Well-Rounded News Sources

Get your news from reputable sources – not from social media!

During this week’s Critical Issues Symposium keynote address “How to Engage in Important Debates” by Thomas Chatterton Williams, a student asked Mr. Williams what reputable news sources he uses for “selective media consumption.” Mr. Williams encouraged the audience to seek wide-ranging, reputable news sources that are well edited.

Great news! We have print or electronic access (sometimes both!) to 8 of 9 sources he referenced! Even greater news: You can now check out our current periodicals for 7 days!

Hope College students, faculty and staff can read the online version of The New York Times for FREE, with no limits on current articles. Find out more about signing up here!

Hope College students, faculty and staff can read the The Wall Street Journal Digital Edition through an academic site license provided by Van Wylen Library. Available editions include: US, Asia, Europe, and India. Read more about getting access here!

National Review was “founded in 1955 by William F. Buckley Jr. as a magazine of conservative opinion. The magazine has since defined the modern conservative movement and enjoys the broadest allegiance among American conservatives.”

We have three ways to access National Review:

According to Wikipedia, The Claremont Review of Books is a quarterly review of politics and statesmanship published by the conservative Claremont Institute. A typical issue consists of several book reviews and a selection of essays on topics of conservatism and political philosophy, history, and literature. We have electronic access from September 2010-present!

The Nation describes themselves as “Principled. Progressive. The Nation speaks truth to power to build a more just society.” We have current issues of The Nation on the first floor – call number AP2 .N2. In addition, we have access to issues from 1900 to present electronically!

Harper’s Magazine the oldest general-interest monthly in America, explores the issues that drive our national conversation, through long-form narrative journalism and essays (according to their website). We have current issues of Harper’s on the first floor! We also have print copies dating back to 1975. In addition, you can electronically access Harper’s from 1850 (it’s inception) to 2007!

The New Yorker describes itself as “considered by many to be the most influential magazine in the world, renowned for its in-depth reporting, political and cultural commentary, fiction, poetry, and humor.” Once again, we have current issues of the New Yorker on the first floor – call number AP2 .N6763! In addition, you can browse past issues from 2004-present electronically through our databases!

Innovation Foundations Workshop

Recently I had the pleasure of taking an Innovation Foundation Workshop with facilitators from the Office of Possibilities. It was a great opportunity to learn more about how creativity and process can cultivate an environment where teams have fun solving problems. Here are 5 takeaways from my experience.

1. Make sure everyone involved in the process agrees to the CORE characteristics of creative/innovative people, and enforce it! It may sound counterintuitive to enforce rules around a creative process. But setting parameters makes it easier for folks to go wild within them. And the CORE characteristics are pretty great.

  • Curiosity (be wild!)
  • Openness (defer judgment)
  • Risk tolerance (strive for quantity and build ideas)
  • Energy (be playful!)

2. Use an Empathy Map Canvas to better understand the individuals impacted by your decision-making process. It’s important to do this early and often, or the foundation of your work will not be strong enough to support the rest of the framework. You may even realize that the problem you think you’re solving is not a problem at all; or the wrong problem! Talking to others, with a structured set of questions, can help you more clearly define the issue at hand.

3. Do your best to get both divergent and convergent thinkers in the same room. My style is definitely convergent. I like facilitating divergent thinking, but when it comes down to it, my brain doesn’t readily explore possibilities the way others might.

4. Prototyping is fun! Our facilitators offered five types of prototyping to try: storyboarding, 3D models, fake ads, flow charts, and role playing. Never had I considered doing any of these things in the past. But when I teamed up with a colleague to storyboard an event, it really helped me think about things differently! And seeing the prototypes others produced gave me fresh perspective.

5. I love working with a cross-section of people from the college! We had one student in our workshop, as well as employees from many different departments across campus. It was great to get to know them better and see how their strengths, weaknesses, and experiences contributed to the process.
I highly recommend taking the Innovation Foundations Workshop for personal and professional growth. If you’re interested, contact possibilities@hope.edu to learn more.

