Foreign Language Films at Van Wylen

Do you need to fulfill cultural activity credits for a foreign language class? Consider checking out a foreign language film from Van Wylen. An advanced search in HopeCat can help guide you. Let’s say you are interested in watching a film in German. In order to search the entire video collection, put an asterisk in the Advanced Keyword Search box. Then, move to the “Limited to” section of the screen. Select “Video/DVD” for the material type and German language you would like. Click search, and HopeCat will display all the videos Van Wylen has in that language.

It is important to keep in mind that searching for films in foreign languages may bring up English films that have been dubbed in a different language. To check to see if this is the case with the film you are interested in, click on the “More Details” tab. In the notes section, it will tell you what language the movie was filmed in and what languages it has been dubbed in.

— Bethany Stripp, Library Student Blogger

Off-Campus Access

loginThe end of the semester is fast approaching, which means deadlines for research projects are also coming near. Thinking of getting a head start over Thanksgiving break? There are two ways to access the library’s databases and journals when you’re not on campus. Visiting the off-campus database list gives you “off-campus friendly” links to use. When you click on the resource you need, you will be brought to the HopeCAT log-in screen. Simply enter your 1Hope username and password and you will have access to all the databases and journals you can normally access while on campus. You can also log in to HopeCAT directly using the same information. You will then be able to access all of the library’s resources until you close your browser.

If you have any trouble accessing a resource while off campus, please contact askalibrarian@hope.edu to report the problem, and we will try to resolve it.

— Bethany Stripp, Library Student Blogger.

Information on Government Websites

usagov_logoWhen looking for resources on the web, one group of high quality and authoritative sources are publications from the United States Government. Websites managed by the United States government have a wealth of information you may not stumble across at Van Wylen, since we are not a federal depository. Government websites have a wide variety of statistics, facts and figures related to all sorts of subjects, including:

Health and Nutrition

Thanksgiving is less than a week away, and the USDA has a fact sheet with information about seasonal cooking, including how to safely cook for large groups, how to roast a variety of meats, and what to do with food if your guests arrive late. Interested in learning the makeup of your Thanksgiving dinner? The USDA also has a search tool that breaks down the content of your food in a way that gives you even more information than you would find on a standard Nutrition Facts label.

Two years ago, Hope College became the site of one of the largest norovirus outbreaks ever in the state of Michigan. Hope was not the only college struck by the virus in 2008. The CDC has a report detailing outbreaks on two other college campuses that year, one which started on the same day as Hope’s. The report includes information on what happened at each school and includes recommendations for other schools in case of a norovirus outbreak.

Earth Sciences

Believe it or not, earthquakes happen in the United States every day. Want to know where the last one hit? The U.S. Geological Survey has maps that shows the location of every earthquake that occurred within the past week. You can click on the maps to look closer at particular regions of the world, with localized maps for high-activity locations such as California and Yellowstone National Park.

If you’d like to see the world from a different perspective, consider NASA’s images of the earth. These pictures show everything from total leaf area in the U.S. to changes caused by hurricanes. There is even a gallery dedicated to images of Michigan from outer space.

For those interested in flora and fauna, the Integrated Taxonomic Information System can help you learn more about how organisms are classified. You can search either by common name or scientific name to find the complete taxonomic information on anything from apples to zebras.

History and ArtThe Library of Congress is the largest library in the world, with 145 million items. More than 9 million of these are shared digitally with the public through their American Memory website, a digital library containing images, texts, recordings, videos, maps and a variety of other primary sources.

The United States Senate is home to many works of art, but viewing them all in person while you’re in Holland isn’t a possibility. Luckily, the Senate’s website has made it possible to view their artwork from the comfort Hope College. You can browse paintings, sculptures, decorative art, and more on the website. Historical information both about the artwork and those the artwork recognizes can be found by clicking on individual images.

Searching Government Websites

There are two good ways to search for information on government websites. The first is through USA.gov. A search on this site will bring back information on national and state government websites.

Google will also allow you to narrow your search to government websites. Under their advanced search simply put .gov in the “Search within a site or domain” box, and it will search for your keywords only on government websites.

— Bethany Stripp, Library Student Blogger

(image by USA.gov)

Mobile Friendly Resources

Imagine this: you’re meeting with a professor to talk about a research paper, and they mention a book that would be relevant to your topic. You would like to see if the library owns this title, but you aren’t near a computer. What can you do?

Van Wylen Library is currently working on a mobile version of the library’s website that would help you in this situation. By using the browser on your phone, you will be able to bring up a condensed version of the library’s website where you can find information on hours, contacting the library, and links to databases, and catalogs. Some of these databases, such as Wilson, also have mobile versions that are designed your phone.

If you need to search for something in the library’s collection but don’t have access to a computer, your phone will soon be able to solve this problem. The mobile version of the library’s website allows you to search HopeCat, which will eventually have its own mobile site as well. Down the road, you will be able to send yourself a text message through HopeCat that includes the call number and title of a book you’re looking for.

“More and more people are using their phones as their primary communication device,” said Brian Yost, head of Technical Services and Systems at Van Wylen. “We want to make library resources available to our users on whatever devices they are using.”

