Library News
Our personal librarians have you covered!
Posted on February 28th, 2018
Did you know? Booth Librarians are research experts in the fields of study offered at EIU. That means students and faculty have a subject librarian ready to help them find the specialized information they need for their assignments and their research.
What do subject librarians do? They communicate with faculty in their subjects to order books, journals and videos, and to make sure Booth has the most up-to-date and useful resources. They work with faculty and students to find appropriate publication venues, or work through complicated copyright inquiries. Many subject librarians are also “reference” librarians who provide in-class, online or in-library instruction, whether it is a short building tour, an introduction to electronic databases, or training in advanced research techniques. Subject librarians also create online research guides for tasks and topics, and online tutorials for database searching techniques.
Students in any major are encouraged to get to know their librarian, who can help with understanding research, finding the best resources, locating materials in the library, citing sources and more.
Know the name of your subject librarian! Then get in touch for one-on-one research help! Whatever you need, whether it is for classes or your leisure time, Booth Library has you covered!
EIU’s Geology and Geography to screen docu-series: One Strange Rock
Posted on February 26th, 2018
EIU’s Department of Geology and Geography has the honor of pre-screening a new docu-series by National Geographic entitled,
“One Strange Rock.”
“One Strange Rock is a mind bending, thrilling journey that explores the fragility and wonder of planet Earth – one of the most peculiar, unique places in the universe.”
Directed by award winning filmmaker Darren Aronofsky and narrated by actor and musician Will Smith, it features perspectives from 10 astronauts on the wonders of the Earth as seen from space.
The EIU community gets a first look at the film on Thursday, March 8th, from 12:30 – 2:00 in the Physical Science Building, room 3040. The rest of the country won’t get to see the film until March 26th!
Light refreshments will be provided.
See the Teaser:
You can review additional information about our planet from Booth Library’s deep and various collection of print and electronic resources.
- View DVDs about the planet from a variety of perspectives.
- Explore Earth Science from EIU’s subscription to Kanopy Streaming Video
- View search results about “Earth science” from Gale Virtual Reference Library
- Check out Earth imagery in these books and circulating resources
Winter Olympics, 2018
Posted on February 22nd, 2018
The Pyeongchang Winter Olympics are well under way! If you haven’t already browsed the library’s collection of related material including books and online content there’s still time!
As of this writing, the US is 5th in the medal standings, behind some of the powerhouse nations of the Winter Olympics. Stay up to date on the medal count: 2018 Medal Standings.
Did you see the incredible new drone technology used during the Opening Ceremonies? This Opening Ceremony Drone Flight behind the scenes video shows how they did it!
Are you researching the Olympics? In addition to the list of books in this post which are currently on display, Booth has a wealth of online content! Check out the results for an ‘Olympics’ search in electronic encyclopedias via Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL).
Booth’s collection of streaming media from Alexander Street Video has great historic footage of past Olympics. Check out this newsreel clip from the 1952 games!
Kanopy Streaming also allows EIU patrons the opportunity to stream great content online. A search for Olympics provides lots of interesting results:
And of course, Booth has many books about the Olympic games from a wide variety of perspectives.
Books at Booth Library:
Get a tour of Booth, its collections and services
Posted on February 19th, 2018
Every semester Booth offers walk-in tours of the library three times a day, four days a week for the first four weeks of the term. But what you may not know is that you can request a tour at any time!
You can request a walking tour of the building or request special instruction in any of the library’s resources from our library faculty. Professors will often request to have a librarian speak to their class about research tools related to an assignment, but the librarians are able to tailor their presentations to your questions and interests too!
Call the Reference Desk at 217-581-6072 to see about an appointment for a tour for you or your group. If you are interested in scheduling hands-on research skills instruction, complete the web form to reserve a time in our classroom or with a librarian in our reference lab.
Tattoo Resources supporting Designs of Duty exhibit
Posted on February 18th, 2018
Currently featured in the Marvin Foyer of Booth Library is the Designs of Duty exhibit of military tattoos.
“an exhibit featuring East Central Illinois veterans and their service-related tattoos, Designs of Duty will be on display at Booth Library from Jan. 22 through May 11, 2018.
“Designs of Duty” tells the stories of seven military veterans who served our country over a 45-year period throughout Asia and Europe. Veterans featured in the exhibit are Eric Hiltner and Wilson Reynolds of Charleston, Ken Fernandes of Newman, Random Clavin of Nokomis, Adam Griffy of Olney, Shane Wright of Shelbyville and Lyle Gordon of Towanda.
The exhibit also features several titles from Booth’s collections about military tattoos and body art in general. These titles are on display and available for check out in the Marvin Foyer.
In addition to these books, Booth also has Electronic Encyclopedia entries on the topic, and scholarly articles via JSTOR from many academic disciplines.
Librarians offer research help 24-7
Posted on February 13th, 2018
You know there are a lot of computers in the library and free printing in the Reference lab on the third floor. And, of course, you probably know there are a million-plus books and electronic resources and research available through Booth. But what do you know about the people at Booth?
