At the PHC Library

Scheduled Downtime: ProQuest - April 18 , 2009

2009-04-06T12:08:00.002-04:00

Dear ProQuest Customer,

The next ProQuest(R) platform maintenance window will be on
April 18, 2009. An eight (8) hour maintenance window will take
place for infrastructure maintenance. The window will take place
from Saturday, April 18, 2009, at 22:00 Eastern Standard Time to
Sunday, April 19, 2009 at 6:00 Eastern Standard Time.

The following products will be unavailable during these windows:
-- ProQuest platform products, ProQuest Historical Newspapers

Maintenance window schedule:
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Literary Costume Contest 2009

2009-04-03T12:14:00.003-04:00

Pictures of the entries for this year's literary costume contest have been posted on Picasa--http://picasaweb.google.com/PHCLibrary/LiteraryCostumeContest2009

Legal Dictionaries Added to LexisNexis Academic

2009-02-24T15:42:00.001-05:00

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce that we have added several useful dictionaries to the legal materials in LexisNexis Academic

Ballentine's Law Dictionary, 3^rd Edition
Bieber's Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations, 4^th Edition
Canadian Legal Words and Phrases
Dahl's French-English Law Dictionary (1995)
Dahl's Spanish-English Law Dictionary (1992)
A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage (1987)
Modern Dictionary for the Legal Profession (2001)

To locate these sources and their descriptions in LexisNexis Academic, choose the "Sources" tab, and look for the "Dictionaries" folder in the default view (browse sources by publication type).

Best regards,
Alistair

Alistair Morrison Product Manager, LexisNexis Academic & Library Solutions
LexisNexis, 7500 Old Georgetown Road, Suite 1300, Bethesda MD 20814
Telephone: 301-951-4529 Switchboard: 800-638-8380 Fax: 301-652-1273
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CQ Global Researcher

2009-01-14T14:18:00.003-05:00

If you are interested in researching international issues, check out CQ Global Researcher before February 5 and let me know what you think!

Published by CQ Press, CQ Global Researcher focus on a different international issue for each month's issue. In the last two years, CQ Global Researcher has reported on torture, peacekeeping, the climate, women's rights, currency, and various regions and countries, including Latin America, Europe, Darfur, and Turkey, along with 15 other topics.

Each topic is a dedicated issue reported in a scholarly manner with footnotes, bibliography, and resources for further research. A brief background of the situation is provided along with current information and possible future developments. A Pro/Con section allows an expert from each side of the issue to briefly summarize their position on the argument.

This is only trial access, so there will not be any access after February 5, 2009.

The library currently subscribes to two other resources that are provided by CQ Press:
CQ Researcher Plus Archive. Similar in style to CQ Global Researcher, CQ Researcher focus on American domestic issues. The archive provides access to issues back as far as 1923.
CQ Weekly. Published weekly while Congress is in session, CQ Weekly provides reports on what is happening in Congress.

Another resource that provides expert and scholarly reports on controversial issues is Pro & Con Online. [Hmm....This appears to be not working. I'll call and see if we can get that fixed!] Pro & Con Online consists of three different publications looking at issues in three distinct areas--Congressional Digest, Supreme Court Debates, International Debates.

Scheduled Downtime: ProQuest

2008-12-13T23:00:00.000-05:00

The next ProQuest® platform enhancement release will be on December 13, 2008. An eight (8) hour maintenance window will take place to install these exciting new
enhancements. The window will begin Saturday, December 13, 2008, at 22:00 EDT to Sunday, December 14, 2008 at 10:00 EDT. See below for a more complete list of
times and time zones.

Scheduled Downtime: LexisNexis Academic

2008-11-02T01:00:00.002-04:00

From LexisNexis:

LexisNexis Academic will undergo maintenance related to the end of Daylight
Savings Time that will interrupt service on Sunday, November 2, 2008 between
1:00 AM and 8:00 AM U.S. Eastern Time. User trying to access LexisNexis Academic early Sunday morning will see a message saying that the service is temporarily unavailable.

Essay Contest Winner

2008-10-06T17:36:00.004-04:00

The winning essay in our Banned Books Week essay contest was by Jessica P. Here is her essay.

The book is, perhaps, the most powerful instrument known to man. Not only can the book survive for millennia, but it also holds within its covers the power to impress, incite action, record, and educate. Thus it comes as no surprise that books have been censored as far back as 387 BC, when Plato urged the expurgation of Homer’s writings from the common reader. Indeed, even in America, there is debate over whether books should be banned for various reasons such as extremism, profanity, sexuality, and violence. Such controversies should not exist. While there is no doubt that some literature may be injurious to society, history has clearly demonstrated that the censorship of free speech is even more hazardous. The “freedom of speech and … press” in the First Amendment does more than defend individual’s voice. Innately, it acknowledges the intrinsic value and individuality of each person. It is for this reason that book censorship is an extremely dangerous act. The poet Heinrich Heine once stated: “When one burns books, one will soon burn people”. In 1933 Nazis incinerated “un-German” books in massive bonfires. Less than a decade later, smoke billowed from the crematoria of Auschwitz. When literature is censored, people lose the right to express themselves as individuals. Ultimately, humans are the victims. It is for this reason that we should embrace the ethos behind freedom of speech as expressed by Voltaire: “I may disagree with what you say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.”

