Databases vs. Web Sites — What’s the difference?

The basic differences can be boiled down to types of information, cost, and a review process.

An online database will contain articles from newspapers, magazines, and journals that are not available for free elsewhere online. The library has to pay for access to the databases so that we can get this information online. In addition, the material found in a database has been through some sort of review process before it was published (in print or electronically).

On the other hand, information found on Web sites is usually free and does not necessarily go through ANY review process. Information found on Web sites can range from professional to personal and might include everything from current news to advertisements to chat rooms. That’s why it is so important to think critically about your sources and evaluate Web sites before you use them in your research.

RL Members Collaborate with Berks County Public Libraries

Members of Rohrbach Library’s Reference Department and Learning Technologies Center worked with the Berks County Public Library System to promote the “Libraries Rock: Spread the Word” campaign. Professors Ruth Perkins and Will Jefferson worked with Carol Burkhart, Community Relations Coordinator for the Berks County Public Library System. Ms. Burkhart is the creative force behind Rocky, the star of the campaign, while the rest of Rocky’s family were designed by Jamie Meecham, one of the talented students working in our Learning Technologies Center. More information about the campaign is available on our sidebar under “Promotions.”

VCC Salutes Italian Americans

In the Gallery:
In the Voices & Choices Center, we have a wonderful display of Italian handcrafted ceramics, wood, and lace from Professor Emeritus, Angela Scanzello’s collection. She also includes her delightful short story, Little Angela’s Picnic: A Glimpse into Italo-American Life, 1943, written in her perceptive six-year-old voice about what she notices while she and her family make regular Sunday visits to Maryland to picnic with Italian prisoners of war (WWII). Her collection of postage stamps taken from envelopes were given as gifts from two of the prisoners as a thank you for the visits and baskets of food and other items.

Speakers on Monday, Sept. 26th:
1:00p.m.: I Wouldn’t Die - Franco Antonetti (Rohrbach Library)
Antonetti, an Italian immigrant to the United States, will discuss his animated and intrepidly enterprising life as presented in his new book I Wouldn’t Die.
2:00p.m.: Prisoners Among Us - Angela Scanzello (Rohrbach Library)
KU Professor Emeritus, Angela Scanzello will lead a discussion on Italian-American detention during WWII
3:00p.m.: Thread of Life - B. Amore (Alumni Auditorium, SUB)
Italian-American artist and sculptor B. Amore will present a program focusing on a woman’s view of immigration to the United States.

For more information please contact Professor Michael Weber or go to: http://faculty.kutztown.edu/weber/italian/Special-Event.htm

Free Coffee

Beginning September 12th, Rohrbach Library’s Voices & Choices Center (VCC) is offering a hot cup sleeve for a complimentary 12 oz. cup of coffee to the first 300 visitors to the center. The sleeve can be redeemed at the library’s Taylor & Byrnes Gourmet Café, located directly below the VCC. The VCC, which is located in Room 208, offers multicultural information service to the academic community of Kutztown University.

Navigational Face-lift

The Rohrbach Library has launched a new version of its web site. As our collections and services have expanded, our growing pains became a bit unwieldy. Our goal is to provide the KU community with intelligible access to high quality academic resources. The design change is just one of our efforts to achieve that goal and to make the information you need easier to find. Tell us what you think!

Hurricane Katrina

As part of Kutztown University’s efforts to support those affected by Hurricane Katrina, the Rohrbach Library has placed collection jars at our circulation desks (main desk, CMC, and AVC) as well as at the coffee shop. All money collected will be donated to the American Red Cross.

For a nice compilation of reviewed Web sites relating to Hurricane Katrina, try the Librarians’ Index to the Internet site:

Hurricane Katrina Information from LII.org
http://lii.org/search?query=hurricanekatrina
(“The mission of Librarians’ Index to the Internet is to provide a well-organized point of access for reliable, trustworthy, librarian-selected Internet resources, serving California, the nation, and the world.“)

Welcome

Welcome to Rohrbach Library’s blog! This blog was created as a way for the library staff and faculty to communicate news and information to our patrons in an easily accessible and timely fashion.