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Communication Abstracts Unavailable

Communication Abstracts (EBSCO) is temporarily unavailable.  The vendor is experiencing difficulties with our subscription, and library staff is working with them to correct the problem as quickly as possible.  Please check back for updates.

In the meantime, please review the list of helpful databases on the Communication Subject Guide.

We apologize for the inconvenience.  Thank you for your patience!


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Our life-span: Read about how we change in new online resource

by Jacqueline Mirabile

Handbook of Life-Span Development (Wiley, 2010) is now available full text online, covering cognitive, biological, social and emotional aspects of human change across the life span.  The chapters range from the development of mental processing to developing civic engagement within a civic context.

Searching in the full text of this title for the term gestures indicates that there are 13 chapters which contain the word gesture. As expected the chapter “Gesturing Across the Life Span” has the most but there is also information in these chapters: “The Development of Representation and Concepts” and “Neurobiological Bases of Social Behavior across the Life Span.”

Each chapter has an extensive list of references with links which may take you to full text.  Links to this resource can be found in the library’s catalog as well as the Subject Guide pages for Counseling and Psychology.

Also, when searching a topic if you do not limit to this particular title you can pull up references from any of the resources Falvey subscribes to from Wiley Online Library.


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Intern and GA Assist Library Departments: Cathleen Lu and Preetha Rao

Cathleen Lu is this semester’s intern for Falvey Memorial Library’s Digital Library. Cathleen, currently a Drexel University graduate student, plans to complete her master of library and information science degree in December.

She is a graduate of the University of California, Davis, where she majored in biological sciences and Chinese and minored in English, receiving a bachelor’s degree in both arts and sciences.

A native of San Francisco, Cathleen enjoys traveling, biking and trying to master boogie woogie on the piano. Before leaving California she worked in theater. Her last project was a puppet show.

Preetha Rao, a second year graduate student studying for her master’s degree in computer science, is apreetha-ed1 graduate assistant for Falvey’s Technology Development team. She works most often for David Lacey, a library software development specialist. Preetha says she is very happy with her job in Falvey. After graduating from Villanova University, she would like to work on open source software and other projects.

Before coming to the University, Preetha earned two bachelor’s degrees, one in mathematics and the other in computer science, both from the University of Mumbai, India.

Preetha likes the suburban atmosphere at Villanova University, especially the campus architecture, the foliage and the landscaping.

Article and photograph by Alice Bampton


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RefShare

Attention RefWorks users!  You can share your references with others directly from the RefWorks program.

Under the Tools Menu, select Share References.  You will see a list of your folders.  Click Share Folder to choose a particular folder for sharing.  Set your preferences and use the Email URL button to share your references with others.  Great for group projects!

__________________________________________________________

Kristyna Carroll
Research Support Librarian
kristyna.carroll@villanova.edu
610-519-5391


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Falvey offers Mango Languages

Business students destined to study abroad in Rome, Madrid or China; Engineering students headed to Honduras or Nicaraga for service learning; Nursing students doing practicums in Peru or field experience in Ireland; and Arts and Sciences students studying abroad will all benefit from the library’s new subscription to Mango Languages.  This language learning program is ideal for students studying abroad because it is portable and freely available to Villanova community members with an internet connection (the mobile app is in development).

To take full advantage of  Mango, create a profile.  Working within your profile rather than anonymously allows the program to track your progress.  Each of the 12 languages offered by Mango (Hindi, Italian, Latin American Spanish, German, French, Mandarin, Arabic, Hebrew, Irish, Russian, Portuguese and Japanese)  includes chapters covering greetings, travel, shopping, dining, seeking emergency assistance, and asking questions to expand your vocabulary.  This conversational program covers vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and etiquette.  Visual learners will  appreciate the text based phonetic spellings, while auditory learners will value the voice comparison tool.

Mango Languages is not a substitute for studying a language in-depth, but  is is an ideal way to get started learning a language!  Connect to Mango from the area studies and language Subject Guides or from Databases A-Z.


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Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series

Get to the deeper meaning of your favorite movies and television shows!

Ever wonder why Batman never kills the Joker?  Wondering about the philosophical interpretation of all that awkwardness on The Office?  Take a book from the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series home over Thanksgiving Break!

Batman and philosophy: the dark knight of the soul
Edited by Mark D. White and Robert Arp

Chapters include:
“Why doesn’t Batman kill the Joker?”
“Should Bruce Wayne have become Batman?”
“Alfred, the Dark Knight of faith: Batman and Kierkegaard”
“Why Batman is better than Superman”

The Office and philosophy: scenes from the unexamined life
Edited by Jeremy Wisnewski

Chapters include:
“Can Michael ever learn? empathy and the self-other gap (US)”
“The virtues of humor : what The office can teach us about Aristotle’s ethics (UK)”
“Humiliation in The office (and at home) (US)”
“The hostile office : Michael as a sexual harasser (US)”

Other titles include:

________________________________________

Kristyna Carroll
Research Support Librarian
kristyna.carroll@gmail.com
610-519-5391


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First pie chart served up by Florence Nightingale

 

 

First pie chart served up by Florence Nightingale

According to BBC reporter Marcus du Sautoy, Florence Nightingale was the first to use pie charts to present statistical data in visual form in her work Mortality of the British Army (1857). Hugh Small, author of Florence Nightingale: Avenging Angel, though  disputing the absolute first-use attribution,  asserted in his presentation at the Florence Nightingale Museum that “she may have been the first to use [charts]  for persuading people of the need for change.” A high quality reproduction of her  chart can be found on page 204 of Barbara Montgomery Dossey’s Florence Nightingale: Mystic, Visionary, Healer, available at Falvey (RT 37 .N5 D67 2000). Small’s book available also (RT37.N5 S56 1999).

