11.30.2015

Crafty eBooks

Maybe you're feeling stressed out by the impending end of the semester, or perhaps you're wondering how you can manage gifts for all your friends and family? 

Maybe it's just your Crafty Muse persuading you that it is time to create? Whether you want to work with wood, paper, fabric, beads or yarn, the crafting possibilities are endless. 

We have a new display of print books to help guide your creations (you're always welcome to check out items on display). 

Plus Albertsons Library offers a variety of ebooks for more inspiration:

Hip Handmade Memory Jewelry 

http://boisestate.worldcat.org/oclc/891445722

Super-cute Felt: 35 step-by-step projects to make and give
http://boisestate.worldcat.org/oclc/880826484

Tiny whittling: more than 20 projects to make

Trash to Treasure: a kid's upcycling guide to crafts: fun, easy projects with paper, plastic, glass & ceramics, fabric, metal, and odds & ends

Wildlife Sketching: Pen, Pencil, Crayon and Charcoal
 
Willow Basketry and Sculpture 
http://boisestate.worldcat.org/oclc/880825324

Audrey Williams,
Access Services

11.23.2015

Buy Nothing Day

"Walmart on Black Friday 2009" by Laurie is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Where will you be November 27th, the day after Thanksgiving, or as it’s known in the U.S., Black Friday? Waiting outside of a big box store for the perfect gift for yourself or others? Worried about adding to your credit card debt over the holidays, but feeling compelled to shop anyway? You know, you could be relaxing in your jammies at home, celebrating Buy Nothing Day. 

Buy Nothing Day is an international day of protest against over-consumerism, founded in 1992 by Canadian artist Ted Dave, and since promoted by AdBusters magazine

You can find additional resources on the anti-consumerist movement at Albertsons Library:

Shop ‘til you drop: the crisis of consumerism http://boisestate.worldcat.org/oclc/521099791
Affluenza: How overconsumption is killing us --and how we can fight back  [Ebook]   http://boisestate.worldcat.org/oclc/867050543

Or, if you’d like to spend your time relaxing with some fiction, we have a Good Reads guide to all things fresh and fascinating in literature http://guides.boisestate.edu/goodreads. However you choose to celebrate your Thanksgiving holiday, we wish you all the best.

Audrey Williams,
Access Services

11.20.2015

Library hours during the Thanksgiving holiday

"Pie II" by Sarah is licensed under CC BY 2.0
The Albertsons Library will have reduced hours during the Thanksgiving holiday break. The library will be open:

  • Sunday, Nov. 22: 10 am - 6 pm
  • Monday, Nov. 23: 8 am - 5 pm
  • Tuesday, Nov. 24: 8 am - 5 pm
  • Wednesday, Nov. 25: 8 am - 5 pm
  • Thursday Nov. 26 through through Saturday Nov. 28th: CLOSED

Regular hours resume on Sunday, Nov. 29. You can find updated library hours at http://library.boisestate.edu/about/hours.php

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving Break!

11.13.2015

Save Students Money by Rethinking the Textbook


Textbooks are expensive and they don’t always fit the learning objectives of your course.

Join Leif Nelson and Amber Sherman for a brown bag lunch workshop on how you can save students money by rethinking your textbook and adopting open educational resources (OERs).

We will give you an overview of the textbook problem and show you how to get started identifying, evaluating and incorporating open material in your course. This workshop will be offered on Monday, November 16th starting at noon in the MakerLab at Albertsons Library.

A hands-on workshop for faculty to search open educational resources and importing content to Blackboard will be offered on Tuesday, November 17th. Sign up at https://orgsync.com/117745/events/1276503/occurrences/2859504

Amber Sherman,
ScholarWorks Librarian

11.11.2015

Thank you to our Veterans!


Check out other Veterans Celebration events being held November 9-13. To celebrate Veterans Day, I’d like to share some information about resources, at Boise State and beyond, which are available to veterans.

Boise State University Veteran Services Center
In 2015, Veteran Services was awarded a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education, which is being used to establish a Center of Excellence for Veteran Students. Congratulations to the amazing staff who work hard to make Boise State such a great environment for student veterans!

ΩΔΣ (Omega Delta Sigma)
Student veteran and Veteran Services Education and Event Coordinator Travis Hayes founded the Idaho Alpha Chapter of this co-ed college fraternity for veterans when he began his education at Boise State. Travis was recently featured on the Vice President’s Faces of Student Affairs blog. For more information about chapter activity at Boise State University contact pres.ida@omegadeltasigma.com.

Boise State University Veterans Upward Bound
This office is officially dedicated to helping veterans (both students and community) achieve academically by offering free assessments, instructional programs, and career planning, but the caring staff make it feel like a community center of sorts.

Boise Vet Center
The Boise Vet Center is available to all combat veterans, and is staffed with some awesome therapists who care about the well-being of veterans.

