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St. Thomas Libraries Blog

Just for Fun, Media/Music Collections, O'Shaughnessy-Frey Library

Christmas Videos

Are you excited to get into the holiday spirit after you’ve aced all your finals? The Music and Media Collections has some great Christmas titles for you!

Pick up It’s a Wonderful Life, the unforgettable 1946 classic staring James Stewart and Donna Reed. This Frank Capra film follows George Bailey, a small-town man with a big heart who rediscovers the power of friendship at the time when he needs it most.  PS 3537 .T453 .I7 2006 DVD

Joyeux Noel (Merry Christmas, 2006) tells the true story of Christmas on the battlefields of WWI. After nearly 5 months of fighting and several peace initiatives, allied and enemy forces called the Christmas Truce of 1914, coming together to share jokes and rations amid terrible war. PN 1997 .J69 2006 DVD

If you’re looking for a unique holiday title, check out Gian Carlo Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, a one-act opera in which a young disabled boy tells tall tales. One night the Three Wise Men stop with the boy and his mother, bringing the gifts of healing and giving. M 1500 .M543 A4 2007 DVD

Catherine Deneuve leads an ensemble cast in Un conte de Noël (A Christmas Tale) about an iron-willed matriarch in need of a bone marrow transplant. Her dysfunctional family make the journey to healing a bumpy one. PN 1997 .C668 2009 DVD

‘Tis the season for murder in Hercule Poirot’s Christmas! This holiday special of beloved tv series Agatha Christie’s Poirot stars David Suchet as the celebrated Belgian detective who must spend his Christmas unraveling a twisted crime. PR 6005 .H66 H4 1996 DVD

Step back into the time of Charles Dickens with this definitive 1984 adaptation of Dicken’s beloved story, A Christmas Carol. Academy Award winner George C. Scott stars as Ebenezer Scrooge, a sad and miserly man who must learn from his past mistakes with the help of several ghosts. PR 4572 .C68 2009 DVD

All these titles and more can be found in the Music and Media Collections! We’re located in on the first floor of the O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library to the right of the Main Circulation desk.

By Sarah Pavey

December 11, 2019 by
News & Events, O'Shaughnessy-Frey Library, Subjects/Topics

2019 Annual World Café posters in the library

photo of library stairwell with poster reading "Did you acknowledge your privilege today?"

the poster reads, “Did you acknowledge your privilege today?”

If you come into O’Shaughnessy-Frey library this week and head up the stairwell, you’ll see some new posters posing questions and potential answers around institutional and structural racism.  Those posters came out of the 2019 Annual World Café, a faculty-led event at which St. Thomas students from multiple disciplines came together for discussion in October.

The World Café model has been used at St. Thomas since 2012 to facilitate conversations around critical issues.  Each year, this interdisciplinary event involves large groups of students participating in faculty-facilitated dialogue as a way of gaining perspective from people with different viewpoints.  This year’s event covered issues related to structural, cultural, and institutional racism.  Students emerged from the discussion with questions and/or action steps regarding racial justice in our community.

The questions and action steps are posted in the main staircase of the library.  They are provocative and thought-provoking and intended to spark conversations. If you wish, please continue this conversation by sharing your thoughts on the rotunda whiteboard.

You can read more about the World Café dialogue model and last year’s program at St. Thomas in the article “The World Café: Promoting Interdisciplinary Dialogue on Global Health Issues” published in the Spring/Summer 2019 issue of Diversity & Democracy by Dr. Roxanne Prichard, Dr. Starr Sage, and Dr. Amy Finnegan.

Below is a selection of photos of the posters as well as a photos of the responses left on the whiteboard.   We will add more photos of responses as the conversation continues.

 

 

December 3, 2019 by
News & Events

Second Winter Lights Event: Managing Stress and Finding Joy — Dec. 11, noon – 1pm

Now that we’ve entered December and the snow is on the ground, there is no question that we’re well into the winter season.  At our last Winter Lights event, we talked about what we love about winter, and what the hardest parts of the season are.  Winter can be filled with joy and beauty, it can be quiet and cozy. Winter can also be cold and isolating and full of stresses around finals, holidays, and end of year deadlines.

At our next Winter Lights event, we’ll continue that conversation and dive into those joys and stresses that we encounter during the winter.  Counseling staff will lead a discussion about stress relief, finding joy, and demonstrate a relaxation technique.  After the discussion, we’ll have a chance for everyone to create their own scent-pot mixture to take home and enjoy.  Of course, we’ll also have snacks, related library resources, and a video of a crackling fire to keep us cozy.

