Spitzer, upstate NY, and Appalachia

Some may recall now Governor Spitzer's comparison of upstate NY to Appalachia during this past fall's gubernatorial campaign. What really is the economic picture of upstate NY, and NY in general? What was it like in past years, and how has it changed?

This book just in is an excellent source for statistics and narrative analysis drawn from the last five censuses: Socioeconomic trends and well-being indicators in New York state, 1950-2000, REF HN79 .N4 E23.

What do YOU think?

We think a lot about how to organize and present library resources to you, but we often wish we knew more about what you think of all our work. It may seem to us like what we did with something is helpful, but does it seem that way to you, that's the big question!

So please, take a few minutes to do the survey that is starting soon. The answer numbers are informative, and many of us are particularly interested in any comments you might have. They do get read, and are often referred to when we think about how to do things.

Vernal Equinox, spring, & other astronomical ?

Curious about what exactly the "Vernal Equinox" is? Try looking at Encyclopedia Britannica: "The vernal equinox, marking the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, occurs about March 21, when the Sun moves north across the celestial equator."

The United States Naval Observatory site has lots of great astronomical information too. Pictured here is the Observatory, showing the "time ball" tower. Some of the Nautical Almanac is online, and we have the print copy of the Nautical Almanac in our Government Documents collection on the ground floor, under "D213:11."

Word 2007 - caution!

Just a friendly warning: if you buy, or download the trial version, of the new Office Suite, Word 2007, it saves your document files by default as ".docx" files. So? Well, ".docx" files will not open on PCs with Word 2003, which only uses ".doc" files. IT staff here are currently working to install a "converter" on our PCs for these files...

Bottom line: if you do happen to be using Word 2007, and want to bring those files here (or to most places probably) you would be best off to save the file as a ".doc" file, which you can do in Word 2007. Then it will open on PCs like ours here which do not have Office 2007. If you bring it in as a ".docx" file though it may be difficult to open the file.

How many books can I take out & other ?

You can take out up to 40 books as a student, up to 100 for faculty and staff.

Want to know who has a book out so you can get it? Sorry, library records are confidential, so we can't tell you that information. But, we can request things be returned if they've already been out a certain time period. (Or, if you want something and our copy is out, we can get it for you through Inter-library loan. This might actually be faster...)

More questions about checking books out, fines etc.? See our circulation department web page.

Women's History Month

March is Women's History Month, and Brockport has a long tradition of providing opportunity for women. Starting as an "academy" in 1841, then as a "Normal" school after 1866, Brockport was an opportunity for higher education for women when they were denied opportunity at most private colleges and universities because of their sex.

Some of the women educators here were known in their day for advancing opportunities for women, and one of our dorms is named after one of these women, Mary Mortimer, whose picture you see here. She was head of the "female department" of the school in the 1840s, and then went on to found Milwaukee Female Seminary. She was acquainted with and respected by many of the women educators of her day.

You can find out more about the college's history by visiting the college archive web site, or reading the histories written of the school:

• Cherishing This Heritage by Wayne Dedman
• State University of New York at Brockport by Mary Jo Gigliotti, W. Bruce Leslie, and Kenneth P. O'Brien

New Indian tribe

No, they're not really "new," the Mashpee Wampanoag on Cape Cod have been there a long time; they were the ones who welcomed the Pilgrims after all. But like many New England Indians they were so overwhelmed by white immigration that they retreated into the background, and weren't recognized as an "offical" Indian tribe by the U.S. government. After a legal battle of many years though that changed recently, with their case receiving a postitive ruling.

(Pictured here - members of the tribal council hearing the news of their success)

Like to learn more about these interesting people? There's lots of ways actually: type Mashpee in our catalog, search for articles in the Finding Articles section of our web page...

Music at noon, or, what's a lute anyway?

Next up in our popular "Music at Noon" series is Dieter Hennings who will be playing lute and guitar this Wednesday March 7 at noon. Now, a guitar I know, but a lute?

Taking a quick look at Encyclopedia Britannica online I found out that a lute is sort of like a fiddle except the strings are plucked, not played with a bow. It was very popular centuries ago and has enjoyed something of a revival in recent years.

(You can find the Britannica in the Reference section of our webpage.)

New library screening room!

We have a room on the top floor now that is ideal for faculty and staff to use for various educational purposes; viewing instructional videos, webinars etc. There's a large screen TV, VHS & DVD players, a PC etc., and room for up to 15 people.

Schedule the room by contacting Jennifer Little at jlittle@brockport.edu. (And yes, the equipment is much more modern than in this 1950s classroom shot ;-)