Book sale, guest author, Friends meeting, 2012!

Next week (April 10th through 15th) there will be a lot of commotion over at the library and we hope you'll be part!  Our book sale begins on Tuesday the 10th and will go through the weekend.  On Friday the 13th we have our Friends of Lane Library meeting (6:30) with guest author, David Rhodes (7:00).

Mr. Rhodes published three novels in the early seventies to great acclaim.  After a motorcycle accident left him paralyzed he stopped publishing, to the dismay of reviewers and readers alike, for three decades.  In 2008, his most recent work, Driftless was published and earned him very high reviews from all areas of the literary world. Alan Cheuse of the Chicago Tribune said, ""Driftless" is the best work of fiction to come out of the Midwest in many years, and it re-creates the human condition as a condition of Wisconsin life."  Driftless, along with his other three novels, are all at Lane Library. Click here to see if they are currently available.

This event is open to the entire community!  

Lane Library Internship

Bernice Wells Carlson Award

This internship opportunity is in honor of Mrs. Bernice Wells Carlson, class of 1932, a strong supporter of Lane Library from 1992 until her death in 2009. She wrote, Working in a college library is a learning as well as earning experience and no student should be denied the opportunity to learn by doing.

Structure of the Award

The recipient of the award will have the opportunity to shadow librarians in their departments and learn about the various facets of library work. He or she will also be invited to attend professional conferences with librarians (students can apply for funding through the Student Activities Office or through the Wisconsin Library Association) and visit libraries at other institutions.

Who is Eligible

Ripon College students, particularly those who are interested in pursuing careers in librarianship, elementary education, or writing.

Amount Awarded

Eight hours work-study per week in the library over the course of an academic year.

Timetable

Applications will be accepted after fall break, and are due April 1. The winner will be announced at the Friends of Lane Library Meeting, 6:30-7PM on April 13th.

To Apply

In five hundred words or fewer, explain why you are interested in a career in libraries. Include any previous library experience you have and, if applicable, what aspect of librarianship you are most interested in. Return to: Andrew Prellwitz via email:prellwitza@ripon.edu. If you have any questions, call (920) 748-8752.
For More information about Ms. Carlson, see Bernice Wells Carlson Papers at USM.

Top six tips for using the new library catalog

Your Account

Logging in to your library account allows you to renew books, place holds, create lists, view your search history, and more. Your account has already been created, so all you need to do is log in with the first part of your Ripon email name (everything before the @ sign) and your email password.

Lists

The list function provides a way to save lists of items for future reference, or to share lists with others. Once you've created a list, you can print, email, or link to it.

Cart

The cart is a similar function to lists.  With the cart, you can collect lists of books and other items to print or email.  The difference between Lists and the Cart is that items in the cart won't be saved in the catalog for future use after you have closed the catalog.

Tags

Tags in the library catalog work just like Twitter hashtags or tags on a blog post. Anyone who is logged in can tag an item, and clicking on a tag brings up a list of everything with that tag.

Virtual Shelf Browser

Academic libraries arrange their bookshelves based on the topic of the book, so browsing the shelf can be a good way to find related items. The library catalog mimics this experience: from the record for an item, click on the “Browse Shelf” link next to the call number to browse a virtual bookshelf.

RSS

If you use an RSS reader, you can subscribe to an RSS feed for any search you run in the catalog. For instance, the “New Books” list on the main page of the catalog pulls from an RSS feed based on a search for all books. You could do something similar to track new films, or new books on a particular subject. 

Have questions or suggestions about the new catalog? Leave a comment below, or email library AT ripon.edu.

SOPA and PIPA: the bills behind Wikipedia's blackout

If you were planning to use Wikipedia to get a head start on this semester’s papers, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow. The crowd-sourced encyclopedia is staging a 24-hour blackout to protest SOPA and PIPA (the House’s Stop Online Piracy Act and the Senate’s Protect Intellectual Property Act). Wikipedia, Google, and other tech giants opposing the bill claim that it would hinder innovation and infringe on freedom of speech. According to Rep. Zoe Lofgren, whose California district includes much of Silicon Valley, SOPA “would mean the end of the internet as we know it.”

Meanwhile, major media companies, including the Motion Picture Association of America and several record labels, support the bills' efforts to curb the theft of U.S. intellectual property. Rupert Murdoch characterized opponents of SOPA and PIPA as “Silicon valley paymasters who threaten all software creators with piracy, plain thievery.”

One way to see past the hyperbole is to read the text of the bills themselves. Using THOMAS, a database from the Library of Congress, you can find the full text of a bill, along with summaries, revisions, amendments, CBO cost estimates, and a list of sponsors; you can also track the bill’s progress through the legislative process. Search for the bills by number or name (not abbreviation), or follow these links:

• Stop Online Piracy Act
• Protect Intellectual Property Act

THOMAS contains summaries of bills from 1973 through the current Congress, and the full text of bills from 1989 through the current Congress. For earlier years, print copies of many bills are available through Lane Library’s government documents collection.

RC Archives: Student worker position available

Assembling the Ripon College Crimson [ca. 1940] (Ann Ewing Collection)

 Interested in working in the Ripon College Archives during the Spring 2012 semester?
Fill out an application [ http://www.ripon.edu/library/about/studentemployment.html ] and return it to Andrew Prellwitz by January 20th.  (For current Ripon College students only.)

Romney visits Ripon College

But not that one.
'Tis the season for politics with the Iowa Caucus right around the corner. In February of 1968, Gov. George Romney, father of current GOP Presidential nominee contender Mitt Romney, visited Ripon College while campaigning for the GOP nomination. He eventually lost to Richard Nixon, but was later named by Nixon the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
The primary in Wisconsin is scheduled for April 3rd, 2012--though there are no plans (yet) for Mitt Romney to make any appearances in Ripon.

A Festivus for the Rest of Us!

In an episode of Seinfeld aired in 1997, America was introduced to the anti-materialistic, non-religious holiday we have come to know and love - Festivus!!

In this episode ("The Strike"), you may remember that George Costanza sends Christmas cards to his fellow employees, in an effort to save money on real gifts, stating a donation had been made to a fake charity (invented by George) called The Human Fund (with the slogan "Money For People").

Later, George is confronted by Kruger, his boss, after handing out the fake donation cards. George defended himself saying that he feared persecution for his beliefs, for not celebrating Christmas. Attempting to call his bluff, Kruger came home with George to see Festivus in action.

Interestingly, in 2005, an organization came into existence that is actually called "The Human Fund". To my delight, I came across their website during my research for the Festivus display case (go check that out, by the way!).

So, all you Seinfeld fans out there can make a REAL donation to "The Human Fund" on behalf of your friends and family, and along with making them laugh, you can make a real impact on the lives of the under-served youth in Cleveland, OH.


The mission of The Human Fund (it's not just "money for people"):

The Human Fund effectively supports arts education programs for the under-served youth of the city of Cleveland, providing a commitment to funding several arts programs annually.

We are a non-traditional foundation taking a fresh approach to fundraising. Our foundation takes arts education seriously and as a friend of the arts, The Human Fund is committed to financial support for youth arts programming.

To learn more about The Human Fund, visit their website!


http://www.the-human-fund.org/index.php