Monthly Archives: September 2017

SciFi Book Club to discuss A Night in the Lonesome October

The SciFi Book Club is reading A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny for our October meeting. Nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1994, this was the author’s final work before his death in 1995. Zelanzy, author of poetry and prose, has an impressive bibliography for his short 58 years. He’s been cited as an influence of several important contemporary authors such as Neil Gaiman and George R.R. Martin.

Taking place from the perspective of a dog, the reader is introduced to familiar and not so familiar characters (with their animal familiars) as some try to open a portal to let the Elder Gods in to Earth and others try to keep the portal closed. Let’s just say if you’re a fan of H.P. Lovecraft, you should read this. With each chapter (plus an introduction) representing one day of October and a storyline that mixes the supernatural with horror and humor, we felt this was a fitting choice for October.

The book also includes illustrations by Gahan Wilson, a celebrated cartoonist known for his dark humor. You can find a sample of some of his work on his official website.

The Claire T. Carney Library has one copy of this book on 7 day reserve (and many of Zelazny’s other books), but you can also look at your public library or use our interlibrary loan service to get your hands on this one.

We look forward to seeing you at our meeting on Tuesday, October 31st at 2pm in Library 314. Halloween costumes are welcome!

Banned Books Week – Celebrating the Freedom to Read

Banned Books Week is an annual awareness campaign promoted by the American Library Association and Amnesty International, to be held the week of September 24th in 2017. It celebrates the freedom to read, draws attention to banned and challenged books, and highlights persecuted individuals.

Every year the coalition of organizations that sponsors Banned Books Week has featured specific categories of banned and challenged books. This year’s celebration will emphasize the importance of the First Amendment, which guarantees our inherent right to read, naming the theme “Our Right to Read.”

The library is displaying selected banned books on the 1st floor near the Circulation Desk.  So, exercise your First Amendment right by checking out a banned book and reading it!

Introducing our Newest Librarian, Olivia Miller

A new librarian started at Claire T. Carney Library on May 1st! Read through the interview below to get to know our new Arts & Humanities Librarian, Olivia Miller.

So you’re the Arts & Humanities Librarian? What does that even mean? I function as a liaison to all students, faculty, and staff in the College of Visual and Performing Arts and the departments of Philosophy and English Literature and Criticism. That means I answer questions, buy books, teach library instruction sessions, and do one-on-one research consultations all for these departments. I also spend time on the Reference Desk in the Learning Commons each week so I answer questions for lots of different departments as much as I can.

Where are you from? I grew up in the foothills of North Carolina so I say things like “y’all.” More recently I lived in Greensboro, NC where I worked as the Public Services Librarian at Greensboro College.

Hmm. Greensboro. That sounds familiar. Is it historically important? I’m so glad you asked! Greensboro played an important role in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Four African American college students from North Carolina A&T asked to be served at the lunch counter at Woolworth’s. They were refused service because of their race so they refused to leave and jumpstarted a nationwide sit-in movement.

Where did you go to school and what did you major in? My undergraduate degree is from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro where I double majored in Art History and English and minored in Classics. I also have a master’s degree in Library Science from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. In grad school I mostly focused on art librarianship so I could continue to use the skills I learned as an undergrad in my professional career.

Do you have any hobbies that aren’t librarian-ish? It’s a stereotype that librarians read a lot and I adhere to that stereotype. I think I read around 80 books last year (a lot were comics but they’re still books!). I love to travel and have made a promise to myself to travel somewhere within the US and somewhere out of the country once a year (the photo above is from August with me squinting in the Icelandic sun in front of a geyser that’s preparing to do its geyser thing). I also practice yoga as much as I can.

What are you looking forward to this Fall semester? I’m excited about meeting and getting to know the students, faculty, and staff in my departments.

If you had to give one piece of advice to students, what would it be? Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

How can someone contact you if they need help with research? You can email, call, or stop by my office. You can find my contact info here.

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

Welcome Transfer Students – Learn About Library Resources and Services

The Claire T. Carney Library welcomes you and offers you an opportunity to meet your subject librarian.

We will review the best resources for your discipline and how to look up and find books and journal articles. We’ll tell you about the services our library offers and how to ask for help when you need it.

