Voting is Done!

The voting is finished, the votes have been tabulated and I have ordered the new Eckles Flix! As promised, below is a list of the DVDs I ordered and which will soon be added to the collection.

PLEASE NOTE: It will take 2-3 week to get the DVDs in and get them ready for circulation. Also, several of these are pre-orders (meaning the DVDs have not been released yet) so they won't be available for a bit longer.

24 (Seasons 1-5)
The 40 Year Old Virgin
An Inconvenient Truth
Apocalypto
Babel
Blood Diamond
Borat
Brokeback Mountain
Casablanca
Casino Royale (2006)
Children of Men
The Constant Gardener
The DaVinci Code
The Departed
The Devil Wears Prada
Dreamgirls
Finding Neverland
The Godfather
Godfather, Part II
Godfather, Part III
Gone With the Wind
Grease
Grey’s Anatomy (Season 1)
Grey's Anatomy (Season 2)
Happy Feet
Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle
The Holiday
Hotel Rwanda
The Illusionist
The Incredibles
The Last King of Scotland
The Little Mermaid
Little Miss Sunshine
Lord of War
Lost (Season 1)
Lost (Season 2)
Love Actually
Marie Antionette
Mr Smith Goes to Washington
Night at the Museum
The Notebook
Notes on a Scandal
Pan’s Labrynth
Pleasantville
The Pursuit of Happyness
Rent
Sideways
The Sound of Music
Stranger than Fiction
Syriana
Talladega Nights – The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
Thank You for Smoking
V for Vendetta
Volver
Walk the Line

Wondering What is Winning?

Don't forget to vote for the new Eckles Flix! Voting ends Friday, March 30th. That is only 2 days away so HURRY to the Eckles Circulation Desk to get your ballot today!

Here are the current films that have been chosen on at least 10% of ballots:

Little Miss Sunshine
Borat
Thank You for Smoking
Hotel Rwanda
Casino Royale (2006)
Pan’s Labrynth
The 40 Year Old Virgin
Grey’s Anatomy (Season 2)
An Inconvenient Truth
Casablanca
The Departed
The Devil Wears Prada
Grey's Anatomy (Season 1)
Talladega Nights – The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
Babel
Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle
V for Vendetta
Walk the Line
The Illusionist
The Incredibles
The Last King of Scotland
The Little Mermaid
The Pursuit of Happyness
Blood Diamond
Brokeback Mountain
The Godfather
Happy Feet
Rent

Seriously?

Here at Eckles we work very hard to provide you with a clean, comfortable place to study. When you ask for it (like cheap coffee, a student lounge, expanded hours, etc.) we try our hardest to make it happen.

Not to sound like an after-school special or anything, but it just takes a few people to ruin that for everyone else. The picture to the right is of the student lounge this morning. Puzzle pieces were thrown around the room and piles of books were on the floor.

We have a finite amount of time and money at out disposal. The time we spend cleaning up this mess is time we don't spend helping another student. The money we spend replacing damaged books is money we don't spend on new Eckles Flix or snacks at finals. Think about what you'd rather have when you see someone damaging library property.

Enough said. End of lecture.

Tuesday's Tip

What’s up with WRLC??

Libraries are infamous harborers of acronyms. Librarians like to make them up and then toss them around at our important meetings; this however, does you little good. WRLC is one term you may see when searching the ALADIN catalog or hear when speaking to library types. WRLC stands for Washington Research Library Consortium. The consortium is made up of eight schools: GW, American University, Catholic University, George Mason University, Georgetown University, Marymount University, and University of the District of Columbia. What does that mean to you? Well, it means you can borrow the millions of books located at any of these area universities. You can request items using the Consortium Loan Service (CLS - see previous post). You can also walk into each of the libraries and borrow the item directly using your Gworld card.

Find out more about using CLS here: http://www.gwu.edu/gelman/service/circulation/cls/

Your friendly librarian,
Sarah

Agents of Change

This Friday, March 30th, the 2007 Women's Leadership Conference (gwired.gwu.edu/wlc) will take place on the Mount Vernon Campus. The conference celebrates women who have taken leadership roles. We thought that was a pretty good thing to celebrate, so we put up a book display highlighting a few of the women leaders throughout history who have inspired us.

