Do you have some Neanderthal in you?

Hello everyone,

Here is another blog post from your Lane Library Cataloger, Carl Z.  Today's topic focuses on Neanderthals.  As you know from previous posts, many books come through my department and there is certainly not enough time in a day to read all of them.  Although, I have been known to check out a book from time to time and take it home.  Recently, a book titled Neanderthal Man : in search of lost genomes by Svante Pääbo caught my attention.  This book centers around how Pääbo researched and mapped Neanderthal DNA.  He tells his story of research and discovery in a generally linear (biographical) fashion.  If you, dear reader, are a science major or just love the art and science of research, here is your opportunity to learn how a cutting-edge scientific researcher thinks.  One of the big questions posed in this book was whether modern humans and Neanderthal humans interbred and if modern humans living today contain some Neanderthal genes.  According to the findings, peoples from Europe, China and Papua New Guinea have some Neanderthal genes.  So yes, somewhere back in history, there was interbreeding between these two species of humans.  If you want to find out more about these findings, I strongly urge you read this interesting and engaging book.  It is available at Lane Library.  Call no:  GN285.P33 N42 2014. 

On a somewhat related note, starting in 1980, Jean Auel began writing a series of fiction books.  Her first novel was titled Clan of the Cave Bear and was about a young orphaned girl who was taken in and raised by a group of Neanderthals.  A campy movie by the same title, starring Daryl Hannah, was also produced, but in my opinion, and Auel's, it didn't quite capture the full scope and spirit of her first book.  Auel went on to write five more books in the Earth's Children series for a total of six.  She, in doing research for her fiction, visited significant archaeological sites in France and other parts of Europe and kept abreast of Neanderthal research.  In her fiction, she wrote about Neanderthals and modern humans interbreeding.  Now we know through science that this phenomenon actually did occur.  I found these books to be a real adventure to read, although I must warn our sensitive readers that there is some violence and sexuality in these books.  These novels by Auel are available at the Ripon Public Library.

So Gentleman, if a friend or your significant other calls you a "Neanderthal," that person might ironically be closer to the truth than he or she thinks.  I'll let you chew on that thought for awhile.

I want to wish you a happy holiday season.  Enjoy your break.

Carl Z.

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Weblinks:

Jean Auel's website:  http://www.jeanauel.com/

Clan of the Cave Bear Movie:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clan_of_the_Cave_Bear_%28film%29


TED Talk by Svante Pääbo:  http://www.ted.com/speakers/svante_paabo

Films at your fingertips

Direct link through Ripon College Lane Library

Need an academic or documentary style video clip for a presentation or class?  Looking for something interesting and educational to watch on your computer at home or in your dorm room?  We now offer thousands of possibilities to be found in the Films on Demand database.

Ripon College now has access to Films on Demand, the Humanities and Social Sciences collection.  This database provides streaming access to thousands of full length videos, and even more video clips from a wide variety of producers such as American Experience, BBC Films, Ken Burns, Nova and PBS among others.

Any Ripon College student, faculty or staff may access this online video collection on-campus or off-campus through this Films on Demand direct link and by using your MyRipon login and password when off-campus.  (This is the same information that you use to access any computer on campus.)  You can also access Films on Demand through the library's online database list under "databases and journals" at www.ripon.edu/library/

Search by title or browse by subject or collection to find a video of interest for you.  Once you find a film, you may access it by segments or view the film in its entirety.  Searchable transcripts are also available for most films, as well as closed captioning/subtitles.

If you have any question on how to use this database, please ask one of your librarians or view one of the available tutorials or webinars from Films on Demand.

Scholarship Workshop and Scholarship Materials

Many students are struggling with keeping above water when it comes to financing their education. Often students rely too heavily on loans, not understanding the difference between grants, loans, subsidized, unsubsidized, and how the interest rate affects the future cost of the loan. The far better option is to get a scholarship - a few hundred dollars from various organizations every year over four years of college can save you thousands after you leave.

Finding, applying for, and winning scholarships is terribly daunting. Many students don't even know where to start. Starting next semester, Lane Library will be having a multi-week Scholarship Workshop. During these two-hour workshops, you'll learn about all kinds of scholarships out there, how to find them, and best practices when it comes to winning them. Most importantly, you'll have a set time and place to focus on getting scholarships and others to help you with applying. If a student came to the seven week workshop, spending two hours each week, and earned a $500 scholarship, that's equivalent to earning $35.71 dollars an hour! Quite a pay raise from any campus position! Part of our time will also be set aside for learning about how to manage your finances so you leave college with as much money as possible.

To prepare for this workshop, the library got a few scholarship books, available for anyone to use. So we can be sure many students have a chance with them, they are on the reserves shelf. They circulate for 2 hours, in-library use only.

Information on thousands of scholarships, grants, and prizes is easily accessible in this revised directory and features awards indexed by career goal, major, academics, public service, talent, athletics, religion, ethnicity, and more.

