By: Library Staff

By: David Hiscoe

Deadline Extended! All entries are due by 6 a.m.
on Tuesday, February 14th.

We need a short video (30-90 seconds) that captures what the NCSU Libraries means to you, to your friends, to NC State, to North Carolina, to the world—to any or all of these.

And we think you are the most qualified to create it.

You are the ones who have worked in D. H. Hill all night, who have regularly met friends here to get the work done (and probably made a few new ones here too), who best know what the Libraries has done to help you grow as a thoughtful person, a student, a researcher, an entrepreneur or employee.

And we’ve seen the great video work that NC State students do. Even Oprah loved it.

The “Create the Libraries’ Super Bowl Commercial” contest gives you a chance to show off your video chops, do some good for the Libraries, and perhaps carry away a nice prize.  Be serious, be whimsical, be whatever it takes to capture the essence of the the spirit of the NCSU Libraries.

We can’t actually play the winning video at the Super Bowl (when, as you probably have noticed, the most market-savvy companies on the globe pay millions of dollars to roll out the very best of their ads).  But we’ll make you “famous” on the Libraries’ website, and your video will be shown for years when we introduce people to the Libraries.

If you need a video camera, you can—of course—always check one out at D. H. Hill Library; if you need technical support or peer expertise with your video, you can always find it at our Digital Media Lab.

All entries are due by 6 a.m. on Tuesday, February 14th.

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How to submit your video

You can submit your entry in one of two ways:

Online submissions

a) Go to http://velocity.ncsu.edu (Velocity is an NC State program that makes it easy to electronically transfer big files such as videos).

b) Sign in using your NC State email address.

c) Create a “cabinet.”

d) Upload your video.

e) Use to “send file” button to send your video to dwhiscoe@ncsu.edu.

f) We’ll send you a confirmation that we’ve received your video within 24 hours.

In-person submissions

a) Put your video on a disk or a flash drive.

b) Put it in an envelope with your name and an email address.

c)  Hand it to any staff member at the Circulation Desk at D. H. Hill Library.

d)  We’ll send you a confirmation within 24 hours.

Basic Rules

• To enter, you must be a registered student at NC State.

• Your entry must obey all laws, including applicable copyright and privacy laws.

• You agree to let the NCSU Libraries place your entry on its websites and use your video in its promotional and educational efforts.

• When filming, you will get permissions to use the images of any recognizable people who will appear in your video–and you will, of course, be courteous and respectful of others’ study needs while working in the Libraries.

• You are responsible for the tax implications (if any) if you win a prize through the contest.

• Entries must be submitted by 6 a.m., February 14, 2012, to be eligible.

Questions?

Please direct them to dwhiscoe@ncsu.edu.

By: Michelle Clark

Media Contact: David Hiscoe, NCSU Libraries,  (919) 513-3425
http://lib.ncsu.edu/exhibit/malecha

The NCSU Libraries is pleased to present The Urge to Draw, the Cause to Reflect: Drawings, Sketchbooks, Provocations, an exhibit that features over a decade of work by Marvin J. Malecha, dean of the College of Design at North Carolina State University and former president of the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

Athena's Nest for Pegasus

The exhibit explores and embodies Malecha’s fundamental premise that the act of drawing—no matter the task at hand­—can release the innate powers of our own creativity, often bringing us to a state “when clarity is vividly present and understanding seems painfully obvious. It is a moment when all of the noise of extraneous considerations falls away and purpose is immediately before you.”  The exhibit taps deep roots at NC State, an institution where mechanical crafts have always been taught, valued, and practiced as catalysts for growth and creation.

Dean Malecha has had a multi-faceted career encompassing administration, education, research, professional service, and practice as an architect. After earning a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Minnesota and a Master of Architecture from Harvard University, he was dean of the College of Environmental Design at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, for twelve years before coming to NC State University in 1994.

In addition to his teaching and administrative work, Malecha has written several books on design and has maintained an active involvement with architectural practice through his work on a wide variety of projects—including the new chancellor’s residence under construction on NC State’s Centennial Campus. He is an Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) Distinguished Professor, was awarded the prestigious AIA/ACSA Topaz Medallion for Excellence in Architectural Education in 2003, and served as President of the AIA from 2008-2009.

Ticino, near Lugano, 1998

The exhibit reflects the strategies that produced Malecha’s recent book, The Urge to Draw, the Cause to Reflect: 100 Drawings and Reflections from Many Places, Times, and Spaces (NCSU Libraries Publications in collaboration with the NC State College of Design, 2011), in which a combination of sketches, evocative quotations, and short, impromptu notes or essays intermingle to capture the creative process at work. Always working with a drawing pad close by, Malecha shows how the notepad at hand in travels ranging from Hong Kong to Minnesota is integral to his practice as an architect and educator.  Both his book and the NCSU Libraries’ exhibit ask each of us to “Draw what you see. Draw to understand.  Draw to enhance your skill of seeing.  Draw to remember. . . . It will bring you an acute understanding of who you are.”

