Hope Theater Presents "Helen"

The Hope Theater Department will present Ellen McLaughlin’s Helen beginning this weekend, October 5-6 and continuing next week, October 10-13.

Helen tells the story of Helen of Troy, the famed character from Euripedes’ ancient Greek play. Helen was a beauty and was remarkably (for that time) allowed to choose a husband for herself. Selecting Menelaus, they ruled peacefully in Sparta and had one daughter, Hermione, equal in beauty to her parents. Helen was forced into going to Troy to live as Prince Paris’ wife, which served as the cause of the famed Trojan War. Helen’s character has appeared in everything from young adult novels to the Disney movie Hercules.

In Western Art, Helen of Troy is often depicted in the abduction.
Painted by Luca Giordano

In McLaughlin’s play, Helen never actually makes it to Troy, but instead lands herself in an Egyptian hotel room waiting for her husband Menelaus to retrieve her. While alone in her room, she receives visits from Io and Athena.

The play takes the Greek mythology and spins it into a comedy, playing with several themes associated with Helen’s narrative. Issues of identity and image, the phenomenon of human beauty and personal story versus impossible myth are explored in the play.

Van Wylen has a great selection of resources if you’re interested in learning more about Helen of Troy. Check out these catalog listings for more information.

To read more of McLaughlin’s drama, check out The Greek Plays, her collection that put a new spin on Greek mythology.

Tickets for Helen can be purchased at the DeVos Fieldhouse Ticket Office or by calling (616) 395-7890.

–Madalyn Muncy, Library Student Blogger

Fall Break Hours

Next week students and faculty get a well deserved breather with Fall Break.  Van Wylen Library will be open for the following reduced hours:

  • Friday, October 5th: 8am-5pm;
  • Saturday, October 6th: Closed;
  • Sunday, October 7th: Closed;
  • Monday, October 8th: 8am-5pm;
  • Tuesday, October 9th: 8am-Midnight

For more Fall Break Hours, see here.  Note: CWR will be closed for most of Fall Break and will reopen at 4pm on Tuesday.  Cup&Chaucer will be closed all of Fall Break.

Celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month

National Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15 to October 15. The month is meant to pay tribute to the generations of Hispanic Americans who have positively influenced and enriched the United States.

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Diego Rivera was a Mexican pianist and muralist.
He is pictured here with his wife, Frida Kahlo.

The observation of Hispanic Heritage Week began in 1968 with President Johnson and was expanded to a full 30-day celebration by President Reagan in 1988. September 15 was chosen as the start date because it is the anniversary of independence for Latin American countries Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

If you’re interested in Hispanic heritage or history, there are many resources available right here in Van Wylen Library.  This includes many print and electronic encyclopedias and dictionaries that can introduce you to topics in this area and many books and ebooks on more specific Hispanic American subjects.

Latinos in Michigan is part of a series that explores different ethnic groups’ immigration to and inhabitation of Michigan. Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage examines Hispanic literature in the US.

The library also has access to Ethnic NewsWatch, a full-text database of publications from minority communities. This database can provide the perspective of the Hispanic community directly from their own newspapers and magazines.  Just select “Hispanic” under Ethnic Group on the Advanced Search screen.

To find out more about National Hispanic Heritage Month, visit the month’s official website.

–Madalyn Muncy, Library Student Blogger

A.J. Muste: Hope Alum and Famous Pacifist

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“There is no way to peace – peace is the way”
-A.J. Muste

If you’ve ever ventured to the second floor of the Van Wylen Library, you’ve probably seen the Muste Alcove, a study area complete with chalkboard sculptures. The alcove is named for A.J. Muste, an influential nonviolence activist who was a major influence on people like Martin Luther King, Jr.

Muste is a Hope College alumnus, graduating in 1905. While at Hope, Muste was editor of The Anchor and captained the Flying Dutchmen basketball team.  Later, in 1909, he was ordained as a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church; however, he became uncomfortable with the Reformed Church and went on to pastor a Congregational Church.

Eventually becoming an active pacifist after World War I, Muste found himself involved in labor unions and civil rights. Demonstrating for peace ultimately became his main cause until the sudden end of his life in 1968, just as the US was in the midst of the Vietnam War.

The Joint Archives has a collection that includes some of Muste’s personal books and correspondence, as well as newspaper clippings. A separate collection also includes speeches from the Muste Lecture Series, which began in 1985 and continues every spring at Hope, honoring an alumnus who is often called the “American Gandhi.”