2170 programs offering private, federal, and state money. Over 1.8 million awards including scholarships, internships, loans.

Provides detailed profiles of financial aid awards for higher education, covering such topics as eligibility, number of awards, amount of award, application requirements, and deadlines for applications.

Provides 30 complete winning scholarship essays with analysis of why they were successful, scholarship interview strategies, Q&A with scholarship judges, 12 essays that bombed and an essay-writing workshop that covers selecting a topic, creating an outline, writing and editing

Kristina won over $500,000 in scholarships, enough to get her a PhD, by working very hard and winning a lot of money along the way. She shares her story and explains how you can use her experience to get money of your own.

Cost should never be a barrier to receiving a high-quality education. That's why Peterson's continues to provide students and parents - like YOU - with the most comprehensive up-to-date, and accurate information on how to get your share of the financial aid pie. Peterson's is with you every step of the way. With our resouces for financial aid, education exploration, test prep, and career guidance, you'll be well prepared for success!

More information on the workshop will be emailed out to students as we near the next semester, so keep on the lookout, space will be limited!


Cheers,
Kate

West Hall: Then and Now

Although these images appear remarkably similar despite the many decades which separate them, West Hall has changed greatly over the years.  Currently Anthropology, the language departments and ROTC inhabit the three main floors and two lower levels.  These four walls have also housed residents, a chapel, the college library and a gymnasium. 
Photo Credit: Karlyn Schumacher

Summer Reading...

Hello everyone,

It is Carl again, your loyal cataloger, ready to encourage you to do a little light reading over break, between catching up on all of your paper writing.  [Yes, I remember those days when I was also an undergrad and wouldn't trade them for the world.]  I again report to you from the hub of Lane Library where amazing things continue to happen - behind the scenes.

I'm sure some of you wonder what your librarians do when they are not at their desks.  Like all people, we do a variety of things, including reading.  After the release of the movie DIVERGENT (which I haven't had a chance to see - yet), I wanted to know more about the story.  Lane Library owns the collection of novels, so I decided to sit down and read them.  I was drawn in immediately by the characters and storyline.  So, that is the background to today's blog post.  I am very happy I read them and I would encourage you to consider doing the same sometime - maybe even over fall break.

I'm sure that some of you have already seen the film DIVERGENT or have read the book series that I mentioned above by Veronica Roth.  For those of you who are not familiar with Roth's series and do not mind a few spoilers, read on.  Veronica's series is a work of Dystopian fiction, and it revolves around a society somewhere in the future, located in the ruins of the once great metropolis of Chicago.  To set the stage, we meet a young woman named Beatrice Prior who is a member of one of the groups that makes up this society.  The society she lives in consists of five groups of people, known as factions.  At the age of 16, each young person in this society must take a test which determines which faction that person actually belongs.  Upon taking this test, Beatrice finds out that she is divergent and that she has a proclivity for multiple factions.  She must keep this fact a secret, for to reveal this could lead to her untimely death.  On choosing day, she chooses a much different faction than she grew up in.  This is where the story really gets interesting.

Spoiler Alert:  This is a story of growth through strife.  First Beatrice must survive the initiation into the faction she chose, which is very difficult.  Then she must then survive a civil war, only to discover that she and everyone she loves is part of a closed experiment and genetic restoration project.  Talk about turning one's world upside down.  Let's just say that the young woman you meet at the beginning of this story is not the person you know at the end.  Since this story takes place in post-apocalyptic  Chicago, many iconic places are mentioned, including Millennium Park, Navy Pier, The Hancock Center, O'Hare Airport, the Chicago 'L', and even the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (briefly in the third book).  

So, if you want a little light reading set in a strangely familiar world, I'd suggest checking out DIVERGENT, INSURGENT, and ALLEGIENT.  These books (and many, many more) are available at Lane Library, and at other libraries in this area. 

This is Carl the Cataloging Librarian signing off.  Happy reading, and have a great Fall Break!

Use all the Technology!

Interested in creating a digital media project for a class or group? Where are you going to go for the technology needed?  Stop by Lane Library today.  We have a couple of Sony Camcorders along with tripods available for your use.  Uncertain what to do next?  We have iPads available for checkout as well, complete with the iMovie app.  Simply transfer your videos from the camcorder to the iPad via a computer, and you too can create your own video complete with voice-overs, musical scores, credits, and more.  

Why create a video for an assignment?  Your goal is to synthesize the information set before you by writing and thinking critically.  It may be daunting, but in a digitally, tech savvy world, it may be time for you to jump right in.  Before starting a project like this, be certain that you do plenty of planning and pre-production work to ensure that your video goes smoothly.  Write an outline, create a storyboard, and revise.  Continue revising and editing, as you will undoubtedly run into unexpected bumps in the road.  Don't forget the credits at the end, and be certain to cite any images or videos used that you yourself did not take.  Most importantly, enjoy the process and get in touch with your creative side.  

