This week will be a little hectic for the library since everyone is finishing up with books that they checked out. For final papers, the library has an immense selection of books for students to use as resources. I am working on a final paper for my New Testament class, and I have selected a number of helpful books to guide my argument. I have chosen eight commentaries that I thought would be helpful. The BIB REF section on the lower floor of the library includes many commentaries and books on Hebrew and Greek translations. I may use some of these books as well, however books from the BIB REF section may not be checked out.
The paper concerns I Corinthians 8-11 and the idea of food that is sacrificed to idols. I cannot say anymore in regards to this paper because I have not started it. However, the idea of food sacrificed to idols has appeared in other places in the New Testament (Romans 14-15 and Revelation 2 for example). For other classes, the final may come down to one more class presentation. The computer labs on the lower and upper level of the library supply the sufficient technology for students to use on their presentations. If any of the students need any help with operating one of the systems or finding resources, there will normally be a student worker in the computer lab on the lower floor. Perhaps some of the finals next week are exams (possibly cumulative). The librarians and sometimes student workers work hard trying to keep the library a quiet and productive environment for people to do their work. The student can even isolate himself from everyone by going to one of the small cubicles in the library to try to concentrate on studying for his exam.
The library will also provide students with coffee and hot chocolate so that they may take a short break. Truly the library is prepared to help students get through finals week. The remaining question is this: are the students prepared to finish this semester strong? The final grades on Self-Service represent a semester's worth of hard work, or maybe not so hard work...
-Daniel Wright aka Superfly
Many people have wondered where the Library book drop is located. Thanks to the efforts of several of our Student Workers you now have the ability to go on a Book Drop Hunt.
~Allison Beyer, Hannah Blackmer, Zak Fixler, and Ben Overbey
Throughout the last year, I have been working on a Dystopian Novella,
Majority Vote. I have always felt passionately about Dystopian
Literature as a whole. And it was this
passion that inspired me to write my own story.
I researched our current economy and based my future society on our
government. Dystopian literature always
depicts a futuristic society which was originally intended to be a Utopia
(perfect society) but failed. All
authors base their government structures on the world around them. My world is a Perfect Democracy. Every citizen must vote daily and every law
is based entirely on these votes.
If
you would like to hear more, then feel free to come to my Honors Presentation
on November 29th in Room 131 of the BLC.
For
a taste of what you will be learning about at the presentation, I have included
the first paragraph of Majority Vote:
“An outsider would
have assumed it was a house; built for a loving couple with dreams of raising
at least three children and a dog named Benedict. The Department of
Financial Management was an office complex masquerading as a home. The
faux Tudor frame added to the pretense of simplicity and traditional values.
Flawed dark wood crisscrossed a plain white frame − every government
building wished it could be a home. The stigma of a giant government
lording over the people only existed in history books. Government
officials did not live in massive castle-like houses; for the people were the
government.”
~Rosalyn Forbes
November is here! All of the
debates and political conversations will finally begin to come together and it
will be time to decide who you think would be more fitting to lead this
country. With all of the different aspects
to contemplate it can be overwhelming. Who is the lesser of two evils? Who will
be able to handle this great responsibility? Where should I place my trust?
What will really happen if you are put into office/stay
in office?
The Agora Conference this past
weekend was centered on Politics and how as Christians we should function
within this. During the sessions that I attended a broad framework was provided
in how we as Christians should look at different events that take place within
our government. It is important to remember that no matter who is in office, it
is an accurate reflection of the United States of America as a whole; whether
we agree or disagree with the President's actions, it is the people who gave
him this position. We must pray for the individuals in our government and trust
in God's ability to use them in whatever way He pleases.
No matter if you did or did not
attend the Agora Conference, there are many issues that we should be praying
about and trying to gain a further understanding of within our government.
Every vote does count and so not only should we take advantage of the right
that we have a citizens but we should also be informed in our decision making.
Besides watching the debates on television, reading articles online, and
discussing political issues amongst friends books can be a great resource to
help challenge your thinking and give you a better understanding of the
information you already have.
