Common Knowledge

Library Sustainable Collections Project is Underway

noreply@blogger.com (Van Wylen Library) — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:53:00 +0000

This summer the library is beginning a large-scale deselection project for monographs at the Van Wylen Library and the Music Library. We will be making evidence-based decisions to carefully manage the deselection of low-use print monographs and also identify monograph titles for preservation. This effort is part of a larger state-wide effort to cooperatively preserve low-use titles.

Purpose of the Project:

The Hope College Van Wylen Library is now nearly 25 years old. It was built to accommodate 20 years of collection growth. While the acquisition of e-books has slowed growth somewhat, our shelves are full. In addition, we want to create new spaces for student collaboration, technology, and other support services, and make the remaining collections more attractive and usable for students. The Sustainable Collections Project is a large-scale "weeding" project that will identify low or no use print monographs that could be removed from the collection. The project will also identify monographs that need to be preserved because they are rare or not widely held by other academic libraries.

Monographs are candidates for withdrawal if they were published before 2000 and had 0 or 1 circulations in the past 23 years and are held by more than 50 academic libraries nationwide and more than 3 peer libraries in Michigan. Peer libraries include 14 academic libraries (both state public and small liberal arts) that are MeL participants and have expressed an interest in cooperative preservation of low-use titles.

Preservation candidates are those titles that are held by fewer than 5 academic libraries nationwide, or we are the only library in Michigan holding that title. Many of these titles will be moved to the rare book collection.

Some collections will be preserved automatically. Anything that is marked Banninga Collection, Hope Collection, or Muste Collection will be preserved for historical reasons. The Hope Collection is a collection of books written by Hope alumni. These three collections are not a part of the withdrawal candidate lists and will be handled separately.

Collections that will be affected this summer:

The library will primarily be working this summer on the lower level of Van Wylen Library and in the Music Library. We are beginning with the Z call number range and working upward (Z, V, U, T, S, R, Q, PR-PZ). Books in the Z call number range are currently under review.

For more information about the project, see the Hope Sustainable Collections Page.

If you have questions about the project, please contact Kelly Jacobsma, David O'Brien or Brian Yost.

Library Congratulates its Graduating Senior Workers

noreply@blogger.com (Van Wylen Library) — Thu, 03 May 2012 19:55:00 +0000

Today we honored and celebrated our fantastic group of graduating Senior library workers with a luncheon at CityVu. We had 28 Seniors this year, some of whom have been working at the library all four years of their study at Hope. During this time these students built up some good memories from Van Wylen and the Music Library. Heather Mills appreciated the interesting research questions she helped with, particularly in the summers. Arax Mikaelyan remembered John Hoyer cooking her the tastiest omelette she had ever eaten. Ashley Berber enjoyed the summer dessert "taste offs" at the media desk. Elizabeth Higginbotham appreciated the great relationships she developed with fellow student workers, library staff and patrons over her four years in the library.

Our talented students are heading off to diverse post-Hope adventures. These range from jobs in nursing and banking to journalism and marketing, graduate school programs in vocal performance, public health, and clinical psychology, and even some international travel. Some are exploring possibilities with Americorps and Teach for America.

As a memento of their dedication and hard work in the library, each student has chosen an item to be added to the library collection in their name. You can see what each student has selected here.

-- Jessica Hronchek, Research Librarian

Returning Materials

noreply@blogger.com (Van Wylen Library) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:13:00 +0000

As the end of the semester approaches, don't forget to return your books to the library before you head home for the summer. If your items are not returned, you will be charged an overdue fine based on the type of material you checked out. If items are not returned within three weeks of their due date, a charge for the item will be placed on your student account. A complete list of fines can be found here. Returning items on time is the easiest way to avoid paying later!

