Staff

Confidential Print: Africa, 1834-1966
This collection of materials from the National Archives, Kew, covers the whole of the modern period of European colonization of the continent from coastal trading in the early nineteenth century, through the Conference of Berlin of 1884 and the subsequent Scramble for Africa, to the abuses of the Congo Free State, fights against tropical disease, Italy's defeat by the Abyssinians, World War II, apartheid in South Africa and colonial moves towards independence.

Confidential Print: Latin America, 1833-1969
This collection of materials from the National Archives, Kew, covers revolutions, territorial changes and political movements, foreign financial interests, industrial and infrastructural development (including the building of the Panama Canal), wars, slavery, immigration from Europe and relations with indigenous peoples, amongst other topics relevant to Latin America.

Public Affairs Index
Public Affairs Index is a bibliographic database covering all aspects of national and global contemporary public policy issues ranging from public health, the environment, housing, human and civil rights, to international commerce and conflict. This database draws from a diverse array of scholarly journals, conference papers, trade publications and government documents to provide up-to-date information on a broad range of topics of concern to the world today. Coverage starts in 1934, with more complete coverage beginning in 1970.

Victorian Popular Culture: Moving Pictures, Optical Entertainments and the Advent of Cinema
Moving Pictures, Optical Entertainments and the Advent of Cinema explores the pivotal era in entertainment history when previously static images came to life and moved for the first time. The database features printed ephemera, programmes, sheet music, cigarette cards, postcards, games, toys and other merchandise from the pre- and early-cinematic years. The printed books in this collection range from technical magic lantern manuals to children's shadow play while the periodicals range from the scientific to early celebrity gossip.

The list of new books and other materials added to the library’s collection in November has been posted. Click on “…more New Arrivals” on the library’s home page. Or, go directly to http://library.umd.umich.edu/newbooks/.

Examples from the November list include:

       

We added several Japanese databases:

Asahi Shinbun
Online full-text database of the Japanese language Asahi Shinbun, one of Japan's mainstream newspapers. Contains 7 million articles published since 1945. Also includes articles from the weekly magazines Aera and Shukan Asahi, and from the annual new-word dictionary Chiezo.

Japan Knowledge
Includes Japanese language dictionaries (Japanese, English-Japanese, Japanese-English, and English-English), a 30-volume encyclopedia, two dictionaries of current words, a dictionary of scientific terms, a biographical dictionary, the JK Who's Who, the Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan, a news database (NNA) that covers Asia and the European Union, full-text books, a database of video recordings from 1908 to 2005, a database of dissertations from the humanities departments of six universities in Japan, a books in print database, a sound library, and a music library.

Maisaku: Mainichi shinbun detabesu
Access to the online full-text, Japanese language database of Mainichi shinbun (1872 (Meiji 5)- ). The database also includes Mainichi Daily News (June 2008- ), Shukan Ekonomisuto (October 1989- ), the public opinion poll conducted by Mainichi Shinbunsha (1945- ), Mainichi yoron chosa, and the company history "'Mainichi' no 3-seiki".

Yomidasu rekishikan
Includes the Japanese language: Yomiuri shinbun of Meiji, Taisho, Showa and current issues; The Daily Yomiuri; and a biographical database. Includes English language search and some English language articles.

Zasshi kiji sakuin shusei
Japanese language index to periodical articles published in Japanese, including those in former Japanese colonies, and including local periodicals not present in many other indexes. Coverage is from 1868 onwards. Merges data from various composite periodical indexes by Kokuritsu Kokkai Toshokan.

NewspaperARCHIVE is a database of historical newspapers covering 1607 the present. The database consists of digital images of original newspaper pages, the largest number are from 1880-2010, and are mainly English-language from the United States, Canada, England, and Ireland, although there are some newspapers from other countries in other languages. Several small Michigan newspapers are included, which cold be helpful for genealogical research, but none are from southeastern Michigan.
Note: The holdings will list broad ranges of dates but NewspaperARCHIVE does not necessarily contain all the issues in that time period.

Cynthia Barnett, author of Blue Revolution: Unmaking America's Water Crisis, was the speaker at the Natural Sciences Colloquium last Friday. Her talk, "Blue Revolution: A Water Ethic for America," discussed Americans' attitudes, illusions, and knowledge about water. She also proposed a shared water ethic among citizens, government, and major water users.

Books were available for purchase. If you missed the opportunity to purchase one, the library has a copies of two books by Cynthia Barnett available for checkout: Mirage : Florida and the vanishing water of the Eastern U.S. and Blue Revolution: Unmaking America's Water Crisis.

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December 2012 R.E.A.D. (Read, Eat, and Discuss) Meeting

Book: The Dressmaker: A Novel by Kate Alcott
Date: Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Time: 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m.
Location: Room 1210 Mardigian Library

Ask for R.E.A.D. titles at the Circulation Desk; both the Kindles and print books are kept there, and the print copies are on reserve for us.

Light refreshments are provided. Please join us!

Upcoming book: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (Tuesday, February 19, 2013)

                    

This Friday and next Tuesday, there will be Public Observing Sessions at the SLRC Observatory. The sessions will be about Jupiter and the Winter Sky.

