The Libraries celebrate the U. S. Constitution on Constitution Day, September 17. Follow the links on the web site to the National Archives and the Library of Congress for Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, the Federalist Papers, dates of ratification by the states, an interactive Constitution and a time line, among others.
Category Archives: Stuff
Beyond 1,000 for TopSCHOLARâ„¢
TopSCHOLARâ„¢ surpassed the 1,000th mark today, reaching 1004 papers in The Research and Creative Activity Database of Western Kentucky University. What else? Over 12,000 downloads to date, graduate theses being routinely uploaded and the SelectedWorks personal researcher sites being created to increase the accessiblity of faculty works.
Do you want your productivity published in TopSCHOLAR? Do you need to publish and cannot find the right outlet? Tired of bad links and want permanent URLs? Check out digitalcommons.wku.edu and contact Connie Foster soon.
Posted Sept. 12, 2008
Connie Foster, Head
Library Technical Services
Push Articles to Your Desktop with TDNet!
Locate the TDNet (Find e-journals and more) link on the left-column of the WKU Libraries Home Page (www.wku.edu/Library):
Does the library have the electronic version of Journal X? The database I used referred me to Journal ABC. Does WKU have it? My class has a group project this semester on stem cell research and public ethics. Can we get weekly email updates on the latest developments? And the answer is …YES.
TDNet, a powerful electronic journal management system has four features: the A-Z list of journal titles to which we have access and links to the databases where they are found; links to publisher web sites; a link to TOPCAT for additional information; and My TDNet, an alerting service for use by individuals or classes to track subject or journal specific contents weekly.
Create your own user profile by journals or subjects for which you want table of contents alerts with links to the articles as they are published.
- Delivered into your email account
- Allows a professor to create a profile or profiles for classes so that groups can receive alerts if they are studying certain topics throughout the semester
- Have as many profiles as you like; track different research interests with different profiles.
What is this button? TOUR, an Open URL resolver, links a citation found in an indexing or abstracting database directly to the full-text access if available. The TOUR button signals a click to check for full-text access. 
As if that is not enough, Google Scholar displays WKU Link! Researchers can now “FindFullText@WKU†for Google Scholar hits when WKU has the cited work, thanks to TDNet and Google Scholar linking software.
Questions? Contact Connie Foster, Head, Library Technical Services (connie.foster@wku.edu)
Library Faculty’s New Book Published!
Haiwang Yuan’s new book Princess Peacock: Tales from Other Peoples of China has been published!
China, the most populous country in the world, is also a nation of great diversity. In addition to the majority population of Han Chinese, there are 55 officially recognized national minorities–including Tibetan, Mongol, Manchu, Zhuang, Dai, and Gaoshan. The folklore of these minorities is often obscure and difficult to find in the English-speaking world, as is information about the people, their cultural histories, and their traditional customs. This book fills a gap by offering more than 50 representative folktales from China’s minorities, as well as background information on each of the ethnic groups.
Princess Peacock is a companion to Yuan’s The Magic Lotus Lantern and Other Tales of the Han Chinese, published in 2006. Carefully selected from the fathomless reservoirs of Chinese folklore, the tales from the books combined give the American reader a glimpse of the richness and diversity of a folk literature from an ancient and yet fast-modernizing China, which will definitely play an increasingly important role in world fairs, particularly after its successful hosting of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
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| Chinese Students in ethnic costumes |
Listed in Marquis’s 2009 edition of Who’s Who in America and currently working on his two-volume encyclopedia on Chinese ethnic groups, Yuan is also serving on the editorial board for and contributing to the five-volume Berkshire Encyclopedia of China.
Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture
Every year Dr. Brian Coutts, Head of Public Services at WKU, reviews the Best Reference Books of the past year. But not only does he review reference works, he also writes and contributes to reference works.
