Hannah Norman '16Need a nap? Newly installed in both Olin and the Science Library are what appear to be lounge chairs enclosed by white spheres of plastic. These sleek, futuristic-looking machines are built for the sole purpose of squeezing in that midday, mid-study power nap—a recharging center for the mind. The EnergyPod, as it’s called, is the brainchild of a company called MetroNaps and the very first of its kind. Donated by co-founders and Wesleyan alumni Christopher Lindholst ’97 and Arshad Chowdury ’98, these pods are designed to create the ideal energy enhancing environment. "There is a tremendous amount of research that…
Olivia DrakeSuzy Taraba, director of Special Collections and Archives, is the co-editor of Past or Portal? Enhancing Undergraduate Learning through Special Collections and Archives, published by the Association of College and Research Libraries Insider, 2012. In the age of ubiquitous access to information, library special collections and archives have received renewed attention through digitization projects designed to share collections with the world at large. Yet these materials also offer opportunities for student learning though direct engagement with rare or unique items. While special collections and archives have largely been used by advanced researchers and scholars, an increasing number of undergraduate courses…
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On Feb. 21, Melissa Behney joined the staff at Olin Library as a reference librarian.
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Eric GershonWill Erhard Konerding become a millionaire? The Wesleyan librarian may know already, but the rest of us will have to wait until a mid-May broadcast of ABC’s “Who Wants to Be A Millionaire” quiz show. Originally scheduled for April 14, the broadcast is now scheduled for Tuesday, May 17 at 10 a.m. Konerding, a documents specialist in Olin Library, is a contestant in an episode that taped Nov. 17, 2010, in New York City. The top prize is $1 million. Renowned on campus for his handlebar mustache, Konerding has previously been a contestant on three other television game shows –"Jeopardy" (1994),…
Olin Library’s copy of the 1874 F.W. Beers County Atlas of Middlesex Connecticut has brittle pages and tattered maps. However, anyone investigating 19th-century local history finds the Beers atlas invaluable. “We’d love to make the book accessible to the Wesleyan community and outside researchers, but we can’t do so without damage to the book until its physical condition is stabilized,” explains Pat Tully, university librarian. “It needs to be preserved so that it is usable by current and future scholars.” To help old books find a home back on the shelves, The Friends of the Wesleyan Library created an “Adopt A…
[youtube width="640" height="420"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3q4rWKHHbZQ[/youtube] (Video by Jared Cheatham '11)
Kendall Hobbs, Olin reference librarian, and Diane Klare, head of reference, are the co-authors of an article titled "User Driven Design: Using Ethnographic Techniques to Plan Student Study Space," published in Technical Services Quarterly 27(4), pages 347-363, in 2010. In the article, Hobbs and Klare explain how librarians and information technologists at Wesleyan were provided with an opportunity to design a new study space for students during a library renovation. They teamed up to learn ethnographic techniques and apply them by incorporating student input into the new space, rather than making decisions based on traditional methods. Using this approach produced…
Olin Library welcomes one of the country’s largest King Arthur collections to Wesleyan’s Special Collections and Archives department. The Nathan Comfort Starr Collection of Arthuriana is one of Wesleyan's great hidden treasures. It comprises of more than 900 volumes related to the legends of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. The Friends of the Wesleyan Library funded a three-month, full-time librarian to catalog the collection. Rare book cataloger Samantha Klein began the task in January 2010, and finished in March. The collection was the 1981 bequest of Nathan Comfort Starr, (more…)
Suzy Taraba, University Archivist and head of Special Collections, received a grant from the George Frederick Jewett Foundation for the purpose of upgrading its exhibition area, located outside Special Collections & Archives in Olin Library. The $50,000 award will be applied Jan. 15, 2011 through Sept. 15, 2012. “The grant will enable us to improve the lighting in the area, and allow us to install new cases that are more secure and attractive, and that offer some humidity control,” Taraba says.