-- Bethany Stripp, Library Student Blogger

Exam Week Hours

noreply@blogger.com (Van Wylen Library) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:50:00 +0000

The library will have extended hours during exam week to provide you with ample time to study:

Friday, April 27: 8 a.m. - 10 p.m.;

Saturday, April 28: 10 a.m. - 10 p.m.;

Sunday, April 29: 11 a.m. - 2 a.m.;

Monday, April 30: 8 a.m. - 2 a.m.;

Tuesday, May 1: 8 a.m. - 2 a.m.;

Wednesday, May 2: 8 a.m. - 2 a.m.;

Thursday, May 3: 8 a.m. - 12 a.m.;

Friday, May 4: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

The library will be closed on Saturday, May 5 and Sunday, May 6.

-- Bethany Stripp, Library Student Blogger

1940s Census Data

noreply@blogger.com (Van Wylen Library) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 14:10:00 +0000

On April 2, the National Archives released the complete set of data from the 1940 census. While some census information is made available every 10 years, a statutory 72-year restriction prevents the government from releasing full information until those 72 years have passed.

The 1940 census officially took place on April 1, 1940, though counting continued through the rest of the month. In the census, individuals were asked for basic information such as place of residence, age, level of education, occupation and citizenship. Five percent of the population was also asked supplemental questions about family history, social security and occupation.

Over 133 million people were counted during the 1940 census. The census is currently not indexed by name, which means that in order to find a specific person, you would need to know where that individual lived during 1940. The census information is organized by enumeration districts, which are geographic areas determined for the purpose of taking the census. The enumeration district in 1940 for Hope College and the immediate surrounding area bounded by 8th Street on the north, 13th Street on the south, Lincoln Ave. on the east and College Ave. on the west, for example, was 70-19A.

Many of the cottages currently owned by Hope were built prior to 1940 but not owned by the college at the time, so the census data makes it possible to find information on the families that once lived in these homes. Several cottages have been moved from their original location, however, so the current address of the house may not have been its address in 1940.

There is an amazing amount of demographic data available through the US Census, and now with the full 1940 census available online, it is a useful source for finding historical information on your family and on your residence.

-- Bethany Stripp, Library Student Blogger

Visiting Writers Series: Susanna Childress and Bich Minh Nguyen

noreply@blogger.com (Van Wylen Library) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 17:17:00 +0000

On Tuesday, April 17, the 2011-2012 Jack Ridl Visiting Writers Series will welcome its last two writers of the school year, Susanna Childress and Bich Minh Nguyen.

Susanna Childress has released two books of poetry: Jagged with Love and Entering the House of Awe. Jagged with Love received the Brittingham Prize in Poetry and the Devil's Kitchen Reading Award from the University of Southern Illinois-Carbondale. A few of Childress's poems can also be found through Literature Online. Childress studied English literature and writing at Indiana Wesleyan University and holds a masters degree from the University of Texas at Austin and a PhD from Florida State University. She has taught at Valparaiso University and Hope.

Bich Minh Nguyen is a fiction and nonfiction writer. She won the American Book Award in fiction in 2009 for her novel Short Girls. In 2007, she released a memoir-in-essays entitled Stealing Buddha's Dinner, which received the PEN/Jerard Award and was named one of the best books of the year by the Chicago Tribune. Her works have appeared in several publications and she has also coedited three anthologies with her husband, novelist Porter Shreve. She currently teaches creative nonfiction, fiction and Asian American literature at Purdue University.

Childress and Nguyen will present a reading a 7 p.m. on the 17th at the Knickerbocker Theatre. There will also be a question-and-answer session with the writers at 3:30 p.m. that same day in the Herrick Room of the DeWitt Center.

-- Bethany Stripp, Library Student Blogger

Laptop Friendly Study Spaces

noreply@blogger.com (Van Wylen Library) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 17:15:00 +0000

Several tables in Van Wylen were reconfigured a few weeks ago to include outlets on the table. These tabletop outlets allow you to plug in your electronic devices without having to stretch your cord across the floor, which is especially useful during high traffic times at the library such as the weeks leading up to the end of the semester. You can find these tables on the north side of the first floor, by the computers on the second floor, and near the stairs on the third floor. Not finding a large table open? All of the individual carrels have outlets as well.

