Banned Book Week: Find Free Books!

It is Banned Book Week! To raise awareness about books that have been challenged in schools and libraries and to generate discussion about why books are banned, McCain Library is hiding books around campus for you to find!

The book hunt begins on Tuesday, September 26th at 8 a.m and will run through Friday, September 29th. Each day a bundle of books will be hidden somewhere on campus. For clues on how to find the bundle of books, follow us on Instagram (@McCainLibrary), Twitter (@McCainLibrary), or the McCain Library Facebook page. If you find the books they are yours to keep or redistribute to friends, but please take a picture of yourself with the books and share with us via one of our social media accounts. Good luck hunting!

To learn more about books that have been banned or challenged in recent years, visit our Banned Book exhibit on the first floor of McCain Library near the spiral staircase.

Many thanks to all of our student workers and our Library Event Planning Committee members who helped imagine and implement this exciting event. If you would like to help McCain Library plan future events consider joining our Library Event Planning Committee. Email Christopher Bishop (cbishop@agnesscott.edu) for more information.

McCain Library & Decatur Public Library Meet and Greet – Thursday, August 24 from 3pm – 5pm

The library is so much more than books! Come learn how we can help you and what we have to offer to make your experience at Agnes Scott College even better! Decatur Public Library will be here signing people up for library cards. This event is the easiest way for students who live on campus to get a library card to an amazing collection of books and other resources, including passes to major Atlanta tourist attractions. We hope to see you there!

Now Hiring: Work Study Positions in McCain Library

Did you receive work study as part of your financial aid package? If so, we want to hire you to work in the library! We need creative people who are comfortable with technology, great at conducting research, and excel in providing customer service!

Positions are currently open to staff staff our Check Out / Reserves Desk and our Scottie Research and Rescue Desk. Each position is described below with directions on how to apply:

Check Out / Reserves Desk Student Assistant

Duties

• Check out material to patrons
• Shelve and inventory books
• Engage in a creative project: writing for the library blog, creating exhibits, or planning and hosting events in the library
• Occasionally, teach patrons technical skills (printing, scanning, photocopying) or help students find a book in the library

Hours & How to Apply

• Students are needed for all the hours the library is open. This is a great job for people who need a schedule that includes some mornings, evenings and weekends
• Email a completed Student Assistant Application or resume to Stephany Kurth (skurth@agnesscott.edu)

Scottie Research & Rescue Desk Student Assistant (Full Position Description)

Duties 

• Assist students with research by suggesting appropriate tools and search techniques (Strong research skills and familiarity with McCain Library resources required)
• Help students learn to print, scan, photocopy, use word processing software, access the wifi, etc
• Engage in a creative project: writing for the library blog, creating exhibits, or planning and hosting events in the library

Hours & How to Apply

• Students are needed from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Monday – Friday with some Sunday hours possible.
• To apply email Casey Long (clong@agnesscott.edu) a resume, the names of a professor and a student who may provide insights to your research skills, and a letter indicating your interest in this position and the hours you are available to work.

Writers’ Festival LibGuide

Be prepared to ask great questions at this year’s Writers’ Festival. Visit the Writers’ Festival LibGuide to find interviews, books, articles and more with each of the writers on campus this week.

A big thank you to Jillian Speck ’17 who created all the profiles on the writers this year. The guide also links to snapshots of previous years and provides a history of the Writers’ Festival.

How to Register to Vote: Tips for Agnes Scott Students

Image provided by Flickr user Theresas Thompson

Register as Georgia Resident in Your Home County

Georgia Residents with a valid Georgia Driver’s license may register to vote online at: https://registertovote.sos.ga.gov/GAOLVR.

Those without a valid Georgia Driver’s license may complete the State of Georgia Application for Voter Registration. Download a copy from the Georgia Secretary of State Office or stop by the Circulation Desk in McCain Library to pick up a print copy. Casey Long (clong@agnesscott.edu) is available for help in filling out the form.

If you are a new voter, in the envelope you will need to include a photocopy of your Georgia driver’s license or U.S. Passport. Also acceptable are photocopies of:

• a certified copy of your birth certificate;
• a valid Social Security card;
• a current utility bill, or a legible copy thereof, showing your name and address; or
• a bank statement, or a legible copy thereof, showing your name and address.

McCain Library called the Georgia Secretary of State to determine if a copy of your Agnes Scott College ID would be sufficient for voter registration. They said “yes,” but since this is not listed anywhere in their documentation we are hesitant to recommend it.

The postage is already paid so simply fold and seal the form when it is complete and drop it in the mail.

Register as Georgia Resident Using Your Agnes Scott Address

Agnes Scott students living on-campus can register to vote as a Georgia resident using the State of Georgia Application for Voter Registration by using the college address (141 E. College Avenue, Decatur, GA 30030) as the residence address and the student’s P.O. box number plus the college address as the mailing address. (See instructions above)

Register as a Resident of your Home State

Look for an opportunity to register online. The National Conference of State Legislatures lists 31 states that allow for online registration.

Use USA.gov to find the Elections Office for your state. They may have a downloadable Voter Registration Application for your state for your state that will allow you to mail in your application.

