Haunted Sites at Arkansas Tech University

Flyer for haunted sites featuring grayed out images of the buildings of Tucker, Caraway, and WitherspoonHave you heard of the ghostly piano player at Witherspoon?  Have you felt a cold presence in Caraway Hall?  Are you worried that your classroom was built on an old Cherokee burial ground?  Does Tucker terrify you?  Prepare to be creeped out on Monday, October 28th at 7:00 in RPL 300A as we welcome a guest presentation from Amy Milliken on the spooky stories and folklore centered around several historic buildings at Arkansas Tech University and other campuses around the state.

Amy is the Education Outreach Coordinator for the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program at the Department of Arkansas Heritage.   This agency is responsible for identifying, evaluating, registering, and preserving the stat’s cultural resources.  She will share not only historical information about the buildings and grounds, but she will also separate the myths from the facts behind the campus’s most famous ghosts and ghost stories.

This event is free and open to the public.  For more information about the event, contact Luke Heffley at 479-964-0546 or lheffley@atu.edu.


 

Warning: Graphic Material To Be Shown at the Library

"Warning: may contain graphic material".  Dr. Donna R. White, Monday October 14, 7PM in RPL 300AJoin us on Monday, October 14th at 7:00 PM in RPL 300A for the next installment of the 2nd Monday Author Series.  This month will feature Dr. Donna White who will discuss how comics have grown-up and transformed from a ten-cent plague to Pulitzer Prize winners.

Photo of Dr. Donna WhiteDr. White is professor of English at ATU, and has served on the faculty since 2001. An alumna of Arkansas Tech, White also holds a Master of Arts degree from the University of Texas and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Minnesota.  Her interests range from children’s and young adult literature, science fiction, fantasy, and graphic novels to Celtic literature, Edwardian literature, and Jane Austen. She is on the editorial board of Mythlore and is a consulting editor for the Children’s Literature Association Quarterly, The Lion and the Unicorn, and Children’s Literature.

She is also a co-editor and contributor to Posthumanism in Young Adult Fiction: Finding Humanity in a Posthuman World, published in 2018.

This talk is free and open to the public.  All are welcome!  For more information, contact us at (479) 964-0546 or email lheffley@atu.edu.

If graphic novels and comics draw you into reading, the Ross Pendergraft Library has made some recent additions you might want to check out:

book jacket cover of They Called Us Enemy featuring little boy holding a suitcaseThey Called Us Enemy by George Takei; illustrated by Harmony Becker –  A stunning graphic memoir recounting actor/author/activist George Takei’s childhood imprisoned within American concentration camps, located in Rohwer, Arkansas, during World War II.

book cover of Animal Farm featuring farmyard animalsAnimal Farm : the Graphic Novel by George Orwell; illustrated by Odyr – Old Major, Napoleon, Squealer, Snowball, Boxer, and all the animals of Animal Farm come to life in this newly envisaged classic.

book jacket of "Speak" featuring a tree with a face in itSpeak : the Graphic Novel by Laurie Halse Anderson; illustrated by Emily Carroll – A traumatic event near the end of the summer has a devastating effect on Melinda’s freshman year in high school.

Cover of Watchmen, featuring comic book villians type folksWatchmen by Alan Moore; illustrated by Dave Gibbons – As former members of a disbanded group of superheroes called the Crimebusters start turning up dead, the remaining members of the group try to discover the identity of the murderer before they, too, are killed.

Cover for Monstress featuring scary woman in black leather and a giant humanoid shape made out of a dark liquid and eyeballsHaven (Monstress v.3) by Marjorie M. Liu; illustrated by Sana Takeda – n this third volume of MONSTRESS, collecting issues 13-18, Maika’s journey takes her to the neutral city of Pontus, where she hopes to find temporary refuge from her pursuers.

To find more graphic novels, comics, manga, and more at the library, search our database of books and other materials, Find It.  Use keywords like “graphic novel” or “Comics” or “Manga.”  You can also come visit us at the library to browse our Popular Reading, Young Adult, and general Book collections by call number 741.5.  Take a much deserved fall break with a graphic novel or a comic book during our open hours.  See you Monday!

