« September 2011 | Main | November 2011 »
Need help? Academic Resource Center Tutors are available to support and guide you.
ACCT 2120 - 8 to 10 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays in WHH 117
ECON 110 - 8 to 10 p.m. on Mondays in WHH 324
ECON 120 - 8 to 10 p.m. on Wednesdays in WHH 324
WRITING - 8 to 10 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays in WHH 117
To schedule a one-to-one appointment call the Academic Resource Center at 310-338-2847.
In 2009, President Obama issued a presidential proclamation declaring October, National Information Literacy Awareness Month, calling upon all Americans to recognize that “the ability to seek, find, and decipher information can be applied to countless life decisions, whether financial, medical, educational, or technical…An informed and educated citizenry is essential to the functioning of our modern democratic society.”
What is Information Literacy?
Information literacy is a set of abilities requiring individuals to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.
Information literacy forms the basis for lifelong learning. It is common to all disciplines, to all learning environments, and to all levels of education. It enables learners to master content and extend their investigations, become more self-directed, and assume greater control over their own learning.
An information literate individual is able to:
-- from the Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education, Association of Colleges & Research Libraries (ACRL)
-- image from Beloit College Library
How does the library support information literacy?
-- cartoon from bLaugh
In honor of the Loyola Marymount University Interreligious Celebration which took place on campus Sunday, October 23, the Hannon Library is proud to have on display “Religious Dialogue in the City of the Angels.” The exhibit, which runs through November 9, features historic text and images that tell the story of the University’s role in the promotion dialogue across faiths in southern California.
In the late 1950s, the university helped establish and has since been a part of the conversations with the regional community to promote mutual respect and understanding; these exchanges have included the Los Angeles Bilateral Catholic Dialogues, the Catholic-Jewish Women’s Conference, and the Interreligious Council of Southern California. On campus, the development of the Interreligious Institute, the Martin Gang Institute for Intergroup Relations, the Center for Religion and Spirituality, the Marymount Institute for Faith, Culture, and the Arts, the Jewish Studies Program, the Huffington Ecumenical Institute, the Department of Theological Studies, and the LMU Student Interfaith Council each testify in their own way to LMU’s commitment to continuing the dialog into the 21st century.
Join us in the library (level 1 and level 3) for a glimpse into how it all started; the exhibit is a joint effort of the LMU Center for Religion and Spirituality and the Hannon Library’s Department of Archives and Special Collections.
What were we reading in 1911?
Each month of the Centennial year one of our librarians will look at a notable book published during 1911, and give you a glimpse of what people were reading while Loyola Marymount University was just getting started.
Our second review in the series comes from Dean of the Library Kristine Brancolini. (If you missed the first one, you can find it here!)
Decades before he became the acclaimed author of An American Tragedy, Theodore Dreiser wrote two controversial novels based on the lives of his older sisters, Emma and Mame. The first of these novels was Sister Carrie and the second was Jennie Gerhardt. Not one to shy away from sensational social issues, in Jennie Gerhardt Dreiser focuses on a young, middle class German-American woman who becomes pregnant out of wedlock by one man and then lives with another in the late 19th century. The publication of Sister Carrie in 1900 was all but buried by its publisher, who was scandalized by the content. Dreiser wrote a draft of Jennie Gerhardt in 1901 and 1902, acutely aware that, like Sister Carrie, it was likely to face publisher resistance due to the frank nature of its content. However, Dreiser suffered a nervous breakdown in late 1902 and he did not return to the manuscript until January 1911. He worked quickly to complete the novel, which was published in late 1911.
Jennie Gerhardt opens in 1880, when 18-year-old Jennie and her mother are forced to seek work in a posh Columbus, Ohio, hotel. Jennie is drawn into a world of wealth and influence, sex roles and class consciousness. Seduced by a U.S. senator more than 30 years her senior who promises to marry her, Jennie bears his child out of wedlock when the senator dies before they can marry. The focus of the novel soon shifts to Jennie's relationship with a wealthy Cincinnati businessman, Lester Kane, whom she meets while serving as a lady's maid in Cleveland. Lester is immediately taken with Jennie's beauty and temperament and senses that she might be persuaded to enter into a sexual relationship with him. Although he is clearly attracted to her, he has no interest in marrying anyone, let alone a young woman so obviously beneath his social station. Jennie is loath to become involved in another extra-marital sexual relationship, but her father has been seriously injured in an accident and may never be able to work again. Lester offers considerable financial assistance if Jennie will come away with him. Her father would be furious if he knew the reality of the situation, but Jennie's mother persuades her husband that Jennie and Lester are legally married. Jennie and her daughter Vesta eventually take up residence with Lester in Chicago; she begins calling herself Mrs. Kane. However, Lester's family members in Cincinnati gradually learn of the deception and his father finds a way to persuade -- or pressure -- Lester to marry Jennie or separate from her.
