Renovation

Wondering what's going on with the library lately? Well, we're going through a renovation to create a learning commons in the library. It will be a more collaborative space for studying and learning in groups as well as alone. It will also help to facilitate student and faculty interaction and will offer multiple service points and enhance the delivery of library services and resources. If you would like to keep up with the status of the work, check the Library Learning Commons Renovation website. If you're a more visual person, the library also posts pictures of the status on their Flickr account.

Throwback Thursday

As the library is preparing for the Learning Commons renovation to begin lets look back at...

1922

1940s

1957

2013



A Bookless Library?

An all-digital public library will be opening in Bexar County, Texas this September.  The library, aptly named BiblioTech, will offer 100 e-readers that can check out any of the 10,000 e-book titles offered.  This is a unique project for the economically challenged county because they’ve never had a public library service before.  With the benefit of being low-cost, if this library takes off it can become a county-wide scheme.

Would you go to a library without any physical books?

For more information about BiblioTech, visit BBC News, Texas Public Radio and The Huffington Post.

Tarleton Library Gives Recognition Through Pinterest

Did you know that several of our Tarleton community are published writers? Did you know that we even have some talented artists among our crew? In order to show off the talents of our community, the library created a special board on Pinterest: Purple Pen - Writing & Art.

The Purple Pen not only showcases the Tarleton community but also provides links to those resources that we may have available in the library through our Discovery@Tarleton tool. Take some time to checkout the board and possibly some books.

There are many faculty, students, and staff that have worked hard to create these pieces of literature and artwork. The Library wanted them to know that we appreciate their hard work and dedication.

Do you know of any faculty, staff, or student that has been published or has had artwork displayed?  Please leave their name and title of work (book, article, and/or artwork), and we will gladly give them the recognition they deserve.

Tarleton Thursdays: University Photo Collection

The history of Tarleton can be told in many ways, and one of those is through photographs. The archives recently received 2.5 linear feet of of photographs. While two and a half feet may not sound like much, believe me, that is a lot of prints and negatives. The images range from the early days of Tarleton to the present. Some of the photographs are of familiar subjects or events, while others will take some time to figure out. Some of the subjects include faculty, staff, various campus organizations, the farm, buildings, events, and aerial views of the campus. In looking at the aerial views one can see how the campus has grown over the years. Some of the early aerial photos have very few buildings and the streets are not always like they are today. Thankfully the smokestack is visible in most of the aerial photos.

Featured above is a photo of the newly completed Trogdon House in 1923. It was originally designed by Dean J. Thomas Davis as his family home and Davis oversaw the construction of the house. Judging by the lack of grass in the yard, this is probably one of the first images of the completed home. Notice the large amount of open space behind the house with other houses in the background. Later the Dick Smith Library will be built behind the house.Other images of Tarleton can be found by searching the Cross Timber Historic Images database from the library's webpage. For more information about the University photo collections, contact archivist Gary Spurr at spurr@tarleton.edu.

Check out the updated Tarleton Library homepage!

Library staff have been hard at work this summer making the library homepage easier to navigate. We hope you enjoy the new updates! Some of your favorite links might have moved to a different place so please take a moment to have a look around. Feel free to contact us with any questions you have, we're always happy to help!

 

Tarleton Library Homepage



 

NEW! Collaboration Table on Lower Level

The Dick Smith Library now has a new Collaboration Table on the lower level in the Audiovisual area (through the glass doors to your right as you exit the stairs or elevator, and across from our Presentation Practice Room).  This table allows you to connect up to four (4) laptops to a 55" LCD monitor to share your desktops while working on group projects.  It is available to all students anytime the library is open.  We hope you will find this technology useful.  Please let us know if you have any feedback or questions about it!

NTNET password information

Students, faculty and staff: your Tarleton NTNET username and password allow you to use library databases and log onto campus computers. Your password expires every 120 days.

Claiming your username and password for the first timeDirections on how to claim your username and password are here.

Resetting your expired NTNET password.

• Once your password has expired, you will need to ask library or ITS staff for help to reset it if you are on campus.  If you're off campus, you can go to www.tarleton.edu/password.
• You will need to select a password between 8-14 characters
• It also needs to have at least one number, and one capital letter.
• You will be notified via your Tarleton Go email  (or Outlook email for faculty and staff) one week before it expires.
• Directions on how to claim your username and password are here.

Note: Your NTNET information is separate from, and different than, My Gateway.

P.S.  If you are a community member or visitor, stop by the Information Desk on our main floor to request a guest pass for computer use. Note: guest use is sometimes restricted during busy periods of the academic year. Call 254-968-9249 during regular library hours for more information.

Reading on a Dream Prank!

I wonder what would happen if someone busted out in song at the Tarleton Library? Check out this musical prank in a library....Reading on a Dream PRANK!

TODAY: Friends of the Dick Smith Library Book Sale

The Star-Spangled Banner

With the excitement of Independence Day celebration still fresh in our minds, a look at the words and meaning of our national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner, seems appropriate.  The Star-Spangled Banner is not the easiest song for most people to sing, and many get the words mixed up.  However, an in-depth look at the words reveal the story declared in song about the United States' flag.  According to an article, The Star-Spangled Banner-A Tutorial, by Robert Edwin, it's easy to follow the words once you know the details of the scene being depicted.

