John Streiff Retires

John Streiff of the circulation department checking out a book to a library patron, June 1995.

John Streiff, Library Circulation Manager, retired on Monday, June 17th. That was the last day he worked with student employees, answered patron questions, and closed the building. We’ll miss him and his expertise but we are very happy he is going to have more time to ride his bike, write and play music, and spend time with his wife Sandy and their family.

To quote what we wrote for the Update:

Streiff started at Boise State as an adjunct English instructor in August 1992. He was subsequently hired by Albertsons Library in 1993 as a library assistant and promoted to circulation manager in 2008. Through the years he has supervised hundreds of student employees and has served Boise State staff and students with great competence and skill.

“I feel honored to have mentored and encouraged all the students I have had the pleasure of supervising over the years,” he said. “Additionally, numerous faculty and staff relationships have given me an especially rich experience here at Boise State. Though I can’t really retire from a family (unless I want to join some crazy relatives in the basement!), I will always feel part of this educational community. I look forward to enjoying many more years of learning from this great family of friends, students and scholars.”

We hope John returns to visit us as a patron and we hope we run into him cycling on the greenbelt, flying down from Lucky Peak, or playing in a Jazz club. Good luck John!!!!

Mary Aagard,
Access Services

Films for Halloween

Photo by Toby Ord

Halloween is just a couple of short days away. Do you need a distraction from your studies? Here are a few suggestions for a Halloween movie night. The best part is you can pick them up right here at the Albertsons Library!

Foggy nights (and days), crisp wind, and the changing environment conjure the time of year to curl up on the couch with a good horror movie, or a bad one for that matter.

Here is list of some horror films we have at the library:

1. The Wizard of Gore: http://boisestate.worldcat.org/oclc/45748056
   Herschell Gordon Lewis is known as the Godfather of Gore, and this film delivers plenty. The gore in this film is far from realistic, and the acting leaves something to be desired, but that’s part of what makes this film so great. Montague the Magnificent has come on the scene, creating masterful illusions for his paying customers. When the lovely volunteers who are subject to these illusions start to die, a news reporter is ready to investigate. This is considered a splatter film, so be warned if you check this one out!
2. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari: http://boisestate.worldcat.org/oclc/50805098
   This silent film focuses on a somnambulist who commits murders under a hypnotist's influence. It is one of the films that hails from the German Expressionist movement, and has influenced some modern film makers. The opening scenes from ‘The Queen of the Damned,’ for example, are shot in the same manner.
3. The Fly: http://boisestate.worldcat.org/oclc/182538990
   

   David Cronenberg’s remake of this film is great! If you haven’t seen this one yet, what better time to check it out than Halloween? A scientist accidentally combines his own DNA with that of a common fly after it gets trapped in an experimental teleportation device he created. The sequel is also on the shelves (http://boisestate.worldcat.org/oclc/182538896).
4. The Last Man on Earth: http://boisestate.worldcat.org/oclc/57070225
   This film is the original! Starring film legend Vincent Price as the only human survivor of a plague that swept the face of the earth, he must defend his home from vampires at night and forage for supplies during the day to survive. Price gives an incredible performance as the tortured, exhausted last man on earth.
5. The Birds: http://boisestate.worldcat.org/oclc/43793579
   This is definitely a classic. When Melanie Daniels arrives in Bodega Bay, the small town is attacked by thousands of birds. Alfred Hitchcock directed the film.
6. Chyonghan Kajok (The Quiet Family): http://boisestate.worldcat.org/oclc/68815536
   When economic tragedy hits the family, they take up residence in an old mountain cottage and open an inn. The guests check in, but they never check out. The family must cover up the serial murders occurring on their new property.
7. The Haunting: http://boisestate.worldcat.org/oclc/47977603
   Adapted from Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, this psychological thriller tells the story of four people who come to the house to study its supernatural phenomena.
8. Cronos: http://boisestate.worldcat.org/oclc/86081224
   This film was directed by Guillermo del Toro and stars Ron Perlman. Antique dealer Jesus Gris accidentally discovers the ancient Cronos device, which bestows eternal life to those who use it. However, there are certain disadvantages to using the device. A dying industrialist finds and reads the creator’s journal, and sends his nephew to retrieve the device.

If you can’t find what you are looking for, don’t forget about Interlibrary Loan, although they won’t
get here in time for Halloween.

Lizzy Walker,
ScholarWorks

I’ll Take “S-words” for $1000, Alex.

Do you remember the classic Saturday Night Live Jeopardy skit where Sean Connery (Darrell Hammond), much to the chagrin of Alex Trebek (Will Ferrell), mistakes the category “S-words” for “Swords”? Well the Albertsons Library has an encyclopedia of “s-words”…. err, I mean “swords” that is worth checking out.

If you ever wanted to know how Ralph Faulkner received the real life scar on his face from a fencing duel in the movie Sword of the Avenger (see Accidents, Movie-Related Fencing) or the difference between a Curtana and a Katana, then The Encyclopedia of the Sword (Call#: ref GV 1143.2 E93 1995) is the place to look.

Oh by the way, A Curtana is commonly known as “the Sword of Mercy” and is one of three swords brought before the sovereigns of England during coronation, while a Katana is a traditional Japanese samurai sword.

So this is just a little reminder that there are a lot of interesting books and materials in the Albertsons Library that can pique most any interest or satisfy most any curiosity. Give the library and it’s collection a look around. Take it for a test drive, you never know what you may find out.

For example, did you know that Helene Mayer is considered the greatest female fencer of all time? Some additional books on “S-words” located in the main collection are:

• The Book of the Sword by Richard F. Burton call#: U850 .B8 1987
• Samurai Sword: A Handbook by John M. Yumoto call#: NK6784 .Y8
• Sword in the Age of Chivalry by R. Ewart Oakeshott call#: U854 .O2

Rick Stoddart
Reference Librarian

This is Good CRAAP!

Asking questions about the world around you and learning to evaluating the responses you discover are one of the core skills you develop throughout your life. College is one of the prime places you hone these life-long skills through learning to interrogate the information you hear in class, put in your research papers, and use in your daily interaction with your peers. Librarians like to call these information evaluating skills: Information Literacy.

One of the best places to apply your Information Literacy skill set is the internet. But to use it effectively one must understand how to best evaluate the information it returns. A good place to begin for suggestions about evaluating information you find on the internet is provided by the Albertsons Library website. But another resource I like to use is called CRAAP. CRAAP stands for:

Currency: The timeliness of the information.
Relevance: The importance of the information for your needs.
Authority: The source of the information
Accuracy: The reliability, truthfulness, and correctness of the informational content
Purpose: The reason the information exists

(CRAAP is Courtesy of Meriam Library -- California State University Chico)

I find that if something passes the “CRAAP Test” then it is a pretty reliable source of information to use in my research. It is also fun to say. Say it with me: CRAAP, CRAAP, CRAAP. Okay, now that we got that out of our system…. we can move on.

It is important to remember that one of the strengths in starting your research with library-related resources is that this material has already been pre-evaluated through the library’s collection development process for relevance, authority, accuracy, etc. So the library and its resources is always a safe and efficient place to begin your research.

If you forget where the CRAAP website is, you can just plug the term CRAAP into Google or any other search engine and it should come back with the website.

Good luck with your research.

Rick Stoddart, Reference Librarian