What-I'm-Reading-Wednesday: Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town by Jon Krakauer

In Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town, Jon Krakauer tackles the disturbing and difficult subject of acquaintance rape, focusing on the experiences of five women in Missoula, Montana at the University of Montana during 2010-2012. The women had all filed reports of either rape or attempted rape with university officials and/or local police. The Justice Department began an investigation into reports of over 80 reports of sexual assault and revealed a culture of victim-blaming, discrimination, and disrespect, which Krakauer further reveals throughout his own investigative reporting.

Several of those accused of assault were key players on the University of Montana football team, which resulted in an angry division between those calling for serious investigation and police action, and those standing behind the football players, particularly star quarterback Jordan Johnson. Investigations into the sexual assault reports were severely mishandled and there was an air of disinterest in the alleged victims' stories. Many attempted to discredit the women, and though the athletic director and football coach were removed from their positions, and Johnson temporarily expelled, the football team made semi-threatening statements which resulted in a secret review leading to Johnson's reinstatement into the university and to the football team.

The accounts of sexual violence on college campuses are deeply disturbing and sadly all-too-common. Krakauer peels back the layers on one particular campus, and attempts to make sense of how a cultural shift has arisen in the way sexual violence is understood by both students and administrators at campuses across the country. As with Krakauer's other works, Missoula is well-written and researched, and a difficult but timely and worthwhile read.

Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town is currently on display on the New Arrivals Shelf on the main floor of the Library. You can also request Missoula through the catalog. Click on the "Availability" link on the catalog record, then click on the yellow "Request" button. Log in using your 14-digit Library barcode number (located on your University ID), and your last name. You will then be able to select your pick-up location. The Library will notify you via email when your book has arrived for pick-up. If you need assistance with this process, please contact the Circulation Desk at 301-687-4395.

What-I'm-Reading-Wednesday: The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things by Paula Byrne

The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things by Paula Byrne is a wonderfully robust social history of the life of one of England's most treasured writers. Byrne explores how Jane Austen became Jane Austen, and the complexities of becoming a published female author during the early nineteenth century using eighteen objects connected with Austen, rather than following a typical biographical style. She challenges the common notion that Austen was a spinster, a homebody, and lacked the life experiences of some of her well-traveled and typically male contemporaries.

Many of the objects chosen to tell the Jane Austen story seem at first strange choices, some as pedestrian as seat cushions and a hat. Others are far more intimate items from the Austen family like portraits, a letter game, a lace card, and a fictitious marriage certificate penned by Austen herself. Austen is brought to vibrant life through the history and analysis of these special items and heirlooms. Byrne presents Austen as witty, smart, worldly, and a shrewd businesswoman, traits not often used to describe her.

Though not a narrative, and certainly very different from typical hagiographical biographies, this fun, interesting social history by Byrne is a must-read for any Austen fan. The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things is currently on display on the New Arrivals Shelf on the main floor of the Library. You can also request The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things through the catalog. Click on the "Availability" link on the catalog record, then click on the yellow "Request" button. Log in using your 14-digit Library barcode number (located on your University ID), and your last name. You will then be able to select your pick-up location. The Library will notify you via email when your book has arrived for pick-up. If you need assistance with this process, please contact the Circulation Desk at 301-687-4395.

What-I’m-Reading-Wednesday: Area 51: An Uncensored History of America’s Top Secret Military Base by Annie Jacobsen

When you hear the name Area 51 – what do you think of first? Do you think about aliens and alien spaceships at the secret base or do you think about how the base was used to develop the U-2 spy plane in the 1950s? Annie Jacobsen takes the reader on a discovery of what Area 51 is and isn’t in the book Area 51: An Uncensored History of America’s Top Secret Military Base. In the first chapter Jacobsen discusses how Area 51 first came to the attention of the public, with the interview of Bob Lazar on a local television station where he talked about aliens and alien spaceships being backwards engineered for use by the US military. Up until that time, Area 51 was not known by most people outside of a few within the military.

Area 51 falls just outside the area in Nevada where the US detonated some of the first atomic bombs that were developed and adjacent to the Nellis Air Force Range. Area 51 was utilized for the U-2 spy plane development because of Groom Lake, which is in the center of the area. Groom Lake is a dry lake bed which makes it ideal for a landing strip. At the time, the U-2 spy plane was under the direction of the CIA because the US government could deny all knowledge of U-2 spy plane operations since the pilots would be wearing civilian and not military clothing.

