May/June 1997

Umbreit Library
CURRENTS

A Publication of Muskegon Community College

Vol. 2, No. 5 - May/June 1997

Focus on Allen G. Umbreit

Dr. Allen G. Umbreit was President of Muskegon Junior College (now MCC) from 1931 to 1958. He received his Bachelor's degree at North Central College in Illinois, his Master's degree at the University of Wisconsin and his Ph.D. at the University of Iowa. Before coming to MCC he had been a teacher, a high school principal, and a college lecturer.

He contributed greatly to the expansion of the College by adding vocational, technical and community service programs to its course offerings. The Junior College had traditionally offered only courses designed to transfer to four-year universities. Additionally, "during his tenure the college grew from occupying one building to having classes and programs in 11 different locations."

The Allen G. Umbreit Library carries on the tradition of Dr. Umbreit by providing a vast array of resources to a diverse community.

* * *

Information for this article was taken from the paper, A History of Muskegon Community College Directors/Presidents, written by Dr. Carol Thompson in 1983. Her paper is one of the many publications and resources available in our Archives Collection.

Internet Workshops

The Internet has been publicly accessible in the library since February 1997. It has seen consistent growth in usage since that time and has been used for a variety of research needs.

We have found during this time that many of our students are not familiar with the Internet and need some basic hands-on training. As a service to them, we are planning to deliver Internet workshops starting in July. These will deal primarily with locating information on the Internet using Netscape, assessing the information found, and saving or printing the information.

For information about these workshops contact Carol at X416.

Michigan Financials

Governor Engler's office recently made available the first edition of Michigan Financial Focus. This is an annual report on "trends and changes in Michigan's financial status and the health of our state's checkbook."

Though only 11" x 17", this single sheet contains a wealth of information in charts and graphs. Information is on debt management, education spending, state income and expenses, number of jobs created, unemployment rates, migration, agriculture, and vehicle production. Also included are "State of Michigan Websites" and various directories of state offices.

If you want a copy of this annual publication, call the library reference desk at X326.

CD-ROM Corner

The most recent addition to our publicly-accessible CD- ROM collection is the World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia.

If you have never used an encyclopedia on CD-ROM, you should visit the library and try this one out. It allows easy access to all of the articles, maps, and pictures on the disc.

A keyword search will search through the full text of the articles and return any articles that contain your keyword.

Cataloger's Tip

By Robert J. Vanderlaan
When using our on-line catalog, the ability to do keyword searches in the subject field is very helpful. For example, if you are looking for information on Wyoming, a keyword search through the subject fields would return the following:

Boys Wyoming Biography
Cattle trade Wyoming
Cowboys Wyoming
Crime Wyoming
Ranch life Wyoming
Wyoming
(and additional headings...)

However, you may retrieve additional headings by using the abbreviation for the place. For example, for Wyoming, use "Wyo." to retrieve the following additional subjects:

Black Hills (S.D. and Wyo.)
Geology Uinta Mountains (Utah and Wyo.)
Grand Teton National Park (Wyo.)
Green River (Wyo.-Utah)
Powder River (Wyo. and Mont.)
Snake River (Wyo.-Wash.)

Internet Interchange

Many people have mentioned that they are using our Umbreit Library Internet Directory to assist them in their research. And, we regularly add resources to this directory to make it more useful in doing research.

Therefore, we recently added a link to the SearchBank site that is sponsored by some of the area libraries of the Lakeland Library Cooperative. Anyone who has a Muskegon County Library card or Hackley Public Library card may use SearchBank for locating magazine and journal articles. Look for this link under "Libraries and Library Resources".

Additionally, we have created a new section in our Umbreit Library Internet Directory specifically for our faculty and administrators. This new section includes links to the American Association of Community Colleges, Michigan Department of Education, the U. S. Department of Education, the National Center for Education Statistics, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and the education resources section of the Michigan Electronic Library. We will be adding sections for faculty on specific disciplines in the near future.

Check These Out!

Selected and annotated by Roger Stoel.

