The news @ Western Libraries
New Music Library Hours
Posted on Wed, 2010-09-22 11:04
The hours for the Music Library have changed; the new hours are:
Monday -Thursday: 8:45 AM - 5:45 PM and Friday: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
The decision to reduce the hours was made because of the current 2010-11 budget reduction. For more information from the Dean of Libraries regarding the rationale behind this decision, please visit the "From the Dean" blog.
Reduction in Library Hours and Music Library Hours in Particular
Posted by Chris Cox, Dean of Western Libraries, on Wed, 2010-09-22 10:26I wanted to take a moment to discuss some current and upcoming reductions to hours both in the main library and in both the music library and the Huxley map library.
Welcome to the New "From the Dean" Blog
Posted by Chris Cox, Dean of Western Libraries, on Wed, 2010-09-22 10:03Welcome to the new "From the Dean" Blog. In an effort to share my views on a variety of library initiatives and trends and in order to continue to be transparent, I wanted to start this blog to better communicate with all of you, the Libraries' users, those we serve and that I care about. Each week or so I'll be making posts, and I urge you to visit every once in a while to see what's being said. As always, I am also interested in what you have to say.
New Computers & Software
Posted on Tue, 2010-09-21 13:06
All of the student computers in the Western Libraries have been updated; made possible through the use of Student Technology fees. In both the Wilson side and the Haggard side of the library you will find brand new computers loaded with lots of helpful software.
Here are some of the highlights:
* All of the new computers have the full Adobe Suite which includes Photoshop, InDesign, etc, Adobe Acrobat (full version), Pagemaker, etc.
* All of the new computers have access to the color printer as an option
* They have larger monitors and much smaller cases - so each workspace has much more room.
* The new computers are much faster than the older ones, they have 4 times the memory and have more processing horsepower than the old systems.
Important Notice: The print quota for students is decreased to 350 this quarter. Be sure to check your print quota before printing. Also note that color print jobs will cost more to print, therefore, they will reduce your print quota more quickly than black and white printing.
Welcome to the New Website!
Posted on Mon, 2010-09-20 14:05Western Libraries is happy to present a new library website just in time for Fall Quarter 2010. The new site went live on September 20th.
During the past year, the library has conducted interviews, surveys, usability testing, and other user research to get a better understanding of the types of problems people had when using the library website. We also heard comments from the recent LibQual survey saying the site was too text-heavy, had too many links, and that it was difficult to navigate to specific content.
As a library, we also knew that the website was not doing a good enough job of putting our best foot forward, or marketing who we are and what we are becoming. So, following up on a strategic plan goal to improve our web presence, we engaged students, faculty, and staff in usability studies and feel we have created a website that people will love.
With a more modern and streamlined look, easier navigation, more news and graphics and the potential for more user interaction, we hope the new website will be a significant improvement over the previous.
You may notice some issues on lower level pages during the transition. We are continuing to improve the site so we ask for your patience. Please let us know if you come across any major problems or if you have any feedback for us.
Please click on the following thumbnails to get a glimpse of some of the new functionality... better yet, take a look around the new site and let us know what you think.
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| The New Home Page |
The New Materials List | The Staff Directory |
What It Used To Be Like: a Portrait of My Marriage to Raymond Carver
The recent appearance of a new biography of Raymond Carver, as well as fresh speculation about the involvement of his editor in shaping his work has once again piqued interest in this prodigiously gifted author who lived and died hard in the Pacific Northwest. This book is a poignant memoir by Carver's first wife, Maryann Burk, whose role in the realization of Carver's unique genius has been treated inconsistently by biographers and critics alike.
Special Collections Receives Magnificent Gift
Posted on Fri, 2010-09-17 12:21
In honor of their daughter Anna Eblen, long-time member of the faculty of Western's Dept. of Communication, Joe and Roberta Eblen of Asheville, North Carolina, have presented Special Collections with a rare copy of the 1966 Collector's Edition of The Original Water-Color Paintings by John James Audubon for The Birds of America.
Issued by the American Heritage Publishing Company and limited to 750 copies, of which Western's is no. 635, the set consists of a beautifully bound volume containing the complete captions of the 431 loose colored plates that accompany the volume. The plates are housed in the trays of a walnut display case, also donated by Joe and Roberta Eblen, that was especially made to showcase the set.
The plates in this edition were the first color plates reproduced from the originals in the collections of the New York Historical Society. In superb condition, this wonderful resource will be of interest to students in many disciplines. We welcome anyone interested to come and see this new treasure, on display now in the Special Collections Research Room.
Carmen Werder new Inside Higher Education Columnist
Posted on Wed, 2010-09-15 11:02
Library staff member and Director of the Teaching-Learning Academy, Carmen Werder, and Education faculty member, Karen Hoelscher, are new regular columinists for Inside Higher Education.
Their column will be published monthly through January. Congratulations go out to both of them. See the link below to read their first column published on September 10th.
Zoe's Bookside Bagels is Open!
Posted on Tue, 2010-09-14 14:05
The cafe is now open in Wilson Library!
It's buzzing with happy people grabbing their coffee and bagels.
Serving local Bagelry Bagels, Tony's Coffee and more!
Stop in today to check it out for yourself!
What It Used To Be Like: a Portrait of My Marriage to Raymond Carver
Posted on Wed, 2010-09-08 14:05Check out Special Collections' latest Book of the Month
What It Used To Be Like: a Portrait of My Marriage to Raymond Carver
By Maryann Burk Carver
New York : St. Martin's Press, 2006
Special Collections -- Northwest Collection -- PS3553.A7894 Z595 2006 (1st ed., signed)
The recent appearance of a new biography of Raymond Carver, as well as fresh speculation about the involvement of his editor in shaping his work has once again piqued interest in this prodigiously gifted author who lived and died hard in the Pacific Northwest. This book is a poignant memoir by Carver's first wife, Maryann Burk, whose role in the realization of Carver's unique genius has been treated inconsistently by biographers and critics alike.
Born into a pioneering Whatcom County farming family, Maryann Burk met and married Raymond Carver in Yakima in 1957 when she was 16 and he 19. For more than 20 years, they shifted about the West Coast, scraping by on her part-time earnings, producing two children, moving constantly to stay one step ahead of the bill collectors. By the mid-1970s, the marriage was foundering on alcoholism and domestic abuse, even as Carver's supreme artistry of the short story had begun to take hold and Maryann had gained a degree of self-sufficiency as a teacher. Divorce followed in 1982.
Maryann Burk Carver returned to Whatcom County, where she continues to reside. She has written a lucid, heartfelt memoir of a life, part marvelous, part tortured, with a literary legend. There is much in it too about the Burk family, including her beloved "Aunt May," Mary Katherine Burk (1898-1979), a Western alumna, longtime rural schoolteacher, farmer, and local newspaper correspondent whose papers can be found in the Mary K. Burk Collection housed in Special Collections.
Mary K. Burk Collection
-Marian Alexander,
Head of Special Collections Emeritus
