Is your Facebook profile private as you think?

"Social network users assume a degree of privacy within their circle of friends — but it's not a safe assumption to make... A social network account can be seen by the company that runs the service, of course, but there's also the possibility of third-party snooping." read more at NPR.org

Library BOOook Fun Run/Walk - Oct 31

Join the libraries at NSU and Presentation College, and the Alexander Mitchell Public Library on this Halloween costume fun run. Wear your costume for either of these events:

• 1 mile family walk/run - NSU Library to the Public Library
• 5k run - NSU Library to PC

Details

• When: Saturday, October 31
• Time: 3pm
• Registration: 2-3pm
• Pre-registration form
• Location: Williams Library, NSU campus
• Fee: $15 individual, $20 family
  

Proceeds of run will benefit the Alexander Mitchell Public Library

New subject book lists added to library site

The Williams Library recently created book lists by subjects. Each subject's book list provides the latest titles (books and other resources) added to the library collection. These lists are updated monthly and you may subscribe to the lists' rss feeds. Select "New Books" on the left side of the library homepage to view the lists.

Database highlight: Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO)

CIAO is a comprehensive source for theory and research in international affairs. It publishes a wide range of scholarship from 1991 onward that includes working papers from university research institutes, occasional papers series from NGOs, foundation-funded research projects, proceedings from conferences, books, journals and policy briefs. It provides multiple viewpoints on international issues.

CIAO is a good source for teaching materials, including original case studies (e.g. Why Iraq Partitioned Itself)written by leading international affairs experts, course packs (e.g. Landmines) of background readings for history and political science classes, and special features.

Library site and databases

Update: The library site is working again. The new site URL is http://www3.northern.edu/library.

Thank you for your patience
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Text a Librarian

Ever wanted to use your cell phone to text a librarian? Now you can!! To ask the NSU librarians a question follow these directions.

• Create a new text message and type "246246" in the "To:" box.
• In the "Text:" area type nsulibrarian
• Type your message.
• Hit send!

All normal texting charges apply.

Interested in becoming a Librarian? Great Scholarships!

A representative from the University of North Texas (UNT) will discuss how one may earn a Master's in Library Science and receive a scholarship.

When: Friday, Oct 9
Time: 10am-12pm
Where: Library 118
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Master's Degree program
UNT's Department of Library and Information Sciences is bringing its ALA-accredited Master’s in Library Science program and popular online format to the Upper Midwest. The program starts with students participating in two four-day Web Institutes (in Missoula, MT - September 3 - 6, 2010 or in Billings, MT - January 14 -17, 2011). The rest of the degree is online.

Scholarships!
Four states, South Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana (SWIM), have formed a formal partnership to address library education needs in the region. The SWIM Regional Collaborative Library Education Project will provide scholarships to educate librarians through the UNT/LIS master’s program to work in the region's rural communities. The funding is sponsored by the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

SWIM scholarship includes:

• An opportunity to earn a MLIS degree from an ALA accredited graduate program.
• Financial Support — Recipients will receive scholarships to cover approximately 80% of the cost of tuition, fees, and books (approximately $12, 960).
• Travel stipends for required training, residencies, and state library association conferences in the SWIM region including support to attend the in-person Institute.

The scholarship application is due or must be postmarked by March 15th, 2010. The application will be available in October on the SD State Library’s website.

Banned Book Week: Sept 27-Oct 3

Come to the Williams Library to see the display of
Banned Books and Suppressed Literature

Each September the American Library Association highlights books that people have tried to ban from public and school libraries. Banned Book Week also highlights information freedom, which most US citizen hold dear. Higher education institutions are usually insulated from the continual battle among libraries, schools, and book challengers. Challengers are individuals from various backgrounds who object to the availability of certain library books/materials to children (17 years old or younger) or to their communities. People have the right to challenge materials in any library, and the library board or school board review the request based on its policy. Below are a few examples (more examples) of challenges in 2008/2009 compiled by ALA’s American Libraries magazine.

• Title/Author: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
  Reason: A Cherry Hill, NJ resident had objected to the novel’s depiction of how blacks are treated by members of a racist white community in an Alabama town during the Depression. The resident feared the book would upset black children reading it.
  Status: Retained in the English curriculum

• Title/Author: A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn
  Reason: An individual in North Stafford, Va. challenged the use of Zinn’s book in a high school advanced-placement history class (2009), even though it’s not the primary textbook because the book is “un-American, leftist propaganda.” Students in the advanced placement class also read an article titled, “Howard Zinn’s Disappointing History of the United States,” which criticizes Zinn’s book.
  Status: Challenged

• Title/Author: Twilight Series by Stephenie H. Meyer
  Reason: In the middle school libraries of the Capistrano, Calif. Unified School District (2008). The books were initially ordered removed by the district’s instructional materials specialist, who ordered that the books be moved from middle school to high school collections. That order was rescinded and the books remain in the middle school libraries.
  Status: Removed from and later reinstated

• Title/Author: Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wiched Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
  The book was retained in the tenth-grade honors program of the Canandaigua Academy in Ontario County, N.Y. (2008) despite concerns about the sexual content on a few pages of the book. The district will offer alternative reading for anyone who objects to the book.
  Status: Retained

• Title/Author: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part‑Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
  Book was suspended from a Crook County High School classroom in Prineville, Oreg. (2008) after a parent complained it was offensive. The New York Times best seller and a National Book Award winner will remain out of the classroom until the school district can revamp its policies. The book is about a boy growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation who decides to attend an all‑white school. The protagonist in Alexie’s book discusses masturbation.
  Status: Suspended

• Title/Author: The Starplace by Vicki Grove
  The book was challenged at the Turner Elementary School in New Tampa, Fla. (2008) because the novel contains a racial epithet. The book about an interracial middleschool friendship in 1960s Oklahoma was highly recommended by Children’s Literature Review.
  Status: Challenged

*Photo by flickr user florian.b under a creative commons license

Wall Street Journal in Factiva

If you are looking for full-text Wall Street Journal articles try Factiva. Factiva has

• WSJ full-text articles from 1984 to present
• WSJ abstracts from 1979-1984
• a special module for the latest two-weeks (demo)
• many other business and news publications
  

Database hightlight: Historical SD Newspapers

The America's Historical Newspapers - South Dakota Collection is a fully searchable collection from Newsbank, which includes:

• the Aberdeen American (1907-1922),
• the Aberdeen Daily News (1885-1922),
• the Dakota Republican (1862-1875), and
  
• the Yankton Press and Dakotan (1861-1875).

Use this database to find articles on local and regional history.