Library News

The Chronicle of Higher Education now has campus-wide online access through Falvey — Read it daily

Falvey now offers the University community online access to the Chronicle of Higher Education, “the No. 1 source of news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty members and administrators.” Widely valued for the timeliness and credibility of its news coverage, the Chronicle has won numerous awards for its coverage of political issues with impact on higher education. (more…)

Father Blanco’s Garden: Stroll through Falvey’s Special Collections’ Current Exhibit

flora1_edTwo glass cases of botanical prints, next to the first floor elevator, provide a tempting introduction to this visually rich exhibit. Go to the second floor to see the full display of large colorful botanical prints from Flora de Filipinas. Written by Rev. Manuel Blanco, O.S.A., “the premier botanist of the Philippines,” Flora de Filipinas is the culmination of his study of the 1200 plants he collected during his forty years in that country.

The bulk of the exhibit - twelve cases - is on the second floor in front of Special Collections. Here you will find numerous large color prints featuring plants identified by their botanical names; in some, there are also small line drawings of details.

Flora de Filipinas was first published in 1837 and, because of its popularity, a second edition was published in 1845, followed by a third, deluxe seven volume posthumous edition, published between 1877 and 1883. (more…)

Graphic Novels — Literature? Glorified Comic Books? Join the Debate on Nov. 11

comics-blog12Comics go to college? What are graphic novels and why have they appeared on this university campus?

Join us on Wednesday, Nov. 11, as an award-winning comics writer, a college professor who teaches graphic novels, a writer-illustrator, and a grad student / comic book writer talk about the world of graphic novels. For those interested in browsing, comics and graphic novels will be on display.

The thought-provoking panel discussion will take place from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in Falvey’s first floor lounge. Panelists include Jonathan Maberry, a multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning author and Marvel Comics writer; Mary Beth Simmons, M.F.A, director, Villanova Writing Center and ACS faculty member; Matt Phelan, writer and illustrator; and Brian A. Lynch, graduate student, communication department, and amateur comic book writer.

As English professor Karyn Hollis describes her current English course on the graphic novel, “From Superheroes to Manga Plus,” “The graphic novel, an original American art form like jazz, has returned to the literary limelight. From movies, to showcase events and international conferences, the genre is KA-POPPING up all over!” (more…)

Stephen Spatz presents at Catholic research group’s meeting

Stephen Spatz, assistant Outreach and Support librarian, recently attended the Catholic Research Resources Alliance annual meeting at Loyola University, Chicago. While there, Stephen presented information on VuFind and Falvey Memorial Library’s Digital Library.

He demonstrated what Falvey’s VuFind open source software can do for the Catholic Portal, an internet search engine designed by the CRRA. The portal intends to “create easy, effective and global discovery of Catholic research resources” and to provide “access to rare, unique or infrequently held materials in academic libraries’ and seminaries’ special collections and archives.”

Villanova University is a new member of the CRRA. Representatives from other institutions - Notre Dame University, Marquette University, Boston College, Catholic University of America, Georgetown University and Seton Hall University - also attended.

The attendees resolved to implement a pilot project with a test database to experiment with data ingestion. The portal, using VuFind, is currently being reviewed by scholars to assess its usefulness for researchers.

By Alice Bampton

RefWorks Thursdays: Gathering Citations Getting You Down?

Learn how to organize your research and never type a bibliography again with RefWorks.  MLA, APA and other styles supported. Open to faculty, staff, and students in all disciplines.

When? Nov. 5 & 12

4:00-5:00pm

Where: Driscoll Hall, Room 221

MUST BRING YOUR OWN LAPTOP!

Contact: Barbara Quintiliano, Instructional Design Librarian (telephone: ext.95207)

ENROLLMENT LIMITED TO 20 PERSONS.  PLEASE CONTACT BARBARA IF YOU PLAN TO ATTEND.

Jonathan Doh on Globalization and the Roles of Business, Government and NGOs

Jonathan P. Doh, Ph.D., will discuss his recent research on the role of multinational enterprise, governments, and nongovernmental organization on the process and outcomes of development, as part of the Endowed Chair Lecture series.

Dr. Doh, professor of management and operations at the Villanova School of Business, will review the recent developments related to the changing balance of global economic influence and the emergence of developing countries as major players in the world economy.

This featured talk will take place on Thursday, Nov. 5, at 1:00 p.m. in Falvey Memorial Library’s first floor lounge.

