Library — Page 6

Explore Abandoned Arkansas on Monday, February 10th

Posted on February 5, 2020 Written by Angela Black

Join the Ross Pendergraft Library on Monday, Feb. 10th at 7:00 P.M. in RPL 300A as we take a trip through the state’s forgotten places with authors Ginger Beck and Michael Schwarz who will discuss their book, Abandoned Arkansas: An Echo From the Past. As part of the Library’s Second Monday Author series, we are featuring two local authors who will share their adventures and photographs of once popular destinations which now lie in ruins throughout the state.

Explore the forgotten history of the Natural State, from the Majestic Hotel in Hot Springs to Dogpatch near Jasper in Newton County. Abandoned Arkansas weaves historical background and photographs from the past alongside their heartbreaking pictures of ruin from the present. Through historic documentation, these photographers hope to immortalize the stories of the places they visit beyond the building’s finite lifespan, and to preserve an echo from the past.

For more information on their work, as well as photographs of more than 150 locations they have visited, see their website, Abandoned Arkansas, at https://abandonedar.com/

For more information about this event or the Second Monday Author series, contact Luke Heffley at (479) 964-0546 or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram to stay in the loop on all Library events.

Filed Under: Library Tagged: Arkansas, Presentations, Second Monday Author, Second Monday Series

Be Discovered With the Online Research Commons @ ATU

Posted on January 6, 2020 Written by Angela Black

Tired of your research not getting noticed? Worried that your work will not be valued, shared, or read by the rest of the world? The Ross Pendergraft Library has created Tech’s very own institutional repository designed to showcase ATU faculty and student scholarly research at the Online Research Commons.

The Online Research Commons (ORC) is Tech’s repository of scholarly publications, presentations, theses, dissertations, digital collections, and institutional archives. It seeks to bring together all of a university’s research under one umbrella with an aim to preserve and provide access to that research. Documents uploaded to the Online Research Commons are indexed in Google and GoogleScholar—making them discover-able and available to other scholars around the world.

Under “Faculty Research and Publications”, you can browse the research being produced and published by faculty at Arkansas Tech University, organized by department or discipline. Users can also browse by Authors or search the repository by keyword.

Since the ORC launched a few months ago, only a few academic departments like Emergency Management, Physical Sciences, and History & Political Science have been populated with publications. But as the ORC grows, it will contain citations, links to library-subscribed content, or direct PDFs to all faculty work including articles, working papers, conference proceedings, books, book chapters, technical reports, sound files, data sets, images, videos, and more from all areas at Arkansas Tech.

Authors who submit their work to the repository receive monthly reports regarding usage and downloads. A map summary of downloads for all documents in the repository is freely available on the ORC homepage:

Also included in the ORC are the full-text of all Arkansas Tech student dissertations and theses published since 2016. It also currently includes selected issues of the digitized Arkansas Tech yearbook, Agricola.

If you want your work to be showcased and included in the Online Research Commons, simply send a CV or list of publications to orc@atu.edu. For more information on the submission process, including what versions of publications can be included, be sure to review the Submission Guide to Online Research Commons @ ATU. Adding to our repository is free, easy, and can be an excellent vehicle for working papers, presentations, and conference papers not published elsewhere. So, get noticed, get discovered, and get your legacy preserved at Arkansas Tech’s Online Research Commons.

Submit Your CV

Filed Under: Library Tagged: Agricola, faculty, NEW!, Online Research Commons, Scholarly Communications

The Finals Countdown

Posted on November 26, 2019 Written by Angela Black

We’re nearly there! The final exams for Fall 2019 are on their way, and the Ross Pendergraft Library is here for you with 24-hour service, starting 7:00 AM on Wednesday, Dec. 4^th, until 6:00 PM Friday, Dec. 6th.

Come by in the late, late hours for free coffee and moderately-priced printing. We also have all the friendly services you’ve come to know and love:

Free check-outs of headphones, graphing calculators, dry erase markers, and dry erase boards at the Circulation Desk.
Professional, friendly, and highly caffeinated research help.
The ability to summon a shushing librarian via text: 479-802-4876.
Hundreds of library databases and research guides on nearly every subject.
Citation help and guides.
Study rooms available for booking at http://bookit.atu.edu.
PHIL, the magical machine that takes cash and puts it on your Tech card for printing.
That one bean-bag chair in the Curriculum Materials Center everyone sleeps on.

You can also stay up and on top of all the news in the library by following us on Twitter (#ATUFinals)/ Facebook / Instagram.

Don’t forget, we are closed this Thursday, Nov. 28^th through Saturday, Nov. 30^th for the Thanksgiving holidays. We will open again on Sunday at 1:00 PM. The full schedule is below:

Good Luck on Finals!

