Masland Library Blog

The end of the semester is finally here! The final challenge awaiting all of the students is finals week. There is something about finals week that is just so, well, final. To put it simply, finals week is the culmination of all of the hard work that has been done all semester long. For each class, it comes down to one final paper. What better place to write your final papers then the library? To help the student body, the library is staying open until 12 AM from Sunday to Tuesday.

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

Time is a funny thing.  There are days and weeks that never seem to end, there are times when minutes go past so slowly that you literally feel older just watching the clock tick.  Then there are times when  you cannot seem to keep track of time, the hands on the clock seem to move at lightening speed ticking away the precious seconds and minutes of our lives.  I recently took a trip overseas to Poland and the time change is 6 hours. I lost 6 hours and then regained them on the trip back, and I found that while the plane ride there didn't seem so long at 8ish hours, the trip back at 10:20 minutes seemed to drag out interminably. 

I have been at PBU for 10 years this semester.  I started my undergraduate work in Fall 2001, I lived in Davis Dorm with a wonderful group of women who loved adventure and had huge goals for the future.  It is has been a privilege seeing how their lives have changed and the paths they have taken in the last 10 years.  I have remained at PBU to work in the library as my life has always revolved around books, my parents and grandparents fostered this love in me and my work as a librarian here at PBU is rewarding as I get to help students at PBU learn and exceed in their academic studies.

During my undergraduate years a large percentage of my friends consisted of music majors and through them and my cousin in the honors program I was introduced to Dr. Hsu.  My first thoughts on Dr. Hsu was that he was brilliant on the keys, he played superbly and yet was one of the most approachable men I have ever met.  I worked in the library and it was months before I realized Dr. Hsu and the Dr. Hui's were all related, I think it finally sunk in when I was invited to Ms. Stewart's house for one of the holidays I couldn't get home for that year.

In the last 10 years I have been blessed to know and to learn from Dr. Hsu, not piano (I am a hopeless cause there), but rather in his wisdom and love of the Lord.  My roommate for many years was a music major and when several of my classmates and Dr. Hsu's personal assistants had left the area my roommate and I would on occasions take Dr. Hsu home.  Those trips were always interesting and filled with grand conversations.  I especially remember one trip out to a friend's wedding in Shoamokin, PA when my roommate and I took Dr. Hsu out there so they could play a duet together for the wedding.  Dr. Hsu was internationally known and yet he was always so involved in his students and former students lives that he would frequently play at their weddings and  events.  He is a man who left a deep impact on the people in his church and here at PBU.  Even when he wasn't feeling well he would always have a smile and a kind word.

We will miss Dr. Hsu, but we also know that he is with the Savior he loved so well.  He spent almost 40 years with the students at PBU, investing and sending them out to the field.  I am sure if you asked him how the time went he would say quickly, and yet what a wonderful investment.

~Laura Saloiye

From the PBU Facebook site:

Dr. Samuel Hsu Memorial Visitation Wednesday, December 7, from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm at the Dunn-Givnish Funeral Home in Langhorne, PA, the family will receive visitors. Memorial Service Thursday, December 8, 10:00 am at Tenth Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, PA. There will be a prelude beginning at 9:30 am with former students of Dr. Hsu playing. The service will also be simulcast at Philadelphia Biblical University in the Chatlos Chapel.  

Has the thought of not being able to use the library over the holiday break got you down?.....

It’s hard to believe it, but the holidays are approaching ever so quickly. To most students, this means finally being able to catch all of those ZZZZ’s that were missed during the semester. However, there are a few who just can’t seem to get rid of the school bug. For those of you who just have a hankering to do some sort of research over the break (holiday related maybe), I have some FANTASTIC news for you! The PBU Online Databases are AMAZING!!! I’m sure by now you are extremely tired of hearing about online databases and how beneficial they are…blah, blah, blah. It is a topic that has almost worn out its welcome. I am here though, to tell you that the online databases, JSTOR in particular, have been my lifesavers throughout this semester. I was assigned many projects this semester that required art pictures as well as analysis of them. I was at a loss to know how and where to find them until I stumbled across JSTOR. We as students at PBU have so much knowledge and information right at our fingertips, but I find that we don’t often use it. This is just another reminder that the online databases are WONDERFUL, and should be used for any type of research!

One last note on these resources…Did you know that some database platforms will formulate a citation for you?! One that I have found that does this is EBSCO Host. This is just another one of the many reasons why you MUST try out the online databases! Have fun with it!

~Denae

During this time of Thanksgiving, one of the many things I’m thankful for is the…

Multitude of resources which

Aid with research projects and

Study sessions on

Long, stressful nights

Alone or with a group of friends.

Never a dull moment surrounded by

Dozens of books, papers or maybe sitting at one of the

Lab stations trying to finish up the last few sentences of your paper before you print it.

I love working at the library

Because I

Really enjoy helping others,

And I get to work with all the many

Rich resources our library holds.

You never know what surprises might be waiting for you on those shelves!

- ~Allison Beyer

Veterans Day, what is it and how did we come to make it a national holiday? As this holiday was approaching I wondered what people thought of it and if they really knew what it was. Do people actually acknowledge this day or is it just another day that has some benefits for us? Can we say that we truly know what this holiday is and what it represents? To be honest I did not really know what it was until last week. I knew it was a holiday to celebrate those who had fought in wars but nothing more than that, which is a shame. For that reason I researched it some more.

Our country has been in many wars and many men and women have given their lives for the freedom and liberty that we have in the United States. It is amazing how many people fought for the country and cause that they believed in whether it was in the World War I or II, Vietnam, the Gulf War, or even the war we are in now. People see a cause that they want to stand for and they want to protect the rights and freedom of their fellow citizens and so they fight. Veterans Day is not only about those who died or only about the veterans still alive but all veterans past and present. It was first created for those who fought in World War I and even then it was not a national holiday nor was it called Veterans Day but rather Armistice Day. President Wilson declared November 11, 1919 the first Armistice Day saying,

"To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride

in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the

victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the

opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the

councils of the nations…"

This is definitely something to reflect on and to be thankful for that people were willing and are willing to put their lives in danger for this country, a cause, and for people they may not even know. That is why we celebrate the veterans of the wars because they have fought for the freedom and liberty that we now have and even for other countries that may not have had it. They fought against an injustice in order to make the situation right.

So I challenge you to not take this holiday for granted. Acknowledge Veterans Day for what it really is, a day to remember those who fought for the freedoms and liberties we have so freely.

~ Sara Garms

P.S. If you want to find out more about notable American and see if they were veteran's you can check out American National Biography.