-- Bethany Stripp, Library Student Blogger

Course Guides

noreply@blogger.com (Van Wylen Library) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 12:57:00 +0000

LibGuides are online research guides for general subjects and specific courses taught at Hope, and now the library home page includes a tab that makes it easy to find all of these guides.

Each general guide contains the databases most useful for that subject as well as tips for finding books and reference sources. If you are taking a class that has its own LibGuide, a librarian has personally created this guide to fit with your course and assignments. You can browse to these by discipline or search by professor or course number.

There are also several general guides with resources on topics such as the Critical Issues Symposium, Library of Congress classification and undergraduate publishing opportunities.

-- Bethany Stripp, Library Student Blogger

Googling Tips

noreply@blogger.com (Van Wylen Library) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 14:31:00 +0000

While the library's website provides access to many databases to help you with your research, sometimes it's easier to begin your research on an interface you're familiar with like Google. However, doing a standard Google search can bring back a lot of information you may not need. HackCollege.com recently published an infographic with tips on narrowing your Google searches to include just the information you're looking for.

The infographic also has suggestions for searching in Google Scholar, which searches just for published materials like scholarly articles and books. Keep in mind that you can use the "Full Text Options at Hope College" links on the right hand side to see which articles the library subscribes to, as most scholarly articles are not freely available on the open web.

As you're searching Google, don't forget about the "You Loop," which is going to limit what kinds of materials you see. As always, if you need help in your research, the librarians at the Research Help desk would be happy to talk with you.

-- Bethany Stripp, Library Student Blogger

Manifold Greatness Lecture Series Concludes

noreply@blogger.com (Van Wylen Library) — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 12:52:00 +0000

The monthlong lecture series that coincided with Van Wylen's hosting of the Manifold Greatness exhibit ended on March 29 when Dr. John Cox of the English department presented a lecture entitled "Manifold Greatness: Shakespeare and the Bible." In this lecture, Cox talked about the various ways the Bible appears in Shakespeare's writing. Shakespeare cites the Bible in every one of his plays for a total of 1200 separate Biblical references throughout his works. His characters also often demonstrate theological depth, which Cox argued reflects Shakespeare's understanding of the Bible. Though Shakespeare would have had limited familiarity with the King James Bible, the English versions of the Bible he would have known influenced translators of the King James Bible. This explains why some of Shakespeare's phrases sound similar to phrases found in the King James Bible.

Today is the last day to see the Manifold Greatness exhibit while it is at Hope. The exhibit is available for viewing during normal library hours, which are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

-- Bethany Stripp, Library Student Blogger

Heideman Lecture

noreply@blogger.com (Van Wylen Library) — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 14:12:00 +0000

On Tuesday, March 20th, Dr. Eugene Heideman gave a lecture on the King James Bible and the Geneva Bible, as a part of the lecture series for the Manifold Greatness Exhibit.

During his lecture, he discussed the theological and political origins of both translations, and placed them in historical relation to the other English translations of the time. The Geneva Bible was created by the many Protestant theologians and scholars who gathered in Geneva after fleeing religious persecution in England. It rose in popularity because of its more portable printed size and the many marginalia and additions that made it more accessible to a variety of readers. These marginalia were also a major reason why King James commissioned his new translation, because he objected to certain anti-monarchy sentiments expressed there. For a variety of political and printing reasons, the King James Bible gradually became the dominant bible translation in the English speaking world.

Please join us for the final event in the Manifold Greatness programming. On Thursday, March 29th at 3:00 in Winants Auditorium, Dr. John Cox will speak on the Bible and Shakespeare.

Gruenler Lecture Explores 1 Corinthians 13:12

noreply@blogger.com (Van Wylen Library) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 15:56:00 +0000

On March 15, Dr. Curtis Gruenler of the English department presented a lecture on the various translations of 1 Corinthians 13:12 and how particular word choices affect meaning. This lecture was the seventh event of the month-long Manifold Greatness exhibit and lecture series at Van Wylen Library.

