November 2008 Archives

November 5, 2008

November 11: The Founding Fathers and the American Monarchy

Frank Prochaska
Lecturer and Senior Research Scholar
Department of History, Yale University

Tuesday, November 11, 4:00 p.m.
Sterling Memorial Library Lecture Hall, 128 Wall Street
Free and open to the public | Reception to follow

Having witnessed a watershed moment in America's history, join us on November 11 for a look back at the early history of the presidency. Frank Prochaska, author of The Eagle and the Crown: Americans and the British Monarchy (Yale University Press, 2008) will discuss his new book and will argue that America’s Founding Fathers created what Teddy Roosevelt later called an “elective king” in the office of the president, conferring quasi-regal status on the occupant of the Oval Office and his successors.

Frank Prochaska has taught, researched, and published British history for more than thirty years. He received his PhD from Northwestern University in 1972 and has taught in various American and British Universities, including Northwestern; the University of Wisconsin, Madison; St. Hugh's College, Oxford; University College London; Royal Holloway College, London University; and Yale in London. He has been a Research Fellow at the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine and a Visiting Fellow at All Soul's College, Oxford. He is currently an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Historical Research in London, an Honorary Research Fellow at Royal Holloway College, and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

The lecture is free and open to the public and will be followed by a reception.

Posted by Yale University Library on November 5, 2008 4:00 PM

November 6, 2008

Trial Subscriptions to the Historical Guardian and Observer & Documents on British Policy Overseas

The Library has trial subscriptions to two new databases: The Historical [Manchester] Guardian and Observer and Documents on British Policy Overseas .

The Historical [Manchester] Guardian and Observer covers the period 1791 -2003; it is part of the suite of ProQuest "Historical Newspapers Complete" which you can get to from the Databases web page or with this link Historical Newspapers Complete: http://proquest.umi.com/login.

Use the drop-down menu to select the Historical Guardian and Observer, or "select multiple databases" to search this newspaper along with others.

Documents on British Policy Overseas provides users with access to a wide range of primary source documents from Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), shedding light on throughout the twentieth century. Selected and edited by the official historians of the FCO, Documents on British Policy Overseas includes many documents specifically de-classified for inclusion in the series.

Documents on British Policy Overseas contains three distinct collections, which together form a continuous exploration of British foreign policy and diplomatic history:

-British Documents on the Origins of the War 1898-1914
-Documents on British Foreign Policy 1918-1939
-Documents on British Policy Overseas

For more information see: http://dbpo.chadwyck.com/info/about.do. To use the database go to: http://dbpo.chadwyck.com/.

Comments about these databases can be directed to Susanne Roberts. A reminder that off-campus readers will need to log-in to Library resources via VPN or the Proxy Server. Click here for more information.

Posted by Yale University Library on November 6, 2008 4:21 PM

November 12, 2008

New Look for the Visual Resources Collection

New features and a bold new design are now available for Yale University Library's Visual Resources Collection (VRC). The VRC contains over 250,000 images of art, architecture, and art objects used by students and faculty in teaching and learning.

The new design, released now in its initial beta phase, is called Metagallery and allows users to login and create groups, browse groups created by others, and even add their own items to groups. Metagallery is available to anyone on the Yale campus at http://images.library.yale.edu/metagallery.

Continue reading "New Look for the Visual Resources Collection" »

Posted by Yale University Library on November 12, 2008 10:54 AM

November 14, 2008

Genius in a Bottle: Perfume as a Copyrightable Creative Work?

Charles Cronin
Information Society Project, Yale Law School

Monday, November 17, 3:00 p.m. [Not 4:00 p.m. as earlier advertised]
Sterling Memorial Library Lecture Hall, 128 Wall Street
Free and open to the public

Copyright protects expressive works of intellectual endeavor: literature, music, films, perfume... Perfume?? "Yes," said the Netherlands Supreme Court in a recent decision; "Yes" and "No" have said various French courts grappling with the same question over the past twenty-five years. This presentation considers whether copyright should be extended to such products of human ingenuity, and the role of human perception in determinations of copyright eligibility. We will experiment with a number of fragrances, and all who attend should leave in an "odour of sanctity" (or at least that of Chanel).

This is the first lecture in a new series devoted to copyright and intellectual property being sponsored by the University Library and the Information Society Project. Future speakers include:

James Neal
Vice President for Information Services & University Librarian, Columbia University
December 2, 3:00 p.m.

Sheree Carter-Galvan
Copyright Counsel, Yale University
February 2, 2009, 3:00 p.m.

Kenny Crews
Director of the Copyright Advisory Office, Columbia University
March 5, 2009, 3:00 p.m.

All lectures are free and open to the public and will take place in the Sterling Memorial Library lecture hall, 128 Wall Street. For more information, contact Geoffrey Little.

Posted by Yale University Library on November 14, 2008 8:50 AM

November 19, 2008

Library Green Team Blog Now Live

The University Library has launched a blog to document the actions and activities of the Library Green Team, a group of staff from across the Library system working to make Yale University Library a greener and more sustainable workplace. Visit the blog to find out what we're doing to reduce energy consumption, increase recycling, and promote environmentally sustainable work practices to support of Yale's wider goal of reducing its carbon footprint.

