giving form.
“Procrastination is something best put off until tomorrow.” –Gerald Vaughan
What: Help with writing, research, finals prep, and de-stressing Where: The Edge When: Tuesday, December 1, 8:00-12:00 pm
So you think you have lots of time before finals. That’s weeks away right? Actually, there are less than nine days of classes before finals are upon us. Don’t let all the final papers, presentations, and exams sneak up on you! Duke University’s inaugural Long Night Against Procrastination is a night set apart for maximum productivity–an evening you can devote to staying on stop of everything on your to-do list.
Staff from the Libraries, the TWP Writing Studio, and the Academic Resource Center will be on hand to provide research and writing assistance. You can track your study progress and pick up free study materials throughout the evening.
There will also be stress-relieving activities including coloring, origami, and relaxation stations for when you need a short brain break. And, of course, there will be plenty of snacks and coffee to feed your productivity. Come out for a Long Night Against Procrastination and conquer your finals week!
Sponsored by Duke University Libraries, the TWP Writing Studio, Duke Student Wellness Center, and the Academic Resource Center
Refreshments provided by Little Debbie Bakery Snacks, Saladelia, Pepsi, Duke University Campus Club, and Friends of the Duke University Libraries
Duke’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain and the UNC Libraries, UNC School of Information and Library Science, and UNC Center for Media Law and Policy are pleased to sponsor this Authors Alliance Event:
Enhancing the Impact of Scholarship: How Authors Can Better Reach Readers in the New Publishing Economy
The Edge Workshop Room | Bostock Library | Duke University November 5, 2015, 3:30pm to 5:00pm with reception to follow
What’s the difference between open access and public access?
What uses of social media can enhance the impact of your work?
Do “open” models work outside the sciences?
How can I persuade my tenure committee that my scholarship is having impact?
Authors who write to be read care about how their works are published and what that means for reader access, but the range of academic publishing outlets available can seem daunting. While conventional book and journal publishing still predominate in many fields, new opportunities exist to share scholarly works—everything from open access journals and institutional repositories to academic blogging and personal websites. Even scholarly monographs are increasingly made available under Creative Commons licenses. What works best to get scholarly ideas out there and under what circumstances?
Join us for this panel discussion with Authors Alliance, where we will explore the opportunities and challenges scholars face in maximizing the impact of their work. Authors Alliance will introduce a new, author-oriented guide to the ins and outs of open access publishing and explain why authors of books should consider rights reversions.
Panelists include:
James Boyle (moderator) William Neal Reynolds Professor of Law, Duke Law
Tori Ekstrand, Assistant Professor, UNC School of Media and Journalism
Pamela Samuelson, Richard M. Sherman Distinguished Professor of Law, UC Berkeley Law School
John Sherer, Spangler Family Director, UNC Press
Kevin Smith, Director of Copyright and Scholarly Communication, Duke Libraries
Harry Watson, Atlanta Alumni Distinguished Professor of Southern Culture, UNC History
Sponsored by: UNC Libraries
UNC School of Information and Library Science
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You’re in the zone, halfway through writing your final essay when the red battery of death pops up on your laptop screen–and you forgot your charger…again.
No worries! Perkins and Lilly Library now have a variety of chargers that students can check out. Chargers are available at the Link Help Desk in Perkins or at the service desk in Lilly. Each charger can be checked out for three hours, plenty of time to recharge your battery and finish that paper. Below is the list of chargers that are now available:
– Dell 90W AC Adapter
–OB46994 Lenovo 90W AC Adapter (Slim Tip) for T440 series and current Lenovo laptops
–Apple 80W MagSafe for earlier model laptops
–Apple 80W MagSafe2 for current model laptops
– Multiuse phone charger compatible with new and older model iPhones, along with a micro USB, compatible with most Android phones
So if you are need of a quick recharge, be sure to swing by the Link Help Desk in Perkins or the service desk at Lilly, check out a charger, and carry on!
The term “Hackathon” traditionally refers to an event in which computer programmers collaborate intensively on software projects. But Duke University Libraries and the History Department are putting a historical twist on their approach to the Hackathon phenomenon. In this case, the History Hackathon is a contest for undergraduate student teams to research, collaborate, and create projects inspired by the resources available in the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library collections. Projects may include performances, essays, websites, infographics, lectures, podcasts, and more. A panel of experts will serve as judges and rank the top three teams. Cash Prizes will be awarded to the winning teams.
“I wish to tune my quivering lyre,/To deeds of fame, and notes of fire” From Lord Byron’s “to his lyre”
John Billing, originally from England and now based in Ireland, is touring the East Coast of the United States during September and October, presenting workshops and performances. John’s background is in art, textile design and music therapy. Come and hear the interesting story of the performer and his instrument. Mr. Billing will perform pieces by J. S. Bach and Turlough O’Carolan, in addition to original compositions.
♦Where: Thomas Room
Lilly Library, 2nd floor
♦When: Friday October 2nd at 4pm Light refreshments served at 3:30
What is the lyre?
The lyre is a stringed instrument from Ancient Greece, thought to metaphorically represent the skill of poets as it accompanied their recitations.
Anne Steptoe with her award winning book collection, “Look Homeward: A Girl’s Journey Homeward through Twentieth Century Southern Literature.”
In February, Anne Steptoe, an MBA candidate at the Fuqua School of Business, submitted an entry to Duke Libraries’ 2015 Andrew T. Nadell Book Collectors Contest. Her collection, “Look Homeward: A Girl’s Journey Homeward through Twentieth Century Southern Literature,” impressed the judges and tied for first place in the graduate division of the contest.
Anne went on to enter her collection in the National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest, where she received the special essay-bibliography prize in recognition of her superb accompanying essay and annotated bibliography. There will be an award ceremony October 16th at the Library of Congress to celebrate Anne and the other winners. Congratulations from all of us at the Libraries!
For more information about the Andrew T. Nadell Book Collectors Contest and to view Anne’s award-winning collection, please visit the contest homepage.
On East Campus, after students settle in and begin classes, the Lilly Library and Duke Music Library offer several ways for the newest “Dukies” to learn and benefit from the incredible resources of the Duke Libraries. Lilly and Music sponsor Library Orientation events such as scavenger hunts, film showings, and prize drawings to familiarize them with library services and collections. In recent years, students played The Library Games, and were wowed by theIncredibles and the Libraries’ super powers. This year, the Class of 2019 will experience the power of discovery because …
After the excitement of the new semester subsides, the Duke University Libraries continue to reach out to our students, always ready to offer research support and access to resources in support of their scholarly needs.
Here’s to a great year – and Duke career – filled with academic success!
The 2015 season of the American Dance Festival has now kicked off with fabulous performances through July 25th.
To help you get your groove on, check out dance-themed highlights from Lilly Library’s film/video collection in the Lilly Video Spotlight: Dance on Film.
If our spotlight whets your appetite, explore Lilly Library’s large selection of dance DVDs to keep you tripping the light fantastic all summer long. Don’t feel like tripping the light fantastic with Lilly? The ADF Archives serve as an excellent resource for dance historians, and this summer the International Screendance Festival hosts screenings at the Nasher Museum of Art.
Updated from a June 2014 post authored by Danette Pachtner, Librarian for Film, Video & Digital Media and Women’s Studies
For the past 50 years the International House has held its place as the bridge between the international and university communities. In celebration of their 50th anniversary, members of the Duke community are invited to the Global Story Slam, where Dukies will tell their story about a conversation, event, lesson, or experience they’ve had that has transformed and impacted their global perspective.
Lunch will be provided. RSVP by Friday, May 8: bit.ly/1bejrOS.
The concept of cloning raises ethical issues, especially as it grows more feasible than fictional. The popularity of the current television series Orphan Black (yes, we have it!) helps to shine a spotlight on this issue. Cloning, as a theme in film, makes for compelling, thoughtful and entertaining viewing. We invite you to check out some of these films in Lilly Library’s DVD collection which explore the implications of cloning .
Moon – DVD 17687
Moon (2009), a compelling and suspenseful film, follows an astronaut running a solo mining operation. When an accident triggers a series of inexplicable events he begins to doubt the real purpose of his mission. The film is a textbook example of how to make a thoughtful and good-looking sci-fi thriller on a low budget.
Never Let Me Go(2010) poses an alternate history in which clones are used for organ replacements for “originals.” This powerful and moving film follows three “donors” from childhood into their twenties.
When a person is cloned, what happens to his soul? The Clone Returns Home (2009) addresses life, death, love, and family. Those with patience will be rewarded with this deliberate, meditative film from director Kanji Nakajima.
And for those who prefer action, there’s always Star Trek: Nemesis(2002).
Study Breaks, Relaxation Stations… and do you know about the Fo?
Feed your body and recharge your brain at Lilly Library during Finals Week.
Scientific studies prove that taking a break from relentless studying improves cognitive skills. When Duke students are on East Campus during Finals Week, they may enjoy (so to speak) expanded hours and even find some fun “stuff” to do in Lilly Library.
Students studying in the Lilly Reference Room
Thursday the 23rd – Saturday May 2nd:Open 24/7
Beginning at 8am on Thursday, April 24th, Lilly remains open though the final exam period, closing on Saturday, May 2nd at 7pm.
A thankful Study Cat first appeared in Lilly’s Relaxation Station during previous Finals (courtesy of an unknown student)
Monday the 27th:Lilly Library Study Break at 8pm
Cookies, homemade treats and a variety of goodies can help counter the stress of studying!
Tuesday – Thursday:Relaxation Station
Crafts, card and board games, jigsaw puzzles are available 24/7 with the bonus of late night refreshments (provided by Devils After Dark )
Anytime: Know the Fo Want good luck on your exams? It’s a good luck tradition to pet one of the two Fo Dogs guarding the south entry to the Thomas Room.
Get Good Luck with the Fo or take a study break in the Lilly Relaxation Station.
No matter the campus – East or West – , be sure to check out all the information in the Duke Libraries’ End of Semester Survival Guide. Good Luck on Finals, and be sure to take advantage of Lilly Library’s student support system when you are on East Campus!
Users who request materials through interlibrary loan may notice some colorful changes to the service. Duke Document Delivery Services is now participating in the Ivy Plus BorrowDirect resource sharing partnership, a service that allows us to borrow and lend books through eleven other university library systems.
Our neighboring TRLN libraries will continue to be where we go first to borrow items since these requests can be filled in 1 to 3 work days. When we can’t get items quickly through TRLN libraries, we’ll attempt to borrow from our BorrowDirect partners at Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, MIT, Princeton, University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale; these requests have a turnaround time of 3 to 5 working days.
Each university has a unique color book band to brighten your bookshelf and to make it easier for us to sort items and return them to the correct institutions.
Students, faculty and librarians at Duke University will partner with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) Legacy Project over the next three years. Together with civil rights scholars, they will build a digital gateway that will reveal the evolving tactics that SNCC and local communities used to develop the philosophical and organizational models that produced universal voting rights.
