Staff

Library hours during Thanksgiving will be:

Wednesday, November 21 – 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Thursday, November 22 – CLOSED
Friday, November 23 – 1:00 – 6:00 p.m.
Regular Fall hours resume on Saturday, November 24.

For Library, LRC, and Computer Lab hours, see library.umd.umich.edu/Us/hours.php

Are you working on a term paper or just getting started? Do you have a presentation that requires library research? Are you perhaps a faculty member needing a little help to find support for an article you plan to submit? There are many ways to contact a reference librarian or one of our knowledgeable student assistants:
• Telephone – call 313-593-5563
• In-person – stop by the Library Research Center on the first floor of the library next to the public computers.
• Make an appointment with a subject specialist librarian
• Text messaging – text your question to 66746, and start your question with “AskLRC”
• E-mail – ask-a-question@umd.umich.edu
• Instant messaging/chat – see our Ask a Question page
• Open Research Workshops for students (see blog post)

Need to make a video for a class project and don’t have the equipment? The library has a solution for you. Campus Media Services has purchased Kodak Playtouch digicams, which are now available for checkout at the library’s Circulation Desk.

The Playtouch is the size and shape of a smartphone and will take HD videos in 1080p resolution. One-touch uploading provides easy sharing through e-mail, YouTube, Facebook, Flickr, and other sites. You may also connect the Playtouch to your computer and transfer the files. If you want to edit the video, the library’s Campus Media Services has a multimedia editing room for student and faculty use. The editing room is equipped with the best audio and video editing software, including Avid, Final Cut Pro, and the suite of Adobe and Microsoft applications.

Each digicam comes in a carry bag with an extra battery, an external microphone, connecting and charging wires, and the manual. Ask for one at the library’s Circulation Desk. Digicams have a three-day checkout period.

Yes, it’s that time of the year again, when many of us get the flu shot to help protect ourselves from seasonal flu. The library can’t provide you with a flu shot, but we have books, e-books, and video in our collection that you can check out to find out more about the flu, pandemics, and healthcare response to the flu over the past century. And, if you are really interested in the history of the flu, we have online access to An Inaugural Dissertation on the Influenza... — from 1793!

Check one out.

Examples:
Influenza: A Century of Science and Public Health Response (book)
Introduction to Pandemic Influenza (e-book)
Spanish Flu (DVD)

          

The Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive recently worked with Irene Miller to publish her Holocaust memoir, “Into No Man’s Land: A Historical Memoir.” Ms. Miller recounts her family’s efforts to survive during World War II. Robbed and stranded in a frozen field outside Warsaw by the man hired to help them escape to Soviet-occupied territory, the family must separate in order to cross the border. When Irene’s mother is rounded up with other families abandoned in the field, she must make a desperate and daring escape from the train of Jews being sent “who knows where.” The family is reunited, but then is shipped off to forced labor camps in Siberia where years of hard work and near starvation take a toll on the family.

Miller will be a highlighted local author at the Jewish Book Fair at the Jewish Community Center in West Bloomfield on Sunday, November 18 (10 a.m. to noon).

“Into No Man’s Land” is available for sale at Amazon.com.

     

This Friday (November 16), Dr. Kristi Judd from Eastern Michigan University will speak at the Natural Sciences Colloquium. Dr. Judd’s presentation will be “Effects of Phragmites invasion and removal on ecosystem structure and function in Great Lakes coastal wetlands.”

Do you know what Phragmites are? You might want to check them out in JSTOR Plant Science. JSTOR Plant Science offers:
• The world’s largest database of plant type specimens – more than a million specimens.
• Links to over 175,000 scientific research articles and other content dating back hundreds of years from leading academic journals.
• More than 20,000 paintings, photographs, drawings, and other images.

     

Another Stewardship Saturday will be held this Saturday (November 17) at the EIC. The goal of Stewardship Saturdays, held each month, is to remove invasive plants from the Environmental Interpretive Center Natural Areas. For more information, see the EIC’s newsletter Natural Explorations.

And, if you are interested in reading about invasive species, the library has a wealth of resources. Check our Summon discovery tool for books & e-books, book chapters, conference proceedings, dissertations & theses, journal articles, newspaper articles, radio program transcripts, reports, etc.

     

The Armenian Research Center’s exhibition in the library celebrating the 500th anniversary of the first Armenian printed book continues until this Friday, November 16. Hurry before it’s gone!

Armenian language printed books from the 17th century to the present are on display.

For group tours, contact the Armenian Research Center at 313-593-5181.

Did you miss the business etiquette dinner last night? The library might be able to help you with some of what you missed! While we don’t have any leftovers from the dinner, the library has many books in our collection about business etiquette. For example, we have the e-book Business Etiquette for Dummies, 2nd edition. And, if you expect to have an international reach in the future, we have Do’s and Taboos Around the World, 3rd edition. Check out a book today!

          

On this day in 1887, John Henry (Doc) Holliday died of tuberculosis. There was much more to Doc Holliday than his association with the Earp brothers and the 30-second Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in 1881. How much do you know about the life of Doc Holliday? Wikipedia has quite a biography, with links to the well-known and not-so-well-known events in Holliday's life.

The Mardigian Library also has links to biography databases with information about Doc Holliday. The two best are probably:
• American National Biography Online
• Biography in Context

          

On this date 125 years ago, Walter Johnson, pitcher for the Washington Senators, was born. Johnson was known as "The Big Train" and played for the Senators for 20 years.

What athlete do you think has the best nickname? What's the nickname and why do you like it?

Learn more about Walter Johnson at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Wikipedia.

On this day in 1912, Woodrow Wilson was elected the 28th President of the United States. Did you know that the 1912 election was a 4-way contest and that Wilson won the election with less than 50% of the popular vote?

While Woodrow Wilson is probably best remembered for the League of Nations, did you know that he also ordered the U.S. Navy to occupy Veracruz, Mexico?

Check out books about Woodrow Wilson and
- and the campaign of 1912 that apparently was the start of modern American politics
- the League of Nations
- the occupation of Veracruz

               

Michelangelo completed painting the ceiling and the lunettes of the Sistine Chapel in October 1512. On this date 500 years ago, Pope Julius II inaugurated the Chapel with a Mass.

See video of the Sistine Chapel in the Art and Architecture in Video database.

The library also has a dozen books and a videocassette about the Sistine Chapel and Michelangelo. Check out one (or more) today!

Election day is almost here and you might find it helpful to know what will be on your ballot. Find out by going to Publius.

Information that Publius will tell you:
• Who is running for which offices
• What proposals or referendums you will vote for (or against)
• The location of your polling place and its hours

Harry Houdini was best known as an illusionist, magician, stunt performer, and escape artist. He died in Detroit in 1926. The Mardigian Library doesn't have much about Houdini in our collection, but you can find lots of material in MeLCat. By using MeLCat, you can search the library catalogs of about 400 libraries in Michigan and have a book or DVD delivered right to the Mardigian Library to pick it up. Give it a try!

In 1918, Harry Houdini registered for Selective Service as Harry Handcuff Houdini. Do you have any interesting stories about Houdini? Something passed down in your family, perhaps?