Explore Legal Resources with HeinOnline

Curious about Constitutional law?  Questions about quid pro quo? Head over to HeinOnline’s Government Politics and Law for Academics from our A-to-Z Databases page.

Screenshot of HeinOnline's database for legal resources

HeinOnline is the world’s largest fully searchable, image-based government document and legal research database. It contains comprehensive coverage from inception of both U.S. statutory materials, U.S. Congressional Documents and more than 2,300 scholarly journals, all of the world’s constitutions, all U.S. treaties, collections of classic treatises and presidential documents, and access to the full text of state and federal case law powered by Fastcase.

Browse databases by category or navigate directly to the collections included in HeinOnline.  Noteable collections include:

  • Fastcase – A comprehensive, nationwide law library, including case law, statutes, regulations, court rules, constitutions, and law review articles.
  • Code of Federal Regulations – The Federal Register is a primary source for United States federal government agencies’ proposed rules, final rules, changes to existing rules and notices, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents.
  • The Pentagon Papers – A United States Department of Defense history of the United States’ political-military involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967
  • Gun Regulation and Legislation in America – Brings together periodicals, key compiled federal legislative histories, relevant congressional hearings, CRS Reports, Supreme Court briefs, and more dealing with this difficult and important topic.
  • U.S. Code – This collection includes complete coverage of the United States Code dating back to inception in 1925-1926.
  • U.S. Congressional Documents – features the complete Congressional Record bound volume set (1873-present) as well as its three predecessor titles: Annals of Congress (1789-1824), Register of Debates (1824-1837) and the Congressional Globe (1833-1873).
  • U.S. Congressional Serial Set – Records in this series include House and Senate Documents, House and Senate Reports, and much more. The reports are usually from congressional committees dealing with proposed legislation and issues under investigation. Spans two centuries and includes 17,000 bound volumes.
  • U.S. Supreme Court Library – Complete coverage of the official U.S. Reports bound volumes as well as preliminary prints, slip opinions, and books and periodicals related to the U.S. Supreme Court are included.
  • Democracy in America – A digital, interactive edition of Alexis de Tocqueville’s classic work describing his observations and reflections on democracy in America’s society.
  • And much much more

Searching in the full-text field will bring up articles, cases, ebooks, and more that can be filtered on location, organization, topic, title or date.  You can sort results by times cited by articles, cases, times accessed, and more.

Screenshot of article sorting options like Number of Times Cited By Cases, Scholar Check Rank, Date, Number of Times accessed

Full-text for articles constitute the digital version—complete with photos and formatting found in the original versions.  Each article result also includes tools for citation, saving, linking, and suggesting more articles by topic.

Screenshot depicting Topic suggestions and article saving tools

If you are just searching for case law, including Arkansas cases, use the Advanced Search feature under the tab “Case Law” to search Fastcase to search court cases by keyword, case name, court, date, state and more.

Screenshot of searching options for case law

NOTE: If you are looking the Arkansas Code of 1987 Annotated, please see the freely online version at https://portal.arkansas.gov/agency/bureau-of-legislative-research/service/arkansas-code-search-laws-and-statutes/

For more help using HeinOnline, see their Help menu for live chat, searchable knowledge base, and helpful Libguides that link you to more information by collection.  You can also browse their collection of training videos teaching you how to search and browse the database.

Have legal questions?  You should consult an attorney—librarians are not allowed to give legal advice.  But we can help you search HeinOnline or locate other sources of legal and scholarly information.  Just Ask Us!  It would be a crime not to…

Get Vote-Ready Tuesday, Sept. 24th at Hindsman Tower

National Voter Registration Day is Tuesday 09-24-19 at Hindsman Tower from 9 am to 3 pmJoin us at Hindsman Tower Tuesday, September 24th from 9:00 until 3:00 for National Voter Registration Day.  If you have never registered to vote or need to change or update your voter registration, this is your opportunity to change the world—one vote at a time.

