D’Amour Definitely Has It Covered “It seems as if every time I turn a corner,” said Volume 8, Issue 1 D’Amour library director Priscilla Perkins, “there is something pleasing to the eye!” Evening circulation Fall 2009-10 supervisor Deborah Beagle added, ”When I do my rounds, I see a piece of art and I think,’ What a nice INSIDE THIS ISSUE: place for that to be!’” New Art Work 1 The library has augmented its display of art. Now, drawing attention to just a few of the new pieces, a SAILS 1 nicely framed and matted watercolor of irises by R. Director’s Desk 2 Malone greets visitors as they walk into the Clarke Reading Room; a serigraph by E. Landon faces the Database News 2 Collaboratory; a Julius Kamotjy etching of an old man New DVDs 2 reading the bible hangs near the circulation desk; preliminary oils and a newly framed mural print are First Year Students’ displayed near the commissioned mural by Robert Information Environment 3 Sweeney on the second floor, affording students an opportunity to compare differences; and each alcove New Books 3 Irises, a watercolor by R. Malone (1980), on the first on the third floor is graced by a picture. The portrait floor Student Prizes 3 of former President Beaumont Herman has been New Computer Lab 4 moved to a place of honor in the Mass Mutual Room, and eight registered Vanity Fair prints with explana- Glickman Picnic 4 tions of their subjects join twelve sketches of Elizabe- These artworks are part of the 59 pieces of the than England on the second floor walls. college collection that were hung this summer, responding to a suggestion from President An- thony Caprio that we “display the art stored in the archives, using some of these blank walls to cre- ate a pleasant ambiance for our students.” Over the years, 32 pieces of art from the College’s permanent collection had been strategically placed about the building. This fall, adding in the two teaching excellence plaques, the framed prin- ciples of intellectual freedom, and the eight rotat- ing exhibits from College art classes, D’Amour Library’s walls are adorned by 102 interesting pieces, a veritable museum! Rosemary O'Donoghue - College Archivist An untitled landscape by E. Nard (1979) on the third floor SAILS Will Help Library Embark on New Exploration This fall D’Amour Library will be embarking on an The results will identify the developmental information literacy assessment journey, SAILS, the landscape of student information literacy skills to Standardized Assessment of Information Literacy help faculty and librarians enhance student Skills, from September 14 through October 30, learning in information literacy. 2009. As part of the library’s self-assessment for NEASC, this instrument will provide a standardized The knowledge test is based on the Association of benchmark of student information literacy skills at College and Research Libraries' (ACRL) Western New England College from incoming first Information Literacy Competency Standards for year students to graduating seniors. Higher Education. ( SAILS continued on page 3) 1 D’Amour Library From the Library Director’s Desk New DVDs On most weekends I visit my mother in Connecticut. I mingle with friends over a cup of coffee or check am fortunate to still be able to do this as my mom will out DVDs, compact discs, or a bestseller that has Gran Torino turn 92 in November. And although I do not look for- nothing to do with a class. ward to travelling through Hartford, I do look forward 28 Days Later to our conversations which deal with a wide variety of Quiet is not always the norm, I told her, but there are always quiet places; learning doesn’t happen Twilight topics including the health care debate, the state of Congress, and, of course, the economy. Always an quietly in a classroom, so why should it in a li- brary? Yes indeed! Libraries are used today and Obsessed avid reader, her twice weekly trips to the public library stopped years ago, but her reading and learning have D’Amour Library proves this year after year. My The Soloist not. The local newspaper is read each day and any- mom was pleased! thing about Jane Austen is finished in short order. Our Pink Panther 2 conversations are thought-provoking and lively and I Libraries have changed in many exciting ways, but so appreciate the perspective her long life lends to their mission to help students become lifelong Vicky Christina Barcelona ideas and events. But a few weeks ago I was a bit learners has not. So as we start a new academic surprised by a question she posed to me, her librar- year, I hope that D’Amour Library will be a place I Love You Man ian daughter, “Are libraries still used today?” I as- for everyone. Try out the new seating, explore the sured her that they are, even though the library as works of art displayed throughout the