By Laurie Ortiz Rivera

Falvey Library provides online access to the Times Higher Education, a website that presents a range of international higher education news, data, insights, and opportunities. It includes:

• 

  Times Higher Education logo.

  News – Award-winning journalists bring together the latest news in higher education focusing on Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Europe, and North America.

• Data – Data editors and scientists offer fresh insights on global trends.
• Digital editions and Archive of the Times Higher Education magazine and previous issues.
• Opinion – Contributors provide insightful and provocative comments and opinions on higher education topics.

Times Higher Education is home to the World University Rankings database on global university performance. It also features an interview series titled “Talking Leadership” that includes Anton Muscatelli on social justice and Brexit, Nancy Rothwell on superstar academics, Stephen Toope on culture wars and collaboration, Suzanne Fortier on supporting refugees and addressing racism, and Mamokgethi Phakeng on culture change, among others.

It has dedicated sections for job listings, study abroad, events, and other resources. Signing up for newsletters is a great way to keep up with all the latest news and research across higher education. To ensure your access via the institutional subscription, you must register using your Villanova email address. Feel free to contact Laurie Ortiz-Rivera, Education & Counseling Subject Librarian, if you need more information.

Laurie Ortiz Rivera, PhD, is Subject Librarian for History, Art History, Education & Counseling at Falvey Library. 

By Merrill Stein

Policy Commons and Mindscape Commons, two databases from Coherent Digital, are available for a trial until November 20. Policy Commons brings together the full-text of publicly available and licensed policy related documents in one search interface.

Search options include topics, tables, publications, Boolean operators, controlled vocabularies, and usual all field, keyword, title and author searches along with choices for additional searches by organization type, forty different document types, country of origin and language. The North American Cities module in this trial is optionally available and includes the full text of surveys, budgets, statistical records, case studies, planning documents, training manuals, policy guidelines, reports, and news from the five hundred largest cities in North America.

A brief introduction can be found at https://coherentdigital.net/policycommons.

Mindscape Commons is an online resource for immersive and interactive content in mental health. It provides access to nearly 300 VR experiences, many in 360-degree views, as well as some games and apps, for teaching and research in counseling, social work, psychology, health sciences, and related programs. VR tools are optional in the use of this database.

Content is also meant to be collaborative in nature, so faculty and researchers can create member profiles, upload their projects, and connect with others. Videos are searchable by subjects, publisher, device (Ocolus, desktop, Ipad and mobile), immersive virtual microcases and interactive simulation. Teacher materials and video transcripts are included. National and international (BBC, Guardian) content is open access, created by Coherent Digital or arranged through major producers and developed to represent a diverse community.

A brief introduction can be found at https://coherentdigital.net/mindscape. These resources are available from the Falvey Library homepage, Databases A-Z list.

Merrill Stein is Political Science Librarian at Falvey Memorial Library.

By Merrill Stein

Image courtesy of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanborn_maps

Sanborn Digital Maps, 1867-1970 (ProQuest), provide access to more than 660,000 Sanborn maps, produced over a century, charting the growth, layout and development of more than 12,000 American towns and cities. Originally produced in color, these black and white Sanborn maps are large-scale plans of a city or town, drawn at a scale of fifty feet to an inch. They were created to assist fire insurance companies as they assessed the risk associated with insuring a particular property. The maps list street blocks and building numbers including numbers in use at the time the map was made and previous numbers. A legend has also been added to assist with interpretation of the black and white maps.

Although Sanborn maps today have minimal interest for the fire insurance industry, municipal governments are Sanborn’s best customers today. Engineering and architectural concerns are also significant purchasers of corrected Sanborn maps. The maps can be useful for geography and urban planning, ancestry, history and policy studies.

For additional information and history about Sanborn maps, visit the ProQuest guide and the Library of Congress Introduction to the Sanborn Map Collection. Access the Sanborn Digital Maps, 1867-1970 (ProQuest) trial under Falvey Library’s Databases A to Z. Access the Sanborn Digital Maps, 1867-1970 (ProQuest) trial under Falvey Library’s Databases A to Z, until Nov. 4.

Merrill Stein is Political Science Librarian at Falvey Memorial Library.

Image courtesy of NASA Earth Observations.

A brief sampling of Falvey Library online video related to Earth Day and our rapidly changing planet:

• Jack Dangermond: An ever-evolving map of everything on Earth | TED Countdown
• Geographers on Film Series Collection at Library of Congress and Geographer on Film collection items

For Falvey Library video subscribed content visit an introduction to Streaming Video at Falvey or try one of the selected library subject headings below:

• Climate/climate change
• Carbon sequestration
• Energy
• Environmental history
• Environmentalism
• Environmental policy
• Geographic information systems/GIS
• Global warming
• Sustainable agriculture
• Sustainability 
• Water conservation

For more video dig further in:

• Academic Video Online – AVON (Alexander Street Press)
• O’Reilly for Higher Education
• NASA video gallery

Merrill Stein is Political Science Librarian at Falvey Memorial Library.