Unfortunately, the books I am about to suggest I have not yet had the
chance to read myself, but as I look into the issues further I felt as though
these books could be helpful - and the
best part is we have them here within our own library! (:
Christianity and
Politics by William Wilberforce
BR
115 .P7 W474 2004
Voting as a
Christian: The Economic and Foreign Policy Issues by Wayne Grudem
BS
680 .P45 G782 2012
Voting as a
Christian: The Social Issues by Wayne Grudem
BS
680 .P45 G783 2012
The Bible in
Politics: How to Read the Bible Politically by Richard Bauckham
BS
680 .P45 B38 2011
~Leia Brunette
Have you ever started working on a
Bible paper or project for class and thought to yourself “Where was that
passage again?” Have you ever read your Bible and stopped, thinking “I wonder
what this word meant in the original Hebrew?” Perhaps you simply want access to
a plethora of different translations of the Bible, without having to find them
within the Masland Library and carry them about. (After all, Bibles are heavy!)
If any of these things have ever happened to you, I have good news. The
solution is only a click away. On all the Masland Library computers, there is a
program called Logos Bible Software. (However, the desktop icon displays
“Libronix Digital Library System”)
Logos Bible Software makes studying
the Bible extremely easy. Upon launching the software, you will be greeted with
a set of three search boxes, entitled “Bible Study Starter.” Here, you can type
in any Bible reference, specific word, or study topic and the software will
instantly find all applicable parts of the Bible, as well as recommend library
books for further study on the topic. But Logos is so much more than just a
search engine. While reading one of the vast numbers of Bible translations,
hovering the mouse cursor over any word will provide you with in depth
information on that word, including the original Hebrew, a definition,
synonyms, and possible alternate translations. This will allow you to study the
Bible in depth, without a fancy doctorate.
Finally, Logos allows you to copy
text directly from itself into whatever document you are working on. Worried
about plagiarism? Not a problem with Logos. When you copy and paste text from
Logos into your document, it automatically places a citation directly below,
without any effort or extra button pushes on your part. Now thats convenience!
Next time you are in the library
slaving away over that difficult Bible paper, consider letting Logos make your
life much easier. And as always, if you have any questions, ask the student
worker on duty. He or she will be happy to assist you in whatever way they can.
~Ryan Eshelman
 |
| Grace Livingston Hill-Lutz |
We love Homecoming as it is a wonderful time to see familiar faces that we may not see on a regular basis outside of social media. This year the Masland Library- yes it is officially the Masland Library and no longer known as the Learning Resource Center- will be having a rather large booksale. Located on the first floor around the staircase this sale features commentaries, encyclopedia sets, Christian living, and so Christian fiction.
More importantly the Library is also hosting Mr. Robert Munce, the grandson of Grace Livingston Hill-Lutz, who will be giving a talk about Mrs. Hill-Lutz. Many students around the library have noticed our signs about this talk and have remarked that they have seen their grandmothers and mothers reading Mrs. Hill-Lutz's materials. Ms. Grace had a knack for writing stories, and she loved to tell stories that had their basis in hard fact. Her tales of the Old West were based on correspondence and her tales set in Pennsylvania were based on her own experiences. Due to this history as well as the gospel in her stories, she has remained in print from the time she was originally published until today.
Please join us at 11:00 am or at 2:00 pm to hear Mr. Munce speak about the life of his beloved grandmother. The Grace Livingston Hill Collection will be available in the Masland Library until May 2013. We have also begun a Research Guide on her to discuss her books; it can be found here http://libguides.cairn.edu/glh.
Schedule
Grace Livingston Hill talk- at 11:00 am & 2:00 pm.
Booksale- All Day
The Story
Set in the 1940's the World is at War. But in the midst of a country manor a different drama is playing out. Professor Digory Kirke (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe) has invited many of the notable names of the era to the party to listen to Dr. Gonner's findings. Dr. Ima Gonner has discovered through her research that much of the literature is not what it seems. Will she live to tell the tale?
8:00 The doors open 80 players can be admitted.
