May 2003

The newsletter will be off for the summer and is due back, rested and refreshed for the October issue.

LIBRARY SALUTES NURSING STUDENTS

Some of the most diligent students who come to study in the RCC library are from the Nursing Department, Pat Schuldenfrei, director. National Nurses Week, May 6-12, 2003, is a good time to recognize the outstanding job of the Nursing Program. It is also an appropriate time to appreciate the truly historic position of the Roxbury neighborhood in the annals of nursing education in the United States. In 1872, the New England Hospital for Women and Children began operating on Dimock Street in Roxbury, 10 minutes walk up Columbus Avenue from RCC. In that year, the hospital started the first training school for nurses in the U.S., emphasizing medical, surgical, and obstetrical nursing. The next year, Linda Richards became the hospital’s first nursing graduate and America’s first certified nurse. In 1879, Mary Eliza Mahoney graduated, becoming the first African American trained nurse in the country. The New England Hospital for Women and Children continued to run as a hospital on Dimock Street until 1972 when its name and purpose changed. Since then it has operated as the Dimock Community Health Center. The RCC Nursing Program follows in these footsteps, training nurses in 21^st century nursing techniques to help stem the country’s nursing shortage. Congratulations.

For short biographical sketches and pictures of Linda Richards and Mary Eliza Mahoney, visit the Boston Women’s Heritage Trail site at: http://www.bwht.org/beaconhill4.html. For more exhaustive information, visit the RCC library’s web page http://www.rcc.mass.edu/lib. Select Electronic Resources>Biography Resource Center.

STUDENT DOING 5½ TIMES AS MANY DATABASE SEARCHES

RCC students are using the library’s databases 5½ times as much as they were 18 months ago. In the 12-month period ending October 2001, students did 2,320 database searches in the course of doing research for college papers. In the 12-month period ending April 2003, they did 12, 695 database searches! In the month of April 2003 alone, more database searches were conducted than in the whole 12-month period ending October 2001. This extraordinary increase is the result of 3 causes:

· The commitment of the college to computerize the library last year, adding 12 student computers,

· The commitment of the college to provide the library with a Smart Board technology classroom which, when it is finished, promises to be a state-of-the-art facility,

· The commitment of the library staff to provide instruction in information retrieval methodology for every single RCC student.

Impressive as these figures are, they hopefully are only the beginning. Many students still depend on the free Internet for their research needs, not realizing there are better alternatives most of the time. Although the Internet contains much valuable information, it also contains much trash. Students often waste a lot of time using it indiscriminately. The library databases, on the other hand are designed precisely for student needs. Starting in the fall, the library will begin teaching website evaluation techniques. These will help students discriminate between valuable and questionable websites and then contrast the free Internet as a whole with the high quality resources available in the library databases.

Database Searches for 12-month Periods Ending in These Months

GIFT BOOK ON RCC PRESIDENCY

Several students have come to the library recently doing research on the history of the college. When José Alicea, head of the Division of Continuing Education, discovered this interest, he immediately donated a copy of his 1996 doctoral thesis from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Leadership and Struggle: the Roxbury Community College Presidency. Although not covering the presidencies of the past decade, the issues it raises continue to be highly relevant. This is especially so since the college is now on the eve of choosing a new permanent president. Anyone interested in studying the relationship between the challenges the college has faced and the individuals who have been at the helm should definitely look into this work. Both Dr. Alicea’s book and an earlier history of the college, A People’s School: Conflicts in Planning the Development of Roxbury Community College by William B. D. Thompson, Jr., are available at the library’s circulation desk for use in the library.

Father and Child by John Wilson

Some of David Coleman’s humanities students have been doing research on the large sculpture of a seated man and boy reading, located next to the Media Arts building. Here is a summary of some information they have found by visiting the library.

African American artist and sculptor John Wilson created the sculpture, named Father and Child, in 1990. John Wilson was born in Roxbury in 1922. He was educated at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, studied painting in Paris with Fernando Leger and during the early 1950s studied fresco painting in Mexico City after the style of Jose Clemente Orozco. Many of his graphic arts works display themes of despair, poverty and anger related to racial oppression. His later sculptural works “are more rounded in their quiet lyricism and represent a sense of hope rather than despair.” From 1964 to 1986, Wilson was professor of art at Boston University.

In 1985, Wilson created a bust of Martin Luther King for display in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, currently the only bust of an African American on display there. In 1987 he created his most monumental work, Eternal Presence or Monumental Head, a 7-foot bronze head of a black person located at the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists in Roxbury. In 1985, he won the monument competition to create a sculpture work at RCC. In creating the 7-foot bronze piece now located here, Wilson was inspired by a print, which he made 2 decades earlier which presents the same theme of paternal caring.

· For an image of Wilson’s Martin Luther King bust, click here: http://www.aoc.gov/cc/art/mlk_bust.htm.

· To see the smaller version of Eternal Presence on display at the DeCordova Museum in Lincoln, click here: http://www.decordova.org/decordova/sculp_park/wilson.html.

· For an excellent biographical sketch of John Wilson, including a list of works, prizes, collections and a bibliography, go to the library’s web page http://www.rcc.mass.edu/lib, choose Electronic Resources>Biographical Resource Center.

Images of Father and Child are frequently used on RCC publications. The work is a quasi symbol of the school. Yet, there is no plaque that gives its title and name of creator. It would seem that this oversight could be easily corrected.

