We accept 
s, compliments, or gulp! constructive criticism. Please feel free to contact me at dingman@accd.edu.
Happy Valentine's Day !
Stephen C. Dingman
Editor
IN THIS ISSUE: 
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Aivars Norenbergs is our new Learning Resources Specialist IV. His main responsibilities are reserve materials. He also works at the Circulation Desk and supervises student assistants in the Library. His supervisor, Librarian Ralph Domas, notes that "Aivars customer service skills and good humor are a welcome addition. Students and staff really enjoy him."
Aivars is a native of Riga, the capitol city of Latvia. Latvia is one of the Baltic states that became independent of the former Soviet Union in 1991. A husky fellow, he worked as a border guard for five years. He was armed with an AK 74 assault rifle while on duty. "It's a smaller caliber then the more famous AK 47s," Aivars explained.
In 1995 he immigrated to this country and returned to San Antonio. For his initial 14 months he worked as a custodian at Kelly Air Force Base. For the past seven years he has worked part-time in the San Antonio Public Library system, first as a library aide and later as a circulation desk attendant. Meanwhile he was a full-time student at the University of Texas at San Antonio. The diligent student earned two degrees in history: a Bachelor of Arts in 2000 and a Master of Arts in 2002. He counts January 27, 2000 as an important milestone in his life. "I raised my right hand and was sworn in as an American citizen that day at the Museum of Texas Cultures," Aivars remembers.
The Russian Revolution of 1917, Machiavelli, and Stalin are three of his favorite topics. He believes American students would be better served by internationalizing the history curriculum. "American history is very one-sided," Aivars adds. "It is American-centric or Western European -centric at best."
A cycling enthusiast, Aivars hopes to complete a century ride in the future. To that effect, he recently purchased a high tech "Cloud 9" jell seat "to ride in comfort for 100 miles. Now I just need to attach my dream seat to a dream bike!"
Stephen C. Dingman
Librarians love the drop-by nature of the reference desk. We get to meet many new students and help them while they are here on campus. But what about those students who can't stop in to the reference room, those who are among the growing number of students who take Internet classes? Simple. You take the help where the students are: online. Not only online, but via students' favorite online environment chat.
The SAC Library has added a new model of reference to the Ask a Librarian! service
The Ask a Librarian: Chat service is currently available only on Monday evenings, from 5-10 p.m. Depending upon demand, the Library may look to expand this experimental service to more hours and days of the week. For more information, please visit with me in the Ask a Librarian: Chat.
Celita DeArmond
Darla L. Tolliver is our new full-time Multimedia Specialist . She works in the audiovisual graphics area designing brochures, flyers, logos, posters and signs.
Darla previously worked as a part-time graphic artist for KSAT-TV. She also has three years experience as a graphic artist with the San Antonio Business Journal. After her Business Journal experience Darla feels she can handle just about anything. "I learned how to deal with eight sales representatives all with distinct and sometimes difficult personalities," she explains. "At the Business Journal I spent nearly all my time working on four inch by six inch black-and-white ads. My very first job here was on a four color 16-foot long sign for the International Student Association."
Media Services supervisor Librarian Barbara Knotts adds, "Due to the great work of senior designer Dana Morris there has been a significant increase in demand from all quarters of the College and beyond for printed graphic arts design. Darla brings a lot of experience and talent to us. Now we can do even more."
A native of Houston, Darla is a graduate of Aldine High School where she was the only girl on the golf team. She later earned an Associate of Applied Science degree with honors in graphic arts at the Art Center of Albuquerque. While attending college full-time she also worked a 12-hour shift three to four nights a week in a "Clean Room" for Silmax.
Darla has traveled extensively including two trips with mission groups to work with children in Mexico and help build an orphanage in Honduras.
Stephen C. Dingman
English Professor Carol Coffee Reposa recently donated a copy of her latest book of poems,
Reviewer Jan Epton Seale writes, "Whether her pen is trained on sunflowers in childhood, Saturn in Switzerland, a great horned owl, the Alamo at night, bored literature students, a tortured political prisoner, Magellan, or Desdemona, Reposa scores a bulls-
eye of meaning in each poem. The poems are at once rich and spare, and always admirably honest."
Reposa's previous books are At the Border: Winter Lights and The Green Room. She is the recipient of two Fulbright/Hayes Fellowships and was twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize.
With more than 300 Library Instruction classes being scheduled each semester, faculty may want to take advantage of scheduling their class online. At the Library's home page click on Information for Faculty, then Library Instruction Online Request Form. Librarian Tom Bahlinger will send your confirmations by email.
