Ask a Librarian

Reference Department 2015
We've had a few comings and goings but we're still ready to assist you.
Stop by the Reference Desk for assistance!  

Have you ever had a library or research-related question when you were on the go or after the library's operating hours?

 

Did you know that the library has a service which allows you to ask your question at any time or any place?

 

The library's Reference Department provides email-based reference services where you can email reference@tarleton.edu and get a response within a 24 hour time-frame.

 

You can also visit the Ask a Librarian page to fill out a web form which will assist the librarian in answering your question.

 

Submit your question with as much detail as you can, and we'll work hard to find you the answer.

 

Have questions now?

 

We're just a click or a phone call away, (254)968-9249.

 

 

MLK Day Resources

I hope you all enjoyed your MLK Day holiday yesterday! If this inspired you to learn more about Martin Luther King, Jr. here are some resources to get you started. For more resources, in addition to the ones below, try searching Discovery@Tarleton for "martin luther king jr". 

Martin Luther King, by Godfrey Hodgson. Published by University of Michigan Press, 2010.

    

The Radical King, by Martin Luther King, Jr., edited and compiled by Cornel West. Published by Beacon Press, 2015.

My Brother Martin, by Christine King Farris. Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2003

A Child Shall Lead them: Martin Luther King, Jr., Young People and the Movement, by Rufus Burrow, Jr. Published by Fortress Press, 2014

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Encyclopedia. Published by Greenwood Press, 2008 

What is a SMART Kapp Board

A SMART Kapp Board is similar to a white board but it connects with your phone.  First you download and open the SMART Kapp app or you can scan the QR code.  Your phone then connects to the board and anything you see on the board you see on your phone!  You can share in real-time with up to 5 users.  You can also save snapshots of the board to your phone.  When you are finished you can disconnect to end your session.

SMART Kapp Boards are located on the lower level of the library. 

New Year, New You

Did you make any New Year's Resolutions this year? Are you still sticking to them? According to "Resolutions by the Numbers", about 45% of us make resolutions each year. However 73% will give up before the first goal is met.

So what can we do to meet our goals?

1. Be realistic. Habits develop over time. Give yourself the needed time to attain the goal. Strive to lose 50 pounds in eight months instead of two months.
2. Write it down. Keep a journal to see what your triggers are and to track your progress.
3. Don't beat yourself up over a lapse. We all have moments of weakness. Don't let the midnight brownie derail you. Acknowledge that you're human and get yourself back on track.
4. Ask for support. If your resolution is to get healther then you might start going to the gym 3 days a week with a friend. It'll help pass the time and make going fun instead of a chore.
5. Be accountable. Tell your goals to family and friends who will help keep you on track. Another way to stay accountable would be to sign a commitment contract in StickK. If you do not meet the commitment then you are required to donate to a charity that you would not normally support.

For other goal setting tips:

http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/resolution.aspx

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/243155

http://www.everydayhealth.com/denise-austin/10-tricks-for-setting-and-sticking-to-your-healthy-new-years-resolution.aspx#01

http://lifehacker.com/5971803/top-10-strategies-for-making-your-new-years-resolution-stick

#NativismSyllabus - Guest post by Dr. Michael Landis, Assistant Professor of History

Introduction

On June 17, 2015, neo-Confederate white supremacist Dylan Roof entered the historic Emanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston, SC and murdered nine black parishioners.  The event, though sadly not unusual in the history of the United States, sparked immediate and profound national outrage.  In the aftermath, symbols of the Confederacy began to be removed and Americans struggled to come to grips with centuries of white supremacy terrorism.  A product of that struggle was the #CharlestonSyllabus (http://aaihs.org/resources/charlestonsyllabus/), compiled by the African American Intellectual History Society.  Scholars from around the world contributed to the list of the most important primary and secondary sources to understand what had happened in Charleston and what it meant for American society.