The Encyclopedia of 
Latin American History and Culture, is a monumental work and represents the best of scholarship on Latin America. It includes over 5000 articles, and over 3000 biographies inclusive of all periods from prehistoric times to the present. It features over 100 full-color photographs in addition to hundreds in black-and-white. 
Dr. Coutts, who has a PhD in Latin America History, wrote the main country article for Belize, and the article for the capital of Belize – Belmopan. In addition, he wrote biographies for the first three Prime Ministers of Belize – George Price, Manuel Esquivel and Said Musa – as well as shorter articles on New Orleans, Spanish Louisiana and other topics.
The Library Gets a New Name
In 1971 the Cravens Graduate Center and Library opened greatly expanding the available space for the Library. Named for Raymond L. Cravens, a Political Science professor and Vice President of Academic Affairs, the CGCL comprised both the Library and the Graduate school.
Dr. Cravens was a Graduate of Western (A.B. ’52, M.A. ’55) and the University of Kentucky (PhD ’58). From 1958 until 1980 Dr. Cravens was involved in many areas of the administration of the University, twice being referenced as a candidate for president. 
After many years of library growth, and the move of the Graduate Office, the shortened name Cravens Library began to be used instead of CGCL. Therefore, this week the University Libraries has unveiled the new name of the CGCL – The Raymond Cravens Library.
Come check out the new name, and check out a book or audio-visual material while you are here.
Check out Kentucky Titles!
Need additional resources about Kentucky architecture, politics, oral history, or just Kentucky writings? These new or standard titles by or about Kentucky are available in the Cravens Library circulating collection:
The Death of Luigi Trastulli and Other Stories: Form and Meaning in Oral History
To Western Woods: The Breckinridge Family Moves to Kentucky in 1793
Antebellum Architcture of Kentucky
Clay Lancaster’s Kentucky: Architectural Photographs of a Preservation Pioneer
America! What’s My Name? : The “Other” Poets Unfurl the Flag (ed. Frank X. Walker)
The Politics of Despair: Power and Resistance in the Tobacco Wars
If you have any other titles that you would like to see in the collection about Kentucky or by Kentucky authors, please let us know.
Connie Foster, Head
Dept. of Library Technical Services
July 16, 2008
Quilting with an International Flavor
The KHQS Annual Show has an international flavor in 2008. The quilts and wall hangings included in it will be made in an international style (Hawaiian, Japanese, African), constructed from a worldly pattern (Irish Chain, Dresden Plate, LeMoyne Star, Greek Cross, Mariner’s Compass, reflect a geographic location that lies closer to home- Carolina Lily, Baltimore Album, Kentucky Star) or be made in a worldwide theme. Around the World opens at the Kentucky Library & Museum on May 23 and runs through June 8.
Access World News Now Available
The Access World News via Newsbank is available for WKU (including Bowling Green Daily News, the Louisville Courier-Journal, and the Lexington Herald-Leader ). You can access from the link from library database page or http://infoweb.newsbank.com.
The most comprehensive collection of full-text newspapers globally, Access World News provides extensive coverage at any level—local, state, regional, national and international. This fully searchable Web-based resource features the vast majority of U.S. newspapers by circulation, along with almost one thousand hard-to-find local and regional titles, the majority of which are unavailable elsewhere. Additionally, Access World News offers over a thousand international news sources from scores of countries on six continents, translated into English when written in other languages.
Kentucky Library & Museum Wins National Award
On April 25, 2008, the Kentucky Library & Museum was one of five Kentucky organizations to receive the Award for Outstanding Community Partner for its work with the VSA arts of Kentucky program, SIDE BY SIDE. A visual arts program for children with disabilities, SIDE BY SIDE provides mentoring collaboration with professional adult artists from the local community. At the end of the teaching session, each student artist is paired with a local artist in a one on one session where they create a collaborative work of art. The program concludes with a public exhibition of an individual student work, the collaborative piece and a piece by each professional artist, all presented SIDE BY SIDE.