trico libraries news and notes » Haverford

Tell us what you think! We are conducting a trial for a service to provide book reviews from Booklist, Choice, Publisher’s Weekly, and Library Journal. These reviews are available in the Tripod Catalog for titles reviewed by those sources. Most of the reviews are for titles published within the last 10 years, though a few go back as far as the mid 1980’s.

Some examples include:

The Paradox of Choice : Why More is Less / Barry Schwartz

http://tripod.brynmawr.edu/record=b2654429

In Defense of Food : an Eater's Manifesto / Michael Pollan
http://tripod.brynmawr.edu/record=b3298770

http://tripod.brynmawr.edu/record=b2974723


Are reviews helpful to you as a student, faculty member, or researcher?

Let us know. We’d love to hear from you!

Have an opinion? Make a comment! ( 3 comments )

The Tri-College Libraries are participating in a pilot program to offer online access to materials from our music collections. In addition to some classes and ensembles that are trying out this service, it is available to other users in the Tri-Co who want to give it a whirl.  The software, called Variations, allows users to listen to streaming audio files, as well as to create bookmarks, playlists, and listening drills.  Scanned scores will be a feature to come at a later date.

The Variations software can be downloaded here.  And a list of available recordings may be found in Tripod by searching for “Variations Digital Music Library.” 

Please contact librarians Michelle Oswell, Donna Fournier, or John Anderies if you have any difficulties getting set up or have any questions about the service.

Have an opinion? Make a comment! ( 0 comments )

Math and Voting is the theme of Math Awareness Month (April 2008)

Vote for your favorite candidate and see how voting methods influence election outcomes.

Find out more about the mathematics of voting. 

or check out the following books in tripod:

Chaotic elections! A mathematician looks at voting

The mathematics of voting and elections: a hands-on approach

 

Have an opinion? Make a comment! ( 0 comments )

As part of an ongoing efforts to improve their website to better meet the needs of students, researchers, and librarians, JSTOR is developing a new platform which will enhance navigation and ease of use, as well as provide more tools and capabilities for users.   The new system will also allow the organization to more easily add new features and a greater array of scholarly content.

We anticipate the new platform will replace the current JSTOR site today, April 4.  With new features such as:

• Search within results
• Run recent searches
• Improved image searching
• MyJSTOR allows saving citations over multiple sessions
• Thumbnails of pages
• Simplified printing and improved accessibility for PDFs
• More robust browsing
• Improved navigation

Have an opinion? Make a comment! ( 0 comments )

Since this is just a trial, it won't be active all the time, but we'll try leaving it open when we're at our desks.

Have an opinion? Make a comment! ( 0 comments )

The Haverford College Libraries are currently hiring for student assistant positions for Summer 2008. We are looking for fast learners with a keen attention to detail. Positions are full-time and last for twelve weeks.

For more information and an application, go to Jobs at the Libraries.  

Have an opinion? Make a comment! ( 1 comments )

"The best thing a library can be is open."^*

This week the recently renovated reference desk area of Magill Library was dedicated to Michael S. Freeman, former Librarian of the College, in honor of his passion and commitment to serving the information needs of the community.

Michael was once quoted in the library literature as saying that "the best thing a library can be is open."¹ While in this particular case "open" referred to extended hours, it aptly describes Michael's overall approach to library services. From his arrival at Haverford in 1986 until his passing in 1999, Michael advocated collaborative work among librarians, faculty and students and put in place systems, resources and staff to foster it. Open to technological innovation, he signed Haverford up as one of the first participants in the JSTOR archive. Open to the lessons of the past, he took a keen interest in library history and the history of Tri-College library cooperation in particular and authored a number of articles on the subject. (See bibliography for a full list of works.)

During the last eighteen months, the reference desk area, now called the Michael S. Freeman Information Hub, has undergone a number of changes designed to foster a more collaborative atmosphere between reference librarians and patrons. A more modular and welcoming reference desk has been installed to replace the rather fortress-like former desk. The space has been expanded by removing the bookcases that were jutting out into the room, and five more computer stations and two tables for collaborative work have been added. New armchair seating near the remaining built-in bookcases provides a comfortable spot for reading and perusing the nearby “new books” display and other exhibits.