Jacobsen has extensive notes and interviews with those that worked at Area 51 in the early days. One interesting fact that she includes in the book is that the crash at Roswell, NM in 1947 was not actually an alien spacecraft but a Soviet aircraft that crashed and was able to evade US radar systems.

This volume is available to request from the Ort Library catalog here: http://catalog.umd.edu/docno=004064390 Click on “Availability,” the click on the yellow “Request” button.  Log in using your first name and 14 digit library barcode from your ID.  If you need assistance, please contact the Circulation Desk at 301 687-4395.

What-I'm-Reading-Wednesday: Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson

What really caused the sinking of the Lusitania?  Were the British to blame or the German U-boot commander?  Dead Wake is an excellent read about the last days of the beautiful ocean liner, her passengers from all walks of life, and the part both the British and Germans played in her demise.

As the passengers embarked, there seemed to be little if any worry about the success of the voyage.  The Lusitania was one of the fastest of the Atlantic ships, she would have a British escort when she arrived in British waters near Ireland, and the Germans were too humane to ever think of sinking a passenger ship with Americans on board.

Ten months into World War I, one of the “greyhounds” of the Atlantic left New York for her return voyage to Liverpool.   She left New York with the Imperial German Embassy posting a “Notice!” to travelers on the Atlantic voyage that Germany and Great Britain were at war.  This meant that the waters around Great Britain were a war zone and that any of Great Britain’s allies would be accorded enemy status.

To reduce cost, Cunard ordered the Lusitania to use only ¾ of their power. This decreased speed, and therefore distance covered, thus changing the arrival time to Liverpool. Due to the fluctuation of the tide at Liverpool harbor there were specific times to enter the harbor. 

Rumors abounded that the Lusitania carried weapons and ammunition for the British cause.  What more could come together for a disaster?  As always, the weather played an integral part in the voyage and timing as it also slowed the ship.  The fog was an ally as well since it made it next to impossible for the U-boat (submarine, U-20) to see the ship. 

The reader will learn about the rich and famous on board as well as the other classes and the crew.  The day to day activity on the ship makes for interesting reading.  Larson imparts vital information about the safety drills, demonstration of the life jackets, and the pervading attitude that the ship would reach harbor simply because of its speed and the ‘rules of war” concerning nonmilitary ships.

Larson researched the Lusitania’s sinking well.  He includes information about the British and the best kept secret which left Captain Turner of the Lusitania without vital information to protect his ship and passengers.  Dead Wake gives us an adventure story and a story of war from those in a submarine, in command in Great Britain, and the unsuspecting passengers on a voyage of a lifetime.

Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania is available for check-out in the Ort Library catalog, as are Larson's other works like The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America, and Thunderstruck.Click on the "Availability" link on the catalog record, then click on the yellow "Request" button. Log in using your 14-digit Library barcode number (located on your University ID), and your last name. You will then be able to select your pick-up location. The Library will notify you via email when your book has arrived for pick-up. If you need assistance with this process, please contact the Circulation Desk at 301-687-4395.

Blog post written by MaryJo Price

What I’m Reading Wednesday: Outliers: the Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

In the book Outliers by Malcom Gladwell, the traits and circumstances that contribute to extreme success in life are defined and explored.  Is it luck of the draw or are there hidden factors that help to create successful people?  Can we apply those factors to our own lives?  And what is the legacy of our success?  Outliers explores what it means to be extremely successful and what hidden circumstances make it likely for you to succeed. 

Gladwell translates scientific data and research into easy to understand examples in everyday life.  In the first example of the book, Gladwell questions why most Canadian superstar hockey players are born in January, February and March? The answer - the age cutoff for hockey teams is January 1.  This means a child born in January will have almost a full year of maturity, physical growth in size and brain power over a child born in December.  Yet both children will be eligible to play on the same team or in the same league.  The older child will likely succeed because he plays against a less experienced and less physically mature child.  The older child is then rewarded by praise and advancement because of that success. The child is likely to be moved to better and better teams or leagues.  A cycle that reinforces itself to produce the "best" players.  Gladwell calls this the "phenomenon of relative age".  This is just one of the many fascinating examples researched and explained in Outliers.