Public domain illustration from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nightingale-mortality.jpg

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Transcriptions brought to life online

A newly released and long awaited feature in the digital library software enables the display of transcribed content. When transcribed content is present in a digital library object, a new tab, designated Docs, is displayed. This tab will present the transcribed content as readable and downloadable files. Just click on the thumbnail icon of the file type. Most transcribed content is available in both smart-PDF and Word formats. We are very proud to bring this new feature to you!

docs2

Handwritten content is often difficult to decipher and, when digitized, not conducive to OCR. In parallel to the scanning of heritage materials, individual volunteers, staff, and students have been transcribing the writings from the past. Individual transcribers’ names are included. Now these letters and diaries can be read easily online as part of Villanova University’s Digital Library.

The first transcription to be included in the online collection is the Lane Manuscript. This contains the autobiographical manuscript of Samuel Alanson Lane (1815-1905). From January until May of 1835, Lane traveled around the U.S., looking for work in numerous cities, including New Orleans, Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland, until finally settling in what would become his hometown, Akron, OH, on June 29, 1835. S. A. Lane was a dedicated follower and professional lecturer of the American temperance movement as well as an avid supporter and political participant for the Republican Party, formed in 1854. Perhaps Lane’s most interesting and daring pursuit, was his active participation in the mass emigration to California in search of fortune like many other easterners during the California Gold Rush, which kept Lane from his home and family in Akron for over two years. This manuscript covers his life and contains many depictions of 19th century American frontier life. An exhibit featuring the life and times of Samuel Lane is also available online.

While only a few transcriptions are online at present, over the coming weeks and months much new transcribed content will be available to delight and fascinate. On the technical front, we are quickly working to make these materials discoverable with keyword searching. Printed texts that have been OCRed will also have enhanced findability.

I would be remiss without acknowledging all who have toiled many long hours over these often cryptic documents filled with fragmentary words and sentences. Thank you! In addition much hard labor also went into the software enhancements that make such content available, so out of the many individuals involved, I would especially like to thank David Lacy for his hard work in bringing the best to our digital library software!

If you are interested in helping to bring historical materials alive, please consider volunteering. Just reach out and email us at: digitallibrary@villanova.edu


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Happy 70th Anniversary to Father Falvey, Namesake of Falvey Hall and Falvey Memorial Library

fatherfalvey

By Luisa Cywinski

The Rev. Daniel P. Falvey, O.S.A., Ph.D., became library director at Villanova University in 1940, 70 years ago.

The library, originally located in Dougherty Hall, has moved several times since the University was founded.  Parts of the collection were housed in Mendel Hall, St. Mary’s Hall and  Austin Hall. As head librarian from 1940 to 1962, Father Falvey devoted himself to the creation of a unified collection and modern, scholarly spaces for University students and faculty.

He guided the fund raising and construction of a new library at a time when the country was recovering from World War II. It seems fitting that on the 70th anniversary of his appointment as head librarian we honor his dedication to growth and a “scholarly atmosphere,” even while our country faces economic and political challenges. (more…)


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Graphic Novels & Great Thinkers

by Luisa Cywinski

The next time you visit Falvey Library, look for the entrance exhibit featuring “Superheroes and Scholars.” You can’t miss the colorful renditions of Superman, Batman and Spiderman, all dangling from the ceiling as if in mid-flight. On the shelves below you’ll find their counterparts in the form of graphic novels and related texts. When asked about her inspiration for the theme of this year’s graphic novel event, Alexandra Edwards (library grad assistant by day, English graduate student by night) cited her search for a “meta-textual” approach to the exhibit.

Then, when she least expected it, the idea came to her “in a flash!”: display the words of authors and philosophers as if spoken by superheroes. She, and others who contributed to the exhibit, worked to link those quotations with those who have written nationally recognized graphic novels. The words of Nietzsche (Superman), F. Scott Fitzgerald (Batman) and others are represented in the exhibit.

Laura Hutelmyer, who developed and organized the graphic novel event at Falvey last year, worked with Alexandra on content.  Joanne Quinn, graphic designer, brought the visual and artistic components of the exhibit together (taking superheroic steps to keep Styrofoam display materials from coating her work area).

Check out the graphic novels from our stacks on display at the library entrance. Are there other graphic novels you think Falvey should add to the collection? Join the conversation!


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Last Modified: November 18, 2010

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