Everyone is invited, we hope you’ll join us!

Winter Lights: Managing Stress and Finding Joy

  • Wednesday, December 11, 2019
  • Noon to 1:00 pm
  • O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library, room 102 (right inside the entrance)

Until then, enjoy some photos of last month’s event:

 

December 3, 2019 by
News & Events

Study Night in the Library is Monday, December 2!

We hope you have a great Thanksgiving Break!   Upon your return to campus, you are all invited to Study Night in the Library where you will find a variety of resources to help you in your work.

Beginning at 7pm on Monday, December 2 in the Great Hall of the O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library (second floor) you will have the opportunity to meet with staff from Academic Counseling, tutors from the Math Resource Center (MaRC), Writing Center consultants.   Of course the librarians are here to help with your research and citation questions, our Encouragement and Studies Planning Coach will be available throughout the evening, as well as healthy snacks — and don’t forget to sign up for the ever-popular five-minute chair massages!

It is an evening of support for you – we are here to help you succeed in whatever it is you decide to work on tonight and help you plan your study schedule through the end of finals week!

Be sure to REGISTER now – it helps us plan so we have enough study kits and refreshments on hand!   Join other students who wish to finish strong!!

7pm – 10pm   Monday   December 2, 2019   O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library, Great Hall

November 25, 2019 by
Mergent header
Charles J. Keffer Library, New Materials, News & Events, O'Shaughnessy-Frey Library

New Database for Analyst Reports: Investext

After a successful trial, I am happy to announce that we have subscribed to the Investext database. Investext provides the full text of investment analyst reports from major investment banking firms, as well as company and industry reports from major business information providers. Analyst reports are used in the real world to inform security buyers’ purchasing decisions, and in educational settings, in accounting and finance classes to help inform company and industry financial research projects.

 

Investext is provided as an add-on to our existing Mergent Online subscription. There are a couple of ways to access the content. The first way is through a regular company record. To see this, open Mergent Online, then search for and open a company record. Within the record, got to Reports, then select Broker Research Reports.
Investext reports via company record
The second way to find the Investext content within Mergent Online is to login to the database, and look for the Investext tab at the far right side.
Mergent header
Once in the database, pick a date range, and then use one or more criteria to search. Possible criteria include company name/ticker, country, keyword, industry, report style (company, industry, ESG report, etc.), contributor (i.e. brokerage house), among others. Pick one or more items in the Search Criteria section, hit the Submit button, then hit the View link to display your search results.

Investext search criteria

Examples:
  • I searched for “best buy” in company name for the last 90 days, and got a list of 129 results, including analyst reports, company, and industry reports.
  • I used the Industry criteria and used the included lookup list to select Consumer Cyclicals>Specialty Retailers>Computer & Electronics Retailers, also for the last 90 days. I found 1716 results.
For best results, combine multiple criteria to tune the results to a manageable number. Reports are provided in PDF format.
The vendor turned on our access early so that it can still be of use in financial/investment analysis projects here as we wrap up fall semester. Please take the database for a spin and send me any questions.

 

John Heintz, Business & Data Services Librarian, jpheintz@stthomas.edu, 651-962-4646.
November 23, 2019 by
Libraries, Media/Music Collections, News & Events, O'Shaughnessy-Frey Library, Services

Booking A Viewing/Listening Room in the Library

Do you and your classmates need to view a film that’s required for a course? Have you been assigned a group project connected with movies or music? Then it’s time to reserve a viewing room! In addition to individual viewing stations Music and Media Collections also offers two group viewing options that can be used during the Music and Media hours of operation.

Two to six students can use Media Viewing Room LIB 104C, located in Music and Media Collections. In this private space view/listening to DVDs, Blu-rays, CDs, or connect your laptop.

Up to 12 students can use Viewing Room LIB 109 to view DVDs, Blu-rays, or connect your laptop titles to the flat screen! Please note: No food or drink is allowed in the viewing rooms.

To book one of these rooms, got to OSF Library homepage and open the “Films” tab and select “Book A Media Viewing/Listening Room.” After selecting the date, duration, and the room you would like to reserve, log in with your UST email and password. Complete the booking details form and click “Submit my booking.” You will receive an automated email with your booking information. Visit the Music and Media Collections for more information! We’re located on the first floor of the O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library to the right of the Main Circulation desk.

BOOK HERE!