8:00-8:30 Food and Costume contest
8:30 The game begins....
Any questions? Contact library@cairn.edu.
~LAS
I have had two experiences during summer vacation so far
that I thought would be worth sharing, particularly on this blog. The first
comes from my summer job, and the second comes from my local library
in-the-middle-of-nowhere, Chester New Hampshire.
During this summer my life takes a very different pace, as I
am on the grounds crew for a local golf course. Instead of shuffling books or
helping patrons with Microsoft Word in a nice air-conditioned library—like
during the semester—my average work day here runs from 6:00AM to 2:00PM in the
cold, rain, and heat, doing all sorts of different landscaping type-jobs. This
year one of my more recent jobs has been teaching a new high school graduate
the ropes.
During my time with this new employee, the commonplace discussion
about school, life, and family ensued. Upon my saying that I attend
“Philadelphia Biblical University” (sorry, I haven’t started saying “Cairn”
yet), the discussion about Christianity came up. As this is my third summer
working there, all the guys on the course know that I’m a Christian and that I
study the Bible at a University. What was different about the discussion this
time was how much this new kid didn’t understand about Christianity—his parents were never
involved in any type of religion, and he was raised in a government school that
never taught him anything about Christianity or the Bible. He was shocked to
hear that Jesus was God. We started talking about the Bible. He had never heard
of Abraham before. He even asked me if Jews thought that Abraham was God the
same way Christians think Jesus was God. Now, I say all this not in any way to
make this fellow look bad—he is simply a product of our culture.
The second event was my looking through the catalog for my
local library. They don’t even have a
copy of Calvin’s Institutes. The closest thing to any sort of “Christian”
material available was Joel Osteen, the man from planet prosperity. I was
definitely disappointed, although not surprised, at the major lack of Christian
materiel available to the public in my area—New England. The land that once was
called home to our friends the Puritans.
I tell both of those stories to remind my fellow students of
what I was reminded of by them: we take for granted what we have, both in our
general understanding AND our library. Not knowing the name of Abraham, if you
were raised in a Christian household as I was, is something that’s hard to
imagine. As a PBU student, not having access to thousands of commentaries and
theological treatise is also something we don’t stop to think about, and often
times, it isn’t something we stop to use. Those things being said, I want to
encourage you to thank God for the resources he has given you—both through the
friends and churches that you have, and also the great collection of writings
available to us in the library. Go ahead, pick up a dead theologian. Read
Calvin’s Institutes. Praise God that you can.
~Zak Fixler
Book Review: The Very Private Matter of Anorexia Nervosa
0 comments Posted by The Masland Library Blog at 10:32 AM
I was shelving books a couple months ago at the library like
I usually do when I stumbled across an interesting book. Its title read The Very Private Matter of Anorexia Nervosa.
This piqued my interest because all throughout high school my best friend was
very skinny and had often been accused of being anorexic. I decided to educate
myself on this eating disorder so I checked out the book and I headed back to
my dorm room. Once I started reading, I could not stop. It was the author’s own
personal story of her struggle with anorexia. In this book the author, Shanon
Christian, described every emotion, every thought she had over a 3 year period
of her life. It all started innocently when she wanted to lose a little bit of
weight but it rapidly became an obsession of counting every calorie and
exercising to the point of fainting. Shanon became lost in this cycle and
started to lose control. Her hair started falling out, she experienced anxiety
and depression, and she had no energy to do anything-except continue to count
calories and skip meals. Family and friends tried to help her understand that
she was destroying her body but Shanon would not listen. It had become an
obsession. As she struggled to get her life back under control she finally hit
rock bottom. Shanon cried out to God to heal her and slowly but surely Shanon
started to become better. It took quite a while but in time with the help of
God, she learned to overcome her anorexia.
If you or someone you
know on campus is struggling with anorexia and is trying to find a way out,
there are many places that you can check out, one of them being on our own
campus. The Oasis Counseling Center can provide you with private Christian help
for no cost at all. You can also visit the nurse to receive information about
anorexia nervosa and other eating disorders or check out the website http://www.anad.org/ which is the National
Association of Anorexia and Associated Disorders.