If you found the above example tweaking your interest, we suggest you check out Outliers and also Gladwell's other works.  He has written 4 other New York Times bestsellers; The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference (2000), Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (2005), What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures (2009), and David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants (2013).  We hope you will check out all his exciting, informative books.

If you are interested in checking out this great book for yourself, you can request this volume from the Ort Library catalog here: http://catalog.umd.edu/docno=003682217.  Click on "Availability", then click on the yellow "Request" button, and log in using your last name and 14-digit Library barcode number on your ID. If you need assistance, please contact the Circulation Desk at 301-687-4395.  We hope to see you soon!

What-I'm-Reading-Wednesday: Jean Rhys, The Complete Novels

Twentieth century Caribbean novelist Jean Rhys is perhaps best known for her novel Wide Sargasso Sea, a prequel to Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, but her work spanned her entire lifetime and included many other novels, short stories, essays, and autobiographical works. This collection of Rhys' novels includes Wide Sargasso Sea, as well as Voyage in the Dark, Quartet, After Leaving Mr Mackenzie, and Good Morning, Midnight. The collection also includes photographs by Brassaï to accompany the novels.

Rhys often drew on her own experiences for the foundations of her novels, writing frequently of her childhood on the island of Dominica in the British West Indies, and her subsequent young adult years at a boarding school in England. Voyage in the Dark is thought to be mostly autobiographical, detailing a young woman's experience of migrating from the West Indies and being lured into a life of "modeling" which led to prostitution. Her depictions of Caribbean life are equally as vivid as the portrait she paints of life on the London streets.

Violence toward and the exploitation of women were common themes in Rhys' work. She was acutely aware of the fragile balancing act involved in emotional and sexual relationships between men and women, particularly in early twentieth century Britain. Her writing often featured domestic abuse, the dominance of men over women, and the dependence of women upon men. In Wide Sargasso Sea, an award-winning work of speculative fiction, she brings to light the first Mrs. Rochester, the mad woman in the attic from Jane Eyre, giving a voice to a character critical to the classic work but mostly unheard.

Request Jean Rhys, The Complete Novels from the Library catalog. Click on the "Availability" link on the catalog record, then click on the yellow "Request" button. Log in using your 14-digit Library barcode number (located on your University ID), and your last name. You will then be able to select your pick-up location. The Library will notify you via email when your book has arrived for pick-up. If you need assistance with this process, please contact the Circulation Desk at 301-687-4395.

What-I’m-Reading-Wednesday: Cheated: the UNC Scandal, the Education of Athletes, and the Future of Big-Time College Sports by Jay M. Smith and Mary Willingham

Jay M. Smith and Mary Willingham provide an analysis of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) academics-athletics scandal that began in 2010 from their perspectives as UNC employees.  Willingham was a tutor in the Academic Support Program for Student-Athletes who went public with claims of academic fraud at UNC.  Smith was a professor of history who researched these academic irregularities and pressed the UNC administration and faculty to formally investigate the issue and implement reform.

What began as an investigation of football players receiving improper benefits, including gifts and contact with sports agents, quickly spread to uncovering examples of academic misconduct, with tutors from the Academic Support Program providing improper assistance to student-athletes.  Further investigation uncovered widespread academic fraud especially within the African and Afro-American Studies (AFRI/AFAM) program where “paper classes” were being offered with large student-athlete enrollments.  These classes, which usually did not meet, only required that students submit a research paper in order receive a passing grade, typically an A or B.  In 2003-2004, AFRI/AFAM was offering almost 300 independent study sections, largely consisting of paper classes; enrollment in one independent study course in 2001 topped out at 80 students.  Further, creation and/or enrollment of these sections was often supervised by the department’s administrative assistant with little or no faculty oversight. 

Although athletes were not the only students enrolled in these courses, they were well-represented.  Academic Support Program tutors took full advantage by not only steering student-athletes to enroll in them, but also pressuring faculty and the departmental administrative assistant to create additional courses and sections.  The authors describe how student-athletes who were not prepared academically to enroll at UNC received special exceptions for admission to the institution and were assigned a tutor who not only assisted them with coursework, but assigned both their majors and schedules, leaving the students powerless to choose their own courses of study.  Smith and Willingham argue that the university should provide adequate and meaningful remedial support to students it has chosen to admit as well as empower them to choose and follow their own academic destinies in order to prepare them for life after their athletic careers end (and as they are promised when recruited).