Visitors to the exhibit will quite literally be able to follow Malecha’s advice at two kiosks that invite them to draw what they see.  Facing D. H. Hill’s Conservatory and the landscape beyond, viewers at the kiosks are encouraged to add their own creative observations and experiments to the experience of the exhibit. Both traditional sketchbook and pencil and an iPad loaded with the Brushes app so brilliantly used by fellow artists such as David Hockney or Jorge Columbo will allow visitors to draw from life or from their own imaginations—either just for fun or perhaps to reach one of those moments “when clarity is vividly present and understanding seems painfully obvious.”

“I am so proud that the NCSU Libraries has been able to display Dean Malecha’s thought- and eye-provoking project,” says Susan K. Nutter, vice provost and director of the NCSU Libraries. “NC State excels in teaching our students to engage practical problems with a practical and inspired imagination.  Malecha shows us how to do it.   And the exhibit is not only a great entry point to scholars and the general public who aren’t yet aware of the tremendous cache of valuable architectural and design materials that the we hold in our Special Collections Research Center—its multimedia and immersive kiosks are a nice foretaste of the technology that will make our new James B. Hunt Jr. Library such a great place to showcase faculty and student work when we open it in early 2013.”  

The Urge to Draw, the Cause to Reflect will be open and free to the public in the D. H. Hill Library Exhibit Gallery during regular hours through December 31.  The exhibit was produced with generous support from the Goodnight Educational Foundation Library Endowment for Special Collections.

By: Library Staff

Long after Hill of Beans has closed for the night, The Friends of the Library will be providing our traditional coffee, donuts, and more in the main lobby of D. H. Hill throughout exams (except for Friday and Saturday morning).

Put down the books for a few moments, take a deep breath or two, and meet us at 1 a.m. to throw off the stress and boost up the energy. See you there from early Tuesday morning December 6, to early Wednesday morning December 14.

By: Marian Fragola

What do an overall-wearing bear, an adventurous little boy, a speedy cookie, and a mischievous feline have in common?  Stories about these beloved children’s book characters will be featured at the second annual Fireside Tales, co-presented by NCSU Libraries and Cameron Village Regional Library. Bring the whole family for this seasonal celebration featuring stories, live music and treats.

Fireside Tales
Saturday, December 10 at 11:00 a.m.
Cameron Village Regional Library, 1930 Clark Avenue

The NCSU Libraries trio, featuring David Hiscoe on 12-string guitar, Charley Pennell on old-time fiddle, and vocalist Dawn Pearce, will lead the musical selections.  Stories will be told by NCSU Libraries staff (David Serxner – Don Freeman’s Corduroy;  Sharon Silcox – Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat Comes Back; Judy Allen-Dodson – Ezra Jack Keats’ The Snowy Day) and Cameron Village Regional Library staff (Jane Deacle, Children’s Librarian – the fairy tale The Gingerbread Man).

Fireside Tales is free and open to the public and support is provided by the Friends of the Library. For more information, call 919-5123-3481 or email marian_fragola@ncsu.edu.

By: Mike Nutt

See NC State's favorite books at http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/bestbook

Media Contact: Marian Fragola, NCSU Libraries,  (919) 513-348

(Raleigh, N.C.)—As an intellectual hub of Wolfpack culture, the NCSU Libraries is proud that its core competencies include obsessively knowing the world of books and always looking for new ways to help the North Carolina State University community satisfy its insatiable curiosity.

In going about our appointed rounds, we have also made a lot of smart friends who are passionate and knowledgeable about good reads—and our friends want to share what they know.

So, in preparation for gift buying and leisure reading around all the upcoming holidays, the NCSU Libraries is releasing its second annual, community-sourced blog of book reviews and recommendations.

Want to know what Greg Volk (’03)–the Emmy-winning writer for Discovery Channel’s  Cash Cab–thinks is worth cracking open?  Or what Dr. Michael Young–head of NC State’s Digital Games Research Initiative–recommends for old-fashioned print entertainment?  Or what NC State foodie Dr. Sarah Ash is reading these days on our eating habits (or, better yet, which fictional private detective the nutrition professor avidly follows)?

“The Best Book I Read This Year” is the place to go.

The site contains brief book reviews by NC State students, faculty, university staff, Friends of the Library board members, and library employees. Some are best sellers; some are classics; some are completely quirky–but they are absolutely guaranteed to be the top of the pile for people like you who love books and the communities that they form.

And please, help us keep the list growing by  submitting a favorite of your own at http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/bestbook/reviews.

For more information, please contact Marian Fragola, Director, Program Planning and Outreach at the NCSU Libraries at (919) 513-3481 or marian_fragola@ncsu.edu.

By: Marian Fragola

Amazing Alumni: Robert Bashford and Ben Jenkins
Wednesday, November 16 at 4:00 p.m.
Auditorium, West Wing, D. H. Hill Library

Hear two highly successful NC State alumni discuss how the friendship they formed and the values they learned at NC State helped set the foundation for their lives and careers.

Dr. Robert Bashford

Dr. Robert Bashford is dean of admissions at the UNC School of Medicine and professor of psychiatry, obstetrics and gynecology at UNC-CH.  Dr. Bashford earned his B.S. in Pre-Medicine from NC State University and his M.D., from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine.