^*Albanese, Andrew Richard (2005). "The best thing a library can be is open." Library Journal 130 (September 15, 2005), no. 15. For more remembrances by colleagues and coworkers, see Lapsansky, Emma. "Michael Stuart Freeman, 1946 - 1999." Library Newsletter (May 1999).

Have an opinion? Make a comment! ( 0 comments )

Many Haverford seniors are currently sweating out the final stages of the thesis writing process. It may give them some encouragement to know that Haverford online theses, accessible through the Senior Thesis Archive, are getting quite a bit of use.

Although the Archive was only launched in Autumn 2006, there are many theses getting hundreds of hits. The top ten most popular theses are listed below.

If you are writing a thesis, please think about giving a copy to the Archive where it will be available to future students in your department, prospective students and their parents, and interested researchers worldwide. For more information, contact Reference Librarian Margaret Schaus.

« Continue reading "Haverford's Most Popular Online Theses" »

Have an opinion? Make a comment! ( 1 comments )

The Trico libraries are testing out several online resources, and we need your opinion!  Please check out the list, try any that strike your interest, and submit your comments.  Your feedback is invaluable as we decide whether to subscribe to these resources.

The trial databases include:

• Philadelphia Architects and Buildings, a database of images and information
  
• The FIAF Index to Film Periodicals and info on film archives
• Oxford Islamic Studies Online, a rich and diverse resource
  
• Several sources for 17th, 18th, and 19th century newspapers from the UK
• Several sources for information on countries of the world
  

Access these resources at the Trial Databases page.  Thanks for your help!  And act fast: most trials end in early April.

Have an opinion? Make a comment! ( 1 comments )

The Haverford College Libraries are currently hiring for student assistant positions for Summer 2008. We are looking for fast learners with a keen attention to detail.  Positions are full-time and last for twelve weeks.

Visit the Jobs at the Libraries section of the library website for a job description and application instructions.

Have an opinion? Make a comment! ( 0 comments )

George Stephens is still an enigma, even though it's been almost 40 years since a group of Haverford students founded the George Stevins [sic] Memorial Association.  Their quest was to gather enough information about him in order to understand this courageous Haverfordian.  Here are some of the characteristics known to date through discovered artifacts: he was a little ungainly on the soccer field, his team having suffered defeat in Ethiopia when the ball dribbled past his left-leaning feet (see "Sinistericon" and his sneakers as evidence); he had little humor, as the well-known artist, Kevorkian, revealed in his portrait of Steyvens [sic]; he wrote his senior thesis on an unknowable topic, given that the 5" floppy on which it was presented can no longer be read; and he had a preference for large women (see Margaret Dufay's toothbrush).  Perhaps a visitor to the exhibit, which closes on March 15th, will discover the perfect artifact.  We welcome any creative evidence that will fulfill the mission of the Jorge Esteban [sic] Memorial Association.

Have an opinion? Make a comment! ( 0 comments )

Interested in Islam or the Qur'an?  The Tri-College Libraries now subscribe to two great resources for your research pleasure.

The Encyclopaedia of the Qur'an (edited by BMC's President-Elect, Jane Dammen McAuliffe!) is an "encyclopaedic dictionary of qur'anic terms, concepts, personalities, place names, cultural history and exegesis extended with essays on the most important themes and subjects within qur'anic studies."

The Encyclopaedia of Islam is a comprehensive work with entries on the religion itself, the Muslim people, and the ethnography and geography of the countries in which the religion is practiced.  This online subscription provides access to the entire second edition, and to the currently-in-development third edition.

Act now, temporary trial access!  While you're at it, please check out Oxford Islamic Studies Online, to which we have access until April 11.  This is a comprehensive resource comprising a number of different reference works and information sources.  If you like it, please make a comment on the Trials page.  We need your input so that we can make an informed decision about subscribing.

Salaam alaikum!

Have an opinion? Make a comment! ( 0 comments )

One of the many things we've learned from the Tripod survey conducted a few weeks ago was that our students often use other sites (like Amazon) to find the exact title of a work, so that they can then look it up in our catalog.  In order to make that process a little easier (as we work on more long term solutions), we've developed a few handy bookmarklets.

A bookmarklet looks like a link on a webpage or a bookmark in a browser, but it adds "one click functionality".  Basically, you can search Tripod from any website with just one click.  Watch this really short video to see them in action or read on!

To install a bookmarklet in Firefox or Safari, just drag the link below into to your bookmark bar or right click and select Bookmark this link.  In Internet Explorer, right click the link and select Add to favorites.

