Summer Solstice – the start of summer!

There’s no excuse for not having “time” to celebrate Father’s Day this Sunday. It just so happens that Sunday is also the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere – also known as the summer solstice.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary (which is available to our patrons online!), a solstice is “when the sun, having reached the tropical points, is farthest from the equator and appears to stand still.” This happens twice each year, one being the summer solstice around June 21st and the other being the winter solstice around December 22nd.

There is a nice explanation of the solstice, with graphic, available at:
http://solar.physics.montana.edu/ypop/Classroom/Lessons/Sundials/summer.html

In England, many people will be flocking again this year to Stonehenge to celebrate the solstice. Celebrations of the summer solstice go back many centuries to pagan times in Europe. For more information about the Stonehenge celebration, you can see:
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.20654

Happy Summer and Happy Father’s Day!

Note: The library will be open from 8-5 from June 22-26th (between summer sessions) and will resume summer session hours on June 30th. For more information on our summer hours, please go to: http://www.kutztown.edu/library/about/hours.asp

Happy Birthday Chris Van Allsburg

June 18th marks the birthday of celebrated author Chris Van Allsburg. If his name sounds familiar but you just can’t place him, think Jumanji, Zathura, or The Polar Express just to name a few.

Here is a list of some of his other books:
Bad Day at Riverbend © 1995
Ben’s Dream © 1982
A City in Winter by Mark Helprin © 1996-Illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg
The Garden of Abdul Gasazi © 1979
Just a Dream © 1990
The Mysteries of Harris Burdick © 1984
The Mysteries of Harris Burdick © 1994 (Portfolio Edition)
The Stranger © 1986
Swan Lake by Mark Helprin © 1989-Illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg
The Sweetest Fig © 1993
Two Bad Ants © 1988
The Veil of Snows by Mark Helprin © 1993-Illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg
The Widow’s Broom © 1992
The Wreck of the Zephyr © 1983
The Wretched Stone © 1991
The Z Was Zapped © 1987

You can click on the link below to see a list of his works that we have in our library’s collection. (We have most of the ones listed above.)
Rohrbach Library Online Catalog Results for author Chris Van Allsburg

To check out his own Website with loads of interesting information, go to:
http://www.chrisvanallsburg.com

Flag Day

Reminder: This weekend you have the opportunity to celebrate Flag Day (on June 14th)! For more information on this day in history, please check out the Library of Congress Website on the topic:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jun14.html

Text Me That Call Number!

Patrons can click on a link in the online catalog to have call numbers of library materials texted to their cell phones. (No more searching for scrap paper or a pencil.) Click on the link and enter your cell phone number and provider information. You will receive a text message that includes the call number, library location, and title/author of the item.

Important: Provider charges may apply.

Privacy Notice: Neither your cell phone number nor your service provider are saved or stored on the library’s server. However, they will remain in the new web browser window or tab that was opened for you to enter them, so please close this browser window or tab before leaving your session.

A “Green” Database to Explore

GreenFILE is a  new database available to KU patrons through EBSCOhost. According to the description from EBSCOhost:

GreenFILE offers well-researched information covering all aspects of human impact to the environment. Its collection of scholarly, government and general-interest titles includes content on the environmental effects of individuals, corporations and local/national governments, and what can be done at each level to minimize these effects. Multidisciplinary by nature, GreenFILE draws on the connections between the environment and a variety of disciplines such as agriculture, education, law, health and technology. Topics covered include global climate change, green building, pollution, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, recycling, and more. The database provides indexing and abstracts for approximately 384,000 records, as well as Open Access full text for more than 4,700 records.

To begin searching on this database, please follow the following link (validation required for off-campus access):

http://voyager.ship.edu/remote/validate.cgi?db=EBSCO&custom=%22profile=ehost&defaultdb=8gh%22

Librarians Here to Help

Librarians are on duty during the summer sessions. Come see us at the Reference Desk in the Information Commons area of the first floor. We’ll be happy to help you get started with your research or help you dig deeper in the databases for more information for a paper or thesis.

Faculty needing to schedule a time to bring a class over to the library for instruction should also contact us by calling 610-683-4165 from 9a.m. to 7p.m. M-F or 9a.m. to 5p.m. on Saturday.

Happy Birthday CNN!

“On this day in 1980, CNN (Cable News Network), the world’s first 24-hour television news network, makes its debut. The network signed on at 6 p.m. EST from its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, with a lead story about the attempted assassination of civil rights leader Vernon Jordan. CNN went on to change the notion that news could only be reported at fixed times throughout the day. At the time of CNN’s launch, TV news was dominated by three major networks–ABC, CBS and NBC–and their nightly 30-minute broadcasts. Initially available in less than two million U.S. homes, today CNN is seen in more than 89 million American households and over 160 million homes internationally.”

For more information, see the source of the above quote at History.com: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=VideoArticle&id=52593

You can also check out CNN’s Website at: http://www.cnn.com/