Library Says Thank You to Graduating Student AssistantsThe staff of the library gathered today to honor fifteen graduating student assistants. Students and staff enjoyed a potluck luncheon in the library's All Night Reading Room. The Library purchased books in each student's name to be placed in the general collection, to honor them. Book plates indicating the student and their graduation year will be placed in each title, and their names will be searchable in the library catalog. A list of the books and the student in whose name they were purchased is listed below:
BOOKS SELECTED IN HONOR OF HAMILTON COLLEGE LIBRARY STUDENT ASSISTANTS CLASS OF 2013
Arianne Bergman The spoken word revolution redux
Music Library PS617 .S67 2007
Catherine Crone No legs, no jokes, no chance : a history of the American musical theater
Music Library ML1711 .P37 2008
Emily Delbridge Tin Pan opera : operatic novelty songs in the ragtime era
Circulation ML3477 .H34 2011
Connor Finnegan The poetics of American song lyrics
Music Library PN1059.S7 P64 2012
Sarah Gamble Rebuilding the foodshed: how to create local, sustainable and secure food
Circulation HD9000.5 .A314 2013
Claire Gavin Women and rhetoric between the wars
Library Systems P120.W66 W66 2013
Cameron Gibbar Embers of war: the fall of an empire and the making of America’s Vietnam
Circulation DS553.1 .L64 2012
Yating (Grace) Guan Banking across boundaries : placing finance in capitalism
Circulation/Music HG173 .C574 2013
Claire Hunsinger Game, set, match : Billie Jean King and the revolution in women’s sports
Interlibrary Loan GV994.K56 W37 2011
Luxsika Junboonta Overdressed : the shockingly high cost of cheap fashion
Circulation HD9940.A2 C54 2012
Michele Kahn To conserve unimpaired : the evolution of the national park idea
Technical Services SB481.6 .K45 2013
Tucker Keren Rough-hewn land: a geologic journey from California to the Rocky Mountains
Circulation QE79 .M45 2011
Jared Kochenash Foreign policy begins at home : the case for putting America’s house in order
Circulation JZ1480 .H32 2013
Alexander Lawson Hits : philosophy in the jukebox
Circ./Special Collections ML3800 .S9813 2012
Yang (Ben) Li Insurance & behavioral economics
Music Library HG8054.5 .K858 2013
Mary (Katy) Mastrocola Owning William Shakespeare : the King’s men and their intellectual property
Archives PR3095 .M37 2011
Caroline Novas The dispensable nation : American foreign policy in retreat
Reference JZ1670 .N37 2013
Alex Pure Martha Graham in love and war : the life in the work
Music Library GV1785.G7 F73 2012
Bret Turner Curiosity : how science became interested in everything
Music Library Q125 .B297 2013
Giancarlo Vissat Welcome to the urban revolution: how cities are changing the world
Digital Imaging HT361 .B78 2010
Chelsea Wahl Sociological insights of great thinkers
Interlibrary Loan/Music HM585 .S593 2011
Hui Ling Wang Actuarial mathematics for life contingent risks
Circulation/Music HG8781 .D528 2009
posted 5-21-13
Avoid the Late Notices!
All books are due Tuesday, May 14, 2013.
Undergrads, faculty, staff, and administrators can renew their books by logging into their account in ALEX.
This does not apply to interlibrary loan materials.
ILLs are nonrenewable and must be returned.
Questions? Contact the Circulation Department at askcirc@hamilton.edu or 859-4479.
posted 5-2-2013
Professor Richard Seager and the students of Yoga East/West present 'The History of Yoga' on Tuesday, May 7, 2013 from 4-6pm in the Burke Library All Night Reading Room. A brief presentation will be at 4:15pm.
Yoga practices, studios, and gurus seem to have proliferated throughout American culture, and while some claim a firm root in authenticity, others forcefully assert their originality. With such disparate contemporary forms, deriving a direct lineage through the East/West transition is difficult but a natural challenge to pursue.
This large format poster exhibition meditates on the current state of Yoga in the West, the ancient origins in the East, and the many paths that may make sense of the change.
posted 5-2-2013
On Sunday, April 7 starting at 12pm, Burke Library will once again play host for the Paradise Lost Reading Marathon. Started by Professor Margaret Thickstun several years ago in conjunction with ENG228, this annual event takes place in
the Burke Library Browsing Room, with the entire community invited to read out loud sections Milton’s book. Anyone is welcome to stop by to listen or to read.