Made possible by a $604,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to the Duke University Libraries, the SNCC Digital Gateway will provide a new interpretive framework for SNCC’s history that incorporates essays and analysis, historic documents, timelines, maps, activist profiles, oral histories, short documentary films, audiovisual materials and teaching resources.
The SNCC Digital Gateway will build on the success of One Person, One Vote, a new Web resource launched in March that was developed collaboratively by the SNCC Legacy Project, the Duke University Libraries and the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University.
Members of the SNCC Legacy Project—men and women who organized alongside local people in the Deep South for civil rights in the 1960s—will play a central role in the Mellon-funded project. They will come to Duke’s campus as Visiting Activist Scholars and work closely with undergraduate and graduate students, faculty members, archivists and digital experts to explain what SNCC did, how they did it and who was involved.
Courtland Cox, chairman of the SNCC Legacy Project, served as an organizer in Mississippi and Alabama in the 1960s. “Our experiences have created a level of ‘informational wealth’ that we need to pass on to young people,” he said. “This unprecedented collaboration with Duke University hopefully will pilot a way for other academic institutions to re-engage history and those who make it.”
Although historians have written about SNCC’s history, the story of how students and local communities worked together to bring about voting rights and other reforms has not yet reached the broader public.
Most histories of the civil rights movement focus on the great leaders, dramatic marches and judicial and legislative changes that dominated the headlines. By contrast, the SNCC Digital Gateway will examine the behind-the-scenes work, circumstances and coalitions that shifted the national agenda toward voting rights.
Specifically, the project will describe how SNCC’s organizers moved from being an organization of protesters to one of organizers in three pivotal locations: Mississippi; Lowndes County and Selma, Alabama; and Southwest Georgia.
Wesley Hogan, director of the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke, has written extensively about SNCC’s work and legacy. According to her, “The way we are working together—activists, archivists, and scholars—is a powerful new model. This project gives us a unique opportunity to understand the work of the local people who broke apart Jim Crow that would otherwise be lost to future generations.”
Led by student veterans of the sit-in movement, SNCC was formed at Shaw University in Raleigh in 1960. Through its full-time student workers or “field secretaries,” SNCC generated unprecedented activism at the local level that proved instrumental to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. SNCC became the cutting edge of the direct-action civil rights movement, focusing on political freedom and equal economic opportunity.
“The victories that SNCC worked so hard to achieve are now being challenged in many states, including North Carolina, Texas, Florida, South Carolina and Wisconsin,” said John Gartrell, director of Duke’s John Hope Franklin Research Center for African and African American History and Culture. “State legislatures are debating voter ID requirements, guidelines for early voting, same-day registration and restrictions on counting some provisional ballots. Our hope is that the SNCC Digital Gateway will consider which organizing principles and strategies might be useful to today’s generation of activists and foster a broader intergenerational dialogue about the meaning of democracy today.”
Therapy dogs will be taking over Perkins 217 for yet another snuggle-filled study break! Each semester the Libraries and DukePAWS team up to bring therapy dogs to the library for some tail-wagging fun.
It’s halfway through finals week and you feel like this… You need a puppy!
Finals are always a stressful time for everyone, but a little puppy love makes it a lot better!
This year, Puppies in Perkins will be Wednesday, April 29, from 3:30-5:30pm in Perkins 217. Our annual study break will be taking place at the same time (what could be better than cookies and puppies?). So take a break from the books, grab a cookie, and get your fair share of wet puppy kisses.
We can’t make your finals go away, but we can make them a little bit sweeter. The Libraries will be hosting our annual study break on Wednesday, April 29 from 3:30-5:30 pm! Weather permitting, the study break will be outside on the Library Terrace (between Perkins and Bostock Libraries), but if it rains come find us near Perkins 217.
Just a taste of what’s to come!
Abandon your books for a little bit and come grab some cookies. We will have a huge assortment of homemade bake goods to help you make it through those last few exams. Puppies in Perkins will be taking place at the same time as the study break, so be sure to follow up your scrumptious cookie with some puppy snuggles!
This event is sponsored by the Friends of the Duke University Libraries, the Duke Campus Club, and Pepsi.
Last Thursday, we played host to Edgefest, an arts extravaganza that took advantage of the Libraries’ newest space, The Edge, by filling the walls with art. There was an amazing turnout, with hundreds of students flocking to sample the smorgasbord of tasty treats (everything from mocktails to cupcakes and mushroom sliders) and staying to add their own piece of whiteboard art.
Just a few of the amazing creations we saw at Edgefest.
The walls of the Edge were covered from top to bottom with art–both doodles and masterpieces alike. Duke’s unofficial artists had no shortage of creativity; from Van Gogh’s Starry Night to a full color map of Durham, Pacman to Pokémon; we saw all kinds of creations.
The Poetry Fox types up a new poem for his latest patron.
The Poetry Fox (a local Durham writer who writes on the spot poetry based on a single word) cranked out poems all evening for many eager poetry enthusiasts. Student performers, including Inside Joke, #busstopguy, and DUI, entertained artists throughout the evening.
Lilly Library’s “Final Four” – Our Class of 2015 – Part III
Lilly Library is fortunate to have a “strong senior line-up”, and Victor is an experienced point man on our team. Along with Natalie, Steven and Kenai, Victor is a member of our class of 2015. All of our seniors have worked at Lilly Library since they arrived as wide-eyed First-Year students on East Campus “way back” in August of 2011! Get to know our seniors in these profiles, and you’ll appreciate them as much we do.
Victor Chen:
Victor getting things in order for delivery on East Campus
● Hometown: Boulder, Colorado
● Academics: Double major in Economics and French Studies, minor in Environmental Science and Policy
● Activities on campus: Outing Club
● Favorite campus eatery/food: Panda Express
● Favorite off-campus eatery/food: Vin Rouge
● Hobbies, Dream vacations: Playing piano in a duo with my roommate on guitar. Cooking for a dinner party. Renting a car and taking a wine tour of southern France in May.
Q: Why have you worked at Lilly Library for all 4 years? A: Working at Lilly Library is a very pleasant experience. I have interesting chats with patrons and friends who stop by the desk. The building itself is lovely, with its marble pillars in front and a spacious lobby. I have learned about art by flipping through books that I shelve or check in. Fantastic creations lie between the pages. When I moved to West Campus, the added travel time effectively decreased my hourly wage, but I didn’t mind too much. I live off campus now, and I enjoy biking to my work shifts when the weather is nice.
Q: What is your favorite part about working at Lilly? What is your least favorite part?
Victor in charge and chillin’ at the Lilly desk, with Librarians Kelley and Andrea as back-up
A: My favorite part is hanging out behind the desk. The University Campus has changed a lot during my four years but Lilly remains a place fixed in a different time, with its rich aroma of dusty books. I like the Thomas reading room, which has the air of an aristocrat’s drawing room, decorated with beautiful Chinese art. My least favorite part is working during especially busy periods when stress is high.
Q: What is your favorite duty at Lilly? What is your least favorite? A: My favorite work duty is chillin’ at the desk. That includes sorting trucks, sensitizing full top shelves, and shelving books on the ledge, of course. My least favorite work duty is fixing the printers for patrons. … or maybe delivering books on cold days.
Q: What is one memory from Lilly that you will never forget? A: Steven and I were keeping a weeknight watch, when we were informed that a thief was in the Reference Room. Apparently this man was responsible for trying to sell several valuable library books on eBay. Staff had called in a security guard and two police officers were about to walk in the room and apprehend the man. In this tense moment, a blur of motion appeared on the periphery. A man appeared on the other side of the library, running past the front desk. Dave yelled, “That’s him!” and the security guard ran after him. It was clear that the security guard could not catch the agile thief, who disappeared into the night. Steven and I found it a strange and exciting event.
Q: What does a typical weekend shift look like for you? What shift do you like most – and why? A: I work three shifts: one during a weeknight, one during a weekday, and a Saturday night shift. My favorite is Saturday night, which has been a comforting constant during my entire undergraduate career. It makes me feel productive on Saturdays and it has been a little spot of tranquility I look forward to. Steven and I have shared most of these shifts together in our four years, on night watch, guarding the tomes of mysteries against forces that seek to destroy reason.
Q: What is your impression of Lilly’s film collection? Any recommendations? A: The Lilly film collection is excellent. I especially enjoy titles from the Criterion Collection. My personal recommendations are La Notte (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1961), In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-Wai, 2000), The Great Beauty (Paolo Sorrentino, 2013), Jules and Jim (Francois Truffaut, 1961), and Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990).
Q: What are your plans for after graduation? A: No plans, yet.
Q: What will you miss most about Lilly when you graduate? A: The atmosphere of calm and the friendliness of the staff.
Q: How will your time at Lilly help you in the future? A: I’ve learned how to better help customers (patrons).
Q: What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done in Lilly? Any advice to other students working at Lilly? A: Lilly is a crazy place, and I’ve helped maintain the strange character of this space. My only suggestion is that all Lilly student workers should help create the history of the Library.
Graduation in May means Lilly Library will say farewell to Victor and our other seniors, treasured members of our Lilly “family”. We appreciate his good work and dedication to Lilly and wish him the best!
If you’ve been in Lilly Library over the past four years, chances are you’ve seen our four seniors: Natalie, Steven, Victor and Kenai. All of our seniors have worked at Lilly Library since they arrived as wide-eyed First-Year students on East Campus way back in August of 2011. Get to know our seniors in these profiles, and you’ll appreciate them as much we do.
Lilly Student Assistant Senior Kenai McFadden
Note: this article was published in the 2014 fall semester. With Commencement 2015 in May, reacquaint yourselves with Kenai, one of our treasured Lilly Library Class of 2015.
Lilly is at the heart of East Campus, the First-Year Campus for Duke undergraduates. To serve our community, Lilly Library remains open for 129 hours each week! Our student assistants are an essential element in maintaining a high level of service, and we want to introduce you to one of our “Class of 2015” – seniors who have worked in Lilly Library throughout their four years at Duke.
Meet Kenai McFadden:
Hometown: Orangeburg, South Carolina Family: I have 3 siblings – one older brother, a younger brother, and a little sister Academics: Pre-med, majoring in Chemistry with a minor in Psychology Activities on campus: Vice President of the Class of 2015; FAC Board Member; President of The Inferno; Line Monitor Favorite off-campus activity: Dancing at Cuban Revolution Favorite on-campus activity: Cheering for Duke Athletics Favorite on-campus eatery: Pitchfork Provisions Favorite off-campus eatery: Sushi Love
Top: Kenai, with his “assistant” Steven offering support Bottom: Kenai helping a student
Somehow, while the list above gives us basic information about Kenai, we believe there is so much more to reveal. Kenai is lively and engaging, so we asked another Lilly student assistant, Kelly Tomins (Lilly Class of 2016 ) to delve further and ask questions from one student to another. Their interview offers a perspective beyond the facts – enjoy!
