Lost – A TV Series Review

Chances are, you know someone (or know someone who knows someone) who watched Lost. Most likely, you’ve heard people complain about how confusing it is, how dumb it got near the end of the show, etc etc. Despite all of the problems Lost does have, I can tell you that it is one of the most artfully made shows of our generation.
In case you don’t know, the show revolves around a group of survivors of flight 815, who crash on a mysterious island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The island is far from ordinary and the survivors are faced with challenges extending far beyond the usual detail for one stuck on a tropical island. Flashbacks allow us to get the know characters backstory, and we become very closely acquainted with characters like Jack, a surgeon who quickly takes on a leadership role but is dealing with some deep seated family issues.
The show spans six seasons, jam packed full of new characters, new storylines and an unbelievable amount of plot twists. But what makes the show truly exceptional is the way the characters develop and change. Truly good television has the ability to show us that we are all capable of being “the bad guy” and “the good guy” sometimes at the same time. Lost displays the complexities of human nature, wrapped up with some very complex timey-wimey stuff and a lot of breaking the laws of physics. Also, it’s super addicting. Super, duper addicting. If your curiosity is getting the best of you and you’re dying to watch, you’re in luck- the library owns all six seasons! Good luck and happy watching! Whitni S.

Brothers in Hope--Book Review

The Stewart Memorial Library is the heart of Coe College. Here at the library our staff is committed to ensuring your needs are met in a quick and appropriate manner. We accommodate majors of all sorts. For example, if you are majoring in elementary education a book you may use in helping to construct a lesson plan would be Brothers In Hope by Mary Williams . This book is about a young boy in Sudan who fled from his village, and later found other boys who had done the same. Together, the boys face numerous hardships and dangers along the way to finding a new home. Through mutual support and faith in each other, the boys were able to find a new home. The book is located in the Browsing Area on the first floor of the library. The call # is Youth Picture PZ7 W66699 Br 2005.
If you are unsure about books pertaining to your major, then don't hesitate to come by and ask, we’ll be waiting just for you! Nathan B.

More notes from a Circ worker...

My name is Bellamy and I’m an Elementary Education major at Coe. This is my second year working at the library and I love it. This semester I’m taking a class on children’s literature that requires me to read and bring in a selection of children’s books to class every Friday. I’ve been able to find all of my literature selections for this class from the children’s section of the Coe library. This area is located in the basement of the library and houses picture books on one side and chapter/young adult books on the other. At first I wasn’t sure if the library’s children section would have enough of a variety for all of different types of genres that I had to obtain. But now it’s halfway through the semester and week after week, I’ve been able to find great quality children’s literature books. The children’s section in the library may appear small, but there’s lots of great material!

Book Thief

The end of September and start of October are always punctuated by Banned Book Week, which is, in short, a celebration of books that tend to be challenged by various groups because of content, word choice, characters, titles, covers, and so on. And while that could be a perfect excuse to wax poetic about Mark Twain, Voltaire, or yes, even Harry Potter, my annual celebration of Banned Books is to reread a very ironic book on that list:

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

 Why is it an ironic choice? Because The Book Thief is not only a surprisingly funny and heartfelt story about World War II Germany, it centers on books and book burning.

The New York Times described the book as “not really… ‘Harry Potter and the Holocaust.’ It just feels that way.” It’s narrated by Death, who shouldn’t be as fabulous as they are, but they’re fabulous (even if I can’t shake the image of Death being a tiny, sassy Australian woman). The main character (the titular “Book Thief” who is really named Liesel) is an adolescent girl whose life has been tinged with death, but has remained resilient, warm, kind, and sweet. The first book she steals is a manual for grave diggers, and her love of learning proves insatiable. She and her adopted family show a tiny slice of the War from the perspective of German citizens and every act of defiance her family commits feels like a victory.

It’s completely worth the read, and the film version is set to be released in early November. ~~Maisie

Editor's note--If interested, call # is PR 9169.4 Z87 B66 2006

What I did last summer.......

Over the summer I worked in the library archives developing a finding aid for part of the William Shirer Collection. Shirer, a journalist from Cedar Rapids popular for his memoirs of fascist Germany and Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, donated his entire collection of documents to the college archives near the end of his career. My job was to read through a collection of his personal correspondence from the year 1979 and create a document that summarized the collection and contained subject headings for important events and persons of note mentioned in the letters.