Did you know that you can reserve a study room to work on a project with your classmates?  How about borrowing a laptop to take to class for that presentation? Yes, the Library can help you with these.

To schedule a personal or small group appointment to learn about library services and resources,

Contact Liz Winiarz at ewiniarz@umassd.edu 

Join the Science Fiction Book Club to discuss Lumberjanes Volume 1

The Science Fiction Book Club is excited to discuss Lumberjanes Volume 1: Beware the Kitten Holy at our first meeting of the fall semester. Lumberjanes is an award winning comic series, having won Eisner awards for both Best New Series and Best Publication for Teens in 2015.  The series was also nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book.

Lumberjanes is about the group of young teens that occupy the Roanoke cabin at Miss Qiunzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet’s Camp for Hardcore Lady Types and the strange things they keep running into in the woods. Fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Adventure Time will enjoy this, but it’s a fun read for anyone who likes supernatural adventure with a little bit of silliness and lady-type power.

The first four issues of Lumberjanes are collected in this volume. For those unfamiliar with the world of comics, many are released as issues periodically at your local comic shop or through online services like ComiXology. Each issue is usually around 30 pages. If the series is successful the publisher will collect them in a volume such as this one. The most popular series’ get collected into even bigger volumes (Lumberjanes currently has three!) which may include anywhere between eight to eighteen issues per volume.

As with many comic series’, lots of different people work together to produce the final work you see in the comic shop, bookstore, or library. The series was created by Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, and Noelle Stevenson. This volume is written by Noelle Stevenson and Grace Ellis, illustrated by Brooke A. Allen, colors by Maarta Laiho, and letters by Aubrey Aiese.

You can find Lumberjanes Volume 1 at your local public library, through interlibrary loan, on Hoopla via the Boston Public Library ecard, or through a free trial of ComiXology Unlimited or Kindle Unlimited.

We look forward to discussing this fun supernatural comic with you on Wednesday, September 27th at 1pm in Library 314.

Welcome from the Claire T. Carney Library Staff!

Welcome or welcome back! We hope you had a great summer and if you are new, we look forward to meeting you.

Here are a few important things to know about our library including who to ask for help.

The Claire T. Carney Library is on academic year hours (specifics below). As always, as the semester progresses, hours will increase. If you’re unsure you can always check our library calendar to see our hours for each day.

There are lots of study spaces throughout the library for individual and group study and white boards throughout the building for team work. To make the most of our space, especially on the third and fifth floors, we have orange and purple signs on the group study tables to encourage sharing space whenever possible. You will find full computer and printing facilities on the first and second floors in our Learning Commons and Scholarly Commons. If you need a quiet space to study, please go to our South Reading Room near the Learning Commons on the first floor. If you are looking for a good place for group work, we have several group study rooms that you can reserve through ReservIT. Check this library orientation guide for directions on how to do a reservation. A map of the library is available to see all our spaces and you can even use the Find Me Here tool to send a link of where you are studying in the library to a friend or group to help make meeting easier.

Remember to check the computer classrooms (128, 225, 226) to see if they are open if public computers are full. We also have laptops at the Circulation Desk that may be borrowed for the day. Stop by our Learning Commons Desk to get assistance with IT questions.

If you’re back and already thinking about your senior project, your master’s thesis or the big paper you’ll have to write this semester, you might want to look up one of our expert subject librarians to help you with your research.

If you are an online student, check our Library Services for Online Learners guide. It tells you about special services for online students, such as free home delivery of UMassD library books, and helps connect you with helpful library staff.

For more fun reading, we have a Read and Return section in the Library Living Room that is on the honor system. We also feature a Game Night every Thursday night from 7-10PM in our Living Room. These board games may also be checked out for the day using your UMass Pass from the Circulation desk all other times. All of our other collections need to be checked out using your UMass Pass at the Circulation Desk.

We’re glad you’re back and we hope that you’ll stop by at one of our service points and ask if there is some way we can be of help. ?

Welcome Back!

 Claire T. Carney Library Staff

Any questions?  Please contact us:

Circulation Desk: 508-999-8750

Learning Commons, IT Help: 508-999-8884

Learning Commons, Research Help: 508-999-8678

Dean of Library Services: 508-999-8664

LIBRARY HOURS

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