What Is your spirit animal? Explain. I would have to go with a toy poodle. Toy poodles are not shy, have insane amounts of energy, are one of the smartest breeds of dog, and are agreeable with everyone. If only I could also be so easy to love…
If you could be any famous internet cat, which would you be? NO
What are your plans for after graduation? I’m a pre-medical student taking a gap year. I would love to continue volunteering as I apply to medical school,
If you could have a sleepover in any of the 12 branches of the Duke Library system, which would you choose? Definitely Ford or the Law Library because I’ve never visited them and it’d be fun to explore them at night.
What’s the strangest book you’ve come across in Lilly? Lilly is the art library at Duke, so I’ve come across various dirty comic collections, abstract art styles, and books on ridiculous theories. It’s hard to choose just one. You’d be surprised at how many crazy books are in the stacks.
What is your favorite work duty at Lilly? Book deliveries. It’s nice to deliver books for faculty to the various academic departments on East, especially when it’s nice outside. I can put in my music on, enjoy the weather, and get a great workout carrying books.
How will your time at Lilly help you in your future pursuits? Customer service is very relevant to pretty much any field in which you’re working with people. We’ve had some tough patrons come through Lilly, and I feel equipped to handle all sorts of people after working closing shifts and during finals week. I also became pretty good at suggesting DVDs for patrons to watch.
What will you miss most about Lilly when you graduate? I’ll miss working with my boss, Yunyi Wang, and my coworkers behind the desk. Some of my best friends at Duke I’ve met through Lilly, and I love Yunyi! She’s like my campus mom. 😀
What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done in Lilly? One time I took about 2 floors worth of books and shifted them one shelf – from one floor to the next. Crazy exciting stuff. It took the entire summer.
Have you ever locked anyone in the library when you work the closing shift? If not, were there any close calls? I’ve had two or three close calls for sure, and one time I apparently locked someone in, but I don’t believe it. People get locked in pretty often though, so I don’t feel bad even if I did.
Thanks to Kenai, and to Kelly, for mentoring our newer student assistants and for keeping Lilly Library such an inviting and lively hub on East Campus!
Lilly Library’s “Final Four” – Our Class of 2015 – Part II
Lilly Library is fortunate to have a “strong senior line-up”, and Steven is an experienced point man on our team. Along with Natalie, Victor and Kenai, Steven is a member of our class of 2015. All of our seniors have worked at Lilly Library since they arrived as wide-eyed First-Year students on East Campus “way back” in August of 2011! Get to know our seniors in these profiles, and you’ll appreciate them as much we do.
Steven Davidson:
Lilly Library Senior Steven Davidson at our desk
• Hometown—Roslyn Heights, New York
• Academics—Double Major in Political Science, with a concentration in International Relations, and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, with a concentration in Arabic
• Activities on campus—Member of Duke Students for Justice in Palestine, Alpha Epsilon Pi.
• Favorite campus eatery/food—It’s gotta be The Loop. Not only is the food there top notch (my favorite little secret on the menu—the mac n cheese bites), but there’s no other place with a person like Javon heading the counter. I will always think of walking into The Loop to see Javon smiling, always greeting you with a “Sup, bossman!” He’s the most popular guy on campus for a good reason.
• Favorite off-campus eatery/food—So difficult to say with all the fantastic places Durham has for food. I honestly can’t choose one. Some of my favorite spots, though: Cookout, Chubby’s, Bull City Burger, Monuts was a recent one that is fantastic… the city certainly doesn’t lack for satisfying my every taste urge!
• Hobbies, Dream vacations—In my spare time, I love to play an Afro-Peruvian drum called the cajon. I love listening to music in general, along with reading and writing. I hope to travel the rest of my life. I want to see every corner of the globe and experience as many different things as possible. I want to pursue writing to the fullest. I wish to pursue immersive journalism and look at human rights and the human element in approaching some of the most dehumanized conflicts or situations in the world. I dream of just always be traveling around, a nomad moving through the cities and places of the world. My ultimate dream is to write novels and stories for a living.
Q:Why have you worked at Lilly Library for all 4 years? A: I have absolutely enjoyed my time working at Lilly. It truly feels like home to me at this point. All the people I met, the wonderful time I had with the staff. All the librarians are so friendly and kind; they have breathed warmth to me. Everyone is like a family at Lilly, while other places run more like a machine. I like the atmosphere, and the crazy people… I always knew it was where I’d enjoy my job the most. What’s nicest about working at Lilly is how egalitarian it truly feels to be a part of the staff. For example, and I mean this as the greatest compliment in the world, I didn’t even realize until this year that Kelley is the head of Lilly Library. She is such a fantastic leader and treats everyone so kindly that I didn’t even know she was “above” anyone from a position status. She (and everyone else really) fosters an incredible work environment.
Library Games Photo Booth Fall 2014: Danette, Steven & Kelley
Q:What is yourfavorite part about working at Lilly? Least favorite?
A: My favorite part has to be the characters you meet. There are some interesting patrons and people who work at Lilly. The Lilly staff is composed of some of the kindest, coolest, intelligent, and interesting people. Whether it’s having librarians play their guitar outside on the Lilly steps, discussing esoteric books and films, or listening to the craziness of people like Danette, it’s been an absolute blast.
My least favorite part about working at Lilly has to be when someone comes in with a year’s supply of books to check in. There’s always one week in mid-April just after everyone’s finished their dissertations, so they all come in like an avalanche!
Q: What is your favorite duty at Lilly? Least favorite? A: I actually like delivering books at this point. It’s always nice to put on my headphones, groove to some music, and get paid to unknowingly memorize the entire faculty for all the departments on East Campus. It’s good to get some fresh air and switch things up a bit. Least favorite work duty—anything that I have to do that is meticulous. So shelf-reading is probably up there, as I certainly hate the world a little bit on those occasions when you reach a section and ALL the books are COMPLETELY out of order.
Q: What is one memory from Lilly that you will never forget? A: Tough one. Maybe it has to be when I was going upstairs through the stacks to shelve some books. I noticed a guy just doing some work on a desk. As I was going back down, I noticed the same guy, still doing work—only he had taken off all of his clothes except his underwear! The next minute, some of his friends came by, just casually talking to him as he was nearly naked. Totally epitomizes the weird and bizarre things you encounter at Lilly.
Q:What does a typical weekend shift look like for you? Which shift do you like most, and why? A: It has to be the Saturday night shift I share with my fellow senior and partner in crime, Victor. We’ve had the shift together forever. It feels a little great to have the library to ourselves. We’ve definitely shared a shenanigan or two in our time together, and the evening shift is so slow it’s just great to kick it back with Victor and discuss topics like music, film, politics, philosophy, etc. We’ve had some great times, and to have Kenai come in afterwards makes us seniors feel like Saturday night is our night.
Q:What is the funniest thing that happened to you recently? A: In terms of Lilly, while I still always share laughs with the librarians and my fellow workers, I’m not having as many comedic moments without Danette around this semester. Anything that woman says is hilarious. I had way too many funny moments with her!
Q:What is your impression of Lilly film collection? Any recommendations? A: It’s pretty cool when a patron comes in, asks about what movies we have, and I can say, “We have essentially any movie you can imagine.” Because it is true—I think there have been maybe two or three times in my four years at Duke when we didn’t have a movie a patron wanted. I’ve picked up some movie knowledge along the way just from seeing some of the films people check out. Of course, the expertise of all the librarians certainly helps a bit in that department.
If there’d be one suggestion I have, however—all the anime DVDs have to be brought back upstairs from the locked media! I’ve never understood how some of the most highly acclaimed anime films have been relegated downstairs to the locked media.
Q:What are your plans for after graduation? A: I have applied for a grant to pursue a journalism project this summer in Palestine and Israel. I hope to gather as many accounts in the region as I can and interweave the stories to create a narrative in what I envision to end as a book. Afterwards, I’m currently thinking to get a certificate to teach English overseas. I hope to pursue immersive journalism abroad, with the plan over the next few years to be in the Middle East. I’m currently considering, after my project in Palestine and Israel, to move to Cairo.
Q:What will you miss most about Lilly? A: Again, it has to be the people. Everyone has always made me feel so comfortable, so welcomed, and I have learned so much from the wonderful librarians and have experienced so much with them as well as with my fellow seniors.
Q:How will your time at Lilly help you in your future pursuits? A: It has helped me learn how to be adaptable and work with all types of people. Patrons come in many shapes and sizes, and it is always necessary to be able to keep a smile on and make sure that everyone is satisfied. While most patrons are fantastic, there’s always the occasional person who walks in that is a little bit more difficult, and it has been important for me to learn to always work with a patron—no matter how much of a hard time they give you.
Q:What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done in Lilly? Any advice to other students working at Lilly? A: Well, I wouldn’t say I’d suggest any of the crazy things I’ve done at Lilly to other student workers. But one story I’ll share was when I unknowingly stayed inside Lilly after it closed. I was in the staff lounge working all night on a paper for class, and I didn’t even realize that it was after 4 AM, and I found myself locked inside Lilly by myself! Needless to say, a man from the custodial staff was a little surprised to find me in the lounge all by myself at 5 AM. I hadn’t even known that there were sensors all over the library, and I am still so thankful that I didn’t set them off so that police came. What an ordeal that would have been
Q:Anything else? A: After being able to help one of the freshman workers the other day to get the electronic stacks downstairs working (tip* : all you have to do when they’re not working is to bang your feet on the metal bars coming out from the floor and slide in and out of the stacks—it will eventually start working again), I realized that I am way too good at this job now, and either it is time for me to graduate, or for Yunyi to employ me full-time.
Graduation in May means Lilly Library will say farewell to Steven and our other seniors, treasured members of our Lilly “family”. We appreciate his good work and dedication to Lilly and wish him the best!
*However, we can’t say we endorse his tip about “fixing” our compact shelving!
If you’ve been in Lilly Library over the past four years, chances are you’ve seen our four seniors: Natalie, Steven, Victor and Kenai. All of our seniors have worked at Lilly Library since they arrived as wide-eyed First-Year students on East Campus way back in August of 2011. Get to know our seniors in these profiles, and you’ll appreciate them as much we do.
Natalie Hall:
Lilly Library’s Senior Natalie at the main desk
Hometown: Lansdale, PA (right outside of Philadelphia)
Academics: Public Policy Major
Activities on campus: Duke Chorale, and President of The Girls’ Club (a mentoring program serving middle school girls in Durham)
Favorite campus eatery/food: The Divinity School Cafe
Favorite off-campus eatery/food: Dame’s Chicken and Waffles
Hobbies or dream vacations: Hobbies are reading graphic novels, finding new music, watching YouTube videos; dream vacations in Istanbul, Hong Kong, and Prague
Q:Why have you worked at Lilly Library for all 4 years? A: I’ve chosen to work at Lilly for 4 years because of its atmosphere. The patrons and staff at Lilly create a space where you can relax, be friendly, and open. Although traveling from West can be a drag sometimes (especially with less buses on weekends), it’s always worth it! Talking with staff, being with other Lilly student workers, and patrons is always a pleasure.
Q:What is your favorite part about working at Lilly? Least favorite? A: I think my favorite part of working at Lilly is how friendly everyone is. Rain or shine, busy or slow day, patrons and staff here are respectful and patient. I don’t think there’s anything about Lilly that I particularly dislike!