Mr. Ben Jenkins

Benjamin P. Jenkins III is former Vice Chairman of Wachovia Corporation and President of Wachovia’s General Banking Group. In 2007, the graduate programs in NC State’s College of Management were named the Jenkins Graduate School of Management in honor of Mr. Jenkins. He is currently serving on the NC State University Board of Trustees.

The Amazing Alumni series is presented by the NCSU Libraries. Free and open to the public. For more information, please contact 513-3481 or marian_fragola@ncsu.edu.

By: Mike Nutt

Media Contact: David Hiscoe, NCSU Libraries, (919) 513-3425

The North Carolina State University Libraries is proud to release Red, White & Black, a new mobile web app that allows users to employ their smart phones and other mobile devices to embark on a self-guided walking tour that highlights the rich history of African Americans at NC State (www.lib.ncsu.edu/m/exhibits/redwhiteblack).

From 1939 when Ellen McGuire, a former slave who retired from NC State after working for fifty years mostly in the infirmary, to 1957 when Robert Clemons became the first African American to graduate from the university (with a professional degree in electrical engineering), to 2010 when students were confronted with racial epithets painted in the Freedom Expression Tunnel, this walking tour allows users to explore, at their own pace, spaces on NC State’s campus that have had significant impact on the lives and experiences of African American students, employees, and the larger community.

This tour integrates extensive existing digital collections from the NCSU Libraries with student research and student readings to provide access to events, images, and stories that help to tell this important history. The location-aware web app allows students to connect with university history in the places in which they learn every day, further engaging them with the people, events, and environment that have shaped their campus. Owners of devices that do not support GPS or other location-detection methods can still manually navigate through the website to enjoy a historical tour of African American history and achievement at NC State.

Red, White & Black builds on the success of the April 2011 in-person guided walking tour. A collaboration of the NCSU Libraries, the Department of History, and the African American Cultural Center, the original walk began with a discussion, led by Dr. Blair Kelley of the Department of History, focusing on the long civil rights movement in higher education.  The talk was followed by a walking tour of campus, led by Dr. Walter Jackson from the Department of History and by Ms. Toni Thorpe of the African American Cultural Center—and concluded at the African American Cultural Center where participants had an opportunity to reflect together on the university’s history. The first walk was so well received and attended that the NCSU Libraries wished to make it available on a wider and on-demand basis.

A similar in-person tour of the places on campus that have had significant impact on the lives and experiences of African American students and the community will be led by Dr. Jackson and Ms. Thorpe on November 7, 2011, beginning at 4:30 p.m. on the steps of the D. H. Hill Library. This program is free and open to the public.

According to Greg Raschke, associate director for collections and scholarly communication at the Libraries, “as the official repository for the university, the University Archives in the NCSU Libraries has mountains of incredibly interesting material about the past here at NC State.  The Red, White & Black app contains history that everyone should know, and the mobile app gives us a great new way to extend the reach of our archives and give the university community and the people of North Carolina even more value from the history that we collect for them.”

Red, White & Black is the second mobile tour of the NC State campus developed by the NCSU Libraries. WolfWalk, released in 2010, provides a comprehensive self-guided historical walk through NC State’s campus and is available as iPhone and iPad apps as a free download from the App Store.

“The NCSU Libraries embraces the role of incubating new technologies for the university and for the library community around the world,” says Susan K. Nutter, vice provost and director of the NCSU Libraries.  “Looking forward, we see mobile technologies playing a key role in the services we offer.  WolfWalk and the new Red, White & Black app give us great experience that we’ll put to good use in the new James B. Hunt Jr. Library (www.lib.ncsu.edu/huntlibrary).”

By: Marian Fragola

Dr. Walter Jackson on the steps of Thompson Hall during the spring RW&B walk

Red, White & Black Walking Tour
Monday, November 7 at 4:30 p.m.

In celebration of more than 60 years of African American history at NC State, NCSU Libraries, in collaboration with the African American Cultural Center, is reprising the popular Red, White & Black walking tour. Come learn about the spaces and places on NC State’s campus that have had significant impact on the lives and experiences of African American students and the larger community. Dr. Walter Jackson, NC State associate professor in the department of history, and Ms. Toni Thorpe, program coordinator at NC State’s African American Cultural Center, will lead the tour.

The tour will begin at the steps of D. H. Hill Library and will conclude at the African American Cultural Center at the Witherspoon Student Center where we will have refreshments and reflection. This program is free and open to the public.

This program builds on the success of the first Red, White & Black walking tour, held in April, 2011, which was attended by more than fifty people. The walk attracted such interest that the NCSU Libraries and the African American Cultural Center wished to make it available again. For more information, call 513-3481 or marian_fragola@ncsu.edu.

By: David Hiscoe

The first 10 of you who check out the Libraries’ Facebook page, beginning at 1:15 on Halloween–and then move quickly to show your D. H. Hill skill–can win a free Monster drink.

Check the Facebook page at  1:15 today for the hint that will set you up to win.

Hint: take a look at http://news.lib.ncsu.edu/scarystories/2011/10/18/things-that-go-bump-in-the-night/ beforehand.