EL DIA DE LOS MUERTOS
My friends from Mexico tell me the tradition is fading in the big cities but is kept alive by determined families in the country. I hope the custom continues. I do not want
to see the "mcdonaldization" of our world gain momentum. In a rushed, point-and-click world people need folklore and holiday time to pause and reflect.
The San Antonio College Library has many resources on Mexico's Day of the Dead along with folklore of holidays celebrated around the world. The Skeleton at the Feast by Elizabeth Carmichael and Chloe Sayer is all about the Day of the Dead. The Folklore of World Holidays, edited by Robert Griffin and Ann Shurgin, is an excellent resource for
celebrations in all countries. Another superb source on traditions in 48 countries from Argentina to Vietnam is Fiesta!: A Portrait of the Country Through its Festivals and Traditions.
Perhaps these references might spark some "Internationalizing the Curriculum" assignment ideas. State-of-the art technology and 103 databases can coexist with
We accept compliments, treats,
Stephen C. Dingman
El Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, is actually celebrated over the first two days of November. November 1 is El Dia de los Santos, All Saints' Day. This day
is dedicated to children who have died. November 2 is El Dia de los Difuntos or El Dia de los Muertos, a day for mourning adults.
folklore and tradition at your San Antonio College Library.
or gulp, constructive criticism. Please feel free to contact me at dingman@accd.edu.
Editor
| The San Antonio College Day of the Dead Committee erected altars in memory of deceased faculty and staff. Members of the committee included: Richard Arredondo, Norma Cruz-Gonzales, Irma Luna, Alberto Mendez, Marta Montemayor, Brook Rosser, and Ernest Tsacalis. |
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Fabian is the recipient of the prestigious 2005 Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant to help artists defray costs associated with art exhibits. A seven-year employee of the College, Joan will be in Paris through mid-November.
"We're always striving to improve and expand our information sources," adds Candace Peterson, chair of the Library and Media Services department. "The national
and world newspapers will help support the College's mission for internationalizing the curriculum."
The most common Postal Worker exams are offered in two practice tests that cover a range of exams. Although real estate exams vary by geographic territory, the Testing &
Education Reference Center has exams to cover every region.
Testing & Education Reference Center is one of 103 databases subscribed to by the San Antonio College Library.
Stephen C. Dingman
Distance Learning Librarian Celita DeArmond took part in a panel presentation at the 5th Annual WebCT Texas Users Conference
held at the St. Anthony Hotel in San Antonio on October 7. The conference is a collaborative effort between a variety of colleges and universities in order to gather and discuss the best practices of delivering online instruction with WebCT. Panel participants focused on the question of how using WebCT at San Antonio College helps close the distance gap between faculty and students.
Other panel participants were: Panel Coordinator Dr. Carol A. Keller, Associate Professor, History; Dr. Gerald J. Davey, Instructor of Communication - Radio, Television and Film Department; Dr. Pamela B. Hill, Professor of Psychology and Chairperson SAC Online Advisory Committee; and Dr. Charlotte Wolf, Director of Instructional Technologies and Professor of Reading & Education.
The panel's slideshow presentation "WebCT at San Antonio College - Closing the Distance Gap" can be viewed at:
http://www.accd.edu/sac/iic/features/
Librarians Karen Balcom, Stephen Dingman, and Tom Kuykendall are working on three "Achieving the Dream" College taskforces. Balcom is on the Developmental Math
Taskforce, Dingman is on the First Time in College Taskforce, and Kuykendall is on the Gatekeeper Courses Taskforce.
"Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count" is a multi-year initiative funded by the Lumina Foundation
for Education that addresses the challenge of providing low income students and students of color with opportunities for academic success. There are five Achieving the Dream student outcome indicators:
Longtime librarian Karen Balcom is now Dr. Balcom. The School of Information at the University of Texas in Austin awarded Professor Balcom a Ph.D in August. Karen's
dissertation title is "Discovery and Information Use Patterns of Nobel Laureates in Physiology or Medicine."