Q:What is your favorite work duty at Lilly? Least favorite duty?
Lilly’s Head of Access Services Yunyi with Natalie
A: My favorite duty is probably processing books–it’s a time where I can recharge. My least favorite would have to be shelf-reading…sorry, Yunyi!
Q:What is one memory from Lilly that you will never forget? A: I studied Chinese to fulfill my language requirement, so practicing speaking Chinese with Yunyi is something I’ll remember always. Out of nowhere, Yunyi hurls questions at me in Chinese, and I often find myself scrambling to respond! Even so, I really appreciate her help–it definitely made me more comfortable in the classroom.
Q:What does a typical weekend shift look like for you? What shift do you like most? A: The typical weekend shift is pretty laid back. I’ll first go to the Regulator Bookstore on 9th street to pick up the New York Times for Lilly. Then I’ll come back to the library and work at the desk for most of the time. I enjoy weekday shifts the most, because I feel like they are just busy enough where I don’t feel too overwhelmed.
Q:What is the funniest thing that happened to you recently? A: At Lilly, the funniest thing that has happened to me recently is getting to know our weekend security guard Patricia (she usually is at the desk on Saturdays). Our conversations always make me laugh–last weekend she was helping me online shop for a graduation dress, and it was a lot of fun.
Q:What is your impression of Lilly’s film collection? Any recommendations? A: My overall impression of Lilly’s film collection is that it is very eclectic! If I were to suggest a film, I would say you should check out the documentary 20 Feet from Stardom.
Q:What are your plans for after graduation? A: After graduation I plan on either participating in Teach for America, or working more policy/research orientated job in Washington, DC.
Q:What will you miss most about Lilly? A: The staff, and just the feel of being there.
Q:How will your time at Lilly help you in your future pursuits? A: My time at Lilly will help my with my multitasking skills, organization, and learning how to help people with any questions they have in a timely manner
Q:What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done in Lilly? A: Nothing too crazy…but if you are feeling tired and need a nap, don’t rule out the staff room couch (of course, never during your shift!)
Graduation in May means Lilly Library will say farewell to Natalie and our other seniors, treasured members of our Lilly “family”. We appreciate her good work and dedication to Lilly and wish her the best!
Steve Roden and Dan Goodsell. Krazy Kids’ Food: Vintage Food Graphics. Los Angeles: Taschen, 2003.
Steve Roden, sound artist, painter, writer, and collector is in residence at Duke Rubenstein Library this month. Throughout the month he’s giving talks, performances and demonstrations at various Duke and Durham venues. Whether you get a chance to hear Roden’s talks and pieces, his publications are well supported at Duke’s Lilly (art) and Music libraries.
Most engaging, perhaps, is his 2003 collection of retro advertisements for children’s products, Krazy Kids’ Food. A retrospective of his work,Steve Roden in Between : a 20 Year Survey, is in the Lilly Library. More aurally inclined? Check out (literally!) Roden’s sound recording, Splitting Bits, Closing Loops, a CD at the Music Library. Somewhere in between? We recommend his edited book, Site of Sound : of Architecture and the Ear, exploring the relationship between sound, language, orality and hearing with writings on Vito Acconci, Steve McCaffery, Achim Wollscheid, GX Jupitter Larsen, and Marina Abramovic.
A snapshot from last year’s awards ceremony. Pictured here (from left to right): Ernest Zitser, librarian for Slavic, Eurasian, and Eastern European Stuides; and 2012-2013 Aptman Prize winners Theodore Leonhardt (center) and Mary Tung (right).
The Duke University Libraries are pleased to announce the winners of the 2013-2014 library research awards.
Every year the Libraries run a series of essay contests recognizing the original research of Duke students and encouraging the use of library resources. This year competition for the awards was particularly keen, reflecting the quality of student research at Duke. The annual Duke University Libraries research awards reception, scheduled as part of Duke Family Weekend on Friday, October 24, at 3:30 p.m. in Lilly Library’s Thomas Room, will honor all the winners and applicants. The entire University community is invited to join us for refreshments and the opportunity to honor the recipients and applicants for the 2014 Aptman Prize, Holsti Prize, and Middlesworth Award.
Over 70 student entrants and their faculty supporters participated in the process this year. Several of the entries mentioned Duke University librarians and library resources in their applications. Many thanks were reserved for the staff of the Document Delivery Department, which makes other libraries’ collections available for Duke students’ use. In addition, entrants made note of the support of several individual librarians, including Holly Ackerman, Rachel Ariel, Greta Boers, former librarian Margaret Brill, Linda Daniel, Elizabeth Dunn, Joel Herndon, Carson Holloway, Karen Jean Hunt, Kelley Lawton, Catherine Shreve, Lee Sorensen, Erik Zitser and Luo Zhou.
The Lowell Aptman Prizes are awarded to undergraduates whose research makes excellent use of library resources and collections. It is awarded in three divisions: Honors Thesis, 3rd- and 4th-year students, and 1st- and 2nd-year students.
Honor Thesis Category
Winner: Mary Tung – “Bankrolling Apartheid: The Coins that Forged Modernity, Fostered Nationalism, and Funded Apartheid South Africa”
Runner-Up: Rhyne King – “Persian History and Historiography: Understanding the Praxis and Politics of Religion in the Achaemenid Empire”
3rd- and 4th-Year Category
Winner: Carmi Medoff – “The Kodak Girl: Every Woman’s Woman”
Runner-Up: Brandon Maffei – “Unstable Grounds: Women as Revolutionaries in the Weather Underground”
1st- and 2nd-Year Category
Winner: Gayle Powell – “The Advent of Black Sororities on Duke University’s Campus”
Runner-Up: Zachary Johnson – “Dreams of My Father and Self-Identifying”
The Ole R. Holsti Prize, our newest library research award, is awarded to students who exhibit excellence in the field of political science and public policy research. This is the first year the Holsti Prize has been awarded, and we look forward to many more.
Co-Winners: Nadia Hajji (“Post-Transitional Justice in Spain: Passing the Historical Memory Law”) and Lauren Hansson (“German Jewish Refugees in 1933: Failure of the League of Nations”)
The Chester P. Middlesworth Award recognizes students whose research makes use of the primary sources and rare materials held in the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
Winner: Andrea Lewis – “The Association is Dying: Black Student Activism and the Evolution of Conscious Space-Making at Duke University”
Sound Bites, A Polarizing President and the Struggle for the Senate: Hagan vs. Tillis in North Carolina When: Tuesday, October 28 What Time: 7:30 p.m., refreshments served at 7:00 p.m. Where: Lilly Library, Thomas Room (click for map)
Have you been watching the debates between Senator Kay Hagan and NC Senate Speaker Thom Tillis? So have we! And we’re recruiting Duke’s own resident experts to help you understand the issues and deconstruct the sound-bites.
Professors Bill Adair and Mac McCorkle of Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy will present “Framing the Campaign,” a preview of the Hagan-Tillis US Senate campaign in North Carolina. The discussion begins at 7:30 p.m. on October 28 in Lilly Library’ Thomas Room.
If you are interested in this election and how the policies being discussed will affect you, be sure to check out ElectionsLive! Duke University’s Office for Public Affairs and Government Relations and Duke in Washington, along with the Forum for Scholars and Publics, will be hosting this series of weekly in-depth discussions and looking at issues central to the midterm elections. The on-campus group will meet 4:00-5:00 p.m. every Thursday in Old Chem 011. For more information and the full schedule, visit the ElectionsLive! series website.
As part of the Class of 2018 First-Year Library Experience the East Campus Libraries – Lilly and Music – will screen the Disney Pixar movie, The Incredibles,under the stars. Dash over to East Campus, bring a blanket (no capes!) and meet Incredible Librarians in action.
What: The Incredibles Film Showing
When: Thursday, September 25th at 8pm
Where: Outside on the East Campus Quad Rain venue: Nelson Music Room, East Duke Building
Brought to you by…
your INCREDIBLE East Campus Libraries
& Devils After Dark
How do you “library”? Let the Libraries Save the day!
First-Year Library Orientation
Each August, First-Year students arrive on East Campus and begin a Welcome Week filled with numerous events, workshops and programs designed to ease their transition to undergraduate life. The libraries on East Campus support the new students with programs for the First-Year Library Experience.
On East Campus, after students settle in and begin classes, the Lilly Library and Duke Music Library offer several ways for the newest “Dukies” to learn and benefit from the incredible resources of the Duke Libraries. Lilly and Music sponsor Library Orientation events such as scavenger hunts, film showings, and prize drawings to familiarize them with library services and collections. Past years have seen students “Keep Calm and Library On”, play The Library Games, and the Class of 2018 will discover the “Super Powers” of the Incredible Duke Libraries!
Fall Semester 2014:
Meet the Incredible Libraries – Open House and Scavenger Hunt for Duke 2018
When: Tuesday, August 26th at 7pm
Where: Lilly Library
Movie on the Quad: The Incredibles
When: Thursday, September 25th at 8pm
Where: East Campus Quad between Lilly and the Union
In addition to Orientation, the East Campus libraries — Lilly and Music — invite first-year students to engage with the Duke University Libraries in these ways:
Meet your Duke University Residence Hall Librarians: each East Campus dorm is matched with subject librarians who work with students throughout their first year at Duke.
Of course, there is another great way to learn about the libraries – work as a student assistant!
Here’s to a great year filled with academic success!
Beginning May 13th 2014, a Bass Connection project team of undergraduate and graduate researchers faculty and I began our collaboration, meeting in a dedicated space in Bostock Library and our project team will carry on there through early July. The Regulatory Disaster Scene Investigation project provides an opportunity to evaluate the process of assisting groups in focused research activities using the resources and expertise available through Duke Libraries. This project is in line with the projected opening of the Library Information Commons in 2015.
The broad intellectual question the group is investigating is “how does government best respond to crises?” The outcomes from this particular Bass Connections project will include a working visit to Washington D.C. to interview regulators and officials, producing a policy brief/ white paper, and possible conference presentations. This Bass Connections group work will make a contribution to a projected edited work which falls under the umbrella of the Recalibrating Risk working group in the Kenan Institute on Ethics.
The work group was convened in the Library by Professors Lori Bennear and Ed Balleisen and began with a discussion of assignments to investigate the history of government responders to crisis such as the NTSB, the Chemical Safety Board, the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress, British Parliamentary Commissions and corresponding institutions in other countries around the globe. The group members were assigned the task of preparing annotated bibliographies about the institutions and their histories.
As the project moves forward, librarians with subject specialization and language expertise including Holly Ackerman on Latin America and Greta Boers who has expertise in Dutch are helping these researchers make the best use of their limited time. Only four more weeks- yikes! In the future it seems likely that the role of librarians will expand in assisting researchers in time-delimited participation in work groups revolving around new spaces like the Information Commons.
