'Singin' in the Rain' 60th Anniversary

 For some facts and fun about 'Singin' in the Rain' 60th Anniversary: 25 Things You Didn't Know About Hollywood's Greatest Musical

http://news.moviefone.com/2012/03/27/singin-in-the-rain-60th-anniversary_n_1389545.html?ref=moviefone

New DVD to the Yocum Library Collection - Hugo

Word of the Day for Saturday, March 31, 2012

boon \boon\, noun:
1. Something to be thankful for; blessing; benefit.
2. Something that is asked; a favor sought.

China has simultaneously become the greatest boon and the biggest disappointment. -- Adam Davidson, "Come On, China, Buy Our Stuff!," The New York Times, Jan. 29, 2012

A boon to scholars and to those surreptitiously in search of esoteric knowledge. The reader in the shadowy, out-of-the-way carrel stifled a whoop of delight. -- Carolyn G. Hart, "A Little Class on Murder"

Boon comes from the Old Norse word bōn meaning "a prayer." Dictionary.com Word of the Day

Scheduled Classes for Computers

9 a.m. - 10a.m. Reserved - Ms.Adams
Where: Yocum Instruction Area
Description: Ms. Melissa Adams COM131 (13) Using lit databases presented by Ms. Brenna Corbit.

10a.m.- 11a.m. Reserved - Ms. Adams
Where: Yocum Instruction Area
Description: Ms. Melissa Adams COM131 (16) Using lit databases presented by Ms. Brenna Corbit.

12 p.m. - 1 p.m. Reserved - Ms. Adams
Where: Yocum Instruction Area
Description: Ms. Melissa Adams COM131 (15) Using lit databases presented by Ms. Brenna Corbit.

Word of the Day for Friday, March 30, 2012

fugitive \FYOO-ji-tiv\,
adjective:
 1. Fleeting, transitory, elusive.
2. Having taken flight, or run away.
3. Changing color as a result of exposure to light and chemical substances present in the atmosphere, in other pigments, or in the medium.
4. Dealing with subjects of passing interest, as writings; ephemeral.
5. Wandering, roving, or vagabond.

I started to write about Sean, and the writing, like a searchlight sweeping wildly, almost caught my fugitive feelings. -- Edmund White, "The Beautiful Room Is Empty"

I fill my own glass now, and raise it, unspeaking: to her? to us? to the spirit of fugitive love? Whatever it is I mean, she nods as if to say she understands. -- Vikram Seth, "An Equal Music"

First used by Shakespeare in Antony & Cleopatra, fugitive stems from the Latin word fugere meaning "to flee."

Dictionary.com Word of the Day

Scheduled Classes for Computers

9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Reserved - Ms. Gieringer
Where: Yocum Instruction Area
Description: Ms. Gieringer COM051 (20) Finding and evaluating Internet sources presented by Ms. Kim Stahler.

11 a.m. - 12 p.m. Reserved - Ms. Gieringer
Where: Yocum Instruction Area
Description: Ms. Gieringer COM051 (20) Finding and evaluating Internet sources presented by Ms. Kim Stahler.

7:15 p.m. - 8:15 p.m. Reserved - Ms.Kane
Where: Yocum Instruction Area
Description: Ms. Alice Kane ESL833 (15) Intro to Library PowerPoint presented by Ms. Patricia Nouhra.

Word of the Day for Thursday, March 29, 2012

eudemonia \yoo-di-MOH-nee-uh\,
noun:
 1. Happiness; well-being.
2. Aristotelianism.

Happiness as the result of an active life governed by reason. We all seek eudemonia, but he thinks that it takes a great deal of reflection and education to get a clear enough conception of it really to aim at it in our practice. -- Robert Campbell Roberts, "Intellectual Virtues"

 They may have believed that we already do value duty, utility, and eudemonia, but it is debatable whether they need to make such descriptive claims. -- Jesse J. Prinz, "The Emotional Construction of Morals"

From Aristotle, eudemonia comes from the Greek word eudaímōn which meant "a good or benevolent spirit." 

Dictionary.com Word of the Day

The Deadline for Submissions: March 31st, 2012

The Ronald F. Borkert Prize for Library Research, sponsored by The Yocum Library of Reading Area Community College, celebrates excellence in library-based research. The prize is named in honor of the late RACC Professor Emeritus Ronald F. Borkert who cared deeply about books and libraries.

