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2/5/2010

The Procrastinator's Guide to Getting Things Done. By Monica Ramirez Basco

Are you a procrastinator? Then this month’s free e-book is for you. Expressly designed for people who want to make changes but don’t want an elaborate self-help program, this guide is packed with highly practical tips and suggestions.
The book is full of anecdotes and tips from "recovering procrastinators.” Inviting quizzes, exercises, and practical suggestions help you:
•    Understand why you procrastinate.
•    Start with small changes that lead to big improvements.
•    Outsmart your own delaying tactics.
•    Counteract self-doubt and perfectionism.
•    Build crucial skills for getting things done today.

Click here or on the book jacket to access the book. Stop by the OWHL with questions.

Posted at 4:42 PM by Elisabeth E Tully | Category: Electronic Resources | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

12/11/2009

Masifunde Sonke: Let Us Read Together

The OWHL is proud to announce our participation in a literacy initiative of South Africa Partners.

We have purchased and are displaying a collection of 25 children's books written and illustrated by South Africans, which "exhibit literary excellence, and incorporate themes of justice, hope, and renewal." For each book purchased in the United States, SA Partners donates a book in the purchaser's name to a school in South Africa. The OWHL's participation means that a set of the books will be given to the library in a rural school. The colorful and engaging books are written in English, and will appeal to young readers both here and in South Africa.

The goals of the Masifunde Sonke book project are to:

Increase literacy and a joy of reading among students in rural and township public schools in South Africa
Foster an appreciation of South African children’s books in the United States
Facilitate contact and exchanges between South African and U.S. schools, educators, and learners
Stimulate economic development in South Africa through purchasing books directly from South African publishers

Stop by the OWHL to see our display of the books. Check one out to read with your own children. And when you are choosing holiday gifts, consider a purchase of one or more of these books.

Posted at 9:45 AM by Elisabeth E Tully | Category: Featured Resource | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

12/7/2009

St. Paul's School Archivists visit the OWHL

Of all of the departments in the library, perhaps none has been affected more by the proliferation of digital media than the Archive. Recently, three librarians from the St. Paul’s School traveled to Andover to discuss their plans to digitize an archival collection of photographs of the hockey team and display them on the Internet.. During a lively discussion with Tim Sprattler, Interim Archivist, and Elisabeth Tully, Library Director, there was consensus that digitization and remote storage are essential to the preservation of fragile photograph collections. The group also agreed that libraries should provide free and wide access to these photographs by creating records for them in the automated catalog or in an online database.

The archival photograph collection of Phillips Academy consists of hundreds of photographs of people, places, and events illustrating the history of Phillips Academy. The collection is currently stored in various locations throughout the building. Few of these locations are climate controlled. The majority of the photographs are stored in the fifth floor stacks, where the temperature and humidity fluctuations are extreme. The collection contains some very old photographs, printed on paper without preservatives. Many of the older images have already begun to deteriorate.

Traditionally, the catalog of the OWH library has provided access exclusively to print monographs and serials. For the past several years, however we have been selectively augmenting monograph records with images and hyperlinks to related information on the Internet. The catalog is a database, and as such, is ideally suited to receive content in other media, such as images, sounds, video, etc.

As time and resources permit, the OWHL plans to digitize a popular subset of the photography collection—that set of images of individuals and teams involved in sports at Phillips Academy between approximately 1890 and 1990. Many of these images have hand written annotations identifying the individuals, teams, and dates of the photographs. This information will be included in the electronic record for each image.

The meeting with St. Paul’s librarians marks the beginning of a series of collaborations with libraries in our peer group as we all tackle the complex issues surrounding the digitization of our Archives.

Posted at 1:56 PM by Elisabeth E Tully | Category: Archives | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

Sports Nutrition on Display

Are you an athlete who is looking for an edge when competing? Are you a coach who is looking for ways to guide your team in eating well? Even if you are not a competitive athlete, the consumption of high-quality food is inextricably linked to success in athletic (and academic) endeavors. Eating to optimize performance is the subject of OWHL’s current book display on Sports Nutrition. Stop by and check it out!

Posted at 10:26 AM by Elisabeth E Tully | Category: Print Resources | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

Boston Globe on a Kindle

The OWHL has recently purchased an electronic reader (Kindle DX) under a unique partnership between Amazon and the Boston Globe, in which a one-year subscription to the electronic version of the Globe is included with the purchase of the Kindle. The library currently pays $564 dollars a year for delivery of the print edition of the paper, and we are experimenting with ways to reduce that expense without decreasing access. The device permits us to wirelessly download the newspaper every night, so that the current edition is available each morning. Issues archived during the subscription will also be available on the Kindle. The Boston Globe Kindle will be kept at the circulation desk. It will be available for in-library use only, and borrowers will be asked to leave a PA ID. Please help us evaluate this approach by stopping by the library to read the Boston Globe on our Kindle.

