eBooks: New and Improved!

Summer is finally here, which means it’s time to go outside and crack open a book or better yet download an eBook. If you are out of town or can’t make it to the library in person there is a fantastic selection of eBooks waiting for you through OverDrive.

OverDrive offers eBooks, audiobooks, and more for free through local libraries. You can check out eBooks through Albertsons Library at http://boisestate.lib.overdrive.com/, and thanks to their new improvements they’ve made it even easier to read on the go. 

They now have an option called “dyslexic font.” This function gives the text a heavy-weighted bottom, which makes it easier to read for those who have dyslexia.

OverDrive has also changed their waiting list feature to show where your hold position is as a ratio. Previously, the site would only show what number you were on the waiting list after you had requested a hold. Now, they use a ratio which divides the number of people on hold by the number of copies available, which should give you a better idea of how long you’ll be waiting.

Upcoming Updates: They’ve redesigned the menu so it will slide out from the left instead of dropping down from the top. Now you’ll be able to open up the menu next to the page you're reading instead of covering it up. OverDrive will also offer Assistive as one of the options under readability settings, which will automatically change the text to “Dyslexic Font.”

Hopefully you’ll find these additions useful and find the perfect eBook this summer!

Surviving Cold and Flu Season

Photo by Edgar Antonio Villaseñor González
via Flickr CC (http://bit.ly/1wvM0O2)

Although we’ve been inundated with news about the ebola virus lately, the influenza virus is much more likely to be an issue for those of us in Idaho. TV station KXLF reported the first flu-related death in Idaho more than two weeks ago http://www.kxly.com/news/north-idaho-news/idaho-reports-first-flu-related-death-of-season/29025292 so if you haven’t gotten your flu vaccination, now is the time to do so.

Boise State University’s Health Services has a number of resources including free vaccinations: http://healthservices.boisestate.edu/resources/coldandflu/

Idaho’s Department of Health and Welfare offers detailed information about signs of the flu and what to do: http://www.healthandwelfare.idaho.gov/Health/DiseasesConditions/Influenza/SeasonalInfluenza(Flu)/tabid/327/Default.aspx

And the CDC also has some pretty good, basic information about protecting yourself and others during flu season: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/stopgerms.htm

For more scholarly articles on influenza check out the databases collected on the Health Services library guide http://guides.boisestate.edu/health_sciences.

Above all, take care!

Michelle Armstrong and Elizabeth Ramsey

August is Water Quality Month

Photo by Oxfam International

The USDA's Water Quality Information Center has lots of great resources on water quality as it relates to agriculture. However, you can also find a variety of research information on the topic which has been produced right here at Boise State through Albertsons Library's ScholarWorks. For example:

• Venkataramana Sridhar (http://works.bepress.com/venkataramana_sridhar/) specializes in hydrology.

• On April 19 and 20, 2005, the Andrus Center for Public Policy and the Idaho Statesman convened a conference, entitled Troubled Water: Exploring Solutions for the Western Water Crisis, on the campus of Boise State University. Its purpose was to explore solutions for the Western water crisis. The conference was organized around the premise that in the 21st Century, water scarcity will reshape the West’s economy, growth, agriculture, environment, and recreation opportunities. In addition, access to clean water will be a global issue of huge importance.

• Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in Ground Water from Municipal Lagoon Treatment is a Boise State thesis by Teresa Nicholas, Master of Science in Civil Engineering.

• Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Conference: Many students have completed projects on water quality.

Find out more about Scholar Works at http://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/

Michelle Armstrong and Elizabeth Ramsey,

Librarians

50th Anniversary of Christ Chapel’s Move to Boise State

The fiftieth anniversary of the move of Christ Chapel to the Boise State University campus occurs this year. On July 8, 1963, the church was moved to its current location on the university campus between Bronco Stadium and Broadway Avenue, then known as Boise College.

The church was built in 1866 on the corner of Seventh and Bannock Streets in downtown Boise. The cost of the building was $1500 in gold, and the money was raised mostly by church women who held ice cream socials, bazaars where quilts and fancy work were sold, and home talent shows.

Throughout its existence as an Episcopal church, the structure saw many services and activities. The Christ Chapel Historical Society of Idaho was founded in 1963 to oversee the chapel and decided to move the chapel to the university campus after it was determined it must be moved from its original site. Before its move, the church was deconsecrated as an Episcopal house of worship. After the move, it was rededicated as a non-denominational structure in a ceremony on May 17, 1964.

The Christ Chapel Historical Society created a policy to restrict the chapel to nondenominational use and stated the university would handle maintenance and scheduling of the building. The chapel still stands on campus today and is the oldest protestant church in Montana, Utah, and Idaho.

Julia Stringfellow
Librarian/Archivist and Assistant Professor