To use them, just highlight some interesting text on a page, then click the bookmarklet.  Tripod searches for those terms and presents you with the results.  That easy.

Search Tripod - Keyword

• Firefox: Tripod - Keyword
  
• Internet Explorer: Tripod - Keyword
  
• Safari: Tripod - Keyword

Search Tripod - Title

• Firefox: Tripod - Title
  
• Internet Explorer: Tripod - Title
  
• Safari: Tripod - Title

Google Scholar Search - We didn't make these, but we thought you might like them too.

• Firefox: Scholar Search
• Internet Explorer: Scholar Search
• Safari: Scholar Search

Have an opinion? Make a comment! ( 3 comments )

Esther Ralph and family accompany Magill staff around Library

On February 26, Magill welcomed a special visitor who took staff on a “tour” of the Library’s past. Esther Ralph joined the all-female Library staff just after graduating from Drexel University in 1941 (when all Haverford students were men).

In her 40-year career at Haverford, she witnessed many changes to the Library’s building, collections, and services. When she arrived, she and other staff returned books to the stacks by means of a dumb waiter operated by rope and pulley. She saw U. S. Army units exercise on the College green during World War II; she heard Eleanor Roosevelt speak to students and faculty. She worked at Haverford through the massive Library expansion project in the mid-1960s that gave Magill its unique (occasionally befuddling) layout.

Click here for more from Esther Ralph and a look at some of the old photographs she is sharing with the campus community.

 Esther Ralph at work, 1960s

Have an opinion? Make a comment! ( 0 comments )

The spring exhibition in Canaday Library, Intimate Devotion: The Book of Hours in Medieval Religious Practice, will feature some of Bryn Mawr's most gorgeous medieval manuscripts and printed books and an extraordinary group of novice curators.

 
The exhibition is the work of the students in Professor Martha Easton's undergraduate seminar last fall, "The Book of Hours and the Art of Devotion." It will open on Thursday, January 31, with a panel discussion featuring the student curators. The program will begin at 5 p.m. in Carpenter 21, and will be followed by a reception and viewing of the exhibition in the Rare Book Room of Canaday Library.

 
Martha Easton, lecturer in History of Art, said she developed the course so that students could work with original objects, but also have to think about how to present the subject to a wider public.

 
"From the beginning this has been their show," she said. "Collectively they came up with the theme, decided what aspects of the book of hours they wanted to highlight, and chose the objects and images they wanted to display. I have been very impressed with the way they collaborated together in a professional way, listening to divergent points of view but finding the common ground between them, meeting deadlines and commenting on each other's work. The end result has been a cohesive and thoughtful examination of the book of hours in medieval religious life."

 
Thirteen students participated in the class, including eight from Bryn Mawr, four from Haverford, and one from Swarthmore. The students are Bianca Bromberger '08 (HC), Jacob Carroll '09 (HC), Jenny Castle '09, Erina Donnelly '08, Brittaney Golden '08, Talia Greenwald '08, Kira Grennan '08 (SC),  Lavanya Jayakar '09, Margaret Livingston '08 (HC), Lindsey Merikas '08 (HC), Annie Morse '09, Alex Solomon '08, and Arianae Tsavaris '09. Special Collections Librarian Marianne Hansen helped the class with expertise on the physical production of medieval manuscripts and also served as the exhibition coordinator. 

 
The exhibition will be open from January 31 through May 30. The exhibition hours are 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. For additional information, contact the Special Collections Department at 610-526-6576. 

Have an opinion? Make a comment! ( 0 comments )

This January we're starting out the semester with several new displays.  Come by and take a look!

Explorations in Literature takes a look at books and the movies based on them, featuring Oil, by Upton Sinclair (There Will Be Blood, currently in theaters, is based on this book), Persepolis (a graphic novel), and the old favorite of screenwriters everywhere, Jane Austen.

The display for political science features new books and journal articles about voter turnout in U.S. elections.  Some titles focus on the problems of disengagement and low numbers of voters at the polls, while others look at such recent positive trends as political activism, youth involvement, and results of democratization.

In the fountain area library displays welcome students back to campus and honor the work of Martin Luther King, Jr.  One display features photographs from the Civil Rights movement.  Whether the book was published in the 1950s or last year, the photographs preserve the immediacy of the protest marches and organizing efforts.  

