In the 1950\’s Tarleton\’s spring break wasn\’t until April to coincide with the Easter holiday. The spring semester didn\’t begin until February! The article above describing the Tarleton spring holidays is from the March 17, 1953 JTAC. Aren\’t you glad that we end our fall semester before Christmas, and begin our spring semester in January? That means that our spring break is already here!
Have a wonderful, fun, restfull, and safe break!
Two Bits, Four Bits, Six (more) Bits
The 50 State Quarters program has expanded to include the District of Columbia and five United States Territories: Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands. The DC quarter is already in circulation and five territories\’ quarters will be issued periodically through 2009. Pictured is the Guam coin to be issued later this year. Read more here.
The 50 State Quarters program was extremely successful in renewing interest in coin collecting (also known as numismatics). So much so, that the U.S. Mint estimates that the program generated about $4.6 billion in seigniorage from coins taken out of circulation by collectors from the program\’s beginning in 1999 through about 2004.
Seigniorage is the difference between the face value of a coin and the cost of producing, distributing and retiring it from circulation. Since it costs the Mint around 5 cents for each 25-cent coin it produces, the government had revenue whenever someone chose to collect the coin and not to spend it.
In 2010, the U.S. Mint will begin a new program with quarters featuring national parks and other national sites. One site will be selected for each of the 50 states, DC, and the five territories. After all sites are selected, the quarters will be issued at the rate of five per year in the order in which each site was first established as a national site.
George Washington\’s profile will still appear on the obverse side of all the quarters.
[Thanks to Tracy for the idea for this post!]
Top Ten Tuesday – 10 Must \’Do\’s for Spring Break
It is almost here – Spring Break! I hope you have something really fun planned. Here are 10 tips for making your Spring Break a success. You may read the entire list at Tips for Spring Break | College Jolt.
10) DO wear sunscreen
9) DO meet some locals
8) DO meet someone special
7) DO explore the town
6) DO something besides boozin‘
5) DO budget
4) DO spend some alone time
3) DO go to the gym
2) DO try something new
1) DO cherish your time there
College Jolt also has a list of Spring Break Don\’t – you might want to check those out as well!
The library will reopen at 5pm on Sunday March 15th – so enjoy the break and remember to come in and get your assignments done also.
Get Tips for Managing Email
With the campus switching to the Microsoft Live@Edu email service (more information), now\’s a great time to learn ways to better manage the ever-increasing number of email messages that hit your inbox.
Several online forums offer tips for managing email. For example, TechProse offers Managing Email, which gives suggestions for
- breaking the pattern of continuous interruption,
- organizing emails, and
- writing emails.
Merlin Mann of 43 Folders offers Five Fast Email Productivity Tips that will help you \”take back your day\” from the email barrage.
Finally, you can get lots more tips from the 13 brief articles listed and linked on Helium\’s Time Efficient Tips for Managing Your Email.
Library Instruction
ATTENTION INSTRUCTORS:
Did you know?
Many college students overestimate their ability to search databases, find credible information and evaluate resources. The Dick Smith library offers instruction on:
- Research and Time Management
- Search Techniques
- Resources and Services
- Avoiding Plagiarism
- Citing Sources in MLA (or APA)
- Evaluating Sources
Sessions can be
- Tailored to specific assignments when necessary
- Held on all campuses in various settings
- Scheduled at your convenience
You can schedule a session by calling Cathy Wilterding at x9456 or Yvonne Mulhern at x9934 or by submitting a request form.
Tarleton Thursdays: Did You Know?
John Tarleton Agricultural College Dairy Barn – 1919
Tarleton is getting a new dairy barn…well not exactly…it is getting a new state of the art Southwest Regional Dairy Center which will serve not only Tarleton but the rest of Texas and surrounding states as a learning and research dairy! Groundbreaking is set for tomorrow, Friday, February 27, 2009, at 10 a.m.
Tarleton has long been an agricultural school. John Tarleton wanted the local children with few resources to have a place to get a useful education. Through the years Tarleton agriculture students have excelled in many areas of agriculture and won in contests such as dairy judging, soil judging, horse judging, intercollegiate rodeo, and meat judging, to name a few. At one time the poultry division even held egg laying contests.