Want to get more involved?  We’re seeking volunteers to help out at the voter registration tables.  Contact Sherry Tinerella at stinerella@atu.edu or send us a text at (479) 802-4876.  All are welcome!

National Voter Registration Day is celebrated the fourth Tuesday of every September.  The holiday has been endorsed by the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS). It is further supported by the National Association of State Election Directors (NASED), the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC), and the National Association of Election Officials (The Election Center).  In 2018 over 800,000 voters used National Voter Registration Day to register to vote across all 50 states.

Not sure if you are registered already?  Check your registration at Voter View which can tell you if you are registered, were your polling place might be, and how to find absentee ballot information.  More information about voting in Arkansas is available at the Elections page from the Arkansas Secretary of State: https://www.sos.arkansas.gov/elections

If you miss voter registration day, no problem.  The Ross Pendergraft Library keeps voter registration forms at the Circulation desk for you to fill out and mail in or deliver to your county clerk.  For more information on voter registration, voting instructions, or great books on American civics, ask us at: askus@atu.libanswers.com.  Remember, sometimes the path to changing the world often begins by filling out a form.

Flyer saying that American do not vote.  219 million Americans were eligible to vote in 2012, but 93 million did not.

The Life-Changing Magic of Refworks

Spark joy in your research by attending one of these 20 minute workshops to dramatically improve how you collect, organize, and store your citations by using Refworks.

Refworks is a citation management system.  If you’ve ever used Bibme, Zotero, Mendeley, or Endnote, you have used a citation management system.  Let’s say you find a great article in one of our databases:

Article screenshot titled "On Death and Decluttering: The Existential Tidiness of Marie Kondo

What a great article!  But now you need to save it, store it, organize it, and then eventually cite.  Refworks to the rescue!

By exporting your article into Refworks, you now have a save and secure location to store the article and return to it later.

NOTE: You will need to create your own Refworks account using your tech email BUT NOT your tech password as this system is separate from the university’s. This means if you create a password for Refworks, it will not change with the password changes for your university account.

Image of two versions of Refworks.  One that says "Proquest Refworks" and one that says "Legacy Refworks"

You will also be prompted (especially on your initial sign-up) to choose the type of Refworks. Always go for the BLUE, Proquest version if it is your first time creating an account. The Legacy Refworks will be discontinued at some point in the future.

Once in Refworks, you can now organize your citations by folder, add citations from another citation manager, or create a bibliography in any citation style you need with a click of a button.

A screenshot depicting a formatted bibliography based on the above citation.

WARNING: Like all other machine-generated citations, you will need to check them against official style guides. They CAN and DO get them wrong.

To learn more Refworks magic, including how to install the browser plugin for citation collecting on-the-go or how to export citations by adding article PDFs, go to one of the many Refworks Workshops going on this week and next week in RPL 331:

  • Tuesday, Sept. 10th @ 3:00 PM
  • Wednesday, Sept. 11th @ 9:30 AM
  • Wednesday, Sept. 18th @ 1:00 PM
  • Thursday, Sept. 19th @ 9:30 AM

No sign-up required and all are welcome!

Shoot ’em With Biscuits, Monday Sept. 9th

Join us on September 9th in RPL 300B as we kick off this year’s Second Monday Author Series with Dr. Aaron McArthur, Assistant Professor of History and Public History Program Director at Arkansas Tech University, discussing his latest book, The Annals of the Southern Mission.

The evening begins with a reception at 6:00 PM before the main program at 7:00.  The event is free and open to the public.

Photo of Aaron McArthurDr. McArthur obtained his PhD in the History of the United States West from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he mainly focused on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) history during the last half of the nineteenth century.  His first book, St. Thomas, Nevada: A History Uncovered, told the story of the city of St. Thomas from its founding under the direction of Brigham Young to its inundation by Lake Mead.