Check out camcorders and iPads Monday through Friday from a librarian.  For more information, please check our technology guide at http://www.ripon.edu/library/libguides/technology/, or ask one of the friendly librarians for assistance.   As far as technology, we also have headphones, flash drives, and external hard drives, all available for check out.  New this fall we also have updated technology in our conference room to include a television that can be connected to your computer in order to project your project onto the big screen.  This room is available for your use, and can be reserved as well.  


Be certain to view the Banned Books Week video from this year's Virtual Read Out at Lane Library, created by Ripon College student and library assistant Emelia Erickson using digital media at the library.

Banned Books Week!

Banned Books Week - 2014!

To commemorate Banned Books Week, the library is having a Virtual Read Out and Banned Book Mugshot event - Thursday, September 25th from noon to 3:00pm.

It just takes a few minutes for you to get your mugshot with your favorite banned book and then read a few lines. We'll take the images and readings and make a compilation video to commemorate BBW 2014!! Everyone who participates will get a sweet pin and be entered to win a library swag prize!

About Banned Books Week

Many people think that banning books is something that happens only in the past or in extremist dictatorships in far-off countries, but it is, unfortunately, alive and well in the United States. Starting in 1982, Banned Books Week is an effort by librarians to highlight the importance of not censoring books and limiting the public's knowledge on topics that others may find "objectionable".  As John Stewart Mill wrote in "On Liberty":

But the peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error.

The titles challenged are sometimes shocking, such as To Kill A Mockingbird, The Giver, The Catcher in the Rye, and ironically, Farenheit 451. Take a moment to look at what texts people find so offensive that they fight to have it removed from libraries:

• Most challenged/banned titles in 2014: http://bannedbooksweek.org/about
• Top challenged/banned books of the 21st century
• Top challenged/banned classics

One thing these lists have in common is that you are guaranteed to find at least one title which changed your life (The Sun Also Rises, Sophie's Choice, Looking for Alaska, Hunger Games, Harry Potter, The Hobbit, Brave New World, Perks of Being a Wallflower...)

Here are recent local challenges. All have happened within a one-hour drive from Ripon:

Oshkosh, WI

(2007) Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass was removed from the St. John Neumann Middle and Lourdes High School in Oshkosh, WI because of concerns about what critics call its “anti-Christian message.”

Fond du Lac, WI

(2010) Julie Halpern's "Get Well Soon" was challenged at the Theisen Middle School in Fond du Lac, Wis. by a parent who believes that the book contains inappropriate subject matter for children.

(2010) Ann Brashares' "Forever in Blue, the Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood" was challenged at Theisen Middle School in Fond du Lac, WI by a parent who believes that the book has inappropriate subject matter for children. "Some (of the characters in the book) are sexually active, and alcohol is part of their recreation."

(2010) WritersCorps "Paint Me Like I Am: Teen Poems" was retained in the combined middle and high school library in North Fond du Lac, WI School District provided it has a label designating it as appropriate for high school students. Younger students could also access the book with prior parental permission. A parent asked the school district to reconsider the book due to mature language.

(2010) Sonya Sones' "One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies" was challenged but retained at the Theisen Middle School despite a parent's belief that the book's "sexual content was too mature for eleven-to fourteen-year-olds." The book has won several awards, including being named a 2005 Best Book for Young Adults by the American Library Association. The same parent plans to request removal of six other books from the library, including the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, another set of books by Sones, and Get Well Soon, by Julie Halpern.

Menasha, WI

(2008) Louise Rennison's "Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson" was retained with limited access at the Maplewood Middle School in Menasha after objections from a parent who found the book offensive. The book was retained, but board members voted unanimously to adopt procedures intended to secure parental consent before limited access books could be released to students.

Appleton, WI

Carol Plum-Ucci's the "The Body of Christopher Creed" was challenged, but retained in the Appleton, Wis. Area School District (2012), despite the book’s references to suicide and sex. Other titles also considered inappropriate by the local parent group, Valley School Watch, include The Catcher in the Rye and The House on Mango Street. The reading list for the group’s ideal alternate class would contain books with no profanity, obscenity, or sexual material.

West Bend, WI

(2009) Stephen Chbosky's "The Perks of Being a Wallflower", Brent Hartinger's "Geography Club", and Francesca Lia Block's "Baby Be-Bop" were just a few of numerous books challenged in West Bend because of content seen by some community members as obscene or harmful to minors. Many of the books challenged had LGBTQ themes. On May 18, 2009, the West Bend Common Council voted not to reappoint four members of the Library Board because of their views and adherence to library policy. NCAC, ABFFE, the Association of American Publishers, and PEN American Center joined to urge the council to reconsider their decision and retain the books. The ALA issued a separate letter and statement on the issue. Additionally, the Christian Civil Liberties Union filed a legal claim arguing that its plaintiffs suffered mental and emotional damage from the presence of the books in the library's young adult section. On June 2, the West Bend Library Board voted unanimously to retain the books in its YA Zone, without removing, relocating, labeling, or otherwise restricting access. Though no subsequent challenges were submitted, the library has faced ongoing pressure to remove or restrict access to online content and library materials for young people.

