Friday, April 24, 2009

Meet Diana Gates

Today, we have what Mr. Rogers might call a "very special" librarian profile. Today, you'll meet Diana Gates, our Deaf Collection Librarian. On a daily basis, she pulls off the Herculean task of managing the Deaf Collection here at Gallaudet.

The Deaf Collection works on a very simple principle: if it's by a deaf person, has a deaf person in it, or is about deaf people, deafness, sign language, or audiology, we try to get it. What few people realize is that the Deaf Collection that lives on the first floor is only the tip of the iceberg. The stuff you see on the first floor always has a second copy downstairs, so not only is the entire Deaf Collection on the first floor duplicated in the basement, but it is also accompanied by the one-of-a-kind stuff that doesn't circulate. We do not allow the rarer items to circulate in order to preserve them for future researchers.

So who gets to feed the beast? Diana Gates, that's who. She's the lady you always see kind of running up and down the stairs in the Library, and this is her story.

1) Where are you from, anyway?
I am from Mattoon, Illinois, which is in central Illinois. But I have been living in Maryland for a good while.

2) How did you get here?
I have to laugh at this question. If you only knew how many crazy family trips we made to Washington, D.C. before I became a student. My godmother and uncle lived here before I was a student at Gallaudet. My uncle was stationed in the Army at Fort Belvoir; we started coming shortly after the 1968 riots. About that time, I heard about Gallaudet College, as it was called in those days, and we visited the campus, which had fewer buildings then.

3) How long have you worked here, and can you give me an idea of some of the more interesting things you've seen in your tenure at Gallaudet?
I started working right after President Nixon resigned as President, August 1974. The Library was in the Edward Miner Gallaudet building and was known as the Edward Miner Gallaudet Library. You can see this stamped on some of the Library’s older books. In 1981, the Library moved into Learning Center, which was renamed the Merrill Learning Center after President Merrill.

In 1973, I started working here as a student assistant doing practically everything: circulation, cataloging, shelving, the Deaf Collection, and Archives. Library Science was available as a major at Gallaudet at that time. I majored in English and Library Science; I guess I must have been a terrible student because I was in the last class to graduate with a major in Library Science. I started full time work in my last semester and graduated in 1975. I started as a Circulation & Reference Librarian, and then became the Northwest Campus Librarian, followed by Reference & Instruction Librarian and currently, the Deaf Collection Librarian.

As for interesting things happening here at Gallaudet, there’s been more emphasis on ASL, Deaf culture, Deaf space, Deaf history, emphasis on the Deaf rather than the deaf, more interpreters, congressional legislation, such as ADA, and an explosion of publications and films related to deaf people and deafness. Finally, as everyone knows, technology--computers, pagers, and software programs--which benefit the deaf. Some academic offerings reflect those changes. From 1970, the campus has gone from a “little Southern college” into a competitive high-tech university.

4) What have you specialized in?
After 34 years, I have done a variety of things: circulation, interlibrary loan, and reference. In 1983, I established the Northwest Campus Library for the School of Preparatory Studies; I also tutored students with learning disabilities in reading. Later I supervised the Computer Lab and Tutoring Center. I remained there until the Prep Program closed in 1995. Then I returned to the Kendall Green campus to do more circulation and reference library work. I had the pleasure of working with the English, Foreign Language, and Physical Education Departments.

Currently as the Deaf Collection Librarian, I track down and purchase deaf related books, periodicals, and films and also do deaf reference work. In addition, I am learning the ropes in the Archives, which is a totally different kind of black hole filled with fascinating information about the campus and anything deaf related.

5) What's in the Deaf Collection?

The Deaf Collection is full of interesting little gems of knowledge and of course big research findings, too. The Collection has materials on the early days of deaf education around the time of the establishment of the American School for the Deaf. There are also audiology and speech materials and theories from Alexander Graham Bell’s promotion of oralism. Sign languages and fingerspelling materials from many countries are acquired for the Collection. Deaf school yearbooks and our own Tower Clock are among the popular items. Areas where Deaf people are involved in sports, linguistics, sociology, culture, psychology and the arts, to name a few, are also represented. Literature, with deaf characters or fiction written by deaf authors, is also included. Basically, most areas of knowledge that have something related to the deaf or deafness. It is the largest collection on deafness in the world and there things there that you won’t find by Googling! Google is great but it doesn’t have all the information and at times its accuracy can be questionable.