Did you know librarians at EIU are highly credentialed faculty, and many of them are published scholars? Booth librarians are available to support student and faculty research in a variety of ways. The Reference desk, located on the main floor of the Library, is staffed with library faculty members from 8 a.m. until 10 p.m. most days of the week. They can answer questions ranging from the simplest to the very specific and complicated.
Do you need to find resources for your writing assignment? They can help. Are you having difficulty understanding what your professor is asking you to do? Bring your assignment by and let a librarian work through it with you. They won’t give you the answer, but they’ll be a big help in getting you on the right path, and they have many years of experience working on college assignments with students just like you.
The “reference librarians,” or “research-help” librarians, have expertise in finding information and navigating the complex research tools that the library makes available to the university. Library databases are highly sophisticated systems and have many features and options that are not obvious to the novice researcher. Librarians understand these systems and know how to manipulate them to get the optimal results. They also know how to explain it all so the non-expert can understand.
Research-help librarians are also available online. You can reach them via email or chat, or make an appointment for a private consultation. They are even on D2L! You can use the library widgets in your D2L course site, or your professor might even have added a research librarian to your course!
There are librarian liaisons with your major department who specialize in a subject area like English, Economics, Biology, History, or Education. They support the faculty in that department by collecting materials for the library and teaching classes in research skills. They develop instructional guides and web pages to help you accomplish tasks in Booth.
No matter what your question, the librarians at Booth have you covered!
African American Heritage Month in Booth
Posted on February 9th, 2018
February is African American Heritage Month and Booth has many featured books and electronic resources on display and for checkout on the third floor corridor. The EIU office of Minority Affairs has posted many events celebrating African-American Heritage and The EIU Calendar of Events also lists several celebrations in February.
Reference News has recently published a post about a Black history and culture DVD display located on the 4th floor through February.
African American Heritage Month 2018 Calendar, click to see the full view
Stream 366 films from the Kanopy Black History Month collection! 
The Keep hits 1 million downloads
Posted on February 9th, 2018
Booth Library is pleased to announce our 1 millionth document download from the Eastern Illinois University institutional repository The Keep! The Keep features nearly 80,000 documents and contains faculty scholarship, student and professional journals, graduate theses, undergraduate honors papers, EIU historical documents, committee documents, and much more. Our mission is to digitize, preserve, and promote the scholarly output of EIU, optimizing the content for easy online discovery.
The 1 millionth download was recorded on Feb. 6. On that day our biggest downloads were Stress as a Moderator of Visual Perception: Do Elevated Stress Levels Interfere with Visual Cognition, a graduate thesis by Ashley Ebersole, and The Relationship Between Involvement in Extracurricular Activities and Academic Achievement of Students at Flora High School, a graduate thesis by Linda Spicer.
Our most popular paper is Involve Me: Using the Orff Approach within the Elementary Classroom by undergrad Amanda Long, a winner of the 2013 Award for Excellence in Student Research and Creative Activity. Her paper has been downloaded an outstanding 19,833 times around the world!
Other popular papers include graduate student Joseph Tillman’s thesis Improvements to Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Blades to Aid in Self-Starting, downloaded 10,805 times, and Associate Professor Jemmie Robertson’s An Integrated Approach to Preparing Paul Hindesmith’s Sonata for Trombone and Piano: A Guide to Help Achieve a Better Performance, downloaded 8,367 times.
Explore The Keep for yourself or email thekeep@eiu.edu to find out more about what the service can do for you and your students.
Black History Month DVDs and Streaming Media at Booth
Posted on February 9th, 2018
A celebration of African American History, covering a range of topics from landmark events to overlooked pioneers of early cinema. These films are available as DVDs and many are also Streaming.
366 streaming videos on African American History and Culture
38 DVDs in Booth, listed alphabetically by title
McNichols-Torroledo photography: Cultural Survival and Land Dispossession
Posted on February 8th, 2018
Bradley Tolppanen, Interim Dean of Library Services, curated the materials listed below in support of a presentation of photography by Alexandra McNichols-Torroledo: “Cultural Survival and Land Dispossession: A Photographic Essay on The Lakota-Dakota and the Embera Peoples of North and South America.” The event is Monday, February 26, at 4:00 pm in Buzzard Hall Auditorium, 1920 9th St.
Resources on Native Americans and Photography from Booth Library are on display and available to borrow on the 3000 level corridor. Come by and take a look at our exhibit.
Alexandra McNichols-Torroledo is a Colombian-American photographer who specializes in issues affecting indigenous people of North and South America.
The event is sponsored by Sponsored by the Provost’s Office, the EIU Humanities Center, the Departments of Art and Design, History, and Journalism, and the Programs in Latin American Studies, and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies.
Visit Kanopy Streaming to see the many films related to this topic available via Booth Library
