So This Is What Research Looks Like...

Hard at Work in the Library!

Emily Nason, Jackleen Nesheiwat, and Jade-Ashley Thomas making use of the quiet space down in the lower level of the Library to work on their diorama of Plato's Cave for Steven Lee's FSEM:  Education, Justice & Happiness.  

Government Shutdown and Research

The campus community should be aware that information from certain federal government websites may be unavailable as a result of the shutdown.   Census.gov, American FactFinder and online surveys are offline as well as the Federal Trade Commission's site, the Agriculture Department's USDA.gov and the Library of Congress' site.  Each government agency is deciding independently whether to keep their public websites available.  Click this NPRposting for more information.  

-Michael Hunter, Research and Instruction Librarian

Superman: The Unauthorized Biography / Glen Weldon

Glen Weldon, National Public Radio’s go-to comics guy, dives into 1938 precedents and origin of the nation’s favorite alien son and most popularly long lasting superhero, detailing his career up to the start of (British!?) Henry Cavill’s 2013 movie incarnation.  Born from the cheerfully geek and extended adolescent minds of Jerry Siegal and Joe Schuster, he was actually first conceived in 1933 as a villain and refined during a long gestation.

Originally representing “Truth, Justice, and the American Way” when we regarded those elements  without much irony, his powers, psychology, approach to doing good, and political orientation have shifted around a bit during our 75 year acquaintance.  Recently, and probably most awkwardly, a storyline had him stand in solidarity with Iranian protesters and renounce U.S. citizenship, although that seems likely to be a momentary bobble.  Weldon’s exhaustive, and sometimes mind-numbing, detailed handling of Superman’s graphic and cinematic evolution across years, parallel Earths, and story lines should be sufficient to solve most fanboy-or-girl controversies without bloodshed.  It would also be an good research starting point for examination of just what the big guy’s life may, or not, say about “the American Way.”

-Joseph Chmura

Assistant Director and Access Services Librarian

 

Past & Future

Detail from: Voyages dans la Grande-Bretagne, Dupin, 1821

“Remember the past, imagine the future.” 

These are the words that adorn the entrance to the Warren Hunting Smith Library, and this summer we took them to heart as we pursued two key improvements.

Looking forward: we have redesigned our webpage, making many of the most used and

requested services more visible and easier to access.  We have also added a new functionality that will allow you to search across not only the Library's physical collections, but also many of our most comprehensive full-text and citation databases.

Looking back: we continue to make improvements in our special collections storage facility, and have been rediscovering some of the great books hidden in our collections’ midst - the first edition of Hobbes’ Leviathan, an atlas from 1676, and an notebook of British military works - to name just a few.  Be on the lookout as we work with faculty to bring these works into the classroom or sneak in a visit to Special Collections the next time you are in the Library.

Wishes for a great semester.

~ Vince Boisselle, College Librarian

Try Summon & Search Almost Everything

From a single search box you can now search through almost all of the Library's collections including articles, books, e-books, and more. Summon is a new service that the Library subscribed to this summer. Our hope is that Summon will make it easier to search and access information through the Library's website. Currently Summon is in beta or test mode. Some of the features may not be functioning perfectly at this time. The plan is to have Summon running smoothly for the start of the fall semester. Although there are some kinks to work out, you should be able to successfully access most of what you need through Summon. Comments or feedback about Summon can be submitted here: https://library.hws.edu/forms/contact.cfm?.

What do Michele Bachmann, the Long Tailed Duck, & Free Will have in common?

They were all topics being researched at the HWS Library during the 2013 spring semester. The Research Librarians have pulled together a few of their favorite topics for you to enjoy!