Sarah Baar – Metadata Associate

Community Action House Donation Drive 2021

The Library is again collecting items for Community Action House at the display on the 1st floor through exam week.

Community Action House does incredible work in our community and has recently added some exciting new initiatives such as Refresh: Hygiene and Hope – a free shower program for individuals experiencing homelessness. CAH also has an outreach team who holds “office hours” at Herrick District Library to help with case management and resource assistance. Most recently, they opened their Food Club and Opportunity Hub on Paw Paw Drive which provides families with fresh fruit, vegetables, meat and dairy in addition to typical canned and shelf-stable foods.

While you’re at the store in the next few weeks, would you consider picking up some extra items – particularly from their most needed list?

If you would prefer to give a monetary donation, you can do so here.

Thank you for your help in supporting this wonderful community resource!

Meet with a Librarian Today!

The cold of winter may be upon us, but the semester is just starting to heat up. As deadlines for research papers and other assignments are fast approaching, the library is here to help get you through the final push.

Consider scheduling a one-on-one consultation with a librarian who will help you explore your topic in depth and navigate the library’s myriad resources.

Click here to see the available library consultation options.

*Un-masked photo taken pre-Covid


Did you know? Students who have met with librarians for personalized help have been overwhelmingly positive with their feedback on the experience. Responding to a follow-up survey this past year, 95% of students reported being able to apply what they learned to their academic work and 100% said they would recommend the experience to others.

Not too shabby!

So… what are you waiting for? Schedule a library consultation today!  

Todd Wiebe, Head of Research and Instruction

Hannah Kenny’s Library Internship Experience

We hope you enjoy reading about Hannah’s experience at the Library, written at the end of the Spring semester ’21.

Hope College Digital Liberal Arts Website Redesigned 

Hannah Kenny ’21

Under the mentorship of Tori Longfield, Assistant Librarian for the Digital Liberal Arts, student intern Hannah Kenny redesigned the Hope College Digital Liberal Arts (Hope DLA) website this semester. 

Hope DLA is a digital archive for born-digital research projects (meaning the projects have been created in digital platforms to begin with). It hosts digital projects created by faculty, students, and Hope College classes. Hope DLA “projects are a product of the integration of technology and research in the classroom, independent research, or faculty-student research” (http://hopedla.org). Hope DLA was originally created for the Mellon Scholars Program, and “we’re really happy to have found a home for this site in the library and a way to both continue to showcase these projects by former students and to host new projects by students and faculty across the college,” said interim Mellon Scholars Director, Marsely Kehoe.

Kenny encourages students to visit the website, stating “Hope DLA is a holding space for important research and creativity. As a student interested in accessible research, digital projects like the ones on this website feel meaningful to me and will serve in the advancement of liberal arts education.” 

To visit the redesigned website, visit http://hopedla.org. 

If you would like your research project to be considered for archive on the Hope Digital Liberal Arts website, please email it to longfield@hope.edu. Your project will be reviewed to determine if Hope DLA is a good place for your digital creation. 

Hannah Jones’s Library Internship Experience

We hope you enjoy reading about Hannah’s experience at the Library, written at the end of the Spring semester ’21.

photo of Hannah Jones in her cap and gown at graduation in 2021
Hannah Jones ’21

This spring semester, I had the opportunity to work as an intern at the Van Wylen Library as part of my Women’s and Gender Studies degree. I worked under the guidance of Tori Longfield, Hope College’s Assistant Librarian for the Digital Liberal Arts. We met bi-weekly to discuss my internship projects as well as topics in library and information science in preparation for my starting grad school at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I worked on two projects, one about collection development and the other about diversifying subject headings. Under the supervision of Jen Holman, the Associate Librarian for Electronic Resources, I helped develop a procedure for collection development. As this was an internship with the WGS department, we focused on adding to our WGS collection. As the result of this project, we were able to purchase new books and resources for the library, some of which are already available. This is a process that will hopefully be replicated in order to diversify other collections at Van Wylen. 