It was interesting to get a peek into the personal life of a famous author and journalist, as well as see the sorts of acquaintances Shirer had made throughout his life. Many of the letters Shirer received were from aspiring journalists and novelists hoping to get some advice about the writing process. Overall I enjoyed the experience, even if it did get a bit tedious sorting through his letters for the third time. ~~Eric

Check out new displayed journal titles

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month

As the library main floor has stated it is National Honey month! The month of September also pays homage to something else, Hispanic heritage.

What does this have to do with the library? The library has a plethora of Hispanic authors for you to read as well as their biographies! Read authors like Sandra Cisneros, who graduated from the Iowa Writer's Workshop and was taught by Gordon Mennega himself! Read Gary Soto a poet and writer focused in Chicano youth fiction. Prefer classic? How about the ever famous Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Carlos Fuentes (I recommend The Death of Artemio Cruz), and Isabel Allende!

Not really into books? The AV department has a wide variety of Hispanic subject movies that are both in Spanish and English. There's Selena, about a great Tejana singer and the tragic result of her fame, starring Jenifer Lopez. Or try Vicky Christina Barcelona to see Penelope Cruz do her thing! For practice with Spanish watch Volver or Biutiful.

As always keep reading and stay classy, Coe College!~~~~Paulina

He's not so ghostly now since Annabeth Hampton has found the Phantom of the Opera squirrel.

The Phantom of the Opera tells a tale of love, mystery, and deceit .. in an opera house! With Opera!

View from the Circ Desk

As a student at Coe there is a good chance thar you visit the library regularly, but do you really know what it has to offer you? I was recently given the privelege of working at the circulation desk, which gave me the opportunity to learn more about the library. I have learned that the people that work here are very willing to help you with anything that you may have a question on, but you have to be the one to take initiative. Right now I personally take full advantage of the AV department in using movies for class but also for pleasure. My most recent watch was A Beautiful Mind, which was for class but also a movie that I wanted to see but have never gotten the chance. I also am in the process of writing a research paper over Paris, and will most likely be asking the people who work at the reference desk to assist me in finding useful information over the topic. Also the library gives you many online options to use, one that I frequently use for my major is psYchARTICLES, which gives me a variety of scholarly articles to use for papers and projects. Overall we have many resources that you should take advantages of to help with your success in college.~Rachel

Using the library's resources over break

Although Spring Break is a time for relaxation, fun, and volunteer opportunities for many students at Coe, some students may find that they still need to do some work on their coursework in order to stay caught up and get things turned in on time.  If you find yourself in that situation, just remember that the library makes many of its databases and ebooks accessible from off campus for student and faculty use.  The important thing is that in order to use the library's resources from anywhere other than Coe, you must log in through My.Coe, and from there you must access the database or ebook that you want through the Campus Life tab.  You can't go through the library's webpage directly as we have to verify that you are in fact affiliated with Coe.   Not sure if you're doing it correctly? Here is a link with a video that will let you see the whole process from start to completion. Encounter problems? Just email Katelyn Wazny or Harlene Hansen in the reference department the nature of your access problem, and we'll try and get it resolved for you.

Related to database access, the library will be doing some upgrades to our systems internally on March 5, so be prepared for possibly spotty access to library resources that day. Thanks everyone, good luck on your upcoming midterms and have an awesome spring break!

-Katelyn, Head of Reference

Get out the VOTE with these film titles!

It's one more day until the big election, and the AV Department has got you covered! Come in and check out our display of political titles! (image courtesy of the Oskaloosa Public Library)

--Laura, Head of Audiovisual

Resources (sometimes overlooked) in the Library

• First Floor East Side Computers: It never fails students will be gathered around the west end printer furiously grabbing papers the printer spits out at mad intervals, but there is another printer steps away. Use the east printer and save some time!


• The Reference Desk: It's these people's jobs to help you find information. They actually enjoy searching out a book for your research paper due tomorrow that you might have neglected. Bonus--if you procrastinate a little less and start thinking about that paper a few weeks in advance, they can help you get resources from other libraries across the country: articles, DVDs, books, you name it.


• The Isolated Computers on the Second and Third Floors: These computers are there to help you find resources here in the library. Go to the website and search the catalog. The call number will be present and voila! Numbers on the shelves will help guide you to that elusive book.


• The Books!: I see students scrambling all the time, struggling to find scholarly articles on Ebsco for a project, when there are countless resources right here. There are books on almost every subject! The library isn't just a place for studying and hanging out. It houses a wealth of information you may find helpful. ~Shanel

On Display

Have you noticed the display of journals on the first floor of the library?  We are highlighting some titles for leisure reading on various subjects.  The titles range from ArtNews to The Writer to Technology Review and are located close the the Whipple Browsing area.  These can still be checked out for 3 days but feel free to browse through them while enjoying the peacefulness of the library.

