WorldShare/I-Share Tutorials

Over the summer, Hewes Library transitioned to a new interlibrary loan interface (WorldShare Interlibrary Loan) AND a new library catalog system. Both interfaces will continue to evolve as the library tweaks and modifies them to be as useful as possible for our community of researchers.

Here's how to decide which to choose:

• Books and media may be requested via I-Share and WorldShare Interlibrary Loan.

• Articles may only be requested via WorldShare Interlibrary Loan. 

Helpful tutorials outlining the basic steps of each process:

·        Video outlining the steps to create WorldShare Interlibrary Loan requests (articles and books)

·        Video outlining the steps to request books via I-Share (remember: books only)

·        WorldShare and I-Share guides:  https://library.monmouthcollege.edu/home/otherlibraries

Don’t hesitate to stop by the Information Desk in Hewes Library and ask for a librarian if you would like any assistance. Librarians can also be reached via chat, text, email and phone. We are here to help!

Renew Materials Over Break

(image: NASA via Flickr Commons)

Taking off for the holidays? 

You can renew your library materials, both Monmouth and I-Share, via your library account: https://vufind.carli.illinois.edu/vf-mon/MyResearch/CheckedOut

Login, renew, and have a safe trip! 

Create a Library Account!

Did you know that you can create a library account, via the library's catalog, that provides a passport for borrowing materials from dozens of academic libraries in Illinois? It's like visiting libraries at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Bradley University and Knox College, within seconds!

Here's why you should consider it:

• See what you have checked out from Hewes Library and I-Share libraries
• Renew items online – SO easy!
• Borrow books (and possibly films and multimedia) from 80+ libraries in Illinois...for FREE! 

For information on how to create a library account and use I-Share, see: http://library.monmouthcollege.edu/home/account

Happy Birthday Abraham Lincoln

Photo from Wikimedia Commons.

Happy Birthday Abraham Lincoln!

Our 16th President was born on February 12, 1809 and was assassinated on April 15, 1865.  His presidency encompassed the Civil War and is remembered for the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address, and this Thanksgiving proclamation.

Learn more about Lincoln from the following resources:

• Books in the library catalog
• Articles in JSTOR
• Subject topic page in Credo Reference
• Read historical newspaper articles from the Chicago Tribune and New York Times when he was president
• Scholarly and popular articles from Academic Search Premier

Access to library databases is limited to the students, staff, and faculty of Monmouth College.

Happy Birthday Charles Darwin

Photo from Wikimedia Commons.

Charles Darwin was born on February 12, 1809 in Shrewbury, England, and he was an author and naturalist.  Following Monmouth College's Year of Charles Darwin last year, you can view many of the resources that we have available on him and his work in:

• the Hewes Library Catalog
• Credo Reference's topic page
• in JSTOR - view his research
• videos on Academic Video Online

To Go Workshops: November & December

Visit one of Hewes Library’s To Go! workshops. In these 15 minute workshops, library staff will review skills to get you through the semester & beyond! Workshops will be held in Hewes Library’s Instructional Area, Room 124, on the main floor of the library—near the public workstations.  Workshop times and topics are listed below.

Searching the Library Catalog

• Tuesday, November 16: 9-9:15am

Requesting Off Campus Materials

• Monday, November 15: 1:30-1:45pm

Finding Research Articles

• Wednesday, November 17: 3-3:15pm
• Tuesday, November 30: 10-10:15am

Working on your Bibliography

• Thursday, November 18: 4-4:15pm
• Monday, November 22: 12-12:15pm
• Wednesday, December 1: 4-4:15pm
• Thursday, December 2: 12-12:15pm
• Monday, December 6: 2-2:15pm

Title Highlight: Encyclopedia of traditional epics

Encyclopedia of traditional epics
REF: PN56. E65 E64 1994, 1 volume
Illustrations, Photos
Appendices: Epics Listed by Geographical Region, Epics Listed Chronologically, Epics Listed by Subgenre, Bibliography, Index

Epics are long tales of heroes and villains developed from the oral folklore of a people or nation, although there are exceptions. Some examples of familiar epics are Greece’s Iliad, Ancient Sumeria’s Tales of Gilgamesh and the Germanic nations’ Ring of the Niebelungen. This book contains summaries of over 300 epics from all continents. It covers epics from a time span beginning around 3,000 B.C until the 20th century.

The author explains in her preface that the selection and retelling of the traditional epics included in the encyclopedia is subjective and based on the author’s opinions as to the significance of the epic. She has also standardized spelling variations or indicated alternate spelling of the names of characters or works that cross languages and cultures, such as Siegfried and the Mahabharata.

Both the titles of works and famous characters are given an entry. For instance, both the Song of Roland and Roland have articles devoted to them. Each entry includes a short synopsis of the epic or character. The appendixes are very useful for finding the various epics of given regions or time eras, since the names of many of them are unfamiliar to the average reader.

The author’s introductory essay gives a good overview of the Epic and the important role it plays in a country’s culture. However the introduction also mentions that many heroic tales depict the mistreatment of women and children, something that is not considered acceptable in many present day cultures but which reflects the culture prevalent at the time many epics were composed.