Of course we always welcome you to stop by the Reference Desk or call in your requests. Our telephone number is 733-2477.
Darleen Daly has put together an inspiring book exhibit of notable black Americans including: W.E.B. DuBois, Ralph Ellison, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Gordon Parks, Paul Robeson, Jackie Robinson, and Richard Wright. These excellent
biographies may be found in the glass display case near the Reference Desk. They may be checked out with a valid SAC ID card.
The fourth annual Black Heritage Month essay competition is accepting essays through Friday, Feb. 20. The competition is sponsored by the English Department, Student Financial Aid, and the Black Heritage Month planning committee. Some $2,000 in scholarships will be awarded on Thursday, Feb. 26 at the African-American Read-In. For additional information, contact English Professor Janice Clayton or click Essay Competition Guidelines
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GOVERNMENT TURNS OVER A NEW WEB
What does this transition mean to you, John or Joanna Q. Public? After all, your tax dollars allowed GPO to print and/or disseminate copies of federal agency publications to your local depositories. Never fear, your
tax dollars will still be used to disseminate agency publications, but online, so that you can go to your little notebook at 3:00 am and surf the library's catalog for online documents, which you will be able to access immediately-no doubt instantly curing the insomniac that is keeping you up at such an ungodly hour.
How will you know that the document you're looking at is electronic? Right now, many documents are available in both paper and electronic formats, although GPO keeps threatening to quit publishing in both formats. So, if you look at an entry, and it lists a location of "SAC Documents 4th Floor" you know we have a paper form on hand. If the entry also lists a URL, you
know that the library has both formats. If the location of an entry is "SAC Documents Internet" you know that the library has the document in electronic format only.
Oddly enough, this librarian prefers the electronic format and can hardly wait to get more of 'em. After all, she wakes up at 3:00 am and wants something soothing to read! Here are some examples of electronic only documents:
Christina H. Petimezas
More than 75 faculty, staff, and students enjoyed a reception on November 12th honoring architectural students' design work and models. Architectural designs and drawings representing the diversity of the San Antonio College's Department of Architecture continue to be exhibited on the Moody Learning Center's second, third, and fourth floors throughout the spring semester 2004.
Dwayne Bohuslav, newest faculty member of SAC's Department of Architecture organized and designed the exhibit. San Antonio College offers the only comprehensive two-year architecture program in Texas.
Faculty and staff interested in potential exhibits are encouraged to contact Art Display Coordinator Rani Singh at 733-2114 or through email at rsingh@accd.edu.
Stephen C. Dingman
LIBRARY INSTRUCTION JOINS THE E-LLUMINATI
"Since Illuminati literally means 'enlightened ones' in Latin, it is natural that several unrelated historical groups have identified themselves as Illuminati, generally on the basis of their possessing arcane information
not generally available." [Source: Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia ]
Arcane information? Sounds like librarian territory, doesn't it? Not known to be a terribly secretive bunch, we librarians love to illuminate students and random passers-by with our knowledge of resources and search strategies. This semester we are widening this circle of light to include all distance education faculty and their students by offering online eLibrary Instruction sessions via a powerful piece of software: Elluminate vClass.
The Elluminate virtual classroom allows students and faculty to talk over the internet (two-way audio) or use the
chat / instant messaging feature to communicate. Librarians can quickly assist students with their research needs via the two-way audio feature and can interact in a more realistic and personable one-on-one or group exchange.
English instructor Maria Garcia, who recently participated in two eLibrary Instruction classes for her ENGL 1302 Internet students, explains, "The congenial atmosphere you created by asking them questions and inviting the students to write on the whiteboard also made the vClass a great experience for the class. It was striking to see how greatly the students appreciated knowing that much is available to them so easily and conveniently. I think the inaugural use of the Elluminate vClass for an online library instruction session can enter the books as a great success."
The SAC Library has an Elluminate classroom set up and is looking for other distance education faculty who are interested in eLibrary Instruction research workshops for individual students, small groups, or whole classes. If you or someone you know is interested in becoming an "E-lluminati," stop by the Library's Distance Learning < www.accd.edu/sac/library/faculty/dearmond/distance/ > site for more information. Just click on the "Help" or "Request eLibrary Instruction" link.
Celita DeArmond
Although most of her previous work experience is behind the scenes in cataloging and technical services, the veteran librarian now enjoys her very public reference experiences. "My experience with SAC students, faculty and staff has been such a positive one," she explains. "I love the diversity of patrons. And I like to work at night."
Originally from Louisiana and later Houston, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish and German from Dominican College in Houston. Darleen then earned a Master of Arts degree in Elementary Education from Claremont Graduate University of California. She later earned her Master's degree in Library and Information Science through UCLA.