~Jenny Dunning
~ Allison Beyer
One of the first things you will notice as you step through
the wooden doors of the library are the colorful paintings on the wall facing
you. These paintings all carry a story, each of them unique. Art has a funny
way of expressing stories. Each piece adds a part to an even bigger story that
the curator tries to tell. And art, being a very subjective topic, will lead
you to interpret the story differently from you brother standing next to you
and your sister across the room.
And to think that just a few years ago, our library had very little to offer in the aesthetic realm. Our school has changed a lot. It's constantly ebbing and flowing, out with the old, in with the new. Soon, students will register for classes next semester, finish the semester strong, leave for the summer, and come back again in the fall. I know this next fall will be different. I know for sure that there will be new students who will contribute to a new PBU community culture. I know some of my favorite professors will be gone, and there will be new professors to fall in love with. Yet, loss is still a hard thing to deal with. Several of our students have been personally hit with this emotional tear, speechless, confused, angry, numb. Dr. Hirt, dean of the Bible department, has been struggling with cancer since last year. We've just been informed that Lisa Weidman, Director of Communications and Marketing and a key catalyst for the appearance of fine arts on campus, has a rare form of cancer. Unlike Dr. Hsu's death, theirs will be expected. We will have a little bit longer to celebrate our last times with them,
stories ebbing and flowing.
I wonder what stories Lisa intended to share with each piece of art she contributed to for our campus. I wonder what stories she will be sharing in heaven, stories that God has embedded on her heart, full of color and wonder and so much beauty, full of ebbs and flows.
~Hanah Bae
And to think that just a few years ago, our library had very little to offer in the aesthetic realm. Our school has changed a lot. It's constantly ebbing and flowing, out with the old, in with the new. Soon, students will register for classes next semester, finish the semester strong, leave for the summer, and come back again in the fall. I know this next fall will be different. I know for sure that there will be new students who will contribute to a new PBU community culture. I know some of my favorite professors will be gone, and there will be new professors to fall in love with. Yet, loss is still a hard thing to deal with. Several of our students have been personally hit with this emotional tear, speechless, confused, angry, numb. Dr. Hirt, dean of the Bible department, has been struggling with cancer since last year. We've just been informed that Lisa Weidman, Director of Communications and Marketing and a key catalyst for the appearance of fine arts on campus, has a rare form of cancer. Unlike Dr. Hsu's death, theirs will be expected. We will have a little bit longer to celebrate our last times with them,
stories ebbing and flowing.
I wonder what stories Lisa intended to share with each piece of art she contributed to for our campus. I wonder what stories she will be sharing in heaven, stories that God has embedded on her heart, full of color and wonder and so much beauty, full of ebbs and flows.
~Hanah Bae
Slow Down, Stop, Look, Observe… and Contemplate
0 comments Posted by The Masland Library Blog at 4:02 PM
The Library is such a cool place. Not only because of all
the cool books but also for the art that is displayed throughout the
library. Recently new art has been
displayed in the main lobby of the library. It is very easy to simply overlook
it as you walk through on your way to printing your papers that are due in 10
min or while you are on your way to meet a study group. I myself have walked past it without every
really stopping to look. One of my
favorite things about art is that to fully appreciate it you have to stop,
observe (for a long time), and contemplate.
The same thing goes for the art in the library. At first I kind of thought that the artwork
was cool but I never gave it a second glance, but since I work at the front
desk in the library I obviously spend a lot of time in the main lobby. This has given me some time to just sit and
look at the artwork and ponder what the meaning or message behind it might
be. It has been a really cool
experience. Instead of getting bored of
looking at the same artwork over and over again my appreciation for it simply
grows. I would like to challenge each
person that comes into the library to take some time to notice the artwork that
the Library has to offer. You might be
surprised to realize that you do actually appreciate art!