--all taken from http://bannedbooksweek.org/mappingcensorship

Learn a little, play a little

Our Digital Makerspace schedule is now available for this fall.  Another semester of Digital Makerspace Workshops at the library and we have a lineup of new topics, as well as a couple of "back by popular demand" workshops.  Some are geared to help you out with your classes, such as the ones on Zotero and Advanced Google search techniques, while others are there to have a little fun, such as the "create a button" workshop.   Be sure to look them over and mark the dates in your calendar!

Some things don't change, and as always the workshops are free and with no advance registration required, and we try and do two sessions of each workshop. The content covered in each of the two sessions is the same, so you only need to attend the one that fits into your schedule.  The workshops last about 30 minutes, and are generally held in the Waitkus Computer Lab in Lane Library, unless otherwise noted.

Below is a list of our Digital Makerspace Workshops this semester:

Zotero      

Monday, September 8 @4 pm 

Start your semester our right with your research.  Learn how to create a bibliography in seconds using your collected research in Zotero.  

Prezi vs. Powerpoint 

Monday, Sept. 15 @4 pm / Tuesday, Sept. 16 @noon

Using the latest technology to share your ideas?  There are many choices out there for incorporating ideas and visual technology into your presentation.   Best practices for presentations, both in Prezi and Powerpoint, will be reviewed to help in getting your point across smoothly.  

iMovie with iPads and Digital Cameras

Monday, Sept. 22 @4 pm / Tuesday, Sept. 23 @noon 

Stop by to check out the cameras and iPads available to you through the library.  The iMovie app is also available on our iPads, which means you can make the videos the length you need for assignments or promotional materials for your class, club or sport.  

Advanced Google:  new search strategies  

Monday, Sept. 29 @4 pm / Tuesday, Sept. 30 @noon

Want to find out how to do a better, faster search with Google?  All searching is not equal; learn how to take advantage of the Advanced Google search to find what you are looking for the first time.

Pixlr  

Monday, Oct. 6 @4 pm / Tuesday, Oct. 7 @noon   

Wondering how to take your photos from good to amazing?  Want to add a little text to your photos?  Come explore Pixlr, and let your photos have their time to shine.

How to Design Video Assignments

Monday, Oct. 13 @4 pm / Tuesday, Oct.14 @noon           

Video essays and digital storytelling play a part in the Digital Humanities movement, and this visual aspect can be turned into a great assignment if designed well.  Come to learn and share ideas as to how a video assignment can be adapted to fit your class.

Create a Button 

Monday, Oct. 27 @4 pm / Tuesday, Oct. 28 @noon      

Do you have something to say in a visual 1 inch format?  Come with your ideas and learn to use the library's button maker to create a small button of your very own.  

Infographics in your pocket

Monday, Nov. 3 @4 pm / Tuesday, Nov. 4 @noon      

Do good statistics and data sets make you smile?  Find out how to create engaging infographics, as well as great places to get data at your library.  

How to Give a Ted Talk    

Tuesday, Nov. 11 @ noon / Wednesday, Nov. 12 @ 4pm 

Love the style of a Ted Talk, but not certain how to incorporate those techniques into your own presentation?  Stop by to learn what makes a Ted Talk so engaging, and get the tools needed to make your end of the semester presentations stand out. 

3D Printer      

Monday, Nov. 17 @4 pm / Tuesday, Nov. 18 @ noon in the North Reading Room

The Makerbot 3D Printer is available for you to be innovative and release your creativity for your coursework.  Want to find out what the printer can do?  Professor John Dalziel will be leading the workshops, demonstrating how the printer works and the guidelines for use.

Zotero      

Monday, Nov. 24 @4 pm / Tuesday, Nov. 25 @ noon 

Never to late to learn new organizational techniques.  A second chance to familiarize yourself with Zotero's bibliographical tools, and amaze your professors with your correctly formatted bibliographies that you created with the click of a button.

If you have any questions, comments, or any suggestions for future Digital Makerspace workshops, please let us know! 

Now and then: Bartlett Hall

Bartlett Hall circa 1900 and 2014.

Now and then: Ripon College Campus

Welcome back Ripon students!
As you walk around the campus, imagine all of the students who have walked and stood in the same places you have. Pictured left, two female students standing on steps adjacent to the library ca. 1935.  Pictured right, two female students standing on steps adjacent to the library, 2014.

Etiquette: Business or Otherwise.