Library Trivia Quiz Answers

2008-10-04T16:03:00.014-04:00

Thanks to all who took the Library Trivia Quizzes!! For those of you who were curious, here are the answer to each day's quiz.

Monday: Books Banned for Religious Content
1. Banned in the Roman Empire in 330s for contradicting Trinitarianism.
D. Thalia by Arius
2. Banned in Bangladesh, India, Singapore, and Iran for blasphemy.
E. The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
3. Banned in Lebanon after Catholic leaders deemed it offensive to Christianity.
C. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
4. Banned in Kentucky for language and for being anti-Christian.
A. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
5. Banned by the Vatican in 1514 for arguments against the political role of the Roman Catholic Church.
B. On the Origins and Perpetual Use of the Legislative Powers of the Apostolic Kings of Hungary in Matters Ecclesiastical by Adam F. Kollar

Tuesday: Books Banned for Objectionable Political Content
1. Banned in Japan (1988 - 2005) to quell "political threats to boycott Japanese cultural exports," although the pictures were not those of the original version.
F. Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
2. Banned within the USSR until 1988 for its criticism of the Bolshevik Party.
D. Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
3. Banned in Indonesia for being too communistic and for other political reasons.
I. The Fugitive (Perburuan) by Pramoedya Ananta Toer
4. Banned in Nazi Germany for demoralizing and insulting the Wehrmacht.
G. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
5. Publication delayed in UK because of anti-Stalin theme. Confiscated in Germany by Allied troops. Banned in 1946 in Yugoslavia. Also banned in Kenya in 1991 and in the United Arab Emirates in 2002.
B. Animal Farm by George Orwell
6. Banned in South Africa in 1979 for going against the government's racial policies.
H. Burger's Daughter by Nadine Gordimer
7. Banned in Thailand for its criticism of King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
A. The King Never Smiles by Paul M. Handley
8. Banned in the UK and author charged with treason for supporting the French Revolution. Banned in Tzarist Russia after the Decembrist revolt.
E. Rights of Man by Thomas Paine
9. Once removed from shelves of public libraries in the US due to the fact it was written during the Cold War era
C. The Butter Battle Book by Dr. Seuss

Wednesday: Banning Books--What Do People Think?
1. "Every burned book enlightens the world."
E. Ralph Waldo Emerson
2. "If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed."
B. Benjamin Franklin
3. "Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak just because a baby can't chew it."
G. Mark Twain
4. "There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.”
H. Joseph Alexandrovitch Brodsky
5. "Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment."
D. Library Bill of Rights
6. "If in other lands the press and books and literature of all kinds are censored, we must redouble our efforts here to keep them free."
A. FDR
7. “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
F. Aristotle
8. “This is slavery, not to speak one’s thought.”
C. Euripides

Thursday: Professorial Trivia Quiz
Which professor...
1. owns a classic DeLorean automobile? Dr. Montgomery
2. was born on New Year's day? Dr. Middleton
3. once upon a time played lead guitar and was back-up vocalist in a praise band (1970s)? Dr. Tallmon
4. once suffered third-degree burns in a motorcycle accident? Dr. Sillars
5. worked in the same city that was born in but was absent for 31 years in between? Dr. Roberts
6. skipped the eleventh grade? Dr. Libby
7. played one year of college football? Dr. Spinney
8. says his/her favorite food is HOT chicken wings? Dr. Kucks
9. had bright red hair as a child? Dr. Haynes

Public Ethics Radio

2008-08-27T17:33:00.005-04:00

Public Ethics Radio

Public Ethics Radio is a newly launched Internet audio broadcast which aims to connect "vibrant debates in philosophy with real-world politics, on issues such as military intervention, international trade, and political corruption." The first episode was released in August 2008 with philosopher Thomas Pogge as the guest on the 30-minute show. Scheduled upcoming episodes will discuss Torture Lite and Extending Human Lifespans.

Public Ethics Radio is a production of the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics (CAPPE) in Australia in association with the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs in New York City.

Solzhenitsyn Remembered

2008-08-13T16:55:00.003-04:00

Today's Mars Hill Audio newsletter had a section highlighting their recent release of a 74-minute Anthology, Christian Humanism of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. This anthology includes an interview with Dr. Aikman. Along side of this, Mars Hill is promoting Dr. Aikman's reading of his essay on Solzhenitsyn, "One Word of Truth: A Portrait of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn."