In 1917 Tarleton became a part of the A & M System and the name was changed to John Tarleton Agricultural College. Here you see Tarleton’s first dairy barn, built in 1919. The 1919 Grassburr states that “the college dairy barn will house the grade Guernsey herd which is being built up. The main room will accommodate forty-eight cows, and is provided with every convenience and sanitary device which a dairyman could wish. It is provided with shower baths, tool room, engine room, wash room, can airing room, laboratory and office. When the college herd outgrows the present structure a fifty-foot wing will be added to the west.”
Wow! We have certainly come a long way!
Audiovisual Collection
As you exit the stairs or elevator onto the lower level of the Dick Smith Library, just to the right is the Audiovisual (AV) Collection. For you commuters or anyone about to take a long road trip, there is a growing collection of audiobooks in CD format, with many audiobooks still available in cassette format. Suggestions for CD format audiobook purchases are always welcome; use the comments area below!
There are also small but growing collections of DVDs and music and other information on CD, primarily to support the university’s educational programs. There are also (for now) VHS videocassettes, audio cassette tapes, 35 mm slides, and even vinyl phonograph records. Faculty may check out items for a full semester; students, staff, and others may check out CDs and DVDs for 7 days and all other media (except records) for 28 days.
Listening and viewing equipment is provided for individual and group use, in a small AV room in the area, plus some individual study carrels. Media equipment available for use on-site includes televisions with VCR and DVD players, a slide projector, a stereo phonograph, and an audio cassette and CD player. Microphones and headphones are available for use with this equipment.
Some specialized equipment is also available for public use in this area, such as a VideoEye video magnification system and a TeleSensory Vantage CCD (both used to magnify print and objects), and an opaque projector (to enlarge drawings for tracing, as in the photograph to the left).
Special Services Librarian Amanda Pape and Special Services Assistant Vickie Sowell are available to assist patrons in locating all media materials and in using the media equipment from 8:00am to 5:00pm, Monday through Friday. For assistance beyond these hours contact the Information Desk or the Circulation Desk on the main floor.
[photo: opaque projector in use – Special Services Department]
Top Ten Tuesday – Freedom to Read
It is Tuesday again – How about a list? In the United State we observe Banned Books Week and in Canada they honor Freedom to Read. Both are such GREAT ideas. We should celebrate all our freedoms! This week (February 22-28, 2008) the Canadian Freedom of Expression Committee is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Freedom to Read campaign. Here are 10 ways you can celebrate your Freedom to Read!
- Stay informed. If you read or hear about a challenge, support both your librarian and free and open access to library materials.
- Exercise your rights! Check out or re-read a favorite banned book
- Get involved. Volunteer to help your library.
- Hold a discussion about the freedom to read and helps educate others about censorship.
- Speak out. Write letters to the editor, congressman, etc. supporting the freedom to read.
- Talk to your neighbors and friends about why everyone should be allowed to choose for themselves and their families what they read.
- Encourage your book group to read and discuss a book, any book – you are free to choose!
- Give one of your favorite books as a gift.
- Share Your Experience – let others us know your Freedom to Read and why you celebrate it!
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Join the Freedom to Read Foundation. The Foundation is dedicated to the legal and financial defense of intellectual freedom, especially in libraries.
How to Understand the Financial Crisis
The financial crisis is more than I can wrap my head around, but in the spirit of educating listeners, NPR linked to this video The Crisis of Credit Visualized by Jonathan Jarvis.
Also, in a similar vein, John Carney provides AIG implodes: The Two Cows Version.
Perhaps these may educate you, and if not, at least entertain you, albeit briefly. If anyone knows about an understandable Economics textbook, preferably the comic book version, please share!
Writer\’s Block?
Try the Writing Center@thelibrary, Rm 106 (near the coffee bar) 6p.m.-9p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Learn more about the writing process, including how to: select a topic, organize your paper, write a first draft, revise your work and cite sources.
You do NOT have to be writing an English paper to get help; work from all classes and majors is welcome.
You can also get help with the TSU Writing Proficiency Exam.
Go to the TSU Writing Center page for more information or call 968-1814 to schedule an appointment.
(Image courtesy of re_birf at flickr.com)
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