Monthly Archives: April 2013

Offering a single point of access to millions of items—photographs, manuscripts, books, sounds, moving images, and more—from libraries, archives, and museums around the United States, the Digital Public Library of America has officially launched. Users can browse and search the DPLA’s collections by timeline, map, format, and topic; save items to customized lists; and share their lists with others.

For more information, please see the FAQ.

The DPLA joins the Internet Archive and HathiTrust in exponentially expanding our access to rich collections throughout the world. The Ames Library will be linking this new digital collection on our library home page.

Several of our databases will be unavailable due to routine vendor updates and maintenance.  If you encounter any issues post-updates, please don’t hesitate to contact the Help@Ames Desk at x3900.

Offline April 17, 5 am – 6 am

Chicago Tribune (both Current and Historical)
Environmental Sciences Collection
National Newspapers Premier
New York Times (Historical)
PAIS International

April 16, 2013

According to the ArtSTOR website, an upgrade to the ArtSTOR database will eliminate the need for Java in the ARTstor Digital Library and single image downloads will be delivered in Zip files due to the recent recommendation from the Department of Homeland Security that Java poses a potential security risk.

Many versions of Windows come equipped with a built in zip program, but if you need to install a program on your PC, ARTstor recommends 7-Zip, available free at 7-zip.org. Mac users will not need to install software to handle zip files as it is already built into OS X. If you experience any difficulties, please clear the cache on your browser and restart your Web browser. If you continue to experience difficulties, please do not hesitate to contact User Services at userservices@artstor.org.  For more information, please see the ARTstor blog.

 “WORDS OF” 

 by James Dean Kersten

A unique multimedia sculpture, composed of spent bullet casings and upcycled computer keys, is being showcased on the entry level of the library, near the Human Rights   Cluster wall. Local sculptor Jim Kersten hopes his piece will raise awareness in favor of civility.

Says Kersten, “A word, in many ways, is like a bullet. Once it is spoken, it truly cannot be retracted. Spoken harshly or thoughtlessly, a word can leave a wound or a scar. And  no matter how hard you try to take it back… you simply can’t.”

The sculpture encourages our campus community to write on a small piece of paper a short message of forgiveness to anyone who has received an unkind word. The paper is then rolled up and placed inside one of the bullet casings.

#Here at IWU students are promoting the message of the sculpture and encourage everyone to take part in filling the casings with words of compassion and forgiveness.

The piece will be on display through graduation on May 5.