Title Highlight: Encyclopedia of Gambling

Encyclopedia of Gambling
Located in Reference: REF: HV6710.S54 1990
Illustrations, charts (B & W), Glossary, Bibliography, Index

Covering the history, lore and rules of gambling from its beginnings in pre-history to the slots of Las Vegas, this book gives out much useful information on one of mankind’s favorite ways to spend time (and money). Beginning with the introduction, which claims that loaded dice have been found in ancient graves in places as far apart as Egypt and South America, the book offers an in-depth look at both legitimate gambling and ways of cheating at the games it describes.

Contained in the book are the rules for many card games including such modern games as Blackjack, Pinochle and Poker as well as older games like Faro and Pochen (the forerunner of Poker). Dog and horse racing are covered along with games requiring devices that can be modified to change the odds such as craps (dice) and roulette (wheel) and games where one must choose a number or a winner to get a payoff (Keno, the Lottery and Sporting events). Among the interesting bits of information are pictures showing a sleeve hold out machine (a device for cheating in cards) and one illustrating how to run a shell game.

The gambling traditions of many countries are explained so that one learns that one has a good chance of finding illegal Fan Tan games in Hong Kong, but will find the casinos of neighboring Macao unfriendly and possibly dangerous and that Germans spend more money than most other Europeans on gambling activities, while Denmark has very few opportunities to lose ones money. Also included are short biographical descriptions of famous gamblers where interesting trivia is found such as the poker hand Wild Bill Hickok was holding when he was gunned down in Deadwood, South Dakota in 1876 contained pairs of aces and eights, a hand now known as the “dead man’s hand”.

The glossary is helpful for learning the meaning of various gambling terms and when to use them. Included are terms such as “Little Joe from Kokomo” (rolling a 4 in craps), “check and raise” (a somewhat unscrupulous method of faking in poker) and “kibitzer” (a person who watches but does not participate in a game) The bibliography contains further references for more detailed reading on all of the topics covered in the book except racing.

Banned Book Week 2010

Banned Book Week 2010

Think for Yourself and Let Others Do the Same

Every year, libraries celebrate Banned Books Week. It is a time to celebrate the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. Sponsored and organized by the American Library Association (ALA), Banned Book Week is central to libraries and their belief in intellectual freedom - where patrons can access any type (unorthodox or mainstream) information freely and without censorship. At Hewes Library, we currently have titles on display in the East Lobby display cases that have been the subjects of attempted bannings across the United States.

Challenge VS. Banning:
According to parameters set in place by the American Library Association, challenges and bannings are defined as:

"A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those
materials. Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of
view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or
library, thereby restricting the access of others." (Definition from ALA.)

More information on Banned and Challenged Books:

• ALA's Banned Book Week
• ALA's lists of Frequently Challenged Books
• ALA's Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2009

Graphics complimentary from the American Library Association.

Director's Welcome, Fall 2010

Welcome to Monmouth College and Hewes Library, your academic resource center! The library staff is looking forward to introducing you to the resources and services of the library over the course of the next year and beyond. The library will be opening earlier on weekdays at 7:30am along with our new Einstein Brother’s Bagel franchise! It’s already been a very busy place during the first week of classes.

Hewes Library has over 310,000 books, periodicals, government documents and videos to fill your information needs. We provide access to approximately 100 online databases, which includes full-text access to articles in over 18,000 periodicals, all accessible through our Hewes Library web site. Over the past year we’ve added some exciting new databases, including Music Online with hundreds of thousands of musical works, including popular, classical, jazz, folk, and international pieces. American History in Video offers nearly 5,000 video historical documentaries, some from History Channel or A&E, as well as news reels covering historic events of past times. These can be accessed on any network computers or on your personal computers any time of day or night, along with all of our databases.

Since July 2007 Hewes Library has been a member of the I-SHARE consortium catalog that allows the sharing of catalog information, as well as, the collections of 76 academic libraries in the state of Illinois. For those items that we do not own, our students and faculty have enjoyed the opportunity to directly request items from any of the I-SHARE libraries through the I-SHARE “universal catalog”. For journal articles and other items not available through our I-SHARE consortium libraries, we continue to provide our new ILLiad Interlibrary Loan services for materials from any of thousands of libraries in the United States. The library staff will be happy to answer any questions you have any time on locating the resources you need.

Our lovely surroundings include the Barnes Electronic Classroom suitable for computer instruction and presentations and a more open HL124 for classes experimenting with tablet PC technology. Throughout the building, ample study space is combined with wireless network access that allows you to use your own laptop within the library. Several special collections reside on the Upper Level: the Rare Book Collection, the James C. Shields Collection of Ancient Art and Antiquities, and the Len G. Everett Galleries. An exhibit of native American artifacts on the upper level lounge area will be going up sometime this semester. Also new this fall to the Lower Level is the Archaeology Research Lab (HL11A).

The library is also celebrating its 150th anniversary as a Federal Depository of U.S. Government Publications. Monmouth College is the fourth oldest federal depository in the United States dating back to 1860 when the program was officially created by an act of Congress.

Please take advantage of the rich resources and helpful information on our library website and feel free to seek help from the library staff. We’re looking forward to working with you.

Cheers,

J. Richard Sayre
Library Director

Renewing Items over Winter Break

Don't forget that if you have library materials over break, you can renew them by logging into your Account in the library catalog. Your login information is your last name and your barcode number from your Monmouth College ID card. Once you have logged into the system, you can renew each item from each school in the I-Share system.

If you need to get a head start on projects for the second semester, place your I-Share requests a few days before you return to school and the books will be waiting for you when you arrive back on campus.