Another troubling aspect of the UNC academics-athletics scandal as described by the authors was the complicity not only of the university’s administration, but also of faculty governance in protecting the status quo.  Smith and Willingham provide extensive details regarding faculty and administrative discussions, investigations, reports and decisions, all of which served to protect the Athletics Department from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which was conducting its own review, and further resulted in separating the UNC athletic enterprise from the academic mission of the institution.  In fact, a report commissioned by former North Carolina Governor Jim Martin in 2012 supported previous internal UNC investigations that defined the fraud as primarily an academic problem, largely absolving the Athletic Department and its Academic Support Program of wrongdoing.

Willingham left UNC 2014 and settled a lawsuit with the university in March 2015.  She founded Paper Class Inc. (http://paperclassinc.com) along with Smith as a means to continue to advocate for college sports reform.  Since the writing of this book, UNC hired former U.S. Justice Department official Kenneth Wainstein to conduct an independent investigation.  The report, released in October 2014, detailed over 18 years of academic fraud and irregularities at UNC.  In June 2015, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission (SACS) placed UNC on probation due to the exposure of academic fraud at the institution.  UNC has begun to implement initiatives intended to correct academic irregularities.  According the UNC Athletics website, the Academic Support Program for Student-Athletes now reports directly to the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost.

Willingham and Smith provide a thorough, if disturbing, view of big-time college athletics from an academic affairs perspective within a prominent research institution.

This volume is available to request from the Ort Library catalog here:  http://catalog.umd.edu/docno=004560116.  Click on “Availability,” then click on the yellow “Request” button.  Log in using your first name and 14 digit library barcode from your ID.  If you need assistance, please contact the Circulation Desk at 301 687-4395.

What-I’m-Reading-Wednesday: The Universal Vampire: Origins and Evolution of a Legend edited by Barbara Brodman and James E. Doan

What-I’m-Reading-Wednesday: The Universal Vampire: Origins and Evolution of a Legend edited by Barbara Brodman and James E. Doan

Vampires have been all the rage for a while now. The blockbuster Twilight series was just the latest trend in vampires in the modern consciousness. Everyone knows the story Dracula by Bram Stoker and many more know the vampires from Anne Rice. Even now there are several shows on television with vampires as the main characters, The Originals and The Vampire Diaries.

In this book, the editors take a scholarly look at the historical view of the vampire. The book contains 16 scholarly chapters on the history of vampires.  The book is divided into four parts. The first part discusses the vampires through the lens of Western European culture.  One chapter provides evidence for vampires in Norse-Icelandic Saga literature. The chapter provides the original Norse/Icelandic saga and then translates this into English for the reader. The vampire-like creature was called the Draugr.

The second part of the book looks at possible medical explanations for vampires including lack of medical understanding for some common diseases that we know existed at the time prompted people to believe in vampires. The third part of the book looks at female vampires in literature and how they have been portrayed. Finally, the last section of the book looks at how vampires have been viewed in countries outside of Europe including Mexico, Japan, and Russia.

Each chapter has a bibliography and some have information for further reading if one is interested in learning more about vampires in literature. If you want a scholarly look at the vampire myth then The Universal Vampire: Origins and Evolution of a Legend is for you.

This volume is available to request from the Ort Library catalog here: http://catalog.umd.edu/docno=004455910. Click on “Availability,” the click on the yellow “Request” button.  Log in using your first name and 14 digit library barcode from your ID.  If you need assistance, please contact the Circulation Desk at 301 687-4395.

What-I'm-Reading-Wednesday: Kill Chain: The Rise of the High-Tech Assassins by Andrew Cockburn

Author Andrew Cockburn, the Washington editor of Harper’s magazine, built his reputation as an expert on governmental and military affairs covering the U.S. and Soviet arms race and occasional clashes of the Cold War.  Although his latest book, Kill Chain: The Rise of the High-Tech Assassins, focuses on the current “drone war” in the Middle East and Africa, Cockburn shows how the current state of affairs in the U.S. military has its roots in both the decades-long conflict with the U.S.S.R. and in some cases, lessons learned (or not learned) during WWII.