My second project, on subject headings, was under the guidance of Jeremy Barney, the Assistant Librarian for Metadata and Digital Collections. This project was more oriented towards learning about subject headings and controlled vocabularies, as well as cataloging more broadly. Through various readings and webinars, I put together a list of subject headings about gender that I wanted to further investigate due to their outdated terminology. These subject headings are determined by the Library of Congress, but individual libraries sometimes can make local changes. Jeremy would then run reports to see how often and where these subject headings showed up in our collections. At the end of this semester, I will be submitting a report on our findings that makes recommendations for better, more up to date subject headings. The final aspect of my internship was the wonderful opportunity to interview the librarians here at Hope College, and I am grateful to everyone who was willing to meet with me and answer my questions about librarianship.

Although I began this internship knowing that I was interested in a career in librarianship (in fact, I had already applied to library schools), I am now more confident than ever in that decision. I was allowed flexibility and freedom in the projects I chose, and since my interest in this profession sits at the intersections between social justice, feminist pedagogy, and librarianship, I was able to explore projects rooted in diversity, equity, and inclusion. Tori, Jen, and Jeremy offered their expertise and guidance every step of the way, and I’m finishing this internship with new knowledge about librarianship as a whole, but more specifically, about collection development and cataloging. Although I don’t know exactly what branch of librarianship I’ll pursue, I feel prepared to enter grad school with the knowledge and experience I’ve gained through my internship. I’ve loved getting to know the librarians, being a part of purchasing new books for a collection I love, and getting to explore the nuances and complexities of controlled vocabularies. I look forward to bringing this experience with me as I head to UIUC this fall! 

Welcome Back, Students!

First year students—welcome! Returning students—welcome back!

The staff at Van Wylen Library are excited for the new school year and want to make sure you are in the know regarding everything the library has to offer. During the course of your studies at Hope, you will be in need of quality information from an array of reliable sources and the library has you covered! Students seated around a library mediascape The library is much more than a repository of books—think of it as an epicenter of information resources and services all aimed at supporting your academic endeavors. We recognize that the sheer abundance and variety of information can be overwhelming, but the library is very much in the business of teaching and learning, so know that you are not on your own to sort it all out. The library aims to foster information literacy, and librarians provide instruction in a wide variety of courses in effort to equip students with the critical thinking skills needed to deftly explore and navigate the broader realm of information we find ourselves encountering daily.

Here are some of the library highlights:

  • Research  Help
    Stop by the Research Help Desk on the main floor of the library with any questions regarding the library or using/accessing its many resources. You can also get help via email, phone, text or chat. For the most in-depth help experience, you can schedule a one-on-one consultation with an expert research or digital liberal arts librarian.
  • Borrowing Materials
    The Circulation Desk is where you can check out library materials of all types—books, videos, technology such as laptops and cameras, and more!  All you need is your Hope ID! See here for more info on loan periods, etc.
  • Digital Media Lab
    On the second floor of the library you’ll find the Digital Media Lab and service desk. A DML assistant helping a student at a computerHere you can get help with audio/video editing, image manipulation, graphic design, research poster layout, etc. It is here where you can also do color printing, purchase general office supplies. Adjacent to the Digital Media Lab is a Sound Room which includes an individual studio space with materials so students can engage in multimedia podcast recording/editing, in addition to Sibelius and Finale software for music creation.
  • Klooster Center for Excellence in Writing
    The Writing Center located on the main floor or the library. Here you can schedule an appointment with an experienced student writing assistant to receive guidance on your writing assignments in all subject areas. Help is available at any stage of the writing process, from initial planning to proofreading final drafts.
  • Archives
    Located on 10th Street near Central Ave is the Joint Archives of Holland. This branch of the library is your gateway to Hope College and local history collections, many of which have been digitized and made available online. The Archives staff are available to help you make the most of these unique primary source materials, many of which have been integrated into student undergraduate research over the years. 

