J.D. Salinger dies

The famous author of Catcher in the Rye died yesterday at the age of 91. The influence of that one novel would be hard to overestimate, having impacted generations of readers now. We have copies of the book here, as well as many studies of it and the author, see our catalog. The Literature Resource Center would be an excellent place for criticism of Salinger's work and biographical information about him.

Text us!

We have a new way for you to contact the librarian on duty to get help with your questions. In addition to seeing us in person, phoning, sending an IM or email, you can also text us. The number for that is (585) 210-9870. Our response may not be immediate,  but we will respond as soon as we can. For more immediate attention try phoning or sending an IM.

Google Scholar

We notice people using Google Scholar, and have been asked about its effectiveness. This blog has posted on the topic in the past as well. Like many information sources nowadays, Google Scholar continues to grow and evolve, and we are now taking another look at it. We will be holding a CELT workshop on it this spring, and would really enjoy hearing from you; do you use Google Scholar? Do you also use library article databases like Academic Search? Do you have any preferences? Please do post comments here, or email one of your blogger's colleagues, Charlie Cowling, at ccowling@brockport.edu.

Wouldn't those scholars of yesteryear be amazed by the resources we have today!

Looking for a textbook?

Check the catalog - while we don't always have the textbooks assigned for classes, we sometimes will. If you see it in the catalog be sure to check and make sure the date and edition match what your professor is requiring. An easy way to search is on the library home page - (all the lab PCs start on the LITS page - from there click on the line for Drake Library.) Then under the books tab you will see a check box for exact title. Click on that then put in your textbook's title in the search form.

Sorry, but if we do not own a textbook we will not get it through interlibrary loan, it would just overload the system. Try the bookstore, or online sites like Amazon.com or Betterworldbooks.com.

As always, we are always glad to help you - see our "ask a librarian" page.

Scott Brown's election

The recent election of Scott Brown to the senate seat for Massachusetts has certainly gotten a lot of attention, hasn't it? First Republican senator from that state in many years and so forth... But, let's say you wanted to research this. For example, what actually have been the election results in Massachusetts over the years? A great place to start is in our print reference collection on the main floor, with America Votes, REF JK1967 .A8, a series we have gotten for many years now.

The most recent volume, the 2007/2008, gives you a number of informative tables, including one for "Postwar vote for Senator," covering the senatorial elections in Massachusetts from 1946-2008.

Lexis, new & improved!

Lexis is a major resource for legal information, our biggest newspaper article collection and much more. A couple of summers ago Lexis' interface underwent an "upgrade" that received mixed reviews at best. Now they have redone the interface and it really does seem much easier to use. Try it, and let us know if you need help or have comments on the new look for Lexis!

Haiti & Earthquake

The news from Haiti is terrible as all know at this point. There are many ways one can help however. For example, donations to groups like the American Red Cross are very helpful in aiding the victims of this disaster. For up to date news reports of this situation try sites like CNN.com or Fox.com. The US Geological Survey has detailed information on the earthquake itself. To learn more about Haiti itself, try our catalog for books, or article databases like Academic Search for articles.

Librarian of Alexandria

Many have heard of the Library of Alexandria, one of the wonders of the ancient world. It was largely destroyed by fire in 48 A.D. and then gradually faded away into oblivion. It has however been resurrected in a modern format, and a new "Librarian of Alexandria" appointed, the first such appointment in 1600 years! You can read the CNN piece on it here, and do visit the library website.

How many ___ in 1800?

How many? How much? 100, 200 years ago? If you're looking for historical statistics, try a new online title we have, the Datapedia of the United States. It covers several hundred economic, social and other indicators 1790-2007.

"Dark" Tourism

"Dark" tourism is a new term for touring places associated with suffering, pain, and death: think touring battlefields, scenes of famous crimes, haunted houses etc. We have books and articles on the topic. As always, keep our library guides in mind, in this case our guide to Recreation & Leisure. You don't necessarily have to go far either, over the years there have been stories and rumors about ghosts in Hartwell Hall, you could always start your tour there ;-)

Happy New Year!

We hope you all had a nice holiday and look forward to working with you in this new year of 2010. We reopened today after the holiday campus shutdown, view our hours here. Since we're mentioning New Years, who remembers Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians ringing in the New Year with their version of Auld Lang Syne?