The annual Borkert Prize is designed to honor students who demonstrate sophisticated research skills by incorporating information found through The Yocum Library’s resources into original scholarship. A prize of $100 will be awarded for the most outstanding library-based research project/paper. The deadline for submissions is March 31st. Stop by the Yocum Library for applications or email library@racc.edu

Scheduled Classes for Computers

8 a.m. - 9 a.m. Reserved - Dr. Brant
Where: Yocum Instruction Area on floor 2
Description: Dr. David Brant 's College Success Strategies ORI-102 class (24) Topic: ORI102 -- Introduction to The Yocum Library presented by Ms. Brenna Corbit.

 9 a.m. - 10a.m. Reserved - Ms. Brown
Where: Yocum Instruction Area
Description: Ms. Brown ORI102 (30) Using ProQuest database presented by Ms. Kim Stahler.

11 a.m. - 12 p.m. Reserved - Ms. Grace
Where: Yocum Instruction Area Description: Ms. Sarah Grace COM041 (14) In instruction -- reserve 12 instruction area.

5pm - 6pm Reserved - Ms. Gieringer
Where: Yocum Instruction Area Description: Ms. Dawn Gieringer COM131 (10) Using the lit databases presented by Ms. Patricia Nouhra.

Word of the Day for Wednesday, March 28, 2012

luxate \LUHK-seyt\, verb: To put out of joint; dislocate.

When I began to luxate the tooth I heard a crack. -- Nathan Jorgenson, "A Crooked Number"

But at the same time he thinks, that the reduced bone will not remain in it's [sic] place, but luxate itself again, and fall back into the new-formed articulation, which it has formed to itself. - Royal Society of London, "The Philosophical Transactions and Collections"

Luxate is not related to any word for "light." Rather, it is from the Greek word for "oblique," which was loxós.

 Dictionary.com Word of the Day

New DVD in the Ycocm Library Collection

Word of the Day for Tuesday, March 27, 2012

chelonian \ki-LOH-nee-uhn\,
 adjective:
1. Belonging or pertaining to the order Chelonia, comprising the turtles.
noun:
1. A turtle.

 At the truly chelonian pace of somewhat under two miles per hour, the passengers and crew onboard would cover the twenty-seven hundred miles in just over two months. -- Caleb H. Johnson, "The Mayflower and Her Passengers"

The study door crashed back and a seventy-year-old politician stood there, top hat firmly on his head, collar awry around his scrawny, chelonian neck. -- M. J. Trow, "Lestrade and the Sawdust Ring"

What pair of messiahs could differ more harshly than Hiram and Magnus, the one a pedantic little fellow with a chelonian paunch and gold eye-glasses and the other a rough, shaggy, carnivorous revivalist from the dreadful steppes? -- H. L. Mencken, "Editorial," American Mercury Magazine, Jan. to Apr. 1924

Chelonian comes from the Greek word for turtle, chelṓn.

 Dictionary.com Word of the Day

Scheduled Classes for Computers

11 a.m. - 12 p.m. Reserved - Ms. Newman
Where: Yocum Instruction Area
Description: Ms. Judy Ann Newman ORI102 (8) Introduction to The Yocum Library
presented by Ms. Valerie Schaeffer.

Reading Public Library - eBooks

WE INVITE YOU…

Reading Public Library is excited to inform you that you can now
download bestselling and classic eBooks from the library’s new eBooks website at http://reading.lib.overdrive.com, anywhere, anytime.

You can browse the collection, check out with your library card, and download to your PC, Mac, eReader and phone.

Titles can be enjoyed immediately or transferred to a variety of devices, including iPod®, Kindle®, Nook®, and many others. Titles will automatically expire at the end of the lending period, and there are no late fees! To get started, just install the free software.

With hundreds of popular fiction and non-fiction titles to chose from, the new collection is
guaranteed to have something for everyone. You can download bestselling novels, well-known
classics, self-improvement guides and much more.

This new service, powered by Overdrive, is free with your library card. To get started down-
loading, visit http://reading.lib.overdrive.com.

We hope you enjoy this new service!

Scheduled Classes for Computers

9 a.m. - 10 a.m. Reserved
Where: Yocum Instruction Area
Description: Ms. Brown ORI102 (30) Intro to Yocum PowerPoint presented by Ms. Brenna Corbit

Word of the Day

Word of the Day for Monday, March 26, 2012
catechize \KAT-i-kahyz\,
verb:
1. To question closely.
2. To instruct orally by means of questions and answers, especially in Christian doctrine.
3. To question with reference to belief. 