In his lecture, Gruenler showed how the King James Bible translation of 1 Corinthians 13:12, which reads, "For now we see through a glasse, darkely: but then face to face..." both draws and differs from earlier translations, including earlier English translations. The discussion focused particularly on the Greek words that were translated into "glasse" and "darkely" and explored how they were interpreted historically and theologically to influence different translations. Gruenler used writings from Augustine and Calvin to explain how these translation changes occurred over time.

The Manifold Greatness programing will continue on March 20, when Dr. Eugene Heideman presents a lecture on the Geneva Bible and King James Bible. The lecture will take place at 1 p.m. in Winants Auditorium in Graves Hall.

-- Bethany Stripp, Library Student Blogger

Rare Book Highlights: Shakespeare Folio and KJV Literary Influences

noreply@blogger.com (Van Wylen Library) — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 12:59:00 +0000

In addition to fifteenth and sixteenth century bibles, Van Wylen Library's Manifold Greatness exhibit also has several other rare documents on display that have been influenced by the King James Bible.

Many of Shakespeare's works include Biblical references. Van Wylen Library has a leaf from the second folio of Love's Labour Lost that demonstrates this. This leaf has the part of the text from Act V, Scene II of this play and includes the line "They will, they will, God knows/ And leap for joy, though they are lame with blows." The phrase "leape ye for joy" appears in Luke 6:23 of the Bishop's Bible, one of the versions of the Bible Shakespeare used in his references. No other version of the Bible at the time contained that phrase. The King James Bible, however, picked up the phrase from the Bishop's Bible and made it popular after 1611.

Shakespeare was not the only literary giant whose works show Biblical influences. In addition to the folio, Van Wylen has copies of rare editions of several classic works, including Paradise Lost by John Milton, The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan, Moby Dick by Herman Melville, Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman. These books are displayed to show the ways they were influenced by the King James Bible. The Manifold Greatness website has a timeline with information on other literary works that have been influenced by the King James Bible.

-- Bethany Stripp, Library Student Blogger

Heath Wiersma Discusses Text Image Interactions

noreply@blogger.com (Van Wylen Library) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 12:38:00 +0000

As a part of the Manifold Greatness exhibit and programming for the month of March, Dr. Anne Heath Wiersma gave a lecture entitled "To See with a Vision Surpassing all Other Visions: the Medieval Tradition and Influence of Biblical Illustration on the King James Bible." at Herrick Main Library on Monday, March 12th.

She began by analyzing the religious symbolism contained in the frontispieces of the first editions of the King James Bible. The majority of the lecture focused on the broader history of bible illustration and how it led up to the printing of the King James Bible, which has no substantial illustrations but drew from many traditions of imagery, layout and script in bible production. This fit in with the role of the image, not so much as a replacement for text, but as an aid to be "read" and meditated upon for better understanding of the text.

Interested in learning more about the King James Bible? Join us for Dr. Curtis Gruenler's lecture on 1 Corinthians 13:12 on Thursday, March 15th at 3:00 in the Rare Book Room.

-- Jessica Hronchek, Research Librarian

Library Replaces Security Cameras

noreply@blogger.com (Van Wylen Library) — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 12:58:00 +0000

The library is in the process of replacing and upgrading its security camera system. The old VHS-based system was installed approximately 15 years ago and has become worn out. The new digital system features motion activated HD cameras and software that allows easy browsing to specific events. The images from the HD cameras are far superior to those of the old analog cameras, and can be viewed both in the library and at Campus Safety. The new camera system is the culmination of many meetings including representatives from the library, CIT, Campus Safety, Operations, and Physical Plant. Several security companies vied for the project, with EPS Security Systems ultimately being chosen.