15 Minute Dance Party – Friday, September 9th at 6:00pm

Black Ring Radio and McCain Library are teaming up again to bring a little levity to the library with a pop-up dance party. Kick off your weekend by pushing the books aside and dancing in the Main Reading Room of McCain Library this Friday starting around 6pm. It is 15 minutes of great music and fun!

All are invited! Faculty, staff, students, and alumnae, we want to see you there!

The library will be officially closed, so no studying allowed – just dancing.

Checkout our pictures from last year!

Book Lovers’ Fair – Thursday, August 25 – 3:00pm-5:00pm

We are so excited to welcome all the new and returning students to campus that we are throwing a Book Lovers’ Fair just so we can see each and everyone of you in person!

We will have stations to test your knowledge of book trivia, provide you with tips for finding inexpensive textbooks, and share with you information on how to access other libraries.

Plus we will provide tours of our literature collection to help you find your favorite works of fiction.

Charis Books and Decatur Public Library will be on site to tell you about their resources too! Decatur Public Library will be ready to sign up Agnes Scott students for a public library card so you have access to even more books and databases, including test prep materials and audiobooks!

Best of all we will have cookies from Insomnia Cookies.  Mmmmh, cookies! We can’t wait to see you!

New Databases and Primary Sources!

DATABASE at Postmasters, March 2009 by Michael Mandiberg / CC BY-SA

McCain Library is excited to announce the addition of 10 new databases specifically selected by the library for the Agnes Scott community, plus a campus-wide subscription to the Chronicle of Higher Education. Listed below is a brief description of each of our new resources.

Access World News Research Collection: A collection of over 5,000 news sources that provides insight into global issues through local newspapers around the globe.

African-American Communities: An extensive collection of primary sources that provide an in-depth look at the lives and experiences of African-Americans in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, St. Louis, and parts of North Carolina. Includes material from the Atlanta History Center.

Archives of Human Sexuality, LGBTQ History and Culture since 1940 (part 1): Brings together approximately 1.5 million pages of primary sources on social, political, health, and legal issues impacting LGBTQ communities around the world.

Chronicle of Higher Education: The premier publication for keeping track of the latest trends and issues in academia. Agnes Scott College faculty, students, and staff now have access to subscriber-only content on the Chronicle of Higher Education website.

Defining Gender, 1450 – 1910: A collection of primary sources that define the gender norms of British society across five centuries.  Topics include domesticity, family, consumption, leisure, education, the body, conduct, and politeness.

Photography: The World Through the Lens (Nineteenth Century Collections Online): Roughly 2 million photographs from Britain, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas taken during the 19th century. Individuals studying travel, trade, science, medicine, criminology, art, photography, and daily life in the 19th century will enjoy exploring this collection of images.

Political Science Complete: An article database that focuses on comparative politics, humanitarian issues, international relations, law and legislation, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and political theory. Provides access to more than 520 full-text journals, most of which are not available on other platforms. Also includes books and conference papers. 

Polling the Nations: Contains over 600,000 questions and responses to polls and surveys about a range of issues in the United States and around the world. Excellent source for understanding public opinion.

Punch Historical Archive: The most prominent British satire magazine from 1841 to 1992. Provides a unique perspective into to political and social issues in the 19th and 20th centuries.

The Taylor & Francis Social Sciences & Humanities Library Collection includes 1,400 journal titles indexed from 1997-present, with requested Public Health journal coverage.

Web of Science (with a 10-year backfile): An extensive online citation analysis tool that helps researchers find articles that cited a specific article of significance or a work by a particular author. An excellent tool for identifying the most impactive journals within a discipline. Since it indexes the articles in the most important journals in over 250 disciplines, it also serves as a fairly comprehensive search tool for any researcher who understands how to track down the full text of an article with a citation.

In addition to these resources hand-selected by McCain Library, GALILEO has added the following databases: Arts & Humanities Database, Australia & New Zealand Database, Business Market Research Collection, Continental Europe Database, East & South Asia Database, East Europe, Central Europe Database, India Database, International Newsstream, Latin America & Iberian Database, Library Science Database (1970-Current), Linguistics Database, Middle East & Africa Database, Public Health Database, Turkey Database, UK & Ireland Database, and U.S. Newsstream.

Keep Your Language Skills Fresh with the Mango Languages App

Don’t let your language skills get rusty over the summer.  Download the Mango Languages app. Mango will walk you through concepts you may have learned in 101 or 102  and give you opportunities to practice your skills. This is the perfect way to perfect your pronunciations!

Mango is also great for beginners and offer dozens of languages to help you no matter where you want to travel this summer.

Mango is available on from your computer or your phone.

To Get Started

1. Go to the Helpful Links page of the Agnes Scott CollegeCenter for Global Learning: https://agnesscott.edu/global-learning/helpful-links.html
2. Click on Mango Languages
3. Create an account using your Agnes Scott College ID# as your “library card number”

 

 

Technical Problem with Find It @ ASC Resolved

The network problem at University of Georgia has been fixed. Our Find Journals tab and the Find It @ ASC button in our databases should work without any problems.  Please let us know if you experience problems by contacting the Scottie Research and Rescue Desk (library@agnesscott.edu).