Own a Piece of Rosemont History

The library's old card catalog cabinets are available for purchase. Here are the details:

Library Catalog Cabinets
$400 each
4'5.5'' H x 3'10'' W x 17.5'' D
Ninety-one drawers--3'' H x 5'' W, size of a 3x5 index card
Comes with or without cards

Act now to own a piece of Rosemont history. We've already sold four cabinets and only two remain. If you are interested, contact Kathleen Deeming at 610-527-0200 x2271, or kdeeming@rosemont.edu. 
The phone booth in the library's lobby will soon be available, as well. Check back for details.

Pardon Our Appearance

In my previous post I said that you would start to see changes in the library as we get ready for our big renovation project. Well, those changes have begun. The picture above shows the Main Reading Room with empty shelves, as the current periodicals have been moved downstairs to Rm. 112 with all of the back issues. The shelves were cleared to make room for the books in the Reference Room and other essential materials from the sections of the library that will be inaccessible during the renovation. We have already moved the popular books and DVDs from the lobby onto shelves in the Reading Room.


We also started making some changes in the Reference Room. The reference desk was disassembled and has been given a new home in the General Office. We are now using one of the tables from the Reference Room as a makeshift desk.


Finally (for now), the old built-in card catalog has been removed from the wall outside the Reference Room. That whole wall will be taken down to make the Remembering Sr. Helen Mary Weisbrod, SHCJ Information Commons a more open space.

Library Renovation Set to Begin

A little over a year ago we proudly announced an exciting renovation project that would transform the Gertrude Kistler Memorial Library. Now that transformation is about to begin. Construction of the Remembering Sr. Helen Mary Weisbrod, SHCJ Information Commons is scheduled to begin after Commencement, on May 17, 2010. Students returning in the Fall will find a beautiful, flexible, technology-rich environment designed by Kimmel Bogrette Architecture + Site, who previously oversaw the renovation of Connelly Hall. The Library's lobby and Reference Room will be completely changed into a single space with workstations, group study rooms, and a new information desk, all designed to enhance and encourage collaboration. There will also be a self-service coffee bar, Eleanor's Cafe, named for the late Eleanor M. Weisbrod, whose generosity has made the renovation possible. We will be working feverishly to get the Library ready for the renovation, and you will begin to see changes in the weeks ahead. We will be using this space to keep you posted, so check back for updates.

Project MUSE Access Expanded

The Library has upgraded its subscription to Project MUSE from the Standard to the Premium Collection. What this means to you is an additional 134 current, full-text, scholarly journals, with significant additions in the fields of Literature, History, Asian Studies, Politics & Policy Studies, Film, Theater, & Performing Arts, Religion, Women’s Studies, Education, Sociology, Anthropology, Medieval & Renaissance Studies, and Art & Architecture. As Premium Collection subscribers, we will also have access to any journals added to Project MUSE in the future.

Project MUSE is a full-text collection of over 400 scholarly, peer reviewed journals in the arts, humanities, and social sciences from nearly 30 university presses and scholarly societies, including The Johns Hopkins University Press and The Brookings Institution. You can start exploring Project MUSE by clicking here or you can always find a link on the Library's home page under Online Resources.

New in the Library: Philosopher's Index Online

Kistler Memorial Library is now offering the Philosopher’s Index online. The Philosopher’s Index provides indexing and abstracts of books, anthologies, and articles from over 620 journals in philosophy and related interdisciplinary fields. Comprehensively covering the philosophy literature from 1940 to the present, the Philosopher’s Index is an excellent starting point for research on ethics, aesthetics, logic, metaphysics, the philosophy of religion, education, and more. The Philosopher's Index is available via FirstSearch. At the FirstSearch home page, select "PhilosopherIndex" from the list of databases.

Welcome!

Welcome to Kistler Library Notes, the new blog of Rosemont's Gertrude Kistler Memorial Library. We will be using this space to keep you up to date on what is happening in the library, to put a spotlight on library resources old and new, and hopefully to have a little fun. Take a look around and leave a comment to let us know what you think.