An adjacent display invites viewers to "Read" with a tempting array of novels, critical studies, histories and art books on a wide variety of topics.

The final display in the Fountain Area presents new books about the French Revolution which demonstrate a number of current themes in historical research including the body, gender, popular caricature, and the continuities from the period of the monarchy through the Napoleonic era.

Have an opinion? Make a comment! ( 0 comments )

Whitney Ale, teaching assistant for Haverford sculpture professor Marianne Weil, spent the tail end of fall semester restoring a 150-year old plaster- cast bust of the goddess Diana that once sat atop the shelves of the old Haverford Library.  As reported in a previous blog posting, busts of Diana and Aristotle were recently identified and discovered on campus.

Ale, a senior anthropology major from Bryn Mawr, has put in over 20 hours of work cleaning and repairing the sculpture and predicts just as many hours before she finishes.  The first step in Ale’s restoration process is to sand the entire bust by hand with a fine grit sandpaper.  This step removes small nicks and gives the bust an even and clean appearance.

“When I first saw Diana she looked tortured,” reports Ale.  “She had been colored on with marker, given eyeballs with pen.  It looks as though at one point her head had fallen off and was glued back on.”

Following the initial sanding, Ale will soak the bust in water to open its pores in preparation for the final steps, patching large cracks with new plaster and giving the work a final sanding to make the repairs flush with the rest of the piece.

Having worked extensively in bronze, wax, steel and clay, this is the first time Ale has worked with plaster and she is really enjoying it: “I feel that I am forming a real connection with the piece.  It is very exciting at this point to see her becoming beautiful again.”

Once completed, Diana will make a triumphant return to Magill Library where she will be offered pride of place in Haverford Special Collections.

Have an opinion? Make a comment! ( 0 comments )

Need to find a book review?  You're in luck!  The Tri-College Libraries offer a multitude of resources to help you find what you need.

Consult this page: Finding Book Reviews.  It provides links to databases like Book Review Index, Book Review Digest, and the Times Literary Supplement, as well as instructions for using full-text resources and subject-specific tools that offer power tools for honing in on book review articles.

And when all else fails... ask a Reference Librarian! 

Have an opinion? Make a comment! ( 0 comments )

The Haverford College Libraries employ approximately 100 students each year. We are currently hiring for 15 positions in various departments in Magill Library, Special Collections and the Music Library.

Visit the Jobs at the Libraries section of the library website for job descriptions and application instructions.

Have an opinion? Make a comment! ( 0 comments )

Need to get out of your tiny library cubicle and see something exotic and stimulating for a change? Want a rest for your weary computer screen strained eyes? Stop by Special Collections any day this week to see rare and unique materials from the collection.

Each day we'll be bringing out one or more of Haverford's major treasures from the Collection, including:

12/17/07 – The Pemberton Bible, Northern France, ca. 1225-50 & the Haverford Hebrew Bible, Spain, 1266

12/18/07 – Nicolaus Copernicus, De revolutionibus orbium caelestium, 1543

12/19/07 – Maxfield Parrish, Chemistry Notebook, 1890

12/20/07 – Germantown Quaker Protest Against Slavery, 1688

12/21/07 – Eadweard Muybridge, Photographic Plates from Animal Locomotion, 1887

Have an opinion? Make a comment! ( 0 comments )

If final papers and exams are making your head swim, just take a moment to imagine what your life might have been like as a Haverford student in 1836. In those days, all exams were given orally in the presence of the school's entire Board of Managers. They covered all material from an entire school year and lasted for three full days.

You can find out much more about early life at Haverford, as well as about Haverford's earliest library collections, at "A Few Well Selected Books," the current exhibit at the Sharpless Gallery, Magill Library. The exhibit runs through January 31. 

Have an opinion? Make a comment! ( 0 comments )

Last week we posted about the re-discovery and ensuing restoration of two 150-year-old Greek plaster-cast busts that had once graced the shelves of the Haverford College Library.  Through careful examination of photographs from the College Archives library staff have identified a total of eleven busts that were once on display in the library from at least 1865 to 1895 and perhaps beyond.  As we would be pleased to see the identification and return of more of these wayward characters, we provide below—in the form of an old FBI wanted poster—a line-up of this motley gang of Ancient Greeks, Quakers, and a few unknowns.  If you’ve seen any of these fugitives lurking around campus please don’t hesitate to be in touch with Special Collections staff!