Library Research Guide - Veteran Services
You can find all of the resources I mention (and more) here. My contact information is also listed on this page, and please don’t hesitate to use it. I’m great at finding resources, whether academic or otherwise, so if I don’t know the answer to your question, I’m pretty sure I can find out who does!

Ellie Dworak is the library liaison for Veteran Services, Veteran’s Upward Bound and Military Sciences.

11.09.2015

Boise State Authors: Over 1 ½ million Downloads

Congratulations Boise State Authors! Your scholarly works have been download over 1 ½ million times since ScholarWorks began in 2009. 


In a time when journal prices are skyrocketing and publishers are placing more restrictions on authors, systems like ScholarWorks help connect people from around the world to the incredible work you are producing. Help us reach 2 million downloads by looking for Open Access Journal options, challenging copyright transfer agreements, and continuing to send your work to ScholarWorks.

Congratulations!

Amber Sherman,
ScholarWorks Librarian

11.05.2015

Keyboard Kits Available at the Library


We now have four new Keyboard kits in our reserves collection. These kits are available to checkout for two weeks. Included in this stylish bag is: 1 Keyboard, 1 mouse, 1 4-port USB hub, and 1 SD card adapter. They have been put together to compliment our Arduinos and Raspberry Pi kits, but anybody in need of these accessories is welcome to borrow the kit.

Michael Mitchell,
Access Services

   

11.03.2015

New Issue of BOGA, Basque Studies Consortium Journal Published


BOGA, the Basque Studies Consortium Journal, has just published its next issue. The multi-disciplinary, peer-reviewed, academic publication provides a forum for the scholarly study of all aspects of Basque culture. As an English language journal, the publication not only benefits the academic community, it also provides a valuable avenue for non-Basque speakers to learn about this unique and important culture.

In this latest issue, researchers have explored Ernest Hemingway’s experience with the Basque, Basque diaspora within the academic community, and the globalization of the Basque culture. Also featured is a look back at the Oñati study abroad program. Oñati, Gipuzkoa is home to the Basque Country’s first university built in 1548 and the first location for Boise State’s Basque study abroad program in the 1970s.

Gozatu! Enjoy!

Michelle Armstrong,
Scholarly Communications and Data Management Librarian

11.02.2015

Veterans Day History


"Veterans Day Poster Gallery" by U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
http://www.va.gov/opa/vetsday/gallery.asp
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.” ~Ronald Reagan

The History

Four years into the First World War, also known as “the Great War,” the Allied nations and Germany finally declared an armistice that was to take place on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, 1918.  Though it had been unofficially known when the fighting would end two days prior, and with certainty by 5 o’clock the morning of the 11th; the American Expeditionary Forces suffered more than 3,500 casualties in the final hours of war.

Though the Treaty of Versailles was signed in June of the following year, the public maintained that November 11, 1918 was truly the ending of the Great War and that same month President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11th Armistice Day.

"Tomb of the Unknowns." Wikipedia. Wikimedia
Foundation, 28 Oct. 2015. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.
On November 11, 1921, an unidentified American soldier who had been killed during the war was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery, today better known as “The Tomb of the Unknowns.” 

On that same day in both London and Paris, unidentified soldiers were also buried in places of honor. U.S. Congress declared the day a federal holiday to honor those who took part in the war, both living and dead.  

On June 4, 1926 Congress passed a motion stating that the “recurring anniversary of [November 11, 1918] should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations.”

Veteran’s Day

In 1945 WWII veteran Raymond Weeks was struck with the idea to expand Armistice Day to encompass the veterans of all wars. He put forward a proposition to then General Eisenhower, who supported the idea. Weeks led the first national celebration in 1947, and every year after until his death in 1982. President Ronald Reagan later called Weeks the “Father of Veterans Day.”

Retired Army 1st Sgt. William Staude, of Elliott, Pa., salutes soldiers from the
316th Expeditionary Sustainment Command. Photo Credit: Sgt. 1st Class Michel Sauret.
http://www.army.mil/media/378592/

Armistice Day saw American participation in WWII (1941-1945) and the Korean War (1950-1953) totaling up to more than 16 million troops. As millions came home from war, veteran service organizations sought ways to acknowledge their service. In May of 1954, now President Eisenhower signed a bill into law declaring Armistice Day a federal holiday. One month later the word “Armistice” was replaced with “Veterans,” and it has since been known as Veterans Day!

Traditions in the U.S. and around the world

On Veterans Day in the United States, an official wreath-laying ceremony is held at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery, while parades and other celebrations are held in states around the country.

Britain, France, Canada and many Commonwealth countries also commemorate the veterans of World Wars I and II on or near November 11th: they call it Remembrance Day or in Britain, Remembrance Sunday. In the countries it is common to observe two minutes of silence at 11 a.m. every November 11.

Lindsay Dwyer,
Reference & Instruction Librarian