By Sarah Pavey

November 22, 2019 by
Libraries, Media/Music Collections, Music

Chevalier de Saint-Georges: Composer, Athlete, Activist, and Soldier 

Lost to history for nearly 200 years, Afro-French composer Chevalier de Saint-Georges was a profoundly talented composer, violinist, and fencer. He was born in Guadeloupe in 1745 to a plantation owner and his slave, Nanon. Chevalier was sent to France for his education and by 17 had become such an expert swordsman he bested one of the greatest fencing masters in France. His musical talents were also superior. While he did face discrimination, he was also highly celebrated and widely loved and even performed his own works for Marie-Antoinette.

He heavily influenced Mozart who at one point even directly copied some of Saint-Georges’ complex motifs. During the French Revolution, he became a colonel of a cavalry brigade of men of color, which included the author Alexandre Dumas’ father. After the war and his imprisonment for his aristocratic ties, he was released and returned to his music. For a full account of his extraordinary life story please check out the documentary Le Mozart Noir: Reviving a Legend (ML410 .S145 M6 2003 DVD), which is also available for steaming on Avon, and its soundtrack (M1000 .S25 M6 2003 CD)! Approximately one third of his compositions still exists today. We encourage you to listen to his string quartets (M452 .S25 Q37 2003 CD ), and violin concertos ( M1012 .S145 2001 CD, M1012 .S145 2004 CD, M1012 .V565 1997 CD) which we have in our collection. Please visit us on the first floor of the O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library to the right of the Main Circulation desk.

By Sarah Pavey

November 12, 2019 by
Podcast studio with microphone, table, and four chairs
O'Shaughnessy-Frey Library

Podcast Studio Now Open in the Library

Did you know there is a space on campus where students can record their own audio or video shows? The Student Innovation Space, located in the O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library in rooms 309A and 310, includes a video recording studio in addition to a newly-designed podcast studio. Both studios are self-service and can be reserved instantly just like a library study room.

After high demand for a STELAR-like space that would provide similar services to other on-campus studios, the St. Thomas Libraries has partnered with Innovation & Technology Services (ITS) to create the recording studios in the OSF library. Both studios are available when the library is open, which is until 2 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. All you need to do is reserve one of the rooms online and pick up the room key from the front desk. Students may use either studio for up to two hours.

This digitally-innovative space exists for the St. Thomas community to produce their own video and audio shows or segments for class assignments or personal endeavors. The video studio has an adjustable SMART Board, computer, video camera, a swing arm for a cell phone, whiteboards, movable furniture, lighting, and sound. Learn more about how to effectively use the video studio.

The podcast studio has been recently updated and is ready for use! The podcast studio includes a table microphone to record between one and four people on a round-table, acoustic padding, and a computer with a wireless keyboard, mouse, and adjustable arm.

Come check them out today!

November 6, 2019 by
News & Events, O'Shaughnessy-Frey Library

Winter Lights: Preparing for the Winter Days Ahead

The brilliantly-colored leaves of fall are mostly gone, and the temperatures are turning colder and we turned our clocks back this weekend.  There were snow showers today, and we cannot deny that we’re moving towards winter at a brisk pace.

We hope you will join us next week for our kick-off Winter Lights event.  Each winter, we offer a series of monthly events from November – February to gather together as a community and share ways to thrive in this Minnesota winter.  Counseling staff will join us to discuss the mental and physical effects of shorter days and will talk about light therapy and demonstrate how to use a seasonal affective disorder (SAD) therapy lamp.  We’ll have snacks and warm drinks, library resources you can check out, and a craft activity so you can take some of the light home with you.  Plus, you can enter to win your own SAD light!

Winter Lights: Preparing for the Winter Days Ahead
Wednesday, November 13, 2019
12:00 – 1:00 pm, Room 108 in O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library

Photo of light jars created at last year’s November Winter Lights event.

 

November 4, 2019 by
News & Events, Services

New! Text shortcodes

This semester we have implemented text shortcodes to help you connect to the library from your phone. Now you can use shortcodes to find hours, reserve a room, renew materials and report any issues within the library, or text with a librarian about your library questions. By using these shortcodes you can quickly get information about the library to your phone.

Text the library at (651) 504-1324 using these shortcodes:

  • HOURS for a link to library hours
  • GROUPSTUDY for a link to reserve a group room online
  • RENEW for a link to renew your checked-out items
  • REPORT for information on reporting an issue in the library (clean up, noise, something is broken, etc)

You can also text any reference questions to (651) 504-1324 and a librarian will get back to you during reference hours.

November 1, 2019 by