Cover of the book featuring man reading another bookHis second book, The Annals of the Southern Mission: A Record of the History of the Settlement of Southern Utah, constitutes a transcribed and annotated version of the 2,266 loose, handwritten, and lined pages representing the early history of Southern Utah originally written by James G. Bleak.  Dr. McArthur, along with Reid Nielson, transcribed this important historical document, bringing to light details of early pioneer life during the period from 1849-1900 in Utah, Arizona, and Nevada.

This presentation is part of our Second Monday Author Series featuring the works of our local writers and researchers.  You can stay up to date on the series and all library events by following us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.   For more questions or information about the Second Monday Author Series, contact Luke Heffley at (479) 964-0546.

5 Free Things at the Tech Library

The new fall semester has begun, and for many of you, this will be the most expensive four years of your life. To alleviate the wallet stress, the Library is here to help stretch your dollar and expand your mind with five free things you can borrow from the Ross Pendergraft Library.

1. Gen. Ed. Textbooks

Through a pilot program launched last year, the Library been obtaining copies of textbooks required for the General Education classes offered at Tech.  Currently, any student can borrow a general education textbook for up to two hours of in-library use.  To see if we your required book, search our online database under Course Reserves:

Screenshot of browsing the word Textbooks in our online database to find all course reserve textbooks

To see ALL the textbooks in the program, search for the word “Textbooks.”  You can also ask the friendly faces at the Circulation Desk for help.

2. Calculators

Need a TI-30X for an upcoming test?  Borrow one for 24 hours at the Library.  Not only do we have the TI-30X, we also have TI-83’s, TI-84’s, and other graphing calculators which have inexplicably not gotten cheaper in twenty years.

Images of three calculators including a TI-30XS, a TI-84 Plus, and a TI-84 Plus CE all available to check out at the library

Stop by the Circulation Desk for help with all your calculating needs.

3. Games (NEW!)

A new collection has been added to the Ross Pendergraft Library over the summer: Games!  Table-top, board, role-playing, strategy, and old-fashioned family fun games.  The Games section is located around the corner from the Young Adult Fiction collection, on the north side of the library’s first floor.

Shelf of games

You can check them out as you would a book at the Circulation Desk.  To browse them all, search our online catalog for “Games” in Location “Games”.

4. Space

You can reserve some space.  Not outer space, but meeting space within Tech Library.  To reserve a room, go to our homepage, and find the giant button at the bottom of our website called “Reserve a Study Room.”

Reserve a Study Room

Select up to two green boxes for a 2 hour stay, per day, per person.  You can reserve a small study space, a larger room for up to 4 for group meetings, or the Tegrity Room for audio recordings or exams.

Schedule indicating study rooms to reserve and which are full.

5. Help

You can also, at any time, borrow help from any one of the kind, helpful, and super-awesome library staff of experts who are available at the Reference Desk, Circulation Desk, 2nd Floor Help Desk, and wandering the stacks like information roombas.

I swear to you it is a cat, dressed as a shark, on a roomba chasing a small duckling.

We just want to help you find books, stop running away!

We can help you find quality research resources, provide citation guidance, suggest good research topics, locate full-text articles, or show you how to print your assignment from your phone.  We are also a text, email, phone call, DM, PM, or online chat away:

Best wishes for Fall 2019!

Summer Hours

Campus may be emptier, and the traffic lighter, but the library is still open during the summer months:

Swing by, enjoy our air-conditioned computer labs, book and DVD collections, and excellent staff working hard to make your summer classes and/or summer reading a success.

It’s Crunch Time

With the spring semester winding down, the frantic race to finish those papers, projects, and future plans is nearing an end.  To help you crawl to the finish line, the Ross Pendergraft Library is offering extended hours and resources during the next two weeks.

OPEN 61 HOURS STRAIGHT

We will begin our day as usual on Reading Day, May 1st, at 7:00 AM.  But we will not close until Friday, May 3rd, at 8:00 P.M.  While we advocate strongly sleeping at some point, if you need to come in early or stay late, we’ve got your back during the first week of finals.  Will there be coffee?  Yes.  When?  Follow our Twitter @ATULibrary to find out brew times or other special announcements.

