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Darwin’s Impact – A Georgia State University Library Exhibit

darwin_monkey_web

Illustration: Darwin, C. R. 1871. The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. London: John Murray. 1st edition. Volume 2. Reproduced with permission from John van Wyhe ed., The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online

When was the last time you got a good look at a Neandertal’s skull? Well check out the Georgia State University Library’s Exhibit on “Darwin’s Impact.” This display is part of the university’s commemoration of the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of the first publication of On The Origin of Species. Placed in our display case on Library North 1, across from Saxbys Coffee,  this exhibit highlights works in the library’s collection that show the expanse of work Darwin has inspired: from the obvious disciplines of anthropology and biology to art, psychology, literature and philosophy. This exhibit has three distinct components: the books in our collection, an online Darwin research site and a display of five molds of fossil skulls, tracing the evolutionary process of human origins.

Firstly, the exhibit draws attention to 14 books in our vast collection of Darwin related material, pulled by our subject librarians in the fields of art, anthropology, history and biology. We have listed the book titles together with their location in the building, along with their call number. We also paired each title with a unique illustration from one of the publications of Darwin’s original works. These amazing illustrations were reproduced with permission from John van Wyhe editor of The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online. His site is another fantastic resource for researching Darwin and his impact.

In fact, it was such a great source that we included it in our own research guide to Charles Darwin and On The Origin of Species. The online guide includes even more Darwin related resources in our collection, a video interview with Dr. Sean Carroll and a calendar of Darwin related events both on campus and across the world. Dr. Carroll (a professor of Molecular Biology & Genetics at the University of Wisconsin) gave a Darwin related lecture on campus earlier this semester, so if you were unable to attend that event, this is an excellent way to hear about how molecular biology provides profound evidence in support of Darwin’s evolutionary theory. As with all of our research guides, there is a convenient chat window embedded on the page, in case you need to contact a librarian with any questions.

Finally, Dr. Frank L’Engle Williams, Professor of Anthropology at Georgia State University was kind enough to loan us a set of five fossil skull molds. Each of these stunning molds demonstrates a different stage of evolutionary development and Dr. Williams provided us with a short description of each of their significance.

So if you are interested in researching Darwin further for one of your projects, or even if you just want to look at some cool skulls, please stop by the exhibit and participate in our celebration of Darwin’s Impact and his anniversary! As always, we welcome your feedback!

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CRL Primary Source Awards

On the Road manuscriptThe Center for Research Libraries is accepting nominations for its 2010 Primary Source Awards, which recognize the contributions of research and teaching faculty, librarians and library staff, graduate students, and others within the CRL community for their creative use of primary source materials in three arenas: research, teaching, and access.

Award winners will receive a gift certificate from Powell’s Books.  Nominators of the award winners will receive an iPod touch.

Nominations may be submitted via CRL’s online nomination form and will be accepted through January 31, 2010.  Winners will be announced March 1, 2010.

GSU has been a member of CRL since 2004.  Members of the GSU community may request materials from the CRL collections via their ILLiad account.

Manuscript image courtesy of Thomas Hawk under a Creative Commons license.

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Presentation: The Origins of Labor-Union Democracy: A US-British Comparison

Presentation: The Origins of Labor-Union Democracy: A US-British Comparison

Matthew Dimick, winner of the 2009 Merl E. Reed Fellowship in Southern Labor History, will present on his topic on Friday, November 20, 2009. The presentation will be held at noon in the Colloquium Room at the Georgia State University Library (Library South, 8th Floor). The presentation is free and open to the public.

“The Origins of Labor-Union Democracy: A US-British Comparison” will focus on the internal democratic governance of labor unions and its potential, according to scholars and activists, to revitalize the labor movement in the US. This presentation examines the origins of union democracy by comparing the historical trajectories of the British Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) and the American International Association of Machinists (IAM). Despite a large amount of research on union democracy, very little of it has addressed the topic in a historical-comparative context. Thus, while it is known that levels of democracy differ significantly between US and British unions, no one has asked when these differences arose or what caused them.

Matthew Dimick is currently a Law Research Fellow at Georgetown University Law Center. He holds a JD from Cornell Law School and a PhD in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Between law school and graduate studies he worked in the General Counsel’s office of the Service Employees International Union in Washington, DC. His research centers on the relationships between law, labor unions, the labor market, and the economy, using historical and comparative methods to study questions arising from these topics.