A student relaxing in the A.J. Muste AlcoveThe library is also a great place to study and work! We have an assortment of tables, personal study carrels, private rooms, and other cozy spaces to choose from. So, come, make yourself at home in the library where you can get stuff, get stuff done, and get help doing it!

Todd Wiebe, Associate Librarian & Head of Research and Instruction

Hope College Digital Commons 10-Year Birthday

Hope College Digital Commons, the college’s Van Wylen Library-supported institutional repository, celebrates its 10th birthday this March.*  Hope College Digital Commons was established to collect, preserve, and make available scholarly and creative work generated by the college’s faculty, staff, and students, and to provide access to materials held by the Joint Archives of Holland.  

The institutional repository reaches a global audience by sharing its content openly, making faculty journal articles, student posters from the Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity, Hope College publications such as Milestone, The Anchor, News from Hope College, and the Joint Archives Quarterly, and local historical newspapers (Holland City News; Ottawa County Times) available for download.  For more information about Hope College Digital Commons see the library’s Digital Commons Guide.  Visit the library’s Digital Exhibits page or JSTOR Open Community Collections for more digital collections from the Joint Archives of Holland.

To celebrate ten years of our Digital Commons repository here are some usage statistics we’d like to share (March 4, 2011-March 4, 2021):

Number of Downloads

Total Number of Downloads: 645,232

Faculty Publications Downloads:  57,718 

Hope College Publications Downloads: 368,709

Milestone: 14,195

News from Hope College: 31,937

The Anchor: 285,455

The Joint Archives Quarterly: 19,088 

Holland City News Issue Downloads:  59,844

Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Posters and Abstract Booklets Downloads: 44,361  

Joint Archives Collection Registers and Abstracts Downloads:  37,638 

Most Downloads 

Featured below are some of the most downloaded items in Hope College Digital Commons.  Download numbers are provided.

Top 10 Faculty Publications

Congratulations to these faculty authors for being in the top ten most downloaded publications from Hope College Digital Commons.  This illustrates the value of an institutional repository in disseminating faculty scholarship and highlights the significant contributions of Hope College faculty to their fields of research.

  1. Granting Forgiveness or Harboring Grudges: Implications for Emotion, Physiology, and Health / Charlotte vanOyen-Witvliet, Thomas Ludwig, Kelly L. Vander Laan:  3,114
  2. Retributive Justice, Restorative Justice, And Forgiveness: An Experimental Psychophysiology Analysis / Charlotte vanOyen-Witvliet, Everett L. Worthington, Lindsey M. Root, Amy F. Sato, Thomas E. Ludwig, Julie J. Exline: 2625
  3. Compassionate Reappraisal and Emotion Suppression as Alternatives to Offense-focused Rumination: Implications for Forgiveness and Psychophysiological Well-being / Charlotte vanOyen-Witvliet, Nathaniel J. DeYoung, Alicia J. Hofelich, Paul DeYoung: 2090
  4. Lakewood Farm: The Private Zoo That the Public Loved / Geoffrey D. Reynolds: 1720
  5. Mac Bay Boat Company / Geoffrey D. Reynolds: 1628
  6. Understanding Firewalld in Multi-Zone Configurations / Nathan R. Vance, William F. Polik: 1490
  7. Compassion-focused Reappraisal, Benefit-focused Reappraisal, and Rumination After an Interpersonal Offense: Emotion-regulation Implications for Subjective Emotion, Linguistic Responses, and Physiology / Charlotte vanOyen-Witvliet, Ross W. Knoll, Nova G. Hinman, Paul DeYoung: 1458
  8. Review of Principles to Actions: Ensuring Mathematical Success for All / Eric L. Mann: 1311
  9. High-throughput Generation, Optimization and Analysis of Genome-scale Metabolic Models / Christopher S. Henry, Matthew DeJongh, Aaron A. Best, Paul M. Frybarger, Ben Linsay, Rick L. Stevens: 1278
  10. Built Along the Shores of Macatawa: The History of Boat Building in the Holland, Michigan Area, 1837-2002 / Geoffrey D. Reynolds: 1270