By Merrill Stein 

As we approach the end of March, Women’s History Month and look towards Earth Day in April, consider listening to this recent podcast from the OECD, Women, climate change and data: Why we need to better understand the environment-gender nexus.

Take a moment to consider these research guides and YouTube videos from the Library of Congress, Smithsonian and U.S. National Archives.

Examine the Woman in the Law (Peggy) resource in the HeinOnline database, a  subscription courtesy of the Charles Widger School of Law Library. The “Peggy” collection features more than one million pages of contemporary and historical works related to women’s roles in society and the law.

Give thought to any possible gender gaps in common resources to which we interact with frequently, as indicated by this recent study from the University of Pennsylvania. Read about women in the digital world in the special issue of Information, Communication & Society, Volume 24, Issue 14 (2021).

Dig Deeper resources:

• Gender and Women’s Studies subject guide
• Diversity and Inclusion guide
• Environmental Science subject guide
• Communication & Mass Media Complete (EBSCO)
• Social Sciences Citation Index – Web of Science (Clarivate)
• Women, Peace and Security Index (WPS) (Georgetown IWPS. & Peace Research Institute of Oslo)

Merrill Stein is Political Science Librarian at Falvey Memorial Library.

Replica of The Lincoln Bible.

This Presidents’ Day, stop by Falvey Memorial Library’s first floor to view a replica of “The Lincoln Bible.” Used during his inauguration in 1861, the Lincoln Bible didn’t actually belong to the President. The clerk of the Supreme Court, William Thomas Carroll, was the owner of the Bible Lincoln placed his hand upon. The Bible remained in Carroll’s possession until it was acquired by the Lincoln family sometime after the president’s assassination in 1865. Now known as “The Lincoln Bible,” the original copy is currently housed in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. The Lincoln Bible was used by President Barack Obama at his inaugurations in 2009 and 2013. President Donald Trump also used the Bible at his inauguration in 2017.

The replica mirrors The Lincoln Bible as it appeared in 1861, as it was not possible to duplicate the wear and fading of the original copy. More features of the replica are listed below:

• 280-page, 1853 Oxford University Edition.
• Inscription of William Thomas Carroll, complete with the seal of the Supreme Court.
• Velvet-covered; framed with brass borders and has a brass clasp, authentic gilded edges, and two ribbon markers.

The Lincoln Bible will be on display in the Library’s first floor Wednesday, Feb. 16, through Monday, Feb. 28.

Dig deeper: You can now view a Bible Lincoln previously owned. The new Lincoln Bible resurfaced in 2019 and is on display at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Ill. Gifted to Lincoln in 1864 at a charity event in Philadelphia, the cover reads, “Presented to Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by the Ladies of the Citizens Volunteer Hospital of Philadelphia.”

Mary Lincoln gave the Bible to the Rev. Noyes W. Miner, a friend of the President, seven years after her husband’s death. Having been passed down through the generations, Miner’s descendants recently disclosed its existence and donated it to the public.

For more on President Lincoln, whose 213th birthday is Feb. 12, check out the links below:

• Abraham Lincoln
• The Presidency of Abraham Lincoln (Paludan, 1994)
• Lincoln: A President for the Ages (Weber, 2012)
• A. Lincoln: A Biography (White, 2009)
• Lincoln: A Very Short Introduction (Guelzo, 2009)
• Lincoln: The Screenplay (Kushner, 2012)
• Lincoln (DVD, 2013)
• Hand accounts of Lincoln’s funeral procession in Chicago and Philadelphia (Sherman Thackara Collection)

Looking for a specific resource on President Lincoln? Contact, Jutta Seibert, History Librarian. A special thank you to Andrew McKeough, ’19 CLAS for the exhibit concept.

Kallie Stahl ’17 MA is Communication and Marketing Specialist at Falvey Memorial Library.

References:

• Baker, P. (2019, June 20). A New Lincoln Bible, From a Mantel to a Presidential Library. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/19/us/politics/abraham-lincoln-bible.html
• Magazine, S., & Katz, B. (n.d.). A Bible Owned by Lincoln, Unknown to Historians for 150 Years, Goes on Display. Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved February 8, 2022, from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/bible-owned-lincoln-unknown-historians-150-years-goes-display-180972473/
• The Story Behind the Lincoln Bible at Obama’s Inauguration. (n.d.). US News & World Report. Retrieved February 7, 2022, from https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/god-and-country/2008/12/23/the-story-behind-the-lincoln-bible-at-obamas-inauguration

By Merrill Stein

Visit the National Journal (Daily), a political resource today, Election Day, and in the future. Covering politics and public policy, Falvey Memorial Library’s subscription includes a Washington daybook, House, Senate, and State hotline briefings, webinars, select research briefs, and event listings.

The National Journal (Daily) also offers at least two more resources of note for this year’s election. One is the Race Tracker 2020, which “contains data, insights, and visualizations for active national, congressional, and gubernatorial races plus historical data from recent years.” Two is the Almanac (Almanac of American Politics in print), featuring profiles of political leaders and basic demographics for the part of the country they represent.

