Survey: What Are You Using?

Starting Friday, March 27, 2009 the Johns Hopkins Libraries will be conducting random use studies of both the physical library and our licensed electronic resources.  At the Eisenhower Library, the study will run during random 2-hour intervals once every month for the next twelve months.  We will be conducting both an in-person survey and an online survey, asking users of electronic resources to tell us why they are using the Library at that time.  Completing the survey will take less than a minute. The results of the study will help us determine how the library is being used, what resources are being used, and for what purpose (instruction, sponsored research, or general research).  We appreciate your assistance with this valuable study. If you have questions about the survey please contact Elizabeth Mengel (emengel@jhu.edu); for technical questions, contact Sean Hannan (shannan@jhu.edu).

Featured: British and Irish Women’s Letters and Diaries

British and Irish Women’s Letters and Diaries includes over 100,000 pages of letters and diaries from approximately 500 women dating from between 1500 to 1900. The collection includes primary materials, biographies and an annotated bibliography of the sources in the database.

As today is St. Patrick’s Day, sample the database’s offerings with the below selection referencing the holiday:

“On Friday last, being St. Patrick’s Day, there were great doings here, and not drunken doings, not drowning the shamrock in whiskey, but honoring the shamrock with temperance rejoicings and music, that maketh the heart glad without making the head giddy or raising the hand against law or fellow creatures.”

From a letter from Maria Edgeworth to Margaret Edgeworth Ruxton, March 20, 1843.

Spring Break Hours at the Milton S. Eisenhower Library

The Library will be open the following hours over Spring Break, March 14-22:
Friday, March 13, close at 10 pm
Saturday, March 14, 8 am to 10 pm
Sunday, March 15, 10 am to midnight
Monday, March 16 - Thursday, March 19, 8 am to midnight
Friday, March 20 and Saturday, March 21, 8 am to 10 pm
Sunday, March 22, open at 10 am, 24 hour schedule resumes

Circulation Desk Hours
Friday, March 13, 8 am to 10 pm
Saturday, March 14, 8 am to 8 pm
Sunday, March 15, 10 am to 10 pm
Monday, March 16 - Thursday, March 19, 8 am to 10 pm
Friday, March 20 and Saturday, March 21, 8 am to 8 pm
Sunday, March 22, 10 am - 2 am

Audiovisual Center Hours
Friday, March 13, 9 am to 5 pm
Saturday, March 14 - Sunday, March 15, 1 pm to 5 pm
Monday, March 16 - Friday, March 20, 9 am to 5 pm
Saturday, March 21, 1 pm to 5 pm
Sunday, March 22, 1 pm to midnight

Beware the Ides of March!

“Beware the Ides of March” is one of those sayings that most people recognize without knowing why (it was the day that Julius Caesar was assassinated). As that date, March 15, approaches, we’ve focused our display to the left of the Reference Office on Shakespeare (for the literature buffs) and the Roman Empire (for the history buffs). If you’d like to see the quote that started it all, check out Literature Online (LION), and search the full text of “Julius Caesar” by Shakespeare for that phrase.  The MLA International Bibliography will locate literary criticism. Try our History and Classics lists of databases for more information on the real Julius Caeasar.  Questions? Ask a Librarian!

Mellon Grant Supports Conservation at the Sheridan Libraries

The Sheridan Libraries have been awarded $792,000 from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to launch a pilot program for post-doctoral fellows in heritage conservation science. Two fellows will be selected each year in an international competition to address a vetted scientific research agenda; the two-and-a-half-year initiative will be based in the Libraries’ conservation and preservation department.

The program will provide opportunities for the research fellows to collaborate with faculty and students in the Whiting School’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering, the Johns Hopkins Museums, and area institutions such as historical societies. Their investigations will emphasize research relevant to materials in libraries, archives, and other cultural heritage organizations. Continue reading Mellon Grant Supports Conservation at the Sheridan Libraries…

Get Prepared: Taxes 2009

Mark your calendars: Wednesday, April 15th is the deadline for filing your income tax returns.  Now is the time to organize your information and fill out the forms.

You can find Maryland tax forms and instructions on A-Level of the Eisenhower Library in the Government Publications, Maps, and Law area.  They are also online. The site also provides instructions on how to file electronically and how to choose direct deposit to your bank account if you are receiving a refund.  The turn-around time for a refund can be less than a week.

The library no longer receives federal tax forms and instruction booklets; find them online at http://www.irs.gov.