March EBook of the Month

J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye: Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations
Edited by Harold Bloom
Chelsea House Publishers, 2009
Product ID: 274103

J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye: Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations will be provided with free, unlimited access March 1-31, 2010. Click below to learn more.

The Catcher in the Rye is one of the most popular and influential coming-of-age novels ever written, and its 17-year-old protagonist, Holden Caulfield, has become an icon of teen angst. The full-length essays in the March eBook of the Month provide a critical look at this classic by J.D. Salinger.

Edited by master scholar and Yale University Professor Harold Bloom, this comprehensive study guide presents a selection of the best current criticism and includes:

Critical essays reflecting a variety of schools of criticism
Notes on the contributing critics, a chronology of the author's life, and a bibliography
Introductory essay by Harold Bloom.

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And on another note: EBSCO has bought NetLibrary. Someday these ebooks will be searchable via the EBSCO database:

Dear EBSCOhost Customers:

If you currently purchase eBooks or have considered adding eBooks to your collection, we hope this email comes as exciting news to you. Effective Wednesday, March 17th, EBSCO Publishing and OCLC finalized an agreement whereby EBSCO has acquired NetLibrary, a leading eBook platform and service. It has been a pleasure working with OCLC, who saw EBSCO as the ideal candidate to continue to serve NetLibrary customers, and take the service to new heights.

EBSCO’s goal is to better serve research by offering the strongest possible collection of materials and the greatest accessibility and usability. As eBooks become more prominently used and relied upon by libraries, they are an ideal addition to the EBSCO suite of resources. As EBSCOhost is the single most-used premium research platform in libraries worldwide, and overall usage continues to steadily increase, it follows logically that searching databases and eBooks on a single platform would create a more complete, fruitful one-stop research experience for end users. Many librarians have requested we move in this direction, and we are pleased to be doing so.

At present, EBSCO will continue to support and enhance the NetLibrary platform, with the goal of enabling EBSCOhost to appropriately incorporate eBook availability in the near future. In the coming months, we will be conducting focus groups, advisory sessions and usability testing to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of eBook platforms, and investigate the various models for accessibility and purchase. We will provide updates on our progress as we move forward. Additionally, we plan to maintain the dark archive of eBooks to ensure accessibility for customers who have purchased and will continue to purchase NetLibrary eBooks. MARC records for these eBooks will also continue to be provided (at no cost).

Thank you for your patronage and support of EBSCO resources. We are excited about what the future holds for EBSCOhost users. If you have any questions regarding your current NetLibrary account, or would like to explore eBooks in subject sets or on a title by title level, please contact your EBSCO representative.

Kind regards,

Scott

Scott Bernier
Vice President of Marketing
EBSCO Publishing

sbernier@ebscohost.com

Chris Biggs will sell us the legal KS documents from now on...

Hello all...

With the naming of Chris Biggs as the 30th Kansas Secretary of State we thought it was a good time to review some of the duties and powers of that state office. Below is a link to the most recent Kansas Government Information (KGI) blog:

http://ksdocs.blogspot.com/2010/03/kansas-secretary-of-state.html

Have a good one

Bill Sowers



Bill Sowers
Kansas Publications & Cataloging
State Library of Kansas
300 SW 10th, Room 169-W
Topeka, KS 66612
ksdocs@kslib.info
785-296-3296

American History in Video - Rated by Library Journal a Ten!

“Based on content, design, and price, this product is a solid ten. It tops any other similarly themed resource in its field and, at this price, is an amazing deal. . . . This is a product I wish every library in the United States could make accessible to its researchers, from elementary-school children to history scholars, and everybody in between. Resoundingly recommended.”—Library Journal

Since launching last April, American History in Video has grown to include more than 4,000 titles and 1,000 hours. It will continue to grow to include more than 5,000 complete titles and 2,000 hours of rare newsreels and important documentaries from leading producers such as PBS, The History Channel®, Bullfrog Films, Media Rich Learning, and California Newsreel.

And we've got it here at Butler! Log on through your pipeline tab "Library". For questions: Judy Bastin or Martha Gregg, via the "Ask your librarian".

Reading?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6D9jiEYxzs

National Library Week coming

It's time to announce the Butler Community College Library award to one of our faculty members who demonstrates the best use of the library in teaching and learning. I’m calling it called the DEWEY award: “Developing Education with an Excellent Library – Yours” ... also known as “Dream Educator Wisely Enthralls You in the Library.”

You’ll be able to nominate your fellow faculty who demonstrate:

• innovative, consistent, effective use of the library in teaching
• program activities that bring students and/or the community into the library
• promotion, encouragement or support of the library and its resources and services
• contributions towards thoughtful, timely, and in-depth resource development

I’ll have everything posted on the website for you. The award will be made during National Library Week in April, and announced at the spring Institutional Development Day. The winner will receive:

• a $500 grant to select books for the library out of the library budget
• a $50 Barnes and Noble gift certificate to purchase books for self-inspiration presented in a lovely basket of goodies
• an appearance on library READ posters around the institution and bookmarks
• a permanent position in the library on the Award plaque listing all winners
• and a certain amount of publicity or notoriety

I can’t wait to see who wins!

--Micaela

Oxford Announces new e-reference

January 2010 Update

New Content

Welcome to 2010! In this first update of the new decade, we enhance and expand Oxford Reference Online's language and religion content, and offer brand new OUP content dedicated to Sports Studies. With three new titles – The Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang, and A Dictionary of Sports Studies – and three new editions – A Dictionary of the Bible, A Dictionary of Popes, and The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms – plus thousands of other updated entries throughout the site, this update is packed full of interesting, useful, and trustworthy information.
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Remember, you can get to online reference books through your Pipeline tab "Library"!

Exciting times...

Now Is the 'Most Exciting Period to Be a Reader'

"Amidst all the doom and gloom (Books are dying! Print is dead! The Kindle will destroy us all! Big Publishers want to kill your pets! ARMAGEDDON IS NIGH!!!), I just want to take a moment to proclaim that this is quite possibly the most exciting period to be a reader in my lifetime. Think about it: when was the last time books and publishing were as much a part of the daily conversation as they are now?... [I]n my thirty years on this planet, I cannot remember a time when so many people were discussing books themselves, the future of books, and what it all means for everyone involved. All in all books have a 'buzz' about them that I can't recall ever feeling. The future of publishing feels like an important discussion well outside the cul-de-sac of the industry itself, and there are more books and book-related discussions than I can remember in a long, long time."--Jason Pinter in the Huffington Post.