St. Thomas Libraries Blog - News, Events and Musings from the UST Libraries - Page 14
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

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

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!

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.

 

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.

Media/Music Collections, O'Shaughnessy-Frey Library

Classic Horror Films in the Music & Media Collections


Bela Lugosi stars in the 1931 horror classic Dracula. It was the biggest box office smash from Universal in 1931, kickstarting the popularity of the sound era Universal Monsters. Also featured on the copy in our collection is the original Spanish Language film Drácula, which was filmed on the same set, starring Spanish, Mexican, Cuban, and Argentinian actors.

PS 3503 .A5515 D7 1999 DVD

For a different twist on the character of Dracula, watch Christopher Lee in the title role of the 1958 color adaptation, Horror of Dracula. Peter Cushing also stars, giving an iconic portrayal of vampire hunter Doctor Van Helsing.

PR 6037.T617 H6 2002 DVD

Also from Universal Classic Monsters franchise is Wolf Man: The Legacy Collection. This multi-disc set includes The Wolf Man (1941) starring Lon Chaney Jr., and its stellar predecessor Werewolf of London (1935), as well as She-Wolf of London (1946) and Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1942). All films use a variety of physical and special effects that were groundbreaking for their time.

PS 3537.I875 W6 2004 DVD

Currently reshaping the horror genre is Mexican director Guillermo del Toro, mastermind behind such films as Pan’s Labyrinth and The Devil’s Backbone. He has been greatly influenced by Universal Monsters and other early horror classics, as well as literary works by the Brontë sisters. His Gothic romance Crimson Peak is rich in detail, expertly blending classic horror and Victorian drama.

PN 1997 .C755 2016 DVD

Early in del Toro’s career he directed Chronos, a Spanish language film about Jesús Gris, a man who discovers a mysterious mechanical object. As Jesús slowly becomes immortal, he must face the horror that comes with the gift of eternal life.

PN 1997 .C762 2010 DVD

On a lighter note, check out some comedy horror films! Tim Curry leads a striking ensemble cast including Susan Sarandon in the one of a kind cult classic Rocky Horror Picture Show (1974). Richard O’Brien wrote and starred in this musical that parodies Frankenstein, classic horror, and Hollywood musicals. Jim Sharman directs.

PR 5397.F73 R6 2002 DVD

Mel Brooks’ unmissable classic Young Frankenstein will make you scream with laughter! Gene Wilder stars as Frederick “Fronkensteen” the grandson of the infamous Dr. Frankenstein who continues his experiments reanimating the dead. Filmed in black and white, this 1974 comedy lampoons the musicals of Fred Astaire and Universal Horror alike.

PR 5397.F73 F7 2006 DVD

Please stop by the Music and Media Collections to check out these titles and more! We’re located on the first floor of the O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library to the right of the Main Circulation desk.

By Sarah Pavey

News & Events

One Literature Database Trial

The UST Libraries have a 30-day trial for ProqQest’s One Literature (an upgrade of LION).
To access this trial, go to: https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.stthomas.edu/pq1lit?accountid=14756

“Developed in collaboration with faculty, scholars and librarians, ProQuest One Literature is the largest literature collection ever assembled, giving researchers access to millions of authoritative sources to meet their literary needs.”
Please explore the database and send me questions, comments, endorsements, etc. Talia Nadir, English Liaison. trnadir@stthomas.edu

Libraries, Media/Music Collections, Science

Investment in the Cultivated Future  (on Video)

Take a journey to the Global Seed Vault in Svalbard, Norway with two fascinating documentaries. The “Doomsday Vault” as it’s often known, is a seed bank which houses over 900,000 seeds. It serves as backup storage to as much of the world’s cultivation as possible to prevent humanity from losing plant life in the event of environmental catastrophe. Get an in-depth look at the controversy of seed ownership versus the investment in the greater good from the illuminating documentary Seed Battles. Cary Fowler, American agriculturalist and former executive director of the Crop Trust, hosts.

For extra insight on the reasons behind the creation of the vault, watch the 60 Minutes special on The Doomsday Vault. Journalist Scott Pelley travels to the seed bank with Cary Fowler and discusses the world-wide attempts to reserve plant diversity.

If you’re looking for more about efforts to preserve and control the future of seeds and farming, check out these physical titles in the Music and Media Collections.

Seeds of Time is a feature length documentary following Cary Fowler and his continuing struggles to preserve genetic diversity. Here, he travels beyond Svalbard to save the world’s most vulnerable seed vaults.  SB123.3 .S44 2014 DVD

GMO OMG takes a provocative approach to the ethics of genetically modified food and the agricultural giant Monsanto. Filmmaker Jeremy Seifert questions what GMO food is and who will control food production in the future. TP248.65.F66 G6 2014 DVD

In her documentary The Future of Food Deborah Koons Garcia investigates patented seeds, GMOs, and sustainable agricultural options. Our 2-disc set features additional interviews, farmer portraits, and a guide to seed saving. TP248.65.F66 F8 2004 DVD

Please stop by and check out these fascinating titles! Find us in the O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library to the far right of main circulation desk.

By Sarah Pavey