If you are interested in learning more about Jupiter, the Mardigian Library has a few books and e-books. However, many more are available through MeLCat — dozens of books and some videos are available.

Haven't used MeLCat? It's easy. Just go to MeLCat. You can order books or audiovisual materials from another library in Michigan and have them delivered right to the Mardigian Library for pick-up. For more about MeLCat, see How to use MeLCat.

       

If you missed last night’s Fair Lane Music Guild concert, you might like to know that the library has a few resources that can help you listen to what you missed. Classical Music Library and Naxos Music Library both stream recorded performances of classical music. The Classical Music Library and Naxos recordings certainly aren't the same as being at a concert, and don't include the same musicians who played last night, but these databases include tens of thousands recordings.

And, if you are interested in finding out more about composers, check out the library’s Music databases.

This past weekend, I watched a repeat of the PBS documentary The War of 1812. It reminded me that the 200th anniversary of the Battle of the River Raisin will take place in Monroe in January. Check the National Park Service website for more information.

The database Early American Imprints has A JOURNAL, Containing an accurate & interesting account of the hardships, sufferings, battles, Defeat, & captivity of those heroic Kentucky Volunteers & Regulars, commanded by General Winchester, in the year 1812...1813. Also, two narratives, by men, that were wounded in the battles on the River Raisin, and taken captive by the Indians. This account of the events that took place in what would become Monroe was written by Elias Darnall, a private from Kentucky and one member of the force that was on its way to retake Detroit from the British.

With the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 upon us, it is not surprising that many new books have been written about it. The library has many, both in print and online. Check them out!

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One hundred years ago today, photographer Gordon Parks was born. According to Wikipedia, Parks "...was a groundbreaking American photographer, musician, writer and film director. He is best remembered for his photographic essays for Life magazine and as the director of the 1971 film, Shaft."

The library has a couple of books written by Gordon Parks, a children's book illustrated by Parks, and e-book of Parks' autobiography. We also have a DVD copy of the movie Shaft. Check one or more out today!

If you are interested in Gordon Parks' photography, you can view a few images through the MLibrary Image Collections database.

   

On this date fifty years ago, Algeria banned the Communist Party and closed its newspaper.

The Mardigian Library has online access to a few historical newspapers that covered this news item. These news articles can be accessed through ProQuest Direct. If you are looking for newspaper coverage of historical events, you can search individual newspapers by checking ProQuest Historical Newspapers and ProQuest Historical Black Newspapers. Or, you can search all newspapers available through ProQuest at one time by searching ProQuest Direct.

The other day, I was looking for new music to play during the holidays. I have multiple copies of a lot of the standard Christian hymns, but I wanted to learn something new. So, I searched the library catalog and found The New Oxford Book of Carols. This book includes the music and text for 201 carols from the last 700 years. I found a few new pieces for my Eb harmonica and there was so much for my D pennywhistle that I had a hard time limiting my choices. Now, to find the time to get out the guitar and keyboard as well…

How about checking out online sources of sheet music from the 19th century?
Music for the Nation: Sheet Music ~ 1820-1860 & 1870-1885, Historic American Sheet Music: 1850-1920, and Godey’s Lady’s Book (available in Accessible Archives) all include thousands of pieces of sheet music. I didn't check these specifically for holiday music, but give them a try!

   

     

As a child you probably read some of the fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm. Maybe you saw some of the Disney movies based on the tales, such as "Cinderella," "Sleeping Beauty," and "Snow White." Whether you read the tales or watched the movies (or not), come to the library to see our latest exhibit — Once Upon a Time... — celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Grimm fairy tales. We have books on display from our juvenile collection that demonstrate the many versions of some of the stories. We also have objects that show various characters from the movies and stories. And there is so much more!

You can find the exhibit near the elevator on the first floor.

Win a gift card! We are having a Brothers Grimm trivia contest. A winner of a $20 gift certificate to Club Cappuccino will be selected from the entries with the most correct answers. Stop by the exhibit for an entry form.

Share with us! What is/was your favorite Grimm fairy tale? Who is/was your favorite Grimm fairy tale character?
My favorite tale was probably the "Town Musicians of Bremen." When I was in grade school, the music I played on my harmonica was probably just as bad as the music of the donkey, dog, cat, and rooster. And, I thought it was fun to see what the robber thought each animal was (do you remember which was thought to be an ogre?).

   

Do you need to view a DVD or a VHS tape while at the Mardigian Library? The library has two portable DVD players (Blu-ray and standard) on reserve for student, faculty, and staff use within the library. Also, there is a cart available that holds both a DVD and a videocassette player, along with a monitor that can be checked out for use in the library by anyone who needs them. Headphones are also available. Just ask for what you need at the Circulation Desk.

BTW, we have a collection of thousands of DVDs and videocassettes (including blockbuster motion pictures, educational films, and documentaries) that can be viewed in the library or checked out for viewing at home.

Examples:

           

Did you miss the discussion earlier today with nonverbal communication expert Lin Klaassen? If so, don’t fret. The library has dozens of books available about nonverbal communication. I’m sure the books won’t be as entertaining as the discussion sponsored by Student Engagement, but they might help you learn a little bit about what you missed.

For example: