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Library Newsletter - April 2008

Vol. 12, No. 3

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Word from the Director

Maurice G. Fortin, Library Director

Unlike myself, I hope you were more easily able to adjust to the early arrival of day-light savings time. As I write this (in late March), it is just a few minutes past 8 a.m. and the sun is barely up over the horizon. I am an early riser and usually I am at work before 7:30 a.m. It is strange to drive to work in the dark and many evenings to drive home in the dark as well. Who am I to question the wisdom of the U.S. Congress on this "energy saving" measure.

The Library lost a long-time, outstanding employee at the end of February. In late February, Javad Maher, Acquisitions Librarian, retired and moved back to Austin. Javad oversaw the Acquisitions Unit which procures all the information resources available for your use. He joined the staff on January 6, 1992, working at ASU for over 18 years. During that time, the Library's Materials Budget more than doubled in size. Despite the large increase in the budget, his staff remained the same size throughout his tenure at ASU. The Library moved from having virtually no informational resources in electronic formats to over 275 databases available online. When Javad took over the Acquisitions Unit, the Library had over 2,200 print serial subscriptions. When he retired, the print subscriptions were below 1,600, but over 20,000 periodicals are now available online. Javad handled virtually all of the negotiations with vendors and consortia for access to the online resources you enjoy using today. He always looked for the best combinations of access and price. Every Library user owes a word of thanks to Javad for his great stewardship of funds, stretching every dollar available in the Materials Budget.

I am happy to report that Janetta Paschal is in a new position with the Library. She is now the Head of Library Technical Services. Following Javad Maher's retirement, I decided to implement a combined Technical Services Department (acquisitions/ serials and cataloging). Most of you know Janetta through her great work overseeing the Government Document Collections in the Reference Department. Janetta is a 1978 ASU graduate, who returned to campus in August, 1999. During the last nine years, she implemented many changes in the United States and Texas documents collections. She provided better access to the document collections by cataloging more titles, especially those in an online format, and by providing an excellent web presence to provide easy access to federal and state web sites. Janetta also helped build up and organize the Library's map collections and coordinated the Library’s migration from the NOTIS integrated library system to the Voyager system. The Library is now in the process of hiring a new Reference/Government Information Librarian.

The spring rains have a provided a return to various shades of green. This provides a beautiful background to the many changes occurring on campus. Old familiar buildings are now gone; but plans move forward for renovations and the building of new facilities across campus. I, like most of you, look forward to the opening of the new residence hall (Centennial Village) on the west side of campus.

The Library and Information Technology are still working with the University’s Administration to move forward on the remodeling project for the Library. This project includes the creation of a "learning commons" on the Library’s First Floor. Prior to the start of the remodeling project, the Library will grant temporary space for the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Research (CITR). This new office, headed by Dr. Trish Hutchinson, will occupy the southwest corner of the Library’s Second Floor. This space used to house a computer lab and currently is a large open space for group study. The CITR will use this space until a permanent home is found on campus.

This spring, I asked for assistance from one of Dr. Chawla’s classes to conduct the Library’s annual user satisfaction survey with students. In addition to the survey, the team will gather information on what services and resources students would like to see in a “new” library. I hope to share the results of the survey and gathered wish list in the fall edition of the Newsletter.

Shannon Sturm, University Archivist, and I serve as the Records Retention Officers for the campus. In mid-March, the Texas Tech University System Office approved and sent to Austin a revised retention schedule for ASU. By the time you read this, I hope the powers-that-be in Austin will have approved that plan. This will allow Shannon and me to begin working with offices across campus to address individual needs and implementation of the campus retention plan.

The Library’s schedule for the summer months may be found on p. 3. Please note the Library will be staying open to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday evenings during both summer terms.

For your summer reading pleasure, you will find a list of new best sellers and other choices on pages 8-9. Also, the Library’s Media Collection has extensive holdings of current and classic movies and documentaries to review for possible use in your classes next year. These items are available for check out. You can review these films and documentaries over the course of the summer as you make plans to revise your course assignments.

