VOTE! or Not...Monday October 6th

To be able to vote in the Election in November, you must be REGISTERED to vote by MONDAY October 6th!!!!!

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Most Challenged Books of 2007

It's Top Ten Tuesday Again! In honor of Banned Books week, here are the "10 Most Challenged Books of 2007" according the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom

1. "And Tango Makes Three," by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell

Reasons: Anti-Ethnic, Sexism, Homosexuality, Anti-Family, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group

2. "The Chocolate War," by Robert Cormier

Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Violence

3. "Olive's Ocean," by Kevin Henkes

Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language

4. "The Golden Compass," by Philip Pullman

Reasons: Religious Viewpoint

5. "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," by Mark Twain

Reasons: Racism

6. "The Color Purple," by Alice Walker

Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language,

7. "TTYL," by Lauren Myracle

Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group

8. "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," by Maya Angelou

Reasons: Sexually Explicit

9. "It's Perfectly Normal," by Robie Harris

Reasons: Sex Education, Sexually Explicit

10. "The Perks of Being A Wallflower," by Stephen Chbosky

Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group

More Links about Banned Books

Most Challenged Books of 21st Century (2000–2005)

Ten Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2007 (PIO)

The Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2006

The Most Frequently Challenged Authors of 2006

Top Ten Challenged Authors 1990–2004

100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000

Top 10 Most Frequently Challenged Authors, 1990–2004

Top 100 Challenged Books 1990–1999

Graphs: Challenges by Initiator, Institution, Type, and Year

Most Frequently Challenged Books Written by Authors of Color,1990–2000

Explore Banned Books with Google

Library Association Ranks Most Challenged Books in America

Banned and/or Challenged Books from the Radcliffe Publishing Course Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century

Library Off-Campus/Distance Learning Services

Are you a student taking classes online or off-campus?

Even though you don’t come to campus for class, the library can still help you with your research needs. Reference services are available through a variety of methods:

Online Reference: Submit your research questions via email directly to a reference librarian through the “Ask a Librarian” service at http://www.tarleton.edu/~library/askaref.html or email reference@tarleton.edu.

Phone: If you need assistance over the phone, call 254-968-9249 or TOLL-FREE at (866) 339-5555. Reference librarians are available to answer your questions during regular library hours.

Fax: Fax your reference questions to 254-968-9467.

Online Access: You can access the Library’s online resources via your Tarleton network account 24/7.

Need books? You can borrow library materials housed in our library or libraries around the country via Interlibrary Loan (ILLiad) .

We will deliver materials to your home/office if you qualify and register with the library as a Distance Learner. Items will be delivered with a postage paid return label.
Sign-up for home/office delivery services today @ http://www.tarleton.edu/~library/dsform.html.

Are you taking classes in Fort Worth, Killeen, Weatherford, or Waco? Take advantage of the university courier. We can send materials requested through your ILLiad account to you via the campus courier. The courier picks-up and delivers materials to these campuses each Tuesday and Thursday.

These services are free to Tarleton students, staff, and faculty. For more information, contact Jennifer Barrera or checkout the Off-Campus/Distance Learning Services webpage.

School Myths

We've all heard the tales:

• A student paid for his college education by asking for one-cent donations.
• Students taking the SAT get 400 points for spelling their names correctly.
• The government once considered classifying ketchup as a vegetable to cut school lunch program costs.
• A university library is sinking because the architect did not design it to support the weight of books.
• and others.

Think you know the answers? Take the MythBusters quiz and find out!

Tarleton Thursdays: Did You Know?

Our benefactor, John Tarleton, died September 10, 1895, 113 years ago this month. Not only did he leave his estate in Texas for the establishment of a school in Stephenville, he also left his estate in Tennessee for the establishment of the John Tarleton Institute in Knoxville, where he lived prior to coming to Texas. The Knoxville Journal, September 25, 1895, stated that the John Tarleton Institute's purpose would be "to teach children, educate them in the common branches and teach them some sort of trade and prepare them to earn an honorable living in the future." The John Tarleton Home still exists today in Knoxville. Be sure to see the display of Tarleton history in the library foyer.

Banned Books Week

September 27 through October 4 is Banned Books Week – Celebrating the Freedom to Read! Read about Banned Books Week basics as well as frequently challenged books.

There is already a display on the lower level showing just a few of the many children’s books that have been challenged, and there will a display on the main floor by the end of the week with adult books. Keep in mind that just because a book is challenged, does not mean it is necessarily banned.

Another great resource is the ACLU Foundation of Texas Banned Book Project, which produces an annual report of books that have been banned, challenged or restricted in Texas schools during the previous school year. The reports since 2002 are available online, with the 2008 report to be posted on September 27.

Top Ten Tuesday

A new feature for the Blog - Want to know how your favorites stack up? Check out the LOL blog on Tuesdays and see how things are ranked. Top Tens from all over the place! If you have a list you would like to see, post a comment and let us know.

We will start with something from the library.

The Top Ten most selected online resources so far this semester:

1 Library Catalog	4009
2 Academic Search Complete	2030
3 Metalib - Quick Search	1055
4 Metalib - Subject Search	876
5 Ebsco Host	811
6 Business Source Complete	792
7 SFX - Title Search	757
8 Jstor	745
9 Eric	512
10 Psychology Journals	493

Wow...you guys have used over 20,743 online resources already this semester and 12,080 have come from this top ten list!

