Who Is It?

Using the clues below, can you figure out who this person is?

1. His father worked in a brewery , but during prohibition, his father lost his job and began working in a zoo.


2. He was a wild college student at Dartmouth and edited the Jack-o-Lantern.


3. In the 1930's, he wrote for Life and Vanity Fair.


4. During WWII, he published a series of war posters for the United States.


5. Later in his life, he published fanciful children's books.

Who am I?

Books written by this famous author are available in a collection on the 4th floor of Steen library. This collection of children's books is called the Curriculum Collection. Librarians at SFA renamed the children's collection years ago because the books and textbooks from this collection are frequently by education majors when creating lesson plans. The books in the Curriculum Collection have the letters CURR appended to the front of their call numbers. Often students see this and assume it means something like current fiction. This is an easy mistake to make, but the library tradition of Curriculum Collection continues.Other info on book labels for the Curriculum Collection might include J or JR. Usually this means the book is geared for students in the 3rd grade up to the 12th grade. Another label might have an E which indicates that the book is an easy book for students from Pre-k to 3rd grade.

Visit the Curriculum Collection today and remember those times when you were younger and read and reread a favorite book, or pick out a book to read to your own children and start them down the path of loving and reading books.

	Marthea Turnage mturnage@sfasu.edu rm. 202c 936.468.1896 Subjects - Accounting, Criminal Justice, Economics and Finance, General Business, Law, Management/Marketing/International Business, Nursing, Psychology

How to be Useful (Even When You are not Happy About it)

by Tina Oswald

It is nice to have a break from the classes and studying.  Many of us use that time to read things we want to read for fun and enjoyment!  In searching through the new books that come in to the Steen Library, I was struck by this title: How To Be Useful: a Beginner’s Guide to Not Hating Work. It seems that many of us “worker bees” are not happy at our jobs. This book tries to put a positive spin on being a worker bee with the message of “be useful where you are, even if you are not particularly happy to be there.” The author, Megan Hustad, gives new employees the finer points of everything job related from:

 -Why you should not listen to the advice to be yourself -to

 -How to make polite conversation.

The author accomplishes this with style and humor, so it does not feel as if she is preaching to you. She states in the introduction that she wrote the book for the newest generations,” Generation X and Y.” Hustad emphatically states that these generations are not prepared for the working world. Her book will help them be ready. Are you ready? Are you close to graduation?  Are you ready to break out into the “real world” in a big way?  If so, read Ms. Hustad’s book and you will not fall flat when you do!

 

How to be useful: A beginner’s guide to not hating work

Megan Hustad

Call number: HF 5386 .H97 2008

Tina Oswald toswald@sfasu.edu rm. 202f 936.468.1861 Subjects - Elementary Education, and Secondary Education/Educational Leadership

Kid's Reading Levels

Did you ever wonder if a book would be appropriate for your child, or the class you are teaching? There is a way to find out. It is a tool that we have recently discovered called Scholastic Book Wizard http://bookwizard.scholastic.com/tbw/homePage.do

If you put the title of a book in the Scholastic Book Wizard you will find the recommended grade level equivalent or interest level for that book. If you put in an author's name, the site will list the author's works that are available, along with the grade level equivalent, interest level, and whether or not it has a Scholastic Reading Counts! Quiz or an Accelerated Reader Quiz. Click on the book's title and you get even more more information about the book. If you are looking to build your collection of childrens' books this site will be an invaluable help. Student Activities and Teaching Resources tabs are also available and allow you to use the site when developing lesson plans.

Check it out!

Tina Oswald toswald@sfasu.edu rm. 202f 936.468.1861 Subjects - Elementary Education, and Secondary Education/Educational Leadership

The Color of Money: Fair Use and Copyright or: Free the Bound Periodicals!

In a recent blog Andrew Albanese -- Library Journal, 9/17/2007 wrote that a new "Study Suggests "Fair Use" Means Big Business." Many believe the record, movie, and publishing industries' attempts to curb or eliminate fair use clauses from copyright law are about corporate profits more than protecting artists. Several artists are now following a path to success pioneered many authors. Essentially they provide free and easily available content of their work. In most cases this leads to more sales and greater profits. This eliminates many of the middlemen, and barriers between the creators and their fans. It also lowers the cost to consumers and creates new markets for artists. When some or all of the content is free of charge this paradoxically leads to more sales.

The greatest threat and fear to almost every industry since the rise of the web is the role the Internet plays in dis-intermediation, or the elimination of the middleman. That was true of brokerages, bookstores, book publishers and now it is striking fear in the hearts of members of the Motion Picture Association. At one time the publishing industry tried to hold back the clock by lobbying for legislation making it illegal to even loan a book to a friend. Yet seeing a movie you enjoy is not the end of profit but the beginning. After watching good movie many will then buy posters, books, t-shirts, DVD's, and soundtracks to the movies they liked. Star Wars started this trend where a majority of profits came from merchandise, sale of home use formats of the movie, and sales in overseas markets. The initial production cost of a movie or a song is rarely covered by its initial release. The real profit comes from the development and cultivation of a fan base after it leaves the hands of the studios and theaters.

This lesson about the transformational nature of the Internet is a difficult and painful one. However, those who have faced it head on in the newspaper industry, brokerage firms, travel agencies, bookstores and other sectors have survived and many learned to thrive in the new environment.

Now there are some numbers to help put these issues in perspective. The Motion Picture Association of America told congress that the total loss to U.S.$20.5 millionU.S. industries and our economy.

Recently another study came out looking at the other side. In August 2007 the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) published a study which revealed that "fair use dependent industries" contributed over $4.5 trillion in annual revenue for the United States. This was approximately one sixth of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP).

So who are the Motion Picture Association, other media and publishing groups really concerned about? New artists, or bankable stars, talented writers or the latest best seller tripe spewed out by Sylvia Brown? What constituencies are best served by expansive fair use laws, artists, educators, students, industry, researchers, or Time Warner? How far along would medicine and biological research be right now if the data from the human genome project was the property of one pharmaceutical company instead of a public resource for researchers, all pharmaceutical companies, university labs and government research projects? Most people want to see others get what they deserve for their work. However, it is pretty clear that the movie industry is more than willing to give a back seat to artists the education system, industry, and the country as a whole, to move their own interests forward, no matter what the costs are for anyone else.

	R. Philip Reynolds preynolds@sfasu.edu rm. 202b 936.468.1453 Subjects - Computer Science, Military Science, Philosophy/Religion, Political Science/Geography

RIS Recommends: "The sky is falling! The sky is falling!" Licensing, Fair Use, and Copyright.