NOTES FROM RAMSEY LIBRARY; 2007-6

RENOVATION UNDERWAY!

SPECIAL COLLECTIONS CLOSED MARCH 26-30

Ramsey Library Special Collections is transitioning to new shelving which will better accommodate our archival boxes and will expand and refine our available space to better accommodate the new collections we have received over the last half-decade. Unfortunately, for what is a large project we were unable to schedule our vendor during spring break or after classes. We very much regret any inconvenience you or your students may experience and will make every effort to accommodate students and faculty seeking reference assistance. We expect to have our collections back on the new shelves by March 30, but will still have limited time to serve walk-in patrons. It is expected that we will be in full operation by the week of April 9. For an appointment or further information, please call 251-6645.

Please note and remind your students that well over three-quarters of our finding aides are available online at http://toto.lib.unca.edu and http://www.wncheritage.org. Many of the online collections contain full-text and images and access may be satisfied by the electronic surrogate.

Thank you for your patience with this process during a busy semester. We invite all to come see us when the move is completed and re-familiarize yourself with the depth of primary source material that is available for research by students, faculty, and the general public.

MORE ON TEXTBOOKS IN THE UNC SYSTEM

The last issue of NOTES FROM RAMSEY contained a link to an article in the CHRONICLE stating that “U. of North Carolina may adopt system wide rules limiting faculty options (with respect to textbooks) . . . .” The 30 March issue of the CHRONICLE REPORTS that “The University of North Carolina Board of Governors has voted to require all campuses in the system to adopt a multipronged approach to lowering the cost of textbooks for students. Among the steps that the campuses must take is establishing guarantees that students in introductory courses can either rent their hardcover books or sell them back after using them. The new system policy also requires campus chancellors to push faculty members to select course reading lists early enough that students will have time to shop around. Campus bookstore managers will be required to meet at least quarterly to find ways to offer students additional savings.”

http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i30/30a02502.htm
AND, MORE ON WIKIPEDIA

In the spirit of some sort of journalism, NOTES FROM RAMSEY is busily following up on earlier reportings (not a word, spell-check tells me). In the CHRONICLE REVIEW of March 23, Cathy N. Davidson is interim director of the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute and a professor of interdisciplinary studies and English at Duke, suggests that “The dust-up at Middlebury over Wikipedia was not what it seemed (see the 3/6/07 NOTES FROM RAMSEY). But (that) it tells us a lot about how we should approach the digital future.” (P.S.: Professor Davidson notes that the “Middlebury debate” is already in Wikipedia!)
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i29/29b02001.htm