Archive for November, 2008

Librarians’ Holiday: Recommended Reading from Ohrstrom’s Staff

Lisa Laughy November 20th, 2008

Lisa Laughy – Archives Assistant

Heading into Thanksgiving break you may be craving the luxury of escaping into a good book. Sure, you read all the time for school and cracking the covers of a book may be the farthest thing from how you plan to relax over the break. Consider taking the time to do some recreational reading during your down time, it may be just the thing you need to unwind.

With that in mind Ohrstrom Library staff has put together a special display in the Baker Reading Room of recommended recreational reading. Stop by Ohrstrom before heading out on your break and pick up something fun and distracting to read while away.

Image courtesy of MorBCN under this Creative Common license.

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Happy Birthday OED, Happy Birthday To You!

Lisa Laughy November 19th, 2008

Sandra Chauvin – Circulation Librarian

Ohrstrom Library celebrates The Oxford English dictionary’s 80th birthday with a small book display in the Baker Reading Room.  Included in the display are The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary and two of Simon Winchester’s books about the OED.  The complete unabridged 2nd edition of the OED can be found in the Reference Room at Ref. 423 Ox2.  Take a moment to browse these amazing resources.

The idea of the dictionary was conceived in 1857, but the finished first edition was not published until 1928.  In 2000, Oxford University Press started its first online edition.  Since then, the uses for the OED have expanded and evolved.  For example, it has become a treasure trove for those looking for quotations.  After browsing through the paper version, fire up the Ohrstrom Library website and explore the OED’s ever-expanding depth and breadth of knowledge by clicking HERE.  If your appetite for dictionaries is still not satiated, please take a look at the much earlier  Johnson’s Dictionary (Johnson’s Diction: a Modern Selection) available online in a complete digitized version HERE.

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New Reference Book: Encyclopedia of Weather and Climate

Lisa Laughy November 18th, 2008

Deb Baker – Interim Reference Librarian

Encyclopedia of Weather and Climate by Michael Allaby, illustrated by Richard Garratt, Facts-On-File, 2007.

Find it in Ohrstrom at: Ref. 551.5 AL5 v.1 & v.2

Allaby, author or editor of over 90 books on environmental science, has revised, updated, and reorganized this two volume set to reflect the latest science, with over 1400 entries, 350 illustrations, and 10 appendices. Looking for maps of ocean currents? Wonder why ice storms occur, when thermometers were invented, how wine harvest records help climatologists, or what in the world a cloud street is? Look no further.

HELPFUL FOR: Terrestrial Ecology, Topics in Global Events, Limnology and Marine Biology, Origins of Modern Science

FUN FOR: Weather Channel fans, amateur meteorologists, Eco-Action members

Image courtesy of ms4jah under this Creative Common license.

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New Embedded Search Box is EBSCO-licious!

Lisa Laughy November 17th, 2008

Lisa Laughy -Archives Assistant

The Ohrstrom Library Database web page now has a new search box for the EBSCOHost suite of databases.  The new embedded search box allows users to start searching EBSCO’s sixteen databases right from the library website without the need to navigate through the EBSCO launch and database selection screens.  The new embedded search box provides seamless access to EBSCOHost’s thousands of resources including:

  • magazines
  • journals
  • newspapers
  • selected reference material

Once your search is executed you can access advanced search options including selecting specific databases to focus your search results.  EBSCOHost database searches are faster and more direct thanks to the new embedded search box.  Try a search now and see how efficient it is: then consider adding EBSCOHost to your arsenal of research tools for your next homework assignment.

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Ohrstrom Library 2.0: Join Our New Facebook Group!

Lisa Laughy November 14th, 2008

Lisa Laughy -Archives Assistant

Ohrstrom Library now has a group on Facebook called, surprisingly enough, The Ohrstrom Library Group!  If you are a St. Paul’s Student, Faculty or Staff member and have a Facebook account you are cordially invited to join the group by clicking HERE and then following the links to join.  The Ohrstrom Library Group is a place to discuss ideas and thoughts about your library experience, ask questions about library use, and share information among other group members.  If you already use Facebook as your social networking source, why not contribute your views and ideas to the Ohrstrom Library Group to help make Ohrstrom an even better resource for the St. Paul’s community?  Join today and get the discussion under way!

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