THE BIG READ

Bakersfield kicks off its BIG READ with Zora Neal Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God. The Library has copies of this book with a call number of  PS 3515 .U789 T5 2006

The Stiern Library is currently offering one of its most popular courses (Researching the Electronic Library) as an online course – GST 326. This is the first time that this course has been offered online at CSUB. Although there are challenges in guiding students virtually through the research process, we hope that having the course available online will provide greater accessibility to research instruction for our students.

Students interested in learning how to use the Library more effectively and efficiency should look either for GST 126 or GST 326 in future quarters.

Dr. Ted Murphy spent more than 30 years studying, monitoring and working to protect the region’s endangered kit fox population and on February 10 at 4 p.m. in the Dezember Reading Room, he will be discussing his experiences.  Most of us who have been on campus late in the evening have glimpsed its resident foxes, which are normally nocturnal creatures.

The talk, which is being organized by librarian Curt Asher, is part of the Stiern Library Faculty Research Lecture Series.  The series allows professors to share their research with the wider campus community.  Dr. Murphy is an emeritus professor of biology and the founder of CSUB’s Facility for Animal Care and Treatment (FACT).  Refreshments will be served after Dr. Murphy’s talk.  For more information, contact Curt at 654-3251.

The Library’s new Research Corner is a dynamic space with exciting technology for librarians to work with students.  Check out the website (www.csub.edu/library/rcindex.htm) for update sessions including:

Developing a literature review

How to search efficiently

How to use style guides

Finding the full text of scholarly articles

Contact Librarian Sarah Fay Philips (sphilips@csub.edu) if you are interested in more information about the services offered at the Research Corner in WSL 107.

September 29 through October 6 is “Banned Books Week.”  For more on this topic see  http://ala8.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bannedbooksweek.htm  and http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95190615  This second site tells some of the story of banning Grapes of Wrath in Kern County in 1939.

All during the first two weeks of the fall quarter, students have been heavily using the Walter W. Stiern Library. You will find access to all the Library’s resources through its website.  Be sure to note the events, programs or highlights that appear in “Spotlight.”  Whenever you need assistance, please go to the Reference Desk or click “Ask a Librarian,” if you are not in the Library.  Learning how to use your library will increase your success as a student.  All our staff and programs want to help you achieve your success.

Since listing on MySpace last week, the Stiern Library has gained more than 150 “friends.”

CSUBAV Librarian Kristine Holloway reports the following from a talk from noted author Ray Bradbury:

Ray Bradbury in a speech given on April 15, 2008 for California State University Bakersfield Antelope Valley stated that he had not graduated from a college or a university but from a library. He went on to say that everything he had read had influenced his development as a person and his work as a writer. He used Melville as an example of the powerful influence of books on individuals by demonstrating the link between the writing of Moby Dick and Melville’s first reading of Shakespeare’s Richard III and Othello at the age of thirty. Students become who they are both personally and professionally in large part because of what they are exposed to in their education and as Bradbury powerfully pointed out that education occurs, at least in part, through the Library.

Check out the Walter W. Stiern Library on MySpace and add us as a friend!  You can view the Library video, read the Library blog, and link to the Library’s books catalog and articles databases.  When you need assistance on your research project, you can also send a message to a librarian .

Do you need help finding the right Library resources for your term papers? Well, good news!  The Library offers individual research assistance where you can schedule a one-on-one conference with a librarian to help you define and articulate your search strategy to obtain the best results.  The librarian will also give you valuable tips for efficient and effective searching.

To schedule a conference, please go to http://www.csub.edu/library/assistance.shtml  and consult the subject list for areas where you need assistance.