— Bethany Stripp, Library Student Blogger

Great Performance Series: Turtle Island Quartet

On November 12, the Turtle Island Quartet will perform in Dimnent Memorial Chapel at 7:30 p.m. as part of this year’s Great Performance Series. This two-time Grammy Award winning ensemble last came to Hope in 1992 and will be performing here again as part of their 25th anniversary season.tislandweb

The Turtle Island Quartet has been featured on the Today Show, NPR, and in People magazine. Recordings of their music, including their latest, the Jimi Hendrix tribute album “Have You Ever Been…?,” are available at Van Wylen Library in the Great Performance Series section on the first floor. Samples of their music are also available on the Great Performance Series website and in the music database Naxos (search for Turtle Island Quartet).

— Bethany Stripp, Library Student Blogger

Visiting Writers Series: David Shields

Shields_DavidWriter David Shields will give the last reading of this semester’s Jack Ridl Visiting Writers Series on Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. in the Knickerbocker Theatre. Shields has authored 10 books, including New York Times bestseller The Thing About Life Is That One Day You’ll Be Dead and the February 2010 release Reality Hunger: A Manifesto.

Shields has also written many essays, short stories, and book reviews, which have been featured in Harper’s, Village Voice, and the Boston Globe. Reviews of Shields’s works, can be found in OneFile PowerSearch. Literary criticism of his works is also available from Literature Criticism Online and Literature Online.

— Bethany Stripp, Library Student Blogger

Library Book Sale

This semester’s library book sale begins on November 1 and last through November 8. Various items will be for sale, including books, videos, CDs, and LP records. CDs, hardback books, and videos are $1.00, paperback books are $.50, and records are $.25

The book sale will be held on the first floor of the library behind the main staircase.

— Bethany Stripp, Library Student Blogger

Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion

One of the newest items in Van Wylen Library’s collection is the Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion. Hope received its copy from Joanne Eicher, Regents’ Professer Emerita of the University of Minnesota, and general editor of the encyclopedia. She has spent her summers in Holland since 1967 and worked on the encyclopedia at her cottage near Lake Michigan. Though she oversaw the creation of the encyclopedia, other individuals lent their expertise to particular regional volumes that make up the collection.beofdaf

“The scholars as contributors wrote from their vantage point of knowing the dress and fashion from their country or area of the world, using findings and synthesizing them, but adding recent research,” Eicher said. “The encyclopedia is rich because the contributors come from many disciplines–anthropology, art history, history, cultural studies, economics, folklore, dress and fashion history and studies, sociology, and theater.”

Though the word “dress” may bring to mind just images of clothes, Eicher said the scope of dress is actually quite broad.

“The definition of ‘dress’ is wide as it covers both body modifications and supplements, meaning that whatever one does to get dressed, showering, shaving, adding scent of aftershave or perfume, combing hair and putting on clothes, or carrying umbrellas or backpacks is part of dress,” Eicher said. “Students will find much up-to-date info and find the encyclopedia useful for a variety of term papers.”

This ten-volume set includes information about various styles of dress throughout the globe. Nine volumes pertain to a particular region of the world, with that region broken down into smaller geographic areas such as countries. These volumes also contain other information about the dress of the area, such as how modern-day dress evolved in a particular area. Regional volumes that relate to colonized land such as the United States and Australia include information on how outside influences factored into the development of common fashion. The tenth volume of the encyclopedia, Global Perspectives, gives an overview of fashion and dress throughout the world.

 

— Bethany Stripp, Library Student Blogger

Movies in the Library

blindsideNeed a study break this weekend? Why not check a movie out from the library? The library has over 5000 movies to choose from, and, best of all, it’s a free service.

Van Wylen’s movie collection contains a wide range of materials. Some recent popular titles in Van Wylen’s collection include The Blind Side, Slumdog Millionaire, and Juno. If you’re looking for some classic favorites, consider a Disney film or an Academy Award winner. Comedies, action movies, and historical films are also available. The library has a large collection of documentaries if you want to continue learning even while you’re taking a study break.

If you’re having trouble finding something you’d like to watch, consider visiting Herrick District Library, the local public library in Holland. The Herrick District Library is located on River Avenue, just a short walk from campus. You can get a library card with your Hope student ID and driver’s license.

— Bethany Stripp, Library Student Blogger

Women and Social Movements Database

One of the many databases Van Wylen Library subscribes to is Women and Social Movements in the United States. This resource highlights the roles women have played in various social movements in the United States from the 1600s through 2000.

The database allows you to browse by various categories depending on what you have in mind for your research. For example, if there is a specific person you are interested in researching, the browse people function would be a good place to start. If you know what time period you would like to research but are not sure of the topic you would like to study, browse document projects is the place for you. With this function, you can select a decade and see various document projects that have been published by historians in one of the database’s twice-yearly issues. These document projects pose a question, such as “What were the origins of International Women’s Day, 1886-1920?” Clicking on this question will take you to the project, which begins with an introduction by a scholar specialist. This introduction will give you an overview of the research conducted by the historian and will provide you with links to the primary resources used by the historian, which can include articles, letters, pamphlets, and many other sources.

Jeanne Petit of the history department has a document project published in the most recent issue of the journal. Her project deals with Catholic women who worked in a community house in East St. Louis and the unique problems they faced.

“I had been doing research on national Catholic community houses when the editors of Women and Social Movements contacted me and asked me if I wanted to do a document project,” Petit said. “They were interested in Catholic women’s history especially, so that’s how I got involved.”

Petit’s project used 33 different primary resources, all of which can be found in the project. These resources, along with other primary resources included in the various document projects on the database, can be very helpful for your own research.

— Bethany Stripp, Library Student Blogger