Filed Under: Library Tagged: finalsweek, Holidays, Hours

POSTPONED UNTIL NOV. 18 – Hipbillies: Deep Revolution in the Arkansas Ozarks

Posted on November 4, 2019 Written by Angela Black

Join us on Monday, November 18th, at 7:00 pm in RPL 300A as we welcome Dr. Jared M. Phillips, professor at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, who will discuss his recent book, Hipbillies: Deep Revolution in the Arkansas Ozarks.

Counterculture flourished nationwide in the 1960s and 1970s, and while the hippies of Haight–Ashbury occupied the public eye, a faction of back to the landers were quietly creating their own haven off the beaten path in the Arkansas Ozarks. Hipbillies combines oral histories and archival resources to weave the story of the Ozarks and its population of country beatniks into the national narrative, showing how the back to the landers engaged in “deep revolution” by sharing their ideas on rural development, small farm economy, and education with the locals—and how they became a fascinating part of a traditional region’s coming to terms with the modern world in the process.

If you have an interest in hippies, hillbillies, environmental activism, solar energy, farmer’s markets, or the history of the Ozarks, you don’t want to miss this talk. Read more about Hipbillies in this article from the Arkansas Times or check out a copy from the Ross Pendergraft Library.

Jared Phillips is an assistant professor of international studies at the University of Arkansas and specializes in the history of U.S. foreign policy and U.S.-Sino relations in the late twentieth century. He lives and works on a small farm outside of Prairie Grove.

This event is part of the Second Monday Author Series, featuring local authors from the university, region, or state. Copies of Hipbillies will be available for purchase.

For more information (479) 964-0546 or http://library.atu.edu. This event is free and accessible to the public.

Filed Under: Library Tagged: Arkansas, Ozarks, Second Monday Author

Desserts and Databases

Posted on November 1, 2019 Written by Angela Black

This Friday, November 1^st, from 3:00-3:30 in RCB 147, join us for a quick demonstration of the library’s latest database for statistics and data visualization: Sage State and Local Stats. Cookies will be provided.

SAGE State and Local Stats is a data download and visualization tool hosting social science data about U.S. States, counties, cities, and metropolitan statistical areas from more than 600 data series, including governmental and non-governmental sources. It spans topics like employment, crime, religion, and education.

Screnshot of open page of Sage Stats with graph of internet access and poverty

This tool is best for any research paper or classroom when you need to examine statistics across time, location, and across other data sets.

To begin using Sage Stats, search by keyword at the top or browse by topic, location, or zip code. Let’s say you are interested in the percent of population with a Bachelor’s Degree or more by state:

Map from Sage Stats showing the U.S. States and percentages of people with Bachelor's Degrees.

You can switch between Map, Table, or Chart view:

A line chart comparing the percentage of people with degrees in Arkansas compared to national average, over the last 15 years.

You can then add more data to your charts, compare data with other states or other data series with a scatter plot. In this example, we have compared the above data with Average Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) of each sample:

A scatter chart comparing percent of population with Bachelor's Degree or More and adjusted gross income of the state.

At any point, you can export your data as an image, an excel or CSV file, or as a Data Guide Powerpoint slide or PDF:

Screenshot showing how to export data from the chart as an image, as a data file, as a data guide, or to save the series to the export center to export more than one year at a time.

Users can also cite the source of data in APA, MLA, Bluebook, or Chicago, and export this into a citation manager:

Screenshot showing citation window, where one could cite data chart in APA or MLA or other citation styles

All of the data in SAGE stats is available for download so you can manipulate it however you want. With over 606 data-series in a variety of categories, there’s enough to satisfy any data analysis appetite.

For more questions about SAGE Stats or to find out if oatmeal cookies should really be considered a cookie, ask us at askus@atu.libanswers.com. Otherwise, join us for cookies and databases this Friday!

Filed Under: Library Tagged: Databases, Desserts & Databases, SAGE Stats, Social Science

Haunted Sites at Arkansas Tech University

Posted on October 17, 2019 Written by Angela Black

Have 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 28^th 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.

Filed Under: Library Tagged: Arkansas, Ghosts, Halloween, Presentations

Warning: Graphic Material To Be Shown at the Library

Posted on October 9, 2019 Written by Angela Black

Join us on Monday, October 14^th at 7:00 PM in RPL 300A for the next installment of the 2^nd 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.

Dr. 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:

They 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.

Animal 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.

Speak : 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.

Watchmen 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.

Haven (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!

Filed Under: Library Tagged: Comics, Graphic Novels, Presentations, Second Monday Series

Explore Legal Resources with HeinOnline

Posted on October 2, 2019 Written by Angela Black

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.

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.

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.

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.

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…

Filed Under: Library Tagged: HeinOnline, Legal Resources, Tech Database

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

Posted on September 23, 2019 Written by Angela Black

Join us at Hindsman Tower Tuesday, September 24^th 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.

Filed Under: Library Tagged: Events, Volunteer, Voter Registration

The Life-Changing Magic of Refworks

Posted on September 10, 2019 Written by Angela Black

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:

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!

Filed Under: Library Tagged: Refworks, Workshops