A current resident of Boerne, Darleen mentors students at Kendall Elementary School and walks 5 days a week "when my arthritic knee lets me." An avid photographer, she has taken several photography classes at the College. "Nature close-ups, landscapes, and still life are my favorite subjects."
Stephen C. Dingman
No more vulgar graffiti leering from the claustrophobic dull brown walls of study carrels in rigid industrial rows. No more anxious glances at stuffing peeking through torn naugahyde, worried that pincered critters might be lurking there to ambush new prey.
No more embarrassed giggles at the clashing colors of green and orange and blue and white and brown and black and yellow and the mismatched materials of upholstery and plastics and metal and wood. No more trips to the Central Warehouse, dumping ground of castoffs from other colleges, to scavenge tables and chairs just a little better than those of '68. No more wondering whether a student's parent sat in the same chair 35 years ago.
Finally, a complete furniture makeover in most of the Library! Matching light oak chairs, tables, atlas stands and sundry other furniture - all built to last - provide a more open and more attractive setting for students to study and do research. The price tag is substantial: about $80,000.00 for furniture that includes about 400 chairs and 90 tables for computer stations and for study. But it's long overdue, it's likely to last another three and one half decades, and it's well worth it!
Now if we could only do something about the carpet, walls, and lighting. Dare we hope for more funding next year to brighten up this place some more? Hope springs eternal.
Tom Kuykendall
OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY GOES ONLINE
The six new databases are not merely electronic versions of print products. They offer added value by providing links to appropriate websites, audio features, color images and, sometimes, full-text where no full-text existed in the print product.
The addition of these databases is a continuation of our efforts to increase access to library resources for all of our users. We continue to evaluate our collection and to place our limited resources where we can reach the most users. We want our resources to be available when our users are ready to use them and where our users can reach them. Increasingly this means investing in electronic resources.
Electronic resources may be reached 24/7 from any computer with an Internet connection. Just log on to the Library and Media Services website
at http://www.accd.edu/sac/lrc. Once there, click on "Databases". Electronic resources allow our users to make electronic copies, to download them onto their own computers or to email their findings to remote workstations and to print them on their own printers.
This particular group of new subscriptions was funded by savings realized by dropping subscriptions to approximately 280 microfilm subscriptions and by supplementing that amount with other monies allocated for materials purchases.
The first of the new databases is the Avery Index to Architectural Publications, a comprehensive guide to the current literature of architecture and design. It indexes 2,500 United States and foreign journals covering international, scholarly and popular periodical literature and the publications of professional associations. although published as an index, we have the benefit of some full-text content because the vendor, EBSCO, has linked it to full-text journals contained in EBSCO databases.
Also covering the subject of art is Grove Art Online . This database provides online access to the entire text of the 34-volume Dictionary of Art. It has over 45,000 articles covering visual arts from prehistory to the present covering the art and cultures of the world, biographies and links websites and color images.
Grove Music Online includes the full-text of the 29-volume New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, the 4 volume New Grove Dictionary of Opera, and the 3-volume New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. In addition to the articles, it also contains Sibelius-enabled musical examples and links to musical sites on the Internet.
The Oxford English Dictionary Online is the online version of the OED, widely acknowledged to be the most authoritative and comprehensive dictionary of English in the world. It traces the evolution of more than 600,000 words over the past 1500 years. In addition to the 20-volume Second Edition of the OED, it contains the three Additions series volumes.
American National Biography is the electronic version of the 24-volume set of the same title. It is the premier source for information about over 18,000 persons from all eras who have influenced American history and culture. Recently added to the online content is The Oxford Companion to the United States. This database also contains links to archival, library and other web sites.
Oxford Reference Online: Premium Collection including both the core and premium collections contain over 120 titles from the Oxford University Press Oxford Companion and Oxford Dictionary series. The content includes general reference, language and quotations, science and medicine, humanities and social sciences and business and professional matter. It also includes selected bilingual dictionaries.
We are awaiting the addition of yet one more database, AccessScience. Updated daily, this resource will contain the
latest content of the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, the McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms as well as late-breaking news and biographies of famous scientists.
Candace Peterson
Attorney Sarah Weddington will be the keynote speaker for San Antonio College's Women's History Week activities scheduled for March 2 to March 5. In 1973, at age 26, Weddington argued the winning side of the landmark case
Roe v. Wade before the United States Supreme Court. She was the youngest woman ever to win a
case in the Supreme Court.