List of library hours during finals

Procrastination – Endless

CURE CITATION ANXIETY

Nervous about your citations?  Easybib no longer making any sense?  Make sure your MLA is not DOA by taking a look at our links to instruction, videos, sample papers, and other tools to help you cite right.  We also have trained experts at the main Research Help Desk to give you guidance and pointers, or if you’d rather consult the ultimate source, they can also help you locate the official citation manuals for APA, MLA, Chicago, and more.

RESERVE YOUR SPACE

Having trouble finding the right place to study?  The library is full of open computer labs, tables for group work, and couches/comfortable chairs scattered throughout the building.  But if you need your own room, we have 8 study rooms to reserve for quiet escapes or a guaranteed meeting spaces.  Secure your space today by going to our Room Reservation System.  Click on any green block to reserve your room.  Click on the room number to find more details about room size and if there’s a whiteboard.  But hurry–space is filling up fast!

YOU GOT THIS

This may be your first year or your last, and when you are here at midnight, tired, exhausted, or in that weird space where you are so tired you are actually giggly, deliriously wide-awake–we see you. This is college, and you’re still here, doing the best you can to make it through. Remember, you’ve made it this far, and we’re all rooting for you. Keep going, and if you have a break or feel like you are nearing your breaking point, come see us at the desk and just check in. If you need help, we can help. And if you need to cry, we have tissues. Good luck!

Like Us? Love Us? Tell Us!

If you haven’t had a chance to take the Library survey, take three minutes and help us, help you: Take the Library Survey.  Available until Wednesday, April 24th, the annual library survey is your chance to suggest changes, recommend new services or collections, and/or lodge complaints about the temperature.

Cold Parks And Recreation GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

Because of your input, we’ve made the following changes to the library:

  • Extended hours, including later hours during the week, on Fridays, and a 24 hour opening period during finals.
  • Increased number of study rooms
  • Increased number of computer stations
  • Increased number of journals and databases to support sciences, nursing, and other STEM fields
  • Extended check-out times for calculators and DVDs for students
  • Replaced the broken chairs and mid-90’s floral couches
  • Purchased more Young Adult and Popular Reading books
  • Changed policy to allow drinks
  • Subscribed to HeinOnline
  • Added an easy-to-use scanning station and fax machine
  • Added more movies and television shows
  • Invited the tutoring center for evening hours
  • Unlocked the balcony on the 3rd Floor
  • Purchased required General Education Textbooks for check-out
  • Made this annual survey shorter

As you can see, we’re eager to make the same changes, and your comments and input help us advocate for your needs. While we always try to improve what we can, there are always a few requests that are not feasible at this time or cannot be so easily accommodated. Below are some suggestions we simply cannot make happen at this time:

  • Allow Food – Nothing makes students hungrier than late-night studying. Unfortunately, where food happens, pests follow, and the last thing we need are well-educated mice trying to take over the world.
  • Maintain the Perfect Temperature for Everyone–While have made great strides in upgrading our central AC/Heat, it is not always going to be optimum for everyone at all times of the year. But let our staff know if you are too cold or too hot–we might be able to make adjustments or at least give you tips on low-price cardigans.
  • A Quieter Library--The library used to be a silent refuge from a noisy world, but learning can sometimes make sounds, especially group-learning. That’s why we have designated the 1st floor as low noise and the 2nd floor as a quiet zone. But since we cannot be everywhere all of the time, we have implemented a Text-A-Librarian service you can use to a summon shushing librarian to quiet things down. We do our best, but we need your help.
  • Open 24 Hours All The Time–This convenience and procrastination fuel is sorely needed on campus, we agree. However, until the funds, the security, the staffing, and the coffee are available for such a service, it will remain just out of reach.
  • More Monster Trucks–This is an actual comment.

Even if there is a limit to what we can do, there is no limit to how hard we will work to help you succeed academically. Tell us how best we can help: https://techlibraries2019.questionpro.com/

In the meantime, stay up to date on all library events and happenings, including our 24 hour schedule for finals on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.