On Display: The Great American Read

Looking for a summer reading project? Join The Great American Read!

Join PBS and The Great American Read

PBS wants to know America’s favorite novel. Kicking off on May 22nd at 8 pm ET, The Great American Read hosted by Meredith Vieira will explore some of America’s most-loved novels over the course of eight episodes. Viewers can begin voting for their favorite from a list of 100 titles after the first episode airs. The series will return in the fall as the votes are tallied and the number one book is chosen.

Our lobby display pulls items from the Bentley Library’s collections on the Great American Read book list to make them available in one convenient spot for browsing. The novels selected span a variety of genres and time periods. Titles on the list include Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, The Catcher in the Rye  by J.D. Salinger, Charlotte’s Web by E B White, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, Beloved by Toni Morrison, One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, and many more.

Reread one of your favorites or try something new! And, if you don’t have time to read the books we have a number of film adaptations available on DVD.

Can’t make it to the library? We’ve got you covered! See what we have available as an eBook or audiobook through OverDrive that you can access from anywhere.

Participate with The Great American Read discussions on social media using the hashtag #GreatReadPBS and check out their website for fun activities such as a quiz to see how many of the 100 books you have read.

On Display: May 15-June 25, 2018

Database of the Month: Project MUSE

This month we feature Project MUSE as our Database of the Month:

 Image of Project MUSE header

Project MUSE provides scholarly journal and book content in the humanities and social sciences. Students, faculty, and staff conducting research in political science, literature, history, education, religion, cultural studies, gender studies, philosophy, science, mathematics, and more will find that Project MUSE can provide valuable content. Over 120 publishers provide content in Project MUSE including university presses and scholarly societies.

Users have the opportunity to browse by subject area, search in the full text content, or search by author, title, or publisher. Additional limiters can help users filter results further by content types, research areas, languages, and publication dates.

Search Tip: Project MUSE provides clear indictors in the results list that will let you know the access level of a particular listing. However, you can select to only search the content that Bentley University has full access to within Project MUSE.

Project MUSE Access Indicator Symbols

Project MUSE Access Limiter

Full text is available in HTML and PDF formats.

Project MUSE Results List Example

Citation management options include emailing individual links or using Project MUSE’s suggested citations which provides examples in MLA, APA, Chicago, and Endnote formats. There is also the option to save citations to a folder during a search session. Citations in the folder can be exported to RefWorks or EndNote citation managers, saved as a .txt file, printed, or emailed. If you use the folder option, please note that it will expire once your search session ends or you close your browser.

Project Muse Citation Management Options

Search Tip: Always double check any citation you retrieve from a database for accuracy. Consult our Citing Sources guide for resources to help.

For assistance in using Project MUSE, contact the Bentley Library reference desk or check out the video tutorials or user guides provided by Project MUSE.

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Database of the Month provides a very brief introduction to a useful website or Library database, highlighting key features you should know about. If you would like more information about this resource (or any of the library’s databases), please contact us for research assistance. If you would like a demonstration of this resource for a class, please schedule a research instruction class using the instruction request form.

Database of the Month: Swank Digital Campus (Streaming Films)

This month we feature another of our streaming film collections as our Database of the Month. Swank Digital Campus includes over 100 feature films and documentaries from major studios spanning a number of genres. Films included in this database include cinema classics and contemporary films.

Swank Browsing Screen

This curated collection has popular titles such as Spotlight, Pulp Fiction, An Inconvenient Truth, and Fargo.  Recently released titles such as Moonlight, La La Land, and Fences are also available in Swank.

Browse films by genre on the homepage by scrolling through movie covers or search for titles directly in the search box. Click the film cover to begin viewing.

Swank Video Viewer

Each page for a film includes the film viewer (which can be expanded into full screen mode), release year, MPAA film rating, run time, brief synopsis, director, and actors.

Language audio and subtitle options vary by title. These can be found in the video viewer under the gear symbol [ Swank Gear Symbol ].

Direct links to films are available to share in course sites – the “Copy Direct Link” option will give you just the link where “Copy LMS Link” will give you the HTML code for the link to embed in a course site.

Access

Swank Digital Campus films can be streamed in your browser both on campus and off.

System and Browser Recommendations

Compatible with Mac or Windows. Latest versions of Chrome or Firefox recommended.

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Database of the Month provides a very brief introduction to a useful website or Library database, highlighting key features you should know about. If you would like more information about this resource (or any of the library’s databases), please contact us for research assistance. If you would like a demonstration of this resource for a class, please schedule a research instruction class using the instruction request form.

Database of the Month: IMDB.com

film reel and slate

Awards season is just around the corner when Hollywood bestows various honors related to film and television. Whether you are a cinephile or a casual viewer, the Internet Movie Database, or IMDb, can be a wonderful resource to help you navigate the ins and outs of the industry.

IMDb (www.imdb.com) is a freely available database that originally started in 1990. The database includes millions of records and is considered to be an authoritative source for film and television.

Content includes:

  • Records for movies and television shows
  • Entries for industry professionals and celebrities including actors, directors, writers, composers, producers, and more (including filmographies and brief biographies)
  • Trivia
  • Quotes
  • Industry news & event coverage
  • Box office charts & trends
  • Release calendars

Found movies on IMDB that you would like to watch? Bentley Library has a number of DVDs and streaming films.

Search the Bentley Library Catalog to find our available DVDs or search one of our streaming film collections:

  • Films on Demand offers educational film titles in a variety of subject areas.
  • Kanopy includes many various collections including films from the Criterion Collection, documentaries, films appearing at various international film festivals, Academy Award winning films and nominees, and more! Browse collections or search for specific titles.
  • Swank Digital Campus includes both classic and contemporary films. Some past award winners such as American Beauty, Argo, The Hurt Locker, and The Departed are available in our collection. Can be searched by title or genre.
Image Credit: thumb_film_reel_2_1. By ScypaxPictures, 2010, (Flickr). Used under Creative Commons License BY-ND 2.0 with no modifications.

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Database of the Month provides a very brief introduction to a useful website or Library database, highlighting key features you should know about. If you would like more information about this free web resource (or any of the library’s databases), please contact us for research assistance. If you would like a demonstration of this resource for a class, please schedule a research instruction class using the instruction request form.

New Research Guide: American Political Elections

American Flag

Election Day 2016 is fast approaching!  A new guide from the library “American Political Elections” not only provides information on elections in the United States but also highlights Presidential Election 2016 resources that can help you keep up to date until you cast your vote on November 8th.

Find information such as:

  • Links to candidate websites
  • Dates and times for the televised debates
  • Voting information
  • Sources of election news coverage

However, it’s not just the presidential election that will be decided on November 8th! State and local elections are also taking place including congressional races. See the “Voting” section to find out how to get connected to your state’s voter resources where you can find out registration deadlines, polling places, how to get an absentee ballot, information on the local elections, and more!

 

Image Credit: U.S. Flag. By jnn1776, 2009, (Flickr). Used under Creative Commons License BY-SA 2.0.