He sent her off when the dial made it five o'clock every fourth Sunday—for we had service only once a month, the parson having a church at Brampton, where he lived, and another as well, which made it the more wicked of us to play truant—but whether she got there early or late, or got there at all, he'd never ask, let alone catechize her about the sermon. -- Mary Webb, "Precious Bane"

Aunt Bessie tried to catechize her about Erik's disappearance, and it was Kennicott who silenced the woman… -- Sinclair Lewis, "Main Street"

Catechize stems from the Greek word katēchízein meaning "to teach orally." It was first used in the sense of "to question" by Shakespeare in Othello.

 Dictionary.com Word of the Day

Word of the Day

Word of the Day for Sunday, March 25, 2012

Tellurian \te-LOOR-ee-uhn\,
 adjective:
1. Of or characteristic of the earth or its inhabitants.
 noun:
1. An inhabitant of the earth.

We must keep in mind that we are, or should I say have become, hybrid personae, part tellurian, and part extraterrestrial. -- Robert Silverberg and Karen Haber, "Universe 3"

What special affinities appeared to him to exist between the moon and woman? Her antiquity in preceding and surviving successive tellurian generations… -- James Joyce, "Ulysses"

Tellurian was first used by Thomas DeQuincy in 1846, even though it has classical Latin roots literally meaning "one of the earth."

 Dictionary.com Word of the Day

This Day in History

March 25, 1911: Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in New York City

*In one of the darkest moments of America's industrial history, the Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory in New York City burns down, killing 145 workers, on this day in 1911. The tragedy led to the development of a series of laws and regulations that better protected the safety of factory workers.

The Triangle factory, owned by Max Blanck and Isaac Harris, was located in the top three floors of the 10-story Asch Building in downtown Manhattan. It was a sweatshop in every sense of the word: a cramped space lined with work stations and packed with poor immigrant workers, mostly teenaged women who did not speak English. At the time of the fire, there were four elevators with access to the factory floors, but only one was fully operational and it could hold only 12 people at a time. There were two stairways down to the street, but one was locked from the outside to prevent theft by the workers and the other opened inward only. The fire escape, as all would come to see, was shoddily constructed, and could not support the weight of more than a few women at a time.

Blanck and Harris already had a suspicious history of factory fires. The Triangle factory was twice scorched in 1902, while their Diamond Waist Company factory burned twice, in 1907 and in 1910. It seems that Blanck and Harris deliberately torched their workplaces before business hours in order to collect on the large fire-insurance policies they purchased, a not uncommon practice in the early 20th century. While this was not the cause of the 1911 fire, it contributed to the tragedy, as Blanck and Harris refused to install sprinkler systems and take other safety measures in case they needed to burn down their shops again.

Added to this delinquency were Blanck and Harris' notorious anti-worker policies. Their employees were paid a mere $15 a week, despite working 12 hours a day, every day. When the International Ladies Garment Workers Union led a strike in 1909 demanding higher pay and shorter and more predictable hours, Blanck and Harris' company was one of the few manufacturers who resisted, hiring police as thugs to imprison the striking women, and paying off politicians to look the other way.

On March 25, a Saturday afternoon, there were 600 workers at the factory when a fire broke out in a rag bin on the eighth floor. The manager turned the fire hose on it, but the hose was rotted and its valve was rusted shut. Panic ensued as the workers fled to every exit. The elevator broke down after only four trips, and women began jumping down the shaft to their deaths. Those who fled down the wrong set of stairs were trapped inside and burned alive. Other women trapped on the eighth floor began jumping out the windows, which created a problem for the firefighters whose hoses were crushed by falling bodies. Also, the firefighters' ladders stretched only as high as the seventh floor, and their safety nets were not strong enough to catch the women, who were jumping three at a time.

Blanck and Harris were on the building's top floor with some workers when the fire broke out. They were able to escape by climbing onto the roof and hopping to an adjoining building.

The fire was out within half an hour, but not before 49 workers had been killed by the fire, and another 100 or so were piled up dead in the elevator shaft or on the sidewalk. The workers' union organized a march on April 5 to protest the conditions that led to the fire; it was attended by 80,000 people.

Though Blanck and Harris were put on trial for manslaughter, they managed to get off scot-free. Still, the massacre for which they were responsible did finally compel the city to enact reform. In addition to the Sullivan-Hoey Fire Prevention Law passed that October, the New York Democratic set took up the cause of the worker and became known as a reform party.

