Common Knowledge

Fun Films

noreply@blogger.com (Colleen M. Conway) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:05:00 +0000

Disneyland Park opened 53 years ago today. You might be surprised to discover that we have many animated and children's films in the Van Wylen collection, including favorites from the Disney Studios. If summer is getting a little long and boredom is setting in, check out our free rentals!

Connection: How much does Google know?

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Currie) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:47:00 +0000

Advocates of privacy rights are leery of Google's presence in our lives. Lots of news sources are covering this topic; national news outlets, sources in the information industry, business news analysts, politicians, academics, health professionals, and many, many more. PC Magazine Online published a summary article in 2007 that continues to encapsulate issues of concern. The launch of a Google project to help patients archive their medical records has unearthed another wave of concern as expressed in this USA Today article. Curious to learn more? Ask for sources at the Reference Desk and consider setting a search alert to maintain your awareness of this leading news story.

Political History

noreply@blogger.com (Colleen M. Conway) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 13:00:00 +0000

On July 9, 1850, Zachary Taylor died and Millard Fillmore became the 13th president of the United States. Beyond the books we have acquired on current politics, we continue to purchase material on the history of our country. New to our collection are two titles by Cokie Roberts: Founding Mothers and Ladies of Liberty. Both take a look at the role of women in political history. Very popular is the HBO production John Adams on dvd. If you want to see this one you might want to place a hold!

Connection: The Big Hope

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Currie) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 12:36:00 +0000

The Hope College Jazz Chamber Ensemble performed and taught at The Big Hope at Hope Liverpool University last month. Read more about the event and then listen to a performance recording available at The Big Hope web site.

Food Controversial Food

noreply@blogger.com (Colleen M. Conway) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:00:00 +0000

Food is a hot topic this summer. Thomas Pawlick wrote The End of Food in 2006 and described the adulteration of the food supply. This month Paul Roberts uses the same title for a book about the food industry. In In Defense of Food Michael Pollan asks if what we are eating is really food at all. Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood illustrates the toll we take on the oceans. Stuffed and Starved is an analysis of why both famine and feast exist in the world. Most of these books are brand new to Van Wylen, and might inspire you to visit the local farmers market after you visit the library.

Armchair History

noreply@blogger.com (Colleen M. Conway) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:00:00 +0000

George Armstrong Custer died 132 years ago on this date during the Battle of the Little Bighorn, called the Battle of the Greasy Grass by the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne. Two years ago, when gasoline was less than $2.00 per gallon, I stood on the battle site and marveled at how little was actually there. A river, some low hills, and heat. A lot of heat. I imagined being on those hills in a woolen uniform, far from home, and wished I could remember more of what I had read about the battle. If you want to do some armchair traveling to the west this summer, you might want to start with Custer. We can even save you gas money to the library. Many of our sources on this subject are electronic books you can read from home.

Connection: Assessing Teach for America

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Currie) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:25:00 +0000

Teach for America is a popular program among recent Hope College graduates and students thinking about "what next" as they reach their senior year. Critics and proponents of the programs have shared an interest in seeing Teach for America's teachers assessed. The Urban Institute has done just that through a comparison of standardized test results in classes taught by Teach for America instructors and classes taught by instructors not involved in the program. Curious about what they learned? See the Urban Institute report or a summary published by The Atlantic Monthly. To learn more about Teach for America, visit the Reference Desk.

A Classic

noreply@blogger.com (Colleen M. Conway) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 19:55:00 +0000

John T. Quinn was a good friend to the Hope College Libraries. He generously donated many wonderful and well-chosen resources from his own collection, helped me make decisions about some of our other donations, and served enthusiastically as liaison from his department. Recently, after discussing the reviews with John, I purchased the HBO series Rome on dvd for the library collection. He was thrilled that ancient Rome was part of modern culture, a little worried that the content was too risque for some Hope students, but glad that we could provide such a resource to enhance a Hope education. As far as I know, he never got to watch it. Check it out this summer and think of John when you watch it.

One Hundred Years and Counting

noreply@blogger.com (Colleen M. Conway) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:00:00 +0000

On June 19, 1865 Union soldiers landed at Galveston,Texas with the news that the war had ended and the slaves were now free. This date became Freedom Day, Emancipation Day, or just Juneteenth: a day now recognized by 26 states, including Michigan, as a holiday. Almost one hundred years later people who would come to be called "freedom riders" risked their lives to protest segregation in public transportation in the south by riding buses. We recently acquired Raymond Arsenault's book "Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice", considered to be the first full length history of this movement. Even newer is "Breach of Peace: Portraits of the 1961 Mississippi Freedom Riders" in which Eric Etheridge remembers the riders. He uses their mug shots, current portaits and their own words to tell the stories of these brave citizens. The book has been called "breathtaking" by reviewers. What are you doing this summer?