Created in 2000, the Merl E. Reed Fellowship in Southern Labor History was named, at the urging of Dr. Gary Fink, to honor Dr. Reed’s career and role in the founding of the Southern Labor Archives. The award has recently been re-named to honor both Dr. Gary Fink and Dr. Reed, and beginning in 2010, the awards will carry the new name.

One or more awards of $250-$500 are given annually to individuals whose research in the Southern Labor Archives will lead to a book, article, dissertation, or other substantive product. In return, recipients agree to make a presentation about their research to the Georgia State University community within one academic year after receiving the award. Faculty members, graduate students, upper-level undergraduates, and recognized independent scholars and artists are encouraged to apply.

The deadline for the 2010 Reed Fink Award is November 30, 2009. For more information about the award, the presentation, or the Southern Labor Archives, please contact Traci Drummond at 404.413.2880 or at tdrummond@gsu.edu.

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Dr. Nadine Sinno reads from Canceled Memories

3482614980_ff1d867a8fDr. Nadine Sinno of the Georgia State University Middle East Institute will read on Monday, November 16 at 10:00 am from her translation of the Lebanese novel Canceled Memories. The reading will take place in Classroom 2 on the second floor of Library North. A description of the novel follows:

Set during the Lebanese civil war, this novel chronicles the splintering of the Al-Mukhtars, a Lebanese family whose love and trust for one another is strained by the increasing economic, social, and psychological tensions that surround them. Huda, feeling helpless as a housewife, pursues a career as a university professor and immerses herself in her work and students. Sharif, trapped in a static bureaucratic position, begins to resent his wife’s success and slowly withdraws from his family. When their marriage dissolves, the couple fight over the custody of their adolescent daughter. In a patriarchal society that favors the rights of the father, Huda is powerless as her daughter is taken from her. Through the author’s use of flashbacks, the reader witnesses the stark contrast between the young, idealistic couple and the older husband and wife, who have become increasingly isolated and disillusioned.

Narrated through the voices of several characters, Canceled Memories depicts a Lebanese family seeking to maintain love and trust for each other despite the destructive and corrupting effects of war. Nadine Sinno’s fluent translation introduces a wider audience to one of Lebanon’s finest contemporary writers.

The reading kicks off International Education Week at Georgia State University with events across campus from November 16 – November 20. The Georgia State University Library is participating in this event with an International Authors Exhibit, showcasing the works of Chinua Achebe, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Gao Xingjian and many others. The display will stay in the cases directly behind the computer support desk on Library North 1. Reproductions of international artwork from each author’s country of origin will accompany the display. These reproductions come from ARTSTOR a nonprofit digital library of more than one million images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and social sciences.

Image of Dr. Sinno provided by:

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EndNote Workshop, November 18

ENnameWEndNote is a software program that helps you store, organize and format citations. GSU users can download a free copy here.

Georgia State University Library’s Joel Glogowski will be presenting a workshop on November 18, 2009, introducing users to EndNote. The presentation will be from  11:00am – 12:30pm in Classroom 1 (on the first floor of Library North). In this session you will learn the basics of building an EndNote library and using EndNote to create formatted bibliographies.

Please contact Joel to register. Using software like EndNote can be very extremely helpful when working on a research paper or article. It could potentially shave hours off of your work. If you currently use EndNote, or have previously attended one of our EndNote instructional workshops, please let us know about your experience in the comments below!

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New Browsing Books on Library North 1

Michael / by the editors of Rolling Stone.

Ice : a novel / Linda Howard.

The Sandman. The dream hunters / original words by Neil Gaiman ; graphicplay and art by P. Craig Russell; coloring by Lovern Kindzierski ; lettering by Todd Klein.

High society : the life of Grace Kelly / Donald Spoto.

The lacuna : a novel / Barbara Kingsolver.

It takes two : a novel / Patrizia Chen.

Last words / George Carlin ; with Tony Hendra.

The intimate lives of the founding fathers / Thomas Fleming.

McNaughton Audio Books

Unseen academicals [sound recording] / Terry Pratchett.

The coral thief [sound recording] / Rebecca Stott.

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GALILEO Annual User Survey and iPod Nano Prize

galileo survey

The annual GALILEO user survey offers you the chance to sound off on your experience using GALILEO and the chance to win an iPod Nano. The link to the survey will appear on the GALILEO website Monday, November 9-Sunday, November 15.