Russian writer and political prophet Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn died on August 3rd. In a life that moved from obscurity to the Nobel Prize and back to obscurity, Solzhenitsyn played a dramatic role in alerting the West to the realities of life under the dehumanizing Communist regime. MARS HILL AUDIO has featured five interviews about Solzhenitsyn’s life and work since 1993, and we have just released a special Anthology containing those pieces along with some previously unheard material featuring Solzhenitsyn scholar, Edward E. Ericson, Jr.. Entitled The Christian Humanism of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, this 74-minute Anthology is available on CD or as an MP3 download. Also of interest is veteran journalist David Aikman’s reading of his moving essay, “One Word of Truth: A Portrait of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn,” one of our MP3-only MARS HILL AUDIO Reprints.

Library Hours

2008-08-11T16:25:00.002-04:00

Library Hours for Fall 2008
Monday - Thursday 7:30 AM - 11:30 PM
Friday 7:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Saturday 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM

During the Spring semester, the library extended the Saturday hours to include 2 additional hours in the morning. Changing the open hours from 12:00-6:00 to 10:00-6:00 on Saturdays. We have decided to keep these longer hours for the Fall semester. Let us know what you think and what suggestions you have for other changes in library services!

Future of the PHC Library

2008-07-22T18:27:00.004-04:00

As the library staff are preparing for the coming year, we are re-evaluating the value and use of social networking pieces for the library.

- Is this blog being read? What would make it more useful to users? Is it worth maintaining?

- Is our PHC Library Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Purcellville-VA/Patrick-Henry-College-Library/18959282864?ref=share) at all useful? What would make it more useful to users? Is it worth maintaining?

- The PHCLibrarian is not IM'd very often. Is this because students are not interested in talking to the librarians by IM? We aren't responding properly to IM messages? Students don't know/remember the option? Should we keep it? Change it?

- We are working on building research guides for different subject areas. For the moment, we are planning to put them in the Library section of the PHC website. Where would students like to find them? What would students like to see in a research guide? (OK, not exactly social networking as a static webpage, but some libraries use blogs or wikis to post research guides.)

If you have ideas about any of these questions or other aspects of library service, we would appreciate hearing from you.

Interlibrary Loan - Thanks to Student Assistants

2008-04-28T17:33:00.004-04:00

I just ran some ILL reports from last week (Friday, April 18 through Thursday, April 24)--immediately after the Music Appreciation paper was due. Up to this point in the semester, an average of less than 120 books per week have been returned to the lending library as part of our ILL processing. Last week we returned 370 items that had been borrowed through interlibrary loan. Returning an item involves pulling the paperwork for the items, packaging the materials, and updating the status of the requests in two separate software systems. The second highest week for the semeseter (so far) is the week before spring break when 212 items were returned.

I just want to publicly thank our Library Students Assistants who spend so much of their time on ILL--getting our students and faculty the needed materials. And especially last week for working so steadily on the literally piles of materials that all needed packaged for return all at once!

Also, thanks to the mailroom for getting all the packages mailed out!

National Library Week: Literary Trivia Challenge

2008-04-23T16:03:00.004-04:00

1. All of the following won the Nobel Prize in literature except:

A. Robert Frost
B. Albert Camus
C. T.S. Eliot
D. William Butler Yeats

2. Who deserves credit for the following quote: “I’m only a servant of the most holy man to ever walk the streets of Jerusalem” ?

A. AW Tozer
B. EB White
C. CS Lewis
D. GK Chesterton

3. Elie Wiesel, holocaust survivor and author of several books including Night, is originally from what country? (1 point bonus if you name the town)

A. Hungary
B. Netherlands
C. Romania
D. Belgium

Bonus: Sighet

4. Which author was captured during World War II and made radio broadcasts from a German prison?

A. Rudyard Kipling
B. Ernest Hemingway
C. EE Cummings
D. PG Wodehouse

5. Which author spent time during the Civil War visiting wounded Confederate and Union soldiers, using his small salary on gifts to lift their spirits?

A. L Frank Baum
B. Walt Whitman
C. Herman Melville
D. Thoreau

6. What is the name of Betty Smith’s book about a girl growing up in a poor family who visits the library every Saturday?

A. A Wrinkle In Time
B. Number the Stars
C. A Tree Grows In Brooklyn
D. Gathering Blue

7. Name the contemporary Christian poet who has twice won the Pulitzer Prize and been named U.S. Poet Laureate.

A. Richard Wilbur
B. Marilynne Robinson
C. Claudia Emerson
D. Ted Kooser

National Library Week: Library Trivia Challenge

2008-04-23T15:56:00.003-04:00

1. Approximately how many new items does the Library of Congress add to their collection each year?

a. 11,000
b. 70,000
c. 600,000
d. 2,000,000

2. Which library houses George Washington’s presidential farewell address?

a. George Washington University
b. New York Public Library
c. Georgetown University
d. Library of Congress

3. On the British Library’s website, you can view digitized versions of the handwritten originals of all of the following except:

a. Mozart’s Musical Diary
b. Alice In Wonderland
c. Jane Austen’s “History of England”
d. You can view all of the above