Her presentation, "Some Leaders Are Born Women," takes place from 9:25 a.m. to 10:50 a.m. on Tuesday, March 2 in McAllister Auditorium. The presentation is open to the community. A reception will follow. For on campus locations or directions to the SAC campus, click Virtual Tour or Directions.
This year's theme is Daring Women. Wednesday, March 3rd and Thursday, March 4th will be devoted to films and documentaries that portray the struggles and successes of women from a variety of time periods, places, and social circumstances. All films are open to San Antonio College students, faculty, and staff. Movie titles, dates, and times can be accessed from the
Women's History Week web site: http://www.accd.edu/sac/vat/arthistory/arts1303/women.htm
On Friday, March 5th four faculty lectures on early "daring women" from Penelope Devereux Rich to 12th century scholar Heloise to 19th century women scientists will be given. The films and presentations will take place in VATC 120.
The following week Claudia Miller, Associate Professor of Environmental and Occupational Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, will speak on public health issues, including health problems caused by low level exposure to chemicals, pesticides, and preservatives found in the workplace.of the border region. Texas Monthly notes that, "Miller's lectures are perennially packed, guaranteeing that she will be a force in setting Texas' public health agenda for years to come."
Rita Mayer, chair of the Women's History Week Committee, adds, "Dr. Claudia Miller's daring researcher's mind sees the connection between groups whose health complaints have been dismissed as non-existent or not worthy of investigation: Gulf War veterans, Hispanic agricultural field workers, and middle-aged white female office workers. Through her research, writing, and testimony before Congress, Dr. Miller articulates the existence and prevalence of environmental illness whether the cause is burning oil fields, pesticides in the Valley, or that something coming through the vents causes those Monday morning headaches." Dr. Miller's presentation will take place from 9:25 a.m. to 10:50 a.m. on Tuesday, March 9 in McAllister Auditorium. The public is invited.
Readers can learn more about the work done by Ms. Weddington, Ms. Miller, the women highlighted in the Women's History Week films and other "daring women" in the following books, all available from the San Antonio College Library:
Eileen Oliver
Q: Why is Valentine's Day named for a martyred saint? That doesn't seem very romantic.
A: Some folks say that Saint Valentine, a Christian priest in Rome, married couples in spite of Emperor Claudius II's prohibition, or that Saint Valentine penned a note signed "from your Valentine" to the daughter of his jailer. Both tales sparked a connection between the doomed saint and this celebrated day of love. Alas, this time truth is not stranger than fiction. Saint Valentine was commemorated on the Catholic calendar on February 14 - so it is simply by his placement in the calendar that his name became associated with Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day itself actually has more to do with the Roman festival of Lupercalia - a spring and fertility celebration held in mid-February where participants drew names that would point to which sweetheart they could exchange gifts with over the coming year.
Source consulted: Festivals and Holidays, REF GT3924 .F47 1999
Q: Do I have to give my significant other a box of expensive chocolates on Valentine's Day? Wouldn't a nice box of fruit rollups work just as well?
A: To the Maya and the Aztec, chocolate was a drink for warriors. Chocolate even had ritual significance as a symbol of human blood. (What better way to say "I love you?") It is also a scientific fact that chocolate has several medicinal properties: it is a central nervous system stimulant, a diuretic, and a smooth muscle relaxant. And hey, that's two out of three that may set the mood for romance, if you are so inclined. Now consider the lowly fruit rollup. the decision is yours!
Source consulted: Encyclopedia of Food and Culture, REF GT2850 .E53 2003
Celita DeArmond
As the World Wide Web continues to unfold, its role as an all-pervasive reflection of our modern society becomes more apparent. The ever-increasing number and variety of web sites contain items that will inform, challenge, entertain, and often confuse the user. Here again are more examples of that odd mixture of form and function:
John R. Deosdade
During his compulsory service years, 1988-1990, he and his fellow guards saw enormous changes in the Soviet Union including the fall of the Berlin Wall. "I remember thinking, ' there's nothing to guard anymore!' " His first trip to San Antonio was by invitation from the United States Air Force to learn English at the Defense Language School at Lackland AFB. Armed with this new knowledge Aivars became an instructor of English to new cadets in his homeland.
Reference Librarian
< http://www.accd.edu/sac/library/exec/ask.htm > . Now, not only can you send your research question in via email (with a 24-hour turnaround time on answers) but you can also click on "Chat" to reach a live librarian for instant research help. The chat software includes helpful features such as book-marking, web push, and scripted responses, which speed up communication between librarian and researcher. For each researcher that comes into the chat room, a private chat area is created. A librarian can help several people all at once and maintain privacy (and order!) for each person and their topic.
Reference & Distance Education Librarian
Reference Librarian
Gracias Carol
Facts of Life, to the San Antonio College Library.
