Milligan Library Life

by the staff of P.H. Welshimer Memorial Library & Seminary Library

New Books and Media Received (March 2011)

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Much Ado About (Practically) NothingThis month we’d like to feature Much Ado About (Practically) Nothing: A History of the Noble Gases, David E. Fisher. New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2010.

Fisher, a novelist and a scientist, write engagingly and informatively about the noble gases, and their myriad uses in a variety of scientific fields.

The following Books, Musical Scores, and DVDs (259 items) were received into the Library collection through the Acquisitions Budget during March 2011. Check availability of new titles in the Milligan Online Catalog, or come into the Library and browse the New Books Shelf.


1 & 2 Timothy and Titus : 12 studies for individuals and groups / N.T. Wright with Phyllis J. Le Peau. Downers Grove, IL : IVP Connect, 2009. 

1 Corinthians : 13 studies for individuals and groups / N.T. Wright with Dale & Sandy Larsen. Downers Grove, IL : IVP Connect, 2009.

10 lies men believe : the truth about God, women, sex, money, power, and real manhood / by J. Lee Grady. Lake Mary, Fla. : Charisma House, 2011.

A. Jean Ayres : the pioneer behind sensory integration [videorecording]. Torrance, Calif. : Pediatric Therapy Network, 2010.

Abigail Adams / Woody Holton. New York : Free Press, 2009.

Academically adrift : limited learning on college campuses / Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2011.

Actions speak louder / Bari Rolfe.Garden Bay, BC : Charlemagne Press, c2010.

Adversus haereses. English. Selections. Irenaeus on the Christian faith : a condensation of Against heresies / James R. Payton Jr. Eugene, Or. : Pickwick Publications, c2011.

The Africana Bible : reading Israel’s Scriptures from Africa and the African diaspora / Hugh R. Page, Jr., general editor ; Randall C. Bailey … [et al.], associate editors. Minneapolis, MN : Fortress Press, c2010.

Algae / Linda E. Graham, James M. Graham, Lee W. Wilcox. San Francisco : Benjamin Cummings, c2009.

All in the timing : fourteen plays / David Ives. New York : Vintage Books, c1995.

Alone together : how marriage in America is changing / Paul R. Amato … [et al.]. Cambridge, Mass. ; London : Harvard University Press, 2009.

The American sign language phrase book / Lou Fant and Barbara Bernstein Fant ; illustrations by Betty G. Miller. New York : McGraw-Hill, c2008.

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Nourishment, Body and Soul

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On Friday, April 1 we held the P. H. Welshimer Memorial Library’s First Annual Edible Books Festival. This event was first conceived by Judith A. Hoffberg and Beatrice Coron in 2000, and has gone on to become an international celebration. I first participated while a library science student at the University of Pittsburgh in 2009. This year, when the library blogs started buzzing, I asked Mary Jackson if she’d be interested (as baking + books are right up both of our alleys.)

Hoffberg and Coron had planned the International Edible Book Festival to take place around April 1, the birthday of French gastronome Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, so we set the date. It fell at the end of a busy week, and we weren’t sure what kind of turnout we would have. But the Milligan community exceeded our hopes!

We had twelve entries, from staff, faculty, and students. Some were punny, some witty, some painstaking, and all delicious. (And as librarians, our favorite part was that each of the books represented was already held in the Library’s collection.) After lunch, we cut the cakes, and by closing at 5 had only scraps left. We’ve since had tons of positive feedback, and some great ideas for making this an even better event next year! Many thanks to all of you who participated, and to all who stopped by to look and eat.

I’ve attached Gary Daught’s photos here, but do see also Tiffany Weinbender’s great post at The Kitchen Curtains, a report on StampedeTV, and the Johnson City Press’s photo gallery!

[slideshow]

Million Pennies Campaign update, April 2011

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Milligan College Library is proud to announce that you, our loyal library users, contributed $10.00 in cash and change to our Million Pennies Campaign in March 2011.  We have now raised $2,923.06 since the start of the campaign in April 2010, which means we’ve achieved nearly 30% of our goal!

