Mardigian Library News

On this date 150 years ago...

nospam@example.com (Joel Seewald) — Tue, 21 May 2013 10:00:00 -0400

On May 21, 1863, during the Civil War, the siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana began. The library has access to memoirs from two of the generals that were on the union side. Halbert Paine wrote A Wisconsin Yankee in Confederate Bayou Country: The Civil War Reminiscences of a Union General. Paine was born in Ohio, lived in Mississippi, but served as a Union general of the 4th Infantry from Wisconsin. Benjamin Grierson was the author of A Just and Righteous Cause: Benjamin H. Grierson's Civil War Memoir (edited by Bruce J. Dinges and Shirley A. Leckie). Grierson was born in Pennsylvania and served as a cavalry officer from Illinois (and died in Michigan many years after the Civil War).

Read both of their accounts of the events surrounding the Port Hudson siege and the Vicksburg campaign.

We will be closed Memorial Day weekend

nospam@example.com (Joel Seewald) — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:00:00 -0400

: Ian Sane / Foter.com / CC BY

We will be closed Saturday, May 25 to Monday, May 27 to observe Memorial Day.

Our regular Spring Semester hours will resume on Tuesday, May 28

Statistical datasets update...

nospam@example.com (Joel Seewald) — Mon, 20 May 2013 10:00:00 -0400

ProQuest Statistical Datasets is now called Data-Planet Statistical Datasets. Data-Planet Statistical Datasets provides access to statistical information produced by U.S. federal agencies, private companies, and intergovernmental organizations. Create maps and reports from data you select from over 640 datasets. Subjects include health, crime, population, finance, industry, and marketing.

New books list for April

nospam@example.com (Joel Seewald) — Fri, 17 May 2013 16:00:00 -0400

The list of new books and other materials added to the library’s collection in April 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 April list include:

Database Update: Brill Online Reference Works

nospam@example.com (Joel Seewald) — Fri, 17 May 2013 10:00:00 -0400

Several new resources have been added to the Brill Online Reference Works. These online books and databases primarily cover Religious Studies, Classic Studies, Medieval & Early Modern Studies, and Middle East & Islamic Studies.

1. Indo-European Etymological Dictionaries Online includes dictionaries of Armenian, Greek, Latin, Proto-Germanic, Slavic, and several others.
2. Middle Eastern Manuscripts Online 1: Pioneer Orientalists
3. Middle Eastern Manuscripts Online 2: Ottoman Legacy of Levinus Warner
4. Israel's Messenger - the "Official Organ of the Shanghai Zionist Association"
5. Moses Maimonides, unparalleled editions - includes imprints from the 16th to the 20th century, some of which constitute landmarks in the history of Hebrew printing. Some bilingual works are also included (Latin, Judeo-German, or French).
6. Africa Yearbook Online - covers major domestic political developments, the foreign policy and socioeconomic trends in sub-Sahara Africa – all related to developments in one calendar year.
7. African Studies Companion Online - over 1,800 entries covering guides and resources for African languages, Africa cartography and maps, African film, African studies journals, the African press, African studies library collections worldwide, national archives in Africa, centers of African studies and African studies programs worldwide, and a wealth of other subjects.
8. Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism - presents the latest research on all the main aspects of the Hindu traditions.
9. Brill's Medieval Reference Library Online - includes Encyclopedia of Medieval Dress and Textiles of the British Isles c. 450-1450, Encyclopedia of Medieval Pilgrimage, and Encyclopedia of the Medieval Chronicle.

Summer off-campus database access

nospam@example.com (Joel Seewald) — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:00:00 -0400

If you try to access research databases over the summer, you might get a 403 error. This normally happens when you try to access e-books, online journals, and other online resources through our website, but are not registered for the current semester. The vendors for our research databases do not allow off-campus access to students who are not registered for the current semester.

If you are not registered for a class during the spring/summer semester, you have two options:
• Access a research database through MeL. Look for a purple next to the database name on our website. Click on the purple instead of the database name. These databases are available to residents of Michigan, but you will need to log in using your Michigan driver’s license number. (You can also go directly to MeL Databases to access these.)
• You can come in to the library and use guest access computers.