4. Who is the honorary chair of this year’s National Library Week?

a. Laura Bush
b. Jodie Foster
c. Julie Andrews
d. Melvil Dewey

5. Which Presidential library is located in West Branch, Iowa?

a. Eisenhower
b. Truman
c. Hoover
d. FDR

6. Which movie’s opening scene takes place in a library?

a. Ghostbusters
b. Batman Forever
c. Crocodile Dundee
d. Jaws

7. Which university has a library named after Dr. Seuss?

a. Loyola University
b. Colorado State University
c. University of Tennessee
d. UC San Diego

8. Which children’s book author was also a librarian?

a. Beverly Cleary
b. Roald Dahl
c. Lemony Snicket
d. E.B. White

National Library Week: Faculty Trivia Challenge

2008-04-23T14:36:00.007-04:00

1. Which book by Mark Noll credits Professor Ohlson for the use of a song he brought back from a 1995 mission trip to Brazil?

A. Where Shall My Wond’ring Soul Begin?
B. Adding Cross To Crown
C. Turning Points
D. Search For Christian America

2. What book authored by G.K. Chesterton was Dr. Doran’s favorite while in college?

Orthodoxy

3. What book did Professor Moger read while driving to college as an undergrad?

A. Of Mice and Men
B. East of Eden
C. Winter of Our Discontent
D. The Red Pony

4. What was Dr. Tallmon's nickname while he was in army basic training?

A. Ender
B. Frodo
C. Skywalker
D. Bilbo

5. Who was consulted for Frederick Forsyth’s novel The Afghan over a hamburger lunch?

A. Mitchell
B. Middleton
C. Sillars
D. Ohlson

6. The general who won the battle of El Alamein said, "I neither smoke nor drink and I am almost always right." To which the then prime minister replied, "I both smoke and drink and I AM always right." Name the two speakers! (Hint: One is related to a PHC professor)

General Bernard Montgomery and Winston Churchill

7. As an undergraduate student, which professor dropped a literature class in order to avoid having to read Voltaire’s Candide?

Moger

8. Dr. Hake sad, "My wife referred to me as her Joe Gargery." What novel is this character from and who is the author?

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Magna Carta

2008-03-10T15:39:00.001-04:00

Tuesday, March 11, at 7:30 p.m.
William G. McGowan Theater
Magna Carta Returns to the National Archives
The only Magna Carta permanently in the United States will once again be on display at the National Archives beginning with this evening’s program. In celebration of David Rubenstein’s generous loan, we present a special tribute program featuring A. E. Dick Howard, author of The Road from Runnymede: Magna Carta and Constitutionalism in America. During “Magna Carta Days” (March 12 through March 26) the National Archives museum will be open until 8 p.m.

Donations

2008-02-25T15:36:00.002-05:00

I received a call today offering the PHC Library a sizable book donation. It's not an unusual offer, in that it is coming from a widow who is ready to see her late husband's library (that he spent his whole life collecting) go to a library or someone who can put it to good use. It wasn't terribly unusual that she said she had heard about it through her church when Dave was there to speak about the college. But when I contacted the person I thought was "Dave," he has never spoken formerly at a church about the college and has no knowledge of this church.

Dave, I don't know who you are. You were described as "tall" and "maybe red hair" and spoke "several times" at the Believer's Baptist Church. You may have had some other individuals from the college with you. We do appreciate the publicity and are looking forward to seeing what is in this donation! Thank you!

Library Resources from Off-Campus

2008-02-06T15:03:00.000-05:00

My apologies to all the DL students out there who have had to struggle so much with access to library resources this semester! Also, a big thanks and appreciation to those who kept e-mailing and contacting me when it still wasn't working!

Access to PHC library resources from off-campus has always been a bit of an issue, but it has even been more so this semester with all the changes that have been happening.

First, the school moved to a new software system for tracking student records. I don't have access to the system directly, but those who do have praise for how much more user-friendly and flexible it is than the old system.

Second, the move to the new software system forced the college to issue new ID numbers. So now, almost every current student has two ID numbers associated with their record--the number issued under the old system and the number issued in the new software.

On the library side, the library wants to grant access to resources based on who is a current student and needs to authenticate these students. Back in the early days of the college, the library and I.T. worked together to acquire and set-up software on a server to provide some crude authentication and grant access. It has worked well for it's time, but has its security issues and its clunkiness--requiring both e-resources and student records to be maintained in static lists, not directly linked to the student database or the library's list of resources.

With the new class software being deployed, we have an opportunity to address some of these problems. We can take advantage of the new class software to handle the authentication of the current students, but we still have to maintain a static list of resources.