Dreiser skillfully portrays Jennie's dilemma and illuminates her strong character. Although she is not religious, in contrast to her Lutheran father, Jennie accepts that her behavior is wrong and that she is “bad.” It is clear that Dreiser believes in Jennie’s goodness. Jennie would like to be married, but the birth of her daughter has probably made that impossible for her. Strictly speaking Jennie can choose her course of action, but her family has few options. These were the years before health insurance and disability insurance. If the family breadwinner were sick and could not work, the family had no income until he recovered. If he could never work again, the older children had to quit school and support the younger ones by working menial jobs. Lester sees the situation and offers Jennie, who has fallen in love with him, a very attractive way out. Jennie is an extremely sympathetic character and although Lester is reprehensible in many ways, the reader wonders what would have become of the Gerhardt family without him.
Desperate for a bestseller, the manuscript of Jennie Gerhardt was heavily edited by Dreiser’s Harpers editor Ridley Hitchcock before its publication in 1911. More than 16,000 words were edited from Dreiser's manuscript, removing any profanity, references to sex and much of his social and philosophical commentary. Oddly, Dreiser’s straightforward prose was rewritten to be more verbose and flowery. Jennie's character was also altered, portraying her more blandly than originally conceived by Dreiser. The edition I read is the novel published in 1911, but in 1992 the University of Pennsylvania published the restored manuscript with historical commentary and a textual table showing each word change.
--Kristine Brancolini
(Want to read this book? If the above copies are checked out, here's an e-book... and don't forget LINK+!)
Lions, we know that the Information Commons gets very busy, and sometimes it's hard to find a free work space. Now, we have a live map showing computer availability! (Note: link only works from on-campus.)
Computers in red are in use; computers in blue are available. Of course, if someone is sitting at a computer but not using it, it will show as available, but the map can help you figure out where to look when it seems like every computer is occupied.
You can view the map, alongside the graphics showing group study room availability for the day, at the monitor at the Information Desk. (Or, you can also visit this link.)
And don't forget, if all our Information Commons computers are in use, you can also check out a laptop and use it anywhere in the library!
Tuesday October 18
12:15-1:30
Von der Ahe Family Suite (Library Level 3)
Many Americans today have deep concerns about the state of the economy and its relationship to the trust we place in businesses and financial institutions. This session, a part of The Book Festival 2011, will explore the ethical and spiritual challenges set out in this year's Common Book, Heroic Living.
Featuring: Paul S. Viviano, CEO, Alliance Healthcare Technologies and LMU Board of Trustees; Randy Roche, S.J., Center for Ignatian Spirituality; and Dr. Tom White, Center for Business Ethics
Moderator: Joe LaBrie, S.J., Special Assistant to the President,Associate Professor of Psychology and Director, Heads UP
This event is sponsored by the Bellarmine Forum, the Academic Resource Center, and the William H. Hannon Library. It is free, and boxed lunches will be provided.
For more info, please contact: Beatrice Henson-O’Neal, M.F.A. (310) 338-6038
Image: Detail from “The Virgin and the Child and Young St. John the Baptist”
by Hendrik de Clerck (early 17th century). Gift of Carmen Warschaw, 2009
Now Open: “Sustaining Splendor: Art and Artifacts in the Library’s Special Collections”
Here in the library's Department of Archives & Special Collections, we continue to celebrate LMU's centennial by launching a series of exhibits that pays tribute to the donors who gave us the greatest treasures in our library. If you have ever wondered what may be the “best of the best” among our collections, this is the year to come visit us often!
We start our series by showcasing important gifts of fine art and historical artifacts. Featured in our display are works by well-known Spanish artists such as Goya and Dalí, intriguing souvenirs from the American Civil War, medieval badges of England, splendid examples of Japanese netsuke, prints, drawings and sculpture by notable German Expressionists, postcard collections that encompass a world-wide view of the 20th century, an ancient Chinese battle helmet, and many other wonderful items.
We honor donors from both Marymount and Loyola history, including Miriam and Robert O. Kinsey, Werner von Boltenstern, D. Bernard Kearney, Carmen and Louis Warschaw, Countess Bernardine and Sir Daniel Donohue, the Fritz Eichenberg Estate, and our own Jesuit and Marymount communities.
By the end of the school year, we hope you will be as proud of our library’s riches, and the people who gave them, as we are. LMU has been fortunate in the splendor of our gifts. Come celebrate our joyous first hundred years with the library’s Department of Archives and Special Collections!
“Sustaining Splendor” is free and open to the public. The Archives & Special Collections gallery is open 8am-5pm, Monday through Friday. Additionally, the Exhibit will be open on Sunday, October 23 11:00am-5:00pm for Open House Weekend.
"Sustaining Splendor" will remain on display until December 22, 2011. For more information, please contact the Department of Archives & Special Collections at 310/338-5710 or Special.Collections@lmu.edu.