Since the summer of 2015, other issues have arisen to anger Americans and ignite impassioned debate, namely the role of newly-arrived immigrants in American society.  Syrians fleeing devastation and civil war in their home country; Central Americans yearning for jobs, security, and a better life – their arrival in the United States triggered alarm and fear among many Americans.  Politicians stoked the flames of hate, anger, and hostility, eager to ride this issue into high office.  Some politicos grabbed headlines by making wild accusations about foreign-born Americans and the dangers of the Islamic faith, suggesting national religious registries, internet censorship, and racial quotas.

Nativism – the fear of immigrants and the desire to deny them rights – has long been part of United States history.  Manifesting most famously (and effectively) in the Know Nothings of the 1850s, Chinese Exclusionists of the 1880s, the Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s, and Japanese Internment in the 1940s, nativism has proven a powerful force in American politics.  The books, essays, articles, and primary sources below provide a comprehensive road-map for understanding American nativism and immigration.

#NativismSyllabus was conceived and compiled by Dr. Michael Landis (@DrMichaelLandis), with the help of Margie Maxfield.  The hashtag started trending on December 8, 2015, in response to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's call to ban all Muslims from entering the United States.

Ms. Margie Maxfield, MSIS, is the Systems Librarian at Tarleton State University.

Dr. Michael Todd Landis is an Assistant Professor of History at Tarleton State University, board member of Historians Against Slavery (http://www.historiansagainstslavery.org/main/), and author of Northern Men with Southern Loyalties: The Democratic Party and the Sectional Crisis (http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/?GCOI=80140100250560&fa=author&person_id=5105).

Books:

• Anbinder, Tyler. Five Points : the 19th-century New York City neighborhood that invented tap dance, stole elections, and became the world's most notorious slum. New York: Free Press, 2001. 

• Anbinder, Tyler. Nativism and slavery : the northern Know Nothings and the politics of the 1850's. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.

• Baker, Jean H. Ambivalent Americans : the Know-Nothing Party in Maryland. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1977.

• Baker, Kelly. Gospel according to the Klan : the KKK's appeal to Protestant America, 1915-1930. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 2011.

• Baynton, Douglas C. Defectives in the land : disability and immigration in the age of eugenics. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2016.

• Bennett, David H. The party of fear : from nativist movements to the New Right in American history. 2nd ed. New York: Vintage Books, 1995.

• Billington, Ray A. The Protestant crusade 1800-1860 : a study of the origins of American nativism. 3th ed. Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 1964.

• Blee, Kathleen M. Women of the Klan : racism and gender in the 1920s. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.

• Canaday, Margot. The straight state : sexuality and citizenship in twentieth-century America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2009.

• Fairchild, Amy L. Science at the borders : immigrant medical inspection and the shaping of the modern industrial labor force. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003.

• Gerstle, Gary. American crucible : race and nation in the twentieth century. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2001.

• Gienapp, William E. The origins of the Republican Party, 1852-1856. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987.

• Hernandez, Kelly L. Migra ! : a history of the U.S. border patrol. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2010.

• Higham, John. Strangers in the land : patterns of American nativism, 1860-1925. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2008.

• Ignatiev, Noel. How the Irish became White. New York: Routledge, 1995.

• Kraut, Alan M. Silent travelers : germs, genes, and the "immigrant menace". Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995.

• Love, Eric Tyrone Lowery. Race over empire : racism and U.S. imperialism, 1865-1900. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2004.

• Motomura, Hiroshi. Americans in waiting : the lost story of immigration and citizenship in the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.

• Ngai, Mae M. Impossible subjects : illegal aliens and the making of modern America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2004.

• O'Leary, Cecilia E. To die for : the paradox of American patriotism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999.

• Rauchway, Eric. Murdering McKinley : the making of Theodore Roosevelt's America. New York: Hill and Wang, 2003.

• Salyer, Lucy E. Laws Harsh as Tigers : Chinese immigrants and the Shaping of Modern Immigration Law. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1995.

• Samito, Christian G. Becoming American under fire : Irish Americans, African Americans, and the politics of citizenship during the Civil War era. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2009.

• Takaki, Ronald T. A different mirror : a history of multicultural America. Boston: Little, Brown & Co, 1993.