Kill Chain opens in 2010 with a case of mistaken identity during a U.S. drone strike that resulted in numerous civilian deaths.   From this tragic but compelling episode, Cockburn takes the reader back to the 1940’s when U.S. bombers were striking daily against Nazi Germany in an effort to “bring the Reich to its knees.”  He shows how much of the conventional wisdom about air power at the time was gradually disproven, and then summarily ignored as the United States government became entangled by the “Military-Industrial Complex” that President Dwight Eisenhower so famously warned of in his farewell address.   (Fun fact I learned while reading this book:  In the original draft of his speech, Eisenhower had labeled the thing to be feared as the “Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex” but decided to remove the word “Congressional”, stating later that he was already “…taking on the military and private industry.  I couldn’t take on Congress as well.”)

As the Cold War escalated, ended, and then was replaced, (first by the War on Drugs, and then later the War on Terror) Cockburn demonstrates how the U.S. government has continuously invested more and more money on high-tech weapons (such as drones) that are often not only unwanted, but in some cases dangerously flawed.

Kill Chain is available on the New Arrivals shelf in the Library’s main lobby, or by requesting it through the Library catalog here. Click on the "Availability" link on the catalog record, then click on the yellow "Request" button. Log in using your 14-digit Library barcode number (located on your University ID), and your last name. You will then be able to select your pick-up location. The Library will notify you via email when your book has arrived for pick-up. If you need assistance with this process, please contact the Circulation Desk at 301-687-4395.

**Post written by Charles Courtney

What-I'm-Reading-Wednesday: When Paris Went Dark by Ronald C. Rosbottom

When Paris Went Dark: The City of Light Under German Occupation, 1940-1944 by Ronald C. Rosbottom is a compelling narrative of the lives of Parisians during "les années noires". Inspired by his time in the city during his undergraduate years, Rosbottom meticulously researched this dark time in order to provide what he calls a "tactile" history of the period, or a portrait of how everyday Parisians lived, worked, loved, and raised families in a city no longer their own. Much has been written about the occupation of Paris across the decades, and many aspects of life during this time have been shrouded in silence and mystery due to the controversial nature of the occupation. Rosbottom's research included interviews with those still living who were in Paris during this time period, and he astutely mined their stories for details not often shared in other similar histories.

Rosbottom lays out the chronology of the invasion and occupation from the beginning, including brief explanations of the events leading up to the occupation. The painstakingly detailed preparations of the Germans, their deep knowledge of the architectural, structural, and social layout of the city, and the experiences of previous failed attempts to take the city in earlier times all factored into the creation of an almost seamless takeover. Many fled the city prior to the occupation, but those who stayed, whether due to lack of resources needed to leave, or because they felt a devotion to the city and their French heritage, were presented daily with great ethical questions related to their interactions with the occupiers. Rosbottom separates those who "collaborated" from those who merely lived in a state of "accommodation" in order to survive. This distinction is essential in understanding how the Parisians viewed their own existence during this time, and to some extent in how the history of this era has long affected interpretations of France's role in the war.

When Paris Went Dark is available on the Library’s “New Arrival Shelf” in the main lobby, or you can place a request for this title directly from the Library's catalog here. Click on the "Availability" link on the catalog record, then click on the yellow "Request" button. Log in using your 14-digit Library barcode number (located on your University ID), and your last name. You will then be able to select your pick-up location. The Library will notify you via email when your book has arrived for pick-up. If you need assistance with this process, please contact the Circulation Desk at 301-687-4395.

What-I'm-Reading-Wednesday: The Battle of Midway by Craig L. Symonds

The Battle of Midway is part of an ongoing series from Oxford University Press entitled “Pivotal Moments in American History.”   Author Craig Symonds states in his introduction, “there are few moments in American history in which the course of events tipped so suddenly and dramatically as it did on June 4, 1942.  At ten o’clock that morning, the Axis powers were winning World War II…An hour later, the balance had shifted the other way.”  

Symonds begins the story of that shift on Christmas Day in 1941 with Admiral Chester Nimitz arriving at Pearl Harbor to take command of the U.S. Pacific Fleet – a fleet that was still reeling (and in some cases, still burning) from the Japanese surprise attack just a few weeks before. 

Roughly the first half of the book covers the people, background, and events that led both the American and Japanese fleets from Pearl Harbor to their fateful rendezvous north of Midway Island six months later.   Symonds focuses not only on the opposing commanders, but also the many behind-the-scenes players who ultimately contributed to the battle’s outcome.  The second half of the book narrates in detail the battle itself, including addressing several “controversies and legends” that have arisen and in some cases persisted in previous historical accounts.  