EBOOK RAFFLE WINNERS

Four RCC students and 1 staff member won book bags, donated by NetLibrary, in the library’s April promotion of ebooks. The winners are:

· Marlene Best

· Kimberly Ann Munson

· Lecent Griffith

· Valerie Arthurton

· Barnard Koskei

If you have not yet explored the library’s collection of 7,000 ebooks which can be read online, go to the library’s web page http://www.rcc.mass.edu/lib, select Electronic Resources and then E-Books.

NEW BOOKS—POPULAR AND BEST SELLERS

	FICTION		NON-FICTION
	Armageddon Tim LaHaye, Jerry B. Jenkins		Leap of Faith: Memoirs of an Unexpected Life Queen Noor
	The Second Time Around Mary Higgins Clark		What Should I Do with My Life? Po Bronson
	The Guardian Nicholas Sparks		Stupid White Men: And Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation! Michael Moore
	The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown		Dereliction of Duty: The Eyewitness Account of How Bill Clinton Endangered America's Long-Term National Security Robert Patterson
	Dirty Work Stuart Woods		The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror Bernard Lewis
	Birthright Nora Roberts		Jarhead: A Marine's Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles Anthony Swofford
	The King of Torts John Grisham		The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad Fareed Zakaria
	All He Ever Wanted Anita Shreve		The Savage Nation Michael Savage
	The Devil Wears Prada Lauren Weisberger		Positively Fifth Street: Murderers, Cheetahs, and Binion's World Series of Poker James McManus
	Lost Light Michael Connelly		The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America Erik Larson

NEW BOOKS—TO SUPPORT THE CURRICULUM

--organized by call number category

D, E. F--HISTORY

Findley, Carter V. Twentieth-century world / D443.F55 2002

The brief American pageant: a history of the republic. / David M. Kennedy et al. E178.K33 2000

Major problems in American history since 1945 : documents and essays / edited by Robert Griffith & Paula Baker. E743 .M257

H--SOCIAL SCIENCES

The industrial revolution / edited by Steven Beaudoin. HC51 .B3 2003

Marketing : concepts and strategies / Sally Dibb HF5415 .D6 2001

Reece, Barry L. Human relations : principles and practices / HF5549.5 .C35 R45

Shapiro, Ilana. Training for racial equity and inclusion : a guide to selected programs / HT1521 .S52

Encyclopedia of juvenile justice / Marilyn D. McShane, Frank P. Williams III, editors. HV9104 .E58

J--POLITICAL SCIENCE

Wilson, James Q. American government : the essentials / JK276 .W55 2001

K--LAW

Schubert, Frank A. Introduction to law and the legal system / KF385 .A4 G7

Renuart, Elizabeth. Stop predatory lending : a guide for legal advocates, with companion CD-Rom / KF1040 .R46 2002

Adams, Anne. Basic administrative law for paralegals / KF5402 .Z9 A33

Maerowitz, Marlene A. Fundamentals of litigation for paralegals / KF8841 .M37

L--EDUCATION

Dillard, Mary L. Reading in the academic environment / LB1050.455 .D55

Swearingen, Rebecca. Classroom assessment of reading processes / LB1573 .S96

Fearn, Leif. Interactions : Teaching writing and the language arts / LB1576 .F38

Koch, Janice. Science stories : a science methods book for elementary school teachers / LB1585.3 .K63 2002

Johnson, Ben E. The reading edge : thirteen ways to build reading comprehension / LB2395.3 .J64

P--LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

Merlonghi, Franca. Oggi in Italia : a first course in Italian / PC112 .M4

Dietiker, Simone Renaud. En bonne forme / PC2129 .E5 D49

Oates, Michael. Entre amis : an interactive approach / PC2129 .E5 O25

Branciforte, Suzanne. Parliamo Italiano! / PC4112.B45 1998

Jarvis, Ana C. C*omo se dice--? / PC4129 .E5 J363 2002

Jarvis, Ana C. Entre nosotros / PC4129.E5 J367 2001

Jarvis, Ana C. Hola, amigos! / PC4129 .E5 J37 2001

Colombi, Mar*ia Cecilia. Palabra abierta / PC4410 .C58 2000

American mosaic : multicultural readings in context / PE1127 .H5 A46

Kaleidoskop : Kultur, Literatur und Grammatik / PF3112 .K35 2002

Rankin, Jamie. Handbuch zur deutschen Grammatik : wiederholen und anwenden / PF3112 .R36

Goldberg, Bernard. Bias : a CBS insider exposes how the media distort the news / PN4784 .O24 G65

The Heath anthology of American literature. Vol. 1 and 2, Colonial period-present / edited by Paul Lauter and Richard Yarborough. PS507 .A68 2001/

Contemporary American poetry / edited by A. Poulin, Jr. and Michael Waters. PS613 .C66

Q--SCIENCE

Smiley, John. Learn to program with Java / QA76.73 .J38 S64 2002

Larson, Ron. Calculus I with precalculus : a one-year course / QA303 .L28

Aufmann, Richard N. College trigonometry / QA531 .A87 2002

R--MEDICINE

Munson, Ronald. Raising the dead : organ transplants, ethics, and society / RD120.7 .M86

T--TECHNOLOGY

Kitchens, Susan A. Real world Bryce 4 / T385 .K563 2000

Speed, Tim. The personal Internet security guidebook : keeping hackers and crackers out of your home / TK5105.875 .I57 S675 2002

To build a better college library and provide superior customer service, we need your comments. Send both praises and gripes to mlawrence@rcc.mass.edu