6) What can you do for students or faculty doing deaf-related research?

As librarians, we work with the faculty to support the curriculum and information literacy objectives. Class presentations, workshops, email, IM, and one-on-one sessions by appointment are different ways the librarians work with students.

7) Can you list some of the resources that you use the most in working with students and faculty? Why are they good resources to use?

There are many wonderful resources in the Deaf Collection. In your last blog, Jane Rutherford mentioned some of the basic deaf reference resources, which are a good place to start. The Deaf Research Guide is THE place to begin any deaf research. There are research guides that help guide you to finding materials in the ALADIN Catalog and online article databases. The guides were developed based on frequency of questions we receive, such as biographies of deaf people or deaf culture. The Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section includes answers to sign language, statistics, and much more.

Let’s not forget many resources are becoming available online through the ALADIN Catalog.

And finally, Librarians are also excellent resources if you need help with your research, a curious question, or simply something fun and light to read.

8) What do you like the most about working here?

I grew up wanting to be a librarian because I love books, but it involves working with people too. Each day is different. Most of our patrons are from on campus but researchers from around the country and the world come to use our resources. Often the researchers return and it’s like meeting old friends again. It’s rewarding to assist people with their research. Their research questions may be a simple question, such as, "Who is Laurent Clerc?" or something more complex.

The work may seem routine sometimes, but the duties do change and the technology constantly changes. It’s exciting to do research and obtain new materials about a deaf artist or author from a hundred years ago. There’s a sense of ownership in your work, which contributes to the collection that reflects Deaf history and our heritage. It’s rewarding and an honor also. Finally, there are always projects waiting, such as digitizing, updating a webpage, searching for more deaf materials to acquire, and accepting donations.

9) There's been some talk about a new library building in the works over the next few years. What's the one thing you'd most like to see change from the old building to the new one?

I visualize a new large, functional building that is “inviting” to everyone with natural and artificial light, packed with student-focused features, and temperature- and climate-controlled rooms for preserving our old deaf materials, some of which date back to the 1500s. This would be a perfect place for Gallaudet’s museum. This new facility would have “older” architectural features that reflect the campus’s heritage like many of the older universities. There’s something mystical about buildings which hold scholarly knowledge about mankind and the universe. It makes you think of the library in the Harry Potter films!

10) Last question, I promise: What's your favorite color?

That’s such a difficult question. It’s like taking one color out of an artist’s canvas and I don’t think a color or a particular hue can stand alone; they work together and complement each other. Imagine if everything in the world was one color! If you are really curious about a few favorite colors, stop by and ask me in person!

That does it for this week. Next week: Graphic novels. What's so great about them anyway? Why do we have them? Tune in next week and find out!

Question of the Week
I just tried to find a book in the Deaf Stacks with the call number 268.433 D4w 19--, "We are the Church," which is a lesson plan for religious education for deaf kids. I tried and tried to find it, but it was nowhere! The numbers just went from 268.4 to 268.6. Then I asked a librarian and he found it right away. How do call numbers work, anyway?
Here at the Gallaudet University Library, we use a system that you might recognize from your hometown's public library: The Dewey Decimal Classification. It's just right for a library of our size. Dewey splits up all books into 10 major subjects like Literature, Religion, or History (000, 100, 200, etc.), which are then split up into ten more subjects that fit under the larger heading, like American History, Christianity, or British Literature (110, 120, 130, etc.). Then those subjects are split into ten each (111, 112, 113, etc.) and so on down the line.

How is this reflected in the call numbers? Let's look at 268.433 as an example. Let's break it down; look at how the number changes as you get more and more specific:

200: Religion
260: Christian Social and Ecclesiastical Theology (a heading used for church services, schools, observances, etc.)
268: Religious Education
268.433: Religious Education -- Young People

D4w: A code for the book's author and title information in order to make the call number even more specific

19--: Year the book was published. It's incomplete because we're not sure what year this book was published, a rare exception.

We do not use the call numbers to distinguish between the Deaf Stacks and General Stacks, so you will need to pay attention when you look at the ALADIN Catalog record for the book you want in order to find out whether it's in the Deaf or General Stacks.

