EX LIBRIS: News from the Library
As mentioned in previous Ex Libris articles, this semester Bilkent University Library has been running a series of workshops for ENG 102 students, aimed at introducing some of the Library's resources and developing students' information skills. During the past 6 weeks, the reference librarians have given over 50 sessions, for more than 1000 FAE students! Topics covered include the library catalog, electronic databases, searching strategies, bibliography and bibliographic styles, and audio- and e-books. In addition, we have created an accompanying "course" on Moodle, with links, resources, and quizzes that can be used to follow up the individual workshops and forums for expressing feedback and comments. We hope these workshops have helped students prepare their papers for ENG 102 but also that they will be useful for their future studies. The Library would like to thank the FAE instructors who helped plan this project as well as those who participated in the workshops, and the BETS team for their help in setting up the Library-ENG 102 course on Moodle. We hope to run the workshops again next academic year in the Fall and Spring semesters, and we welcome in advance any suggestions from students and faculty about how to improve them.
This week, on Wednesday, March 23, Dr Edward Kohn, assistant professor in the History Department and acting chair of the Department of American Culture and Literature, will give the second Library Lunchtime Lecture, entitled "Hot Time in the Old Town: The Great Heat Wave of 1896 and the Making of Theodore Roosevelt." Based on his recent book of the same name, Dr. Kohn's talk will outline the (now) forgotten heat wave of 1896 and will consider its social and political consequences. In August 1896 a ten-day heat wave struck New York, and every day thermometers soared over the 90-degree mark, accompanied by high humidity and no wind. Inside the brick and stone tenements of the Lower East Side, temperatures hit 120 degrees, roasting alive the city's working poor. As many as 1300 people died, and most victims were immigrant laborers living in tenements. One hero of the heat wave was Theodore Roosevelt, at that time President of the Board of Police Commissioners. Roosevelt proposed and personally supervised the giving away of free ice to the city's poor. Not only was this ice giveaway Roosevelt's first experience as a "trust-buster," but was also an important part of his education as a progressive reformer, helping to shape the ideas that would govern his future presidency. Dr. Kohn's book about the heat wave has been critically acclaimed by historians and has received much publicity in the media. The Lecture will be held in the Art Gallery, Main Campus Library, on Wednesday between 12:40-1:30, and will be in English. Lunchtime refreshments will be supplied.
The Library would like to thank all students who have completed the survey about plagiarism in recent weeks. This week we will be sending a similar online survey to all instructors, and we thank all academic participants in advance.
Finally, next week, March 28 - April 1, is the 47th Library Week in Turkey and, to celebrate this occasion, Bilkent University Library will be hosting a number of special events. The full program will be announced later this week, so please check your emails, and read next week's Bilkent News for details!