Top 5 Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Posters

  1. The Link Between “Likes” and Self-Worth: How Women Use Selfies on Instagram for Self- Presentation and the Effects of Social Comparison / Justine Poe: 4929 
  2. Music for Silent Film: Critical Analysis of Film scores in Metropolis and The Artist / Kelsey O’Brien:  2589 
  3. The Effect of 4 Weeks of “Fat Gripz” on Grip Strength in Male and Female Collegiate Athletes / Nicholas Heyboer, Christian Leathley, Matthew VanZytveld: 1588
  4. The Validity of VO2max Testing Modalities in Running, Cycling and Swimming Populations / Dana Almarez, Michael Fries, Kaylee Kiogima: 1537
  5. Operation Swing: How Jazz Helped to Win World War II / Colin Rensch: 1428

Top Items from Our Digital Collections

Digital access now makes historical information available to a wide audience including Hope alumni and historical researchers.  We are proud to be able to offer this kind of access to our community and researchers around the world.

The Anchor

The Anchor, Volume 107.15: January 26, 1994: 4624

News from Hope College

News from Hope College, Volume 20.6: June, 1989: 633

The Joint Archives Quarterly

The Joint Archives Quarterly, Volume 24:04; Winter 2015: 2105

Holland City News

Holland City News, Volume 93, Number 40: October 1, 1964: 416

Milestone

Milestone 2009: 312

Joint Archives Collection Register

H93-1188. Robert H. Schuller (1926-2015)/Crystal Cathedral Ministries. Records, 1955-2000. 44.50 linear ft.: 930

Hope College Publication

The Anchor, Volume 107.15: January 26, 1994: 4624

Joint Archives Digital Collection Item

71st Annual Report of the Board of World Missions: 1200

Most Downloaded Item (All Works)

Hope College Abstracts: 13th Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Performance: 5722

Top Regions Downloading Items from Hope College Digital Commons

Here are the top twenty countries that have accessed information in the institutional repository.  Many other countries regularly access our works.  Open Access to faculty publications is especially important in developing countries that cannot afford to subscribe to pricey scholarly journals.

  1. United States
  2. China
  3. Russian Federation
  4. United Kingdom
  5. Singapore
  6. Germany
  7. Ukraine
  8. Canada
  9. India
  10. Netherlands
  11. France
  12. Australia
  13. South Africa
  14. Philippines
  15. Korea, Republic Of
  16. Japan
  17. Indonesia
  18. Brazil
  19. Italy
  20. Nigeria

*According to data from the institutional repository platform vendor (bepress) metrics on the site have been taken since March 4, 2011, and this is an indication of when the site may have been made live.

Library Services During COVID-19

Library Rules Under COVID-19

Cartoon person wearing a mask
  1. Masks (covering both nose and mouth) are required in all public areas & classrooms.
  2. Do not move the furniture.
  3. One person per study room. No exceptions!
  4. Eat only in: Cup & Chaucer and Private Study Rooms. Study carrels only while eating; masks on otherwise.
  5. Must physically distance from others (6 feet minimum).
  6. Don’t give library staff a hard time — you must show your ID when asked.
  7. If you need something, ask — this is new to all of us and we will do our best to help you.

If you cannot comply, a COVID-19 Concern Form will be submitted.

The Van Wylen Library is open:

  • Monday-Friday: 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
  • Saturday: Closed
  • Sunday: Closed

You can check our hours on the website.