Here are just a few of the books you might find interesting:

African American Women in Congress: Forming and Transforming History
by Laverne McCain Gill

Shirley Chisholm rocks my world. In 1968 she became the first African American woman elected to Congress. Four years later she became the first African American woman to run for president, running with the slogan, "Unbossed and Unbought." This book chronicles her life and and the lives of 14 other trailblazing women who have served in the House and Senate.


We Were Making History: Women and the Telangana Uprising
by Stree Shakti Sanghatana
From the back: The Telangana struggle (1948-51) against the feudal overlords in the princely state of Hyderabad, and later against the Indian army itself, is now legendary. These interviews tell of women who left behind a life of the household to learn a life of activism: hiding from the police, fighting and facing the death of comrades. The excitement of working in a resistance movement is clear, but also the bitterness of being told to go back to the kitchen once the struggle ended.





Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature
by Linda Lear
From the back: Rachel Carson's Silent Spring did more than any single publication or event to alert the world to the hazards of environmental poisoning. Linda Lear gives a compelling portrait of this heroic woman, illuminating the origin of her connection with nature and of her determination to save what she loved.

A Note on the Vote

Don't forget to cast your vote for the new Eckles Flix! You can pick up your official ballot at the Eckles Circulation Desk. Voting ends March 30th (this Friday) so don't delay!

Unofficial Voting Results
We have a NEW Hands Down Favorite today:
Casino Royale

Little Miss Sunshine is now tied with Borat for second place.

As Confusing as a Palm Beach Ballot? I think not.
At least one person has had a small problem completing the Official Eckles Flix Ballot properly. Where the ballot says to circle 10 choices, they chose 22. Just so everything stays above-board, I wanted to let you know how this situation was handled.

Since the ballots are anonymous, I can't just contact the voter and ask them to choose ten. Therefore, I am picking the ten choices I like best out of their 22 and counting those. If you can think of a better and/or more fair way to handle this situation I would be happy discuss it. The best bet, however, is only to vote for 10.

The Race Is On

It seems like everyone is excited about the new Eckles Flix! In only two days of voting, we have received many, many ballots. Here is a brief update on the voting so far:

Hands Down Favorite:
Little Miss Sunshine
*So popular that on a ballot with 188 choices, it has still managed to be selected by 34% of voters.

Next Top 20:
Borat
Brokeback Mountain
Casino Royale
The Devil Wears Prada
The Last King of Scotland
The 40 Year Old Virgin
Babel
Deja Vu
Hotel Rwanda
Talladega Nights
Thank You for Smoking
Sex and the City (Season 6)
The Departed
Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle
Pan's Labrynth
Syriana
V for Vendetta
Walk the Line
X-Men - The Last Stand
Sex and the City (Season 5)

Write-In Votes:
Airplane
Blow
Desperate Housewives (Season 2)
Sex and the City (Season 4)
Sex and the City (Season 5)
Sex and the City (Season 6)
So I Married an Axe Murderer

Vote for Flix!

We're adding new flix to the Eckles Flix collection and we need your help!

Come to the Eckles Circulation Desk and pick up a ballot to vote for the DVDs you think we should buy for the collection. You get ten choices PLUS you can write in anything you think we missed.

We will tabulate all the votes and choose approximately 50 DVDs to purchase by the end of the semester. Winners will be announced right here!

Voting ends March 30th, so hurry in and cast your ballot!

Brand New and Just For You!

Every once in a while something happens that gets us library nerds all a-twitter. We get NEW BOOKS. And how we love them...all shiny, spines unbroken, free from coffee stains and those faint pencil marks that you think we don't notice but we do.

In the last month, we've been bursting with happiness over the arrival of 100+ beautiful new books on a wide array of subjects. Below are a few I thought you'd find especially interesting:

Mechademia 1: Emerging worlds of Anime and Manga
Frenchy Lunning, Editor

From the back: "Mechademia 1 is a juicy compendium that casts a wide net over the worlds on manga and anime. It is a beautiful, lively book with something for the otaku in all of us."

I don't know what that means, but it seems pretty good.



