Colgate University Libraries News and Events

Welcome to the first of what I hope to be monthly entries highlighting a new and/or interesting U.S. federal document in the Colgate Libraries Collection. I'll start with a new arrival: Oriskany: a Place of Great Sadness: a Mohawk Valley Battlefield Ethnography. Call number Case Docs I 29.2:OR 4.  The Mohawk Valley Ethnography Project was designed to document the relationships between contemporary Native Americans and Europeans/Americans in the mid to late 18th century, focusing on Fort Stanwix (just up the road in Rome, NY). Fort Stanwix was the site of several critical treaties between the British and the Iroquois and, after the Revolution, the U.S. and the Iroquois. The region is the homeland of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, whose neutrality or military support was desired by both the Brisith and the "rebels" during the Revolution.
The Project was particualrly interested in finding and documenting any oral traditions that survive among the descendatns of particpants in the Battle of Oriskany (8/6/1777). Although none were found, archival research and consultation with current Native Americans resulted in this document, which includes mangement and planning for the Fort Stanwix National Monument.
Enjoy,

The Olympics are here! Every 4 years, just when college work starts to get heavy, the winter Olympics come along to distract you. For those of us fortunate to live close to the Canadian border, we have at least 2 ways to watch: NBC (Time Warner channels 3 and 863 in Hamilton) and streaming online through NBC partnerships with various cable providers. The best way to find out what's on when is to consult our Winter Olympic 2010 guide. My favorite event: curling, that "funny" sport where you throw rocks at houses and sweep with brooms. Of course, I'm biased. I'm the Colgate Curling Club faculty advisor!

What happens when John Papola, the executive producer of Spike TV and fan of economist  Friedrich von Hayek (the intellectual founder of what is known today as the Austrian School of Economics) teams up with libertarian economist Russell Roberts, co-author of the Hayek blog and host of the podcast EconTalk? A 6 1/2-minute music video which tells the story of Keynes and Hayek going out for a night on the town and debating their theories. Listen and view the video at the National Public Radio website.

So here I am on a gorgeous Saturday (how many of those are left in Central NY?), sitting at the Reference Desk in Case Library, waiting for someone to ask me a question. There are a few souls sharing my exile from the day (although truth be told, if I wasn't here, I'd be at home putting my newly painted bedroom back together). So, what's a librarian to blog about in such circumstances? National Banned Books Week is coming up (please read); food is a perennial issue in libraries (please don't).
 
Then I realized, it's September 19th, International Talk like a Pirate Day, that annual celebration of all things pirate. The brainchild of John Baur and Mark Summers, who explain the creation of the day with "we are guys", Talk Like a Pirate Day has expanded. It has an official song, a newsletter, advice column, and more. Check out their website and join the fun. After all, nothing feels better than a hearty "AARRR" when you're stuck inside on a beautiful day!

You're baaaack, and we're glad. Mother Nature seems to be glad too - this is about the longest stretch of sunny weather we've had since you left!
 
Each semester, with your return from far flung locations, colds break out in abundance. This year, however, it may be more than just colds. The Chronicle of Higher Education reported today that Wake Forest already has 2 confirmed cases of H1N1 flu, and 80 more with flu symptoms.
 
Colgate has been preparing (see http://www.colgate.edu/healthalert), but ultimately, preventing a campus-wide flu outbreak is in your hands - literally. The key is to clean your hands and don't touch your eyes, nose, or mouth. You’ll notice hand sanitizers have been installed on every floor in Case-Geyer (and elsewhere too, I’m sure). Use them. Or, even better, wash your hands and don’t be skimpy when doing so - 15 to 20 seconds is needed according to the Centers for Disease Control. It looks like a short period of time, but feels much longer. Don’t like counting to 20? Sing Happy Birthday and keep washing the entire time (don’t worry, it’s not a “public performance”, so no royalties are involved). Still getting through the process too quickly? Sing Happy Birthday like Marilyn Monroe did when she serenaded JFK in 1962. She knew how to spin out a song!
 
Did you know that the flu virus can live for 2 to 9 hours (that’s hours) after being deposited? These and more facts are available at the CDC website. Happy reading.
 

NPR's at it again. Every April 1st, my husband and I listen intently to Morning Edition to see how quickly we can identify their April Fool's story. It's done straight; indeed they get mail from outraged listeners who miss the joke. This year, they got us - two stories, not one!
 
You haven't missed out on the fun. Not only do we link you to today's stories, but you can use LexisNexis Academic to read transcripts of favorites from the past. Can you find the missing story (April 1, 2008) in Radio & TV Transcripts in  LN Academic? Find the story and get your name on our blog!
 
2009 Pro Sports Team Mascots
2009 The Economist opens a Theme Park
2007 Cell phones in N.Y. city
2006 A Perilous Encounter with the i-Bod
2005 Exploding maple trees
2004 Portable Zip Code
2003 Meigs Field, Chicago
2002 Universial Health Care for Pets
2001 Advertising on the Moon
1999 Speech recognition technology for dogs
1998 Boston Celtics or Keltics?
 