*http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

In the Yocum Library Collection - Triangle Shirtwaist Company Fire

Books:
The triangle fire / Stein, Leon, Call number:F128.5 .S73 2001

Triangle : the fire that changed America Von Drehle, Dave. Call number: F128.5 .V688 2003

Books on Cassette
Dreamland a novel Baker, Kevin, Call number:PS3552.A43143 D742 1999

 Juvenile literature.
The Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire of 1911 / DeAngelis, Gina. Call number:F128.5 .D43 2001

From the Desk of Valerie Schaeffer

If you get tired of printing webpages full of stuff you don't need...check this site out. You just go to the site, and put the URL in the text book, and it will create a printer-friendly version of the webpage. http://www.printfriendly.com/

Word of the Day

Word of the Day for Saturday, March 24, 2012  
adroit \uh-DROIT\,
adjective:
1. Cleverly skillful, resourceful, or ingenious.
2. Expert or nimble in the use of the hands or body.

He knows that Jory is handsome, talented, and most of all, adroit. Bart is not adroit at anything but pretending. -- V.C. Andrews," If There Be Thorns"

It requires finesse. She was very adroit — oh, very adroit — but Hercule Poirot, my good George, is of a cleverness quite exceptional. -- Agatha Christie, "The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding"

Adroit is from the Old French meaning "elegant, skillful" from the roots a- meaning "increase" and droit meaning "correct."

Dictionary.com Word of the Day

Scheduled Classes for Computers

9 a.m. - 10 a.m. Reserved
Where: Yocum Instruction Area
Description: Mrs. Moyer ORI102 (20) Intro to Library PowerPoint presented by Ms. Maryann Kruglinski

Word of the Day

Word of the Day for Friday, March 23, 2012
ruck \ruhk\,
noun: 
1. A large number or quantity; mass.
2. The great mass of undistinguished or inferior persons or things.

Innis steered Jessica through a ruck of large, bearded men in dungarees and greasy sweaters who looked at her like she might be the floor show. -- Paul Bryers, "The Prayer of the Bone"

A ruck of charts, clipboards, cuttlefish-flavored peanut snacks, containers of the barley water and orange pop the enlisted brought on watch, binoculars, and struggling men stirred at the base of the cliff. -- David Poyer, "Korea Strait"

The ruck of the men were lower down than our two heroes, and there were others far away to the left, and others, again, who had been at the end of the gorse, and were now behind. -- Anthony Trollope, "Phineas Finn"

Ruck comes from an early Icelandic word ruka or ruke which meant "a heap or a stack."

Dictionary.com Word of the Day

Word of the Day

Word of the Day for Thursday, March 22, 2012
moschate \MOS-keyt\,
adjective: Having a musky smell.

Her familiar perfume and moschate odor was overwhelming within the confines of the car, especially with the windows rolled up. -- Charles Ray Willeford, "New Hope for the Dead"

The plant of the Rio Grande is said by Mr. Schott to exhale a moschate odor. -- William Hemsley Emory, "Report on the United States and Mexican Boundary Survey, Volume 2, Part 1"

Though moschate has Latin roots, it was not used widely in English until the early 1800s. The word mosch meant "musky" in Latin and was used to describe the wine commonly known today at "muscat."

Dictionary.com Word of the Day

Scheduled Classes for Computers

9 a.m. - 10 a.m. Reserved
Where: The Yocum Library Instruction Area
Description: Ms. Laura Cipko's course Basic Writing II COM 051-3213 (20) Topic: Finding & evaluating Internet sources presented by Ms. Kim Stahler.


12 p.m. - 1 p.m. Reserved
Where: Yocum Instruction Area
Description: Ms. Waters-Brzezicki ORI102 (25) Intro to Library PowerPoint presented by Ms. Kim Stahler.

1 p.m. - 2 p.m. Reserved
Where: The Yocum Library Instruction Area
Description: Ms. Laura Cipko 's course Basic Writing II COM 051-3162 (20).
Topic: Finding & evaluating Internet sources presented by Ms. Kim Stahler.

2pm - 3:45pm Reserved
Where: Yocum Instruction Area
Description: Ms. Ryan COM121 (20) Using ProQuest database presented by Ms. Brenna Corbit.

Word of the Day

Word of the Day for Wednesday, March 21, 2012
conniption \kuh-NIP-shuhn\,
noun: A fit of hysterical excitement or anger.