In the past, human societies across the globe established economic ties with neighboring countries. Lately, the pace of global integration has significantly increased and has encompassed a range of social, political and economic changes. Dr. Doh will conclude with some implications of his research findings for public policy, corporate strategy and civil society. (more…)

SRDS Lifestyle Market Analyst Now Online: Featured Business Resource

srdsUsing the Lifestyle Market Analyst was de rigueur for every single student that took Management Essentials, a core course in the previous Villanova School of Business curriculum.  Because this reference book was in such great demand, it was held at the front desk of the library, so we knew VSB students were visiting Falvey, and often. With the advent of the new VSB curriculum, Management Essentials is no longer offered. Would this mean demand for the Lifestyle Market Analyst would evaporate and, with it, VSB students at Falvey?

The new VSB curriculum is as rigorous as the previous one.  Students taking VSB 2020, Competitive Effectiveness, have an even greater need for a reference work providing market, lifestyle and consumer profiles, but they no longer need to check out the print Lifestyle Market Analyst. Now  this essential source is online SRDS, renamed Local Market Audience Analyst. (more…)

Feedback Friday: Have you used our new services?

new-sign1The library recently purchased a Kindle e-reader for the use of students, staff, and faculty. We also made it possible for all Villanova students to use the document delivery service, which provides digitized copies of articles from our print collection. Last fall, we opened a new computer lab/classroom on the first floor. We also added a self check out station.

If you have used any of these new services, please post your feedback.

We’d love to hear from you!

Digital documents now delivered to students, staff and faculty (Just ask us!)

scannerlivre1Don’t have time to pull and photocopy a journal article at Falvey? In addition to many online e-journals and full-text databases, Falvey Memorial Library now offers document delivery services to Villanova students, staff and faculty who cannot take the time to retrieve and photocopy articles from the print collection in Falvey. Using ILLiad, the same request and delivery system that is used to satisfy requests for materials from other libraries, we are able to digitize and deliver articles from the Falvey print and microfilm collection.

The digitized articles are delivered to your ILLiad account as electronic files and can be uploaded and saved to your desktop. The files remain active for 30 days.

We will process up to five requests per day, per patron, and can usually deliver the articles within 72 hours, depending on the volume of requests. (Incomplete or incorrect requests can delay the document delivery process.)

If you have any questions, please call the Information Desk at 610-519-4270 or contact a Research Librarian at 610-519-4273 or at ref@villanova.edu. As with all interlibrary loan and document delivery requests, copyright restrictions apply.

ALERT! For those who use the 6th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.

There are corrections already to the 6th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. The corrections may be found on the APA site 

Kindles Spark Interest in E-books

kindle2

It’s the week before midterms and you have to find a book for a paper that is due in a few days. You’ve always liked Jack Kerouac and were hoping to find The Subterraneans on the shelf. You like the way Kerouac weaves together reality and fiction and this has inspired you to write your paper in the same fashion. Unfortunately, you find that the library’s print copy is checked out.

You approach the desk to ask the librarian for help. She checks the catalog, but isn’t able to find another print copy. Suddenly, she has an idea! She suggests downloading Kerouac’s book to the library’s Kindle e-reader for you. Having never used a Kindle, you’re not sure how it works, but in the spirit of Kerouac, your adventurous nature urges you to give it a try.

The above story is true, based on a student’s real need that led to his discovery of the Kindle. Similar stories have been reported by Bartley patrons. The 14-day loan period gives patrons time to read the books and incorporate their findings into a research project or paper. The device is light (about the weight of a Kerouac paperback novel).

Be adventurous! Use the Bartley Kindle request form or the Kindle@Falvey request form to book a Kindle.

By Luisa Cywinski and Laura Hutelmyer

Jefferson Papers Now Online: Featured Resource

Falvey recently acquired the digital edition of the Papers of Thomas Jefferson from the University of Virginia Press. The Jefferson papers are part of the American Founding Era Collection, which includes the papers of other major figures of the early Republic, such as John Adams and George Washington. The digital collection encompasses volumes 1-33 (1760-1801) of the projected 60-volume print edition published by Princeton University Press. The Library has volumes 1-35 of the print edition. Volume 36 is forthcoming in February 2010. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson Digital Edition includes the copious correspondence written and received by Jefferson, as well as his private notes and documents of historical significance, in a fully searchable online environment.

For more information, see Jutta Seibert’s History and Sociology blog entry.

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