Twelve Faces of Google

You’ve probably heard that merry tune, Twelve Days of Christmas, and you may have seen one of the web sites that tracks what all that stuff would cost. Beginning in February, the MW library will be launching a new program called Library Lunch Bites and the first series will be Twelve Faces of Google. No cost calculations are necessary because all the sessions are FREE!

Library Lunch Bites will take place each Friday during lunch for 15-20 minutes. Each Lunch Bite session in this series will introduce one of the many faces of Google (twelve is only a fraction of what they offer). Most of these Google products require that you have a Google account, so if you don’t already have one, consider creating one.

The sessions in the Twelve Faces of Google series will introduce the following products (not necessarily in this order):

• Google Book
• Google Documents
• Google Groups
• iGoogle
• Google News (including Google Alerts)
• Google Notebook
• Google Presentations
• Google Reader
• Google Scholar
• Google Spreadsheets
• Google Uncle Sam
• PicasaWeb

Stay tuned to the MW Library blog for more info as February draws closer.

Deception and politics

Do you ever get frustrated by the tendency of politicians to distort the truth? As the Iowa caucus draws near (Jan. 3, 2008), the political rhetoric on all sides is heating up. Don’t get duped. Consult FactCheck to check the validity of facts and quotes bandied by politicians.

Fact Check is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at UPENN, a nonpartisan, nonprofit, “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. They monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases, applying best practices of journalism and scholarship to their analysis (About).

Check out one of the related books in the library to read over break:

303.3 BES - Damned Lies and Statistics: Untangling Numbers from the Media, Politicians, and Activists

302.23 SCH - The Sound Bite Society: Television and the American Mind

VCU’s Comic Arts Collection

Ever wonder what treasures are hiding on all those floors of the VCU Library? On the 4th floor, the Special Collections department houses the largest Comic Arts collection in North America. Although the comics are not available for check out, they can be photocopied. If you’re interested in comic art or the influence of political cartoons in society, you might enjoy spending an hour or two browsing this collection.

To learn more, visit the Comics Art Collection web page.

Although hours are subject to change, the VCU web site currently lists the Special Collections hours during the VCU winter break as including Saturdays 1/5 and 1/12 which is unusual for a department that is usually only open M-F from 8-5:

Special Collections:
January 3 - 5: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
January 8 - 12: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

To confirm their hours before you hop into your car or onto your bike, call 828-1108 or email libjbcsca@vcu.edu

Don’t have the time to visit in-person? You might enjoy the online exhibit of editorial cartoons by Fred O. Seibel, former cartoonist for the Richmond Times Dispatch. The exhibit includes letters to Seibel about his cartoons from FDR, Truman, J. Edgar Hoover, and other famous individuals.

Also, consider checking out a related book from the MW library to read over break:

741.5 - Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art

902.07 GON - The Cartoon History of the Universe

Do you Sudoku?

Then don’t miss Sudoku: Questions, Variations, and Research featuring Laura Taalman, Associate Professor of Mathematics at JMU, after school this Thursday in the auditorium (3:30-4:30).  Professor Taalman’s research includes singular algebraic geometry, knot theory, and the mathematics of puzzles.  She’s also the author of the book Color Sudoku.  This event is sponsored by Mu Alpha Theta.

If you like puzzles and/or mathematics, consider checking out a puzzle or math book from the library to peruse over winter break.  You’ll find the math books in about the middle of the bookcase on the wall behind the Ender’s Game book display.   Even though they’d normally be on the bookcases nearer to fiction, the puzzle books are on the same bookcase as the math books - on the bottom shelf.

The library still has copies of Ender’s Game available for check out too.  Drop by today!

Extra copies of Ender’s Game available

Can’t spare the dough to purchase your own copy of Ender’s Game, this year’s All School Reads selection?

No worries!  Drop by the library to borrow a copy.  As of today, 8 copies are on hold at the circulation desk just waiting for someone to check them out!

CD collection

Thanks to generous past donations, the library’s collection includes several classical, show, and Putumayo World Music CD’s that are available for checkout to students and faculty.  These items are included in the library’s online catalog and a complete printed list is available on top of the CD case.

Recently, donations from the Friends of the Library funded the purchase of a CD player to feature this music before school and during lunch.  Drop by to see what’s playing…