The Library staff would like to extend a hearty thank you to our February contributors: Leah Anderson, Ian Burt, Gary Daught, Kelly Devault, Curtis Gibson,and Bine Opulenticity Villiams . Remember, if you’d like us to thank you by name, please write your name down on the slips of paper in the tray next to the donation box, and we’ll let everyone know about your generosity!

As promised in the last Million Pennies blog post, we’ve decided to hold a monthly drawing using the names of each month’s donors. Ian Burt is the winner of a like-new hardcover of the 2010 book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks!

Next month’s prize is the paperback Looking for Alaska by John Green.  Donate to the campaign, write your name on a slip of paper, and place it in the box.  On May 2nd, we’ll draw a winner from the names in the box!

We still need your help in raising funds to help us reach our goal of a totally renovated library.  Bring your loose change and help us get closer to $10,000. Remember, when we raise the money, we’ll allow you, the contributors, to name a study room whatever you like.  Every penny helps!

Unicode Fonts for BIblical Studies

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Whether you’re a Times New Roman, Baskerville, Garamond, or Comic Sans kind of person, the fonts, or typefaces, we use can positively or negatively affect the way people perceive our writing. While font selection may seem somewhat novel to the casual typist, authors who have to mix Roman and non-Roman (e.g. Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Kanji et al.) characters into one document know that “simple” font selection isn’t always so simple. At Milligan, this is especially pertinent to Bible majors, for whom referencing non-Roman (esp. Greek and Hebrew) characters is often a necessity.

In the late Spring of 2006 I turned in my first major exegetical paper containing non-Roman characters—a tragically puerile reading of Romans 8:28–30, if you must know. After emailing the document to myself, printing the paper at the library and heading to class, I made the horrifying discovery that every Greek word in my paper printed as a series of garbled symbols not at all resembling the Greek script. Not wanting to encounter the same problem for my next paper, I set out to find the best way to type, save and print documents using non-Roman scripts. Now, half a decade (and a few biblical languages) later, I’ve decided to share my insights into using biblical language fonts to their fullest potential. The following is intended as a guide for students and faculty who use non-Roman scripts in their research and writing.

An Introduction To Unicode

The Problem:

Computers read numbers, not letters—and even at that, computers don’t read numbers so much as they read sets of ones and zeros that represent numbers. Traditionally, each letter in a text file was assigned a value between 0 and 128—corresponding to each possible numerical value in one byte of data. This system provided sufficient unique numbers for assignment of the entire Latin alphabet (in both cases), all Arabic numerals, and most common punctuation. If one wished to use a different character set (e.g. Greek), one would have to use a different font.

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One Million Pennies – Year One (also: Donate and Win!)

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First, the facts

The Million Pennies Campaign for Library Renovation was established by library staff on March 29, 2010. Its purpose is to raise one million pennies — that’s $10,000 — in cash donations to put toward the renovation of the P.H. Welshimer Memorial Library at Milligan College. The Million Pennies Campaign is a part of Milligan College’s Forward Ever campaign, which is seeking to raise $25 million for initiatives across campus, including improvements to the library building. Our plan was to harness the energy and enthusiasm of our users — students, faculty/staff, and community borrowers — toward a concrete, attainable goal in the service of needed improvements to the library facility. As a creative twist, we wanted to do it essentially by asking for no more than the change our users carry around in their pocket or purse, or find under the pillows of your couch. If we raised $10,000, we would allow our users to name a library study room anything they like (this is the privilege afforded to any donor who pledges the same amount). The library puchased a Lucite donation box and installed it on the circulation desk, so that users could watch our funds grow as the campaign progressed.

How have we done so far? As of March 2, 2011, the Million Pennies Campaign has raised $2,913.06 — nearly 30 percent of our goal! $578.50 of that total has been raised through donations to the box or direct donations to the Advancement office in the name of the campaign. The library has also applied additional funds to the campaign — $1,632.50 from our 2010 Homecoming Book Sale, and $702.06 from the sale of library discards and donations through Better World Books.