Hello everyone, 

It is Carl, your intrepid Technical Services Librarian at the keyboard, and I'm writing to you again from the deep recesses of Lane Library where amazing things happen.  Many of you know that your Lane librarians serve as representatives (liaisons) to various academic departments on campus.  As part of what we do, we often look at resources related to our liaison departments.  Since I work with the business department, I recently had a business book cross my desk that most everyone might find interesting.  The book is titled:  The essentials of business etiquette : how to greet, eat, and tweet your way to success.  It is written by Barbara Pachter who is a public speaker and regularly does workshops on this topic.  Upon reading the first few pages, it was obvious to this reader that she is an expert on this subject.


Pachter includes five general topics in this book:  greeting people, maintaining your profession image, how to eat with grace, how to properly handle phones and social media, and how to improve your career.  Her writing style is easily accessible, down to earth, funny and informative.  This text is so full of excellent advice that I had a hard time putting it down.  Of special note, section four starting at page 185 is especially helpful for the job seeker.  Soon to be graduates, This Means You!  Remember not to sell yourself short.  Take chances when applying for positions.  Do your research on the company you are applying at and ask good questions if and when you get the interview. 

So, dear reader, will this book benefit someone who is not a business major or minor?  I ask, will you ever have to go out on an interview?  Are you going to have a career someday?  Ladies and gentlemen, don't let the word "business" in the title of this book fool you.  Everyone who has to interact and communicate with other people ought to read this book.  This is the text for you and is well worth your time.  I highly recommend it and intend to use as much of the advice as I can recall from my one reading of this book.

We'll "chat" again soon.  In the meantime, I hope you have fun reading and learning new things.

Your trusty librarian,

Carl Z.

National School Library Month

Award winning books added to our collection this spring.

In celebrating National School Library Month, we would like to recognize Ripon College Education Department in helping to develop our future teachers.  Libraries are vital resources to educators, and these current education students will be the future leaders in engaging children in reading, both for learning and pleasure.  Our education department ensures that our library's juvenile collection stays up to date with the latest award winning books for the students.

It has been a busy month with new books, and we added a wide variety of new juvenile fiction.  This includes the Newbery winner, Flora and Ulysses and some of the Newbery honor books (Year of Billy Miller).  The Printz (In Darkness), Orbis Pictus (Splash of Red), and Corretta Scott King Award (P.S. Be Eleven) winners and a few select nominees have also been added.  You can search the catalog for past winners by searching for the award, such as "Newbery Honor Books."

To keep in touch with all of our new books, please look through the new books listed on the Lane Library Catalog home page.  http://catalog.ripon.bywatersolutions.com/  This is updated daily when any new books are added to the collection.  It is a fantastic way to do some old-school browsing of new books.

Credo: New Reference Database at Lane Library

Lane Library is now offering Credo, a reference database of more than 600 full text reference works from over fifteen disciplines:
Art, Business, Food & Beverage, General Reference, Geography, History, Language, Law, Literature, Medicine, Music, Philosophy, Psychology, Religion, Science, Social Sciences, Technology

This is a great place to start your research, where you can get a quick overview of a topic rather than sorting through questionable results from Google or wondering if a Wikipedia entry had been recently altered by a prankster. Credo also offers mind maps, which assist in brainstorming related topics.
 (Below: Mind map for Hank Aaron)

 

After getting background information on a topic, Credo seamlessly connects you to academic databases and other information sources by placing links to the left of your search results. Clicking on one of these links will run the same keyword search in the selected source.

 

Credo is listed among the databases on the Lane Library homepage.

Hero finally meets Villain in March Madness

The Championship Round has been decided!  Our hero is Professor McGonagall from the Harry Potter series, and our villain is Moriarty from "The Adventure of the Final Problem" (Sherlock Holmes).  Now it is your turn to decide if good or evil will reign overall.  Vote below by Wednesday, April 2.

Wondering how Professor McGonagall became our final hero, or curious as to the road Moriarty had to take to get to the final?  Look at the complete bracket below.  The last round had very similar margins, with Moriarty and Professor McGonagall winning each of their battles by about 67%.  

Click on the picture below to see the names a little better, but you might want to get your glasses out one last time.

Voting on our Championship Round of Heroes and Villains will continue through Wednesday, April 2nd, and the ultimate winner will be announced on Thursday, April 3rd; stay tuned to our Facebook and Twitter pages for updates.  As before, voting is open to everyone, but we again have only a few short days before a final winner will be announced.  

Final Four in our Literary March Madness

Final four time is here!  Make your vote count and enter it by Monday, March 31st to decide which hero and villain will be duking it out in the finale.

Curious to see how we ended up with Professor McGonagall vs. James Bond and Moriarty vs. Count Olaf?  Look at the complete bracket below.  The last round was very close, with Moriarty making a late surge to beat Bellatrix Lestrange 52% to 48%.  The Shark also was our great underdog (with 42%), but he didn't have enough votes to pull it out against Count Olaf (58%).  

Click on the picture below to see the names a little better, but you might want to get your glasses out once again.