Here, you can see how call numbers don't work like actual mathematical figures -- we don't divide Religion by Young Deaf People and get 268.433 in the result. They're more like serial numbers, like the ones on your cell phone or computer. Finding the above call number works in this process:
  1. Go to the Deaf Stacks shelf labeled with the range containing your call number; in your case, it's the one with a sign that says "155.4 TO 304.2"
  2. Scan the call numbers on the shelf until you reach the books whose call numbers begin with "268"
  3. Scan those books until you reach the books that start with "268.4"
  4. From this point on, each new number counts upward. Thus, 268.4 comes first (because there's no extra number), then 268.40, 268.41, 268.42, 268.43
  5. Then start counting up again with a new number: 268.430, 268.431, 268.432, 268.433
  6. Then we have the letters, which can look a little weird, but they're also in order, alphabetically
  7. Then the numbers again
  8. Then the letters again
  9. Then, if until this point, you still have three books with the same call number, look at the year at the very end -- if the call number you found in ALADIN is 268.433 D4w 1999, and you see the exact same year on one of those three books, that's the one you're looking for.
Call numbers seem to develop their own mystique for some people, especially those who aren't strong in math. Fortunately, math isn't necessary to navigate the shelves, just careful attention and a willingness to spend a little time among the books.

Friday, April 17, 2009

What's behind the Service Desk

As the end of the semester creeps closer and students and faculty alike grow crazier, I've begun to notice something: People rarely know what's available for them behind the Service Desk. Let's change that today.

The first thing I have to say is that the majority of stuff behind the Service Desk is for the librarians, little things that we all need to do our jobs -- forms, DDC 20 (basically an outline of the entire Dewey Decimal Classification system to, like, 12 decimal points), the phone, videophone, and TTY we use for general inquiries, stuff like that.

However, there is still plenty for students and staff, some of which might be fairly surprising. The thing is, the shape of the Service Desk is both a blessing and a curse. Because it has little aisles that are bent at odd angles, we have more shelf space available back there than if it were just a straight row of shelves, which makes the Service Desk pretty versatile with plenty of space. On the other hand, it's pretty hard to see very much of what actually is back there without approaching the Desk with your head at just the right angle, which makes it difficult for anyone (even new librarians) to know what's available.

So let's take a look at what's available behind the Service Desk, whether it's perfectly visible or tucked away in a hinky corner. To proceed in a rational order, I'll start with the west side of the Service Desk, the end closest to Peet Hall and the brand-new pile of smoking rubble.

First, we come to the Lost & Found shelf right behind the west staff computer. It's a good shelf, quite possibly seen as beautiful by those who may have forgotten something important -- like USB drives containing the all-important final papers that open the last door to graduation, student IDs that were just about to be used to buy lunch, binders full of student portfolios, DVDs, and mysterious shoeboxes. If you think you may have lost something among the stacks, in rooms 1404 or 1225, at the public computers, or in a carrel, the Lost & Found shelf should be the first place you check, especially if it's been a day or two since the missing item may have been mislaid. Items left on the shelf for more than a few days get sent to DPS, so don't delay.

Around the corner from the Lost & Found are some reserve shelves. First are the personal copies -- sometimes, when we don't have the item a professor wants to reserve for a class, they'll bring in their own personal copies, which are kept separate from the books and films we do own on reserve. Below that are local atlases of northern Virginia, eastern Maryland, and DC itself, which I've found come in handy when plotting out weekend trips (I'm old-school; Google Maps is nice but you get tired of trading off between the right zoom level and the amount of clicking and dragging).

Next to the personal faculty reserve copies and atlases are the book reserves. All Library books placed on reserve for the semester are located here, as well as books placed on permanent reserve, of which there are plenty; those books also have copies in the stacks, available for checkout, but a copy is kept on permanent reserve so there's always one available. Here's a listing of the books available on a permanent basis, with links to the ALADIN Catalog record and a brief description if the title isn't very self-explanatory.

Gallaudet Encyclopedia of Deaf People and Deafness
Dictionary of Worldwide Gestures -
A compilation of gestures commonly used around the world to express emotion
Deaf Heritage: A Narrative History of Deaf America
Understanding Deaf Culture: In Search of Deafhood
New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy -
A collection of cultural references, their origins, and their meanings
The Eagle Soars to Enlightenment -
An illustrated history of the California School for the Deaf, San Francisco, Berkeley, and Fremont
Encyclopedia of Deafness and Hearing Disorders
Gallaudet Almanac
World Almanac and Book of Facts 2008

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association - The complete guide to publication in APA format
Concise Rules of APA Style - Essentially a more user-friendly cheat-sheet version of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association
Deaf Persons in the Arts and Sciences: A Biographical Dictionary

To check out any of the above, just ask at the Service Desk. Bear in mind that you may only check them out for up to 2 hours at a time, and they must be used in the Library, though an item on reserve may be renewed for another 2 hours if nobody else needs it. We do not allow these items to leave the building in order to ensure that they're always close to hand when needed.