My next envisioned step is to be able to allow off-campus students to use the Library's E-Resources pages, just like on-campus students do. They'll be able to view the list by category or alphabetically, the resource links will have a description of the resource right there, and useful free and restricted access resource are all together on one page. If the off-campus student wants to use a restricted resource, he clicks on the link, responds to the prompt for his class portal login and he can start searching the restricted resource.

And the people caught in the cross-currents of all these changes? In the student database, some students have errors in their records--errors in the conversion or failure to implement the necessary new procedures to keep student records current. That can affect whether they get added to the static list of students that is consulted by the library access resource. Maybe they are on the list, but they weren't informed of their newly issued ID number, so that don't have what it takes to complete authentication. And of course, the confusion isn't helped by the fact that sometimes you can access a resource using the new pages in the class portal software, but sometimes you have to use the old library access login.

So please continue be patient with us! I.T. is actively working with the library to get past these problems of change and make the use of library resources from off-campus as seamless as we can. And yes, we do appreciate notification when something isn't working for you and feedback for how we can continue to improve access.

Prize-Winning Books Online

2008-01-21T16:10:00.000-05:00

The Online Books Page has compiled a list of the Newberry, Nobel, and Pulitzer winning books that are available online.

The Online Books Page links to over 30,000 free books on the web. These are all books that are now in the public domain under U.S. Copyright law and have been digitized and posted in their entirety online. This site acts as a combined catalog for a number of digitization projects, such as Gutenberg, Bartleby, and University of Michigan.

Welcome to Naila

2008-01-21T15:34:00.001-05:00

I am pleased to announce that the Library Assistant position has been filled by Naila Farooq. You may have met Naila as she was working in the mailroom last semester. We are pleased to now have her as part of the library staff. Naila began her training in the library on January 16. Naila will be assuming the responsibilities previously held by Alyssa Cowell. This includes handling class reserve readings, interlibrary loan requests, periodicals received, and other daily activities.

Please welcome Naila to the library!

Carnegie Council

2008-01-10T10:01:00.000-05:00

As announced by the Carnegie Council yesterday, below are their most popular resources of 2007.

Human rights, India, globalization, fair trade, and Microsoft's attempt to manipulate Wikipedia—these are just some of the topics that you chose as the most popular resources of 2007. Materials are from the Carnegie Council website and from our online magazine Policy Innovations. They range in date from Shashi Tharoor in November 2007 to a classic speech in 1995 by Zbigniew Brzezinski.

MOST POPULAR CARNEGIE COUNCIL PODCASTS
1. Global Human Rights Leadership: Who Will Fill the Void Left by the United States?
Kenneth Roth, Human Rights Watch
With Washington's reputation as a leader on human rights gravely damaged by abuses committed in its "global war on terror," who will fill the vacuum? (Public Affairs Lecture, March 2007)
2. The Elephant, the Tiger, and the Cell Phone: Reflections on India, the Emerging 21st-Century Power
Shashi Tharoor, Author and former UN Official
Diversity, says Tharoor, is the very essence and strength of India, the world's largest democracy. Rather than a melting pot, it is more like an Indian "thali," with each dish separate but combining in the mouth to make a harmonious whole. (Public Affairs Lecture, November 2007)
3. Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East, 1776 to the Present
Michael B. Oren, Shalem Center, Jerusalem
"Few Americans know of their very rich, centuries-long legacy in the Middle East," says Oren. "It's a multifaceted heritage of war and statecraft, altruism and beneficence, wild artistic imaginings, and swashbuckling adventure." (Public Affairs Lecture, January 2007)
4. In Spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India
Edward Luce, Financial Times, London
Despite problems such as poverty and corruption, India is undergoing an extraordinary transformation, says Luce, emerging as an economic powerhouse and an important geopolitical force. (Public Affairs Lecture, February 2007)
5. The Utility of Force: The Art of War in the Modern World
General Sir Rupert Smith, British Army (retired)
The new paradigm is war amongst the people, where the strategic objective is to win hearts and minds, and the battle is for the people's will, rather than the destruction of an opponent's forces. (Public Affairs Lecture, January 2007)

MOST POPULAR CARNEGIE COUNCIL WEB RESOURCES
1. THE PHILIPPINES
Jorge Tigno, University of the Philippines
Tigno selects and reviews books, reports, and other materials that he considers representative of the human rights discourse in the Philippines. (Article, Human Rights Dialogue, Fall 1996)
2. The New Dimensions of Human Rights
Zbigniew Brzezinski, former National Security Advisor
As part of the Carter administration, which promoted human rights as its foreign policy, Brzezinski admits that this approach was a tactic against the Soviets. Nevertheless, he sees human rights as the inevitable offshoot of democracy, while warning that this could change if we fail to address the potential misuses of biotechnology. (Transcript, Morgenthau Lecture, May 1995)
3. The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time
Jeffrey Sachs, Columbia University
Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the New Millennium Project, proposes ways to end extreme poverty all over the world by 2025. (Transcript, Public Affairs lecture, March 2005)
4. The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century
Thomas L. Friedman, The New York Times
Globalization, particularly outsourcing, is leveling the playing field around the world, says Friedman, making India a major player. (Audio, Public Affairs Lecture, April 2005)
5. The End of the American Era: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Geopolitics of the Twenty-first Century
Charles Kupchan, Georgetown University
International relations authority Charles Kupchan argues that America ignores Europe at its own peril. (Transcript, Public Affairs Lecture, February 2003)