Schedule:
Noon: Books 1 and 2—Satan discovers himself in Hell; the fallen angels debate what to do.
1:45: Books 3 and 4—Satan travels toward Earth; God and the Son consider how to respond; Adam and Eve have a lovely day.
3:15: Books 5 and 6—Satan has disturbed Eve’s sleep, so God sends Raphael to alert Adam and Eve to Satan’s presence and their responsibilities. He tells them about Satan’s rebellion.
5pm: Books 7 and 8—Raphael tells Adam and Eve about Creation; Adam and Raphael discuss Adam’s birth and his feelings for Eve.
6:15pm—dinner break
7pm: Book 9—Spoiler alert: Eve eats the fruit; Adam eats the fruit; then they wish they hadn’t.
8pm: Book 10—Satan returns to Hell to boast; Adam and Eve quarrel and then reconcile.
9pm: Books 11 and 12—Michael comes to kick Adam and Eve out of Eden, but tells Adam about the future, including the Incarnation and Resurrection.
Posted 4-1-13
Couper Phi Beta Kappa Library Lecture Mon., April 8, 2013 4 p.m. Taylor Science Center G027 - Kennedy Auditorium
Dan Morgenstern, jazz historian, author, critic, eight-time Grammy Award winner and recently retired head of Rutgers University's Institute of Jazz Studies, will present this year’s Couper Phi Beta Kappa Library Lecture. Morgenstern will be addressing the changing nature of acquisitions, access and use of special collections, tying in to the Hamilton College Jazz Archive.
posted 4-1-13
Join us in the celebration!
Exhibit: Photographs of Milt Hinton
Burke Library Browsing Room
Bassist and photographer Milt Hinton, 1910-2000, was one of the most celebrated musicians of his era and beyond. His list of musical associates included Dizzy Gillespie, Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday and hundreds of others. Milt’s steady work in the studios of New York City makes him one of the world’s most celebrated recorded musicians. During his many studio sessions and road trips, Milt captured photographs of his companions as only a fellow musician could. He published two books of photographs and stories. Milt performed many times at Hamilton College, and received an honorary degree in 1991.
The Harlem Blues & Jazz Band
Tue., April 2, 2013 8:30 p.m. Fillius Events Barn Lobby
Jazz concert by the Harlem Blues & Jazz Band
Ben Williams and Sound Effect
Sat., April 6, 2013 8 p.m. Wellin Hall - Schambach Center
The Hamilton College Performing Arts Series presents a concert by rising jazz star Ben Williams. Williams won the 2009 Thelonious Monk Competition and received a recording contract for his debut album, State of Art, which was released in the summer of 2011. Wellin becomes a jazz club with 100 chairs on stage for an intimate evening of jazz.
Couper Phi Beta Kappa Library Lecture
Mon., April 8, 2013 4 p.m. Taylor Science Center G027 - Kennedy Auditorium
Dan Morgenstern, jazz historian, author, critic, eight-time Grammy Award winner and recently retired head of Rutgers University's Institute of Jazz Studies, will present this year’s Couper Phi Beta Kappa Library Lecture. Morgenstern will be addressing the changing nature of acquisitions, access and use of special collections, tying in to the Hamilton College Jazz Archive.
Jazz Guitar Duo
Fri., April 12, 2013 7:30 p.m. Wellin Hall - Schambach Center
A guitar duo concert featuring the legendary Gene Bertoncini with Lecturer in Guitar Rick Balestra performing songs from the great American songbook.
Jazz Combo
Tue., April 16, 2013 9 p.m. McEwen Cafe Opus 1
An informal concert featuring charts for jazz combo.
posted 3-29-13
The 300th Anniversary of the Birth of an Enlightenment GeniusThe European Enlightenment of the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries encouraged the investigation of the world through the paradigms of science and reason. Intellectuals collected, codified, and published existing knowledge and new discoveries in massive compendiums. As the Enlightenment flowered in France the philosophes—led by Voltaire and Rousseau—challenged the existing order of both Church and State, laying the groundwork for the Revolution of 1789.