Carson Holloway is Librarian for History of Science and Technology, Military History, British and Irish Studies, Canadian Studies and General History
Duke: 175 Years of Blue Devilish Images Student Photography Contest
We are pleased to announce the winners of this spring’s Student Photography Contest sponsored by Lilly Library and the Duke University Archives. Congratulations and many thanks to all the student contestants; we are pleased and overwhelmed by all the great photos. If you can’t make it into Lilly Library to view the winning photos on display, all the entries may be viewed on the Duke Libraries Photo Contest Flickr page.
Students reinterpreted iconic photos from four categories presented by University Archives, and the independent panel of judges selected the following winners:
Academics: First Prize – Donovan Loh, Field Trip to Lake Waccamaw
Runner-Up- Susannah Roberson, A Glimpse to the Past
Athletics: First Prize-Misty Sha, Jumping the Sunset
Runner-Up- Erica Martin, A Star on the Rise
Campus Scenes: First Prize – Misty Sha, Man in the Snow
Runner-Up- Shameka Rolla, Capturing the Moment
Social Life: First Prize – Catherine Sun, Jarvis Smoothie Night
Runner-Up- Jennifer Margono, Round Table Antics
All the students who contributed their contemporary perspective of past Duke scenes illustrate that campus life and student life remain constant over the years. We hope you’ll enjoy them as much as we do.
Currently on exhibit at Lilly Library: The winning photos are on display in Lilly’s lobby through May, and will be installed in Lilly Room 05 during summer 2014.
Duke: 175 Years of Blue Devilish Images – Student Photography Contest
Duke students are invited to celebrate the 175th anniversary of Duke University’s origins and win cash prizes at the same time! Explore and emulate the rich images of Duke’s past found in photos from University Archives and then reinterpret them with your own contemporary vision. Categories include Academics, Athletics, Campus Scenes and Social Life.
Sponsored by Lilly Library and Duke University Archives
What you need to know:
Who may enter – Currently enrolled Duke Students
When – Contest ends Thursday, March 27th at midnight.
Prizes – Winning photographs in each category will receive $200. First runners-up receive $50.
All contestants are invited to the Awards Ceremony on April 8, 2014 in the Thomas Room in Lilly Library. Winners will be announced and their photographs will be displayed in Lilly Library this spring.
Sponsored by Lilly Library and Duke University Archives.
Guest Blogger: Rebecca Evans, Graduate Student and Instructor, English Department, Duke University
My English 90 class, “Unnatural Nature: Literature and Ecology,” was intended to be an introduction not just to ecocriticism (the study of literature and the environment), but also to the environmental humanities, in which literature, history, philosophy, and art are considered together. Accordingly, even as my students read widely in environmental literature, they also learned about environmental art in various media, from paintings and photographs to music and film to land art and living sculptures. As the semester drew to a close, students were asked to shift from a critical mode to a creative one: after spending months learning about how cultural artifacts commented on and interacted with environmentalism, they had to themselves create a piece of environmental art, which (at their request) would be displayed in Perkins.
I developed this assignment in the hope that it would let students explore the themes that had struck them over the course of the semester in new ways. The final project was creative and open-ended, but it was nonetheless rigorous, and I warned them that the project would undoubtedly prove more difficult than they expected: they were held to high standards in the project itself, in their preparatory research, and in their critical introductions to their own work. I was impressed by the energetic dedication with which they approached the task, and by the diversity of materials that the class ultimately produced. As I worked with students to refine their projects and to maximize the visual effectiveness of the components they chose for display, I found myself learning a great deal and becoming even more excited about working in such a vibrant field as the environmental humanities.
Thanks are due to Meg Brown, who expertly tutored us on the process of creating a coherent and compelling exhibition; to Michael Daul, for helping to create our online exhibit; to Patrick Dougherty, whose guest lecture informed the class about the broader world of environmental art; and, of course, to the students of “Unnatural Nature,” who made this experience rewarding and memorable.
The exhibit is on display on the Student Wall in Perkins Library during the month of February or visit the exhibit online-including a student created documentary AND student performed and written rap!
A photographic exhibit in Perkins Library documents the life of Nelson Mandela as taken by his personal photographer Benny Gool. The images were selected from a historic exhibition that took place at Pop International Galleries in New York in February 2013. The prints were made available for this memorial display with the generous help of Todd Ruppert, a member of the Duke University Libraries Advisory Board, and IconsPhotos the representative of the archive. The images cover historic events, major celebrities and world figures, and the endearing charm and connection that Mandela had to the people of South Africa and the world. All photos are available for purchase. Visit http://www.iconsphotos.com/for more information about the original exhibition.
The exhibit will be on display on the Campus Club Exhibit Wall (located near the Bostock corridor entrance) in Perkins Library until February 14, 2014.
An architectural drawing of Duke University’s East Campus
Outrageous Ambitions: How a One-Room Schoolhouse Became a Research University
On exhibit: October 13, 2013- February 17, 2014
Public Hours: Monday-Friday, 8am–7pm; Saturday, 9am–7pm; Sunday, 10am–7pm. Hours may vary of the holidays; please check the library hours page for more information.
About the Exhibit
Today’s Duke University, a premier research institution with global reputation, came from the humblest of beginnings: a tiny schoolhouse in Randolph County, NC. From there the organization shifted through many manifestations, ultimately transforming from Brown’s Schoolhouse into Duke University.
A new exhibit on display in Perkins Library, Outrageous Ambitions: How a One-Room Schoolhouse Became a Research University, traces the history of Duke University as it evolved and grew over the past 175 years. The exhibit showcases a selection of events that were fundamental in the creation of University, and focuses on several key themes: foundations, academics, student life, student activism, athletics, presidents, the Duke family, women at Duke, and the architecture of campus.
Brown’s Schoolhouse, the humble predecessor of Duke University
The materials for the exhibit, which include photographs, documents, ephemera, and other objects, were drawn from the University Archives (unless otherwise noted) and vibrantly illustrate the history of the school. Viewers can further explore Duke history by visiting the recently created online timeline, which highlights other key moments in Duke’s past. An online version of the exhibit is also available.
The title of the exhibit, Outrageous Ambitions, references a speech made by former University President Terry Sanford, in which he expounds on the seemingly impossible ambition that was responsible for creating Duke University. The exhibit seeks not only to remember the incredible aspirations that have supported Duke in the past, but also to inspire the continuing work of Duke students, faculty, staff, and alumni as they craft their own extravagant ambitions.
The exhibit was curated by Maureen McCormick Harlow, 175th Anniversary Intern in University Archives, and Valerie Gillispie, University Archivist. Special thanks to Meg Brown, Mark Zupan, Beth Doyle, the University Archives staff, and the staff of the Conservation and Digital Production Departments in the Duke University Libraries.
Undergraduate course and exhibition, Rivalrous Masculinities, explores competing constructions of masculinity over time.
It’s one thing to tell a student that gender is constructed. It’s quite another to ask a student to collect and explain historical images of masculinity. Add to that the added challenges of communicating these insights in a foreign language with students in another country in order to develop an exhibition for the Nasher Museum of Art, and you have no ordinary undergraduate class.
In this case, the class is Rivalrous Masculinities, a seminar co-developed by Professor Anne Marie Rasmussen and Ph.D. candidates Steffen Kaupp and Christian Straubhaar of the German Languages department. They structured this course so that their students would meet and work regularly with students at German universities in order to construct an exhibition focusing on competing social and cultural constructions of masculinity over time.
Click on the image to visit the online exhibition
With approval and funding from the Mellon Foundation-funded Humanities Writ Large project, this Rivalrous Masculinities project team was put in touch with Will Shaw (Duke University Libraries’ Digital Humanities Technology Consultant), who steered them in the direction of Omeka, a freely available and open source web-publishing platform especially useful in the organization and online presentation of image collections. Students in the fall 2012 Rivalrous Masculinities course used Omeka to collect, describe, and share images with their classmates and instructors.
This collective research can now be viewed as part of a virtual exhibition, launched in March 2013 and available through 2014. Students signed up for the fall 2013 Rivalrous Masculinities course will continue the project, this time in collaboration with students from Humboldt University of Berlin and the University of Hamberg, to prepare a physical exhibition of these works in the Nasher Museum of Art in 2014.
The Victory Bell will be publicly displayed in Perkins Library on Friday, November 2, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Visitors will be invited to ring the bell themselves. Photo courtesy of Duke Athletics.
UPDATE: President Richard H. Brodhead and Coach David Cutcliffe will be on hand to ring the bell in Perkins Library on Friday at 1:15 p.m.
The Victory Bell is given to the winner of the annual Duke-UNC football game. The tradition goes back to 1948, when the idea was conceived by Duke head cheerleader Loring Jones, Jr., and UNC head cheerleader Norm Speer as a way to foster more friendly relations between the two campuses. (For more on the history of the Victory Bell, read this blog post by the Duke University Archives.)
This is the first time the bell has been in Duke’s possession since 2003. Now is your chance to see it up-close, give it a ring, and support Duke’s football team as they prepare to face Clemson this Saturday at 7 p.m. in Duke’s Wallace Wade Stadium.
The Victory Bell will be on public display in the entrance lobby of Perkins Library this Friday, November 2, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Historical photographs and Duke football memorabilia from the Duke University Archives will also be displayed and University Archives staff will be on hand to answer questions.
Once an hour, on the hour, visitors will be able to ring the Victory Bell themselves. You can also ring it outside of the library when the bell first arrives at 10 a.m. and when it is leaving at 2 p.m.
So stop by the library this Friday between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and join us as we celebrate another historic Duke victory!
Check out the video below to see the Victory Bell in action as Duke football players and fans react to the dramatic Oct. 20 win over UNC.
When you think of computer-enabled text analysis, do you think of TEI? Whether your answer is yes or no, there’s a reason. TEI (Text Encoding Initiative) mark-up language may be one of the oldest, most widely adopted, flexible and standardized approaches to analyzing text-based materials. It’s also labor-intensive, and difficult (if not impossible) to scale to really large sets of texts. Is it the anti-thesis of text-mining? What’s it’s value for researchers who need to read texts in different ways?
In the next installment of the Text > Data Digital Scholarship series, Will Shaw (UNC graduate student and Duke University Libraries/Humanities Writ Large digital humanities consultant) raises TEI to new prominence. He’ll highlight what TEI offers to text analysis and showcase projects — from multi-year, international DH projects to new endeavors at Duke — that are re-discovering its potential. Join us Thursday, September 27, 2:00-3:30 PM, in Perkins Library 217. Register to attend: http://library.duke.edu/events/digital-scholarship/event.do?id=6331&occur=13791
photo courtesy of K. Tegtmeyer & Flickr creative commons
Library Hacks readers, we’re moving!
The Library Hacks blog is being redirected to the Duke University Libraries News, Events and Exhibits blog.
If you have an RSS feed sending you Hacks blog posts, please change your feed URL. If you have Hacks bookmarked, please change the bookmark. The correct URL for both functions is: https://blogs.library.duke.edu/
We’ll still be blogging about library tips, tricks, and resources on the News, Events and Exhibits “big blog,” where you can also find great posts from Conservation, the Rubenstein Library, and more.
