March 2009 Archives

Listen to an interview with Thomas Bartlett author of a recent story in the Chronicle of Higher Ed on essay mills:
http://download.publicradio.org/podcast/futuretense/mpr_20090327_futuretense.mp3

To read the March 20th article go to: http://chronicle.com/free/v55/i28/28a00102.htm

"The company...sells so-called custom essays, meaning that its employees will write a paper to a student's specifications for a per-page fee. These papers, unlike those plucked from online databases, are invisible to plagiarism-detection software."

From many students' experiences it seems the service did not live up to their expectations--do you think it is worth explicitly talking about services such as this to writing students? I wonder how they do the research--I wonder if the bibliography would be a give away with many questionable sources...

"The seventh edition also introduces simplified guidelines for citing works on the Web. For example, the MLA no longer recommends the inclusion of URLs in the works-cited-list entries for Web publications. MLA guidelines now call for the inclusion of both volume and issue numbers in listings for journal articles in the list of works cited."

More at: http://www.mla.org/style/handbook_faq/whatsnew_7edhandbook

The 2006 acquisition of the Robert Bly papers was among the most significant by the University of Minnesota Libraries Archives and Special Collections.

In recognition of the importance of Bly as a poet, translator, social critic, and author, we proudly present "Robert Bly In This World," a three-day international conference exploring Bly’s contributions and impact on contemporary literature, sociology, and politics.

At the conference will be:

* Anne Wright on Bly and James Wright
* Howard Nelson on Bly’s poetry
* Hugh Van Dusen HarperCollins editor
* Coleman Barks translator of Rumi
* Leonard Lewisohn on Persian translation

. . . and many more.

In addition to the conference, materials from the Bly papers are on display now through May 9 in "The Pen Still Moves Freely: Robert Bly's Revolutionary Calling." Located in the Andersen Library Gallery, this exhibit is free and open to the public.

We know the University Libraries and the homepage can be overwhelming. We have so much great stuff it can be difficult to get quickly to the most useful places for you. We have a solution.

Do you use the myLibrary tab? This is a page you can use to organize your favorite resources, indexes, ejournals, databases and more. It includes the books you have checked out and dates they are due back.

To get to your page, click on "my Library" from either of the the following two locations.
1. Library homepage:

2. MyU portal

Then as you use the University Libraries, simply click on the "Add to myLibrary" button whenever you see it. It will then become part of your page.

And students can do this too!

Sound good?

Here is a story about the public schools in Portland, Oregon and the lack of certified librarians.

"In a society where most kids would rather consult Wikipedia than the World Book Encyclopedia, they say every student needs to learn how to use library resources and evaluate online information....

Studies show...
"A 2008 report on New York elementary schools concluded that students who work with certified librarians had higher achievement on standardized tests than those who didn't. A survey of Wisconsin school libraries found that high school students with access to librarians in their schools scored 10 to 20 percent higher on the ACT. Studies in 19 states have supported a similar connection.

No $$$:
"In 1999-2000, library expenditures nationwide were about $19 a student. A 2007 survey reported it had dropped to about $11 a student."

Read more at http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2009/03/most_portland_schools_dont_hav.html