Elsewhere in this issue, you will learn about the new display on spurs at the West Texas Collection; a new education ebook collection now accessible through RamCat; a new online resource, Global Road Warrior; and DVD regions and television formats (and what this means when ordering DVDs).

"Spurs of the Moment ... 1590s to Present"

A new West Texas Collection display titled "Spurs of the Moment … 1590s to Present" features more than 40 sets of spurs from the collection of Joe Russell of San Angelo, who began collecting spurs as an 8-year-old boy on the Cross L Ranch between Sanderson and Dryden along the Texas-Mexico border.

Various spurs are on exhibit in the West Texas Collection and the Tucker Center, both on the second floor of the Houston Harte University Center, at 1910 Rosemont Drive. The Spanish spurs, the earliest one dating to 1590, will be on display in the West Texas Collection while spurs of the American cowboy will be exhibited in the Tucker Center. The exhibit is enhanced by the western art of Russell’s wife, Hope.

While originally created as a utilitarian tool to help horsemen manage their mounts, spurs ultimately became an artform as well with makers adding design flourishes of their own or incorporating elements requested by riders seeking to reflect their interests or personality.

Some of the most interesting spurs on exhibit are from the 1600s, with samples of spurs from each century through the 20th century. Most of the early spurs were made in Mexico, some of the charro style typical of California and others of the vaquero style more common in Texas.

(from an April 10 News Release, http://www.angelo.edu/services/communications_marketing/08april/4-10c-08.html)

The Library from a Distance: New eBooks for Education

Students and researchers have an increasing need for information resources that can be accessed just-in-time and just-in-place, no matter when or where an individual is working on a project. With the University’s distance education programs growing and the new programs being taught at the Texas Tech campuses in the Hill Country, this type of information access is becoming a priority.

To help support the College of Education’s research needs, the Library has acquired a new netLibrary ebook subject set – Teacher’s Resources Basic. This set consists of 27 education-oriented book titles that are available to ASU researchers in a digital format from anywhere in the world. They can be accessed through RamCat by clicking on the link Read this ebook online on the pertinent RamCat record for the book. If you are off-campus, using the RamCat link in the Library’s home page, you will be prompted to log in via the proxy server; if you’re using RamCat through the Library tab on RamPort, you will not receive the same prompt. More information regarding the titles available in this set can be found on the netLibrary web site at http://library.netlibrary.com/subjectsetscontent.aspx?listid=56315.

Library Schedule and Hours -- May Intersession and Summer Terms
May 10-11 CLOSED
May 12-13 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
May 14 CLOSED for staff training
May 15-16 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
May 17-18 CLOSED
May 19-23 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
May 24-26 CLOSED (Memorial Day Weekend)
May 27-30 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
(The West Texas Collection will be CLOSED May 27-30)
May 31 - June 1 CLOSED
June 2 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
June 3 - July 2 Regular Summer Schedule
July 3 7:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
July 4-6 CLOSED (Independence Day)
July 7 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
July 8 - August 10 Regular Summer Schedule
August 9-10 CLOSED
August 11-15 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
August 16-17 CLOSED
August 18-22 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
August 23-24 CLOSED
August 25 2008-2009 Schedule begins

Library Newsletter’s Future

The Library Newsletter will continue publication next fall. As happened this academic year, only three issues will be published, two in the fall and one in the spring. The first issue in August will be the annual “Guide to Library Services.”

Have a good summer, everyone. We will see you in August! --The Editor

Global Road Warrior

You are invited to travel the world – virtually – using Global Road Warrior, a brand new online resource that contains information about countries around the world.

World Trade Press, a publishing company in business for 15 years and specializing in topics of international trade, development, culture and cartography, now offers their country-based e-content to libraries in universities and secondary schools. Subtitled "The ultimate business travel guide," Global Road Warrior's information is researched and compiled by people living within each country. The guide includes the following major sections for each country (many have additional subsections):

The information available in this resource is especially useful for business travelers. For example, under "Society & Culture" you will find the subsections of "Greetings & Courtesies" and "Time & Punctuality." You can learn, for instance, how effusive, or not, your greeting should be and whether or not you should offer your hand to shake. You can also learn about the general attitude toward time and punctuality in business and in social engagements in other countries. Other sections of interest, depending on the country/countries, may be "Security Briefing," "The Businesswoman," "Communications," or "Import/Export Trade."

