Dr. Brenda Chappell-Sharpe, Information Literacy and Outreach Librarian at Regent University Library, recently presented at the 40th National Conference of LOEX (Library Orientation Exchange), held in Columbus, OH, May 3-5, 2012. LOEX is the premier clearinghouse for academic library instruction. Dr. Chappell-Sharpe’s presentation, “Information Literacy for Global Leadership: Constructing a Pedagogical Activity to Address a Global Crisis,” was one of 59 selected from a peer-review of over 160 proposals.

According to the LOEX website, the organization “has grown from a lending repository of library instruction materials and host of an annual conference on the subject to an internationally known organization that serves as a conduit for those working in the field. LOEX has over 650 member libraries in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.”

Regent faculty, staff, and students now have access to an important new business databases from Gale. Business Insights: Global is a dynamic, interactive resource that provides tools not only for finding, but also for analyzing and interpreting, business data and research. Just a few of the features in this database include:

• Interactive charts for economic and business indicators that let students generate their own analyses and create custom charts for use in reports and presentations.
• Global company, country, and industry overviews full of detailed information, as well as interactive rankings and stats, with quick links to associated news, case studies and academic journal articles.
• Global industry research reports as well as company histories and market share data.
• Academic journal articles, periodical articles, news articles, newswires and other news media.

To try Business Insights: Global, click here. Because of the unique interactive features of this resource, you may find the following tutorials useful, once you make an initial tour of the database.

• Basics (5:28)
• Case Studies (2:04)
• Comparing Companies (2:35)
• Comparing Countries (2:31)
• Comparing Industries (2:21)
• Profile & Article Pages (3:10)

For more information about Business Insights: Global and other Library business resources, contact Harold Henkel at 757-352-4198 or harohen@regent.edu.

Summer (at least in the academic sense) begins on May 7. Have you thought about what reading material you will take to the beach? The Library Book Club is here to help, with two great novels, one classic, one modern.

During May, we are reading Jane Austen’s first published novel, Sense and Sensibility, which examines, among other things, whether our actions should be motivated by reason and judgment (sense) or feeling and emotion (sensibility). Dr. Susannah Clements, Chair of the Department of Language & Literature will lead our discussion of Sense and Sensibility on Friday, June 1 at 12:00 in the Library Conference Room.

During June and July, we will read The Help (2009), Kathryn Stockett’s acclaimed and controversial novel about black maids working in white households in Mississippi during the early 1960s. We will discuss The Help in July at a date to be determined.

For more information about the Library Book Club contact harohen@regent.edu.

 

Image credit: Linda Minkowski, Reading on the Beach
Used by permission (http://lindaminkowski.com/)

Ellen Cox
Library Budget Manager & Special Projects

I oversee the Library budget, help the dean with yearly preparation of the budget, track the expenditures on a weekly basis, and make sure that all invoices are coded properly before they go to the Accounts Payable Department. Additionally I work with Special Collections on projects and set-up display cabinets. The most recent is the Cabinet Displaying the Cartoon work of John Lawing.

I started work with CBN in 1980 and transferred to the University Library in 1982. I am currently finishing a BA in English (with a minor in Religious Studies) in the School of Undergraduate Studies and hope to graduate in 2013. When not working or studying, I enjoy traveling, playing the flute, spending time with my family, and occasionally writing poetry. A volume of my poems from 1968 to 1997 is in the Library collection. Here is a poem that was published in Campus Currents (a monthly newsletter for CBN University) in May 1983:

The Blessings of Spring

Speak to me Lord
through the flowers
that bloom
the birds
that sing
the voices
of spring
the whispering wind
the splashing rain
the sparkling
breath of spring.
Speak to me Lord
through the pale moonlight
the starry sky
the misty night the dew drenched morn
the shadows of first light
the sunbeams bright.
Speak to me Lord
through the blessings of spring.

Written by Laura Thomas, Assistant to the Dean of the Library

“Rise up and build!” That was the charge at the Nehemiah Walk on April 28 as eight faculty, staff, and friends from the Library walked in a spirit of prayer.

Named for the prophet Nehemiah, who finished the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls after the Babylonian exile, the purpose of the Nehemiah Walk was to raise funds for the new University Chapel and School of Divinity building.

It was an amazing thing, the sense of community that was shared among Regent University’s leadership, faculty and staff, students, and families. Together we worshiped, prayed, and enjoyed one another’s company as we made our way around campus. Each stop brought both praise and petition for the great things God has done and for that which He has yet to do. By physically walking Regent’s grounds, we were able to see how God’s vision has been carried out over the years. I believe it stirred within all of us a new excitement for the impact that the new chapel will have on our community, and throughout the world. I am honored to have shared this experience with my fellow “Library Geeks,” who were able to raise over $1,000 as a team. We were able to “rise” to the occasion, along with so many others, to build walls and to continue building God’s kingdom.

For more Library team photos from this event, visit us on Facebook.