Next to the reserve books, there's a pile of puzzles, ranging in complexity from 300 to 1,000 pieces, and thematically from Star Wars to the usual pastoral scenes, as well as a big box of Legos. You can request them if you're in the mood to spend an afternoon locking bits of cardboard or plastic together to relieve some stress. They're fixtures at our Study Nights, which happen at the end of every semester; on those nights, we're open for 24 hours straight and sometimes serve doughnuts and coffee. Students sometimes come in their pajamas and spend the night alternately napping, eating, playing, and cramming their brains out for the upcoming final exams.

Then we have stuff I've already discussed on this blog: the CLS shelves, Library-owned films on reserve, a swatch of headphones, remote controls, and magnifiers available for checkout, and the Hold shelf.

That about covers it for the Service Desk. Next week, we'll meet another librarian and discuss the subject areas she's responsible for.

Question of the Week
I've been looking and looking for a book by a popular comedian, and I can't find it anywhere! ALADIN says the Library doesn't have it, but I think it would be a good book to get and would like to request that the Library get it. Who's responsible for buying books? And how does that person decide what to buy?
The short answer is: all the librarians. But as with everything else, the truth is a little more complicated than that.

Five librarians are responsible for buying new materials (books, films, and other materials) for the Library; because the collection is so large, those five people split it up into specific subject areas, based on Gallaudet's academic departments, and only select ("select" is Librarianese for "buy") materials for their subject areas. If your book falls into any one of those areas, you can contact the librarian who's responsible for that subject and ask them directly. This works pretty well because it lets each of us focus more tightly on what the Library needs to get and what people want the Library to get on a subject-by-subject basis.

Here's a list of the five librarians and the academic departments they select for:
Diana Gates: ASL & Deaf Studies; Hearing, Speech & Language Sciences; Interpretation. Essentially, all deaf-related requests should go to her.
Laura Jacobi: Applied Literacy; Communication Studies; Counseling; Psychology; Social Work
James McCarthy (that's me!): Art; English; Theatre Arts; Popular
Patrick Oberholtzer: Biology; Business; Chemistry & Physics; Foreign Languages, Literatures & Cultures; Government & History; Math; Philosophy & Religion; Physical Education & Recreation
Jane Rutherford: Administration & Supervision; Education; Educational Foundations & Research; Family & Child Studies; First Year Experience; Honors; Computer Science

The question of "how" is a bit more nebulous. The criteria used to select resources vary from librarian to librarian; as a general rule, we try to look at what the collection needs, whether it's an updated edition of an old book or coverage of new theories that may have emerged in the field recently, which happens a lot in the sciences in particular. We also work with our academic departments to keep track of new course offerings and adjust our selection based on what kind of information those courses might need. It's also fairly common to get requests from both faculty and students and we do our best to fulfill those requests, given time and budgetary constraints.

And, of course, we help each other out! If I see a particularly interesting book that the Library doesn't have about why God didn't create the universe out of spaghetti (as He obviously should have) and it's a serious effort to explain the universe rather than a work of humor (which would be my specialty, Popular), I would give Patrick the book's information in case he's interested. If Patrick happens to see a particularly good manga adaptation of Twelfth Night, he would let me know about it (incidentally, we do have some manga adaptations of Shakespeare! That's another post, though ... ).

With all these different ways of deciding what to buy, we're pretty successful in covering almost everything the academic departments throw at us. If we still don't have it, request it! The easiest way to do that is to send an e-mail to library.help@gallaudet.edu. We'll make sure your request gets to the right person.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Library equipment

One of the nicest things about working at the Gallaudet University Library is that it's full of much more stuff than most people realize. Rooms of stuff, in fact.