"Money & Banking" includes color scans of all banknotes and coinage in worldwide circulation and nine downloadable maps per country can be found in the "Maps" section. While "Travel Essentials" is geared toward business travel, information found there is also useful for leisure travel.

Global Road Warrior should be a font of information for anyone needing all kinds of data on other countries, whether for international business projects or geography assignments, as well as for planning that long-awaited vacation to exotic ports of call. Look for Global Road Warrior on the lists of "Business & Economics," "Government, Law & Military," and "Reference" databases on the Library tab in RamPort, and on the "Online Resources for Visitors and Friends" web pages on the Library's web site.

DVD Regions and Television Formats: Who’s Your #1 PAL?

What are DVD regional codes? It all started with the major Hollywood motion picture studios wanting to control all aspects of home video releases (including content, date and, in particular, price) in different parts of the world. Therefore they required that the DVD standard include codes to prevent playback of certain discs in certain geographical regions, and that DVD player specifications be set so that players to be sold in a given place could not play discs encoded for a different region.

The DVD world is divided into six major geographical regions, with two additional regions reserved for specialized use.

REGION 1 -- USA, Canada
REGION 2 -- Japan, Europe, South Africa, Middle East, Greenland
REGION 3 – South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Parts of South East Asia
REGION 4 -- Australia, New Zealand, Latin America (including Mexico)
REGION 5 -- Eastern Europe, Russia, India, Africa
REGION 6 -- China
REGION 7 -- Reserved for Unspecified Special Use
REGION 8 -- Reserved for Cruise Ships, Airlines, etc...
*REGION 0 or REGION ALL -- Discs are uncoded and can be played worldwide.

The end result is that DVDs encoded for regions other than region 1 cannot be played on a region 1 DVD player, and players marketed for other regions cannot play region 1-stamped DVDs. For example, the U.S. is in region 1. This means that all DVD players sold in the U.S. are made to region 1 specifications. As a result, region 1 players can only play region 1 discs. The region code is usually specified on the back of the individual DVD package, either with a logo of a globe with the region number superimposed over it, or specifically spelled out. Discs that bear the region 0 symbol either have no flag set or have region 1–6 flags set, and can be played worldwide.

When region-free and multi-region DVD players were manufactured that could easily bypass the restrictions imposed by the regional code system, the movie industry counteracted by enforcing another layer of protection on DVDs, called Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE). This additional layer contains program code that checks for the proper region setting in the player. If the player is set to "region free" or "region 0," the disc is rejected. In other words, when an RCE DVD is inserted into a DVD player, the DVD asks the player if it is Region 1. If the player says "yes," the RCE DVD asks the player if it is any other region. If the player says "yes" again, the disc will not play and the screen below will appear. However, if the player can be manually set to the region of the disc, the disc should play properly (there have been instances in the early stages of RCE, when region 1 players were unable to play RCE DVDs). This secondary region checking procedure was introduced by Warner Home Video, but has since been adopted by other movie production studios, such as Columbia/TriStar and MGM.

The Good News? Currently, there are only a few DVD titles with RCE on them (though there is nothing on the DVD itself or the packaging to indicate this). Additionally, most of the latest multi-region DVD players manufactured today are built to bypass RCE. Players with automatic region selection simulate the selection and setting of the player to the region required by the disk (primarily region 1). For players with manual selection, all the user needs to do is change the player setting from "multi-region," "bypass," or "code free" to "1."

The bad news? Region codes are not the only standards that need to be taken into consideration when purchasing DVDs. Television formats must also be considered carefully. What are television formats? Just because a DVD is coded for a specific region doesn't mean it will play in all countries assigned to that region. You also have to make sure the video formatting is the same. DVDs are formatted for one of two mutually incompatible television broadcast systems: NTSC or PAL. These television systems basically define the manner in which your television set displays the signal it receives.

