In the spring, a librarian's fancy turns to ... serials? Well, yes, especially this spring! In the library, we lock in next year's subscriptions many months in advance in order to take advantage of discounts and get a head start on paperwork (and the electronic equivalent). This means that the library and the faculty are now carefully evaluating a large percentage of our journal, magazine, newspaper, and database subscriptions and planning for 2016. We undertake comprehensive subscription … [Read more...]
Heart of the Campus: The Library as Place
April 8, 2015 By
In an age of virtual libraries, merged organizations, anytime, anywhere, 24/7 access to online resources, and even “bookless libraries,” it’s perhaps unfashionable to talk about the library as place. In the past decade, academic libraries have undergone dramatic changes; the library of 2015 is not the library of 2005, and that’s a good thing. The size of our collection, like the size of nearly every liberal arts college library, has grown exponentially with the release of new digital … [Read more...]
Stored and Storied: An Ode to JSTOR
February 25, 2015 By
There was a time when shelves their limits neared, packed tight, and many tomes in dust to me appeared unused, neglected, contents spurned; why must each store what's seldom needed, just in case? It is not now a student seeks out print and copier; online- only option their only desire, PDF reprint. JSTOR, JSTOR, how do students love thee? We can surely count the ways, but librarians' love for JSTOR is perhaps stronger and not as easily quantified. Certainly, everyone, students … [Read more...]
In Common
January 14, 2015 By
In academia, we often focus on the unique or particular: a faculty member's area of research, a student's record of achievement, a program's national ranking, a journal's impact factor. Distinctions and differences drive intellectual debate and foster critical inquiry. This can sometimes seem like a sophisticated version of "one of these things is not like the other." At every institution, academic departments, admissions, and development offices celebrate differences, comparing and often … [Read more...]
In Thanksgiving: Sara Lee Enders
November 26, 2014 By
As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving, I want to take the opportunity to give thanks for the life and work of the library's long-time Government Information Assistant, colleague, and friend: Sara Lee Enders. Sara Lee died on November 15th, and we in the library have been mourning her passing. Several months ago, my colleague Craig Milberg gave a shout out to colleagues whose work is essential to the library and the services that we provide but who, because they work "in the back," are little … [Read more...]
