News about the swine flu outbreak is everywhere. The Cornell Student Health Service recently posted a statement about the situation and suggested ways to keep healthy. There is also a link for the Center for Disease Control to keep track of the latest developments on the outbreak by subscribing to RSS feeds, e-mail updates, and Twitter.

Cole Library offers additional ways to keep up with this situation, investigate the history of epidemics and plagues, learn about efforts to find vaccines, etc. Click here to reach the library page for access to these databases:
•    Cole Library Online Catalog – find books in Cole Library using terms such as epidemiology, plagues, infectious diseases, communicable diseases.
•    Credo Reference – an online source which provides full-text access to more than 300 reference books, as well as audio and video clips, images, and maps.  Provides good definitions as a basis for further understanding.
•    Electronic Resources – check  databases such as *Academic Search Premier, CINAHL with Full Text, *Health Source Consumer Ed, Health Source Nursing/Academic Ed. for articles on research on swine flu and other diseases. Or, check out Newsbank & *Newspaper Source which offer access to regional and national newspaper articles. (Starred items are available off-campus to Mount Vernon library card holders.)

If you encounter difficulty, call a reference librarian at 895-4122 for assistance.

I just finished one of Cole Library’s new books, The Victoria Vanishes by Christopher Fowler. It fits into a genre called “geezer lit” by Harlan Coben, president of Mystery Writers of America.  This basically means that the main character is a senior citizen. The focus of the book may be on the issues of aging or aging may merely be an aside to the plot. Click here to take a look at Amazon’s Geezer Lit list.

In The Victoria Vanishes two eccentric, veteran detectives from the Peculiar Crimes Unit (PCU) solve the serial murders of motherly, middle-aged women while brooding over their own forgetfulness and a serious medical diagnosis. Twists in the story include a lost funeral urn, the eighteenth-century mystic Emanuel Swedenborg, the Knights Templar, the secret history of London pubs, and the discovery of an astounding religious relic. You don’t have to be a geezer to enjoy this mystery! It is a fun book. Click here for an enticing review from Bookreporter.com.

Agatha Raisin remains one of my favorite geezer characters, although she would quickly disagree with being called a geezer. Check out Cole Library’s Agatha Raisin items during Cornell’s spring break.

Check out the current art exhibit in the third floor gallery space (behind the reference desk) at Cole Library. Color abounds in the exhibits from Maria Schutt’s block six Studio Basic art class. The exhibit includes quilt ciphers based on Underground Railroad maps, Haiku poems and cyanotype cloth books, plus tunnel and pop-up books of legends. The library is fortunate to have a frequent rotation of displays from art classes, Cornell art collections, and special exhibits arranged by the art department.

When I learned from this display that quilts had coded information to guide slaves to freedom via the Underground Railroad, I decided to dig into Cole’s collection to learn more about quilts, the abolitionists, and the Underground Railroad (did you know it went through Iowa?). See the display right behind the reference desk to learn more. If you see a book, video, or book on tape that interests you, we encourage you to check it out.

Darwin

Want to learn more about Darwin and his influences? Whether you’re interested in biology, travel, religious controversies, philosophy, or humor, Darwin has had an impact on so many fields. While you are viewing our 3rdfloor display celebrating Darwin’s 200th birthday (February 12), see how many double meanings you can find, and don’t be shy to check out any of the books.

African Americans — History at Cornell & Athletes in Iowa
Today is the last day for the traveling exhibit of African American Athletes in Iowa brought to us by the newly re-opened (after the flooding) African American Museum of Iowa. In conjunction with that display and in honor of Black History month, we have a display of significant events in the history of African Americans at Cornell from Frank Armstrong’s graduation in 1900 through pictures, playbills, and other highlights of Cornell’s history.

At this time of year, many of us make resolutions about things we want to accomplish in the coming months. At Cole Library, we want to continue to provide the best, most relevant resources for the Cornell College community. So far, we’re off to a strong start.

Through generous support from the Berry Center for Economics, Business, and Public Policy, Cole Library now subscribes to the New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics Online, an excellent reference resource for not only students in economics and business courses, but also students in politics, sociology, computer science, and other disciplines. The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics contains 1,872 articles by 1,506 contributors, including 25 Nobel Laureates in Economics. The articles are written clearly to make them accessible to non-economists as well as specialists in the field.

Features of this online resource include

• 24/7 on-campus and off-campus access (through the library’s Electronic Resources page)

• Quick Search or Advanced Search options

• The ability to print articles

• Links to related articles

• Exportable citations

• Quarterly content updates

• The option to create a personal “My Dictionary” account to save searches, bookmarked articles, and notes

Check out this highly-regarded reference resource today and let us know what you think!

Along with anticipating a holiday feast and spending time with your family and friends away from the Hilltop, you may also be anticipating a research assignment that is due immediately after the break.  If that’s the case, please know that while Cole Library’s doors will be closed until Sunday, its electronic resources will be available to you wherever you choose to access them.

Select the resource you need from the library’s site just as you would ordinarily.  Before whisking you off to that tool, however, our portal will ask you to identify yourself.  Be prepared to type your last name (with its first letter capitalized) and the number from your Cornell ID (including the three leading zeros).  Once you have successfully entered that information, all of Cole Library’s e-resources will be at your disposal for the duration of your browser session.

Should you encounter any difficulties, please let Greg Cotton know.  He will either fix the problem, offer an alternative route, or buy you a cup of coffee if he can’t resolve the problem before the break ends.

Finally, from all of us at Cole Library have a happy Thanksgiving.  If you are traveling, be sure to travel safely.  When you return to the Hilltop, we’ll be here to help you succeed with the final three weeks of Block 4.

Greg Cotton, Interim College Librarian

Every year the library staff has a little fun on Halloween. This year you’ll find we have some pumpkin friends on 3^rd floor just waiting for that perfect photo op. Our theme this year is Classic Halloween, so be prepared to see witches, ghosts, vampires, and more lurking in the library. Drop by in costume, visit our treat room, and share in the fun.

Interested in the origins of Halloween? Check out: Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night (This book is sitting with one of our pumpkin people at the moment, but feel free to check it out!)

Try Credo Reference for more about Halloween and Samhain. Also being celebrated this time of year is the Mexican holiday, El Dia de los Muertos. So many fascinating traditions to research and share!

Has your professor mentioned a topic you don’t know enough about? Do you need some background information before you start the deeper searching on your research topic? Our new Credo Reference can search 300 reference sources simultaneously, including encyclopedias, biographies, quotation sources and more. This is great place to explore context and find keywords you might use as you’re doing more searching.

Credo Reference offers many ways to limit your searches including by subject, media, category of resource, reference title, person, and date. You’ll find video and audio clips as well as images. There are convenient links to Cole Library Catalog, JSTOR, and our list of electronic resources for ease in transitioning to scholarly sources. Check out the Gadgets function where you can easily determine that 12 grams = .4233 ounces = .012 kilograms. Citations can be saved to RefWorks. You can also bookmark and share to Facebook or other social networking sites.