New Database: World Newsreels Online, 1929-1966

nospam@example.com (Joel Seewald) — Thu, 16 May 2013 10:00:00 -0400

World Newsreels Online, 1929-1966 includes the full run of newsreels on significant historical events from throughout the 20th century. It also includes the "March of Time" series, and selected videos from American History in Video and World History in Video, but adds new material from France, Japan, the Netherlands, and other countries throughout the world.

On this date 50 years ago...

nospam@example.com (Joel Seewald) — Wed, 15 May 2013 16:00:00 -0400

On May 15, 1963, the spacecraft Faith 7, piloted by Gordon Cooper, was launched. Faith 7 was the last of the Mercury-Atlas missions. This was the longest mission to space up to that time (22.5 orbits and more than 34 hours).

See newsreel footage of the event in American History in Video, listen to a prayer by Gordon Cooper on his 14th orbit at the Internet Archive, and see pictures and video commemorating the 50th anniversary of Faith 7 at the NASA website.

Butterfly release!

nospam@example.com (Joel Seewald) — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:20:00 -0400

Click on images to see larger ones
BTW, the type of butterfly is a painted lady.

Butterflies - Day 20 (release day!)

nospam@example.com (Joel Seewald) — Wed, 15 May 2013 10:10:00 -0400

Today is release day!

Where: Henry Ford Estate, at or near the garden south of the house (to the left as you are looking at the main entrance).
When: Today, just after noon.

New Database: Black Studies in Video

nospam@example.com (Joel Seewald) — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:00:00 -0400

Black Studies in Video features award-winning documentaries, newsreels, interviews, and archival footage surveying the evolution of black culture in the United States. In partnership with California Newsreel, the database provides unique access to their African American Perspectives collection, and includes films covering history, politics, art and culture, family structure, social and economic pressures, and gender relations.

Database Update: ProQuest Congressional

nospam@example.com (Joel Seewald) — Tue, 14 May 2013 10:00:00 -0400

ProQuest Digital U.S. Bills and Resolutions 1789 – 2013 has been added to our ProQuest Congressional database.

Digital U.S. Bills and Resolutions 1789 – 2013 offers one place to go for the full text of ALL versions of ALL U.S. public and private bills and resolutions from 1789 – 2013. You no longer need to search multiple sites or books to find the version of a bill you are looking for. The comprehensive coverage is ideal in providing the big picture for researchers looking to see how a bill changed between versions of a bill, or those just looking to see the final version.

Butterflies - Day 18 (We have butterflies!)

nospam@example.com (Joel Seewald) — Mon, 13 May 2013 16:00:00 -0400

Sometime over the weekend, butterflies emerged from their cocoons. I missed it. Did anyone see the butterflies emerging? Did you see them drying their wings? If so, when did it occur?

I saw three butterflies in the flight cage. Can you see three in the picture?

We are hoping to release the butterflies on Wednesday at noon, weather permitting. Watch our blog for details.

On this date 100 years ago...

nospam@example.com (Joel Seewald) — Mon, 13 May 2013 10:00:00 -0400

On May 13, 1913, Igor Sikorsky test piloted the first four-engine aircraft. However, he is better known for his work on helicopters, including the Sikorsky R-4, which became the world's first mass-produced helicopter in 1942.

The library has several online books about helicopters as well as chapters in online books through ENGnetBASE.

On this date 150 years ago...

nospam@example.com (Joel Seewald) — Fri, 10 May 2013 10:00:00 -0400

On May 10, 1863, one of the most famous figures of the Civil War died. Confederate General Thomas Jonathan Jackson, better known as "Stonewall" Jackson died of pneumonia after having been shot by his own troops at the Battle of Chancellorsville on May 2, 1863. He was only 39 years old. The library has several biographies about Jackson (both books and e-books) and the history databases have much information about both him and the Civil War.