Author Archives: msylvain

Writer’s Guide to Government Information – A New Library Blog

Attention Aspiring (and Accomplished) Writers! We want to let you know about a new library blog, one that is unique and managed by our Undergraduate and User Services Librarian, Kari Mofford. It is called the “Writer’s Guide to Government Information Sources to Inject Real Life Detail into Your Fiction.” Here’s Kari’s description:

“I recently became the new owner/author of the blog, “Writer’s Guide to Government Information Sources to Inject Real Life Detail into Your Fiction.” Over the summer I’ve been editing, link checking, and reading through all the posts to better understand the original author’s vision. Daniel Cornwall, previously a Government Document Librarian, created an amazing reference work in blog format for assisting fiction writers/editors with fact checking and adding realism to stories. His idea was to only use Government web sites, which is very interesting. Not being a Gov. Docs. Librarian, I am learning so much about these resources and how useful they are! After my initial work, I will be adding entries and working on some larger organization/metadata issues.

I loved this blog from first read…as an avid fiction reader, I agree, nothing takes you out of a story faster than facts that are not even close.

That said, I would love to have your feedback and if you have classes or students with creative writing projects, I would enjoy their perspective of what would be helpful for future posts and topics.

While this is made for writers, everyone can enjoy reading this and It serves as a wonderful reference work. “

Here are some posts:

https://writersguidetogovinfo.wordpress.com/category/what-if-your-story-isnt-set-on-earth/
https://writersguidetogovinfo.wordpress.com/tag/military-medicine/
https://writersguidetogovinfo.wordpress.com/tag/allergies/
https://writersguidetogovinfo.wordpress.com/category/flora-and-fauna/

Questions/Comments/Feedback? Please contact Kari at: kmofford@umassd.edu

Browse and Monitor Journals with BrowZine Web

Browzine LogoUMassD Library Services announces the availability of BrowZine web! This makes browsing and monitoring academic journals even easier. Create virtual bookshelves of your favorite journals and sync them between BrowZine Web and your iOS or Android device.

BrowZine includes many, but not all, of the library’s scholarly journals. Review a list of participating publishers.

Check it out and let us know what you think.

An Example of a BrowZine Table of Contents:

Browzine Web Screenshot

SciFi Book Club Mtg 8/22 – The Golden Compass

Golden Compass art work

Chapter 18 – Fog and Ice,
by Philip Pullman, Source

For the final (and, unintentionally, the second) Sci Fi Book Club meeting of the summer, we’ll be discussing Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass. Known in the UK and Australia as Northern Lights, The Golden Compass is the first book in Pullman’s His Dark Materials series. It was released in 1995 and won the Carnegie Medal for Children’s Fiction in the UK that same year. The Golden Compass/His Dark Materials has been adapted to a variety of mediums, some listed here (be sure to scroll down all the way!). There are plans also in place for the BBC to make a TV adaptation of the entire series, though not much has been discussed about it recently.

If you haven’t read the series already, perhaps you’ve seen the movie or at least heard about the controversy. A movie version of The Golden Compass was released in 2007 and many religious organizations spoke out against it. The trilogy itself is no stranger to controversy, as in 2008 it was number 2 on the American Library Association’s Top Ten Challenged Books list.

Other than in this blog post and at the Sci Fi Book Club meeting, you’ll likely be hearing more about this series soon. Pullman is releasing the first book in what he calls the “equal” series entitled The Book of Dust. In May he released a preview of the book in The Guardian, but be wary of spoilers if you haven’t finished The Golden Compass or perhaps the whole series. You’ll likely hear more folks talk about these books in the coming years, so here’s your warning.

We look forward to seeing you in Library 314 at 1pm on Tuesday, August 22nd to discuss The Golden Compass. Since our American Gods meeting was canceled, we’ll plan on taking some time to discuss it as well. If you’ve only read one or part of either of the books, still feel free to join us!

Dean Burton – Selected as a Distinguished Alumni of UWM’s School of Information Studies

Terry Burton

Congratulations to Dean Burton for being selected as one of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Information Studies 50 Distinguished Alumni!  The school selected recipients “who, through their lives and work, exemplify the breadth, diversity, culture, and spirit of the School of Information Studies and its research, academics, practice and community engagement.”

Dean Burton received his Master of Library and Information Science degree from the Univ. of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1988. He joined UMass Dartmouth as Dean of Library Services in 2010 after serving as the Director of the Health Sciences Library at West Virginia University and at the University of Wisconsin Madison. He has approximately twenty years of administrative experience, leading libraries during a period of historic transformation. His tenure at UMassD has included an award-winning building renovation, an expansion of library services, and management of significant staffing and position changes.  

Thanks to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for recognizing Dean Burton’s considerable accomplishments!

