News & Updates

Gisella Stalloch, Metadata and Cataloging Assistant, and Beth Bohstedt, Director of Access Services and Collection Strategies, presented posters at the May 19  meeting of the Eastern New York Chapter of the Association of College and Research Libraries in Binghamton.   

In March 2013, when Hamilton joined edX, Dean Reynolds indicated that one of Hamilton’s goals was enabling faculty “to bring their scholarship and pedagogy to the public, engaging an expanded community with their unique contributions.” Last week, professors Doran Larson and Brent Plate spoke about realizing that goal, and the lessons they learned from offering Hamilton’s first two massively open online courses (MOOCs).

Grading papers with nothing but sources pulled straight from Google? Students need to understand the value of information so that they can understand the value of putting more time and effort into research. This is especially important for first years given the variety of high school experiences. This brief video explains how the library can help!

Deborah Reichler participated in a panel called "Surveying the Spatial Humanities" at the May 11 meeting of the Northeast ArcGIS Users Group in Amherst, MA.   

In partnership with edX, the online learning initiative created by Harvard and MIT, Hamilton College launched two Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) this spring. Over 6,000 participants from over 132 countries were enrolled in courses offered by two of Hamilton's professors: Spirituality and Sensuality: Sacred Objects in Religious Life presented by Visiting Associate Professor of Religious Studies S. Brent Plate, and Incarceration's Witnesses: American Prison Writing, presented by Professor of English Doran Larson.

Glynis Asu, Research and Information Literacy Librarian, recently participated in a panel presentation at the Association for College and Research Libraries 2015 Conference in Portland OR: Partners in Design: Consortial Collaboration for Digital Learning Object Creation - How the NY6 Information Literacy/Blended Learning collective engaged in the exploration, creation, and dissemination of Digital Learning Objects (DLOs). The panel discussed the logistics of creating a sustainable, highly effective cooperative, and detailed lessons learned in creating DLOs.

On April 15, Monk Rowe, Joe Williams Director of the Jazz Archive, presented an interactive lecture/demonstration at the The Other Side in Utica entitled "The Blues in 12 Bars Will Free Your Spirit." This was the last presentation in the 2014-15 Imagining America Series organized by Professor Carl Rubino. With guitarist John Hutson, they explored the 12 measure blues form, the AAB lyrics scheme and how the blues has been an integral part of American popular music since the early 1900s. Audience members composed a new song using the blues form, appropriately entitled "The Taxman Blues".

Alex Rihm, Research and First Year Experience Librarian, and Lisa Forrest, Director of Research and Instruction Services, recently traveled to Rochester to present "Poetry Speaks: Supporting the College’s Learning Goals Through Literary Programming" at the Rochester Regional Library Council's Silo-Busting Bonanza poster session.

This poster, focusing on the collaborative aspects of the library's Apple & Quill creative arts series, was presented to 70 central New York librarians.

One of the great things about working in Special Collections is that I get to be around and work with materials that are often very old, rare and perhaps even one of a kind. There have been times that we simply stumble upon things tucked inside of a book, such as an original broadside advertisement for a lecture to be given by Sojourner Truth in the 1880s. Last year, as many of you heard, we found a collection of original signed letters from some of the leaders in the Women’s Suffrage Movement, including great names such as Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Isabella Beecher Hooker.

While waiting for the long winter to depart and the golf season to begin I have been reading a variety of books with golf themes, some biographical and some for self-improvement.  Most recently I tackled Golf’s Three Noble Truths by James Ragonnet, a professor of English and golf coach at Springfield College.  One of his three truths is awareness by which he means being fully awake and watchful about everything you do.  If I do so he promises improvement in my game.  While I am skeptical about his advice about golf, I do think increasing awareness is the key to improving information security at Hamilton.  Moreover, creating a culture of awareness (aligning what we believe and say with what we do) is critical to reducing the risk of compromising sensitive information. Three small ways to begin to create this culture are avoiding Phishing, creating strong passwords and using screen locking.