Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Featured Online Resource: The Astronomical Almanac



If you are an astronomy scholar or even a serious fan, you may wish to explore the Astronomical Almanac Online.  The Almanac is a joint publication of the United States and United Kindom through the United States Naval Observatory, Her Majesty's Nautical Almanac Office, and the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office.

The glossary can be a helpful resource to those lest familiar with Astronomical terms. The almanac compiles data on phenomena such as eclipses.  It also has sections covering the sun, moon, planets,  and more.

The site also allows you to download iCalendar files of a diary of astronomical phenomena.  This can be downloaded and imported into calendars in iCalendar 2.0 format such as Outlook, Google, and iCal,

You might notice that some types of information are not available online.  This data can be found in the print version of the Astronomical Almanac.  Newer copies can be found in the Library's Reference section, at call number: QB 9 .U55.  Older copies are in the government documents section at D 213.8.  (Just ask for help if you need assistance finding them!)

A list of additional links to helpful information in all three agencies is also available here.

The almanac assumes that viewers have some background in understanding of the data.  If you are less familiar, and would just like to learn a bit more about astronomy, you might want to monitor NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day web site.  With each photo, a professional astronomer provides a brief explanation of what you are seeing!



Happy stargazing!




The Ort Library regularly brings you a new and outstanding resource from the Web or from one of the library's databases. To get an archive of all FOR entries, click here. Also, you can suggest a website that provides well-organized access to useful info



Friday, December 5, 2014

Extended Library Hours for Last Week of Classes & Final Exams

As in past semesters, the Lewis J. Ort Library will extend its hours during the last week of classes and the week of final exams. Extended hours begin today, Friday, December 5th, and will continue through Friday, December 19th. Library hours through Commencement are listed below:


LIBRARY’S SCHEDULE OF EXTENDED HOURS
Friday, December 5
7:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Saturday, December 6
11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Sunday, December 7
1:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.
Monday, December 8 – Thursday, December 11
7:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m.
Friday, December 12
7:00 a.m. to Midnight
Saturday, December 13
9:00 a.m. to Midnight
Sunday, December 14
10:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m.
Monday, December 15 – Thursday, December 18
7:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m.
Friday, December 19
7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, December 20 – COMMENCEMENT
9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.


The Library hours are also posted online: http://libguides.frostburg.edu/libhours


If you have any questions, please contact the Circulation Desk at 301-687-4395.

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Celebrate Letter Writing Day by Writing a Letter to a US Service Member



December 7, 2014 is Letter Writing Day. The Ort Library has created a display to highlight the history of letter writing and showcase some of the handwritten letters available in Special Collections. 

To celebrate Letter Writing Day we are asking everyone to write a letter to a person in the US Armed Forces. We will gather all the letters written and send them off to be sent to the troops. We will send the letters to Operation Gratitude who will then forward the letters onto our US Service Members.

The display has paper and envelopes available for letter writing. You can also drop off letters you have written. There is also a box that has been set aside to collect the letters written. 

When you write a letter, please do not seal the envelope that you put the letter in.

We will gather letters until December 19, 2014.

If you have any questions, please contact Theresa Mastrodonato (ext. 4425) – tmmastrodonato@frostburg.edu or MaryJo Price (ext. 4889) – mprice@frostburg.edu.