Even with this enhanced level of security, students should always be aware of their surroundings and use common sense. It is not unusual for students to leave laptops, cell phones, and purses unattended on tables and in study rooms. Although it rarely happens, these kinds of items have been stolen from the library in past years. Please think twice before leaving your valuables unattended.

-- Dave O'Brien, Head of Access Services

Makoto Fujimura Lecture Adds New Dimension to Manifold Greatness

noreply@blogger.com (Van Wylen Library) — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 00:28:00 +0000

On March 12, artist Makoto Fujimura presented a lecture on visual theology as part of the World Christians Lecture Series. Fujimura is an artist from New York who recently completed a project entitled The Four Holy Gospels, a work commissioned in light of the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, in which Fujimura illuminated the four gospels through painting.

In his lecture, Fujimura explained the thought process that went into creating several of the large images included in The Four Holy Gospels. He also discussed visual theology, an area of theology that is rarely focused on, particularly in Protestant and Evangelical traditions. Fujimura argued that beauty does not have to be the opposite of function, and that because of our culture's emphasis on the visual, we have a unique opportunity to combine the two. By having a theology through the arts, Fujimura believes we can affirm both our sensory knowledge and our rational knowledge.

Van Wylen Library has two copies of The Four Holy Gospels. It is currently included in the Manifold Greatness display on the first floor.

-- Bethany Stripp, Library Student Blogger

Rare Book Highlights: Fifteenth and Sixteenth Century Bibles

noreply@blogger.com (Van Wylen Library) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 21:45:00 +0000

In addition to the panels on the first floor of Van Wylen, several rare books from Van Wylen and Beardslee Library's collections are on display as part of the month-long Manifold Greatness exhibit. Among these books are four interesting Bibles published during the fifteenth and sixteenth century.

Biblia Latina -- 1479

On loan from Beardslee Library of Western Theological Seminary, this 1479 Vulgate is one of the earliest in a series of "Fontibus Ex Graecis," which are corrected Bibles in Latin that claim superiority over others. The Vulgate was translated into Latin by St. Jerome in the 4th century from Hebrew and Greek.

Novum Testamentum Annotationes -- 1527

This New Testament, acquired by Hope in 1888, is the second part of the fourth edition of Erasmus's translation of the New Testament and contains his annotations explaining his translations. Erasmus's New Testament translation played a significant role in the history of Bible translation, challenging the Vulgate and being used by Martin Luther and Tyndale in their work to translate the Bible into German and English, respectively.

Novum Testamentum -- 1565

This New Testament was the work of Beza and contains three side-by-side versions of the Bible. The left column contains the New Testament in Greek as edited by Beza, the middle column is Beza's Latin translation of the New Testament, and the third column is a reprinting of the Vulgate. Beza also printed commentary below the Biblical text. This Bible was used by King James translators and Geneva Bible editors.

Geneva Bible -- 1599

The Geneva Bible had significant influence in creating the political and religious climate conducive to the translation of the King James Version of the Bible. This was the primary Bible of the 16th century Protestant movement and contained many marginal notes added by Reformers such as John Calvin and John Knox. It was the first Bible to use chapters and numbered verses. This particular edition of the Geneva Bible is sometimes called the "Breeches Bible" because of its translation of Genesis 3:7, which says that Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves together "and made themselves breeches."

These Bibles and several other rare documents are on display on the north end of the first floor. Feel free to look around anytime during normal library hours or during spring break hours from March 15 to March 25.

-- Bethany Stripp, Library Student Blogger

Alvarez Lecture Discusses Printing Errors

noreply@blogger.com (Van Wylen Library) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 14:38:00 +0000

On March 8, as part of the month-long Manifold Greatness exhibit and lecture series, Dr. Pablo Alvarez, Outreach Librarian and Curator at the Special Collections Library at the University of Michigan, came to Van Wylen to discuss the process involved in the printing of the King James Bible that contributed to errors in the first editions. Printing errors were an expected part of early printed books and a source of scholarly interest today.