Library Instruction Scheduling
Black History Month Exhibit
Black Heritage Month Essay Competition
Back in 1996, a report to Congress was issued by the Government Printing Office setting forth a timetable for an orderly transition from paper-based federal documents to an electronic depository system. You can see the report for yourself at
http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/fdlp.html although ironically, SAC Library also has a paper copy of this study. The report predicted that an orderly transition from paper to electronic format would take five to seven years. A mere eight years later, GPO is still struggling to master
this transition. In fact, microfiche printing was abandoned in late 2003 because reliable printers no longer found it economically viable to bid on this format!
www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5314.htm
fatherhood.hhs.gov/pdf/ChartingParenthood02.pdf
www.dhs.gov/interweb/assetlibrary/reorganization_plan.pdf
www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/unlawful.htm
web1.whs.osd.mil/mmid/casualty/castop.htm
www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/sexualhealth/call.pdf
usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/transgov/
Head of Technical Services / Federal Documents Librarian
LIBRARY HOSTS RECEPTION FOR ARCHITECTURAL STUDENTS' EXHIBIT
Reference Librarian
Reference & Distance Learning Librarian
Darleen Daly is a well-known fixture during the evening hours at the Library's Reference Desk. Currently in her sixth year as an adjunct faculty librarian, she works from 5 p.m. to
10 p.m. Monday through Thursday nights.
She is a former Peace Corps volunteer where she taught English as a second language in Sabah, Malaysia on the island of Borneo. "I wanted to live in another culture and not just travel through a country," Darleen adds. "Back then we thought our presence in a host country would greatly change the people living there. However, it turned out to be a humbling experience in which I learned more than I taught." She later worked in technical services at Oberlin College in Ohio and at the University of Cincinnati. Her return to Texas was paved by an opportunity to work as a trainer with the Amigos Library Service in Dallas.
Reference Librarian
Reference Librarian
The renowned Oxford English Dictionary (OED) and the number one source for art, the Dictionary of Art are two of six new products added in January to the Library's extensive collection of online databases. "The Oxford English Dictionary is a great resource in print," English chairperson Alex Bernal adds. "Having it available 24 hours a day online is even better. It is a tremendous addition to the Library's resources."
Periodicals Librarian
SARAH WEDDINGTON LEADS DARING WOMEN DURING
WOMEN'S HISTORY WEEK
ND 623 .G366 A4 2001
RB 152.6 .A84 1998
GE 220 .E585 2002
E-BOOK (Electronic Resource)
HQ 1410 .C63 2002
E-BOOK (Electronic Resource)
KF 228 .R59 H85 2001
JZ 5578 .W669 H85 2002
Reference Librarian
SOUP TRIVIA
Reference & Distance Learning Librarian
This non-profit resource provides parents with information on finding and selecting quality child care and links to child care resources in individual communities across America. It includes licensing / accreditation information on providers and includes a parenting newsletter, The Daily Parent.
Some of us might remember the humorous or "wacky" Valentines that our parents did not let us give out.
Interestingly, we have nothing over the lovelorn in the mid to late 1800s. Using laced and embossed decorations, these Valentines cards illustrate the often risque humor of the Victorian times.
Next time you are driving down Interstate Highway 10 outside Phoenix, Arizona remember to heed the highway sign that states: "State Prison: Do Not Stop for Hitchhikers." Our
lawsuit-conscious society has prompted the posting of these and other "common sense" advisories on products and services we use in our daily lives.
Featured on the National Public Radio web site, Election 2004 links to a series of NPR reports on topics such as health care, homeland security, the Iraqi war, job growth and economy, taxation, etc.
This award-winning resource contains "eye witness" accounts of some of history's major events, including the suicide of Socrates, Columbus' voyage to the new world, the execution of France's Louis XVI, the death of President Abraham Lincoln, the discovery of King Tut's tomb, and others.
Sponsored by the Wine Market Council, this site has helpful information on wine varieties, growing regions, wine / food combinations, glossary of terms, etc. designed to help the both the wine novice / connoisseur and also offers an email "question & answer" service.
Reference Librarian
Catalog Databases Library & Media Services Home Page Library Soup Archive New Books
URL: http://www.accd.edu/sac/library/instruct/lrcnews/soup0204.htm
Web page designed by: John R. Deosdade
Last modified: Tuesday, October 25, 2005
© 2004 San Antonio College Library and Media Services
1001 Howard Street
San Antonio, TX 78212
Phone: (210) 785-6201
Library Soup photography by
Leonard Ziegler
Some images here provided by:
IconBAZAAR
www.iconbazaar.com