The AV Department is now on Pinterest!

The AV Department now has one more way that you can easily find new releases--on Pinterest! Click here to check out our New Arrivals board!

--Laura, Head of Audiovisual

The AV Department? Not just films!

Sure, the AV Department has a ton of films available for checkout, but did you know that we also carry a large collection of television seasons? Come check out one of these TV shows in the following genres:

Animated:

• Daria


• Family Guy

Comedy:

• Bored to Death


• Flight of the Conchords

Crime Drama:

• Numbers


• The Wire

Gritty Drama:

• Breaking Bad


• Entourage

Historical Drama:

• Downton Abbey


• The Tudors

Medical Drama:

• Nip/Tuck


• Nurse Jackie

Mystery:

• Sherlock


• Veronica Mars

Sci Fi/Fantasy:

• Battlestar Galactica


• Game of Thrones

Sports:

• Eastbound & Down


• The League

Suspense:

• Dexter


• 24

--Laura, Head of Audiovisual

Check out some animated fun from Studio Ghibli!

Looking for a fun summer movie? Our Studio Ghibli collection is a great place to start, and good for all ages. Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio founded by acclaimed directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. Studio Ghibli focuses on films filled with whimsical fantasy elements and often features strong heroines. Here’s just three of the 18 that have been produced by the studio:

My Neighbor Totoro (1988) tells the story of two young girls who move with their father to the Japanese countryside and encounter many friendly woodland spirits, named Totoros. The main Totoro helps older sister Satsuki find her 4 year old sister Mei when she turns up missing.

Spirited Away (2001) is the story of Chihiro, a strong-willed 10 year old girl. She moves with her parents to the suburbs and one night discovers an alternate reality inhabited by thousands of mysterious spirits. When Chihiro’s parents are transformed into pigs by a witch, she takes a job at a bathhouse for these spirits to free herself and her parents from this alternate reality.

Pom Poko (1994) chronicles the struggle of shapeshifting raccoons, called tanuki, that are fighting to save their home from urban development. The lazy tanuki put themselves through a strict training regimen so they are able to utilize their shapeshifting powers to trick the humans and evil foxes invading their habitat.

The AV Department has the majority of films by Studio Ghibli, come check them out!

--Laura, Head of Audiovisual

Celebrate Earth Day with these titles!

Earth day is April 22nd, and the Audiovisual Department has got you covered with a great display of films to help you celebrate and contemplate. Here are three titles that will help get you in the spirit:

The 11th Hour (2008), narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, outlines the damage already done to the environment, while providing hope for the future in the form of ‘green’ technology. Showing images of collapsing glaciers and floods, the program offers solace from such experts as Steven Hawking and sustainable-design experts.

Agnés Varda, a French documentary filmmaker, travels her native country documenting the actions of gleaners in The Gleaners and I (2000). These gleaners are essentially modern-day scavengers, who search for food and other discarded products in dumpsters and refuse containers. Varda highlights their disregard for wastefulness and consumerism.

Andy Goldsworthy’s Rivers and Tides (2004) is a documentary about Scottish artist Andy Goldsworthy, who works exclusively with materials from nature. He builds ephemeral sculptures from such materials as branches, ice, and loose rock, and installs them within their original environment. His sculptures eventually become part of the landscape, where they become overgrown by plants or washed over by rising tides.

--Laura, Head of AV

Bert H. Baily Museum, Coe College, Iowa (1885-2004)

From the Archives…

Did you know Coe had a museum?  When Coe College was incorporated in 1881 is was common for college’s to have their own museums.  In fact it was a point of prestige for a college to have a museum, which is why the Coe College Museum was begun in 1885, three years after Coe instituted a library and five years before it had a student newspaper.  Part of the museum was still used by students as late as 2004 when art classes used the preserved birds as drawing subjects.

Today the space has been turned into much-needed classrooms, but pieces of the museum’s history still occasionally show up in the archives.  With the cleaning out of Peterson hall, in advance of its renovation this summer, a box of museum correspondence and notes was discovered by Harlo Hadow (Heins-Johnson Professor of Biology) and brought to the archives.  The identification cards on the right are part of this recent accession to the museum’s recorded history.

~Sara, Archives Assistant

Public vs. Academic Libraries

Did you know that a mile and a half from Coe College, in down town Cedar Rapids, you will find the Cedar Rapids Public Library (CRPL)?  Why is this important to know when the Stewart Memorial Library (SML) is in the center of campus?

