Library News

Comics 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, 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

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.

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.

On October 27, Falvey Memorial Library will host the inaugural lecture in the “Alfred F. Mannella and Rose T. Lauria-Mannella Distinguished Speakers Series.” Richard Juliani, Ph.D., sociology department, will describe his four decades of research on the Italian experience in Philadelphia, highlighting both challenges and future opportunities. His talk will begin at 7 p.m.

Alfred S. Mannella

In 1996, Falvey Memorial Library’s friend and supporter Alfred S. Mannella, ‘58 VSB, established two endowed library funds to support the purchase of books and other research materials as memorials to family members.

Now one of those funds will also support a lecture series.

The Speakers series honors Mr. Mannella’s parents, Alfred F. and Rose T. Lauria-Mannella. His father, the son of immigrants, was born in Philadelphia in 1904 and established himself as a tailor. An avid sports fan, he developed an interest in Villanova football starting in the 1930s when Maurice J. “Clipper” Smith was the coach.

His mother was the grandchild of immigrants and grew up in south Philadelphia. (more…)

Now available via the library Web site: The writings of Swiss-born Christian Karl Barth (1886-1968) had an enormous impact on the development of systematic theology in the twentieth century and have left a lasting effect on ways to think about God and the world. A theologian from the Reform tradition, Barth transcended Calvinism and was a significant contributor to the Protestant “neo-orthodoxy” and anti-Nazi confessing church movements.

In more than 600 written works, he touches on many aspects of faith and life, particularly the tension between the absolute transcendence of God and an engaged Christo-centric life. The concept of revelation, especially in relationship to Jesus Christ and the Christian scriptures, was also a major focus for Barth.

Access to the online compilation of the works of Barth including The Church Dogmatics in English with the original Die kirchliche Dogmatik; the 43 volumes of Barth’s Gesamtausgabe; additional works in German; and English translations of specific texts, with new content added quarterly.

by Darren Poley

19th Century UK Periodicals

New Readerships (Series 1) consists of  women’s and children’s periodicals, as well as humor and leisure/sport magazines and chronicles the rise of modern magazine culture. Featured are women’s magazines, such as Hearth and Home and the Women’s Penny Paper, satirical titles such as Punch and Fun, magazines aimed at the young, such as Boy’s Own Paper, as well as a number of sports and leisure magazines.

Empire (Series 2) includes the complete run of over 90 magazines. Topics range from the abolition of the slave trade within the British Empire in 1807 to the first Opium Wars (1839-42) and the “scramble for Africa” in the 1880s and 1890s.

Records to all magazines in the collection will be added to the library online catalog. Each record will have a link to individual titles. Links to the digital collection itself appear on the Databases A-Z list (under N), as well as on the primary sources tab of the history subject guide, and other subject guides as well.

Comments? Please let us know what you think.

By Jutta Seibert (from her History & Sociology blog)

The Scholarship@Villanova series continues on Wed., Sept. 30 at 12:30p.m. in Falvey Memorial Library’s first floor lounge with Heather J. Hicks, Ph.D. discussing her book, The Culture of Soft Work: Labor, Gender, and Race in Postmodern American Narrative. Dr. Hicks explores the meaning of being a worker in America as she highlights general labor issues of postmodernism and industrialism.

Undeniably, labor issues, general or specific, have influenced the works of contemporary writers who show how these issues represent the experience of American workers. The Culture of Soft Work captures the decline in local economy and the deterioration of the labor movement system. (more…)

Although World Religions Day was celebrated campus-wide only on September 16, there will be an extended celebration in Falvey Memorial Library. A large window display, “World Religions Day-Religion in the Workplace: Understanding Religious Diversity,” near the library entrance, provides information about the religions of peoples across the globe.

One’s eye is first drawn to the large central image of a girl who looks at the viewer; she stands with her hands pressed together at chest level in what may be a gesture of prayer. Flanking her are various objects and books, and the display is framed on each end by panels with symbols of the various religions. The symbols on the far left within the display represent (from top to bottom) Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Jainism, Hinduism, and Confucianism. On the right side of the display are symbols for Taoism, Bahaism, Native Spirituality, Sikhism, Islam, and Shintoism, as noted in the photograph. (more…)

Literature Criticism Online (Gale) takes literature, history and culture to the next level with its most extensive curated compilation of literary commentary available. The award-winning Gale series that comprise Literature Criticism Online represent a range of modern and historical views on authors and their works across regions, eras and genres. Imagine centuries of analysis - the scholarly and popular commentary from broadsheets, pamphlets, encyclopedias, books and periodicals - delivered in an easy format that matches the exact look and feel of the print originals.

Gale literary references reach back 20 to 30 years. Now, hundreds of volumes are digitized and ready to read 24/7 online. The net result is tens of thousands of hard-to-find essays at your fingertips. It’s all designed to raise the level of research while providing around-the-clock remote access that today’s researchers demand.

Falvey has subscribed to these  literary series from Gale:

• Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism
• Poetry Criticism
• Short Story Criticism
• Drama Criticism

Comments or questions?