Some new favorites...

This is what we are LOVIN' at the Cobb Library these days:

• Wolframalpha.com -- check out this great new Web site! It's NOT a browser (though it looks like one). It's a computational knowledge engine. Enter your question or calculation and Wolfram|Alpha uses its built-in algorithms and a growing collection of data to compute the answer. It's pretty amazing! Especially for those of us who are decidedly NOT math people.

• Life photos in Google -- Once again, Google demonstrates its far-reaching power. In 2008, Google purchased the digital rights to Life Magazine photos from 1860-1970. This is a wonderful historical resource. To see the photos, go to Google.com and type in this handy search shortcut -- source:life

Do you have some favorites? Email me!

Our offices are still a mess...

...but we keep on plugging away! It's been almost a month since school started and would you believe that we are still cleaning up the mess that shutting down for the summer generates? Sigh.

In between all that mess in our offices, we are still planning the direction we'd like the library to take this school year. We're focusing on budget and acquisitions right now. Both of us agree that we are comfortable with our major databases at this point, so don't look for any databases to be added until next year. And if you don't agree, I defy you to compare us to other academic libraries' research databases; I think you'll discover that we are competing very well.

Coming soon -- a display of our books about Calvinism and Reformed Theology. The "New Calvinism" is a hot topic right and we purchased a bunch of good stuff last year about it. Hopefully you'll stop by and see what we have.

We're Baaaaccckkk

It's a new school year! And that means we librarians hit the ground running! Lots of serials to check in from the summer (check our shelves soon for the latest happenings in the academic serial world); lots of new goals and visions for the new year; and lots of new faces! We hope that if you're new to CBC, you will come by and introduce yourself and see what the library has to offer. If you are NOT new then we still hope you'll come by and see what the library has to offer.

There are exciting things happening at CBC this year; namely our campus' new Web 2.0 portal that should revolutionize library access. I hope we can preview that soon!

Let's have a great year!

Winding down...

It's nearing the end of the Spring semester here at CBC. This means several things for us: 1. ) That we scramble to finish projects; and 2.) That we close for the summer!

The first isn't so great, the second is fabulous!

Overall, we are proud of what we have accomplished this year at the CBC Library. We've reorganized the serials shelves; increased our holdings with both books and e-books; subscribed to more databases; and reorganized our electronic resources into a much-easier-to-navigate A-Z list. With only two full-time librarians, our list of accomplishments impresses even us. (Not to brag or anything :)

Unfortunately it's never enough. We never really started that weeding project we desperately need; and there's still the issue of off-campus access that's a thorn in our side. I hate to say it, but I guess we'll get to it next year!

Have a great summer!

P.S. If you need off-campus access to electronic resources during the summer, please, please email me at: rwhittingham@cbc.edu

New Book Shelf

Just to your right beside our periodical section is something new that we hope users will take the time to check out. We've added a New Book Shelf! Recently added books will be featured on this shelf for a short time before they are added to the main collection. Here are some highlights added this week:

* A Pryor Commitment : The autobiography of David Pryor/ by David Pryor with Don Harrell (2008)

* Things I've Been Silent About/ by Azar Nafisi (2008)

* Race Relations in the Natural State/ by Grif Stockley (2007)

* Crisis of Conscience : Arkansas Methodists and the Civil Rights Struggle/edited by James T. Clemons and Kelly L. Farr (2007)

* The Torah Story/ by Gary Edward Schnittjer (2006)

"The New Calvinism"

An article in the most recent (March 23, 2009) Time issue has caused a stir in CBC library. The article in question, "10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now," was brought to our attention by one of our erstwhile Student Assistants (affectionately referred to as "library slaves"). Number 3 on this all-important list is "The New Calvinism." Frankly, it's an excellent article about the increasing popularity of Calvinism in America. Time takes a positive approach to the topic and packs a lot of information into a one-page article.

Besides the obvious fact of information, this article sparked a flurry of acquisitions activity in our library. We immediately went to our online catalog and searched our shelves for items that might pertain to this growing hot topic. The article mentioned authors such as John Piper, Mark Driscoll and Albert Mohler. Fortunately, we have a lot of John Piper already; unfortunately, we have very little by Driscoll and Mohler. A pleasant morning was spent on locating recent books published by these and other authors and in a few weeks, should you desire to read something about "The New Calvinism" we'll be ready and waiting for you.

You never know what will inspire us librarians. Collection Development is a slowly-morphing process that we're never sure we've gotten right. It's helpful to search for ideas both in the usual and unusual places. Recently we've found inspiration from National Public Radio, a professor's syllabus, and at least two mainstream magazines.

P.S. The Time article is on our periodical shelves if you'd like to pop over now and read it; also we have several of Piper's books available now if you would like to get a head start. :)

National Women's History Month

March is National Women's History Month. Sponsored by the National Women's History Project, the month "recognizes and celebrates the diverse and historic accomplishments of women." The project itself is an educational nonprofit organization that provides information and educational materials and programs.

We are celebrating Women's History in the CBC Library for two reasons: 1.) We are women.; and 2.) We have a lovely display shelf by our computers that showcases books just perfectly.

Stop by and check out our offerings on Women's History. You might learn something!