Her investigation identified and formalized discovery patterns among Nobel Laureates by analyzing the organization of their Nobel Lectures. Karen expresses great
appreciation to her colleagues, Tom Kuykendall and Christina Petimezas, for proofreading the dissertation and providing suggestions to improve the readability.
A copy of the dissertation is available in the library.
Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist Ted Jackson of the New Orleans Times-Picayune will discuss his work at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, November 8 in Room 120 of the San
Antonio College Visual Arts Center. Jackson photographed a comprehensive look at the collapse of the world's fisheries called "Oceans of Trouble." The series won the 1997
Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.
The 28th annual Edith Fox King Journalism Lecture, sponsored by the SAC student chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and the department of journalism-photography,
is part of the College's International Education Week. The public is invited to attend the free lecture.
Librarian John Deosdade's research guide, "Search Engines for Quality Web Sites," is featured in a popular
college textbook, Mastering Public Speaking.
Dr. John Skinner, San Antonio College Theatre and Speech Communication professor, is coauthor of the textbook. Calling Deosdade's research guide a "superb collection,"
Skinner adds, "from this one site you can find and use nearly 300 academic and subject-specific search engines that cover everything from abbreviations to zoos."
The phrase 'colorful librarian' may seem like an oxymoron to some of our patrons, but it certainly fit the late Irma Dee Everts, who worked here as a reference and group instruction librarian for 26 years until her retirement in 1986. Irma Dee had a beautiful speaking voice and hosted a library show, "The Library Hour," for KSYM. She covered a colorful variety of topics from bestsellers to haunted places in San Antonio, predating the ghost tour craze by many years. The faculty loved to bring their classes to her for group instruction sessions, never knowing--but hoping--whether Irma Dee would dress up in costume to reflect the topic of the class. She never missed a chance to dress up for Halloween, either!
Irma Dee was the wife of the late F.W. Everts (Wilson) and the mother of Sandra G. Koch of Pittsburgh, PA, who took care of her after Wilson passed away. The library world has
certainly gone a little grayer with Irma Dee's passing.
Christina H. Petimezas
MEXICANO / LATINO ATHLETIC HISTORY ON DISPLAY
The boxing display highlights a few San Antonio champions, including 1991-1993 champion Robert Quiroga, 1960 Olympian Humberto "Lefty" Barrera from Robstown, Texas, and U.S Air Force 1967 champion Robert Perez from San Antonio. The baseball display features the Frank Arellanes 1909-1910 tobacco issue sports cards, sports magazines featuring Bobby Avila and Mike Garcia published in the 1950's, and an autographed All American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) baseball with the signatures of two former Latina players from the 1940's.
The football exhibit is anchored by a late 1930's early 1940's leather football helmet manufactured by Wilson. The football photograph of John C. Sanchez (!942, 1946-1947) depicts the likeness of the helmet and history of football equipment. Sanchez's University of San Francisco Sports Hall of Fame Induction Medallion is also included. The display also features the quarterbacks Jim Plunkett (1971-1985) and Tom Flores (1960-1986), and the running backs Bobby Cavazos (1951-1954) and Jacob Gutierrez (2002-present).
Eileen Oliver
PHOTO EXHIBIT OF 1930s LABOR MOVEMENT
A photographic essay of the famous 1937 San Antonio Laundry Strike is on display in the Library's periodicals section on the fourth floor of Moody. The black-and-
white photographs depict striking Mexican and Mexican-American women.
English Professor Juanita Luna-Lawhn is the curator for the exhibit. Ms. Lawhn presented a 20-minute PowerPoint talk on the history of the Laundry Strike at
the opening on October 19th.