MOST POPULAR POLICY INNOVATIONS PODCASTS
1. Global Civil Society Mechanisms for Creating Fairer Trade
Michael Conroy, Colibrí Consulting
Conroy argues that while the multilateral trade regime is not designed for fair, moral, or sustainable trade, global civil society has created mechanisms that are moving trade toward fairer, more sustainable bases. He describes those efforts in the realms of forestry, fisheries, and mining. (December, 2006)
2. The West's Reaction to the 2006 China-Africa Summit
Stephanie T. Kleine-Ahlbrandt, UNHCR
The West reacted with vitriol to Beijing's China-Africa Summit, branding China as a "resource-hungry superpower in the making." But is this fair, given the West's own record in Africa? What options is the West offering China as incentives to change its behavior? (December 2006)
3. Making Globalization Work
Joseph Stiglitz, Columbia University
Stiglitz offers new thinking about the questions that shape the globalization debate, including a plan to restructure the global financial system, ideas for how countries can grow without degrading the environment, and a framework for free and fair global trade. (Public Affairs Program, October 2006)
4. Procedural and Substantive Fairness in Trade Negotiations
Junji Nakagawa, University of Tokyo
Nakagawa argues in favor of greater participation and substantive fairness, including development assistance, for developing countries in trade negotiations. (December, 2006)
5. Institutionalizing Fairness: Making Trade Work for People
Kamal Malhotra, UNDP
Malhotra focuses on trade rules and institutionalizing fairness in the context of the findings of the study he led at the UNDP titled "Making Global Trade Work for People." (December, 2006)

MOST POPULAR POLICY INNOVATIONS RESOURCES
1. Wiki Influence
Diana Constantinescu, Global Intern
This story of how Microsoft asked Rick Jelliffe to modify an article for them reminds us that a community like that of Wikipedia's editors is vulnerable to manipulation by commercial interests—and that information is power. (Briefing, February 2007)
2. Unethical Ethanol Tariff
Adam Dean, Global Intern
Importing Brazilian ethanol made from sugar could reduce America's gasoline consumption and its environmental footprint and would also lead to a higher price for sugar, potentially lifting Brazilian cane farmers out of poverty. But a tariff of 54 cents per gallon is currently distorting the market. (Briefing, April 2007)
3. Chinese Sexual Culture
James Farrer, Sophia University, Tokyo
Devin Stewart interviews sociologist James Farrer about a recent conference in Beijing on sexuality and implications for human rights and civil society in China. (Commentary, July, 2007)
4. Is Ethical Clothing No Sweat?
Rushaine McKenzie, Global Intern
Launched by Irish Rocker Bono, Product RED is a venture designed to raise money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. RED is part of a new trend in world trade—ethical clothing—with implications for the textile industry in Africa and developing countries around the world. (Briefing, November 2006)
5. The AccountAbility Story
Steve A. Rochlin, AccountAbility
North AmericaAccountAbility's mission is to advance innovations in accountability in order to promote sustainable development. Now in its 11th year, its approach rests on working collaboratively on several levels. It strives to build the definitions and requirements for accountability and sustainable development in the 21st century. (Innovations, December 2006)

Alyssa is leaving

2008-01-08T11:05:00.000-05:00

Alyssa Cowell has been a vital part of the PHC Library staff for nearly 2.5 years. Her helpful manner and efficient organization have kept the library operating smoothly on a day-to-day basis. Her faithfulness and service are deeply appreciated. She will be missed in the library; her last day will be Jan 17. However, she is to be congratulated as she is pursuing her love of music. Alyssa has accepted an offer to use her degree in music and provide music instruction on a full-time basis at a local private music school.

Please join me in thanking and congratulating Alyssa!

Postmodern Gnostics

2008-01-02T17:48:00.001-05:00

Mars Hill Audio is sharing with its subscribers

[A] chapter from Roger Lundin's provocative book, The Culture of Interpretation: Christian Faith and the Postmodern World. The chapter is called "Postmodern Gnostics," and in it Lundin examines how modern and postmodern culture have encouraged an attitude of suspicion and resentment toward the givenness of the created order. The Incarnation is (as the quote [below] suggests) not only the means to repair our alienation from God, but the promise of restoring our proper place in Creation.

A quote by Roger Lundin from the book:

"The doctrine of the incarnation challenges the amoral and utilitarian orientation of the modern gnostic self. It affirms that nature and the body are significant, not because they are the useful tools of imaginative, willful human activity, but because God has taken on human form and dwelt among us. Because 'the Word became flesh,' Christians may affirm the significance of creation and wait in hope for its transformation."