With this year’s Critical Issues Symposium topic of reconciliation, it is fitting to remember Muste’s mission and work to unite and reconcile groups of people. Muste’s work will be explored further in a presentation by Jeff Myers at 2:15pm on Wednesday, September 26 in Fried-Hemenway Auditorium, Martha Miller Center.

For more information about A.J. Muste and his mission, check out the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute.

–Madalyn Muncy, Library Student Blogger

Check out Van Wylen’s CIS Resources

reconciliationThis year’s Critical Issues Symposium is entitled “Reconciliation: Hope in a Divided World.” The symposium is set to begin on Tuesday, September 25 with Miroslav Volf’s keynote address and continue into Wednesday with a morning keynote by Mark Charles and special departmental sessions throughout the day.

The library has a large collection of materials related to this year’s theme of reconciliation. If you’d like to learn more about this year’s topic, the library has compiled a resource page with pertinent books, articles, and website links.

All of the library’s printed materials are located on the shelves behind the Research Help desk. If you’ve already read this year’s featured book, Reconciling All Things: A Christian Vision for Justice, Peace and Healing, you might want to check out As We Forgive: Stories of Reconciliation from Rwanda or Forgiving as We’ve Been Forgiven: Community Practices for Making Peace.

If you plan on attending either Tuesday or Wednesday’s keynote addresses, selected writings by both Volf and Charles can be found on the library’s resource page. Volf’s essay “God is love: a basic Christian claim” and Charles’ blog are great background sources.

For a full schedule of CIS events, make sure to check the CIS website.

–Madalyn Muncy, Library Student Blogger

 

Using Government Documents for Research

Many of us think of the government as a law-passing, politicking body, but did you know that the US government does a large amount of research and publication on many major issues and topics and that most government documents are free and available for your use?

In order to write the many policies that govern our country, federal agencies must do a large amount of research. For instance, if the Environmental Protection Agency is attempting to change the regulations regarding air quality in Michigan, they have to actually have data spanning a number of years in order to write a regulation.

All of the information that agencies publish is available to the public online. The Government Printing Office‘s Federal Digital System, or FDSys, provides access to documents from all three branches of government online completely free of charge. The United States Code, the Federal Register, congressional hearings, the Code of Federal Regulations, and congressional bills are all available online.

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GPO’s website is the gateway to government publications.

Although many regulations are often only read by lawyers and bureaucrats, doing a quick search on FDSys can turn up reports that you may not have known about previously since government documents are not usually published in journals.  Another way to search for government publications is to include the phrase “site:.gov” in your Google search.

Government publications not only include regulations and congressional documents, but also extensive reports in all fields of research. For instance, last year, the U.S. Army Center for Military History published Freedom by the Sword: The U.S. Colored Troops, 1862-1867, which considers the lives of black troops during the Civil War. In addition, The U.S. National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill & Offshore Drilling published “Macondo: The Gulf Oil Disaster: Chief Counsel’s Report” last year, giving an overview of the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry.

If you’re interested in history, including archival documents, the census, and photo collections, check out the National Archives and the Library of Congress. These agencies have some of the largest and most extensive collections in the world. For example, if you’re interested in Abraham Lincoln’s correspondence, all of his letters are online and accessible. No trip to D.C. necessary!

For more notable government documents of the past year, check out Marianne Ryan’s article in The Library Journal.  

–Madalyn Muncy, Library Student Blogger

Make Your Appointment For Writing & Research Help

askalibrarianClasses have started, the syllabi have been passed around, and the seemingly endless amount of research and writing assignments has begun! Don’t know how to get started on that 20-page paper? Need a little extra help with finding sources? Or do you want to get some help with proofreading? Van Wylen Library can help!

Van Wylen offers help with research and writing assignments in two major ways: appointments with research librarians and the Center for Writing and Research.

For research questions big or small, the library’s got you covered.

Research librarian Todd Wiebe explained: “We can help students find credible overviews of a subject as they begin developing and exploring possible research topics, think about ways to narrow or expand a topic, find sources to address a topic from different angles, identity and search the most relevant scholarly article databases, verify or ‘fact check’ information they are uncertain of, and even search Google like a pro.”

For quick questions, you can stop by the Research Help Desk on the first floor across from the Circulation Desk during regular library hours where a student assistant or on-call librarian can help you. If you can’t get to the library and have a straightforward short question, try using the Ask a Librarian email form or chatting “Hope Library” on Google Chat.