Voting on our Final Four Heroes and Villains will continue through Sunday, March 30th, and our final Hero and Villain battle will be announced on Monday, March 31st; stay tuned to our Facebook and Twitter pages for updates.  Voting is open to everyone, but we only have a few short days before one Villain and one Hero will go against each other based on your choices!

Literary March Madness narrowed to 8

Four heroes and four villains are all that remain in our March Madness.  Voting is open for only a couple of days until Thursday, March 27th at http://bit.ly/1gmYEJc for your favorite characters in the current round.  Once again, you as the voter have not failed to surprise us, and this round looks to be no different.  Choices may be tougher, but now you only have four match-ups in this round.

Surprisingly enough, all of the eight finalists have seen their characters up on the silver screen as well.  Whether you know these heroes and villains best through their books or films, make certain your vote counts and either give us your ballot online or via paper at the library.    The entire bracket is below, to see the paths of each of our heroes and villains up to this point.  

Voting on our Elite Eight Heroes and Villains will continue through Thursday, March 27th, and our next winners will be announced on Friday, March 28th; stay tuned to our Facebook and Twitter pages for updates.  Enjoy and vote to make sure your favorites make it to the Final Four!

Sweet Sixteen in our Literary March Madness

We have now arrived at round three in our March Madness Literary Knockdown, better known in the tournament world as the Sweet Sixteen.  Voting is now open until the Monday after Spring Break for the Sweet Sixteen at http://bit.ly/1i87PMJ for your favorite literary heroes and villains.  We are now down to only 8 heroes vs. 8 villains, and oh, how the mighty have fallen.  Narrowing down from 64 to 16 has not been easy, but you have helped your favorites move on to the next match.

Curious as to which hero Charlotte of Charlotte's Web had to beat to get this far? Wondering how Hannibal Lector of Silence of the Lambs got knocked out of contention?   If you want to see the entire bracket, how we got to this point, and which Heroes and Villains are left, find those glasses again for the updated brackets below.

Voting on our Sweet Sixteen Heroes and Villains will continue through Monday, March 24th, and our next winners will be announced on Tuesday, March 25th; stay tuned to our Facebook and Twitter pages for updates.  Enjoy and vote to make sure your favorites make it to the next round!

Round Two of Literary Madness

How did your first round choices do in our literary March Madness?  Voting is now open until Wednesday for round two at http://bitly.com/1lGbaGz for your favorite literary heroes and villains.  We are now down to 16 heroes vs. 16 villains, and the match-ups continue to be intriguing, if not down right strange.  Who will get your vote between Tom Sawyer or James Bond?  Do you think Hannibal Lector would get the better of Bellatrix Lestrange?  It is up to you to decide.

If you want to see the bigger picture as to which Heroes and Villains reigned supreme in the early rounds, get your glasses out again for the updated brackets below.

Second round voting will continue through Wednesday, March 12th, and our next winners will be announced on Thursday, March 13th; stay tuned to our Facebook and Twitter pages for updates.  Have fun with it, be sure to put in your two cents, and we will have our Sweet Sixteen announcement before Spring Break!

Proof of Heaven

Hello everyone.  Welcome back to the dark recesses of the library where Carl, your friendly cataloger, keeps vigil.  Many books come across my desk that are interesting and, if I had the time, I'd like to read many of them.  Recently, I was cataloging a book titled Proof of Heaven by Dr. Eben Alexander.  It looked like a good and easy read, so I took it home and read the whole book in one night.  

In this text, Dr. Alexander, a experienced neurosurgeon, describes how he faced a rare and life threatening illness.  While in the ICU, he wasn't expected to live because parts of his brain had shut down and he was in a coma. 

While in a coma, Dr. Alexander encountered a Near Death Experience (NDE), which he later described in great detail.  Dr. Alexander goes on to explain that before his experience, he believed that an NDE was something the brain made up when it was threatened.  But in Dr. Alexander's case, the part of the brain that controls consciousness and would generate such an experience was shut down at the time.  After sharing his story, Dr. Alexander goes on to confront the apparent gulf between hard science and spirituality regarding NDEs with clear and concise efficiency. 

Proof of Heaven is an excellent read, and if you have an interest in topics such as the afterlife, I'd suggest checking this one out.  The call # is:  RD592.9.A54 A3 2012

Carl Ziebell
Lane Library

Literary March Madness at the library

Ready for a little bookish March Madness?  Announcing our very own Heroes vs. Villains tournament this March, where you decide who gets to move on to the next round.  Voting is already open in the first round at http://bit.ly/1gHOekd, or stop by the circulation desk at the library and fill out a form there.  With 32 hero match-ups and 32 villain match-ups, the battles will continue to go on until the end of the month, when you decide with your votes who will remain standing.  Heroes vs. heroes, and villains vs. villains until the very last round.

If you are interested in viewing the brackets, get your glasses on because below is the image with our first round characters.