For example, I sometimes see students coming in, taking a look at the public computers by the Service Desk, seeing that every single computer is taken, and walking right back out -- until I let them know about the Deaf Library Study Center and room 1404. Both rooms have additional computers for public use, but many students are not aware of them because they're tucked into a couple of the first floor's quieter corners.

1404, for instance, is out by the reference materials, near the windows facing the Peet side of the building. There are several computers in there, including one equipped with ZoomText, which magnifies the computer screen for those with visual disabilities, and a few TVs, DVD players, and VCRs. The interesting thing is that the room also contains an international VCR (which plays PAL format in addition to NTSC, which is used here in the United States) and a region-free DVD player (which means it can play any commercial DVD produced anywhere in the world, instead of just Region 1 DVDs for the United States). This means that we are not limited to US-only tapes and DVDs, which enhances the accessibility of our collection.

The Deaf Library Study Center, located down the hall opposite the women's restroom on the east side of the first floor (the side facing JSAC), is a bit less utilitarian. In addition to the computers and TV/VCR/DVD players, there is a 55-inch LCD HDTV hooked up to cable! That thing is beautiful.

The room also has some comfortable chairs and small tables that are ideal for curling up and studying in relative peace and quiet, and the TV/VCR/DVD players are set up in semi-private booths. I've seen more than one couple watching sob-stories with snacks in one of those booths -- and have been drawn by the hooting of college students cheering on their favorite team on the 55-incher. Both are totally fine; we welcome all Gallaudet students, faculty and staff, and encourage the respectful use of our facilities.

Outside of those two rooms, much of the equipment we have is focused on providing access for people with visual disabilities and making the academic experience more comfortable. One of the public computers in the open area of the first floor is also equipped with the ZoomText magnification software. In addition, there is a print magnifier available on the first floor, by the window just past 1404.

We also have headphones, remotes, and a small electronic handheld magnifier, all of which are available to borrow on reserve for two hours maximum. Study tables and carrels (like tables, but with little walls for more privacy and less distraction) are distributed around both the first floor and the basement. Those are freely available, first come, first served, to anyone who needs them. We also have even more TV/DVD/VCRs scattered around the first floor by the windows.

Ah, and the couches. There are several on both the first floor and basement, although those in the basement are less visible and better for relaxing with a good book (or stressing out with a textbook), although I have certainly found the odd catnapper from time to time.

Then there's the photocopy center. We have two copiers and a scanner, which is hooked up to its own computer, contained by a low counter right next to the Service Desk. You'll notice it by the bright red sign hanging over it. The interesting thing is that although making copies costs money -- 10 cents per page -- scanning is totally free. This way, you can scan whatever you need reproduced, save the image to your thumbdrive or e-mail it to yourself, and print it out from your computer at home for free.

The last thing -- and this is to make sure you keep reading to the end -- is the vending. We have a snack machine downstairs, along with a Coke vending machine. We do allow people to eat and drink in the Library, although we do ask that you avoid Coke showers and Chee-To confetti (in other words, don't make a mess and try to avoid damaging Library materials).

In general, we try to have a little something to meet everyone's needs, varied though those needs may be. Above all else, if you're just plain not sure, ask. There's always someone at the Service Desk who can either answer your question or help you find the person who can.

Question of the Week
Last week, I tried to find information on deafness and how Deaf people see better than hearing people, but the Library didn't have anything on that topic! Why did that happen?
The Library tries to be as comprehensive as possible when it comes to collecting deaf-related materials, in addition to meeting the needs of the student population with the general collection. That said, there are three possible reasons why you couldn't find anything:

1) Something may have gone awry with the search process -- maybe there was a synonym (a word that means the same thing as what you're looking for, like "eyesight" and "visual acuity" are synonyms) you didn't know could be used or you typed a little too quickly and misspelled a word without realizing it. The librarians here can help you with that and will usually be able to find what you're looking for. If not, it may be for the next two reasons.

2) Nobody's written about your topic. There hasn't been a study that focuses on whether the percentage of deaf people with 20/15 vision is higher than the percentage of hearing people with 20/15 vision. There may be some studies that come close, such as recent research by the University of Rochester that found slight differences in visual perception among deaf people, hearing people, and CODAs. Even though the idea that deaf people see better sounds as if it could be true, and is accepted as true by the deaf community, it isn't necessarily supported by research -- yet.

