Picture yourself here!

Do you love bikes and fresh air? Do you think you're up to the challenge of pushing this contraption, loaded with literary classics, all across campus? Boy, have we got a job for you!...

Chronicle of Higher Education available campus-wide

The library now has a campus-wide subscription to the online version of The Chronicle of Higher Education. Go directly to the Chronicle's web site, or connect via OBIS.

OhioLINK Digital Video Collection now at 1500+

With the addition of 250+ new digital videos, OhioLINK’s Digital Video Collection now offers 1529 educational videos that you can show in class, link to from course pages, utilize for research or just view for fun. The new videos cover a wide variety of subjects: art and photography, business and economics, communications, foreign language - literature and culture, literature and language arts, psychology and mental health, religion and philosophy, social studies and more.

More details and some samples of the new titles are available at the OhioLINK website.

The OhioLINK Digital Video Collection is available to all students, faculty members and staff at OhioLINK member institutions. The videos are available for viewing and downloading (for temporary storage only). Free software from RealNetworks is needed to view these videos.

Restoring an icon

For the first time in decades Mudd's much loved Reading Girl has been cleaned and repaired. The statue by the American sculptor John Adams Jackson (1825-1879), was donated to the college by Aaron Healey of Brooklyn. In 1885 she was placed in the new Spear Library on Tappan Square. The statue moved from the Spear to the Carnegie Library in 1908 and stayed over 40 years on the second floor reading room, the current Root Room. Mid-century renovations in Carnegie forced her into exile in various campus storage locations until former Director of Libraries, Bill Moffett brought her to Mudd in 1980.


There are three phases in the cleaning process. First a water-soluble paste is applied which lifts surface dirt and grime. Then the statue is covered in a thick layer of clay which, as it quite spectacularly dries, cracks, and falls off in hundreds of small chunks, pulls moisture and dissolved contaminants from below the surface. In the final stage of the process, a wax coating will be applied to smooth and protect the outer surface.

Cleaning and restoration work on The Reading Girl and her companion, La Penserosa, sculpted by Richard Henry Park (1832-ca. 1892), are being carried out by Nick Fairplay of Fairplay Stonecarvers. Fairplay, who has extensive experience in stonecarving and restoration, including work for Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, commented: "She's an amazing example of Victorian carving. Such clear, high quality Carrara marble is very scarce."

Name This Blog!! Win an iPod shuffle!

Hey Obies,

Help us come up with the coolest library blog name in the land! It should be brief, and un-profane -- and (duh) have some connection to Things Library. The winning name will be selected by a panel of very opinionated - but witty and fairminded - librarians. The author of the winning entry will win an iPod Shuffle. Send your entries to library.survey@oberlin.edu by December 9th.

Welcome

Welcome to “News from the Oberlin College Library,” a blog that provides current information of interest to library users. We hope you’ll keep in touch with the blog on a regular basis so that you can stay apprised of library developments. You can expect to find news about library events, exhibits, services, new materials or resources in our collections, reminders about library policies, new staff appointments, and general interest items that relate to libraries and the world of scholarship.

We welcome your comments and feedback.

Ray English
Director of Libraries