Access this periodical resource by searching National Journal Daily in Journal Finder on the Library homepage, via the links above and in the Library catalog.

Merrill Stein is Political Science Librarian at Falvey Memorial Library.

Art courtesy of Joanne Quinn, Director of Communication and Marketing

“Justice, Justice Shall You Pursue.’ The Hebrew quote from Deuteronomy adorned the Late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s chambers.” Embodying that passage wholeheartedly, Justice Ginsburg continually fought for equality throughout her lifetime, passing away on Sept. 18, at the age of 87 after a long fought battle with pancreatic cancer. Her fight and strength never waivered as she battled for gender equality; fighting for women’s rights before and during her 27-year service as a Supreme Court justice.

Graduating Cornell University at the top of her class in 1954, Justice Ginsburg began studying at Harvard Law School before transferring to Columbia Law School where she tied for first in her class upon graduating in 1959. Despite her accomplishments, she faced gender-based discrimination during and post-academia, and had difficulty finding employment at the start of her career. Justice Ginsburg worked as a law clerk for Judge Edmund L. Palmieri of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York from from 1960-62; joining the Columbia Law School Project on International Civil Procedure as a research associate in 1961. “This project fully immersed her in Swedish culture, where she lived abroad to do research for her book on Swedish Civil Procedure practices.”

Upon returning from Sweden in 1963, Justice Ginsburg taught at Rutgers Law School, until she accepted the offer to teach at Columbia Law School in 1972 and “became the first female professor to earn tenure.” During the 1970s, she directed the Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union “and successfully argued six landmark cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.” In 1980, President Jimmy Carter appointed Ginsberg to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Continuing to advocate for women’s rights, she served on the court for 13 years until President Bill Clinton appointed her to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1993. “She is the second woman—and the first Jewish woman—to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.”

The longest serving woman on the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Ginsburg “earned the nickname ‘Notorious RBG’ for her strong dissents;” significantly impacting the law with cases such as United States v. Virginia,  Safford Unified School District v. Redding, Obergefell v. Hodges, Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., and many more. Honoring the Late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the links below provide additional information on her life and legacy.

Links curated by Merrill Stein, Political Science Librarian.

• Multimedia archive project for Supreme Court information—Ruth Bader Ginsburg
• Statements from the Supreme Court regarding the death of Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
• I Dissent: The Life and Legacy of the Incomparable Ruth Bader Ginsburg
• Falvey Library catalog resources
• The Supreme Court Justices: Illustrated Biographies
• Supreme Court Yearbook
• America: History and Life (EBSCO)
• Gender Studies Database (EBSCO)
• GenderWatch (ProQuest)
• NYPL presents Books to Celebrate the Life & Legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg
• Death Of Ruth Bader Ginsburg (NPR)
• Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Jewish Women’s Archive)
• Notorious RGB (National Museum of American Jewish History)
• Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Obituary of the Supreme Court Justice (BBC News)
• Ruth Bader Ginsburg remembered at US Supreme Court
• Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Life in Pursuit of Gender Equality
• The Four Justices (National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution)

Kallie Stahl ’17 MA is Communication and Marketing Specialist at Falvey Memorial Library.

Falvey Memorial Library is excited to announce the addition of the PBS Video Collection to our online streaming video offerings. The PBS Video Collection is available on the Alexander Street Press platform.

The PBS Video Collection assembles hundreds of the greatest documentary films and series from the history of the Public Broadcasting Service into one convenient online interface. A core of 245 titles, selected for their high quality and relevance to academic curricula, covers many educational disciplines, including history, science and technology, diversity studies, business, and current events. This collection provides access to the films and series users already know and trust, including Frontline, NOVA, American Experience, Odyssey, and films by Ken Burns and Michael Wood.

Search or browse the collection to find the best videos for your courses. Create playlists or clips. Link or embed videos and clips; you can even embed video in your Blackboard course!

Rules of Engagement
“The untold story of what happened in Haditha, Iraq and how it forced the U.S. military to confront the rules of war in ways it never had to before.”

Lost in Detention: The Hidden World of Immigration Enforcement
“FRONTLINE investigates Obama’s enforcement strategies and journeys into the secretive world of immigrant detention, with a penetrating look at who is being detained and what is happening to them.”

Growing Up Online
“FRONTLINE takes viewers inside the very public private worlds that kids are creating online, raising important questions about how the Internet is transforming childhood.”

For assistance using the PBS Video Collection, please contact Alexander Williams.

Census 2010 – Population Density per sq. mile surrounding Villanova University. From Social Explorer.

Introducing a new research guide for students and faculty interested in using U.S. Census data in their next research project. The Census Tools guide provides an overview of the various tools offered by Falvey Memorial Library, in addition to American FactFinder 2, the official tool of the U.S. Census.

The guide includes a brief description of each tool, relevant coverage, and recommended uses. Researchers can also find links to help pages and other aids for each tool.

The Census Tools guide is the perfect starting point for your demographic research!