Stephen C. Dingman
SOUP TRIVIA
Q: Dear Soup Trivia person,
A: Well, as with most traditions, offering of food for the dead extends far back in time. Like, waaaay far back. Picture it. The Beginning of Time. Your great-great-great (to the nth degree) Uncle Moog has kicked the bucket. All of your ancient relatives gather to pay tribute to his life, in particular his skill with the reed flute. Everyone wants to make sure Uncle Moog makes it into the afterlife so they provide a bit of food and drink for the road. Simply an offering to help sustain him into the next life. As to specific recipes, I don't think the dead are that particular. In Mexico, Dia de los Muertos offerings historically include bread, water, and salt. Now in the past, some cultures such as the Dutch, had a ritual of making doodkoecks (death cakes), which bore the initials of the deceased. That's kind of cool. For more ideas in this direction, grab the
Encyclopedia of Food and Culture [ REF GT 2850 .E53 2003 ] in the SAC 2nd floor Reference room or search it online in the Gale Virtual Reference Library . There's a nice, long entry under "DEATH AND BURIAL."
Q: Dear Soupy,
I know there are two days that are observed during Dia de los Muertos. I always get confused about which days represent what. Help!
A: Ol' Soupy is here for you. Now, pay attention! This comes straight from a top-level source in the 2nd floor Reference room:
"In Mexico, the festival of Día de los Muertos embodies the greatest expression of both popular Catholicism and the national cuisine. People construct altars in homes and graveyards throughout the country in order to feed the souls of the dead. Church officials recognize two holy days, November 1 (All Saints' Day), in commemoration of saints and martyrs, and November 2 (All Souls' Day), in memory of the faithful departed. According to popular belief, the angelitos (deceased children) return on the evening of October 31 and the adults on the following night, although the dates in local celebrations vary all the way from October 28 to November 4. The feast for the dead originated as a form of ancestor worship, and the clergy were long reluctant to incorporate such pagan practices into the liturgical calendar. The festival held particularly strong associations with pre-Hispanic agrarian cults because it coincided with the maize harvest." If you want to know more, subpoena the Encyclopedia of Food and Culture.
Celita DeArmond
Tracey DeLillo joined the faculty as a catalog librarian in August. Her duties include supervising the cataloging section, original cataloging of materials, assisting the automation
librarian, and a two hour stint on the reference desk.
A native of Wexford, PA, near Pittsburgh, DeLillo earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and a Master of Library and Information Science degree from the University of Pittsburgh. Her first professional position was as an adjunct cataloger at Texas A & M / Corpus Christi. She later worked for two years as the head of periodicals at the same campus and three years as the catalog librarian at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Tracey is enjoying the ambiance of San Antonio College and reaping benefits from the Raul S. Murguia Learning Institute for new faculty members. "I'm learning what the other faculty are doing," Tracey explains. "When they're discussing problem-based learning now I know what they are talking about."
"This is a very welcoming atmosphere," she adds. "I went to a Wellness Committee meeting and thought I would just sit in the back, but before I knew it I'm on the committee.
It is easy to get involved in anything you want here."
During her free time, Tracey enjoys jogging and working out at the college fitness center, cooking, especially Chinese, and reading science fiction.
Stephen C. Dingman
TRICIA MASTERSON: LIBRARIAN IN TRAINING
Circulation / Reserve supervisor Ralph Domas adds, "Tricia has been a wonderful addition to the Circulation / Reserve / Interlibrary Loan staff. She has unlimited
energy and possesses a positive, can do attitude that is contagious."
A native San Antonian, Masterson graduated from Robert E. Lee High School where she played on the soccer and volleyball teams. She will earn an Associate's degree
in Liberal Arts from San Antonio College in December 2005. Her long range plans are to earn a Bachelor's degree in humanities and eventually enroll in the online graduate
program for Library and Information Science at the University of North Texas in Denton.
A career assignment in this College's Strategies for Success class, SDEV 0171, led to a career path that she had never considered before. "I had to do a paper on a career,"
she explains. "I knew that after 10 years of retail management, including six years as assistant manager at West Marine, that I needed a change from retail. So I decided I'm
not pursuing a business degree. I ended up choosing an academic librarian career for my paper. Now I'm actually working toward that goal. Working in a library is the perfect
place to never stop learning. I love research."
Away from work Tricia enjoys reading detective novels, gardening, and collecting turtles, both figurines and live ones.