What a busy month - African American History month, Charles Darwin’s and Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthdays. Did you know that Darwin and Lincoln were born on the same day? How ‘bout the following presidential trivia:
 
Q: What invention did Abraham Lincoln patent?
A: A device to lift vessels over shoals.
Source: Patent Office, 1849, pt. 1: Arts and Manufactures, Serial Set, 574 H.exdoc.20, January 16, 1850
 
Q: What famous poet eulogized President Lincoln at a Joint Session of Congress on the 150th Anniversary of the President’s birth?
A. Carl Sandburg
Source: 150th anniversary of birth of Abraham Lincoln 1809-1959, Serial Set, 12194 H.doc.211, February 12, 1959
 
All the answers to the questions came from the United States Congressional Serial Set. As a depository library, Colgate has the Serial Set going back to the beginning. It was one of the most important official publications in the early years of our country. More information from Lincoln’s term in office in the Serial Set include:
 
Message of President transmitting orders and proclamation on suspension of writ of habeas corpus, Serial Set, 1114 H.exdoc.6, July 13, 1861
 
Presidential message transmitting draft of bill to compensate any State which may abolish slavery recommending its passage, Serial Set , 1123 S.exdoc.68, July 14, 1862
 
Proclamation of President to pardon those participating in rebellion, etc., p. 14 [enclosed with 1180 H.exdoc.1], Serial Set, 1180 H.exdoc.1/2, December 8, 1863
 
Wondering what the Serial Set can do your you? Ask a Reference Librarian!

It's a librarian's worst nightmare that just walked by the reference desk in Case-Geyer: three students, eager to watch a film that their professor has set up for them in room 340, complete with hot pizzas. Here I sit, with my sensible shoes (at the insistence of my podiatrist), my glasses (courtesy of my father's genetics), and old enough (fuddy-duddy enough?) to be the students' parents (at least!). But, you got to do what you got to do, and in this case, I had to call a halt to the entire affair. In Case-Geyer, food is allowed only in the cafe, the flexible room, and the Batza meeting room, all on the 5th floor.
 
So why are librarians/libraries so insistent on a no-food policy? Have you ever seen what a tuna salad sandwich looks like when squished between the pages of a library book, or perhaps more importantly what the book looks like? I have, and it ain't pretty. But almost anyone could mush a tuna sandwich on a book that they've taken out of the library (or could they?), so that's not the entire reason. Have you ever sat down to work at table, only to find that it’s covered in crumbs (or worse)? Now it’s all over the books you put down (yours and/or ours), or your computer, or leather jacket, or …
 
I could list so many reasons, that you’d stop reading, so let’s cut to the chase: we don’t permit food in the building, except for selected rooms, to preserve the collection. Not just against stray tuna sandwiches (we know that most of you are neat eaters), but against insects and rodents. Library buildings and IT centers are full of materials that insects and rodents like to chew on: paper, glue in bindings, & wires. The best way to keep them out is to keep the easily consumed food out. Once they’ve finished up the crumbs left over from your dinner, they start on the books and wiring. It’s as simple as that.
 
So, “big deal”, you say? “Just replace the books”? We would if we could, but we usually can’t, and not because of the current economic climate. Many books go “out of print” in a very short period of time (goes back to a change in the tax code during the Reagan presidency - a long story). So, that critical book that everyone in POSC150 needs that’s been chewed to shreds isn’t available for purchase again, and, because it’s still under copyright protection, it’s not even available from Google Books. Besides, pests don’t discriminate between a text book and the Shakespeare First Folio.
 
So help us help you and the long line of Colgate students still to arrive. Keep your drink cups covered, and keep your food in the café, the flexible room, or room 560 (Batza). Do your part to preserve our collection for future generations. As we used to say “we thank you for your support”. See, I am old, and suddenly very hungry. Guess I'll head to the cafe when my shift is over.
 

Since the financial bailout is on everyone’s mind, I wanted to pass on tips from LexisNexis on how to use LexisNexis Congressional to find relevant information.
 
"The text of the Senate passed bill H.R. 1424 is available and may be accessed by searching for bill text using the Legislative Histories, Bills & Laws Get a Document form. Select the bill tracking option to access relevant Congressional Record abstracts. Relevant Congressional Record excerpts may also be accessed by using the Daily Congressional Record & Rules form to retrieve content for Oct. 1, and then narrowing your search to H.R. 1424 using the FOCUS™ Search feature.
 
Congressional Record excerpts which include debate and text of the substitute amendment to H.R. 3997 which failed in the House on Sept. 29, 2008, may be accessed by using the Legislative Histories, Bills & Laws Get a Document form to search for the bill. The text of the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 3997 is included in the House Rules Committee Report 110-903, which may be accessed by searching on the publication number using the Search by Number form, and then clicking on the hyperlinked House report number in the results record to the full text."
 
Much of this info is also available at Thomas, but I had better luck searching by the law's short title: EMERGENCY ECONOMIC STABILIZATION ACT OF 2008. The bill and Congressional debate area also available at GPO Access.
"Happy" reading.

Do you know what this week is? Yes, Sept 27th means you’ve survived your first month at Colgate - congratulations! However, it’s also the beginning of Banned Books week, an annual event first begun in 1982. Books are typically challenged for all the right reasons, frequently to protect children from material deemed racist (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn), too sexually explicit (I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings) or that contain graphic language (The Color Purple). Differences of religious or political opinion also come into play (Golden Compass).

In his book Free Speech for Me—But Not for Thee: How the American Left and Right Relentlessly Censor Each Other, Nat Hentoff writes that “the lust to suppress can come from any direction.” He quotes Phil Kerby, a former editor of the Los Angeles Times, as saying, “Censorship is the strongest drive in human nature; sex is a weak second.” (ALA banned books website 9/23/2008)

Why is this important to you? Take a look at the lists of most frequently challenged books at the American Library Association . How many of these books have you read - Harry Potter and …, Of Mice and Men, Catcher in the Rye? Freedom to read without interference means that librarians all over the country examine and place books in age appropriate collections; handle challenges to those books fairly; and defend appropriate decisions. It means that here at Colgate, we do not give out information about who has checked out books or films from our libraries. You could even say that it means that there is a free flow of information from and about our government that is so necessary in a democracy.

This is a time when I stop and think about that freedom- I should probably do that more often.

So cuddle up with good book (banned, challenged, or not), and celebrate!