DID YOU KNOW?

Did you know that the Ritz Library subscribes to paper versions of over 300 magazines, newspapers & journals? These publications are kept in the Current Periodicals section on the 3rd floor of the Library. This area has lots of soft seating to stretch out to browse through magazines like People, Vibe or Cosmo. You'll also find today's Poughkeepsie Journal, New York Times & Wall Street Journal.

Visit us on the 3rd floor of Hudson Hall.

Do you like to Doodle?

Do you remember when doodling meant putting pen to paper and drawing funny shapes? These days "to doodle" has a completely different meaning.

Doodle is an easy scheduling tool that anyone can use. Suppose you have ten people at different locations that you want to get together for a meeting, but you are unsure as to what dates/times work best for the participants. Using Doodle you can create a poll which allows people to select the dates/times that work best for them. Doodle organizes the results into a table for easy review.

You do not need to create a Doodle account to make use of their scheduling tools, but you can more easily manage your polls if you do. Doodle will track your polls and results if you create an account. A poll is the survey created by the administrator and sent through a participation link to the desired email addresses. The recipient follows the link back to the poll and selects what works best for him or her. Different options exist for the administrator to have control over the polling options, for example, you can create a basic yes-no-ifneedbe poll. Doodle account manager then tabulates the results so that you can easily see your options.

So, if you have a situation where people need to make a choice or schedule a meeting or event, you may want to try out Doodle. Recently, I was a participant in a Doodle poll and thought it was both a clever and useful tool. Try it out and see if it will work for you.

RSS feeds

RSS - Really Simple Syndication - what is it really all about? In essence, it's a way of creating your own personal daily newspaper. Ever notice this symbol on a web page? It's the symbol that indicates that a "feed" is available for that page. What's a "feed"? A feed is sent by the publication to a reader which allows you to read a summary of the article.

A reader is online software supplied through companies such as bloglines, google, yahoo, aol, etc. which allow you to set up an account to create your own daily "go to" site. In other words, instead of checking LibraryThing news every day, the New York Times book review, multiple papers, and several blogs daily, I can sign onto my bloglines account and see which feeds have been updated and which ones I would like to read. The bloglines reader presents the list of subscriptions on the left and on the right side of the reader you can see the summary of the articles for that URI. Each reader works slightly differently, but the overall concept is similar.

Like most tools available on the internet, the best way to understand it is to make use of it. For anyone who spends time going from website to website daily, it's indispensable.

Glories of the Hudson

Are you a student interested in writing about the Hudson Valley and about history? If so, you may be interested in this call for papers:

Glories of the Hudson

The Quadricentennial Olana-Cedar Grove Joint Symposium

Hosted by the Fisher Center, Bard College

Sunday April 26, 2009

Call For Papers

“The site is a result of a careful study of the river-banks, and commands so many views of varied beauty that all the glories of the Hudson may be said to circle it.”^[1]

“Glories of the Hudson” is a joint symposium convened by Olana State Historic Site and the Thomas Cole National Historic Site and hosted by The Fisher Center at Bard College in celebration of New York State’s 2009 Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial. The goal of this particular symposium is to expand and enrich our collective understanding of the Hudson River School of Art through the exploration of interdisciplinary intersections between art and other fields of inquiry in Hudson Valley history during and throughout the 400 years celebrated. The Hudson Valley has long been at the forefront of popular movements in American history; the Hudson River and its surrounding communities have served as witness to four centuries of changing views in American culture, society, politics, and environment. In this call for papers, “Glories of the Hudson” seeks papers that demonstrate the interconnectivity between the art and architecture of the Hudson Valley and the larger historical narratives of Hudson Valley cultural, social, political, and environmental history.

This symposium is open to undergraduate and graduate students within a fifty-mile radius of Olana, Cedar Grove and Bard College. Candidates should submit a 300-500 word abstract and resume in MS Word or Adobe PDF format. Longer submissions will not be considered. Abstracts must contain a title page with author identification, but there should be no reference to the author's identity elsewhere in the abstract to enable blind review

All abstracts must be sent via email to: gregory@thomascole.org by Feb 13th, 2009. Please do not send abstracts via postal mail.

Your e-mail must contain:

• your name, school, its address, your major(s), anticipated date of graduation, and degree
• contact phone, address and email,
• short abstract of your manuscript,
• permission for Olana State Historic Site, The Olana Partnership, The Thomas Cole National Historic Site and/or Bard College to reproduce and/or publish your abstract in print or digitally for marketing and/or educational purposes
• one page resume

Authors will be notified of the results of the blind peer review by March 1st, 2009.

The symposium, Glories of the Hudson, occurs in conjunction with River-themed exhibitions opening in 2009 at both Olana and Cedar Grove. The inaugural exhibition for Olana’s changing exhibits gallery, Glories of the Hudson: Frederic Church at Olana, lends the symposium its name. The paintings, oil sketches and pencil drawings chosen document Church’s passion for the Hudson River as transformed by the seasons, weather and light. In addition to the material by Church, there will be a small selection of works by contemporaries inspired by the view of the River from Olana. A similar exhibition of over a dozen Hudson River School paintings depicting the Hudson River and its tributary streams will also be on exhibit at Cedar Grove.

Submission given by Andrew Rieser for :

Gregory Rosenthal, Education Coordinator, Thomas Cole National Historic Site, (518)-943-7465 ext. 2, gregory@thomascole.org &

Carri Manchester, IPA/Director of Education, Olana State Historic Site, (518)-828-0135 ext. 305, carri.manchester@oprhp.state.ny.us

Nursing Student Alert!

Alert for Nursing Students:

Do you have an assignment that requires you to find out about nursing license requirements? The website below (from the New York State Education Department, Office of the Professions) has invaluable information for prospective nurses.

It gives the NYS license requirements for RNs, LPNs, and Nurse Practitioners. There is a listing of all nursing programs accredited by the State, and links to scholarships, grants and loans available to students.

There are descriptions of the Child Abuse Training and Infection Control Training mandated for nurses.

You can also find here the laws, rules and regulations that apply to nursing in New York State.

Just go to the following web address, and then click on Nursing in the list of professions:

http://www.op.nysed.gov/proflist.htm

Open Computer Lab in Library

Need to write a research paper? Create and try out a PowerPoint Presentation? Make a Brochure using Publisher?

The Ritz Library's Computer lab will be open to students during the first week of December. Library staff and Help Desk aides will be there to assist you in doing research and using Microsoft Office applications. The open computers are located in Room H224 on the 2nd floor of the library. The hours are:

• Tuesday, Dec 2 9:00 am – 4:00 pm


• Wednesday, Dec 3 1:00 -- 4:00 pm


• Thursday, Dec 4 1:00 -- 4:00 pm


• Friday, Dec 5 1:00 -- 4:00 pm


• Monday, Dec 8 9:00 am --Noon 1:00 -- 4:00 pm


• Tuesday, Dec 9 9:00 am --Noon 1:00 – 4:00 pm

Questions or comments? Call (845) 431-8639 or email Reference

Library Extended hours!!

The Ritz Library will be open late Monday through Thursday and on Saturday for the first two weeks of December. Extended hours of operation are:

December 1 - December 13

• Monday -- Thursday 8:00 am -- 10:00 pm
• Friday 800 am -- 5:00 pm
• Saturday 1:00 am -- 5:00 pm

Questions or comments? Call (845) 431-8639 or email Reference