April is:

National Poetry Month is the largest literary celebration in the world, with tens of millions of readers, including students, teachers, librarians, booksellers, publishers, bloggers, and, of course, poets. Its mission every April is to promote poetry as an important part of our culture and of our lives.

The Poetry Foundation (located in Chicago) offers readings, lectures, performances (such as Poetry Out Loud), and workshops, as well as daily poems.    http://www.poetryfoundation.org/programs/events

Another source of daily poems is Garrison Keillor’s “The Writer’s Almanac,” produced by Prairie Home Productions and presented by American Public Media.        http://writersalmanac.org/

 

 

Celebrate Shakespeare!

This April marks 400 years since Shakespeare’s death. Numerous programs and performances are taking place in England and around the world. Chicago is staging 850 events and expecting 500,000 to participate, either as performers or visitors.  http://www.shakespeare400chicago.com/

(The famed Martin Droeshout engraving was printed on the cover of Shakespeare’s first Folio, or first complete collection of his plays, printed in 1623.) (AP Photo)
William Shakespeare was born April 23, 1564, at Stratford-Upon-Avon in England. Fifty-two years later he died on that same day, in 1616. Shakespeare wrote over 38 plays and more than 150 long and short poems that have been translated into every language–including Esperanto and Klingon! His plays were staged with men and boys who played all the roles since that was the custom in Elizabethan England.
His plays include Romeo and Juliet, All’s Well That Ends Well, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, King Lear, and Macbeth.
For films on Shakespeare look in the library Databases for “Films on Demand” and search for a play.

 

National Library Week, April 10-16

This week, April 10-16, is National Library Week.

Writing Resumes and CVs: it’s that time!

Are you ready to start looking for a job, or finding a new one? Take some time to review your resume or CV.  A CV, or Curriculum Vitae, is a summary of your career history, and the skills and experience you have gained in the past.

Readymade CVs: Winning CVs for Every Type of Job, from the Gale Virtual Reference Library, offers several ways to design a CV for a multitude of jobs, including management and creative positions, technical, clerical, and sales. It tackles situations such as returning to work, issues of age, unemployment, career change, and the computer-friendly CV, which is essential for any serious job seeker. Numerous examples appear in the book to illustrate sample CVs.

Readymade CVs is a handy online reference you can find by typing the title in the Library’s book catalog. From there you have online access either at the Library or from your home computer.

March is Women’s History Month

March is the month when we pay tribute to the generations of women who have made a difference to and in our world.  This year’s theme is “Working to form a more perfect union: honoring women in public service and government.”

Among the honorees this year are:

• Daisy Bates, civil rights organizer
• Isabel Gonzalez, champion of Puerto Ricans
• Suzan Shown Harjo, Native American public policy advocate and journalist
• Barbara Mikulski, longest serving woman in U.S. Congress

Read more about the honorees at the National Women’s History Project website.

 

 

 

Arab Women Writers: A Critical Reference Guide, 1873-1999

This reference traces the development of Arab women’s literature from the nineteenth-century through the end of the twentieth century, representing the countries of Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Sudan, Iraq, Palestine and Jordan, Arab North Africa, Arabian Peninsula, and Yemen. Also included are bibliographies of works in English, French, and Arabic.

Arab Women Writers was published in 2008 by the American University in Cairo Press.

February is American Heart Month!

Learn about your heart and its diseases in the Encyclopedia of Public Health.

Heart concerns are one of the many topics covered by the library’s Encyclopedia of Public Health. This online resource features topics related to other diseases and conditions, health and wellness efforts, nutrition, ethics and law related topics and statistics, sanitation issues, and everyday environmental effects.

For more information about heart disease click on the photo below.

Keep your heart healthy for Valentine’s Day!

 

 

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, January 18

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day will be celebrated on the Lisle campus as a day of service in honor of this important man who preached giving to others. Benedictine’s Day of Service is January 18th.

The library provides various resources on Martin Luther King, Jr. One resource is the Almanac listed below, featuring the following image.

The African American Almanac contains a range of historical and current information on African American history, society and culture. It includes coverage of such topics as: Africa and the Black diaspora; film and television; landmarks; national organizations; population; religion; science and technology; and sports.

Besides print and ebooks in the catalog, the library offers a number of videos featuring Martin Luther King, Jr. in the database, easily searchable by typing in King’s name. You can watch him speak at the march on Washington in March 1963.

Memorials and remembrances are held by the National Park Service and communities across the United States.

Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy

Did you follow the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference? Are you trying to make sense of environmental issues? Consider using this eReference to enhance your research.

This 2-volume set examines the philosophical and ethical issues underlying contemporary and historical environmental issues, policies, and debates. It covers concepts, institutions, topics, events and people, including global warming, animal rights, environmental movements, alternative energy, green chemistry, industrial ecology, and eco-sabotage.

 

 

Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World

This valuable encyclopedia examines Islam’s role in the modern world in the context of the religion’s history and development over the last 13 centuries. It contains biographies of key figures, definitions, illustrations, maps and more.

Electronic resources feature citation help, the ability to download and print, and audio versions of the text.