• Takaki, Ronald T. Iron cages : race and culture in 19th-century America. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.

• Tichenor, Daniel J. Dividing lines : the politics of immigration control in America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2002.

• Zimmer, Kenyon. Immigrants against the state : Yiddish and Italian anarchism in America. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2015.

Essays/ Articles:

• Alexander, Erik B. ""The democracy must prepare for battle": Know-Nothingism in Alabama and Southern politics, 1851-1859."Southern Historian 27 (April 2006): 23-37.

• Baker, David L. "The Joyce Family Murders: Justice and Politics in Know-Nothing Louisville." The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society 103, no. 3 (Summer 2004): 357-82.

• Baynton, Douglas C. "Disability and the Justification of Inequality in American History." In The new disability history : American perspectives, edited by Paul K. Longmore and Lauri Umansky, 33-57. New York: New York University Press, 2001.

• Cheatham, Mark R. ""I shall persevere in the cause of truth": Andrew Jackson Donelson and the election of 1856." Tennessee Historical Quarterly 62, no. 3 (September 2003): 218-37.

• Curley, Augustine J. "The 1854 Attack on Saint Mary's Church, Newark: A Typical Know-nothing Incident." American Benedictine Review 61, no. 4 (December 2010): 387-406.

• Dash, Mark. "Notes and Documents: New Light on the Dark Lantern: The Initiation Rites and Ceremonies of a Know-Nothing Lodge in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania." The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 127, no. 1 (January 2003): 89-100.

• Endres, David J. "Know-Nothings, Nationhood, and the Nuncio: Reassessing the Visit of Archbishop Bedini." U.S. Catholic Historian 21, no. 4 (Fall 2003): 1-16.

• Frederick, Jeff. "Unintended Consequences: The Rise and Fall of the Know-Nothing Party in Alabama." Alabama Review 55, no. 1 (January 2002): 3-34.

• Gonzales, Phillip B. "Mexican party, American party, Democratic party: Establishing the American political party in New Mexico,1848-1853." New Mexico Historical Review 88, no. 3 (June 2013): 253-85.

• Harper, Leslie A. "Lethal Language: The Rhetoric of George Prentice and Louisville's Bloody Monday." Ohio Valley History11, no. 3 (2011): 24-43.

• Levine, Bruce. "Conservatism, Nativism, and Slavery: Thomas R. Whitney and the Origins of the Know-Nothing Party." The Journal of American History 88, no. 2 (September 2001): 455-88.

• Melton, Tracy M. "Research Notes & Maryland Miscellany The Case of the Catholic Know-Nothings." Maryland Historical Magazine 109, no. 3 (Fall 2014): 351-71.

• Muccino, Eileen. "Irish Filibusters and Know Nothings in Cincinnati." Ohio Valley History 10, no. 3 (2010): 3-26.

• Pinsker, Matthew. "Not Always Such a Whig: Abraham Lincoln's Partisan Realignment in the 1850s." Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association 29, no. 2 (July 2008): 26-46.

• Ritter, Luke. "The St. Louis Know-Nothing Riot of 1854." Gateway 2012, no. 32 (2012): 26-35.

• Schiff, Stacy. "Anger: An American History." The New York Times, December 20, 2015, sec. SR, p. 5.

• Smith, Miles. "'Rode out of the Democratic party as a heretic': The political transformation of Sam Houston and the Southern Whig legacy, 1848-1861." East Texas Historical Journal 52, no. 1 (Spring 2014): 64-83.

• Tinkler, Robert. "Henry Wilson and the Coming of the Civil War." Journal of the Early Republic 28, no. 4 (Winter 2008): 663-69.

Primary Sources:

• Busey, Samuel C. Immigration: its evils and consequences. New York: Arno Press, 1969. (Originally published 1856)

• Whitney, Thomas R. A defence of the American policy, as opposed to the encroachments of foreign influence and especially to the interference of the papacy in the political interests and affairs of the United States. New York: De Witt & Davenport, 1856.

Everyone comes to the library first!