Public and Academic libraries serve different purposes and hold different collections. For example, if you're doing a paper on architecture in Chicago you will find thirteen books on the subject in SML's catalog and one in CRPL's catalog. If you want to take a trip to see architecture in Chicago you will find zero guidebooks to Chicago in SML's catalog and twenty-five in CRPL's catalog. Public libraries contain introductory and popular materials on a wide range of subjects, while academic libraries contain in-depth materials in the disciplines covered by the institution.

For fun lets look at some other comparisons:

There are two copies of "Hunger Games" (a young adult book that has a movie version in theaters right now) in the SML catalog (one is currently lost). There are 79 copies of the book "Hunger Games" in CRPL's catalog. There are also spin-offs such as: 'the official illustrated movie companion', 'the hunger games cookbook', and 'the stars of the hunger games' available at CRPL.

SML has 562 'physics' titles including: "Introduction to University Physics", "The physicists : the history of a scientific community in modern America", and "mathematics and physics for programmers". CRPL has 110 titles including: "The complete idiots guide to physics", "Six roads from Newton: great discoveries in physics" (also owned by SML), and "The manga guide to physics".

Under the subject heading 'knitting' SML has 1 title "The complete idiots guide to knitting and crocheting" an e-book. CRPL has 518 titles under knitting including: "The principles of knitting: methods and techniques of hand knitting", "Knitting Knee Highs: sock styles from classic to contemporary", and "Things I learned from Knitting: whether I wanted to or not". CRPL's collection also includes knitting fiction and knitting juvenile literature.

There are 134 books under the subject headings for Jane Austen in the SML library catalog.  They include: "Jane Austen and the Morality of conversation", "Character development in Pride and Prejudice and Emma", and "A Jane Austen Encyclopedia".  The CRPL catalog has 85 books under the subject Jane Austen including: "Jane Vows Vengeance: a novel", "Jane Austen: a life revealed", and "Pride and Prejudice and zombies: dreadfully ever after".

Hopefully you know all about the Stewart Memorial Library and how to find and check-out books in its collections (if not please don't hesitate to ask!), so I am going to end with a few notes about the Cedar Rapids Public Library.  The CRPL shares its catalog and collections with the Hiawatha and Marion public libraries.  This means their catalog contains books from all of the libraries.  If the book you want is at the Hiawatha Public Library (or Marion) you can request it to be sent to CRPL for pick up.  To do this you need a library card and pin number which can be obtained at any of the public libraries.  The closest to Coe is at: 221 3rd St. SE.

Till next Thursday
Sara

How does the library decide what books to order?

On March 16^th I asked if anyone had any questions about the archives or library that they would like answered.  Anna asked: How does the library decide what books to order?

There are multiple ways the library chooses materials to order.  One is through Choice Cards.  Choice Cards are stacks of material suggestions recommended for academic libraries.  These cards are divided by discipline and go out to the heads of academic departments.  Faculty review the suggestions for their discipline and initial the materials they think the library should purchase.  Most of the time every initialed item gets ordered, but if the book is particularly expensive the director may contact the faculty member, who initialed the card, to determine if the book is a “must have” or a “want”.

Have you seen the librarians at the reference desk flipping through magazines?  These magazines contain material reviews and news about what is going on in the library and publishing world.  The librarian will read through the reviews in these publications for items that match the campus’s interests.  For example if a professor teaches a class on eastern theater, the librarians will choose materials that match this interest.  What the librarians are less likely to choose are general interest materials.  For example you will find few cooking books (200 crock pot meals), how to books (how to maintain your car), or travel books (a travel guide to Greece) in the collection.  You will find “Chop suey: a cultural history of Chinease food in the United States”, “The physics of NASCAR: how to make steel + gas + rubber = speed”, and the “Journal of modern Greek studies”.

Students also help decide what materials are purchased.  When a student interlibrary loans a book it is checked against 4 criteria: was published within the last 3 years, is non-fiction, is applicable to the current curriculum, and costs less than $50.  If the ILL book passes all four of these criteria it is automatically ordered for the library.  Students may also make suggestions as to what the library should purchase.  Many of the DVDs added to the audiovisual collection are added due to student suggestions.

You may have noticed that I used the word materials instead of books in my explanation.  That is because the library doesn’t just order books.  It purchases database subscriptions, journals, DVDs, e-books, and other informational materials as the campus shows need for them.

Anna, I hope this answered your question.  You, and everyone else, are welcome to ask another anytime.

Have a good day
Sara