Printing shops in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries had a variety of workers, including young apprentices, compositors and correctors. While the compositors arranged the movable type to create words and sentences for printing, apprentices placed the individual blocks of type back into their appropriate cases. Similarities between the appearance of letters, such as "u" and "n," often led to misplaced letters, which in turn created misspellings such as "aud" instead of "and." Less stable spelling at the time also led to differences between printings. In addition to spelling errors, there were other misprints, such as that which is found in different version of Ruth 3:15, one of which reads, "She went into the city" while another reads, "He went into the city;" they were sometimes rooted in literal translations of the original Hebrew. Some of the later editions were printed quickly, which increased errors. In total, 387 errors appear in the first edition of the King James Bible.

The next Manifold Greatness program will occur in conjunction with the World Christian Lecture Series sponsored by Campus Minstries, when Makoto Fujimura will discuss his illustrations of the four gospels. The lecture will take place in Winants Auditorium at 4 p.m. on March 12.

-- Bethany Stripp, Library Student Blogger

Preaching the Manifold Greatness

noreply@blogger.com (Van Wylen Library) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 21:58:00 +0000

Rev. Dr. Trygve Johnson, Dean of the Chapel at Hope College, presented the second lecture of the month-long Manifold Greatness exhibit and programing series on March 6. The lecture, entitled "Preaching the Manifold Greatness: Lessons from the Authorized Version" both provided a brief history of the climate that led to the creation of the King James Version of the Bible and offered five lessons that modern preachers can draw from the King James Bible. These lessons were as follows: to consider tradition as a servant to aid continued scholarship rather than as a master, to acknowledge the missional instinct in the King James Bible in order to preach in a way that is both understandable and challenging, to recognize that eloquence in preaching should comes as a byproduct of the aim for truth and accuracy rather than as the goal, to use the substance of style in the King James Bible to help discern the appropriate language to use for a situation, and to ultimately be committed to the Word as revealed through Christ rather than a particular version of the Bible.

Programing will continue on Thursday with a lecture on the printing of the King James Bible by Dr. Pablo Alvarez from the University of Michigan. The lecture will take place at 11 a.m. in the Granberg Room on the second floor of Van Wylen Library.

-- Bethany Stripp, Library Student Blogger

Restoration and Preservation of Family Treasures

noreply@blogger.com (Van Wylen Library) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 23:54:00 +0000

Care and restoration of family bibles and other rare books was the topic of a workshop offered by the Herrick District Library Monday night. Approximately 40 people attended the hands-on workshop and were able to observe the cleaning and repair of several items from the Hope College Rare Book Collection.

Kari Miller Fenwood, of Kari Miller Restoration, spoke about the complexities involved in book

restoration due to the variety of materials involved. She demonstrated using a variable speed hepa- filter vacuum, using a dry cleaning pad and talked about the pros and cons of cleaning with water.

Participants observed a few repair techniques they might try at home including repairing a page tear with rice paper and rice paste as well as a commercially available tape. She stressed the concept of reversibility and when the services of professional conservator should be considered. Several participants brought family bibles or other rare books and received advice on what level of restoration might be needed.

Participants were given several resources to help them assess their family heirlooms including Your Old Books, a guide sponsored by the Rare Books and Manuscript Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries, and the Care, Handling and Storage of Books webpage from the Library of Congress.

The workshop was part of a series of lectures and workshops offered throughout the month as part of the Manifold Greatness traveling exhibition at the Hope College Van Wylen Library.

Manifold Greatness Opens with Lecture and Reception

noreply@blogger.com (Van Wylen Library) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 22:17:00 +0000

Van Wylen's month-long hosting of the traveling Manifold Greatness exhibit opened on March 2 with a lecture from Dr. Marc Baer of the history department and a reception afterwards.