The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library also has a blog, 'The Greening of the Beinecke', that describes their green goals and actions.

Posted by Yale University Library on November 19, 2008 10:26 AM

November 20, 2008

Teaching w/ Technology Tuesdays: RSS and Alerts

This session will focus on the use of RSS feeds for pedagogical purposes. RSS stands for “Real Simple Syndication.” RSS is a protocol that lets users subscribe to online content using an RSS “reader” or “aggregator”. Rather than checking 20 or 50 or 100 blogs every day, subscribing to RSS feeds using an aggregator allows you to receive regular updates from your favorite information sources on the web. Aggregating and culling information from the web in this manner is pedagogically relevant for a wide range of courses and disciplines. RSS provides an efficient way for students to keep in touch with faculty, stay informed about coursework and other academic activities, and follow developments in their fields of study.

Robin Ladouceur will introduce RSS feeds and give an overview of RSS feed readers and aggregators. Barbara Stuart will present her use of RSS Feeds in her English 114 course this fall on the Election.

When?
Tuesday from 1:00-2:00 p.m.

Where?
Bass Library room L01 (lower level of the Bass Library)

Who?
Barbara Stuart, English Lecturer
Robin Ladouceur, Instructional Design Specialist, Instructional Technology Group

Posted by Yale University Library on November 20, 2008 2:06 PM

November 26, 2008

Yufind Upgrade

On Tuesday, November 25, the Library made a significant upgrade to Yufind. Readers will notice much faster system response times and much more accurate faceting by subject, author, language, and more. Readers will also notice more options for redirecting searches from Yufind to other indexes and search engines. The Library hopes to have a tagging and annotation tool in place within the next week. We hope you enjoy the improvements and we look forward to receiving your questions or comments.

Recent feedback has revealed that some readers do not like the name "Yufind" (Yale University Find), based on software originally developed at Villanova University (i.e., VU-FIND). The Library is considering alternate names, but feel free to submit your own suggestions to the Yufind Project Team.

Posted by Yale University Library on November 26, 2008 9:30 AM

December 4: Dale Martin, Author of Sex and the Single Savior

Dale Martin
Woolsey Professor of Religious Studies, Yale University
Thursday, December 4, 4:00 p.m.
Sterling Memorial Library Lecture Hall, 128 Wall Street
Free and open to the public

Dale Martin specializes in New Testament and Christian origins, including attention to social and cultural history of the Greco-Roman world. Before joining the Yale faculty in 1999, he taught at Rhodes College and Duke University. His books include: Slavery as Salvation: The Metaphor of Slavery in Pauline Christianity; The Corinthian Body; Inventing Superstition: from the Hippocratics to the Christians; Sex and the Single Savior: Gender and Sexuality in Biblical Interpretation; and Pedagogy of the Bible: an Analysis and Proposal.

Professor Martin will speak about his recent book Sex and the Single Savior: Gender and Sexuality in Biblical Interpretation, including explaining his own movement from a childhood in fundamentalist Christianity to his current position as a spokesperson for something approaching a "postmodern Christianity."

Posted by Yale University Library on November 26, 2008 10:02 AM

December 3: Historical Sound Recordings Collection Staff Concert

Yale Collection of Historical Sound Recordings Staff Concert
Wednesday, December 3, 12:00 noon
Sterling Memorial Library Lecture Hall, 128 Wall Street
Free and open to the public

Staff from the Yale Collection of Historical Sound Recordings and the Gilmore Music Library, along with a guest performer from the Neighborhood Music School, will present a lunchtime concert in the Sterling Memorial Library lecture hall at 12 noon on Wednesday, December 3. The performance is free and open to all and will feature works by Debussy, Vaughan Williams, Schubert, Charles Ives, and Cole Porter.

The Yale Collection of Historical Sound Recordings collects, preserves, and makes available recordings of performers important in the fields of Western classical music, jazz, American musical theater, drama, literature, and history, including oratory.

Posted by Yale University Library on November 26, 2008 10:08 AM

December 2: James Neal on Why "Copyright Still Matters"

James Neal
Vice President for Information Services and University Librarian, Columbia University
"Copyright Still Matters: Preparing the Academy for the Attack on Balance and Fair Use"
Tuesday, December 2, 3:00 p.m.
Sterling Memorial Library Lecture Hall, 128 Wall Street
Free and open to the public

This presentation will highlight key legislative and legal developments related to copyright of concern to the research university community, and will call for understanding, commitment and action for the advancement of academic interests. Mr. Neal will also speak about the Section 108 study, which focused on updating proposals for the new digital environment. The talk will be a fascinating insight into the workings of such a group and the various positions and tensions experienced therein. In turn, these lead to inconclusive and sometimes vexed outcomes.

James Neal has been involved over the past twenty years in a variety of initiatives at the national and global levels in the areas of copyright and scholarly communication. He participated in the recently concluded Section 108 (of the US Copyright Act) expert study. Section 108 addresses exceptions to copyright law, in particular how libraries and archives deal with copyrighted materials in fulfilling their scholarly missions.

Posted by Yale University Library on November 26, 2008 10:13 AM