What's New, Fall 2014

New Faces, New Roles

Chris Jones has been appointed Grinnell’s special collections librarian and archivist of the College. Since 2010, Chris has served as library assistant in special collections here at Grinnell. Previously, Chris worked in the Rare Book & Manuscript Library at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and for the Internet Archive. He holds a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois and a B.A. in French, with a concentration in business, from the University of Northern Iowa. Chris looks forward to drawing on professional and personal experience in his new role, as well as his interest in the history and economics of early printing.

After 27 years as a library faculty member, Catherine Rod has moved to Senior Faculty Status. Catherine’s senior faculty project is to research the early 20th century Social Gospel movement in preparation for the digitization of Grinnell’s archival materials on this topic. Best wishes, Catherine!

We welcome two new research tutors this fall: Sophie Donlon ’16 (English) and Kaelin Swift ’15 (History). Sophie and Kaelin and our returning tutors – Anna Banker ’15, Irene Bruce ’15, and Anthony Wenndt ’15 – can provide research tips and strategies online and at Burling Library's research desk. Please stop by!

Peer Mentoring and Collaboration Space

With the help of the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations and Grinnell’s Academic Space Planning Committee, the libraries are pleased to unveil a new peer mentoring and collaboration space, just off Burling’s lobby. This experimental space allows students to work together, one-on-one and in small groups, and offers flexible tables, lots of white boards, and a noise damping system. Please drop by Burling to see it for yourself.

Second Floor Display Area

Please also pay a visit to the display area just outside Burling’s Black Library. As the school year begins, the libraries are highlighting some of the fine student scholarship found in Digital Grinnell, our campus repository.

Bookeye Scanner

Our new Bookeye scanner is now available at Burling! With this overhead scanner, you can simply lay your book flat or use the cradle. You can also edit, save, and email your scanned images directly from the scanner.

New York Times and Chronicle of Higher Education: Free On- and Off-Campus Access

Use our helpful web guides to register for a free account to both of these useful, popular resources!  Grinnell students, faculty, and staff can now access The New York Times and The Chronicle of Higher Education on and off campus.     

New Tools and Databases

These are accessible through the libraries’ Databases A-Z page.

• Ben Jonson Online: A searchable full-text database from Cambridge University Press of the complete writings of Ben Jonson in a readable, modernized form.
• HeinOnline Academic Core Collections: A large collection of full-text legal and government publications both current and historical, covering United States Federal and State law, foreign and international law, legal classics, law journals, treaties, case law, and much more.
• ProQuest Executive Branch Documents 1789–1932: Contains all U.S. Executive Branch documents listed in the Checklist of Public Documents, 1789–1909 (and not printed in the U.S. Serial Set), as well as thousands of additional documents from 1910–1932.
• Women's Wear Daily Archive: Covers key moments in the history of the international fashion and beauty industry, including major designers, brands, retailers, and advertisers.