Announcing Mini Saga Fiction Contest Winners

MUM writers, thank you for participating in the Gardner-Harvey Library Mini Saga Fiction Contest! We appreciate your creativity and effort crafting a story in exactly 50 words. Contest judges Dr. Schorman and Dr. Casey reviewed nearly 25 entries and selected these two winning entries. Congratulations to David Miller and Julia Brodt-Eppley.

We had a yard sale after the wake and got rid of the magazines, teacups, saucers, pots, china, and the hairy armchair. And yes. We even sold the telescope she would use to inspect meteors and planets. As we finished, a straggler came our way. I swear it was mom. D. E. Miller

Class began. Lecture hall crowded. He entered from the back, late. Usually sat up front, Braille machine positioned to clack. Unsure, he froze. End student aware, sent message down back row. Seamlessly, each nodded, shifted down a seat. He claimed the end, positioned Braille machine. Then smiled. Instructor cried. Silently. Julia Brodt-Eppley

Resource of the Week: Learning Express Library

In preparation for our upcoming Library workshop, this week’s Resource of the Week is the Learning Express Library. This online test-prep, skills improvement and job search database offers interactive courses in math, reading, and writing, as well as hundreds of practice exams in everything from grade school achievement tests to civil service exams. The Learning Express Library also has a new Job & Career Accelerator section which includes an Occupation Matcher and enables a user to create a resume, practice interview skills, and apply for open jobs.

For more information about the Learning Express Library and for a chance to see it in action, come to our workshop on Tuesday October 26, 2010 from 4-5 pm in the Library, Room GRD 111.

Take the library's one-minute survey!

We're hoping to get some input from you as we continue to improve the library. Click here to take our survey. All you need to do is tell us whether you're a student, faculty or staff member, or community user, and then tell us one thing you would do to improve the library. All responses are completely anonymous.

This will help us tremendously as we make plans for this year and beyond. Thanks for your minute!

Resource of the Week: Religion and Philosophy Collection

In honor of His Holiness the 14^th Dalai Lama of Tibet’s upcoming visit to Miami University, we select as our inaugural Resource of the Week, Miami University Libraries’ Religion and Philosophy Collection database. This database offers index, abstracts, and full text coverage of world religions, major denominations, biblical studies, religious history, epistemology, political philosophy, philosophy of language, moral philosophy and the history of philosophy. Try doing a search on Tibet or the Dalai Lama to learn more about Tibetan Buddhism, the belief in reincarnation, the relationship between China and Tibet, or the life of His Holiness.

Remember, if you were unable to get tickets to see His Holiness the 14^th Dalai Lama of Tibet present “Ethics in a Modern World,” at 2 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 21, you may remotely view the event at the Dave Finkelman Auditorium (Room 116). Tickets are free but required. Tickets may be ordered online at www.tickets.muohio.edu, by phone at 513.529.3200 or in person at the box office in the Shriver Center on the Oxford campus. Tickets for this remote venue are limited to four tickets per person.

Gardner-Harvey Library Workshops to Advance Your Goals

MUM Students, Staff, Faculty, & Administrators:

Please take note of 2 hands-on database workshops scheduled this fall.

Learning Express Library
Tuesday October 26, 2010 from 4-5 pm in the Library, Room GRD 111
Presented by Beth Tumbleson
This database will put you through your test-prep paces and also has a new module: Job & Career Accelerator for those of you contemplating a job search and resume writing. This database does all that and more. The more part includes math, reading, writing, and technology skill-building and exercises. It also includes practice exams for GED, ACT, SAT GRE, U.S. citizenship, civil service exams, and professional exams in teaching, nursing, law enforcement, etc. Scoring is instantaneous and explanations given for why an answer is right or wrong. The new Job & Career Accelerator module includes an Occupation Matcher and also enables a user to create a resume, practice interview skills, and apply for open jobs. All Ohioans have access to the database, but must first logon and create an individual account in an Ohio university, public, or school library. Come to the workshop and learn how to use its many features.