In 1747 Denis Diderot and and his co-editor Jean D’Alembert redirected their efforts from the translation of Ephraim Chamber’s Cyclopaedia—a prior attempt at capturing universal knowledge—and focused on the compilation of a new work intended to collect all human knowledge: the Encyclopédie. The resulting work was published in twenty-eight volumes beginning in 1751 and ending in 1772. It stands as a monument of Enlightenment thought. This display of Hamilton College’s copy of the Encyclopédie honors the 300th anniversary of Diderot’s birth at Langres, France, on October 5, 1713.
“The goal of an Encyclopédie is to assemble all the knowledge scattered on the surface of the earth, to demonstrate the general system to the people with whom we live, & to transmit it to the people who will come after us, so that the works of centuries past are not useless to the centuries which follow, that our descendants, by becoming more learned, may become more virtuous & happier, & that we do not die without having merited being part of the human race.”
- Denis Diderot
posted 2-28-13
Dr. M. Stephen Miller LectureNoted collector and scholar of Shaker material culture Dr. M. Stephen Miller will draw on his extensive publications to explore the question: why did the New York and New England Shaker communities turn to herbs and medicines as a major industry? Dr. Miller's talk will examine Shaker medicinal industries in the context of early nineteenth century American medical practice. His lecture will be extensively illustrated with examples from the full range of these Shaker industries, including graphic design from packaging and promotional efforts.
December 5, 2012, 7:30-9pm Science G041
posted 12-2-12
We Read Banned Books!
The American Library Association (ALA) and the Hamilton College Library promotes the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one's opinions even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those viewpoints to all who wish to read them. A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials. Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others. As such, they are a threat to freedom of speech and choice.
The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) promotes awareness of challenges to library materials and celebrates freedom of speech during Banned Books Week. This event is observed during the last week of September of each year. Banned Books Week 2012 will occur September 30 through October 6.
Why are books challenged?
Books usually are challenged with the best intentions—to protect others, frequently children, from difficult ideas and information. Censorship can be subtle, almost imperceptible, as well as blatant and overt, but, nonetheless, harmful. As John Stuart Mill wrote in On Liberty:
“If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind. Were an opinion a personal possession of no value except to the owner; if to be obstructed in the enjoyment of it were simply a private injury, it would make some difference whether the injury was inflicted only on a few persons or on many. 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.”
Often challenges are motivated by a desire to protect children from “inappropriate” sexual content or “offensive” language. Although this may be a commendable motivation, censorship by librarians of constitutionally protected speech, whether for protection or for any other reason, violates the First Amendment.
As Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., in Texas v. Johnson , said most eloquently:
“If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.”
If we are to continue to protect our First Amendment, we would do well to keep in mind these words of Noam Chomsky:
“If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all.”
Or these words of Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas (" The One Un-American Act." Nieman Reports , vol. 7, no. 1, Jan. 1953, p. 20):
“Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us.”
-American Library Association, http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/aboutbannedbooks, retrieved 9-10-12
Burke Library Turns 40!Please join us Monday, September 10 from 3:30-5pm as we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the opening of Burke Library.
The event will include several speakers. Kathy Collett, college archivist, will be giving a brief history of the college library, Dean of Faculty Patrick Reynolds will speak on the importance of libraries, and Dave Smallen, VP of Information Technology, will reflect on his years in Burke Library. Many retirees of Burke Library will be on hand as well. We will also be honoring Joan Wolek and Abby Morton, current library staff members who also worked in the James Library. Exhibits include posters hung in the library tracing the history of the college library, and other display cases on the first and second floor. Refreshments will be served, including birthday cake. Pens, bookmarks, and travel mugs will also be available.
In 1968, President Chandler announced that the James Library (now the Christian Johnson Building) was to be replaced by a new structure. The new building, designed by Hugh Stubbins and Associates of Cambridge, MA, costing over $5.5 million and housing up to 500,000 volumes in approximately 80,000 square feet, was completed on the site of Truax Hall in 1972. The new building was named for Daniel Burke, class of 1893, a long time chairman of the Board of Trustees who had done much to make possible the building of the James Library. Burke Library now houses the Information Commons, Information Technology Services, and includes print and electronic materials (Kathy Collett, college archivist).
posted 9-5-12
Hamilton College Joins ConnectNYConnectNY is a consortium of 18 colleges and universities in New York State with a shared catalog of over five million titles. Hamilton faculty, staff and students have the ability to request items via the ConnectNY catalog. Items requested typically arrive quicker than traditional interlibrary loan materials. ConnectNY does not replace but rather adds to our existing Interlibrary Loan services.