The screenshot above is from a February 1939 edition of the JTAC. As you can see from the message, "everyone that visited Tarleton came to the library first!" The Senior Class of '39 did in fact donate a beautiful charge desk to the library.

The Dick Smith Library is swarming with students studying for finals, preparing for presentations, and finishing last minute projects. We are the central hub of the campus. The "IT" place. Always have been and always will be (in my opinion).

Senior classes don't typically give gifts these days. However, I'm sure they're thankful for the wonderful time they've had not only at Tarleton, but also in the library. Good luck to you all on your finals and especially to those graduating Seniors.

International Game Day Today!

Stop by the Dick Smith Library's Multi-Purpose Room today between 2pm and 6pm to join the Tarleton Game Club for International Game Day.  The Tarleton Game Club students will be giving short presentations on projects they have made and the process they go through to create games.  They will also be demoing the Oculus, a virtual reality device.  There will be a game tournament for Battleblock Theater starting at 4pm.  If you want to join, sign up between 2pm and 4pm.  You must be present to win the prizes for the tournament.  There will be free food while supplies last!

The Birth of the Internet

Can you remember a time when something wasn't immediately accessible via the Internet? A time when you forced to do your shopping in brick and morter buildings? A time before Facebook?

History of the Internet

On October 29, 1969 a studend named Charley Kline transmitted "LOGIN" from a computer in UCLA to one in Stanford. He got as far as L O before it crashed.

He was able to send the complete message an hour later.

So why was this important? Because it initiated a spark in thinkers, dreamers, and those with the technological know-how to invent HTML and HTTP languages that would allows computers to talk to one another.



World Wide Web in 1989

Since 1989 the Internet has become one of the most influential inventions of our time. It has allowed us to become closer globally and has helped shape our world views. We can learn from one another at a tremendous rate and what happens at one corner of the globe can be viewed almost immediately in another nation.

So I ask again, can you remember a time when the world wasn't at your fingertips. What has it allowed you to do?

For more information:
http://www.calendarlabs.com/holidays/international/international-internet-day.php
https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/internet-day/
http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html

October is (Also) Family History Month

Besides being #ArchivesMonth, October is also Family History Month, and we have a number of databases and other resources here at Tarleton that can help you research your own family history.  Check out our Genealogy Research Guide for suggestions as well as a link to a web page with other helpful resources.

If you need help using any of these databases or other resources, see our Coordinator for Archives and Special Services (and amateur genealogist) Amanda Pape, on the lower level of the Dick Smith Library, call her at 254-968-9251, or (best) e-mail her at pape@tarleton.edu.

And don't forget that TODAY, Tuesday, October 27th, from 12:10 p.m. to 12:50 p.m. in the Library's Multipurpose Room, the Library will be hosting a Brown Bag presentation on "Preserving Your Family History and Treasures" by our archivist Gary Spurr.  Please feel free to bring your lunch!  We hope to see you there. 

Halloween Highlight: The Addams Family

Growing up in the 90's during Halloween was ... AWESOME! So many of my traditions for Halloween today, go back to what was cool then. It was a time when you could still trick or treat in your own neighborhood. Homemade candy wasn't a scary thing if it was in a neighborhood you knew. Movie nights consisted of Hocus Pocus and Nightmare Before Christmas to name a few. But my favorite that I could watch any time of year was The Addams Family. Of course, my generation were familiar with the 1991 version that was followed by The Addams Family Values. I, however, watched the 1964 TV show almost every night before I went to bed. So as I have been preparing for the Halloween holiday this year, I of course pulled out my VHS tape of The Addams Family and prepared for an epic movie night full of nostalgia. This got me thinking what came before the TV show? Was it a book? Who came up with this idea of a family that was so scary yet normal in their own way? So I did some digging and thought I would share with you some facts I found interesting!