Brown Bag: Shaping Texas History - The Alamo

Dates: Thursday - September 25, 2008
Time: 12:00 PM
Location: Library - Multipurpose Room
Category: University Events
Contact: Cathy Wilterding, DIck Smith Library, 254-968-9456

Description: Dr. Mike Milford presents "Revising the Can[n]on: Inclusion and Exclusion in Alamo Mythology."

The presentation will explore the mythology surrounding the Alamo:
-- how social myths are created,
-- the relationship between myth and social structure, and
-- how myths are purposefully shaped.

A Door Prize drawing will follow the presentation.
Sponsored by The Dick Smith Library

Meet Our Staff: Chris Grantham

Chris Grantham
End User Support Specialist
254-968-9030
grantham@tarleton.edu
Dick Smith Library – Upper Level – room 250

Chris joined the staff in July 2008 as a computer technician tasked with maintaining the hardware and software on over 200 public and staff PCs and laptops in the Dick Smith Library.

He retired from the Air Force in 2004 with 20 years of service in administrative and computer support with assignments in Europe (Germany & Italy) as well as numerous locations in Arizona and Texas. In his last assignment in San Antonio supporting the Air Force Recruiting Service, he provided technical support to recruiters across 110,000 square miles of South Texas and was responsible for transitioning them from dial-up networks to high-speed broadband networks.

An avid outdoors man, he enjoys hunting, fishing, skiing (both water and snow). Having taken up cycling with in Italy, he was the participated in the “Hotter than Hell” event twice and has taken part in a number of the Multiple Sclerosis Society’s MS150 events (Houston to Austin, Houston to Galveston, and San Antonio to Corpus Christi). He is also a certified scuba diver. When not outside, he enjoys reading science fiction and military novels.

[For the next few weeks, new Library staff members will be introduced here on Wednesdays.]

Lessons@Lunch - Learn about blogging!

University Librarian Donna Savage invites you to Lessons@ Lunch - Blogging!

Learn about blogging by attending “Create a Blog: Become a Web-Published Author!”presented by Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies. This Lessons@Lunch session will be held on Thursday, September 18^th at 12:10 p.m. in the Library Instruction Classroom (Room 139) of the Dick Smith Library.

Through this session, participants will learn:

a) how to create a blog,

b) how to effectively promote a blog, and

c) benefits and disadvantages of blogging.

Blogs have many different functions, which range from extending classroom discussions and serving as online diaries to providing personal accounts of current events. This online technology is creating “citizen journalists” out of everyday people.

Learn how to create a virtual gathering place for friends, so you can share ideas, pictures, and conversations!

Meet Our Staff: Tonya Dobson

Tonya Dobson
Assistant to University Librarian
254-968-9246
dobson@tarleton.edu
Dick Smith Library – Upper Level – room 201

I began my career within the Texas A&M System in July 2002 in College Station. I worked for the Vice President for Research until January 2005. My husband, kids and I moved back to Stephenville and I began working in the Information Resource department and then I transferred to Payroll in July 2006. I left Tarleton for a brief time to work from home and I was given an opportunity to return in the Dick Smith Library on July 1, 2008 as the Administrative Assistant.

As Administrative Assistant, I serve as Student Worker Coordinator for the library. If you are a student and are interested in working for the library, come see me on the upper level administrative office, Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM, and fill out an application.

My husband Terry and I have been married for 14 years and we have a 13 year old son, Tristan, and a 7 year old daughter, Tatum. I keep busy taking them from football practice to soccer practice and many other activities. I volunteer as a board member of the Stephenville Soccer Association as well as at our church.

[Note:  On February 1, 2011, Tonya was promoted to the position of Administrative Services Coordinator for the library.]

Library's new website

Have you seen the library's new website?

I like the new header image and the slide show at the bottom. The search box that lets you select either the library's catalog, the website, or internet is really great. (I am trying to find a way to add a general database search also)


What do you think? Can you find what you need? Do you like the new design? This is your chance to tell us what you need the website to do/be!

PLEASE leave your comments and give us feedback!

The URL is http://www.tarleton.edu/~library/

New Olympic sports?

The 2008 Olympics begin today, Friday, August 8, in Beijing, China. Here's an article suggesting some new sports from the worlds of literature, television, and the movies:

Calvinball, Quidditch, and Other Fictional Sports We Wish the Olympics Would Adopt

Also beginning today, the library will be open 8 AM to 5 PM Mondays through Fridays and closed weekends through Friday, August 22. The library will be open Saturday, August 23 from 9 AM to noon, and on Sunday, August 24 from noon to 4 PM. Classes and fall semester library hours resume on Monday, August 25.

Whew! It's HOT! Do you know how your Grandma is?

Given the weather we have been having, it behooves us to review symptoms of heat stress. Perhaps you have been visiting with your relatives. If you think an aunt or uncle or grandparent is not behaving normally, perhaps the heat is taking a toll. Take a look at the symptoms, and be prepared to help anyone in distress. And take care of yourself, as well!

Symptoms of heat stress