Refworks
Monday November 15, 2010 from 4-5 pm in the Library, Room GRD 111
Presented by John Burke and Jessie Long
With paper-writing season upon us, you will want to use this time-saving tool to create bibliographies. This online database allows you to manage, store, and format references in any citation format style selected so that creating bibliographies and in-text citations is efficient and easy. Many research databases and online catalog include an Export to RefWorks feature. As one gathers information from a variety of sources, one simply exports each citation to RefWorks and later creates the bibliography with a few clicks. Online tutorials and handouts within RefWorks allow for personal review and point-of-need instruction. Sounds like a dream machine? Come, create an account, and start using it today!

Banned Books Week: Let freedom ring!

The library is recognizing Banned Books Week from September 25 to October 2. Did you know that over 460 books were challenged for removal from libraries last year? The ten most common ones are linked here (along with the reasons they were challenged). All books are not for everyone, but these challenges (and the outright bannings of books) remove that choice from individual library patrons.

We have a display in place that outlines the situation with banned books and offers examples of banned books from our own collection. Read them and decide for yourself.

Make your own choice! Read the books you want! Celebrate our freedom to read!

A new database for Genealogy research!

Ancestry Library Edition is an incredible genealogical tool! As with all of our electronic resources, it works for you both on- and off-campus. Here's the official description of the database:

"Ancestry® Library Edition, distributed exclusively by ProQuest and powered by Ancestry.com, delivers billions of records in census data, vital records, directories, photos, and more.

Ancestry Library Edition brings the world’s most popular consumer online genealogy resource to your library. It’s an unprecedented online collection of individuals from North America, the UK, Europe, Australia, and more.

Answers await everyone—whether professional or hobbyist, expert or novice, genealogist, or historian—inside the more than 7,000 available databases. Here, you can unlock the story of you with sources like censuses, vital records, immigration records, family histories, military records, court and legal documents, directories, photos, maps, and more."

We hope you'll enjoy using it as you track down interesting bits of family history.

Mini Saga Contest @ The Gardner Harvey Library

Creative Thinkers & Writers Take Note:

Pick up A Whole New Mind’s challenge and become a storyteller. Sharpen your writing, submit your entry, and possibly win big! For details read on.

What: Write a mini saga, told in exactly 50 words, no more, no less. This genre is a very short story with a beginning, middle, and end, often surprising or funny. Include the usual fiction elements of character, plot, and setting.

When: Submit your entry by October 11, 2010 at the Library Info Desk or by email to tumbleb@muohio.edu

Who: Miami faculty, staff, and students may contribute any number of entries prior to the Mini Saga Deadline.

Prizes: Two Creative Types will win $25.00 gift certificates to the Miami University Bookstore. Judging will be conducted by MUM celebrity judges.

Need inspiration? See the Examples below:

“When I was shot, fear seized me at first. No surprise that. But once I realized I wasn’t going to die – despite the thermonuclear pain and widening puddle of weirdly warm blood – my mind recalibrated. And one thought, comforting yet disturbing, leapt into my head: I need to Tweet this.”
Dan Pink, author of A Whole New Mind

“I set out with high hopes for my grand journey.

I planned to traverse the country and see all of the sites; to venture off the beaten path and explore the America that most people bypass on the Interstates.

Sadly my car broken down on the second day outside Chattanooga” by cresswga

“Aghast, I stared at the disaster in front of me. How could this happen? I planned so carefully. The party guests arrived in good cheer, The food emerged from ovens and fridges looking delectable and festive. I just forgot to put the snake away. Oh well, one less lap dog.” by dlarson

Nursing @ Ovid Arrives with Autumn

The Miami University Regional Campus libraries now provide access to 65 full-text nursing journals for students, faculty, and staff.

Here's the direct link to the database: Nursing@Ovid

This database package was negotiated by librarians from the Rentschler Library in Hamilton and the Gardner-Harvey Library in Middletown. It is a subset of the larger Journals@Ovid database. The database is searchable. You may also browse by subject and by journal.In addition, Miami University Regional users have access to all Table of Contents, bibliographic citations, abstracts, and references in the entire Ovid Nursing Database, 1950 to present. In addition to full-text articles from the 65 journals, article citations will be cross-linked to full-text held in other MU or OhioLINK databases when possible. The database is updated weekly.

Electronic access to nursing journals is 24/7 so research is easier and faster than ever before.When off-campus, you may access the database from the Hamilton and Middletown library websites or through the Nursing Research by Subject guide. When prompted, input your Miami ID and Password.

For more information, contact your Miami University regional librarians today.