Libraries, Classrooms, and the Interests of Democracy: Marking the Limits of Neoliberalism

Libraries, Classrooms, and the Interests of Democracy:  Marking the Limits of Neoliberalism by Dr. John Buschman, Dean, University Libraries, has just been released by Scarecrow/Rowman & Littlefield (https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780810885295). As the book’s description notes: In Libraries, Classrooms, and the Interests of Democracy: Marking the Limits of Neoliberalism, Dr. Buschman details the connections between our educative institutions and democracy, and the resources within democratic theory reflecting on the tensions between marketing, advertising, consumption, and democracy. Drawing on wide scholarship to explore some of the history of democratic theory and its intertwinements with capitalism, the author helps the reader think about how democracies can deal with the challenges of this current historical phase. The complex arguments of de Tocqueville, Dewey, Marx, and many others help clarify how the market has pierced classrooms and libraries with advertising and marketing—and why this is of concern in the interests of democracy.

World War II and its Aftermath: New Acquisitions in the Valente Collection

Italy entered World War II in 1940; by its end, in 1945, several hundred thousands of Italians had lost their lives and many of Italy’s towns and cities were in ruins. This tumultuous period of Italian history is documented in the numerous personal narratives, pictorial works and historical accounts that recently have been acquired as part of the Valente Italian collection, located on the third floor of Walsh library. The Valente Collection is open to all researchers, who wish to consult its extensive print resources. Most materials can be borrowed by the Seton Hall community, those individuals with a Rebl card, and faculty in the Vale Academic Library Consortium. It is open during the library’s normal working hours.

For more information, please see http://www.shu.edu/academics/libraries/valente-italian-library.cfm.

Scholarly Reading Study

Seton Hall University Libraries has been selected to participate in a prestigious international study of scholarly reading and the value of academic libraries. The study examines how and why readers obtain the scholarly materials they need, and what outcomes result from reading.  Invitations to complete the surveys were recently emailed to all Seton Hall faculty and students.

If you did not receive or have misplaced your email invitation and would like to participate in the survey, please e-mail Lisa.Rose-Wiles@shu.edu.  Your participation will be greatly appreciated.

  • The faculty survey will take approximately 20-30 minutes to complete.
  • The graduate student survey will take approximately 15-20 minutes to complete
  • The undergraduate survey will take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete.

You may exit the survey or leave a question unanswered at any time. There is minimal risk attached to your participation. Any details about you, your work situation, and your organization will be kept completely confidential. Survey results will be kept under password protection for three years following the survey. Any papers or conference presentations based on the collected data will contain only summary data without direct links to an individual survey response. You must be 18 or over to participate in this research.

If you have questions at any time about the study or the procedures, (or you experience adverse effects as a result of participating in this study) you may contact the primary researcher:

Dr. Carol Tenopir, 451 Communications Building, 1345 Circle Park Drive, Knoxville, TN 37996; 865-974-7911; ctenopir@utk.edu or at Seton Hall University, Dr. Lisa Rose-Wiles, Science Librarian, 973-275-2047; Lisa.RoseWiles@shu.edu

This research study has been approved by the Seton Hall University Institutional Review Board, which monitors all research studies to protect human subjects. If you have any questions about your rights as a participant in this study, please contact the Chairperson of the IRB at (973) 313-6314 or IRB@shu.edu

 

Science and Religion Reception

  • Thursday, March 29, 2012 3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
  • Walsh Library , Second Floor, Room Dean’s Suite
  • Seton Hall faculty are invited to join us for a celebration of our new Science and Religion library, obtained through a competitive grant offered by the International Society of Science and Religion (ISSR). Come and see the collection and hear readings and reviews of selected books. Faculty teaching in the Core curriculum are especially encouraged to attend.

    Light refreshments will be served, accompanied by harp music from Iris Nevins.

    Due to space limitations, please RSVP to Lisa Rose-Wiles, lisa.rose-wiles@shu.edu

Donation of the Sabo Collection

The Library is pleased to announce the donation by Joseph G. and Bean Corcoran of 432 books that belonged to George Sabo (1896-1983), a bibliophile and book dealer well known to scholars and librarians in the field of Slavic Studies. These titles comprise Orthodox and Uniate Scriptural and Liturgical texts and will add significantly to the holdings of the Seton Hall University Library. Another notable category is comprised of both Russian and Hungarian encyclopedic sets, a number of collectible illustrated books and commemorative books, principally French/Russian, Czech and Hungarian, Russian archaeographical sets and a small number of 1930s Soviet art and literary volumes. A number of the books bear provenance markings of Mount Athos and the pre-revolutionary Russian Winter Palace. The donation is valued at $23,000.

Get Paid for Doing Research and Help the Library!

Professors Beth Bloom and Marta Deyrup are seeking Seton Hall sophomores, juniors and seniors to participate this semester (Spring 2012) in a research study. The goal of our project is to understand students’ research behavior patterns, so that we can give better instruction that is modeled on the way students actually do research.
If you are a Seton Hall sophomore, junior or senior you are eligible to participate. You must be enrolled in a class that requires writing a research paper. For your time, you will receive $125 Pirates Gold upon completion of your participation. [Please note: if you participated in this project last semester you are not eligible.]

Your Part in the Project
Participating students will be trained in using OpenHallway, an online tracking tool http://www.openhallway.com/
As you do your online research, you will be asked to use this online tracking tool to record your search actions. Students will be divided randomly into two groups: one group of students will have a one-on-one research session with a librarian as they do their research; the other group of students will do research using their own research strategies. At the end of the semester, students will be given a final short survey and attend a wrap-up session with the investigators.

We really appreciate your help and time in improving library services. We hope you are interested in our project and will help us out! We look forward to working with you.

To participate or to find out more about the study contact Professor Bloom (beth.bloom@shu.edu) or Dr. Deyrup (marta.deyrup@shu.edu)

The Petersheim Academic Exposition 2012: Share, Honor, Unite – call for presentations and posters

16th Annual Petersheim Academic Exposition

The Petersheim Academic Exposition 2012: Share, Honor, Unite  will take place on Tuesday, April 17 – Saturday, April 21, 2012 in celebration of the scholastic accomplishments and academic interests of the entire Seton Hall University community, including both undergraduate and graduate students. If you want to participate in the event, the application deadline is Wednesday, March 21stApply now »

Seton Hall selected as an ISSR Library awardee

Seton Hall University’s Walsh Library is honored, after a competitive judging process, to be named an ISSR Library awardee by the International Society for Religion and Science based in Cambridge, England. Walsh Library joins a select group of only 150 institutions worldwide to receive an award from ISSR.

The ISSR Library grant consists of 224 volumes spanning all areas of the interface between science and spirituality.  This is a truly remarkable collection that spans subject areas ranging from the sciences and social sciences to history, philosophy and the environment.

The ISSR library is a circulating collection, located on the 2ndfloor of Walsh Library adjacent to the reference desk.  Please contact Dr. Lisa Rose-Wiles, science librarian, for further information.