Woods: Patterns of Light

Local artist Lynn Uhlmann will display her art in Lehman Library Gallery at Shippensburg University from September 20 to October 20, 2011. A reception with Uhlmann is set for 4:00 p.m. on September 21, 2011 in the gallery.

Uhlmann is an accomplished artist whose work has been exhibited throughout the nation. She earned her bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Alfred University in New York State and her masters of fine arts from the University of Kansas.

She has extensive professional and teaching experience. She was an adjunct faculty member in Shippensburg’s art department from 2002 to 2005 and was a faculty member in fine arts at Colorado Mountain College in Leadville, Colorado. She was also an art teacher in Lancaster County and does custom art work.

Her work has been shown in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Colorado, California, Kansas, Wisconsin, New York and Indiana.

She has received numerous awards for her work and is the 2011 artist-in-residence with the Glen Arbor Art Association in Glen Arbor, Mich.

Lynn says of her paintings: “I wanted to bring back my experience with [the use of] art, tapping into it. Some of the forms showing up in my paintings, especially this past year – my trees are starting to get more expressive. To me, they look like they’re pouting, or flaunting, or in a dance-like pose – sometimes the branches look like hands on hips! I see rear ends and breasts, a torso often. They could have faces. I don’t consciously try. … Sometimes I think they’re talking to each other through colors, shapes, light.”

Additionally, she remarks: “I love, love, love the trees, always looking at them everyplace I go: ‘Look at that form!’ The possibilities are just limitless, with these living, beautiful shapes. It’s a place I love to be – I might not ever get out of the woods!”

Constitution Day Talk 2011

I Want My Privileges or Immunities!
(Or Do I?)
by Steven B. Lichtman, J.D., Ph.D.

Date: Monday, September 19, 2011
Place: Grove Forum (Grove 101)
Time: 1:00 p.m.

Dr. Steven B. Lichtman is Associate Professor of Political Science and Pre-Law Advisor at Shippensburg University

U.S. Constitution Day 2011

Please Join President Ruud and the students in 4th and 5th grade at the Grace B. Luhrs Elementary School in the Reading of the Preamble

Friday, September 16, 2011
10:00 a.m.
Lehman Library Plaza
(Rain Location: GBLUES Multi-Purpose Room)

After the Reading of the Preamble will be the Constitution Day Poster Contest Award Presentations to students in the 3rd, 4th and 5th grade classes of the GBLUES School.

For more information, please contact Chantana Charoenpanitkul, chchar@ship.edu, 717-477-1634 or Joyce Harding, jyhard@ship.edu, ext. 3289 on campus.

One Book One Community: "The Help"

Did you know that Lehman Library participates in the “One Book One Community" program”?

The current selection is "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett.

The story is about African American maids working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi[1] set during the nascent civil rights movement in Jackson, Miss., where black women were trusted to raise white children but not to polish the household silver[2].

Visit the One Book One Community website for more details. Happy reading!!

The One Book One Community program is designed to promote the value of reading by recommending a compelling book that links the community in a common conversation. OBOC programs encourage dialogue about a particular book, help foster lifelong learning, and promote the development of a strong community identity.

Using Library Experts Wisely

The article below from the InsideHigherEd blog explains some of what faculty can expect from th elibrary and what students should expect when starting out or stuck in the middle of a research project.

Don't be surprised at how much of an answer you get when you ask a question at the "Ask Us Anything" desk in the library.
http://www.insidehighered.com/advice/instant_mentor/weir27

"Today’s librarians bear about as much resemblance to the tight-bunned owlish matrons of 1950s films as laptops do to manual typewriters. They're more like the wizened sexton of a sprawling church, the guy with the giant ring of keys who unlocks every door, closet, and coffer. Library specialists routinely direct us to databases, DVDs, digitized archival material, recordings, hidden stacks, and journals we had no idea even existed"

Surprising things students don't know

Contrary to how librarians see themselves, a recent study in Illinois concludes "[t]he idea of a librarian as an academic expert who is available to talk about assignments and [guide students] through the research process is, in fact, foreign to most students. Those who even have the word “librarian” in their vocabularies often think library staff are only good for pointing to different sections of the stacks." What Students Don't Know

It's not that students are not succeeding in finding information to use in their papers, it's that "They’re taking very long, circuitous routes to their goals..." which can result in a dislike for the research process and possibly education in general.

Here are some other observations:

• Faculty and librarians make assumptions about students that frequently overestimate their skills - assuming they have some idea, for example, of what a scholarly source is
• Students who were interviewed mentioned Google more than twice as often as any other tool, but have little knowledge of how to use Google to find good academic sources
• The central dilemma for librarians:
  
  • "librarians are more relevant than they have ever been, since students need guides to shepherd them through the wilderness of the Web", yet
    
  • “Students showed an almost complete lack of interest in seeking assistance from librarians during the search process.”
  • "Librarians are believed to do work unrelated to helping students, or work that, while possibly related to research, does not entitle students to relationships with them."
    
• The central solution (and problem)
  • Because librarians hold little sway with students, they can do only so much to rehabilitate students’ habits. They need professors' help. Unfortunately, professors are not necessarily any more knowledgeable about library resources than their students are. “Faculty may have low expectations for librarians, and consequently students may not be connected to librarians or see why working with librarians may be helpful,”
  • One big reason for this: "library directors see the library as serving primarily a teaching function; professors see it above all as a purchasing agent."
• One part of the solution for the researchers in this project - putting more of an emphasis on pragmatism vs. idealism. Seeing this pragmatic approach in a more positive light. Seeing it as helping students avoid their long circuitous research processes and substituting much more efficient search methods.

At the Library, the week before Classes

With apologies to Clement Clarke Moore... or maybe Henry Livingston, Jr.

Twas the week before Classes, when all through the place

Few students were stirring, tho faculty were preparing the chase.

The resources were checked, from the website with care,

Plus indexes for students, who would soon would be there...