The Battle of Midway is available on the Library’s “New Arrival Shelf” in the main lobby, or you can place a request for this title directly from the Library's catalog here. Click on the "Availability" link on the catalog record, then click on the yellow "Request" button. Log in using your 14-digit Library barcode number (located on your University ID), and your last name. You will then be able to select your pick-up location. The Library will notify you via email when your book has arrived for pick-up. If you need assistance with this process, please contact the Circulation Desk at 301-687-4395.

**Post written by Charles Courtney

What-I'm-Reading-Wednesday: How To Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran

If you are looking for something hilarious to read this summer, look no further than Caitlin Moran's How To Be a Woman. This spunky English comedienne writes poignantly about the ups and downs of womanhood, using humor to accentuate the social injustices wrought upon the female sex. There is no topic too taboo. She questions everything from the unnecessary yet culturally-expected removal of body hair ("All the wildlife has gone. The bulldozers have moved in.") to the media's need to "humanize" and "feminize" strong women in powerful positions ("Let her keep her work face on. Let her seem a little indomitable and distant.").

Moran shares funny personal anecdotes, stories from her childhood, and conversations with friends. The style of the book itself is conversational and lends itself to her message. She is insightful and comical without belaboring her points. Moran expertly delves into sexism that is so socially and culturally ingrained in our societies that we fail to notice that there might be something wrong. If you're after something wickedly funny yet engaging and thoughtful, give Caitlin Moran a try.

Request How To Be a Woman now from the Library catalog. Click on the "Availability" link on the catalog record, then click on the yellow "Request" button. Log in using your 14-digit Library barcode number (located on your University ID), and your last name. You will then be able to select your pick-up location. The Library will notify you via email when your book has arrived for pick-up. If you need assistance with this process, please contact the Circulation Desk at 301-687-4395.

What-I'm-Reading-Wednesday: Front Yard Gardens by Liz Primeau

Liz Primeau’s Front Yard Gardens is a gorgeously photographed and inspiring read.  Whether you are a master level gardener or a beginner, this book has something for you.  The books starts off with the premise that the long ignored front lawn is actually a perfect area for a true garden.  In fact, a garden in the front yard is the eco-friendly choice.   Grass takes an enormous amount of care and watering to keep it looking perfect.  Why not pitch the grass and go for something more exotic and eye-catching like stands of bee balm or, my personal favorite, loads of daylilies?

Primeau takes you through numerous examples of what your Front Yard Gardens could be.  She has examples of a Minimalist Garden (lots of stonework and perennials), Small City Gardens (lots of colorful plants – great inspiration), and an Opulent Garden (flowers, flowers, and more flowers).  She has several more types of gardens listed as well.  The author has interspersed her garden examples with helpful tips on types of flowers, laying a groundwork plan, and different groundcovers to replace grass with minimal effort.  The book is loaded with lots of useful information and background history regarding gardens.

Front Yard Gardens is a great choice for all plant enthusiasts, people interested in sustainability for their homes, and people looking to daydream about what their outdoor spaces could be.  It is sure to inspire!

If you are interested in checking out this great book for yourself, you can request this volume from the Ort Library catalog here: http://catalog.umd.edu/docno=003769188

Click on "Availability", then click on the yellow "Request" button, and log in using your last name and 14-digit Library barcode number on your ID. If you need assistance, please contact the Circulation Desk at 301-687-4395.  We hope to see you soon!

Written by Amber Harrison

New Library Online Resources

The Ort Library recently activated the following new electronic resources, available to FSU students, faculty and staff:

BioOne Complete:  An aggregation of more than full text 180 scholarly journals focused in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences.

 

IPA Source:  A collection of literal translations and International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) transcriptions. The goal of IPA Source is to promote the comprehension and accurate pronunciation of foreign language texts in art song and opera in order that the singer may imbue each syllable with the appropriate emotional content.  As a specialized database, full text content is not available through OneSearch or linked via the Find It service.

JSTOR Life Sciences Collection:  A full text collection of more than 160 journals in the field sciences and health sciences.  All of the library’s JSTOR collections are bundled together under the heading JSTOR in the Databases A-Z list and Research Port.

