Campus Read Keynote Lecture

David “Sonny” Lacks, son of the title subject in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, will speak at 7 p.m. Thursday, November 3, in the Student Union Simplot Ballroom. The lecture, presented by the Campus Read committee, is free and open to the public.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot, tells the story of Henrietta Lacks, known to scientists as HeLa. She was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells -- taken without her knowledge in 1951-- became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, gene mapping and more. Lacks’ cells have been bought and sold by the billions, yet she remains virtually unknown, and her family can’t even afford health insurance.

Sonny Lacks will speak about his mother and her important contribution to modern medicine and will share what it meant to find out, decades after the fact, that his mother’s cells were being used in laboratories around the world.

For more information contact Blaine Eckles at 208-426-1583

Please visit the Campus Read Resources Guide (http://guides.boisestate.edu/henriettalacks), created by librarians at the Albertsons Library, if you would like to access additional resources that discuss the book, and also find how you can check out a copy of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.

Carrie Moore,
Librarian

Alan Virta Retirement Reception is October 27

Alan Virta, head of Albertsons Library Special Collections and associate professor, will retire Friday, Oct. 28, following a long and dedicated career of nearly 24 years at Boise State. The campus community is invited to celebrate with him from 1:30-3 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 27, in the McCain Room on the second floor of the library. A short program will begin at 2 p.m.

Start your research with...

The Albertsons Library has no shortage of print and online resources to help in your research. Sometimes, it can be too much information! How do you know where to start or which database to use, especially when there are over 274 databases to choose from?

Fear not, we have this covered too. Even though there are subject databases (think Kiniesiology, Philosophy, Nursing, Political Science, etc.), the library has a list of "Top Databases" every student should know about:

• Academic Search Premier - one of our most comprehensive databases, this multidisciplinary goldmine gives you access to full text articles from tons of disciplines. The go-to source for most of your scholarly needs.
• ProQuest Central - another multidisciplinary powerhouse with full text articles.
• JSTOR - Retrospective scholarly journal archive to materials at least 1 to 5 years old that covers more than 50 disciplines.
• Web of Science - a multidisciplinary database, with a strong emphasis in science and social science, that also cover arts and humanities.
• Google Scholar - a freely accessible search engine that indexes scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines.
• CQ Researcher - comprehensive reporting and analysis on issues in the news.
• Gale Virtual Reference - gives you access to e-book encyclopedias and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research.

Don't forget that most of these online resources give you access to millions of full text, mobile-friendly articles and reference resources. If you get stuck, or want to know more about the rest of the 270+ databases at your disposal, we would be happy to answer your questions at  http://library.boisestate.edu/reference.php