In his lecture, Dr. Baer explained the many political and religious factors that created an environment conducive for the translating and publication of the King James Bible. The Reformation and resulting movements of Protestantism led to a drive for bibles written in languages that all people could read. Several English bibles came into existence as a result, including William Tyndale's translation and the Geneva Bible. Marginal notes in the Geneva Bible in particular contained sentiments that could easily be taken as anti-monarch, a point of concern for those ruling England during a time when religious tensions ran high. As a result, King James I of England held the Hampton Court Conference which led to the proposal for a new English bible, which in turn eventually led to the translation of the King James Bible.

Several other Manifold Greatness events are scheduled for this week, including a workshop tonight at the Herrick District Library and two lectures. Complete details can be found on Van Wylen's Manifold Greatness site.

-- Bethany Stripp, Library Student Blogger

Visiting Writers Series: Nancy Eimers and Bill Olsen

noreply@blogger.com (Van Wylen Library) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 17:01:00 +0000

The Jack Ridl Visiting Writers Series will continue on March 6 with readings from poets Nancy Eimers and Bill Olsen.

Nancy Eimers has published four collections of poetry in the past 11 years, three of which are available in Van Wylen Library. Several of her poems have also been published in literary journals. Her most recent collection of poetry, Oz, came out in 2011. She has received the Nation "Discovery" award, a Whiting Writers Award, two NEA fellowships, and a Pushcart Prize for her writings. She is currently a professor of creative writing and contemporary poetry at Western Michigan University and also teaches in the MFA Program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts.

Bill Olsen is also a professor of creative writing and contemporary poetry at Western Michigan University and a teacher in the MFA Program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Olsen has released five collections of poetry, including Sand Theory, which came out last spring. Many of his poems are also available online. Olsen has received several awards, including a 2005 Guggenheim Fellowship, a NEA Creative Writing Fellowship, and the Texas Institute of Arts Award.

Eimers and Olsen will give readings of their works at the Knickerbocker Theatre at 7 p.m. on March 6. A performance by a Hope jazz ensemble will precede the reading at 6:30 p.m.

-- Bethany Stripp, Library Student Blogger

Manifold Greatness Exhibit to Open March 2

noreply@blogger.com (Van Wylen Library) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 17:17:00 +0000

The first floor of Van Wylen Library will soon be host to Manifold Greatness, the traveling panel exhibition portion of a larger project produced by the Folger Shakespeare Library and the Bodleian Library to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the 1611 King James Bible. Van Wylen is one of 40 sites chosen to host this exhibit.

"This is the only place the exhibit will travel to in all of Michigan, Indiana and Illinois," Director of Libraries Kelly Jacobsma said. "I hope students take a few minutes to come and enjoy the panels as well as see some of the treasures that we have in the Hope College Rare Books collection."

The exhibit and coinciding events will begin on March 2, when Dr. Marc Baer of the history department will present the opening lecture entitled Text and Context: Politics and Culture in the Britain of King James. In this lecture, Dr. Baer will explain how the broader Protestant Reformation and particularly the Reformation in Scotland and England came together to create the environment that led to the creation of the King James Bible. Dr. Baer's lecture will begin at 3 p.m. in Winants Auditorium in Graves Hall. A reception and the formal opening of the exhibit will follow the lecture at Van Wylen Library.

Several other lectures and presentations will also take place throughout the month of March while the exhibit is on display at Van Wylen. A complete list of programming can be found on the library's Manifold Greatness website. Additional information, including a large collection of audio clips, videos and images about the display are on the website for Manifold Greatness. There is also information in a Hope College news briefing.

To make room for the display, many items of furniture on the first floor will be temporarily moved to other locations in the library. This is an excellent opportunity for students who typically study on the first floor to explore the other four floors of the library .

-- Bethany Stripp, Library Student Blogger

Crowdsourcing for Experiential Learning

noreply@blogger.com (Van Wylen Library) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:34:00 +0000

Interested in getting some experience with scholarly exercises in your discipline? Or interested in exposing your students to more hands-on work in a field? Over the last few years, crowdsourcing projects have changed the ways in which laypeople can contribute to publicly available historical and scientific sources, particularly digitization projects. Advancing social media technology has made it increasingly easy for anyone with interest and an internet connection to become involved in research digitization projects.