~Emily Rush
~Emily Rush
Art: http://acgosser.com/archives/prepress_portfolio/alice
Amidst the many other assignments due from other classes, research can be tedious, especially when it feels like there are no books on your subject; but trust me there are! When I initially did research for my section of the project I saw only 5 books that contained to my subject. I was nervous that I may not have enough information, but eventually found just the book I needed. The next day when I arrived at work there were over 60 books containing the subjects we needed for this project that needed to be re-shelved! Imagine my surprise when I had previously assumed there were only 5. Many times people, including myself, just don’t put in the right terms in the search bar to find what we are looking for; but don’t worry you are not alone! There are many student workers here who would love to help you and our lovely librarians Laura and Alice are amazing at finding just the source you need to make your project a breeze. So don’t hesitate to ask for help! We would love to give you a hand.
~Leia Brunette
Image: http://www.penn.museum/collections/object.php?irn=117842
For those of you stuck on campus over the weekends and
looking for something to do, you might consider going to the library to check
out a movie. It’s free, on campus, and you might be surprised by the
selection. We have a wide variety of
movies varying from documentaries to musicals, from westerns to sci-fi /fantasy,
and many more! There is no need to be bored on campus, the Masland Library can
provide for your entertainment as well as for your studying needs. Just this
past weekend, I had checked out the movie Stranger
than Fiction, which is one that I had never had the opportunity of viewing
before, and I really enjoyed it. The story follows Harold Crick, an IRS agent,
who suddenly begins to hear his life being narrated by an unknown female voice. Unfortunately she is predicting his death.
Some other movies that are available to be checked out are The
Matrix, Planet of the Apes, Saving Private Ryan, Cast Away, and The Passion. If you would like to know what else is in our inventory, you can look on our online catalog via this link:http://encore.pbu.edu/iii/encore/search?lang=eng&target=feature+films
~Jacqlene Adams
Something I found of interest from Dr. Black’s session was the way in which he
compared worry and anxiety to an individual putting themselves back under the
Old Testament law system. Worry certainly does increase a sense of
self-conceit and self-reliance. When an anxious person tries harder and
harder and yet they fail, this results in a disordered person. Dr. Black
suggested that grace from the law and grace from the thinking that an individual
can manage it on their own, is the only way out of this trap of worry.
Ever since this session at the conference, I have found this topic to be of
interest and even applicable to my own life. I don’t know about you, but
I know sometimes life can be really stressful. Know that anxiety does not
always have to be an officially diagnosed disorder. Our busy lives simply set
us up for this. Because of this, I have taken the time to find some
additional resources on this topic, so I hope you will too! Our library
does not have these titles, but you can request them through Interlibrary Loan
at no cost to you!
Suggestions:
Anxious for Nothing by John MacArthur
Calm My Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow
Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World by Joanna Weaver
-Christa
Joy Ciotta
ILL. No, not ill, rather I L L. What is ILL?
0 comments Posted by The Masland Library Blog at 10:22 AM
ILL is a library service that we offer that allows you to borrow books from
other libraries around the area. Hence, it’s called Inter Library Loan. And,
it’s my favorite part about my afternoon shift.
What happens
sometimes is that our library may not have a book that you’re looking for. In
order to accommodate for when this does happen, we have a catalog searching
system (maslandlibrary.worldcat.org) that will search for the book that you want at other cooperating
libraries, and once it’s found it, we can ask for it to be sent to PBU so that
you can utilize it for your research. This way when for some reason we can’t provide you with
the book you’re looking for, you can still get it from somewhere else. It takes
about 2 weeks for a book request to get processed and sent here, so you do need
to think ahead on bigger assignments. But other than that, once you’ve
placed your request and had it approved, you’ll be notified of the books arrival,
I’ll unpackage it , and set it aside for you to pick up!
How do you
make use of such a wonderful tool? Easy! Go to the library website (www.library.pbu.edu), and under the
Services section, select the first option for Inter Library Loan. Read up on
the instructions; create an account, and your ready to place a request. I hope
you can make use of such a great tool!
~Grace Sulaiman
(Picture: Shepherd University, WV)
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