3) The conclusion you're looking for isn't stated explicitly. Frequently when doing research, you won't find anything that's clear-cut on one side or another. You'll need to read the article and make sure you understand the conclusion before you can say definitively that this article concludes something one way or another. For example, the University of Rochester study mentioned above concluded that deaf people process what they see a little differently from hearing people, but found little evidence that this difference is "better" or "worse" than how hearing people use their eyes.

If you can't find anything related to your topic, the reason is most likely one of these three. Also, don't forget, the Library tries to collect as many deaf-related materials as possible, but there is a lot out there. The ALADIN Catalog will tell you when an item has been ordered, but we buy materials from tiny, hard-to-find publishers from all over the world. Because of that, things need time to work their way through the system, especially materials from places as far-flung as Norway, Ethiopia, and Bangladesh.

Again, if all else fails, ask a librarian!

Friday, April 3, 2009

More new books

Thanks to the Big Read, I am now famous. Check out the first item in this calendar from the Humanities Council of Washington, DC!

As Gallaudet's newest celebrity, my first endorsement is next week's panel discussion on The Heart is a Lonely Hunter for the Big Read. It's in the G-area in JSAC (where the Starbucks is) at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, April 7. Come take part in some good old-fashioned book talk! We'll discuss everything from the characters to deafness and society and explore the layers of meaning in the book. It'll be fun and hopefully enlightening.

Now on to today's subject: books. New ones. Lots of them. Recently arrived with the aroma of fresh binding glue, mixed with newly-crinkled mylar sheaths on the dust jackets.

There's a neat one on spiders, for instance, with lots of lovely color photos. Personally, they give me the heebie-jeebies, but this book managed to make them look fairly friendly and even, I daresay, attractive. A bunch of books on drugs also came through the Service Desk recently, focusing mostly on heroin, cocaine, and marijuana, which are always fun subjects!

But I'm not the best person to go over all the various subjects we cover here in the Library, so today, we're going to bring in the other librarians and their recommendations out of our recent acquisitions along with my own. We'll also be doing a display at the East entrance (by JSAC) with a few of the books listed below; swing on by and check them out!

That was a pun, wasn't it? "Check them out." I'm very sorry. Let's move on. In the following list, all titles are linked to their ALADIN Catalog information.


Diana Gates
Hands of My Father
If you missed Myron Uhlberg’s visit this spring, read his heart-tugging and hilarious memoir about his life as the hearing son of deaf parents--in a world that he found unaccountably beautiful, even as he longed to escape it.

Mysteries of Beethoven’s Hair
Two scientists try to explain Beethoven’s many health problems and his deafness by testing samples of his hair that survived into the 20th century.

Visiom: The Deaf Planet
A children’s story on CD-ROM about a hearing boy who taunts a deaf mainstreamed student; he falls asleep after being sent to the resource room to think about his behavior and wakes up on Visiom, a deaf planet, where he is the special education student.

James Castle: a retrospective
Castle, a deaf artist with almost no communication skills or formal schooling, created his work by using soot and spit. (All items related to James Castle can be found in the Deaf Stacks at 709.2 C378)

Terp on the Line: a novel
In this novel, a CODA interpreter must confront the typical challenges of interpreting--and solve a murder at the same time.


Laura Jacobi
Becoming a woman: a biography of Christine Jorgensen
The first famous, and very glamorous, transsexual person.

Decline of men: how the American male is tuning out, giving up, and flipping off his future
Women are catching up to -- and surpassing -- men in many respects, and it seems as though men are giving up. Is this really the case, and, if so, why?

Finish your dissertation once and for all!: how to overcome psychological barriers, get results, and move on with your life
Fired up! Ready to go!

Guyland: the perilous world where boys become men

The lives of American men between 16 and 26 years of age are studied in an effort to understand how the male gender has been affected by various factors of modern-day society.

Hooking up: sex, dating, and relationships on campus
This book studies the proliferation of one-night-stands and booty calls and how traditional dating seems to be increasingly rare among college students.


Jim McCarthy
Maus I & II
A graphic-novel adaptation of World War II mentioned in some circles with The Diary of Anne Frank and Night; the Jews are depicted as mice, the Nazis as cats.

Worlds Away: New Suburban Landscapes
A collection of essays about suburbia and its role in American culture, history, art, and architecture.

At the Mountains of Madness: The Definitive Edition
The spooky story of an ill-fated expedition to the South Pole and the horrors they found there; one of H.P. Lovecraft's seminal works and the intellectual foundation of much of Stephen King's work.