What do these facts mean?

The campaign has met with great success in its first year. But donations in the last few months have fallen off a bit compared to our rousing beginning. We’d like to inject some new energy into the campaign!

We’re challenging you, our loyal and enthusiastic library users, to give generously as we celebrate the campaign’s first anniversary. Think of the improvements you’d like to see. Think about how an elevator would improve accessibility and convenience. Think about how an upgraded heating and air system would reduce energy consumption and render those frustrating window cranks obsolete. Think about how an espresso bar would change the way you study and spend time with friends. Think about these things, then consider if you’re willing to put the change in your pocket to effect great change in Milligan life and culture.

Since the beginning, we’ve asked our donors to write their names on slips of paper to drop into the box along with their donations. We wanted to be able to thank our donors by name on a monthly basis, as we have done faithfully since the beginning, through public mentions on the library blog and on InfoToday. One hundred and nineteen donors have contributed over the last year (see below). To renew interest in the campaign, and to offer a concrete reward to those who donate, we’ve decided to hold a monthly drawing using the names of each month’s donors. Our first giveaway item is a like-new hardcover of the 2010 book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. The winner will be drawn from names in our donation box when the March donations are counted on Monday, April 4, 2011. Future prizes will be similarly modest, but it’s a small way to give back to those who are willing to translate their appreciation of the library into meaningful action for a brighter future.

We encourage you, our friends and colleagues, to give freely to make a vastly improved library possible in the near future.

Thanks again to those who have given so far:

Jacob Albrecht, Kelly Alexander, Beth Anderson, Charlotte Anderson, Lauren Anderson, Abby Banks, Zaphod Beeblebrox, Belteshazzar, Helen Biard, Anne E. Bishop, James Bowlin, Barry Brown, Kellie Brown, Ken Broyles, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Sidney Burns, Bruce Cakebread, David Campbell, Mason Cantrell, Ben Carpenter, Dr. Ellen Stahl Carpenter, Carolyn Carter, Teresa Carter, Ruth McDowell Cook, David Corwin, Kristina Cumby, Ashley Cunigan, Bri Curtis, Jim Dahlman, Brittney Dale, Dan^2 Live!, Gary F. Daught, Joy Drinnon, Erin Dye, Erasmus, Lauren Eversole, Megan Foote, Rachiel Foulks, Theresa Garbe, Betty Goah, Bill & Edwina Greer, B. Elizabeth Griffith, Gumby, Katherine Haehl, Deb Harbin, Jefferson Harbin, Chris Haskins, Dennis Helsabeck Jr., Walter Hendrickson, Angela Highfield, Erica Hiteshew, Heather Holland, Samantha Holley, Clinton J. Holloway, L. Ron Hubbard, Grace Hughes, Ryan Hughes, [illegible], Grace Jackson, John Jackson, Mary Jackson, Jenny, Diane Junker, Dr. Jack Knowles, Hannah Kellogg, Adam Knust, Emily Krug, Rachel Landry, Timothy Laurio, June Leonard, Amanda Loughlin, Mike Luzadder, Pat Magness, Bob Mahan, Garrett March, Jeff McNabb, Phil McNear, Krysta McMahon, Jonathan Mehl, Marshall Menchaca, Jake Merrick, Ashley Monce, Ellen Moore, Norma Morrison, Mount, Chuck Norris, James Oaks, Dan Ott, Jessi Pansock, Tommy Parker, Random Security Guy, Jessie Rose Remegi, Emma Rees, Sarah Rhymer, Ben Richardson, Janey Robinson, Jessica Saltzman, Gail Scalf, Candice Schlaegel, Jennifer Sheldon, Robert B Shields, Shannon Slaughter, Joseph Smith, Katherine Smith, Meredith Sommers, Alicya Suit, Aniela Suit, Elizabeth Taflinger, Amber Thomas, Danielle Thomas, Jay Thomas, Theodore N. Thomas, Adam Tomlinson, Tim Wasem, Matt Watkins, Brian Williams, Halie Winfrey, and Zachary Zuehlke.