The Cutting Edge of Wallpaper
Cigalle Hanaor, Editor

Stunningly beautiful photographs of the most amazing, crazy, hip, funky and downright trippy wallpaper you have ever seen. Also, I think there are words. The Eckles staff has spent some serious time flipping through this book.




Inside the Jihad: My Life with Al Qaeda (A Spy's Story)
Omar Nasiri

From the back: "A chillingly detailed portrait of life inside the Afghan training camps. Omar Nasiri's memoir offers a unique insider's perspective on the crucial years during which a loosely connected group of regional Islamist movements coalesced into Al Qaeda's global jihad."

Spring Has Sprung

Happy first day of Spring!

Let us all remember what Emily Dickinson has to say:

A little madness in the Spring
Is wholesome even for the King,
But God be with the Clown,
Who ponders this tremendous scene—
This whole experiment of green,
As if it were his own!

Part Five: The Single Hound
from The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson

Tuesday's Tip

Hey! Welcome back from Spring Break. I’ve just returned from sunny Florida myself. Upon my return to DC I was rudely greeted by 36 degree weather, which made me seriously reexamine why I got on the return flight. Then I remembered all of my faithful readers . . . So as promised:

Decoding Call Numbers

Books on the library shelves are organized by subject, this requires a complex system of letters and numbers called call numbers. Each book in the library is assigned a call number that denotes exactly where the item belongs. Call numbers are usually found on the spine of the book or the upper left side of the face of the book. Here are some tips for finding books in the stacks (that's the cool library term for the shelves).

1. Books are shelved alphabetically (left to right) by the top letter or letters in the call number.
2. All books of the same top letter are arranged numerically by the number below.
3. All of the same number are arranged first alphabetically by the letter after the decimal point and then decimally by the number after the letter.
4. If another letter appears after the decimal number, it is also arranged first alphabetically within the previous number group and then decimally.

Here is a sample row:

B351.C3 / BC2.C3 / BC10.C3 / BC15.C3 / BC15.5.C3 / BC15.5.D331 / BC15.5.D4 / BC15.5.D4A1

***Now, the most important thing to remember: When in doubt ask a library staff member!****

Stop by the Eckles Circulation desk for a graphical representation of this information.

Your friendly librarian,
Sarah

Sweet 16

The GW Women's Basketball team rocks our socks!

Last night they kicked the behinds of 4th-seeded Texas A&M (does that stand for Aim and Miss?), 59-47, to advance to the sweet 16. This is clearly awesome! I think they are going to win it all! Who is with me??

The next game will either be against North Carolina or Notre Dame and will be next Tuesday night. Go Colonials!

Welcome Back!

We're glad you're back from Spring Break (even if you aren't glad to be back)! Here at Eckles it was quiet as could be. The staff just stared sullenly into the silence, counting the hours until our beloved students returned.

So spring has sprung and classes have resumed and you are back in that relentless march toward finals. You're going to want to buckle down and hit the books and we're here to help. Not only do we have books for you to hit, but we have expanded our hours even more!

From now until the end of the semester, Eckles Library will remain open until 9pm on Friday nights! Keep watching for even more expanded hours during finals.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

What better finale could there be to Spring Break than a robust celebration of that most frolicsome of holidays - St. Patrick's Day! Eckles will be CLOSED on Saturday, March 17th, so that the staff can be free to dye their hair green and River Dance around the fountain.

We hope you'll be celebrating too, but please, PLEASE, I beg you, don't do anything foolish! Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

*Stripes and plaid never go together - even if they are green and it is St. Paddy's Day. Everyone has a camera on their cell phone these days and your friends will never let you forget this particular fashion faux pas.

*It is physically impossible to look "cool" while River Dancing. If Michael Flatley couldn't do it with stage lights and fleet of stylists, you can't do it either.

*A shillelagh is just a big stick. If someone offers to show theirs to you, you're probably going to get beaten over the head.

Be safe! And we'll see you all on Sunday (when Eckles is back to regular hours).

Beware the Ides of March!

Sadly, the GW Men's Basketball team was no match for the Ides of March...or Vanderbilt, for that matter. Our beloved Colonials lost 77-44 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament tonight.