Author Michael Barone in Alexandria

2007-12-10T19:54:00.000-05:00

Today, I received this announcement from the publishers of the Almanac of American Politics 2008. Michael Barone is also a writer for the U.S. News & World Report.

Please accept our invitation to join Michael Barone, principal author of The Almanac of American Politics, for a special presentation and book-signing. Of Barone, a senior writer for U.S. News & World Report, the Chicago Tribune says, "Michael Barone is to politics what statistician Bill James is to baseball, a mix of historian, social observer, and numbers cruncher who illuminates his subject with perspective and a touch of irreverence." He is the author of numerous books, most recently Our First Revolution: The Remarkable British Upheaval That Inspired America’s Founding Fathers.
Who: Michael Barone, author of The Almanac of American Politics 2008
When: Wednesday, December 12, 7 p.m.
Where: Barnes & Noble - Potomac Yards
3651 Jefferson Davis Highway
Alexandria, VA 22305

Michael will discuss the new era of "open-field" politics and its implications on the 2008 elections. He will also answer questions and autograph copies of The Almanac of American Politics 2008. With the holidays fast approaching, there’s no better gift
than an autographed copy of The Almanac 2008 to help clients, colleagues, students, family and friends understand American politics.
I hope you can join us at Barnes & Noble – Potomac Yards on December 12 at 7
p.m.!
Charles Mahtesian
Editor, The Almanac of American Politics 2008

End of Semester Due Dates

2007-12-10T10:11:00.000-05:00

Notes for the end of the semester:

ALL books currently checked out have a due date of 12/7/2007 or 12/14/2007. Books returned by the end of final exams (the following Thursday) will fall within the library's grace period.
During final exams week, we will be sending out overdue notices for all overdue items everyday. A primary reason for this is to ensure that our records are correct. If you believe you are receiving an overdue notice in error, please bring the overdue notice to the library for confirmation of the item's status.
If you will be needing library resources during the break, please speak with one of the library's full-time staff members so that we can work to meet your needs. - If you need print resources, we will do our best with due dates to accommodate use of materials. - If you will be using electronic resources from off-campus, you will need to know your old (9-digit) PHC ID number.

Looking for something to read?

2007-12-05T18:14:00.000-05:00

The National Book Critics Circle polled their 800 members for the top Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry books of 2007. They plan to offer their Best Recommended List on a monthly basis beginning in 2008 on their blog, Critical Mass.

Free Teaching Company Holiday Lectures

2007-11-26T20:55:00.000-05:00

Teaching Company Free Holiday Lectures

In "Christmas in Victorian Britain," Professor Patrick N. Allitt explores the celebration of Christmas as we know it today, with decorations, music, and lavish gift exchanges, and where it began—Victorian Britain. While the holiday had older traditions such as those that celebrated the winter solstice, the Victorians enhanced and clarified the religious elements of Christmas and at the same time commercialized it.

After familiarizing yourself with the origins of modern-day Christmas, explore "Christmas in 19th-century America." How did different ethnic groups in America celebrate Christmas in the early 19th century? Why did New Englanders often want to avoid all forms of celebration while Pennsylvania Germans dressed up, visited each other, and drank heavily? After the Civil War, Christmas celebrations began to be standardized throughout the nation under the influence of the new department stores, which ran the Christmas-oriented marketing campaigns we are familiar with today.

Professor Patrick N. Allitt is Professor of History at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. He was born and raised in central England and received his B.A. in British and European History from Oxford University. He earned his Ph.D. in American History from the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Allitt has served as a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard Divinity School and at the Princeton University Center for the Study of American Religion.

We hope you enjoy the lectures. We send them with warmest wishes for a happy holiday season for you and yours.

You may access your free lectures online between now and January 31, 2008. Please feel free to send the lecture links to any friends of yours who might also enjoy them. They are free for them as well.

Season's greetings to you!
Sincerely,The Teaching Company

Encyclopedia Britannica in Google

2007-11-20T10:31:00.000-05:00

Wikipedia will often return top results in a Google search. While Wikipedia is often quick and useful, it doesn't have the scholarly reputation for academic research that a more traditional encyclopedia has established.

Now you can get Encyclopedia Britannica results at the top of your Google searches!
Encyclopedia Britannica Subscribe Link in Google

Log into your Google account.
Go to the Google Coop profile for Encyclopedia Britannica.
Click the Subscribe button.

As explained on the profile page, once you have "subscribed" to the Encyclopedia Britannica in Google, at the top of your results where there are normally "Sponsored links" you may now see "Subscribed links" to Encyclopedia Britannica articles.

Access to Encyclopedia Britannica is by paid subscription. Since PHC has subscribed for its students and faculty, the Google link will give on-campus access to the article. Unfortunately, while off-campus students have access to the same resource, the link that Google provides will not allow off-campus access into the resource. (Still working on a solution to this problem, let me know if you have ideas--it's just a matter of prepending our off-campus access URL to Google's URL.)