You can revisit and research more of America’s commercial culture through digitized collections from the Hartman Center. The ROAD 2.0 collection contains all the billboard advertisements featured on the NPR blog, and thousands more of these markers of America’s advertising history. Celebrate the birth of our nation and the birth of billboard advertising by searching for “meat” across this collection!
A billboard featuring Fischer's deli meats, circa 1983, from the ROAD 2.0 collection.
Stewart Smith’s love of libraries started with fish, not books. As a boy, he used to sneak onto the grounds of the Huntington Library in San Marino, California, to fish in their pond. But as he grew, so did his passion for the library itself. Stewart currently serves on Duke’s Library Advisory Board and, last year, he and his wife, Robin Ferracone T’75, made a $500,000 gift, which will be used to get the library closer to its highest priority: completing the renovation to Perkins Library begun in 2003.
Also a Duke parent of two sons, Stewart is confident that students will appreciate the completed library. Although Logan graduated in 2005 before most renovations were finished, Connor, who will complete his degree in 2012, is able to enjoy the benefits of the new Bostock Library, von der Heyden Pavilion, and the Link, a state-of-the-art teaching and learning center in the former Perkins basement. “The transformation in just a few short years has been remarkable,” Stewart says. “The library is a tremendous resource for the entire Duke community, and I’m glad that I can help support the renovations and expansion that will make it even better.”
This post is brought to you by Alerts! – a special section of Library Hacks. As they are released, you can look forward to new database announcements, updates, and (rare) outage notices. Stay tuned!
Ab Imperio Quarterly
Ab Imperio
“Ab Imperio Quarterly is an international humanities and social sciences peer-reviewed journal dedicated to studies in new imperial history and the interdisciplinary and comparative study of nationalism and nationalities in the post-Soviet space… The languages of publication are English and Russian with summaries, respectively, in Russian and English. Manuscripts, subject to double-blind peer reviews, are accepted in five languages (Russian, English, German, French, Ukrainian).” Among the points that form the journal’s stated mission is this: “Providing an opportunity for research and debate on the history and theory of nationalities (including Russian) in the region, an opportunity that should engage academics from all over the world.”(Quote Source)
Region
“Region is a peer-reviewed international journal that explores the history and current political, economic, and social affairs of the entire former Soviet bloc. In particular, the journal focuses on various facets of transformation at the local and national levels in the aforementioned regions, as well as the changing character of their relationships with the rest of the world in the context of globalization, a perspective that stresses both local adaptation to global phenomena and that adaptation’s transnational or even global significance.”
The following topics are most prominently featured:
+ Regional identities in globalized societies
+ Communication and transmission of information
+ Migration and boundaries
+ Transition: politics, economy, society, and culture
+ Theories and methodologies of regional studies in the context of “glocalization”
+ Imagined territories: cyber space, urban vs. rural, center vs. periphery, etc.+ Inter-regional cooperation
+ Identities in the Soviet and post-Soviet periods, memories, and nostalgia (Quote source)
Interdisciplinary Literary Studies: A Journal of Criticism and Theory
“Interdisciplinary Literary Studies exemplifies the diversity, complexity, and rewards of integrating literary study with other methodologies… seeks to explore the interconnections between literary study and other disciplines, ideologies, and cultural methods of critique. All national literatures, periods, and genres are welcomed topics.” (Quote Source) In addition, “The hallmark of research today is “interdisciplinary,” and Interdisciplinary Literary Studies exemplifies the diversity, complexity, and rewards of integrating literary study with other methodologies. Drawing upon a broad base of critical theories and applying these to a wide range of literary genres, contributors reward us with daring interpretations, such as a mathematical reading of triangles in Robert Frost’s poetry or an “engaged Buddhist response to trauma” reading of Le Ly Hayslip’s Child of War, Woman of Peace.” (Quote Source)
Ecotone
“Since a year after its founding, in 2005, Ecotone is one of only two literary magazines in the United States to have had its work reprinted in Best American Short Stories, Best American Essays, Best American Poetry, Best American Science and Nature Writing, PEN / O. Henry Prize Stories, and The Pushcart Prize. It is based at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and comes out twice a year. Each issue contains new fiction, poetry, essays, and artwork.
The magazine bridges the gap between science and culture, bringing together the literary and the scientific, the urban and the rural, the personal and the biological. Ecotone has published original writing by winners of the Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize, and National Book Award, as well as new work by emerging authors.” (Quote Source)
Electronic resources such as e-journals and databases are generally accessible only to Duke community members such as faculty, staff and students.
Happy Sunshine Week! Sunshine week occurs annually and is “a national initiative to promote a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information. Participants include news media, civic groups, libraries, nonprofits, schools and others interested in the public’s right to know.” (sunshineweek.org)
To raise awareness, Public Policy Librarian Catherine has written this excellent post in honor of Freedom of Information Day this Friday, March 16th. If you want to give it a go, hop on the DIY wagon at the Department of State’s information page on the Freedom of Information act.
Top off the week by thanking a Government Documents librarian 🙂
Duke students, faculty, staff, alumni, and other members of the Duke community are invited to a night of seriously graphic fun, sponsored by the the Duke Marketing Club and Duke University Libraries.
Bringing together the entire Duke community, Heroes & Villains will be an adventure of its own, drawing inspiration from the Duke University Libraries’ vast collection of comic books from all periods and genres.
When: Friday, February 24 What Time: 9 PM to Midnight Where: Perkins Library Admission: Free Dress: Cocktail Attire, or Your Best Heroic/Villainous Costume
Students: Midterms got you feeling like a mere mortal? Throw on your cape and utility belt. Things are about to get supernaturally weird in Perkins.
Need more inspiration? Check out the Edwin and Terry Murray Comic Book Collection in Duke’s Rubenstein Library, one of the largest institutional collections of comics in the world!
Many thanks to our superhero sponsors: the Office of the President, Office of the Provost, the Deans of Trinity College, the Annual Fund, SOFC, Duke University Union, and the Sociology Department.
This post is brought to you by Alerts! – a special section of Library Hacks. As they are released, you can look forward to new database announcements, updates, and (rare) outage notices. Stay tuned!
BIOSIS Citation Index
“Covers all major areas in the life sciences, with broad coverage in molecular and cell biology, pharmacology, endocrinology, genetics, neurosciences, infectious diseases, ecology and organismal biology… Seamless access, research, and discovery in the life sciences with coverage of nearly 6,000 journal titles 18 million records with coverage to 1926… Identify potential collaborators with significant publication records… Find the first mention of plants, organisms, chemicals, or lab techniques in various life sciences fields… Access high quality journal content as well as content from reports, reviews, and meetings.” (Quote source)
For more info, check out the BIOSIS Citation Index help page.
Subject categories: Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Health and Medical Science
Moutons Interaktive Einführung in die Historische Linguistik des Deutschen / The Mouton Interactive Introduction to Historical Linguistics of German
“The Mouton Interactive Introduction to Historical Linguistics of German offers an extensive overview of the language-historical development of the German language from its origins to the German spoken today and describes how the phonology, morphology, syntax, and vocabulary of German have changed.” (Quote source)
Papers of Alexander Hamilton: digital edition
“All the writings by and to Hamilton know to exist.” That pretty much sums up this comprehensive database, which in print form exceeded 27 volumes. Use this database to get the historical perspective on U.S. government spending, from the source.
Now with cross-search and cross-navigation features as part of the digital enhancement! Look forward to, “An integrated subject index [that] will convert page references to document references, creating a digital version of the cumulative index originally published in volume 27.” (Quote source)
Subject category: U.S. History
Electronic resources such as e-journals and databases are generally accessible only to Duke community members such as faculty, staff and students.
Feel free to request these titles for addition to a Kindle or nook for checkout from Perkins/Bostock library. Check out our e-reader’s page for directions on how to request titles for and check out eReaders form Perkins/Bostock Library. For all available titles loaded onto our Kindles, check out this title list. Recently added titles include Jeffery Eugenides’ The Marriage Plot, Tom Perrotta’s The Leftovers and Jo Nesbo’s The Snowman.
This just in from Bowker’s:
A severe storm on the US East Coast has left over 2 million homes and businesses without power. This is affecting a number of Bowker services including:
• Books in Print
• Bowkerlink
• Data Services
• Syndetic Solutions
• LibraryThing for Libraries (Syndetics content)
• RCL
• BBAS
Bowker staff are currently working to restore services using generator power and hope to have some power restored by close of business Monday, 31 October EST. However, they predict access may be initially patchy. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you or your customers and appreciate your patience. We will keep you informed of progress.
– So stay tuned!
In January, we posted some handy information about how to get through, around or over expensive textbook purchases. It was so good, we decided to re-post it for fall semester.
Now that you have your licensed e-content – a.k.a your e-Book – on your computer, you can also transfer it to a portable e-reader device, such as the Nook or a Sony e-reader. (Here is a list of e-readers that are compatible with Adobe Digital Editions.)
The transfer takes place with the Adobe Digital Editions.
Connect your portable device to your computer.
When Adobe automatically recognizes your device for the first time, it will ask you to authorize it using your Adobe ID. Use the same username and password you created when you authorized your computer.
Drag and drop the title into your reader.
Two apps are available to make EBSCO eBooks compatible with iPhones,and iPads : Bluefire Reader and Txtr. Txtr is also available for Android phones.
This post is brought to you by Alerts! – a special section of Library Hacks. Weekly, you can look forward to new database announcements, updates, and (rare) outage notices. Stay tuned!
Outage:
ProQuest® will be performing infrastructure maintenance on July 30, 2011. A twelve (12) hour maintenance window will be required for this maintenance. The window will take place from Saturday, July 30, 2011, at 22:00 EDT to Sunday, July 31, 2011 at 10:00 EDT.
NetLibrary has transitioned to EBSCOhost! The look and functionality is different. To get the full functionality, create a myEBSCO folder and acquire the license you need to download books to your computer or other compatible device. The interface for searching and looking at the books and tables of content in NetLibrary have also been revamped.
EBSCO support offers a variety of user guides and tutorials to help you navigate the new interface and make the most of the increased functionality. Supported reader devices include the Nook (as well as the color and gossamer models) and the Sony reader (several models) and any e-reader that is compatible with Adobe Digital Editions . One of the most attractive features of the new version of NetLibrary is that library patrons may select the length of time they can borrow the e-book. If you just want to read a chapter or two, check it out for a day or if you want to read it from the front over image to the back cover image then you can opt to have it for longer. Let us know how it is working out for you!
– Project MUSE, expanded coverage and full runs from now available
The 10 titles, their new coverage periods, and the collections to which they belong are:
Asian Bioethics Review, Dec. 2008 inaugural issue tot he current issue (complete run.) Found in Project MUSE’s Premium Collection.
This post is brought to you by Alerts! – a special section of Library Hacks. Weekly, you can look forward to new database announcements, updates, and (rare) outage notices. Stay tuned!
Outages:
image courtsy of nilsvic & Flickr creative commons
ReferenceUSA will be performing required system maintenance from Friday 7/15 10:00 PM – Saturday 7/16 5:00 PM. During this time period the website will be unavailable.