Connection: HSRT's Production of "Forever Plaid"

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Currie) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:30:00 +0000

Hope Summer Repertory Theatre opens the musical Forever Plaid on June 2oth. A look at musical groups in the 1950s, Forever Plaid made its debut as an Off-Broadway play in 1990. Read Stephen Holden's review of it from The New York Times. Other production reviews are also available in the library's online archive of content from The New York Times, as are countless resources on America in the 1950s. Ask for ideas and access information at the Reference Desk.

Prize lists

noreply@blogger.com (Colleen M. Conway) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:00:00 +0000

There are many lists in the literary world: bestsellers, prize winners, someone's favorite. A fairly new prize is The Sami Rohr Prize, established in 2006 by Mr. Rohr's familty to honor this businessman and philanthropist's love of Jewish literature. We happen to have the winner: The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit: My Family's Exodus from Old Cairo to the New World; and two runners up: Houses of Study: A Jewish Woman Among Books, and The Price of Whiteness: Jews, Race and American Identity. Add one of these to your beach reading list and expand your mind this summer.

Hope and D-Day

noreply@blogger.com (Colleen M. Conway) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:00:00 +0000

The invasion of Normandy began on June 6, 1944, the date most people think of when they hear the term D-Day. What was life like here in Holland during that war?? Thanks to a gift from Elton Bruins, we have a circulating copy of a new book edited by two members of the Hope College HASP group, Eileen Nordstrom and George D. Zuidema, MD, called Hope at the Crossroads: the War Years which can give us some idea. It is a delightful collection of remembrances written by Hope alumni and alumnae (I was particularly amused by the writer who explains charades to the electronic generation). The photographs and illustrations are also wonderful. If you love Hope, history, or storytelling this is the book for you.

Connection: Liverpool

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Currie) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 12:51:00 +0000

Hope College jazz musicians are headed to Liverpool, the 2008 European Capital of Culture. Read more about Liverpool in this Financial Times article. Lots has been written about Liverpool's renaissance. Inquire about additional sources from news and cultural sources by visiting the Reference Desk.

A Fun Memorial Day

noreply@blogger.com (Colleen M. Conway) — Wed, 28 May 2008 13:00:00 +0000

For many the Memorial Day holiday we celebrated Monday signals the beginning of summer. When I think summer I think new ways of cooking and new foods to cook. You have access to a lot of cookbooks through the library, some of them electronic, and you can find them in a very long list using the very silly subject heading Cookery. But if you want new ideas on how to handle summer's bounty, check out Vegan Planet, a huge book of vegan dishes. And if you want to take the party outside, try James Beard's classic Complete Book of Outdoor Cookery. Feed more than your mind at the library.

Connection: HSRT's Production of "Kiss Me Kate"

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Currie) — Tue, 27 May 2008 15:31:00 +0000

Hope Summer Repertory Theatre's 2008 season begins June 13th with Kiss Me Kate. Before you attend, read a 1948 New York Times review of the original production. Remember that you can read any article or other feature from The New York Times online thanks to archival access in ProQuest's Historical Newspapers database. Ask about finding the database and content within it at the Reference Desk.

A Solemn Memorial Day

noreply@blogger.com (Colleen M. Conway) — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:00:00 +0000

Memorial Day has its origins in the end of the U.S Civil War. There are many ways to read about the civil war, two very recent titles look at how the war shaped American ideas of death. In This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War Drew Faust contends that the massive loss of life had a fundamental effect on political, intellectual and spiritual thought in America. On the other hand, Mark Schantz postulates in Awaiting the Heavenly Country: The Civil War and America's Culture of Death that Americans already had a fairly well developed view of death which helped them face the costs of war. Two new books, two different points of view; you'll find them both at the library.

Connection: Voorhees Hall Gets a New Roof

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Currie) — Mon, 19 May 2008 13:20:00 +0000

Hope's beloved Voorhees Hall is getting a new roof this month. Voorhees has a long history, one filled with renewal as told this past fall in The Joint Archives Quarterly by May 2008 Hope College graduate Lauren Berka. Bring your questions about Hope College history to the Reference Desk or to the Joint Archives of Holland.

