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 (currently on the New Book Shelves): 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 (8/6/1877). 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 Center for Research Libraries has announced a list of research collections which will be purchased for this year’s Purchase Proposal Program.  Included in this years list are important sources in Arabic stuides,  a Japanese manga collection, several key German, Indian, Chinese, and US newspapers and a collection of Imperial Russia’s Illustrated Press.  For the full description of these new acquisitions see http://www.crl.edu/sites/default/files/attachments/pages/pp10purchases.pdf ">
Since Colgate is a member of CRL, all students, faculty, and staff have access to these new materials which are valued at $172,674. For more information about how to access CRL materials see http://exlibris.colgate.edu/help/guides/Center-for-res-lib.html

Health care in America is presently much debated. Finding understandable and verifiable data and information that describe issues associated with health care is often hard to derive from the media and other sources of information.
 
The U.S. Census Bureau has published a report on recent measures of income, poverty and health insurance in the United States. Generally, the U.S. Census Bureau is regarded as authoritative in measuring such socio-economic data. Compare these figures with those you hear in the media.
  
A summary of the findings can be found at:
 
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/014227.html
 
The full report is available at:
 
http://www.census.gov/prod/2009pubs/p60-236.pdf

Back in January CRL purchased a large batch of material with member funds.  The items rejected from the fall wish list were then available for individual library sponsorship under the “shared purchase program”.  A group of the larger research libraries banded together and raised enough funds to make certain titles affordable for the group.  The list of titles which will be purchased is below.
 

• Bibliothek der Frauenfrage in Deutschland collection Supplements 1 & 2.459 fiche
  The two supplements will augment the works in the original set acquired by CRL previously, containing literature on the German women’s movement and gender studies.
• Flugschriften des 17. Jahrhunderts in der Staats- und Stadtbibliothek Augsburg [17th Century Pamphlets in the Augsburg State and City Library].683 fiche.
  • (Note: Three institutions expressed interest in access to the PDF download service for an additional cost for their institutions.  Negotiations are underway. CRL will forward additional information when available.)
• Hebrew, Judeo-Arabic, and Marathi Jewish Printing in India. 1,376 fiche.
  The Valmadonna Collection of Hebrew and Jewish books from India is a unique and unparalleled resource for the study of Eastern printing and lithography, Hebrew poetry and liturgical history, Eastern Judeo-Arabic literature, and the folklore traditions and vernacular writings of the Jews of South Asia. 

Flummoxed with completing your senior thesis? This may be the book for you! This is one of 24 very helpful titles from the University of Chicago Guides to writing, editing, and publishing.

 
=======================

How to write a BA thesis : a practical guide from your first ideas to your finished paper / Charles Lipson. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, c2005

Series: Chicago guides to writing, editing, and publishing

Subjects:
Dissertations, Academic -- Authorship
Academic writing

Contents : Getting started -- Framing your topic -- Conducting your research -- Writing your best -- Working your best -- Scheduling and completing your thesis -- Dealing with special requirements -- Citing your sources and getting more advice

For additional books on the same topic search the subject “Academic writing" in the online catalog.

Three years ago New York Regional Interconnect (NYRI) announced plans to build a 190 mile long high voltage power line which would run from Marcy in Herkimer country through the heart of Central New York and down to the Rock Tavern substation. The NYRI application was initially filed in May 2006 but not ruled complete until August 2008. NY State has one year to review the proposal. Many in the Colgate community and in the township of Hamilton will be affected by the power lines should NYRI's proposal be approved by the New York State Public Service Commission (PSC).
 
For back ground information see:
NYRI's web site http://www.nyri.us/
Communities Against Regional Interconnect (CARI) http://www.caricoalition.org/
Stop NYRI webiste http://www.nyri.info/info.htm
Here you will find includes video of the Public Service Commission public hearings which were held at Colgate on October 20th, 2008. Pre-hearing testimony filed by all parties is also available of the PSC website http://www.dps.state.ny.us/fileroom.html
 
This week there will be important evidentiary hearings on the NYRI proposal. The hearings, which begin this Monday at 10:30 can be view on the NYS Public Service Commission web site at
http://www3.dps.state.ny.us/
or the New York Admin site http://www.newyorkadmin.com/cgi-bin/nypsc.cgi

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!

The Center for Research Libraries is pleased to report the following items, with a list price value of $172,370, will be purchased for this year’s Purchase Proposal Program.  A full pdf version of this list can be found at: http://www.crl.edu/PDF/pp09purchases.pdf . The new additions include significant content on:

• Alternative American Religious movements.
• Japanese History 1905-1940
• Shanghai Political and economic reports 1842-1943 
• Biafra-Nigeria 1967-1969
• grassroots US feminist organizations
• late 15th century German incunabula
• Bibles and commentaries 1455-1500
• Receipt books from the Folger Shakespeare Library 1575-1800
• Gay Literature 1640-1940
• Soviet Cinema Film periodicals 1918-1942
• Vogue (London) /British Vogue

Europeana, presented by the EDL Foundation, is a new digital library of over 2 million objects - image, text, sound, and video - from many of Europe's libraries, research institutions, archives, and museums, including, but not limited to, the Rijksmuseum, the British Library, and the Louvre.
Europeana is full of prime resources on some of our (my) favorite Europeans and many obscure ones as well.
For instance, a search for Shakespeare turned up 1,356 items and Picasso over 17,000, and a search for John Smith, 899.
It's in beta testing right now but is still accessible. If you're curious or bored or needing inspiration on a project, I'd suggest checking it out.

During the Spring break - in addition to the Encore rollout - we have :

• Made changes to the website appearance and structure
• Launched a new catalog interface
  • with new functionality and appearance
  • improved diacricital character handling
• Released a new version username password authentication for users checking their Library Account or using resources from off-campus which uses the network (email) username and password
• Released a new version of Research by Subject

date: March 21, 2008