1. Apollo Wanted for employing biological weapons in the Trojan War. Also for defiling numerous nymphs. 2. Aristotle Wanted for not holding the Gods in honor. And for inspiring Friedrich Nietzsche centuries later. 3. Athena Wanted for aiding Hermes in the beheading of the Gorgon Medussa. May be armed with a thunderbolt and aegis. 4. Cicero Wanted for teaching Greek Philosophy to the Romans. And for Betraying the Regime of Mark Antony. 5. Diana Wanted for transforming Acteon into a stag and for turning his own hunting dogs on him. 6. Fothergill Wanted for urging revolution and liberal polices in the American Colonies. 7. Socrates Wanted for corrupting the minds of Athens’ youth, a crime punishable by death by hemlock. 8. Unknown Do you recognize this man? If you can identify him please contact Haverford Special Collections! 9. Whittier Wanted for doing little else besides dreaming and writing poetry for good causes. 10. Unknown Minor Accomplices

Have an opinion? Make a comment! ( 0 comments )

When the organizers of “A Few Well Selected Books,” the current exhibition in Magill Library, chose an 1865 photograph of the library to use in the promotion of the exhibit, they had no idea it would lead to the rediscovery of two very old plaster-cast Greek busts.  This iconic photograph of the library in Alumni Hall features (from left to right) professors Thomas Chase and Paul Swift, superintendent William Wetherald, seniors James A. Chase and Allen C. Thomas, assistant professor and librarian Clement L. Smith, sophomore Samuel Collins, and president Samuel J. Gummere.  Peering down from high atop the wooden bookcases are several Ancient Greek busts, including (from left to right) Socrates, Aristotle, Diana, and Cicero.

After our exhibit announcements went out, we were informed by Haverford professor Darin Hayton that the bust of Diana could be found in the faculty lounge of Hall Building.  Scuffed up, embellished with magic marker, and appearing to have suffered a neck fracture, Diana has clearly been through some rough patches over the past century and a half!

A few weeks after the discovery of Diana, as librarians Christa Williford and David Conners were preparing to record an exhibit narrative with Classics professors Deborah Roberts and Bret Mulligan, Roberts revealed that she and husband professor emeritus Aryeh Kosman had another of the busts—that of Aristotle—in their home on College Avenue.  Kosman reports having rescued Aristotle from a trash pile in the 1970s.

Archival photographs from 1865 to 1895 reveal an array of Ancient Greek mythological and philosophical characters to have been part of the collection, as well as a couple of Quaker luminaries and some mystery busts yet to be identified.  Librarians have long wondered what had become of these venerable figures as they are not part of the extensive online inventory of college-owned art maintained by College Archivist Diana Franzusoff Peterson.

Both busts have been returned to Special Collections and now they will be undergoing restoration and repair courtesy of Haverford sculpture professor Marianne Weil and her teaching assistant Whitney Ale BMC '08.  Over the course of the next few weeks, we will provide updates on their progress and will also report on more of the missing busts which have been identified in photographs from the College Archives.

Have an opinion? Make a comment! ( 0 comments )

The Lost-Wax Initiative, is a collaborative project between Swarthmore College art history students and sculpture students from Haverford College. For a limited number of studio/foundry sessions, students from Associate Professor Patricia Reilly's Ancient Greek and Roman Art class met with sculpture students from Visiting Associate Professor Marianne Weil's class at Haverford's Foundry.  Under Prof. Weil’s guidance, students explored the lost-wax casting process through "hands-on" preparation of their wax sculptures, investment molds and the finishing “chasing” of the bronzes at our College Foundry.  

This project was a unique opportunity for students in both departments to share an in-depth collaborative research experience in a workshop setting and provides the premise for an ongoing dialogue between our departments.  It was generously funded by a Mellon Tri-Co Seed Grant.

Have an opinion? Make a comment! ( 0 comments )

Painting and drawing students from the 200 and 300 level classes will be showing their work from this semester in the Alcove Gallery at Magill.  There will be large scale drawings, designs created for the library mural now underway, as well as collages and paintings.  From November 20 through 29.

Have an opinion? Make a comment! ( 0 comments )

Have an opinion? Make a comment! ( 0 comments )

Have an opinion? Make a comment! ( 0 comments )

Podcasts to accompany Magill Library's curren