Library Closed – Tuesday, August 1st

The Claire T. Carney library will be closed tomorrow, Tuesday, August 1st due to extremely high indoor air temperatures. Work continues on the AC unit. We will post further updates as soon as we receive them.

Reminder: For computer access, students may use the lab in Textile 001 and community members are invited to use the School of Law Library (located at 333 Faunce Corner Road in Dartmouth). The computer lab in Textile 001 is open weekdays from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. For the School of Law Library — which is open 7 days/week — please check their website for hours.

Sorry for the inconvenience!

Library Closed – Monday, July 31st

We are sorry to report that work to the AC unit is ongoing and that the library will be closed today, Monday, July 31st. While repairs have been made, the unit is not yet functioning and temperatures yesterday afternoon at 2 pm were 85 to 89 degrees. The Dean of Library Services is hoping to re-open the library tomorrow, Tuesday, August 1st. As soon as a decision is made, I will post the news to this blog as well as to the library’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.

 

Net Neutrality Day

Did you know that today is Net Neutrality Day of Action?

In case you’re not familiar with net neutrality, the American Library Association  defines it as “the principle that internet service providers (ISPs) must enable access to all content and applications regardless of the source and without favoring or blocking specific services or websites.” The ALA describes the importance of net neutrality on their Network Neutrality page. There is also a brief article in CQ Researher (restricted to UMassD) that highlights some of the arguments in favor and against the current regulatory changes.

 

 

WorldCat Subscription Change

The library will be altering its OCLC WorldCat subscription beginning July 1st. This change will yield significant savings and will have minimal impact on our faculty and students. It will not affect the timing of interlibrary loan deliveries. That said, there are a couple of changes you should be aware of:

  • You will no longer have the option of submitting an interlibrary loan request directly from WorldCat. Instead, you will need to enter the citation information in ILLiad (Note: ILLiad is the name of the system we use to submit and manage interlibrary loan requests.)
  • You WILL continue to have access to WorldCat.org, but you will only see the holdings of libraries who subscribe to an OCLC product called WorldCat Discovery. A library must subscribe to WorldCat Discovery in order for its holdings to appear in the free Worldcat.org.

If you’re a frequent user of WorldCat and want to search the Discovery version, you can still do so through the Boston Public Library (BPL). The BPL offers free ecards to Massachusetts residents as well as those who “commute to a Massachusetts employer on a sustained and regular basis.” By using this free ecard, you can use Discovery to see the holdings of libraries regardless of whether they subscribe to the product. In other words, you will find holdings of institutions such as UMass Dartmouth and UMass Amherst even though these libraries don’t subscribe.

We understand that the relationship between WorldCat Discovery and WorldCat.org is confusing. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Helpful Links:

CTC Library Associates Event – Italian Lifelines

Picture of Rose Facchini, presenter of Italian LifelinesThe Claire T. Carney Library Associates announces its special program, Italian Lifelines, featuring Rose Facchini, lecturer of Italian at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth on Sunday, May 21st, 2017 in the Grand Reading Room of the Claire T. Carney Library on the UMass Dartmouth campus at 1 PM. 

The program is free and open to all.

Rose Facchini holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in history, philosophy and religious studies and a Master of Arts degree in International relations. She is currently studying Italian literature at the Middlebury Language schools for her second Master’s degree. Rose continues to expand the Italian studies program at UMass Dartmouth through the creation of three new Italian courses. Ms. Facchini will be speaking about Italian fashion through the ages and will highlight the importance of identity in Italian literature regarding its connection to the seemingly ephemeral and constantly evolving phenomenon of fashion.

This program is dedicated to Chancellor Professor Emeritus of Italian, Latin and Spanish, Giulio Massano, who passed away in April 2014. Prof. Massano was born in Sant’ Albano Stura located in the northern Piemonte region of Italy. After completing his undergraduate degree in Torino, Italy, he moved to Bogotá, Colombia where he developed a love of early Spanish literature. He received a PhD in Spanish and Italian literature of the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Baroque periods from Catholic University of America in 1973. In 1974, he became a faculty member at the then Southeastern Massachusetts University teaching Spanish and Latin. During his first year, he petitioned successfully to add Italian to the curriculum. During his 39-year career at UMass Dartmouth, Prof. Massano also served as Chairperson of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature for 11 years

Prior to the lecture, the Claire T. Carney Library Associates will be holding a short business meeting which will include the election of officers. The CTC Library Associates will also present a check from the Library Associates to the dean of the library, Terrence Burton.

After the program, a light reception featuring Italian food and desserts will be served.

Parking is available on campus in lot 13. For further information, please contact either Rita Raymond at 508-995-3528 or Maria Sanguinetti at 508-991-5096.