Blonde Roots
An alternate-history tale in which white people were enslaved by black people.

Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul
A gorgeous exhibition catalog of historic Afghan artwork hidden away during the Taliban regime.


Patrick Oberholtzer
American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House
You have heard about his Indian policy but you probably didn’t know about his duels.

Alex & me: how a scientist and a parrot discovered a hidden world of animal intelligence--and formed a deep bond in the process
Learn how an African gray parrot stunned the scientific world.

Black men built the Capitol: discovering African-American history in and around Washington, D.C.
Did you know that the Capitol and White House were built by slave labor?

The gamble: General David Petraeus and the America’s military adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008
Find out all about the surge and what the future of Iraq may be.

American Mafia: a history of its rise to power
The history of organized crime over the last 120 years is featured.


Jane Rutherford
Online social networking on campus: understanding what matters in student culture

How do college students use various social networking sites (such as Facebook)? Find out how some college administrators view these sites.

Comprehending Columbine

Learn all about the Columbine shootings … the most famous case of school violence.

The house in the night
This is the 2009 winner of the prestigious Caldecott Medal presented by the American Library Association to the artist of the “most distinguished American picture book for children.”

The graveyard book
Another award winning book as chosen by the American Library Association. This one is the 2009 Newbery Medal winner for the “most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.”

Is it safe?: protecting your computer, your business, and yourself online
Identity theft … spam … fraud … online predators … computer viruses. Learn how to protect yourself from these threats.


As you can see, we cover a ton of interesting subjects and although these books are very good, they aren't the only ones here. The stacks are worth at least an hour of browsing through!

Next week, you'll learn that the Library doesn't just have computers -- we have a whole range of equipment available for you -- and you'll find out where various useful things are located and how you can use them.



Question of the Week
When I look in the ALADIN Catalog for old residential school newspapers, I see a lot of records with the word "microform" in them. What does it mean, where can I find it, and what do I have to know before I use it?
The word "microform" is a general term, kind of like "fruit" -- apples and oranges are two different kinds of fruit, for example. Here at the Library, we have two kinds of microforms: microfilm and microfiche. They work on similar principles but look a little different.

A microform is a photographic reproduction of a document on a film, which is usually made of some kind of plastic. The image is much smaller than the original, which helps save storage space. The only caveat is that you need special machines to read something in microform.

Microfilm is essentially a long tape that can hold many pages, while microfiche looks like a plastic card about the same size as a large index card, and holds fewer pages. In our Library, we use microfiche mostly for documents from ERIC, a government-run education database. The microfiche documents are arranged by ERIC numbers, which start with ED (for "ERIC document"), and they are located in large yellow cabinets downstairs by the periodicals. Fortunately, all ERIC documents produced after 1997 as well as some earlier documents are available electronically (see the ERIC database in ALADIN).

Microfilm is used in our Library to store readable copies of deaf-related dissertations and other documents. The dissertations are arranged by special four-digit numbers that we assign to them, plus the year (like 1356 1987), which you can find in ALADIN. The other documents are all deaf-related and are mostly residential school newspapers and other publications. Those are arranged alphabetically by title, then by the date published. All microfilm documents are contained in individual boxes that are labeled with information about what's on the film inside it, so it's very easy to browse for, for example, a copy of the Arizona Cactus from 1996. You can find microfilms in big orange cabinets between the index shelves and deaf periodicals on the first floor.

In order to read either microfiche or microfilm, you will need a microform reader; those are the three gray machines with big screens on the first floor by the computers. Loading microfilm into one of those machines can be a little tricky, so if you're not familiar with it, please feel free to ask a librarian for help! In addition, you can print from microform; all three of our readers have printers that can print out what you see on the screen. Printing is very similar to making a photocopy, so a copy card is required to print anything out from a microform reader. The same price applies: 10 cents per page.

Microform resources themselves are not electronic; you can't do a quick search to find the precise location of the information you need. However, some of the dissertations and periodicals that we have on microform are also available electronically.

The truth is, microfiche and microfilm are increasingly outdated formats. The Library recognizes this, and we are in the process of digitizing our microform collection so that it will be more accessible to Gallaudet students and faculty members, as well as researchers around the world. For example, the first 20 published volumes (1847-1875) of American Annals of the Deaf is now available online.