State Library
Update
March
2008
Vol. 6, no.
2
In this issue:
*Celebrating 100
Years in the Ola Babcock Miller Building!
*National Library
Week classes
and two Lunch &
Learns
*Calling inventors:
protecting your ideas
*April art display � Barbara Jones
Prall
*Law Library art display - students from the
Iowa
Juvenile Home
*New
books added to our collection
*Newspaper articles from across Iowa
are available in the NewsBank
Database
*************************
In the month of March
1908, the State Library divided its collection in the Capitol
Building and moved across Grand Avenue to three floors of the newly completed
east wing of the Historical, Memorial and Arts Building (now the Ola Babcock
Miller Building). The Law Library remained in the Capitol and the General
Collection, established in 1901, filled the shelves of the new library building.
In celebration, an exhibit of State Library
history, including historic photos of the library and
biographies of present and past State Librarians, is on display in the rotunda
of the Miller Building during March and April.
Visit the exhibit in the
Miller Building at the corner of E. 12th and Grand Ave. The Library is open 8:00
a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday.
*************************
To celebrate National Library
Week the State Library is offering state employees a
week's
worth of classes. Improve your online research skills and
enhance your job performance by attending these one-hour sessions. Classes, held
in the Miller Building, cover a wide range of topics and are FREE.
Select from:
-Finding Iowa
Statistics
-Get the Most from
EBSCOHost
-Legal Research Using
Westlaw
-More than Just Google:
Internet Searching
-Reliable Health Information on the
Web
-Sanborn Digital
Maps
-Saving Your Documents: Iowa
Publications Online
-Searching FirstSearch
Databases
-Using an ICN Classroom: An
Overview
-Using RSS: Keep Up With the
Information Avalanche
-Using the Legislative Web
Site
For class descriptions and to
register for classes go to our Web
site.
EBSCOHost,
FirstSearch and Sanborn
Digital
Maps are information databases paid for by the
State Library for its patrons. Access the databases from your computer through
our Web site. To log in you will need a State Library card number. If you don't
have a State Library card you can click
here to
register online.
*************************
For National Library
Week, the State Library will be offering films with Iowa themes
during two Lunch and Learns. The films will be shown in Room 310 in the Miller
Building. It will be first-come, first-served seating for the first 40
people. Join us for one or both of these award winning documentaries!
Lost
Nation: The Ioway tells the dramatic true tale of two
brothers� struggle to save their people from inevitable American conquest, and
the Ioway�s current struggle to reclaim and maintain their unique native history
and culture.
Tuesday, April 15th, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. For more
information about this film go to http://www.iowaymovie.com/film.htm.
A
Little Salsa on the Prairie: The Changing Character of Perry,
Iowa, chronicles
the rapid ethnic diversification of the community and explores the significant
change that began in Perry in the early 1990s when the complexion of a once
predominantly white community shifted dramatically. An influx of Latino workers
and their families came from as far away as Texas, California, Mexico and
Central America to work at the local meat packing plant.
One of the film's producers,
Jody Swilky, from Drake University, will be on hand to introduce the film and to
answer questions afterwards. The film will be shown Thursday, April 17th.
Introduction is at 11:15 a.m., the film starts at 11:30, and questions &
answers will be from 12:30-12:45. For more information about this film go to
http://littlesalsaontheprairie.com.
Feel free to bring a lunch
with you to eat while you enjoy the show/s.
For more information contact
the State Library Reference Desk: 515-281-4102, 800-248-4483, is@lib.state.ia.us.
*************************
Do you have an invention or
an inventive idea? Are you concerned about
protecting your idea or invention? Learn the reasons for getting
a patent, the resources available to inventors and how to navigate the most
useful patent Web sites. Includes handouts and time for questions and answers.
Karon King, Patent and Trademark Specialist at the State Library, will teach
this class for Des Moines Public Schools Community Education. Wednesday, April
2nd, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Room 110 at Roosevelt High School. Roosevelt High School is
located at 4419 Center Street in Des Moines, Iowa.
For more information and to
register for this class go to: .
*************************
The art of Barbara Jones
Prall will be exhibited at the State Library during the month of
April. Ms. Prall is an award winning portrait & landscape artist from
Marion, Iowa. She has painted many commissioned portraits, including that of
former First Lady Christie Vilsack, which hangs in the State Library. Her
paintings are done in a variety of styles including oil, acrylics, and
watercolor. She says, "My goal is to express a positive view of life by
celebrating beauty and joy in creation. I believe we all are meant to give
something back and what I hope to give back is an appreciation of the beauty of
each person, place or thing." For more information about Ms. Prall's work go to
http://www.barbprall.com/.
To see this exhibit, visit
the first floor of the State Library located in the Miller Building at the
corner of E. 12th and Grand Ave. The Library is open 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.,
Monday-Friday.
*************************
Visit the Law Library on the
second floor of the State Capitol Building to see an exhibit of art
created by students at the Iowa Juvenile Home during art therapy
classes. Descriptions of the motivation behind the work accompany each of these
moving and evocative pieces. For more information, click
here. The art
will be exhibited in the Law Library until it moves to the Capitol rotunda for a
larger exhibit on April 15th, 16th, and 17th.
*************************
Looking for an article you
saw or heard about in the Des Moines Register or
another Iowa newspaper? Try logging on to NewsBank! Find
full-text articles on local news, issues, events, people and much more from
current and archived issues of the following Iowa newspapers. Updated daily, it
includes obituaries, editorials, announcements, sports, real estate and other
sections.
The Des
Moines Register
Cityview
The East Dubuque
Register
The Cedar Rapids
Gazette
The Burlington Hawk
Eye
The Iowa City
Press-Citizen
The Dubuque Telegraph
Herald
Also included
are:
Newsweek
Time
U.S. News & World
Report
To log in you will need a
State Library card number. If you don't have a State Library card you can
click here
to register
online.
*************************
Click here to see
more about books about
environmental concerns and global warming that have recently
been added to our collection. State employees may request that any of these
items be sent to them. To do so, please fill out the Request An Item
Form. Non-state employees with a State Library card may check out books in
person or request them through their local public libraries.
*************************
Other services that the State
Library offers free of
charge:
*Didn't find the book or
journal that you needed in our catalog? State Library staff
can supply you with a copy of almost any book, journal article, thesis,
report, etc. that has been published. This service is free for state
employees. To request that an item be sent to you click
here or call 515-281-6920, 800-248-4483.
*Looking for a quiet place to
concentrate on a project or to work while waiting for a meeting? The State
Library has a number of computer work stations for state employees to use. We
also have free wireless for our patrons who bring their laptops. You are welcome
Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. We are located in the Ola Babcock Miller
Building at the corner of E. 12th and Grand Ave. in Des Moines.
Barbara Corson
Program
Director for Library Services
State Library of Iowa
E. 12th &
Grand
Des Moines, IA 50319
515-281-4352
800-248-4483
barb.corson@lib.state.ia.us