Gleeson Gleanings

Check out our newest display in the lobby on gardening, the Slow Food movement, cooking, and eating, and pick up a reading list of selected books on these topics at Gleeson Library. Happy Thanksgiving!

Google is in the process of making available the entire LIFE archive — about 10 million photos. So far, they have digitized and put online about 20% of the collection.  From the Google blog post:

We’re excited to announce the availability of never-before-seen images from the LIFE photo archive. This effort to bring offline images online was inspired by our mission to organize all the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. This collection of newly-digitized images includes photos and etchings produced and owned by LIFE dating all the way back to the 1750s.

Only a very small percentage of these images have ever been published. The rest have been sitting in dusty archives in the form of negatives, slides, glass plates, etchings, and prints. We’re digitizing them so that everyone can easily experience these fascinating moments in time.

The book club has big news to announce! It is now open to students! That means we invite students, staff, and faculty to join us to discuss our pick of the month. Students — tell your friends!

We are reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz.

We will meet for the last time of 2008 to discuss this book on Tuesday, December 16 from 12 noon – 1 pm in the seminar room (2nd Fl) Electronic Classroom (1st Floor, Rm. 139) of Gleeson Library. Bring your lunch and spread the word!

Click the image above to access a review of the book courtesy of the New York Times.

If you want to get the book through the library, click here to request it through Link+ (the Gleeson copy is currently checked out). Link+ will get the book from an affiliate library and send it here in about 4 business days. It’s free! Click here for more info about Link+.

photo by Daniela Contreras

photo by Daniela Contreras

Gleeson’s video collection is an eclectic mix of documentaries and feature films on DVD and VHS. Although they’re all in the catalog, they’re somewhat hidden because you have to ask for them at the circulation desk. We’re featuring some of them in connection with USF’s celebration of International Education Week. Along with films from Africa, South America, Europe, and Asia, there are books on international cinema, and art objects collected by Professor Johnnie Johnson Hafernik. Please feel free to take an IEW bookmark and check out any of the books or videos.

International students are offering the USF community a wealth of cultural treasure this week. There’s video of course: African Awareness Club hosts This is Nollywood about the Nigerian film industry on Tuesday night, and Amnesty International presents Maquilapolis Wednesday evening. Tuesday afternoon there are dance lessons in Brazilian Forró. Tuesday and Thursday evening, stop by the tables in the World Market to practice another language. Spend your lunchtime Wednesday in McLaren 252 listening to stories and folktales from around the world. And don’t miss Culturescape Friday night! IEW’s signature event features an amazing array of global cultures including dance, music and international food. Tickets are on sale this week in front of University Center at lunch and dinnertime. Here’s a sample to whet your appetite.

About the library videos: Most have been acquired at the request of faculty who wish to use a particular title for classes. Unless it’s on reserve for a class, any video can be checked out by USF students, staff or faculty. To find international video in the library catalog, search the subject terms feature films or documentary films.

Two of our library staff members and 32 other USF students, staff, and faculty have entered USF’s IEW 2008 photo contest. Depicting “Global Citizens in Action,” the photos illustrate how the USF community has been touched by cultural exchange.

All USF staff, faculty and students are invited to vote this week on your favorites. See them on the IEW website, on this PowerPoint presentation, or on Facebook. Then vote for your top three here, before Friday Nov. 14 at 2 p.m.

I’m having a hard time deciding on three favorites. There are a lot of good pictures here.

Stay tuned for more on International Education Week, sponsored by ISSS (International Student and Scholar Services), the Center for Global Education, the ESL department, Residence Life, and a bunch of other campus departments including Gleeson/Geschke.

Go Kelci and Fabi!

Update: the votes are in and the winners are posted here. See a slideshow of all the entries on the monitor in the library lobby.

Yesterday the library participated in Stress Less Day, a half-day long event organized by Health Promotion Services. We displayed a variety of library books, magazines, and pamphlets on the Slow Food movement, gardening, healing foods, and wellness. Hope you got a chance to visit our table! If not, stop by the Reference Desk in the library and we can help you find books and other sources on these subjects. 

The top floor of the Gleeson library was recently remodeled. A large part of the space is for use by students and the south side of the floor was designed for use by USF adjunct faculty.

Gleeson Top Floor Study Space

If you haven’t checked out the 4ht floor recently –  we hope you will. It’s a great place to study and the views are some of the best on campus.  If you need help finding your way up to the 4th floor, anyone at the Circulation desk can tell you how to get there.

Please let us know what you think in the comments.

Busy? We can help! Gleeson Library is offering a new on-campus book delivery service for USF faculty and a book paging option for all library borrowers.

If you are designated as a USF Faculty Member by USF HR, to request a book for delivery, go to the library catalog, find the book you are looking for, and click the “Request” button or link. You will be asked to enter your name and USF ID number.  Then, choose “Mail to,” and select the campus mail stop for your department from the drop down menu.  We’ll send the book to the department you selected via campus mail.  Please expect deliveries to arrive within three business days. 

If you are a student or library borrower who would like to have books paged (or a faculty member who would prefer to come by the library and pick up paged books from the front desk), please follow the first three steps listed above (use the library catalog, click “Request,” and log on).  Then select “Pickup Location: Gleeson Circulation Desk.” We will retrieve your requests from our stacks by 5pm the next business day and will hold books at the circulation desk for you for up to 10 days.

Distance/Regional faculty can place page and delivery requests for library books online by clicking the “Request” button and choosing the Distance Regional location in the “Mail to” drop down menu. Students who are designated as Distance Ed in their patron record may also request pages and deliveries, by following the same steps. Distance/Regional patrons can also have books paged and held at Gleeson for them to pick up.

Please visit our faculty delivery and paging websites for more detailed information.  If you have any questions about these new library services, please feel free to contact Access Services at 415-422-2662 or access_services@usfca.edu.