In addition, through ConnectNY we will be participating in a pilot project to provide our community with access to thousands of electronic books. These books are cataloged and available through ALEX, the library catalog.
If you have questions about ConnectNY or Interlibrary Loan services in general, please contact Kristin Strohmeyer, Interim Coordinator of Access Services, 315-8594481.
More information about ConnectNY at Hamilton can be found on the Library web site or at the organization web site.
As with any new service we expect bumps along the way. Please let us know how ConnectNY is working for you by using the comment buttons that appear on our web pages or by using the contact information above.
posted 8-29-12
Media Library Moves to BurkeThe shelving is in place, materials are being re-labeled, and Circulation is ready to shelve! We are taking advantage of the Christian Johnson remodel to integrate the former Media Library collection into the general collections of Burke Library. Over 3500 DVD’s will now be housed in open shelving on the second floor of the main library, where they can be easily browsed. New lockable containers will help us keep track of the materials, and make for consistent access without loss. Videos, slides and films will be available upon request from the Circulation Department. New viewing stations are being set up in the basement, with new equipment and headphones. Materials can be put on reserve in Burke for course work, and will have a three day check-out period for all users. Thank you to everyone who has worked hard to make this move as smooth as possible.
posted 6-8-12
Library Says Thank You to Graduating Student AssistantsThe staff of the library gathered today to honor fifteen graduating student assistants. Students and staff enjoyed a potluck luncheon in the library's All Night Reading Room. The Library purchased books in each student's name to be placed in the general collection, to honor them. Book plates indicating the student and their graduation year will be placed in each title, and their names will be searchable in the library catalog. A list of the books and the student in whose name they were purchased is listed below:
Danielle Abatemarco The social conquest of Earth / Edward O. Wilson
Music Library
Brett Banhazl Documentary storytelling / Sheila Curran Bernard
Reference
Kelsey Brow Cambridge Companion to Modern French Culture
Circulation
Nicholas Costantino Eaarth : making a life on a tough new planet / Bill McKibben
Circulation
Xiaohan Du Ai Weiwei’s blog / Ai Weiwei
Media/Music Library
Christopher Eaton On becoming a conductor / Frank L. Battisti
Music Library
Charlotte Gendron A brief history of the Spanish language / David Pharies
Circulation
Rachel Grannis The lost cellos of Lev Aronson / Frances Brent
Circulation
Joseph Harmon Cambridge Companion to American Fiction after 1945
Music Library
Patrick Landers Overtreated / Shannon Brownlee
Media Library
Kristen Pallen Built to win / Leslie Heywood and Shari Dworkin
Interlibrary Loan
Shirley Ramos Whistler in the nightworld : short fiction from the Latin Americas
Archives
Matt Therkelsen Film noir / Jennifer Fay and Justus Nieland
Media Library
Keomanisod Xiong South Asian feminisms
Digital Imaging
Fertaa Yieleh-Chireh The Arab awakening
Circulation
posted 5-15-2012
Reference Librarians are available in Burke Library to help you with all aspects of using the library, from how to find a call number to how to start work on a research paper. Stop by the IC Desk in Burke to talk to us in person, call us at 859-4735, email us at askref@hamilton.edu, or text us at askref_hamilton using Meebo mobile. Our hours are listed on the library's Ask a Librarian page.
Posted 8-26-2010
The third floor of Burke Library is designated as Quiet Study Space. Please turn your cell phone off or to vibrate, and keep conversations to a minimum. There are study carrels around the perimeter of the floor, with a small cluster of computers in the northwest corner by the HelpDesk, and several enclosed carrels on the south behind the Rare Book Room. Thank you for your cooperation!
Posted 2-10-2011
Use RefWorks to create, organize, and store bibliographic references. References can be im-ported from ALEX (the library catalog) and most other databases, or entered manually one-by-one. The references can be formatted for bibliographies in many style formats (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago Manual of Style, etc.).
Please contact a reference librarian for assistance using RefWorks.
Posted 10-15-2010