Your feedback is important, so add a note to your calendar or to-do list to look for the survey link on the GALILEO home page.

A World Wide Web-based virtual library, GALILEO provides access to multiple information resources, including secured access to licensed products. Participating institutions may access over 100 databases indexing thousands of periodicals and scholarly journals. Over 2000 journal titles are provided in full-text. Other resources include encyclopedias, business directories, and government publications.  Learn more about GALILEO.

Did you know?

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New Browsing Books on Library North 1

Kindred in death / J.D. Robb.

Under the dome : a novel / Stephen King.

Googled : the end of the world as we know it / Ken Auletta.

A Christmas blizzard / Garrison Keillor.

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New Browsing Books on Library North 1

The most they ever had / by Rick Bragg.

Che : a graphic biography / Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colon.

Eating animals / Jonathan Safran Foer.

Rainwater / Sandra Brown.

Paul McCartney : a life / Peter Ames Carlin.

Anita Blake, vampire hunter. Guilty pleasures / writer, Laurell K. Hamilton & Jonathon Green ; adaptation, Stacie Ritchie & Jess Ruffner-Booth ; artists, Brett Booth & Ron Lim ; colorists Matt Moylan … [et al.] ; letterers, Bill Tortolini with Simon Bowland.

SuperFreakonomics : tales of altruism, terrorism, and poorly paid prostitutes / Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner.

Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of species : a graphic adaptation / story by Michael Keller ;art by Nicolle Rager Fuller.

The humbling / Philip Roth.

True blue / David Baldacci.

McNaughton Audio Books

I am the new black [sound recording] / Tracy Morgan ; with Anthony Bozza.

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Journalist and author Susan Faludi to speak at GSU

faludiThe following news was originally posted on the Georgia State University News blog by Liz Babiarz:

ATLANTA – Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and best-selling author Susan Faludi will lecture at Georgia State University Nov. 2 about gender, media, popular culture and political life in the contemporary age.

Her lecture, titled “Losing Ourselves in the 21st Century,” is part of the Hellen Ingram Plummer Lecture sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences. It will be held from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Speaker’s Auditorium, and is free and open to the public.

An exhibition of a similar theme is on view in the Georgia State University Welch School of Art and Design Gallery through Nov. 19. It showcases performative media by emerging, U.S.-based women artists and was inspired, in part, by a talk Faludi gave on issues of gender in a post-911 world.

“Many young women learn about feminism, and post-feminism, via popular culture and media coverage,” said Susan Richmond, assistant professor in the GSU School of Art and Design and curator of the exhibition. “We felt it would be beneficial to all of our students to hear from someone who has studied media culture extensively, and who argues persuasively for the need to challenge the credibility and motivations of mainstream news sources.”

Faludi is the author of “Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man” and “Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women,” which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction. Her most recent book, “The Terror Dream: Fear and Fantasy in Post-9/11 America” examines the outpouring in the media, popular culture, and political life following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Faludi’s work has appeared in The New YorkerThe Wall Street JournalThe New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and The Nation, among other publications. Her talk at Georgia State coincides with the National Women Studies Association Conference in Atlanta the week of Nov. 12-15.

“Over the past two decades, Susan Faludi has bridged journalism and scholarship in women’s studies to produce astute analyses of the shifting terrain of masculinity and femininity in the United States,” said Susan Talburt, director of the Women’s Studies Institute at Georgia State.

“Her studies of the ‘backlash’ against feminism, changing constructions of masculinity and the post-September 11 nostalgia for ‘real’ men and women illuminate important elements of the contemporary cultural politics of gender in this country.”

The Plummer lecture is the College of Arts and Sciences’ annual endowed lecture, featuring noted scholars, scientists, artists and performers who have made notable contributions to their fields of achievement and to society at large. The lecture was endowed in 1999 in honor of late Atlanta arts patron Hellen Ingram Plummer.

In relation to this event, the Georgia State University Library has several of Susan Faludi’s books, including Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man. Also, the library has created custom bookmarks for the “Losing Ourselves in the 21st Century” exhibition at the Welch School of Art and Design. Each bookmark lists a different book in our collection related to the exhibition. You can find them at the gallery or by contacting our Arts Liaison Librarian, Nedda Ahmed.

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