NTSC (National Television Standards Committee) was developed in the U.S. in 1941, and approved by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) as the standard for television broadcasting in the U.S. A second standard was introduced in 1953 to allow color broadcasting to be compatible with the existing stock of black-and-white receivers, while maintaining the broadcast channel bandwidth already in use. NTSC is based on a 525-line, 60 fields/30 frames-per-second at 60Hz system for transmission and display of video images. Countries that use NTSC broadcast and playback standards for television, video and DVD are: Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Burma, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Greenland, Guam, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, St. Kitts, Saipan, Samoa, Surinam, Taiwan, Tobago, Trinidad, USA, Venezuela and the Virgin Islands.

PAL (Phase Alternating Line) is the most widespread format for analog television broadcasting and video display and is based on a 625 line, 50 field/25 frames per second, 50HZ system. It was invented by Walter Bruch at Telefunken AG in Germany during the 1960's. Countries on the PAL system include Afghanistan, Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brunei, Cameroon, Canary Islands, China, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, North Korea, Kuwait, Liberia, Luxembourg, Madeira, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Paraguay (PAL-N), Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Secam (Sequential Couleur Avec Mémoire or Sequential Color with Memory) was developed in France in the early 1960's. SECAM uses the same bandwidth as PAL but transmits the color information sequentially. Countries on the SECAM system include France, Russia, Eastern Europe, and some parts of the Middle East. SECAM is a television broadcast transmission format but it is not a DVD playback format. In countries that use the SECAM broadcast standard, DVDs are mastered in the PAL video format.

As a general rule, NTSC discs must be played in an NTSC-compatible unit and PAL discs must be played in a PAL-compatible unit. Multi-standard, multi-region/region-free DVD players (sold primarily in PAL countries) with built-in converting hardware are the current solution to these conflicting technologies. These players are able to decode both NTSC and PAL signals, allowing individuals to play DVDs originating from any region. However, not all multi-standard DVD players are built alike. Most multi-standard players can only convert NTSC to a "pseudo-PAL" signal, which then requires a PAL TV to be displayed properly. Some multi-standard PAL players output true NTSC from NTSC discs, which requires an NTSC TV or a multi-standard TV. Some players have a switch to choose 60-Hz PAL or true NTSC output when playing NTSC discs.

What does this all mean for Media items used on campus? When ordering foreign DVDs to use in your classroom, verify their region code and video format, and make sure the equipment you and your students will be using (player and TV set) support multiple region and TV standards. For further information and assistance in this matter, please contact Antonella Ward, Multimedia Support Librarian at 942-2313 or antonella.ward@angelo.edu.

Summer Reading Choices: "Best Sellers" and More

Best Sellers (added Winter/Spring 2008)

Are you planning a vacation in the Florida keys this summer? Are you also planning to read Stephen King’s latest novel while you lounge on the beach? Duma Key and other new “best sellers” are available in the Library for your summer reading pleasure. Look for these and other best sellers in Roscoe’s Reading Den on the Second Floor.

D767 .H353 2008 -- Retribution: the battle for Japan, 1944-45 / Max Hastings.

DS389.22.B48 A3 2008 -- Reconciliation: Islam, democracy, and the West / Benazir Bhutto.

HB74.P8 A74 2008 -- Predictably irrational: the hidden forces that shape our decisions / Dan Ariely.

HC110.S9 J64 2007 -- Free lunch: how the wealthiest Americans enrich themselves at government expense (and stick you with the bill) / David Cay Johnston.

HV6453.I83 C42 2007 -- Gomorrah / Roberto Saviano.

JC574.2.U6 C674 2007 -- If Democrats had any brains, they'd be Republicans / Ann Coulter.

PN2287.C685 M67 2008 -- Tom Cruise: an unauthorized biography / Andrew Morton.

PR9619.3.B7153 P46 2008 -- People of the book: a novel / Geraldine Brooks.

PS3561.I483 D86 2008 -- Duma Key / Stephen King.

PS3566.I372 C47 2008 -- Change of heart: a novel / Jodi Picoult.