If you want a copy to print out for filling out your brackets for a friendly wager between friends, here is the link:  http://bit.ly/1luMEId

First round voting will continue through Thursday, March 6th, and our first winners will be announced on Friday, March 6th; stay tuned to our Facebook and Twitter pages for updates.  Best of luck to the good and bad, and may the best character remain win at the end of the month!

Digital Makerspace Workshop Schedule

Another semester of Digital Makerspace Workshops at the library and we have a lineup of new topics.   This spring semester we have been focusing more on the digital end of things and finding new tools that will help you succeed.  Also with the campus transition to Gmail this semester, we have a few more Google-oriented workshops to get you familiar with how to get the most out of Google education apps you now have access to through Ripon College.  We have already held workshops on Google Drive, Gmail, and WeVideo Editing.

Some things don't change, and as always the workshops are free and with no advance registration required, and we try and do two sessions of each workshop. The content covered in each of the two sessions is the same, so you only need to attend the one that fits into your schedule.  The workshops last about 30 minutes, and are generally held in the Waitkus Computer Lab in Lane Library, unless otherwise noted.

Below is a list of our remaining Digital Makerspace Workshops this semester:

Basics of the 3D Printer        

Tuesday, February 18 @4:15pm in the North Reading Room

The Makerbot 3D Printer is available for you to be innovative and release your creativity for your coursework.  Want to find out what the printer can do?  Professors Bob Wallace and John Dalziel will be leading the workshops, demonstrating how the printer works and the guidelines for use.

FreeCAD for designing with 3D printer   

Tuesday, February 25 @4pm                                                      

Now you know that you have a 3D Printer available to you, how are you going to go about designing a new project?   Guest Stephanie Prellwitz will take you through the basics of FreeCAD to get you started in 3D printing.

eBooks  

Monday, March 3 @noon / Tuesday, March 4 @4pm        

Thousands of eBooks are available for your use through the library.  Are you looking for help on where to find eBooks or maybe how to use and download them to your own personal device?  Stop by for a hands-on workshop and get some answers to your questions.

What is Scalar?   

Monday, March 10 @noon / Tuesday, March 11 @4pm        

Scalar is an open-source publishing tool that allows user to create born-digital scholarship online, as simply as traditional blogging, but a lot more powerful.   Learn more about what Scalar is, how you can and why you would want to use it.   See why you might want to add some visual and interactive spice to your book, chapter or online project.

Google Sites:  Create Wikis and your own Webpages   

Monday, March 24 @noon / Tuesday, March 25 @4pm        

Learn to create a wiki or webpage for yourself, your student organization or class project.  Find the tips and tricks necessary to navigate and create your own web presence from Matthew Bolwerk at ITS.  

Advanced Google:  new search strategies  

Monday, March 31 @noon / Tuesday, April 1 @4pm

Want to find out how to do a better, faster search with Google?  All searching is not equal; learn how to take advantage of the Advanced Google search to find what you are looking for the first time.

Budget Friendly Software Alternatives   

Monday, April 14 @noon / Tuesday, April 15 @4pm        

The life of a student and discounted software does not last forever, but that does not mean that you will only have high cost options.  Stop by for a tour of some of the free software options available to you, regardless of your student affiliation.   

If you have any questions, comments, or any suggestions for future Digital Makerspace workshops, please let us know! 

Happy Birthday Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln the Dreamer was given to the college by Waupun sculptor, Clarence Addison Shaler in 1939.

Presented to Ripon College by the Artist Clarence Addison Shaler

Represents the man Lincoln as he was at the outset of his public career. His character formed by his early hardships in the wilderness, partakes of the strength of the oak tempered by the warmth of his sympathies.
He is leaving that early environment in pursuit of an unknown destiny. Untouched as yet by tragedy, betrayal and disillusionment. A man at the noon of his powers, which his high resolve has already dedicated to the good of his country and of mankind.

--Dedication Plaque

Crowdsourcing and online archives

In honor of the World War I centenary, the British National Archives have opened up a great new database - The British Army War Diaries 1914-1922.

 

This database contains over 1.5 million pages of war diaries and over the next few years the archives will be working on digitizing more appeal tribunals and service records of the Household Cavalry. The Archives currently has thousands of appeals against conscription, POW interviews, nurses' service records, Women's Army Auxiliary Corps service records, images, and Durham Home Guard records (WWII) digitized and searchable on their website.  

In and of itself, the database is a fantastic resource for researchers, but they're making it better by tagging the 1.5 million papers with names, dates, locations, happenings, and more. This undertaking would take years and millions of dollars (well, pounds) with an archive team working on it, but they're already almost half-way through because of crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing, as defined by Wikipedia is "the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people, and especially from an online community, rather than from traditional employees or suppliers." Computers can easily read typed letters in an image - like when you have a pdf of a document - however, they have a hard time accurately reading handwriting. Humans, unlike computers, can read handwriting and use context to figure out most words that aren't immediately legible. To safeguard against bad transcriptions, they have many people work on the same piece. If the same tag or transcription is used by multiple users for a document, only then will those tags and transcriptions be officially added to the record.