Have a longer, more extensive question, or having trouble getting started? By making an individual appointment with a librarian, you can get individual, undivided attention and help with your research project. If you already know what research librarian you’d like to work with, you can also email them directly.

Maybe you’ve got the research part down, but need some help putting it all together: writing the paper. The Center for Writing and Research (CWR) can help you brainstorm ideas, get started with outlines, or look over drafts. Student writing assistants are trained to help students through the entire writing process and to collaborate with the Van Wylen Research librarians, helping to bridge the research-writing process.

The CWR is ready to help give individual attention to writing questions. “Our staff has expanded and we’re expecting more students to use this resource regularly,” said Melody Hughes, who has worked at the CWR for two years.

You can stop by the CWR during hours listed on their homepage or make an appointment to ensure that you get the attention you need.

–Madalyn Muncy, Library Student Blogger

New Ebrary E-Books at Van Wylen

ebraryVan Wylen Library has over 375,000 volumes in print, but did you know that the library also has access to over 120,000 ebooks  through the library catalog?  This includes 78,000 titles in ebrary’s Academic Complete.

The Academic Complete collection from ebrary contains a broad selection of e-books in all academic subject areas. Ebrary just added over 1,000 science and technology e-books from Elsevier to their collection. These titles cover subjects such as mechanical, chemical and civil engineering, as well as environmental and alternative energy.

The benefits of using an e-book from the library include text-to-speech, highlighting and annotating, full-text search options, and the ability to use the book on your computer, tablet, or phone. Also, e-books from ebrary allow multiple users to view the same e-book simultaneously so there’s no need to wait for someone to return a book or for a MeL loan to arrive.

The library’s e-book collection is integrated with HopeCat. Your catalog search results will include e-books that match your search query, and you can also search just e-books by using an advanced search and limiting the “Material Type” to “eBook”. If you’d like to browse the library’s new e-book additions, click here.

–Madalyn Muncy, Library Student Blogger

Meet the Library’s New Scanner

DSC_4512Over the summer, the library acquired a new large scanner. Located on the second floor of the library near the printers, the Indus BookScanner 9000 has replaced the Indus Color Book Scaner 5002. Used for InterLibrary Loan, the scanner is also available to everyone.

The Indus is quicker and more efficient, making it easier for users to copy multiple pages at a time and crop items before saving them.  This is a great tool to use if you need to copy several pages of class notes, a journal article or a book chapter. Producing high quality images, the Bookscanner 9000 has a touch screen interface that makes the scanner very user friendly.

Worried about ruining a book? Book spines and delicate objects are safe in the Indus due to the glass surface that holds the material in place while being scanned. The scanner will not break spines like a normal flatbed scanner. Also, due to the glass surface that holds objects down, your fingers won’t appear in your scan!  You can print your scans right away or save them to email or a flash drive.

To use the Indus scanner follow these steps:

  1. Choose a color setting (color, grayscale, black & white)
  2. Lift glass and place the object on the scanning bed
  3. Press handle of the glass down and start the scan by pushing the scan button on the touch screen
  4. When the scan is done, choose an image type (PDF, Smart PDF, JPEG/TIFF)
  5. Choose a delivery option (email, USB drive, print)

If you need help while using the scanner, contact the Media Services desk or the TechLab.

–Madalyn Muncy, Library Student Blogger

Welcome Brianne Hagen!

DSC_4436Van Wylen Library would like to welcome Brianne Hagen to the library faculty.

Brianne is the library’s new metadata librarian in the Technical Services and Systems Department at Van Wylen. As the metadata librarian, Brianne will connect library users with both print and digital collections using emerging metadata standards and traditional cataloging. She will also be working with the library’s Digital Commons, a repository of creative and scholarly work of the Hope College community.

Originally from Michigan City, Indiana, Brianne graduated this past May with her Master’s in Library and Informaton Science from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. While studying at IUPI, she worked at the archives on campus, the law school library, and volunteered at the Indiana State Library.

Drawing from her broad range of experiences in libraries, Brianne gravitated towards the technical side of things. To her, “Bad information is worthless.” Part of her job as a metadata librarian is to make it easier for library users to find information, whether it be through better indexing for catalog searches or digitization projects like the recent Hope Milestone project.

Brianne is excited to become a part of the Hope community and looks forward to “working with a great team” at Van Wylen.

Welcome Brianne!

Brianne can be reached at hagen@hope.edu.

–Madalyn Muncy, Library Student Blogger