Harding alum is selected as Faculty Favorite

Tamera Alexander, a graduate of Harding University, was the author of January's Faculty Favorite selection. Alexander is the author of multiple Christian Fiction titles, including From a Distance, which was chosen by Dr. Lisa Ritchie.

A registered dietitian, Ritchie is a member of the Family and Consumer Sciences department where she serves as the Director of Didactic Program in Dietetics. When asked why she selected From a Distance, Ritchie replied, "From a Distance has wonderful detail about the Colorado territory during the time of the Civil War, and it reminds the reader to put his hope in the Lord, and to make our dreams, His dreams. It was written by a Harding graduate and was a 2009 Christy Award winner."

To learn more about Tamera Alexander and her books, you can visit her blog at http://tameraalexander.blogspot.com/. The Christy Award website is located at http://www.christyawards.com/ and includes the history of the award and lists of past winners.

New policy for food and beverages

Effective January 2010, the library will implement new policies regarding food and beverages in the library. While patrons are still welcome to bring snacks and drinks for their study and research time, we ask that the following guidelines be followed.

• Food is allowed in all areas of the library except Special Collections.
• No hot food is allowed. This includes, but is not limited to, pizza, burgers, tacos, breakfast biscuits, chicken, French fries, etc.
• No food deliveries are allowed. (Library authorized deliveries for sponsored events are not subject to this policy.)
• All beverages must have a secure top.
• Place trash in bins provided for your convenience. When appropriate, please use the recycle bins.
• Any spills or waste issues should be reported to the library staff.

Thank you for your assistance in maintaining the library and in reducing litter.

EBSCOhost goes mobile

Harding University iPhone users can now access EBSCOhost databases on their iPhones and other smartphones!

A press release from the company states, "EBSCO understands that mobile devices are growing in popularity and recognizes the exploding demand of mobile technology. The new interface includes many features for an enhanced mobile experience, is optimized for internet-enabled handheld devices, and qualified for all the major smartphones (such as iPhone, Blackberry, and Treo). EBSCO designed it with a lower resolution, simplified by removing folders and other advanced fatures, and changed the more performance intensive technologies into lightweight HTML."

A downloadable application is expected soon, but for now you may access EBSCOhost content by following the link on the library home page or by using the EBSCOhost logo above while on your smartphone's browser.

Christmas Countdown

With less than three weeks left in the fall semester, Brackett Library is focusing on the spirit of the season with this month's READ(c) poster and with an upcoming public event.

Robin Miller, Professor of Communication, was chosen to select this month's Faculty Favorite. In light of the timing of his choice and the fall musical production, Miller picked Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol for December readers.

The Dickens story of "A Christmas Carol" has become a part of our culture. It has been adapted many times for film and for stage. Performers from George C. Scott to Patrick Stewart to the Muppets have played Ebenezer Scrooge. Yet, often in these variations on the novel, the gem of pure storytelling that is Dickens work becomes lost.

The novel tells a story of a hurt man who is trying trying to make it through this life. Over the course of the story we see him in the present as well as watch him as he sees the past he has experienced. To deal with all the pain in his life, he often makes poor choices. The result is that he becomes lonesome, bitter, resentful and self focused. That is, he is self focused until he is forced to confront not only his past, but the way his choices then and now affect others.

It is at the moment of recognizing how his life is affecting others that he chooses to live life differently. To live it better. To live for others. For me, that is the core of the story. He sees that no matter what has happened in his past to him and no matter what actions he has taken, he can start today to live life differently. Change in behavior, change in attitude and change in thought for the better are all possibilities that can be achieved today. Regardless of what he has done that has hurt others, he can now begin to live for others.

Although this story never quotes scripture, it effectively preaches a sermon on how to live. Dickens uses the craft of story telling to reveal a truth of how a life can be well lived. And he does it in an extremely entertaining way. This is the best of art. It is engaging, entertaining and reflects the reality that is God's world. I highly recommend this become a part of any family's holiday traditions.

In keeping with a recently adopted tradition, Dr. David Burks will be in the library on Tuesday, December 8th to read The Night Before Christmas. Previous years have included guest reader Keith Cronk's interpretation of The Aussie Night Before Christmas and carolers from Joli Love's French classes.

Food in the Library

Brackett Library needs your help. When the decision was made to allow food in the building, there was much discussion about what kind of food would be allowed. Another library has an offensive and non-offensive food policy. If the food is considered intrusive on others, it is offensive and not allowed. When Harding student workers were quizzed they said things like pizza, fried chicken, heavily spiced, and greasy foods with strong smells would be offensive to them.

Initially, no guidelines were written about what kind of food would be allowed in the library, and for the most part, library users have been considerate of others. However, in recent weeks, library staff members and patrons have noticed more trash left behind, more attempted pizza deliveries, and more times when food smells have permeated the building. Library patrons have been asked to take the food to the new tables just outside the front door at these times and almost all have cooperated with a good attitude.

So how can you help? Please be considerate of other library users. Please pick up your own trash. Please think before bringing in food that smells strongly enough that others are bothered by it. This is a public building and we all must work together to keep it friendly for all users.

Thank you from the Brackett Library Staff.

Homecoming is here!

Brackett Library welcomes guests to our campus for Harding's annual Homecoming activities. Library related activities include the presence of archival pictures from Homecomings past on the library site, an alumni author signing, and participation in the university's Trunk or Treat activities.



From 11:00 to 1:00 on Saturday, October 31, award-winning Christian Fiction author Tamera Alexander will be signing books in the lobby of the Hammon Student Center. Fifteen other alumni authors have been invited and have made plans to attend.

Following Saturday's football game, a variety of campus participants will participate in the first Harding University Trunk or Treat which is slated to begin at 6:00 PM in the Ganus Athletic Center. In addition to candy, the library will have a selection of donated children's books to give away.

If you are on campus, please stop by the library for a visit. Recent years have brought many changes and we would love to share some time with you!

Sharing Harding History

There is no doubt that social networking has changed the way American culture communicates and shares information. Facebook, Linked In, and other sites may have initially been seen as a trend, but it is now common for them to be the primary communication point between family members, teachers and students, and within organizations.

In recent years, digital library collections have also grown in popularity. Brackett Library Director Ann Dixon wanted to make the university's collections of pictures available online and began looking for options. Following the lead of The Library of Congress and several academic libraries, Dixon chose to use Flickr, a photo-sharing site with social networking components. After an initial planning stage, hundreds of hours were spent scanning archive pictures and slides and the Brackett Library Flickr site was born.

Thanks to the work of graduate assistants Jenny Thurston and Catherine Canterbury, thousands of images from Harding's history have been added to the collection. Images range from black and white images belonging to the past to brightly colored collections from Spring Sing and Homecoming productions on the Benson stage. Dates span from Harding's earliest days to the late 1980's.

The library had two goals in making the images public. The primary goal was simply sharing the pictures and helping others enjoy the memories. The second goal? "We want you to find our mistakes," said Librarian Lisa Burley. "Many pictures did not include identification information. Who are these people? Where was this? When was this? If we have made mistakes, please let us know."

If you have questions or comments about the Flickr project, please email them to brackett.library@yahoo.com .