The setting is Baltimore, Maryland in September 13, 1814. The United States is at war with England. Lawyer Francis Scott Key is negotiating the release of a civilian prisoner of war. Key is taken out on a frigat on the Cheasapeake Bay to barter the emancipation while at the same time a 25-hour attack on Fort McHenry in the Baltimore Bay is occurring. British mortars and rockets bombard the fort. As the sun is coming up the next day, Scott observes the huge 30' x 42' foot United States flag, still flying over Fort McHenry.  Inspired, he writes a song, The Defence of Fort McHenry, using the tune from To Anacreaon in Heaven.  Keys' song is popular, but does not become the United States' National Anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner, until 1931.

Now that you know the setting, see if you can answer the questions using words from the song:
Q1. What time of day is it?    
Q2. What are you trying to see?        
Q3. When was last time you saw the flag?
Q4. What did the flag look like?
Q5. What is the status of Fort McHenry? Captured? Surrendered? Free?
Q6. Why does the first verse end in a question?

A1. It is early morning - "O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light?"
A2. You are trying to see the flag - "What so proudly we hailed..."
A3. You last saw the flag as the sun set - "...at the twilight's last gleaming?"
A4. The stars, and red and white stripes were visible, and waving - "Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, o'er the rampart we watched, were so gallantly streaming."
A5.  The Fort held strong - "And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there." 
A6. Key, not being a military man, is not sure who has won the battle so he asked the question. The words of the second verse answer his question:  On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep....in full glory reflected now shines on the stream: 'Tis the star-spangled banner! O long may it wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Declaration of Independence

While scouring the library databases for inspiration for my post, which had to focus on Independence Day since it is tomorrow and my favorite holiday, I ended up like I usually do when searching for information...over-researched.  So here are links to just a few of the articles that I found using the library's Discovery tool.

• Suicide Pact: 56 men put their lives on the line by signing the Declaration of Independence.  This article goes over what it meant for these men to add their signatures, what some of them went through to get to get it signed, and what happened to them afterwards. 
• CELEBRATING THE FOURTH FRONTIER STYLE.  From the Lewis and Clark expedition to the different celebrations as the states joining the Union celebrated their first Fourth of July.
• When in the Course of Human Events It Became Necessary to Celebrate July 4th.  How our countries founders celebrated Independence Day.  Also includes a list of other important events that happened on July 4th in history.
• Immigrants celebrate July Fourth by combining native, American traditions; Part of the fabric of America is its history of assimilating immigrants from other cultures - a fact that many immigrants celebrate on July Fourth by combining American holiday traditions with ones from their native culture.  Article interviewing several different immigrants and how they celebrate the July 4th.

Our founding fathers encouraged all the people to celebrate Independence Day.   Here is a schedule of Stephenville's planned festivities.

On this Day in History: Amelia Earhart

For decades, the mystery of Amelia Earhart has captured the interest of people around the world.  She was an inspiration to many and continues to live on in modern culture.  Today marks the 76th anniversary of Amelia Earhart's final flight.

Amelia Earhart was a world renowned celebrity, breaking aviation records and gender barriers.  In her last endeavor, Earhart ambitiously attempted a flight around the world.  While others had already successfully circled the globe, Earhart was attempting to make the trip on a longer route, traveling 29,000 miles around the equator.  After completing 22,000 miles of the journey, Amelia Earhart and navigator Frederick J. Noonan departed from Lae, New Guinea towards Howland Island On July 2^nd, 1937.  After failed radio communication with the USCGC Itasca, they were never seen again.  Only one hour after receiving their last communication with Earhart, the Itasca started the search for the missing plane and crew.  In an unsuccessful search that would last until July 19, 1937, the Navy and Coast Guard spent an unprecedented $4 million dollars scouring the Pacific islands for signs of Earhart, Noonan and the Lockheed Electra 10E.

Theories on what happened on that ill-fated trip have fascinated the world and the mystery lives on just as strongly today.  Recently there has been speculation that sonar images retrieved by the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery show what could be the remains of a plane on the ocean floor by the island of Nikumaroro.  

It’s also been suggested that Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan lived as castaways on the island Nikumaroro, which is being investigated now that 45 new photographs were found in an unlabeled box by Matthew O'Sullivan, in the New Zealand Air Force Museum’s archives.  

Whether we are close to unearthing the truth of what happened on July 2, 1937 or just reaching yet another dead-end, the inspiration of Amelia Earhart lives on.  Stop by the Dick Smith Library to learn more about this inspirational woman.  Just a few of our titles include:

Amelia Earhart : the legend of the lost aviator

by Shelley Tanaka

Curriculum Collection

TL540 .E3 T36 2008

Sky pioneer : a photobiography of Amelia Earhart

By Corinne  Szabo

Curriculum Collection

TL540.E3 S97 1997

Lost star : the search for Amelia Earhart

By Randall Brink

General Stacks

TL540 .E3 B72 1995

Still missing : Amelia Earhart and the search for modern feminism

By Susan Ware

General Stacks

TL540.E3 W37 1993

Renewing online just got easier!

Finally, renewing your library books online just got easier! The "changeme" default password is a thing of the past.

Now, you simply click on the Renew items, etc. (My Account) link on the library homepage and use your NTNET Username and Password to access your library account. Happy renewals!