Stephen C. Dingman
When spring rains fill a dry ravine with swiftly running water, a wide array of rocks and stones are dislodged from the earth and carried downstream. Weeks later, the ambitious rockhound discovers newly exposed materials that had never before seen the light of day. As an avid web user, I often have that same feeling of discovery as I unearth new web gemstones. Here is another sampling of some of those resources:
John R. Deosdade
URL: http://www.accd.edu/sac/library/instruct/lrcnews/librsoup.htm
Visual Resource Specialist Joan Fabian's paintings are currently on exhibit at the Parsons Paris School of Design Gallery at
14 rue Letellier 75015 Paris, France through November 5. Her work is part of the "As You Wish" exhibit that includes collaborations and solo work by artists from Belarus, Indonesia, the Netherlands, Pakistan, and Slovakia.
The popular database NewsBank is better. Best known for
providing full-text access to the San Antonio Express-News, the upgrade, Access World News, now brings some 1400 more national and world newspapers to student fingertips.
The Testing & Education Reference Center database now includes several online practice exams for postal workers and seven Real Estate broker, appraisal and diagnostic exams.
Reference Librarian
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Head of Technical Services / Federal Documents Librarian
Mario Longoria, author of Athletes Remembered: Mexicano/Latino Professional Football Players, 1929-1970 [ REF GV 939 .A1 L66 1997 ] , has assembled two displays, located on the 2nd floor in the reference area and on the third floor in the circulation area, that include photographs, sports magazines, books, sports cards, and memorabilia. The exhibits feature past, former and current athletes.
Reference Librarian
Reference Librarian
Day of the Dead festivities are fast approaching. I've always wondered...what's up with the tradition of leaving food in honor of the dead? Are there particular recipes that might fit the occasions?
Reference & Distance Learning Librarian
TRACEY DELILLO: NEWEST ACQUISITION
Reference Librarian
Tricia Masterson is our new evening Learning Resource Specialist I. Working in the circulation/reserve section since April 2005, her duties include assisting
faculty with placing materials on reserve, payroll, and supervision and training of student assistants.
Reference Librarian
With the ever-spiralling costs of day-to-day living, All Things Frugal provides consumers with money saving advice on: budgeting & money management, buying a car, decorating your home, fixing low-cost meals, preparing for emergencies, etc.
Did you ever feel the urge to the lodge a complaint or forward your comments to a member of the Bush administration? "Ask the White House" is an online interactive forum that allows you to do just that. Begun in 2003, this "live chat" service has produced some 200 online discussions with Cabinet Secretaries, senior White House Officials, and other members of the Bush White House staff. Topics include hurricane relief, homeland security, judicial nominations, national security, the Iraq war, social security, etc.
The world famous Mayo Clinic has produced this parental guide to the possible side effects of the most commonly prescribed antidepressants, including descriptions of related conditions, behavioral warning signs, and links to additional resources .
Sponsored by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, this resource lives up to its own billing: "Here is everything a
Texan needs to know about preparing for, applying for, and paying for college or technical school. And it's all in one up-to-date, easy-to-navigate, megasite almost as big as the state itself. And remember: $4 billion is available every year to help Texas students attend college."
Remember the "good ole days?" If you are like me, you often can't do so. Nostalgia Central helps fill those missing gaps by giving you easy access to the swinging sixties, the glamorous seventies, and the "day-glow" eighties. It covers pop culture, music, television, movies, and contains a daily breakdown of significant events, births, deaths, etc.
As an American taxpayer, each year you helped fund some $100 million dollars of research by the Congressional Research Service. The CRS is the government's "think tank" that researches and compiles reports requested by the U.S. Congress on a wide range of current topics. This web site attempts to provide public access to approximately 9,000 reports in the public domain.
Reference Librarian
Articles & Reference Books & Media Library & Media Services Home Page Library Soup Archive New Books
Web page designed by: John R. Deosdade
Last modified: Monday, October 31, 2005
© 2005 San Antonio College Library and Media Services
1001 Howard Street
San Antonio, TX 78212
Phone: (210) 785-6201
Library Soup photography by
Leonard Ziegler
