Author Archives: Arabella Holzapfel

New to the libraries

The Middlebury libraries are pleased to announce access to some new resources for the Middlebury community.

  • ProQuest Statistical Abstracts of the World – an authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic conditions.
  • Disability in the modern world – One person in seven experiences disability, yet the story of this community and its contributions is largely absent from the scholarly record. Access to the primary and secondary source materials within this collection enables you to include this important piece of the puzzle in your research.
  • National Geographic: 1995 to the current issue – we have had access to this magazine archive through 1994 for several years. Now content up to and including the current issue is available online.
  • ProQuest Historical Newspapers, The Atlanta Constitution: 1946-1984 – we have had access to content from 1868 to 1945 for several years; this purchase fills a gap in Southern US news coverage for the mid- to late-twentieth century.
  • China: trade, politics, and culture; 1793-1980 – With documents encompassing events from the earliest English embassy to the birth and early years of the People’s Republic, this resource collects sources from nine archives to give an insight into the changes in China during this period.

Watch for this when accessing full text articles

Next time you click on a “Full text online” link in Summon (and other library databases including PsycINFO) that looks like thisyou may see a screen that looks like thisAny reasonable person would suspect something is terribly wrong. The fact is that, somewhat unfortunately, a link that says “Click this link to display full-text in a new window” no longer displays in the big empty spot. Instead, there is now a very small link at the bottom of the narrow frame on the right that says “Open content in a new tab.” (additional screenshot below) If you click that link, you will (hopefully) see the journal article you are looking for.

We’re sorry for this inconvenience. We and other libraries are working with our third-party vendor to improve the situation.

Report any problems with access to online resources by email to eaccess-admin@middlebury.edu

Here is the link to “Open content in a new tab”

Open in new tab

Latin Poetry (Trial through Nov. 11)

Until November 11th, Middlebury faculty, students, and staff have free access to Oxford Scholarly Editions – Latin Poetry. (To find content, search or browse and then limit to Middlebury’s access as shown in the screenshot at the bottom of this post.)

This access includes the use of the Oxford Latin Dictionary widget. If you come across a word or phrase you are not familiar with, highlight it and a menu appears:

Choose Oxford Latin Dictionary and see the results!

Try it out and let us know what you think. Email eaccess-admin@middlebury.edu or contact your liaison.

 

Screenshot showing texts limited to Middlebury:

New to the libraries – Fall 2017

The library has acquired some new resources over the last few months:

  • Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics  a systematic and comprehensive treatment of all aspects of the history and study of the Hebrew language from its earliest attested form to the present day and features advanced search options
  • Japan Times Archive Full text of every issue of this English language newspaper based in Japan that was published from 1897 through 2015
  • Digital Loeb Classical Library  Important works of ancient Greek and Latin literature, presenting the original Greek or Latin text on each left-hand page, and a fairly literal translation on the facing page.
  • American Indian Movement and Native American Radicalism, 1968—1979This collection of FBI files from 1968 to 1979 provides detailed information on the evolution of AIM as an organization of social protest and the development of Native American radicalism.
  • Federal Response to Radicalism in the 1960s Another collection from the Federal Bureau of Investigation Library, this collection sheds light on internal organization, personnel, and activities of some of the most prominent American radical groups and their movements to change American government and society. Included are files on Cesar Chavez, the Black Panther Party, and Malcolm X, among many others.
  • FIAF international index to film periodicals This database contains the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF)’s “Treasures from Film Archives”; a detailed index of the silent-era film holdings of archives from around the world, a selection of Reference volumes and the linked full-text of over 60 journals.
  • JSTOR books  Middlebury has purchased access to nearly 800 e-books on the JSTOR platform. Subjects include books published in 2015-2017 in the broad areas of languages and literatures, sociology, political science, and climate change. (You will find relevant content from any of these books by searching the JSTOR platform. In the near future, they will also be in the library’s catalog.)

Japan Times at Middlebury

Over time, the Japan Times changed its official title a few times, so it can be hard to find a particular article from a particular date. Now that we have access to The Japan Times Archives, here’s a guide:

Current issues:

Today’s Japan Times and content from recent weeks can be found by anyone anywhere at the Japan Times website. (An individual without a subscription is limited to a few articles per month.) Text-only is also available for 1998 to present by searching LexisNexis.