BUT

I believe St. Patrick's Day will be a much luckier day for GW! That is the day that our 5th seeded GW women are destined to dance a leprechaun jig all over Boise State in the first round of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament. Go Colonials!

Happy Spring Break!

Congratulations! You've made it through papers and tests and endless reading...and now it is time to enjoy some Spring Break!

Here are a few Spring Break tips to keep you healthy and happy:

• Red skin does not look good with your red bathing suit - wear sunscreen!
• Only swim within sight of a really cute lifeguard. If you need to be saved, make sure you are saved by someone hot.
  
• When dancing on the beach, beware of sharp shells and bad music.

Just in case your Spring Break plans don't involve sunscreen and lifeguards, Eckles Library is open for your enjoyment! Come and join us for the fun and excitement you can only find in an academic library during Spring Break!

Spring Break Hours:
Mon. - Fri., March 12-16 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Sat., March 17 CLOSED

We've Got Spirit. Yes We Do!

Congratulations to our Men's Basketball team on their sock-rocking win over the University of Rhode Island to become the A-10 champions!

They are off to the big dance as an 11th seed! GW will face Vanderbilt on Thursday in the first round of the NCAA Man's Basketball Tournament in Sacramento, CA.

Go Colonials!

The Clothesline Project

Throughout the month of March, Eckles is pleased to be hosting a display of The Clothesline Project.

The Clothesline Project (CLP) is a program started on Cape Cod, MA, in 1990 to address the issue of violence against women. It is a vehicle for women affected by violence to express their emotions by decorating a shirt. They then hang the shirt on a clothesline to be viewed by others as testimony to the problem of violence against women.

Come to the first floor of Eckles Library anytime in March to see this powerful display. Don't forget to check back here for more information as the month rolls along.

The Final Days of Free Coffee

We know that you're counting the hours until Spring Break and busy day dreaming about the warm sun and sandy beach...BUT there are still a few days of classes left. That means there are still a few days left of FREE COFFEE.

Just a reminder, Free Coffee hours are
Monday-Friday: 4pm - close
Saturday-Sunday: All day!

Free Coffee ends Friday, March 9th at 5pm, so get it while it's hot!

Tuesday's Tip

Cryptic Terms in the Library World
The library is full of library lingo that can be difficult to decipher if you're not a permanent resident of Library World. Over the next couple of weeks I'll define and explain some of secret library code that is essential to a successful library experience.

CLS (Consortium Loan Service) - The consortium loan service allows patrons to request books from any one of GW's eight partner schools in the Washington Research Library Consortium (WRLC), these include, American, Catholic, George Mason, Georgetown, Gallaudet, Marymount Trinity, and University of the District of Columbia. CLS gives you access to millions of books, so you should always find something on your topic.

You can find out more information on how to use CLS here: http://www.gwu.edu/gelman/catalog/request.html

ILL (Inter Library Loan) - ILL is a service that allows you to access materials not available thorough any of the libraries in the consortium. If you are looking for a specific title and can't find it in the ALADIN Catalog or any of the 250+ databases offered by GW, then you can submit an ILL request and the library staff will search the world over (literally the world) to find the resources you need. This service is free to GW students.

You can find out how to place an ILL request here: http://www.gwu.edu/gelman/service/interlibrary/

Next time: Decoding Call Numbers and What's Up with WRLC?
Have a great Spring Break!

Your reference librarian - Sarah

A Scrumptious Time Was Had By All!

See the smiling faces in these pictures? They are smiling because they know their grades will improve by spending Sunday night at Eckles! Of course, the Chinese Food may have had something to do with it too.
Free Chinese Food night at Eckles was a smashing success! Over 150 people came in tonight to get some rice with their Reference. Thanks to everyone who came in with Reference or Writing questions and left with a belly full of Lo Mein.

Vote for Flix!

We're adding new flix to the Eckles Flix collection and we need your help!

Come to the Eckles Circulation Desk and pick up a ballot to vote for the DVDs you think we should buy for the collection. You get ten choices PLUS you can write in anything you think we missed.

We will tabulate all the votes and choose approximately 50 DVDs to purchase by the end of the semester. Winners will be announced right here!

Voting ends March 30th, so hurry in and cast your ballot!