The Dictionary of Art, edited by Jane Turner, Grove, 1996. 34 volumes.

Work began on this new dictionary in the early 1980's. The work was finally finished and published in late 1996.

The 34-volume set has 6700 contributors and covers all aspects of the visual arts in all places at all times. The Dictionary of Art has an excellent focus on contemporary art including non-Western arts. Historical material is also included.

Coverage includes biographical, geographical, philosophical, and theoretical information. It also includes forms, themes, social aspects, and cultural aspects.

Entries include bibliographies and an array of images including art works and objects, architectural designs, archaeological sites, maps, and charts.

The work reflects recent changes in the accessibility of materials and records, especially those available since the fall of communism in the Soviet Union and eastern Europe.

The set will be the standard, if not the definitive, art reference work for generations to come.

Cross referencing is weak in places and the index volume must be consulted frequently when researching a topic. The index volume contains 750,000 items and includes an appendix of "Non-Western Dynasties and People."

Located in our REFERENCE collection:
N 31 .D5 1996

On-line Spotlight

WorldCat, one of the databases available on FirstSearch, is one of our most-used databases. It contains over 36 million records of books, videos, cassettes, theses, dissertations, CDs, CD-ROMs, journals, and microforms. The records are primarily from college and university libraries in the United States; however many are from public, hospital, or special libraries and some are from other countries.

Users may search WorldCat using any of 14 fields. The most-used fields are author, subject, title, and notes.

When a record of interest is retrieved, the user may request that our Interlibrary Loan Department order the item.

Reference Surveys

We have completed the input and statistical analysis of our annual Fall Reference Survey. With over 60 variables to consider, this survey garners a wealth of information regarding our reference patrons and the reference interaction.

For this fourth annual survey, patrons reported using the following resources (for example, 50% of our patrons used books in their research):


      Books                          50%
    
      FirstSearch                    34%
    
      CD-ROMs                        33%
    
      Online Catalog                 27%
    
      Print Journals/Magazines       25%
    
      Microfilm/Microfiche           13%
    
      Pamphlets/Videos                7%
    
      Print Newspapers                5%

On Display

By Barbara Daniell

Michigan Week, a time to celebrate Michigan's heritage and promote state pride, will be held from May 17-26 this year. To highlight our state, books about Michigan will be displayed in Umbreit Library during the month of May.

Many new books about Michigan have been added to the collection in the last few months. The three-volume series, Great Lakes Ships We Remember, has photos and descriptions of hundreds of ships that played a role in Michigan history. Still, Michigan and Isle Royale are books of photographs showing the natural beauty of the state.

Two new children's books by Janie Lynn Panagopoulos, Journey Back to Lumberjack Camp and Erie Trail West, are adventure stories about the beginnings of Michigan statehood.

In the reference section are new titles on Michigan's breeding birds and historic women. And the library has just added a new Michigan County Map Guide featuring parks, campgrounds and nature centers to help you enjoy Michigan.

Library Hours

Spring Semester

(through June 26)

Monday - Thursday
8:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Friday
8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Closed Weekends

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Summer Semester

(June 30 - August 21)

Monday - Tuesday
8:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Wednesday - Friday
8:00 to 4:30 p.m.

Closed Weekends

Umbreit Library Currents is published bimonthly by the staff of the Allen G. Umbreit Library at Muskegon Community College. It is distributed to faculty, staff and administrators of The College and to area libraries free of charge. It is available in print and electronic formats.

The mission of Umbreit Library Currents is to aid in our goal to keep all Umbreit Library users current about resources, policies, and staff activities.

Editor:
Carol Briggs-Erickson

Contributing Editorial Staff:
Barbara Daniell
Roger Stoel
Robert Vanderlaan

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MUSKEGON COMMUNITY COLLEGE
221 S. Quarterline Rd.
Muskegon, MI 49442
(231) 773-9131

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Please send questions and comments regarding the library to:	mailto:library@muskegon.cc.mi.us
Please send comments regarding Website to:	mailto:webmaster@muskegon.cc.mi.us