The Addams Family actually started out as a cartoon in the The New Yorker. American cartoonist, Charles Addams, was the creator of this eccentric family.  He created them as an inversion of the ideal American family. They originally appeared as an unrelated group of 150 single-panel cartoons. Only about half were originally published in The New Yorker between 1938 and 1988. They have since been adapted to other media, including the TV show (live and animated), films, video games and a musical. Addams' original cartoons, however, were not given names until the TV series, but well-known characters were often seen in his cartoons: Gomez, Morticia, Uncle Fester, Lurch, Grandmama, Wednesday, Pugsley, Cousin Itt and Thing. Charles Addams was first inspired by his hometown of Westfield, New Jersey, which was an area full of "ornate Victorian mansions and archaic graveyards." Charles Addams was approached by a television producer who wanted to create a TV show. All Charles had to do was given names to his characters and characteristics for the actors to use in their portrayals. The TV show first aired in 1964 and lasted two seasons with over 60 episodes. The Addams Family's first appearance in an animated show was on the third episode of The New Scooby-Doo Movies that first aired in 1972. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Addams_Family) 






A few interesting things about Charles Addams himself:
Charles Addams was born in 1912 and passed away in 1988. He is distantly related to U.S. presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams, despite the different spellings of their last names. He married his last and third wife in a pet cemetery. 

I've included a few links to other interesting facts and even a quiz on what you know about the 1991 movie! 

• http://mentalfloss.com/article/59800/13-creepy-kooky-facts-about-addams-family
• http://www.buzzfeed.com/abbigayle/the-hardest-addams-family-quiz-youll-ever-take-ka2d#.bkNDorEvOv
• http://www.neatorama.com/halloween/2011/05/25/14-facts-you-might-not-know-about-the-addams-family/

Happy Halloween! 

It's #ArchivesMonth

October is #ArchivesMonth. What does that mean? #ArchivesMonth is a chance for archivists to educate the public on what an archive is, what archives are, and what archivists do. We will be sending out tweets all month highlighting the Tarleton Archives. Please view the video below to see a brief overview of some items the Library's Special Collections & Archives have and services we offer.

If you're not certain what an archive is or what archives are, check out this article titled "What is an Archives?". Feel free to contact any of the Special Collections & Archives staff if you have any questions.

Amanda Pape, Coordinator for Archives and Special Services, pape@tarleton.edu, (254)968-9251

Gary Spurr, Collections Archivist, spurr@tarleton.edu, (254)968-1808

Crystal Stanley, Archives & Reference Assistant, cstanley@tarleton.edu, (254)968-9496

On October 27th from 12:10pm-12:50pm in the Library's Multipurpose Room, the Library will be hosting a Brown Bag presentation on "How to preserve your family records" by Gary Spurr. Please feel free to bring your lunch! We hope to see you there. 

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter @tarletonlib to see all of the wonderful tweets about #ArchivesMonth. 

How to Check Out Items Video

Last week, we released our second Welcome to the Library video! Have you ever wondered what those numbers on the spines of books are? What the Curriculum Collection is? Where you can find the movies? This video, How to Check Out Items, answers all these questions and more!

How long will it take you to finish the books in your TBR pile?

Read It Forward has a calculator on their site that can tell you how long it will take you to finish the books in your TBR (To Be Read) pile. It's available here. All you need is the total number of books in your pile (or saved on your e-reader, or included in a Goodreads TBR list, or wherever else you keep lists of books you plan on reading) and the total number of books you finished last year. You don't have to add your age if you don't want to. The calculator then figures out how long it will take you to finish them all, assuming your TBR doesn't grow.

I added up the number of books I've marked as being ones I'd like to read, plus the number of e-books I own. According to the calculator, it would take me 6 years and 4 months to finish them all.

What about the rest of you? How many months, years, or decades (!) does the calculator think it will take you?

Banned Books Week 2015

Help the library celebrate Banned Books Week, 

September 28th-October 2nd!

The library's Banned Books Week theme this year highlights characters from frequently banned or challenged books.
 Hester Prynne from the Scarlet Letter is featured here. 

Stop by the library and pick up a Banned Books Week button!

Learn more about Banned Books Week by checking out our displays on all floors of the library. 

See a book you'd like to read? Check out the book with your student ID card. 

Have questions about Banned Books Week?

Contact us at (254)968-9249 or email reference@tarleton.edu