What is crowdsourcing? Rose Holley offers a good definition and emphasizes how it is different than broader social media interactions. Crowdsourcing uses "social engagement techniques to help a group of people achieve a shared, usually significant, and large goal by working collaboratively together as a group. Crowdsourcing also usually entails a greater level of effort, time, and intellectual input from an individual than just socially engaging. [...] Crowdsourcing relies on sustained input from a group of people working towards a common goal, whereas social engagement may be transitory, sporadic or done just once." Just like composer Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir projects, it allows volunteers from around the world who have never met to contribute to a collective goal.

Wikipedia is probably one of the most well-known examples of crowdsourcing, where millions of anonymous users create and edit articles in an open web-based encyclopedia. In 2009, when expense reports by members of England's Parliament revealed possible misappropriation of funds, the Guardian used crowdsourcing to recruit volunteers to pore through the almost 500,000 pages of documentation available. In the first 80 hours after release, readers worked through almost 170,000 documents. Many of you participate in a miniature version of crowdsourcing on a daily basis and may not even realize it. Have you ever filled out a web form where you are required to read and type out two words to prove that you aren't a computer spamming the form? Turns out this reCaptcha technology is using the collective brain power of millions of internet users to help digitize books. Human eyes read and interpret the texts that computerized optical character recognition (OCR) cannot.

Though these are all more popular examples of crowdsourcing, over the last few years, there have been an increasing number of scholarly digitization projects that utilize crowdsourcing. Here are several notable ones:

Ancient Lives - This site allows you to help transcribe ancient Greek papyrus fragments discovered in the late 19th century. Even those without knowledge of Greek can participate, as they provide assistance with letter recognition. This work will help scholars process this collection of almost 500,000 fragments and identify the texts contained within.

Civil War Diaries and Letters Transcription Project - The University of Iowa Libraries are recruiting crowdsourcing assistance to transcribe their collection of Civil War primary sources.

Transcribe Bentham - The University College of London invites volunteers to help with the transcription of the unpublished manuscripts of Jeremy Bentham.

Papers of the War Department 1784-1800 - This online transcription project will increase the availability and searchability of this digital collection of documents once thought lost after a fire in the War Office in 1800.

Old Weather - Interested in history and the environment? This project enlists crowdsourcing volunteers in order to transcribe weather data from historic ship logs. This data can help scientists analyze weather trends and climate change over time.

Galaxy Zoo - In this project, you assist scientists in analyzing images from the Hubble telescope. The site guides you through a series of questions about the visual characteristics of each image, and your answers will help classify the galaxies that you see.

If you enjoy the science-oriented projects like Old Weather and Galaxy Zoo, check out other projects housed on the Zooniverse site.

Some crowdsourcing projects allow you to freely send your entries into the project, while others require a brief registration process. Worried that you might make a mistake? While these projects do depend on volunteers giving their best efforts, the same texts are usually viewed by multiple pairs of eyes, ensuring that there will be several opinions offered for each transcription/image.

Do you know of any other interesting academic crowdsourcing projects? Please share them in the comments!

-- Jessica Hronchek, Research Librarian

Library of Congress Classification

noreply@blogger.com (Van Wylen Library) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 21:24:00 +0000

Ever found yourself confused in your efforts to locate a book in Van Wylen? Though many public libraries use the Dewey system to organize their books, Van Wylen uses the Library of Congress classification system that utilizes letters rather than numbers to begin call numbers. Most academic libraries use the Library of Congress system because it works well with larger collections.

Priscilla Atkins, one of the reference librarians at Van Wylen, created a LibGuide to help explain the Library of Congress system. In it, you can find information on how to read a call number, shelving order in Van Wylen, and a game to help you understand the classification system.

As always, if you ever need help locating a book, feel free to stop by the Research Help desk on the first floor.

-- Bethany Stripp, Library Student Blogger