The main organization putting together scientific and historic crowdsourcing is Zooniverse. They have twenty different projects currently going on. If you aren't interested in WWI history, maybe you'd like to analyze cancer data? hear whales communicate? match black holes to their jets? or explore the surface of the moon? 

Zooniverse offers a lot of different projects, all with an easy-to-use interface. I highly recommend taking a look at their offerings - zooniverse.org.

Crowdsourcing doesn't have to work towards just processing data for researchers, it has also been used to directly help people. After typhoon Haiyan, organizations used crowdsourcing to determine areas of greatest destruction using volunteers from 82 countries to create and compare before and after maps. These maps also helped volunteers on the ground to get to areas of greatest need. See this article for more details on their efforts. The website fold.it managed to harness gaming as a method of crowdsourcing. In 10 days, gamers solved a mystery concerning the structure of an enzyme that plays a key part in the spread of AIDS which had eluded scientists for years. The Leo Tolstoy Museum was able to proofread 46,800 pages in two weeks. These were then digitized to be used by fans worldwide.

I have worked on a few crowdsourcing projects. They are fun because you get to look at historical documents, the solar system, far-away countries, etc, and everyone's small contribution adds up to a huge advance in knowledge. No matter what you're interested in, I'm sure there's a way you can contribute through crowdsourcing.

Get started by taking a look at the following sites:
zooniverse.org
scistarter.com
birds.cornell.edu/citsci/ 
National Geographic's Fieldscope Project

Focus on Music

Hello everyone.  It is Carl at the keyboard again.  Welcome to another edition of life from the deep recesses of the library on a bitter cold and snowy day.

As most of you already know, the librarians at Ripon College have master’s degrees in Library Science, but some of us also have subject specific master’s degrees as well.  My second  master’s degree happens to be in Church Music.  So today, I’d like to talk a little bit about the music section and some of the interesting resources that Lane Library has available.  I can only touch on a few items, but would be happy to chat further about available resources for your personal research.  So, here we go.

Most people know that at Ripon College we have two libraries that contain musical resources.  Lane Library contains the historical, biographical and instructional texts that you might need for your research.  Rodman Center For The Arts contains the score and sound recording library for listening and practice.

When a person thinks of music research, one of the first background research tools that comes to mind is The New Groves Dictionary of Music and Musicians.  Ripon College owns two editions.  The 2001 edition is housed at Rodman and the 1980 edition is housed at Lane Library.  Call #:  ML100 .G885 1980.  Each article contains a quality summary of a given topic, plus a bibliography of further sources to consult.

While I find "Groves" fascinating as a musician and scholar, there are many other interesting titles in Lane Library’s music text collection and I will highlight a few of the more interesting ones. 

We own a copy of The Southern Harmony.  This item is a hymnal for worship, but not quite the hymnal you might find when you stroll into one of our local Ripon churches.  When using modern hymnals, it is common to have accompaniments via organ, piano, and/or other instruments.  In contrast, hymns in The Southern Harmony, and other hymnals like it, were sung with no accompaniment.   They also use a form of musical notation known as Shape Notes which was intended to make congregational singing easier.  See the following Wikipedia articles for further information:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Harmony  &  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shape_note  The call # for this book is:  M2117 .S74 1993.

Lane Library also owns a copy of The Liber Usualis.  For those of you who are unfamiliar as to what this book is, it is the Roman Catholic liturgy book used before Vatican II, complete with Gregorian Chants.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Vatican_Council   &  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_chant   The liturgical chants found in The Liber use an older form of natation (Neumes), notated on a four-line staff.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neume   Instruction on how to read and sing these chants are in the book, but if you want to give them a try, be prepared to chant in Latin.  The Call # for this book is:  M2148.1.T8 L42 1952

I recall from childhood hearing the phrase “Music soothes the savage beast.”  Well, I may not have much experience with trying to soothe savage beasts, but I do know that music can evoke an emotional response in people.  Oxford University Press published a book in 2011 that addresses the concept of music and emotion.  It is titled, surprisingly enough, Handbook of Music and Emotion : Theory, research, applications.  Check it out at:  http://catalog.ripon.bywatersolutions.com/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=131003  The call # for this book is:  ML3830 .H195 2011

So that’s three of the many, varied and interesting books held in the music section of Lane Library.  We have books about many composers and from all eras.  As an aside, while scanning the shelves, I found this title especially interesting:  The Beatles as musicians : Revolver through the Anthology .  http://catalog.ripon.bywatersolutions.com/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=88204  If you decide to check it out, please let me know if it is a good read.   

In the meantime, Happy Reading, and stay warm.

Carl Ziebell
Lane Library