The doors into the library will remain locked, so you will always need your Hope ID to access the building using the card readers at the doors.

The Research Help Desk will be staffed by student assistants for brief inquiries and for help making Research Consultations with a librarian. We have a great new scheduling system and strongly recommend that students make a virtual appointment with a librarian to help them utilize library resources and get started on research projects.

Using the library will be different.

  • Masks will be required in public areas including at study tables.
  • Occupancy has been reduced and will be monitored. Furniture has been arranged to promote social distancing. Only two students are permitted at each large study table. Plexiglass barriers have been installed to divide tables. We are providing more enclosed study carrels for students – limited to one person at a time.
  • Students will be asked to disinfect study tables before and after using them with provided disinfecting supplies.
  • Computers and Printers will be physically distanced and only one person at a time will be allowed to pick up print jobs.
  • The Cup & Chaucer will be open. Food & Drink will be permitted only in individual study carrels on the ground, 3rd, and 4th floors, or at outside tables.
  • Hand sanitizer is available throughout the building and its use is strongly encouraged after using equipment.

The stacks will remain open however we strongly encourage students to request books and other materials via Hope Primo. Books will be retrieved for you and then can be picked up at the circulation desk once you are notified.

The TechLab is now the Digital Media Lab. Since only two students will be allowed in the lab at a time, students must make appointments to visit the lab.  Virtual Digital Media Lab appointments will also be available. Contact DML@hope.edu to schedule a consulting session. Stations for color printing and poster printing are at the Digital Media Lab desk and will be disinfected after each use. Large-format scanners are also available at the Digital Media Lab and will be similarly disinfected.

The Joint Archives of Holland will be open however space is limited to four people in the reading room. Students who would like to use archival materials should contact the Archivist ahead of time to arrange access to materials or arrange a research consultation.

The Klooster Center for Excellence in Writing will continue offering sessions online when classes resume in August. Some in-person writing sessions may return during Fall Semester, but initially, the KCEW Writing Assistants will be providing their help through emails, phone calls, shared Google Docs, Zoom and Meet formats. 

If there is anything else that the Van Wylen Library and Joint Archives team can do, please do not hesitate to ask.

Hope College Library Remote Services


Keep calm and ask a librarian…just not in person!

Until further notice, the Van Wylen Library and Theil Research Center are closed to the public, including to students, faculty and staff. We are committed to supporting both students and faculty remotely as classes move online.  

A large amount of our material is already online. Search Primo and limit results to “available online”. Remember that you may need to login to access content from off-campus. As courses transition to online, if additional e-book or e-video content is needed, please contact a librarian. 

Stay on top of the news. Students and faculty have access to the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. See the LibGuide on access to newspapers online.

Research Librarians can answer questions by email and through virtual consultations. Research Librarians are also available to join your classes online to provide instruction.

The Joint Archives of Holland will also be providing services virtually to students, faculty and staff. Contact archives@hope.edu.

The Klooster Center for Excellence in Writing will be offering virtual appointments.  Instead of filling out the usual appointment form for an in-person peer-review session, students should simply email kc@hope.edu and attach their writing project (many formats are accepted for attachments).

Interlibrary Loan: As many libraries in Michigan and around the country are closing to the public, borrowing and lending of physical material have been essentially halted. MeLCat requesting has been suspended. We will still do our best to obtain articles and book chapters and are also able to digitize from our own collection. Contact ill@hope.edu with questions. 

Faculty should refer to the Library Support for Online Teaching Libguide. Students should check out the Libguide Library Support for Online Learning.

Due dates have been extended until April 15 for all library material.  If your item was already overdue, your due date did not change. We do not expect material to be returned during this time but if you’d like to sort out your overdue item, please email circ@hope.edu. All due dates in your Primo Account are accurate.

If there is anything else we can do for you, do not hesitate to ask. We will do our best to support you, even at a distance.