Boolean Operators

2007-11-19T15:31:00.000-05:00

One piece of the ILCA that will sometimes cause students problems is the section on Boolean operators. Boolean operators is another name for the logical AND, OR, and NOT that are discussed in the logic class.

AND - Used to search for items that match BOTH of two terms, usually to narrow the results of a search. For example, one could search for "presidential candidate AND Clinton" to find information about Hilary Clinton as a presidential candidate (or would possibly include information about William Clinton as a presidential candidate, depending on what time period the search covers).
OR - Used to search for items that match EITHER of two terms, usually to broaden the search for similar terms. For example, searching for "pro-life OR anti-abortion" would return articles written from a broader perspective on the issue, but all looking at the same position.
NOT - Used to search for items with one term, but exclude items with the second term, usually to eliminate items from a search that may be ambiguous or very broad. For example, searching for "Saturn NOT car" returns results about the planet rather than the car.

New York University Libraries has a quick, interactive tutorial on using Boolean operators.

While the concepts for Boolean operators are built into almost every search interface, some interfaces do not use the word themselves. Google uses "+" to represent AND or to force a particular term to be included in the result and uses "-" to represent NOT or to exclude a particular term from the results. Check help files or example searches to determine how a particular search interface handles Boolean operators.

Get Paid for your Opinion

2007-11-14T17:30:00.000-05:00

Need some extra money? Check your Inbox for the PHC Library Satisfaction Survey!

Yes, we are paying you to complete the survey. For on-campus students, this is not a drawing--this is a gift certificate that can be used in the library. Maybe pay off some overdue ILL fines, or pick up some books at the library book sale next semester, or go ahead and order that ILL that will cost you a little bit.

For distance learning students, we'd love to give all of you who participate a library gift certificate as well, but based on how many of you actually use the library, we didn't figure it would mean much. Instead, distance learning students will be entered into a drawing for an Amazon.com gift certificate.

From the survey invitation:

On-campus faculty, staff, and students:
As our way of saying "thank you" to participants, everyone who completes the survey will receive a $5.00 Library Gift Certificate that may be used at the library book sale, for personal prints or copies, or for other library fees.

Distance Learning faculty and students:
DL faculty and students who complete this survey will be entered into a drawing for a $25 Amazon.com gift certificate. Only DL faculty and students will be eligible for this drawing.

Pimp My Bookcart

2007-11-14T09:54:00.000-05:00

Unshelved, a comic set in a library.
Highsmith, a vendor of library bookcarts and other library supplies.

Together, they held a library bookcart decorating contest--Pimp My Bookcart. The 129 entries received prove that library bookcarts don't have to be boring!

The PHC Library thought about getting in on the fun and maybe submitting an entry. However, we weren't sure how well the contest name would go over on our campus (and we weren't coming up with anything better). We also got stuck on how to handle ideas and supplies for the decorating. I'd have to say we're not ready to permanently altar any of our carts, especially not in a way that would make them less usable.

If you'd be interested in seeing something like this happen here and have ideas on how we can pull it off, let us know.

Information Literacy Competency Assessment (ILCA) - November 6-25

2007-11-09T16:27:00.001-05:00

The Information Literacy Competency Assessment (ILCA) is a graduation requirement for all students and is now available on Angel through November 25. To take the assessment,

login to Angel,
click on Library Resources, and
use the link for the Information Literacy Competency Assessment.

Who should take the ILCA?

Any student who has not already passed the ILCA. (A list of who has passed is available on Angel in the ILCA FAQ immediately below the link for the assessment.) Most of the skills covered by this assessment are at least mentioned in Research & Writing. By the end of the sophomore year, most students have incorporated these information literacy skills into their research. There is no penalty for taking the assessment and not passing. Once a student has passed the assessment, the graduation requirement is met.

How can one study for the ILCA?

Most PHC students, especially upper level students, have these information literacy skills and are using them in research, but may not be conscious of their research process or of the specific vocabulary used in the ILCA. I would recommend that students review the Information Literacy Objectives or go through the TILT (Texas Information Literacy Tutorial) to familiarize themselves with the vocabulary or to help them consciously think about how they research. (Both of these are linked in the ILCA FAQ on Angel immediately below the link for the assessment).

On-campus students, this is your last chance to pass the ILCA using this assessment tool. Next semester we will be piloting a different information literacy assessment tool.

For any questions, please check the ILCA FAQ first. You can find the ILCA FAQ by logging into Angel, clicking on Library Resources, and going to the link for ILCA FAQ.

Herman Melville

2007-11-06T18:28:00.000-05:00

Moby Dick. Lecture by James A. W. Heffernan

From the Teaching Company:
"We hope you enjoy this excerpt from Great Authors of the Western Literary Tradition, 2nd Edition, Lecture 64: Herman Melville"