Non-Required Reading: Mornings on Horseback

Facing a long plane ride later this summer, or need something to keep you occupied before summer classes start? Some of us here thought we'd share recommendations for some recent reads and perennial favorites. Today, Associate Director Jack Ray makes a recommendation.

Mornings on Horseback
by David McCullough

David McCullough is a writer who puts the "story" in "history." His works are exhaustively researched and scrupulously documented in endnotes, but are as absorbing and eloquent as good novels. Right now I'm reading "Mornings on Horseback" (1981), the story of Theodore Roosevelt's youth and early career. The entire Roosevelt family and their nineteenth-century New York milieu come to life in this vivid account. Struggling from childhood with debilitating attacks of asthma, young TR was nevertheless inspired by his father to achieve greatness, and after graduating from Harvard he embarked upon a tumultuous career in New York State politics. It's a great read, like all of McCullough's works.

Get it at our library, or from the Enoch Pratt Free Library or your public library at home, wherever that may be.

Non-Required Reading: The Fabric of the Cosmos

Facing a long plane ride later this summer, or need something to keep you occupied before summer classes start? Some of us here thought we'd share recommendations for some recent reads and perennial favorites. Today, Research & Instruction Librarian/Web Support Specialist John Breitmeyer makes a recommendation.

The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality
by Brian Greene

The Fabric of the Cosmos popularizes science -- specifically physics -- in a manner somewhat reminiscent of efforts made by Carl Sagan and other (good) science writers to reach and educate the general public. By a kind of prose miracle, it's entirely math-free, although Greene is frequently obliged to refer to the difficult mathematics underlying various physical theories in a "trust me--the math bears this out" sort of way. However, his presentations are clear and convincing, and he succinctly, and excitingly, conveys a sense of the historical controversies and progress in physics to the layperson.

Greene manages to engagingly and clearly summarize over three hundred years of physics (it begins with Newton), and at the same time convey the vertiginous sense of wonder that comes from discovering how deeply strange and mysterious the universe is.

Get it at our library, or from the Enoch Pratt Free Library or your public library at home, wherever that may be.

Non-Required Reading: Short takes

Facing a long plane ride later this summer, or need something to keep you occupied before summer classes start? Some of us here thought we'd share recommendations for some recent reads and perennial favorites. Today, two librarians share short takes on some books read in the last few months.

Joanne Hélouvry
Head of Research & Instruction Services

With gas prices going up and organic foods abounding, I would recommend Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. Just be careful not to be sucked into the guilt that I felt when eating asparagus in November. Request it from Hood, and have it delivered right to LNDL!

Philip Fryer
Digital Media Librarian

I recently helped Dr. Pat Dwyer perfect slides for a presentation on assessment of education, and that brings to mind Jonathan Kozol's The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America. The book is really a sequel to his earlier work, Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools and is as dismaying as it is well-written and researched. Check out our copy of The Shame of the Nation (LC212.62 K69 2005) or Savage Inequalities (LC4091 .K69 1991).

Of course, you can also check these out from the Enoch Pratt Free Library or your public library at home, wherever that may be.

Non-Required Reading: Empire Falls

Facing a long plane ride later this summer, or need something to keep you occupied before summer classes start? Some of us here thought we'd share recommendations for some recent reads and perennial favorites. Today, Digital Access Librarian Danielle Whren makes a recommendation.

Empire Falls
by Richard Russo

Russo's Pulitizer Prize-winning novel is a look in time at a small, blue-collar town in Maine. Through the eyes of protagonist Miles Roby, the reader sees the people of the town and how they all got where they are now. Russo's excellent character development allows the reader to truly experience the lives of the people living in Empire Falls.

Get it at our library, or from the Enoch Pratt Free Library or your public library at home, wherever that may be.

Recent Event: Celebration of Faculty Scholarship

On Wednesday, March 26, the library held its annual Celebration of Faculty Scholarship. Each year at this event, we honor the publishing efforts of the faculties of Loyola College and College of Notre Dame of Maryland with a reception and an exhibit of the books and journal articles they published.

In addition, this year four faculty spoke about the publishing process: Dr. R. Trent Pomplun, Assistant Professor of Theology, Loyola College; Sr. Eileen Eppig, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, College of Notre Dame; Dr. Elizabeth Schmidt, Professor of History, Loyola College; and Dr. Alison Dray-Novey, Professor of History, College of Notre Dame. They discussed a variety of issues surrounding publishing, including the differences between academic and trade publishing, the travails of soliciting essays for reference works, the process of actually gathering information for a book, and much more. Their contributions to the Celebration were much appreciated, and brought a new level of engagement and excitement to the event. Below are just a few pictures of the event - we hope to have the rest posted to the website in the near future.

Faculty members enjoy the reception.








The display of journal articles.








One of two tables displaying books.

Recent Research Help - Study Abroad Students

Recently, librarians staffing our Research Assistance desk helped a student get started on some architectural research. This came with a neat twist: the student is studying abroad in Copenhagen, and needed information on the architecture of two local buildings - the Rosenborg Castle and the Baroque Palace.

We were able to find the website for the Rosenborg Castle, which has some information on the building’s history and architecture. The Baroque Palace was a bit trickier - it turned out that this building is also known as Marshal’s Court, and it’s currently used as a post office.

As the architecture resources at the library were not quite robust enough to provide more detailed information on the palaces, we suggested that the student take advantage of being in the same city as the buildings and visit them to see what she could learn in person. She e-mailed us excitedly to say that the information we provided was quite useful and she had successfully completed her project.

If you need to do research on architecture, here’s where to start:

• JSTOR includes articles on architecture. You can also see the pictures that were originally printed with the articles, and images from ARTstor.
• Bibliography of the History of Art covers architecture. Because it mostly includes citations, there won’t be as many full-text links as you might like. Give ArticleLinker a try, and don’t forget that you can request articles through InterLibrary Loan.
• You can find more resources on our Arts subject page. Don’t forget to check out the tabs at the top of the page for tips on good websites and reference books.

Remember, no matter where in the world you are, we're still your library and will be happy to assist you! For information on how to contact us via e-mail or chat, see the Research Help page.

Italian Week at the Library

This week, the library is proud to participate in the Eighth Annual Italian Week celebration, sponsored by Loyola's Department of Modern Languages and Literatures. In addition to hosting Thursday evening's lecture by Salvatore J. LaGumina, professor emeritus and director of the Center for Italian American Studies at Nassau Community College in New York, the Loyola/Notre Dame Library is hosting an exhibit throughout the week. Stop by the library and learn more about the medals of honor awarded to Italian Americans during World War II. The exhibit is located in the Gallery, the library's main lobby, and will continue through Thursday, February 28.

A second exhibit inside the library highlights books on Italian history and art, as well as cookbooks and travel books! This exhibit is located on the first floor, to the right of the Research Assistance desk.

Don't miss other great Italian Week events! Learn more about this week's events from the Modern Languages and Literatures Department.