building, come for quiet or for lively discussions, attend a 17 Again she knew it has changed greatly. Techno-Smarts workshop on a new database, get Mad Men Season 2 I talked about the tremendous change in the format a refresher on RefWorks, or check out a DVD or a of the library’s collection, about how so many of the book to relax with. Whether it is to study or to do Entourage Season 5 materials students and faculty use today are in digital research using its excellent collection of print and digital resources, to meet friends in Java City II, to Seinfeld the Complete format making them accessible from just about any- where, but also how we found that students still come attend an Athenaeum lecture or concert, come be Series part of this exciting learning community! to the library to use the databases and other elec- tronic resources. And not just because the printing is Curious Case of Benjamin Priscilla Perkins, Director, D’Amour Library Button free, but because they know they can get assistance from a librarian when Google frustrates them or they can’t find the relevant sources they need for a pro- ject. Database News I explained how important “library as place” has be- D'Amour Library has expanded its collection of come, that libraries are very much extensions of the online databases. The recent purchase of Early total learning experience a college offers its students, American Imprints, Series 1: Evans, 1639-1800 not just its scholarly aspects. provides access to an extensive collection of pri- mary source material for the study of early Ameri- Certainly libraries are still places where students can history including advertisements, almanacs, come to study individually (last year the use of the bibles, broadsides, catalogs, charters and by- study tables and soft seating increased 62% over the laws, contracts, cookbooks, elegies, eulogies, previous year) as well as to use computers and re- laws, maps, narratives, novels, operas, pam- sources, but they are also places where the students phlets, plays, poems, primers, sermons, songs, work in groups discussing projects and ideas, where speeches, textbooks, travelogues, and more. they are introduced to cultural and scholarly ideas through speakers and displays, where students The 19th Century British Pamphlets Collection includes the most significant British pamphlets from the 19th century held in research libraries First Year Students within the United Kingdom. The pamphlets offer Win Gift Certificates insight into the political, social, and economic in Survey Drawings issues facing 19th century Britain. The Life Sciences Collection from JSTOR provides Congratulations to Marisa Harris, Samantha Solomon, full-text access to hundreds of scientific journals. Adam Cruz, and Charles The collection’s strengths include: health, general Kelehan who each won a sciences, aquatic sciences, biological sciences, $50 Gift Certificate to the developmental and cell biology, and zoology. Campus Bookstore from D’Amour Library. All first American History in Video contains more than year students who com- 2,000 hours of online footage dedicated to the pleted the information liter- study of American History. acy surveys were eligible. Drawings were held in July. All of these databases are accessible both on- Read about the results of Against the backdrop of student art in the Clarke Read- campus and off-campus via D'Amour Library's the pre-test in Josh Becker’s ing Room, Mary-Jane Sobinski-Smith presents Saman- web site. article on the next page. tha Solomon with her survey gift certificate. Dan Eckert, Interlibrary Loan and Serials Librarian 2 The Class of 2013 Interprets the Information Environment Notable New Books According to a literacy Pre-test survey, first Surprisingly, traditional forms of mass communication In D’Amour Library year Western New England College students are still widely used. 91% of the respondents selected arrived on campus with a significant aware- TV News. 80% of the students mentioned their par- Outliers : The Story of ness of information literacy issues. The Pre- ents. 76% of the students indicated that newspapers Success by Malcolm Glad- test included 30 questions about students’ and newsmagazines were their source for information. well. A provocative look at use of information sources, beliefs about ethi- Online news sites came in 4th at 62%. the patterns behind every- cal and appropriate information use, and day phenomena. methods of research during their last year of The least utilized information source was blogs. Barely high school. 3% of the student responses indicated that blogs were 2666: A Novel by Roberto a news source for current events. Only 2% of the stu- Bolano and Natasha Wim- Incoming students appear very aware of the dents survey indicated that they did not follow current mer.