Also,
ProQuest® will be performing infrastructure maintenance on July 30, 2011. A twelve (12) hour maintenance window will be required for this maintenance. The window will take place from Saturday, July 30, 2011, at 22:00 EDT to Sunday, July 31, 2011 at 10:00 EDT.
Electronic resources such as e-journals and databases are generally accessible only to Duke community members such as faculty, staff and students.
This post is brought to you by Alerts! – a special section of Library Hacks. Weekly, you can look forward to new database announcements, updates, and (rare) outage notices. Stay tuned!
From the Library of the Presbyterian Historical Society, Philadelphia. This database, comprised mainly of first-person accounts, “supports research in religious studies, African studies, women’s studies, international affairs and anthropology. Letters that served as reports from the field describe the indigenous peoples and cultures, tribal factionalism, cultural differences and mores, and the many problems and achievements of the work.” (Quote source and more information.)
Contact person: Danette Pachtner
Available in streaming audio! This database of over 300 plays “…will be used for research and instruction well beyond literature, as the works are chosen not only for their literary significance, but also for their ability to challenge presumptions and examine complicated moral and ethical questions. Critical essays written by known figures in medicine, academia, politics, and other fields will draw connections from the plays to issues and hot topics in the humanities, social sciences, theatre, hard sciences, law, medicine, and virtually every other field of study.” Important titles in the collection include “Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare’s classic tale of duplicity, betrayal and murder, performed by Stacy Keach, Jobeth Williams, and Kelsey Grammer and The Cherry Orchard , Anton Chekhov’s timeless story of an aristocratic Russian family’s fading fortunes and struggle to maintain their status in a changing world, starring Marsha Mason, Charles Durning and Jennifer Tilly.” (Quote source and more information.)
“The collection offers more than 22,000 records in nearly 1,000 files selected by Dr Michael Stenton, University of Cambridge. There are also newly commissioned thematic essays by leading scholars in the field with links directly to relevant documents, a World War II Chronology, a picture gallery of SOE plans and equipment and clips from the SOE film, Now it can be told (1946).”
image courtesy of Gale
In addition to those primary source documents, this collection also offers “fully text-searchable images of the British Foreign Office information files gathered from across German-occupied territories following the collapse of the peacetime diplomacy.” Here is a link to the introductory essay for this Database. (Quote source and more information.)
“For the first time, students, instructors, and researchers can bookmark specific scenes, monologues, and staging examples and then include those online links in their papers and course reserves. Class assignments and published papers will take on a whole new dimension… Both Broadway and off-Broadway productions are represented in each decade… The writers and actors will also span a wide range of periods and nationalities. .. Some of the authors represented include Sean O’Casey, Jean Cocteau, Ntozake Shange, Tennessee Williams, Wendy Wasserstein.. The performers include Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Faye Dunaway, William Hurt, Robert Redford, Sissy Spacek, John Gielgud, Derek Jacobi, Helen Mirren, Anthony Hopkins… Ben Kingsley, Juliet Stevenson, Zoe Wanamaker, and Prunella Scales, to name just a few.” (Quote source and more information.)
“Wellesley then, is an index to the authorship of articles, and a bibliography of articles written by each contributor, and using each pseudonym. Citations of evidence are provided to support attributions of authorship, along with brief biographical and vocational details. 45 important monthly and quarterly titles are included, covering the period from the beginning of the Westminster Review in 1824 to the end of the century. ”
Among the titles indexed are: British and Foreign Review, British Quarterly Review, Dark Blue, Dublin Review, Dublin University Magazine, Foreign Quarterly Review, Foreign Review, Modern Review, Monthly Chronicle, Nineteenth Century, North British Review and Oxford and Cambridge Magazine. (Quote source and complete list of titles indexed.)
Primary and secondary materials – plus video! “Covering Latin America culture and society from the 15th century to the present day…The first release of Gale World Scholar delves into one of the most studied areas in the world, Latin America and the Caribbean. Curated by an advisory board of experts in Latin American studies, the collection is designed to enrich research and student assignments. .. populated by interactive tools and rich multimedia including BBC News and the New York Times video collection.” (Quote source and more information.)
E-Journals available at Duke through Project MUSE & now online:
Ploughshares, a journal of new writing, is guest-edited serially by prominent writers who explore different and personal visions, aesthetics, and literary circles. This journal is available, from 1990 to the most current issue, across a variety of databases accessible to Duke community members.
American Catholic Studies is a double-blind refereed journal that publishes high quality studies and book reviews for academics, opinion leaders, and informed general readers in the fields of U.S. Roman Catholic history, sociology, theology, architecture, art, cinema, music, popular movements, and related areas. Available from Spring 2011 issue.
Change Over Time is a new, semiannual journal focused on publishing original, peer-reviewed research papers and review articles on the history, theory, and praxis of conservation and the built environment.
Labour/Le Travail is the official, semi-annual publication of the Canadian Committee on Labour History. Since it began publishing in 1976, it has carried many important articles in the field of working-class history, industrial sociology, labour economics, and labour relations. Although primarily interested in a historical perspective on Canadian workers, the journal is interdisciplinary in scope.
East Asian Science, Technology and Society: An International Journal (EASTS) aims to bring together East Asian and Western scholars from the fields of science, technology, and society (STS). Examining issues such as human embryonic stem-cell research, family and reproductive technologies, and the globalization of Chinese medicine, the journal publishes research on how society and culture in East Asia interact with science, technology, and medicine.
Electronic resources such as e-journals and databases are generally accessible only to Duke community members such as faculty, staff and students.
A few weeks ago Hacks posted an update about WordPress plug-in called Zotpress that allowed Zotero information to be easily posted on a WordPress site. Not to be outdone, Mendeley also has a WordPress plug in found here.
Mendeley
From WordPress: “Mendeley Plugin for WordPress is a plugin for displaying information from the Mendeley “shared bibliography system”(www.mendeley.com) in WordPress blogs. Using the public API from Mendeley, meta-information on documents in personal, public or shared collections is loaded and formatted as bibliographic entries.”
If you are a Mendeley user (hence more science-y than humanities-y) you’ll appreciate this plug in. Post a link to your WordPress blog and let us know how this plug-in is working for you!
Though vandalism is vehemently discouraged, there are two marks left that are worth sharing.
The first one:
It reads:
“Studying here makes me feel like the protagonist in Checkov’s The Bet. I love it. Surrounded by all this knowledge – isolated between books – I become so much more motivated.”
The second one:
It reads: “I love the smell of old books, and the words left behind by students past.”
Things a librarian might appreciate:
The Chekov reference.
The correct underlining of Chekov’s short story title.
The smell of old books
Nice use of the comma.
What we can all appreciate – loving the library! If you’d like to express your love of the library, books, the smell of books, short stories, Russian literature, alumni or other delights, feel free to respond to this post instead of inking your devotion in a drawer 🙂
A picture is worth a thousand words, right? Here is a quick introduction to data visualization, in pictures. And best of all, the data set is not so.. well.. data-y. The data set is what one person ate – everything – across one year. See the various ways that data can be displayed at the creator Laura Manning’s Flickr site.
This in just yesterday from Zotero’s blog: “A new third-party plugin called Zotpress is now available. It runs on WordPress, the open source platform widely used for personal, professional and course websites and blogs. Zotpress was created by community member Katie Seaborn, and it allows you to pull and organize items from your or another Zotero library into your WordPress site. The plugin harnesses the power of Zotero’s server API by grabbing library data dynamically and presenting it outside Zotero.
So why would you use it? Zotpress is great for scholars or job hunters who want to easily organize their CVs or resumes on their personal websites. Teachers can use it as well to present bibliographies to students. Or, if you just want to share some stuff you’ve been reading or studying, you can use Zotpress for that, too. In short, Zotpress is useful because it expands on Zotero’s mission by offering a new and easy interface to share your data freely with the world.”
This is great timing for Duke, because Duke WordPress was just updated to version 3.1.2 earlier this week. For members of the Duke community using WordPress for classes, group projects or multimedia presentations, you can now easily show your scholarly side, using Zotpress. For more information about Duke WordPress, contact the OIT Help Desk, and for more information about Zotpress, ask Ciara Healy, support librarian for Zotero.
Our new database Dance in Video offers the option to view content on your phone. Just in time for the American Dance Festival! Here are the details from Alexander Street Press: ” Stream video to your mobile device! All video can now be viewed on iPhone & Android smartphones operating on 3G network or better.”
“Many performances currently targeted for Dance in Video include Points in Space (Merce Cunningham Dance Company); highlights from Dance Theatre of Harlem; an Evening with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre; Strange Fish (DV8 Physical Theatre); Silence is the End of our Song (Royal Danish Ballet); Intimate Pages (Rambert Dance Company); Swansong (English National Ballet); Peter and the Wolf (The Royal Ballet School); Rainbow Round My Shoulder (Donald McKayle); and hundreds more choreographed or performed by dancers and groups including Agnes de Mille, Mark Morris, Lestor Horton, Anna Sokolow, Norman Walker Dance Company, Anthony Tudor, Jose Limon, Paul Draper, Chuck Green, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, The Kirov Ballet, the Bolshoi Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, Nederlands Dans Theater, and others.”
To access this database on your phone, open your phone’s internet browser and navigate to the front page of the Duke Libraries website by clicking on the databases tab in the upper left of the page and typing in Dance in Video into the search field below. Once in the database, search for the dance performance you’d like to see.
This post is brought to you by Alerts! – a special section of Library Hacks. Weekly, you can look forward to new database announcements, updates, and (rare) outage notices. Stay tuned!
Alternative Press Index
Contact person: Margaret Brill
“The Alternative Press Center (APC) is a non-profit collective dedicated to providing access to and increasing public awareness of the alternative press. Founded in 1969, it remains one of the oldest self-sustaining alternative media institutions in the United States. For more than a quarter of a century, the Alternative Press Index has been recognized as a leading guide to the alternative press in the United States and around the world.” (Quote source.)
Alt press blog url: http://www.altpress.org/blog/index.php
Black Music by LeRoi Jones/Baraka
Black Thought and Culture
Contact person: Karen Jean Hunt
“Black Thought and Culture contains 1,297 sources with 1,098 authors, covering the non-fictionpublished works of leading African Americans. Particular care has been taken to index this material so that it can be searched more thoroughly than ever before. Where possible the complete published non-fiction works are included, as well as interviews, journal articles, speeches, essays, pamphlets, letters and other fugitive material.” Also: “Most recently, the database has begun adding 13,000 pages (the only existing full run) of The Black Panther, the party’s newspaper, with full-color images of every page. ” (Quote source.)
RSC ebook Collection (Royal Society of Chemistry)
Contact person: Meghan Gamsby
“The RSC eBook Collection is a definitive point of reference for chemical science, providing a comprehensiveoverview of research and opinion in many areas – from food and medical science, to energy and environmental issues. Content is continually updated, with new titles added as they are published during each year… NB: all e-book chapters have individual DOI’s making it easy to create stable direct links to them,for use in teaching, reading lists, etc.” (Quote source.)