If you missed our last exhibit: Learn. Lead. Serve. 100 years of Student Life at LMU, you can still see online versions of several historic photos from the University Archives in the "Atrium" collection of the Digital Library.
Image right: Ranryo-o by Hideyuki (1974). Gift of Miriam and Robert O. Kinsey.
Los Angeles history comes alive at the 6th-annual Los Angeles Archives Bazaar. Organized by L.A. as Subject and presented by the USC Libraries, the annual event celebrates the diversity of Southern California’s history. For scholarly researchers, journalists, history buffs, and those simply interested in exploring the stories of Los Angeles, discovery awaits everyone at the Archives Bazaar. This event is free and open to the public.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Doheny Memorial Library
USC University Park Campus
The Archives Bazaar draws its strength from the breadth and variety of its participants’ collections. Large institutions such as the Autry National Center of the American West and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County will be represented at the bazaar along with smaller organizations and private collections whose materials fill the gaps left in the city’s official history. Other participating organizations include the ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, the California African American Museum, El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument, the Japanese American National Museum, and our own Loyola Marymount University Department of Archives & Special Collections. In all, more than 80 archives are represented.
This year’s featured speaker is Los Angeles Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne, an authoritative observer of Southern California’s urban environment. He was previously the architecture critic for Slate, a contributing editor for Metropolis magazine, and a frequent contributor to The New York Times, where his work appeared in the Arts and Leisure, House & Home, and Op-Ed sections.
For more details about programming taking place at the Archives Bazaar, please visit the Bazaar's home page, or join in the conversation on Facebook.
Thursday, October 20
4:30 p.m.
Von der Ahe Family Suite
William H. Hannon Library
Free & open to the public
Cipriana Jurado, a longtime organizer and activist in Ciudad Juárez who filed for and received political asylum in the United States after having proved a well-founded fear of persecution from the Mexican army—the same institution that the U.S. is supporting with billions of dollars in aid through programs like the contoversial Mérida Intiative—will visit LMU next week in the Von der Ahe Suite of the Hannon Library.
The title of her talk is Feminicidios, Militarizacion y los abusos a los Derechos Humanos en Ciudad Juárez (Femicide, Militarization, and the Abuse of Human Rights in Ciudad Juárez).
Jurado arrived in Juárez at the age of 14 to work in the maquiladoras and quickly established herself as an advocate for women’s labor rights. In the late 1980s she co-founded Centro de Investigaciones y Solidaridad Obrera (Center for Investigation and Worker Solidarity), and in 1990 became its director. Much of her work has centered on complaints, victimization, kidnappings, and disappearances related to the militarization of northern Mexico and the abuses and brutality carried out by the Mexican military.
Jurado’s appearance at LMU begins a series of events organized by Fletcher Jones Chair in Literature & Writing Rubén Martínez that focus on the devastasting violence of the drug war in Mexico and Central America, American complicity in it, and the moral imperative of approaching the issue binationally.
The event will a reading of the poetry of Juárez writer and mother Evagelina Arce (who visited LMU last year as part of the Bellarmine Forum) read by alums Cynthia Harris (’08), Belinda Delgadillo (’09), Rosa Arámburo (’10) and Manuela Flores (’11), a presentation coordinated by Modern Languages & Literatures Professor Alicia Partnoy. There will also be remarks by BCLA Dean Paul Zeleza, Professor Martínez, and Dr. Nina Lozano-Reich of Communications Studies, and a question and answer session with Ms. Jurado.
Jurado’s appearance is co-sponsored by the Fletcher Jones Chair in Literature & Writing, Communication Studies, Modern Languages and Literatures, Theological Studies, Center for Service and Action, Chicano and Latino Student Services, Bioethics Institute, and Students for Labor and Economic Justice.
Contact: Rubén Martínez, Fletcher Jones Chair in Literature & Writing
213 804 4682
The staff and administration of the William H. Hannon Library offer their sincere condolences to the family of Margaret Tante Burk, who passed away on October 6.
Margaret was an important figure in the literary and entertainment world of Los Angeles. She was the long-time publicist for the famed Ambassador Hotel and Cocoanut Grove here in Los Angeles, and she also co-founded and ran the book club “Roundtable West,” one of the largest book clubs in the United States.
Margaret had close connections to Loyola Marymount University. Her daughter Linda graduated from Marymount College in 1969. We were honored when Margaret chose to donate her papers and personal library to the Hannon Library, which are now part of the collections of the Department of Archives and Special Collections.
The guide to the collection can be found here: http://library.lmu.edu/Collections/specialcollections/Manuscripts/Margaret_Tante_Burk_Papers.htm.
The William H. Hannon Library is fortunate to have had Margaret Tante Burk as a friend, and we thank her and her family for their contributions to this university.