Ulrichsweb:  Detailed information on more than 300,000 periodicals (also called serials) of all types: academic and scholarly journals, e-journals, peer-reviewed titles, popular magazines, newspapers, newsletters, and more.  As a specialized database, full text content is not available through OneSearch or linked via the Find It service.

These e-resources are available from the library’s Databases A-Z list, Research Port, and integrated into the Library’s OneSearch system (the search box on the library’s website). Full text content is also linked through the library’s Find It service, effectively connecting it to relevant citations in all of the library’s databases as well as Google Scholar. 

Please contact the Ort Library Reference Desk at 301-687-4424, libref@frostburg.edu, or chat with a librarian if you have any questions or wish to know more about these e-resources.

What-I'm-Reading-Wednesday: Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy by Karen Abbott

If your country went to war, would you be able to sacrifice your life, your money, your reputation, or your young daughter for victory?  Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War is the story of two Confederate women and two Union women who became spies for their respective nations during the Civil War (1861-1865).  They put their lives and those of their families, friends, servants/slaves, soldiers, and politicians at risk, often pulling individuals into their spy rings to obtain any and all information they could to pass on to those in command.

Rose Greenbow lived in Richmond, Virginia with her young daughter and provided information to the Confederate commanders about troop strength, morale, battle plans, and equipment.  She and her daughter not only went to prison; but were also envoys for the Confederacy in Europe.

Belle Boyd lived in Martinsburg, Virginia (West Virginia after 1863).  She was an ardent supporter of the Southern way of life and spent time as a spy.  She gained information by using any ruse she could and often charmed the men to learn what they knew.  Her information proved vital to the Confederacy and changed the course of early events.

Emma Edmonds of Michigan cut her hair, donned men's clothing and enlisted in a Michigan infantry unit as a male -- the only way to avoid an arranged marriage and to fight for the Union cause.  While in uniform, she worked with the medical men, served as a courier, and a spy.  She saw the war through battles, the wounded and dying and those living in the region of the battles.

Elizabeth Van Lew grew up in the North; however, her father owned a business in Richmond, Virginia.  The wealth of her family helped provide the money and status to become a spy for the Union.  She was suspected by her neighbors; however, she was never caught with any evidence verifying that she was a spy or that she hid escaping Union soldiers in her house.  Elizabeth planted her personal slave in the Confederate White House where Jefferson and Varina Davis lived.  The slave remembered anything she read or heard, providing  pertinent information to the North.

Abbott brings these four women together through a seamless writing of the Civil War, their exploits, and how their efforts made a difference to both sides.  There are books written by Greenbow, Boyd, and Edmonds  about their lives,  Liar, temptress, Soldier, Spy  allows the reader to read about the soldiers, commanders, politicians, women and children left at home, and Lincoln and Davis.  This book gives the viewpoint of war through its participants, their devotion and dedication, suffering, and desire for victory.

Abbott provides historic information about the Civil War along with fascinating lives little known to many.

This volume is available to request from the Ort Library catalog here: http://catalog.umd.edu/docno=004450843 Click on "Availability", then click on the yellow "Request" button, and log in using your last name and 14-digit Library barcode number on your ID. If you need assistance, please contact the Circulation Desk at 301-687-4395.

Written by MaryJo Price

What-I’m-Reading-Wednesday: How to Think Like a Neandertal by Thomas Wynn and Frederick L. Coolidge

How to Think Like a Neandertal by Thomas Wynn and Frederick L. Coolidge digs deep into the past to look at one of our closest ancestors, Homo neanderthalensis. Neandertals died out in Europe about 30,000 years ago. There has been speculation in the news and confirmed with DNA evidence that some modern populations have some neandertal genes. This book looks at the biological evidence for neandertals, some actually had the gene for red hair.

Additionally, the book looks to reconstruct what life might have been like for the neandertals in Europe during the last ice age and during the time when modern humans were moving into their territory. The book looks at the possibility that neandertals had the gene for speech. Additionally, they discuss if a neandertal was living today, just how different they would look from us, if we saw them out in 21st century clothes.

This volume is available to request from the Ort Library catalog here: http://catalog.umd.edu/docno=004066942  Click on “Availability,” the click on the yellow “Request” button.  Log in using your first name and 14 digit library barcode from your ID.  If you need assistance, please contact the Circulation Desk at 301-687-4395.