Posted at 9:52 AM by Elisabeth E Tully | Category: Featured Resource | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

12/6/2009

Cook up a great holiday

The holidays have always been times to spend with family and friends, and to eat meals together. Have some fun over the break by trying out some new recipes. The OWHL is showcasing some excellent cookbooks with festive recipes for every cook, from novice to experienced. You will find classic, traditional dishes, as well as creative, inventive ones. Some of the books focus on vegan or vegetarian dishes, but that doesn’t mean only vegetarians will like the recipes. If you love food, check out our latest display on cookery. Happy Eating!

Posted at 12:47 PM by Elisabeth E Tully | Category: Print Resources | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

12/1/2009

Academy Archivist helps celebrate reading at the Pike School

Interim Academy Archivist Tim Sprattler recently traveled to the Pike School to participate in Pike’s Annual Celebration of Reading. He chose a couple of cautionary tales to read to the fourth grade students, including Struwwelpeter, which was translated from the German into English by Mark Twain.

All of the children enjoyed The Gashlycrumb Tinies, an alphabet book by Edward Gorey.

Tim also delighted the children with three examples of books featuring fore-edge paintings from Special Collections.

Posted at 4:29 PM by Elisabeth E Tully | Category: Events | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

11/13/2009

NEASC reflections from the OWHL, Part one

The Academy is currently undertaking a self-study in preparation for our re-accreditation by NEASC. This comprehensive process, which occurs only once a decade, provides an excellent opportunity for all areas to reflect on what we do. This is the first in a series of posts that will hightlight aspects of the program and services of the OWHL.

The Oliver Wendell Holmes Library sits at the physical center of the Academy Campus. That was not an architectural accident. Traditionally, academic libraries have occupied positions at the heart of their campuses, in both the physical and intellectual senses. The OWHL is, second to Commons, the most active building on campus. The library is open seven days a week, for a total of 86 hours. During the course of an average day, more than seven hundred students pass through our doors. Members of the library staff have more meaningful contact with more students than any other adults on campus. Students come to the library to study individually and collaboratively, to interact with their peers, to find materials to meet their academic and personal needs. They also come to learn how to navigate the vast, confusing information landscape in class instruction and individual research consultations with instructional librarians who are at the same time information professionals and skilled instructors.

Phillips Academy strives to be a school that educates outstanding youth from every quarter by effectively challenging them to develop their potential and to depart as thoughtful, versatile, responsible participants in the global community. In the 21st century, it is not sufficient for our students to fully master the content of a rigorous curriculum. Rather, they must become critical thinkers and effective and ethical users of information so that they can continue learning throughout their lives. This skill is sometimes referred to as “Information Literacy” and it is the core of the OWHL’s instructional program. More about teaching at the OWHL in Part two next week.

Posted at 11:54 AM by Elisabeth E Tully | Category: Information Literacy | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

Veterans Remembered at the OWHL

Phillips Academy has a long tradition of military service. The Academy supported the Revolutionary war effort through the work of Samuel Phillips, Jr. who owned the gunpowder factory that produced the gunpowder for Washington’s army. Eliphalet Pearson, the first Academy Headmaster, developed the formula for this gunpowder. In remembrance of all the Academy men and women who have served in WW I and WW II, we have created two displays, one on the south wall and the other in the case outside the Garver Room. The Archive holds materials from these and other American wars. If you are interested in learning more, please contact interim Archivist Tim Sprattler.

Posted at 11:50 AM by Elisabeth E Tully | Category: Events | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

OWHL Hosts the Alumni Council

Eleven members of the Alumni Council received a special tour of the Archive and Special Collections from Tim Sprattler, interim Archivist, last Friday evening. The group paused to consider the current displays on Student Rebellions and miniature books before heading upstairs for a tour of the Archive office. The tour highlight was a trip to the cavernous library attic, where the group examined paintings and pictures of current and former school buildings. They were intrigued by the enormous bound copies of the London Times and student records from the early days of the Academy. They were enthusiastic about the prospect of digitizing selected archival material and making these treasures of school history available over the Internet. Tim explained one of the OWHL’s digital initiatives involving the Internet Archive, and showed them a link to one of the enhanced records in the library catalog. These catalog records each point to a physical item in our special collections, but they contain a link taking the user to an electronic full text version of the item.

Posted at 11:43 AM by Elisabeth E Tully | Category: Events | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

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