Older issues:

For older content, Middlebury users now have access to the Japan Times Archives

The archive include articles published since its inception in 1897, including all of these variations:

  • Japan Times (1897-1940)
  • Japan Advertiser (1905-1940)
  • Japan Times and Advertiser (1940-1942)
  • Nippon Times (1943-1956)
  • Japan Times (1956-present)

As of this writing, the Archives include content through December 31, 2015; 2016 content is expected in the near future.

Davis Family Library closed June 12-18 for floor repairs

Davis Family Library will be closed all next week (June 12th through the 18th) so that a contractor can rework the floor grates in the vestibule.

The front doors will be inaccessible and the vestibule (including the rest rooms, ATM, and cafe space) will also be inaccessible from both the outside and the inside.

Armstrong Library in Bicentennial Hall will be open 9am to 5 pm June 12th through the 16th (Monday through Friday),

and the library’s e-books and online journals and databases will be available – see go/lib/ to find them.

“Postcard to Mum”

If you visit the Davis Family Library atrium between now and Sunday, May 21st, you will see a very special display on the main floor, and continued in the glass display case on the Upper Level. Here’s what it’s about:

Middlebury student Miguel Castillo renders an artistic tribute to his mother with this interactive display.

Name: Miguel A. Castillo

Year: Junior/third-year

Major: Dance/Theatre

Hometown: Caracas, Venezuela

Collaborators: Aida Rodríguez [Tata], Andrew Pester, my family

Thanks Yous/Acknowledgements: Joseph Watson, Danielle Rougeau, Kim Gurney, Katrina Spencer, Deborah Leedy, Katrina Moore, Angela Valenzuela, Gabriel Ferreras, Emina Mahmuljin, Cathy Collins, Hedya Klein, Milo Stanley, Eliza Renner, Nando Sandoval, Ximena Mejia,  Wonnacott Commons, International Student Organization, and everyone else that said yes to this.

So what is this that you’ve set up on the main and upper levels of the Davis Family Library?

Part of the display on the upper level of Davis Family Library

It’s a three-part art installation that explores nostalgia, loss, and memory. This past year has been hard for me. On March 30th, 2016, my mother was diagnosed with brain cancer. On June 12th, 2016, she passed away under a bright blue sky. Dealing with her physical absence has been a journey, a messy one. I compare this process to dropping a stone in the ocean water. A stone that falls in water makes ripples; at first they are small, intense and constant. With time, they become more spaced out but larger. They are all the result of the same stone. This art installation has been an opportunity to collect my feelings about what is going on– a space to bring out what cries and laughs inside. My grandmother, my mom’s mom, came to live with me for a month, so I thought that having an artistic project to collaborate on would give us the opportunity to deal with something that is hard for us both, and this is what we came up with.

How are library patrons supposed to interact with it?

I hope people come to see it and check out all the parts. There is a typewriter, some postcards, envelopes and stamps. My hope is that people use them to write with an open heart to whomever comes to their minds. Maybe they’ll write one and send it to a random address. Mother’s Day is coming up soon. I hope that people can reflect on the ephemerality of life. Live fully not because one will die but because one is alive. Life is a fleeting moment and, as my mother said, “No hay tiempo para pendejadas” (“There’s no time for bullsh*t”.)

What do you hope the community will gain from the display?

I hope people stop for a second, breathe, and keep going feeling even more human.

Hispanic American Newspapers (Trial through May 16th, 2017)

Until May 16th, Middlebury faculty, students, and staff have free access to Hispanic American Newspapers from 1808 through 1980. This collection represents the single largest compilation of Spanish-language newspapers printed in the U.S. during the 19th and 20th centuries. The distinctive collection features hundreds of Hispanic American newspapers, including many long scattered and forgotten titles published in the 19th century. It is based on the “Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage Project,” a national research effort directed by Nicolás Kanellos, Brown Foundation Professor of Hispanic Studies at the University of Houston.Let us know what you think – email eaccess-admin@middlebury.edu or contact your liaison.