The Third Saturday in May

noreply@blogger.com (Colleen M. Conway) — Wed, 14 May 2008 17:24:00 +0000

Saturday is Armed Forces Day, a day first set aside to honor those serving in all branches of the armed services in 1949. "It is our most earnest hope that those who are in positions of peril, that those who have made exceptional sacrifices, yes, and those who are afflicted with plain drudgery and boredom, may somehow know that we hold them in exceptional esteem. Perhaps if we are a little more concious of our debt of honored affection they may be a little more aware of how much we think of them." (New York Times, May 17, 1952) Today there are many in harm's way, and you can learn about them at the library. Tommy Franks, a career soldier, wrote American Soldier. The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell's author thought he was just getting a college education out of the National Guard. See No Evil is about intelligence officers, Blackwater: the Rise of the Most Powerful Mercenary Army is about soldiers for hire. Tell Them I Didn't Cry was written by a young, female, embedded journalist. Set aside some time this summer to read a story of modern military life.

Connection: NCAA Golf Championships

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Currie) — Mon, 12 May 2008 12:26:00 +0000

Hope College's men's golf team plays in the NCAA Division III golf championship this week. NCAA men's golf is undergoing a change in how teams reach championship play. Read about the new criteria and how teams are responding in an April Golf World article. For more information about the game of golf, ask for source ideas at the Reference Desk.

Connection: Orchid Show

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Currie) — Mon, 05 May 2008 12:48:00 +0000

The Orchid Show is open in the A. Paul Schaap Science Center this week. The world's largest orchid show is an annual event in Miami, Florida described in a Miami Herald article earlier this year. For more information about the increasing popularity of orchids and how you might start cultivating a few orchid plants of your own, ask at the Reference Desk.

Holocaust Remembrance Day

noreply@blogger.com (Colleen M. Conway) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:46:00 +0000

Tomorrow is Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. It is a large subject to wrap your mind around. Some say a prayer, some light candles, why not read? If general history is not one of your interests, try remembrances from The Netherlands, including those of Anne Frank. We also have Richard Lourie's book "A Hatred for Tulips" which is a work of fiction narrated by the person who turned the Frank family in to the Nazis. There are many ways to honor and remember.

Connection: Exam Week

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Currie) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:08:00 +0000

It's Exam Week and an excellent time to find a favorite spot in the library where you may (or may not) find yourself among the 40% of college students who believe finals are more stressful than a first date, according to a 2007 survey. 44% of surveyed students admit to being last-minute crammers but they know just who they'd study with, given the chance. Women most frequently named Oprah as their top choice for a study partner while men picked Stephen Colbert. While we can't promise their appearance here, we can assure you of quiet or conversation, depending on the floor you pick, as well as coffee, a comfortable chair, and lots of time to prepare. Good luck!

Theology and Earth Day

noreply@blogger.com (Colleen M. Conway) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 16:55:00 +0000

Our collection contains many readings on the relationship between religious faith and responsibility for the environment. Interested in ecotheology or a greener faith? Do you wonder "Is God Green?" Keep the momentum of earth day going by taking time to read about this important topic.

Connection: Earth Day

noreply@blogger.com (Jane Currie) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:57:00 +0000

Tuesday is Earth Day, first commemorated on April 22, 1970. The library's archival access to digitized images of The New York Times means that we can easily see the newspaper's coverage of Earth Day that first year. Under the headline Millions Join Earth Day Observances Across the Nation appeared this article summarizing events across the United States. An editorial, "The Good Earth" appeared on the same date, as did several other news stories. For more information on searching the archives of The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, and The Times (London), contact the Reference Desk.

Van Wylen Library is Twenty

noreply@blogger.com (Kelly Jacobsma) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:01:00 +0000

April marks Van Wylen Library’s twentieth anniversary. The dedication of Van Wylen Library on April 21, 1988 was celebrated with a convocation in Dimnent Chapel, a luncheon in Phelps Hall, and a renaissance fair in front of Van Wylen and Van Zoeren. Classes were cancelled to emphasize the importance of dedicating a new library. In his dedication address, John Hope Franklin referred to the Van Wylen Library as “a stately mansion of learning,” urging those who would use it to “do so with the objective not merely to learn, noble as that is, but also for the purpose of using knowledge to improve the world in which we live.” Dr. Franklin concluded by saying “My great hope is that this facility will inspire all who use it to build their own stately mansions of learning.”

At the dedication luncheon, Max De Pree, Chairman of the Board of Trustees in 1988, noted that the renaissance fair demonstrated the intention that the new library would “signal a renaissance of learning and scholarship in Hope College.” The record of undergraduate research and faculty publication over the past twenty years attest to a continuing renaissance of learning and scholarship at Hope.

The college will observe the twentieth anniversary of the Van Wylen Library dedication with a reception on the first floor of the library on Monday, April 21, 2008 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Refreshments and music will be provided. A short program will begin at 2:30. All students, faculty and staff are invited to attend.