PS3569.P363 C47 2007 -- Choice / Nicholas Sparks.

PS3568.I265 C5 2008 -- Christ the Lord: the road to Cana: a novel / Anne Rice.

(See the December 2007 issue of the Library Newsletter for other best sellers available in the Library.)

Other Choices

"Presidential Elections"

For those people who just cannot read enough about presidential politics, the following titles represent a tiny portion of books in the Library covering all aspects of this topic. Disputed elections are not restricted to more recent times, as you will see from the examples below. The elections of 1800 and 1876 were also times of crisis and turmoil for the country.

For more books on this topic, do a "Guided Keyword Search" in RamCat using the terms "president," "united states," and "election" in "Subject." As of Monday, April 21, 2008, there were 398 entries for this search.

E176.1 .B683 2004 -- Presidential campaigns: from George Washington to George W. Bush / Paul F. Boller.

E330 .D86 2004 -- Jefferson's second revolution: the election crisis of 1800 and the triumph of republicanism / Susan Dunn.

E330 .F47 2004-- Adams vs. Jefferson: the tumultuous election of 1800 / John E. Ferling.

E330 .L37 2007 -- A magnificent catastrophe: the tumultuous election of 1800, America's first presidential campaign / Edward J. Larson.

E680 .M85 2003 -- Fraud of the century: Rutherford B. Hayes, Samuel Tilden, and the stolen election of 1876 / Roy Morris.

E680 .R44 2004 -- Centennial crisis: the disputed election of 1876 / William H. Rehnquist.

E839.5 .G745 2004 -- The two Americas: our current political deadlock and how to break it / Stanley B. Greenberg.

JK524 .E28 1992 -- Chain reaction: the impact of race, rights, and taxes on American politics / Thomas Edsall.

JK526 2004 .D36 2007 -- Dancing without partners: how candidates, parties, and interest groups interact in the presidential campaign.

JK528 .W47 2007 -- The political brain: the role of emotion in deciding the fate of the nation / Drew Westen.

JK1976 .S36 2003 -- You call this an election? America's peculiar democracy / Steven E. Schier.

"Evolution"

A new acquisition on the topic of evolutionary theory "outlines the basic principles of evolution with stories that entertain as much as they inform, and shows how, properly understood, these principles can illuminate the length and breadth of creation, from the origin of life to the nature of religion." David Sloan Wilson’s Evolution for everyone: how Darwin's theory can change the way we think about our lives can be found in the Second Floor Stacks at B818 .W665 2007. Wilson includes a chapter on the evolution of nations, with some observations on current world affairs (see the chapter titled "The social intelligence of nations, or, Evil aliens need not apply").

A few of the more recent books on "evolution" in the Library are listed below. Many more are available; a "Guided Keyword Search" in RamCat using "evolution" in "Subject," restricted to publication dates 2000-2008, retrieved 144 entries.

BF575.A9 F85 2006 -- Wonder: from emotion to spirituality / Robert C. Fuller (examines emotions in evolutionary biology).

BF637.H4 B375 2004 -- Kindness in a cruel world: the evolution of altruism / Nigel Barber.

ML3800 .M73 2006 -- The singing Neanderthals: the origins of music, language, mind, and body / Steven Mithen (evolutionary history of music).

QH366.2 .K57 2005 -- The plausibility of life: resolving Darwin's dilemma / Marc Kirschner.

QH366.2 .S54 2007 -- The top 10 myths about evolution / Cameron Smith.

QH371 .M54 2006 -- The evolving world: evolution in everyday life / David P. Mindell.

QH375 .A78 2006 -- Creatures of accident: the rise of the animal kingdom / Wallace Arthur.

A note about a web site --

If you are interested in reading Charles Darwin's private notes, drafts, and recipes, see The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online web site, made available for free by Cambridge University Library. Billed as "the largest and most widely used Darwin publication in history," it is now available at http://darwin-online.org.uk/. The collection, which includes the first draft of On the Origin of Species, comprises some 20,000 items and 90,000 images.

Have a good summer, everyone. We will see you in August. -- The Editor