Confidential Print: Middle East
Contact person: Christof Galli
“From the Egyptian reforms of Muhammad Ali Pasha in the nineteenth century, the Middle East Conference of 1921, the Mandates for Palestine and Mesopotamia and the Suez Crisis in 1956, to the partition of Palestine, post-Suez Western foreign policy and the Arab-Israeli conflict, Confidential Print: Middle East is a fundamental resource for academics, students and researchers studying the modern Middle East. These historical documents inform the volatile situation in the region today.” (Quote source.) This resource covers Middle Eastern history from 1812-1958; countries included are: Afghanistan, Egypt, Sudan, Persia, Suez Canal, Turkey, Jordan, Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, and Syria. The series originated out of a need for the British Government to preserve all of the most important papers generated by the Foreign and Colonial Offices. Some of these were one page letters or telegrams — others were large volumes or texts of treaties. All items marked ‘Confidential Print’ were circulated to leading officials in the Foreign Office, to the Cabinet, and to heads of British missions abroad.
Dance in Video
Contact person: Danette Pachtner
“Dance in Video contains dance productions and documentaries by the most influential performers and companies of the 20th century. Selections cover ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, experimental, and improvisational dance, as well as forerunners of the forms and the pioneers of modern concert dance. Included are classic performances from top ballet companies; experimental works from up-and-coming dance troupes; documentaries by and about leading choreographers; videos on dance training; and other items covering a wide range of 20th century dance styles.”
Filmakers Library Online
Contact person: Danette Pachtner
Subject Categories: Area Studies and Cultures – Film/Video; Arts and Humanities – Film/Video
“Filmakers Library Online provides documentaries with relevance across the curriculum—race and gender studies, human rights, globalization and global studies, multiculturalism, international relations, criminal justice, the environment, bioethics, health, political science and current events, psychology, arts, literature, and more. It presents points of view and historical and current experiences from diverse cultures and traditions world-wide.”
Electronic resources such as e-journals and databases are generally accessible only to Duke community members such as faculty, staff and students.
“The Latin American Theatre Review (LATR) is published twice per year by The University of Kansas’ Department of Spanish and Portuguese and the Center of Latin American Studies. Founded in 1967, LATR covers all aspects of Latina/o and Latin American theatre and performance and is one of the premiere scholarly journals in its field.” – from the Latin American Theatre Review’s web page.
Some interesting background on the review itself and the field of Latin American theatre studies, from an article entitled On the Visibility of Latin American Theatre by Kirsten F. Nigro
Databases and electronic journals are generally accessible only to Duke community members such as faculty, staff and students, unless accessed from on campus.
The HathiTrust* partnership with Summon is about finding materials in new ways by taking advantage of technology. HathiTrust is a group formed by the 25 libraries participating in the Google Book Search and book digitization project. The HathiTrust/Summon partnership asks: How can we get more information to more people to enable conversations and solve information problems? The short answer is through digitization and full text searching. Getting more information to more people is rooted in two aspects of the the new norm: If it isn’t online it isn’t accessible and library content access expectations have changed from days to hours to right now. With Summon, currently used at Duke, library patrons will be able to easily search the HathiTrust collection.
HathiTrust –
“Preservation with access” is their tag line and with the Trust, they wish to create a collective space to meet a collective need. Its goal is to be, in essence, a comprehensive repository of published literature, plus access and preservation, primarily thru digitization. HathiTrust emphasizes long term preservation but not without access and sustainability. The scope of their holdings include 12 million digitized volumes in 2011 alone. Of all of the digitized volumes in the HathiTrust, only 26% are in copyright and the rest is in the public domain. Almost 50% of the copyrighted content is material published since 1960. According to the Trust, most major research libraries will be able to find 45% of their content in HathiTrust’s collection by December 2011.
Summon –
In partnership with HathiTrust, Summon increases user access to works in the public domain. Summon is what is called a “discovery layer” that is in front of many different kinds of databases. Summon indexes the contents of databases and other resources so it can quickly return results from multiple collections at once. Though you may not realize it, Summon is the Articles search tab found on the Duke Library front page. Summon is currently ingesting (yes, this is the technical term) HathiTrust’s index. Through Summon, a user’s query will be searched in databases, a local library’s catalog and HathiTrust content, all at the same time.
The partnership hopes to launch this summer coinciding with the American Library Association’s annual meeting in New Orleans, June 2011. However, not every library that has a Summon-powered discovery layer will necessarily search HathiTrust content. A library can choose the following options with regard to HathiTrust’s content: Opt to include all of the information HathiTrust offers, or opt to include just the public domain content on not include HathiTrust content in the results. When searching using the Articles tab, patrons will be able to click a “Search beyond your library” link to access HathiTrust and other content.
Duke libraries would like to know what you think of the increased access to HathiTrust’s content that will be offered this summer. Specifically, how much of Hathi’s content should appear in the Articles tab search results – all of it, just the public domain documents or just the ability to click through to the HathiTrust content?
*Hathi is pronounced either “hottie” or “hah-tee”. Also, Hathi or Haathi means Elephant in Hindi.
The Duke University Libraries are open during all posted hours to anyone who presents a current Duke University ID card. Use of the Libraries during all posted hours is also permitted by anyone who presents a current Duke Alumni card, a current Friends of the Libraries borrowing card, a current ID card from a TRLN university, or a current ID card from another college or university. Entry into the building after posted general public hours; however, requires a current Duke University ID card. All other users are welcome in the Libraries during posted general public hours. The Libraries reserve the right to deny access to any person whose conduct is disturbing to others or detracts from the research, scholarship, and study environment of the Libraries.
General Public Hours
The Duke University Libraries welcome members of the general public to use this facility during the following hours:
Duke faculty, students, and staff can now access Byki Online, an online language instruction resource. This new subscription to Byki Online gives users free access to flash cards, blogs, and other tools to help you learn or revisit more than 70 languages.
Sign up for your own Byki Online account to prepare for your research, study, and travel plans this summer.
We’re librarians: we like information. For the next month, Library Hacks will be gathering information from you, our reader, in our first-ever feedback poll!
This is your chance to tell us a little bit about your blog-reading habits and what you’d like to see when you visit Library Hacks.
In the sidebar you’ll see an orange button that links to our short survey – we hope you’ll take a few minutes to help us learn how to create a better, more informative blog. Of course, your responses and comments will be submitted anonymously, so click away!
We’ll be gathering responses through Friday, April 15th, and we’ll be sure to let you know what we’ve learned once the results are tabulated.
All of the other Duke University Libraries blogs will be running the exact same poll, so head over to the other blogs that you read and leave some feedback for them, too.
Everyone at Duke can now download and install the ChemBioDraw Ultra Suite from Duke OIT. ChemBioDraw is a powerful drawing and analysis tool that will be useful for many scientists, not just chemists. Features include proton NMR with peak splitting and highlighting, amino acid and DNA sequence tools, TLC plate drawing tool, Struct=Name, ISIS/Draw mode and stoichiometric analysis.
How technology is being used to provide information
This is a guest post by Kristina Troost, the Japanese Studies librarian and Head of International and Area Studies at Duke. She selects books on Japan and works with faculty and students to find information on Japan.
As I see the images of the destruction caused by the tsunami in northern Japan on Friday March 11, 2011, I find myself wanting to know more. As I search, I am overwhelmed by the amount of information that is available. The first information I found was Al Jazeera doing some on-the-spot reporting, but soon I learned that most Japanese TV stations are available through ustream. Videos of the earthquake and the tsunami have been posted on YouTube (as of the afternoon of March 11, more than 9,000 earthquake-related videos and 7,000 tsunami-related videos had been uploaded to YouTube).
Satellite photographs, too, have increased our understanding of the scale of the disaster. The New York Times links to a series of photos from before and after the quake and tsunami: you can move the slider to compare satellite images, taken by GeoEye: http://www.nytimes.com /interactive/2011/03/13/world/asia/satellite-photos-japan-before-and-after-tsunami.html. A series of KML files are available for download to view Google Earth (remember to take time differences into account; if night in Japan, there will be no image available).
Facebook, Twitter, Mixi and email have been used to let friends and family know of individual statuses, and technologies such as Google Docs have been used to share information – see, for instance, a spreadsheet on the status of faculty and graduate students at Tohoku University and Miyagi University: https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?hl=ja&key=th1OKZ0vIq74DQI-tF-w_tg&hl=ja#gid=0. The major cell phone companies have set up message boards to help people contact their friends, and Google has set up a person finder web app (see Google Crisis Response for more information as well as information about making donations, links to organizations, maps, and latest news). Google Maps has been used to plot the damage to libraries in northern Japan with links to photos and their current situation, http://bit.ly/h8QAIj. Even NHK and US cable networks have been cooperating to provide free access to NHK in many cities.
Right now, look out for phishing scams masquerading as contribution links or organizations to help Japanese victims of the recent earthquake and tsunami. Feel free to support the relief effort through legitimate NGOs that you trust. In addition, beware of links online that are malicious. While not the same as a “phishing” scam for your personal information, clicking these links can trigger a download – a tsunami of bad code flooding your computer. Currently the disaster in Japan is being searched a lot and some of the links returned will install malware if you click on them.
The upshot: in addition to sticking with trustworthy relief organizations, stick with known, trustworthy news sources for your news, commentary, analysis and especially video. This is also true when you click through on a post via a social network.
A few weeks ago, some of the science librarians took a trip to Beaufort, NC to visit Duke’s Marine Lab campus and library. We toured the library there and the labs and facilities with librarian Janil Miller and had lunch before leaving town. Well worth the three hour trip! One of the many highlights included seeing dolphins in the water near where we lunched. Check out the video link above – it is quick, but you can see two dolphins breach the surface, one after the other. We guess that they were having lunch, too.
In addition to seeing dolphins we saw a wild horse on Carrot island, visible from the Marine lab dock. Lucky scientists 🙂
There are few things worse than working hard on a paper or a project, spending hours researching and writing only to lose that work and not be able to retrieve it. This can be just as frustrating when all your past work is lost because of a computer crash, lost flash drive, etc. Backing up your files is increasingly important, but often it’s something you don’t consider until it’s too late. Here are some strategies to make backing up easy. Take a look. Your future self will thank you.
Lifehacker did a feature on the various methods for recovering deleted files. This is for those moments when you’ve deleted a file and you realize it right away. Won’t work for every situtation, but when this happens, here are some helpful tips.
It’s now also possible to store your data and files “in the cloud.” This allows you to keep all your important items on a remote server that really helps if you delete something on your own machine or if your laptop is stolen or otherwise damaged. Some of these options allow you to schedule backups automatically, so your data is backed up without requiring you to remember to do so. Mozy and Carbonite are two of the leaders in this area, but there are many providers, all with their own storage limits, features, strengths, weaknesses and pricing models. Look to the comments about various providers in this blog post to get a sense of some of your options.
If your growing to-do list has you overwhelmed..
Mac McCorkle
Bill Adair