"Wah!" says Stella-Rondo. I knew she'd cry. She had a conniption fit right there in the kitchen. -- Eudora Welty, "Why I Live at the P.O." The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty

When they came home, everybody was having a conniption about a big giant fight in the village over who got whose share of their horrid meat. -- Barbara Kingsolver, "The Poisonwood Bible"

A day or two later I was going about my business when a voice from above bellowed, ALL HAPPY FAMILIES RESEMBLE ONE ANOTHER, nearly giving me a conniption. -- Nicole Krauss, "The History of Love: A Novel"

Conniption is actually an invented word. It first appeared in America in 1833 and may be related to the word corruption which was use in the sense of "anger" in the early 1800s.

Dictionary.com Word of the Day

Scheduled Classes for Computers

9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Reserved
Where: Yocum Instruction Area
Description: Ms. Waters-Brzezicki ORI102 (30) Intro to Library PP presented by Ms.Kim Stahler

8 p.m. - 9 p.m. Reserved
Where: Yocum Instruction Area
Description: Dr. Riccardi HUM271 Intro to Philosophy (15) Reserved 12 computers -- no instruction.

Word of the Day

Word of the Day for Tuesday, March 20, 2012
  vernal \VUR-nl\,
adjective:
 1. Appearing or occurring in spring.
2. Of or pertaining to spring.
3. Appropriate to or suggesting spring; springlike.
4. Belonging to or characteristic of youth.

 By and by a bird piped in the garden; the shriek of a swallow made itself heard from a distance; the vernal day was beginning to stir from the light… -- William Dean Howells, "A Foregone Conclusion"

Where are you trampling vernal blooms? -- Alexander Pushkin, "Eugene Onegin"

Vernal stems from the Latin word vernus meaning "pertaining to spring." It is related to the word "verdant." 

Dictionary.com Word of the Day

Word of the Day

Word of the Day for Monday, March 19, 2012

carp \kahrp\,
verb:
 1. To find fault or complain querulously or unreasonably.
 noun:
1. A peevish complaint.

She'd been carping about money lately – or not carping, but she'd inserted a few pointed remarks about pulling your own weight into the prolonged and intent silences that were her specialty – so he thought she'd be pleased. -- Margaret Atwood, "Oryx and Crake"

And knowing he could not touch her by persuasion, he carped at her and teased her like a schoolboy. -- Anton Chekhov, "Excellent People," Chekhov's Doctors: A Collection of Chekhov's Medical Tales

Carp comes from the Old Norse word karpa which meant "to brag or haggle."

Dictionary.com Word of the Day

13 Days left in Contest to Submit Entry

The Ronald F. Borkert Prize for Library Research, sponsored by The Yocum Library of Reading Area Community College, celebrates excellence in library-based research. The prize is named in honor of the late RACC Professor Emeritus Ronald F. Borkert who cared deeply about books and libraries.

The annual Borkert Prize is designed to honor students who demonstrate sophisticated research skills by incorporating information found through The Yocum Library’s resources into original scholarship. A prize of $100 will be awarded for the most outstanding library-based research project/paper. The deadline for submissions is March 31st. Stop by the Yocum Library for applications or email library@racc.edu

Word of the Day

Word of the Day for Sunday, March 18, 2012
 brisance \bri-ZAHNS\,
noun: The shattering effect of a high explosive.

The 'There' turned out to be crucial for the sense of brisance and closure and resolving issues of impotent rage and powerless fear that like accrued in Lenz all day being trapped in the northeastern portions of a squalid halfway house all day fearing for his life, Lenz felt. -- David Foster Wallace, "Infinite Jest"

But this was sustained explosion, reaching now and then a quite unendurable brisance. Yet he endured it, not so much because it was her will as, unbelievably, what had become her need. -- Thomas Pynchon, "Against the Day"

Brisance is a relatively new English word. It started being used commonly in the 1910s, but it can be traced to the Celtic word brissim meaning "to break."

 Dictionary.com Word of the Day

RACC Roots

MONDAY, April 2 from 2 to 3 p.m.
The Yocum Library
2nd floor Instruction Area.
Advanced Research in Ancestry: Census Records and Other Records.

(RACC has free Ancestry.com access on campus for students/staff/faculty.)

Word of the Day

Word of the Day for Saturday, March 17, 2012  
selcouth \SEL-kooth\,
adjective:
Strange; uncommon. Its English is not more quaint than that of De Brunne himself; it contains no names more selcouth than he himself is in the custom of introducing… -- Sir Walter Scott, "The Poetical Works of Sir Walter Scott"

To whom there's hardly any selcouth thing, but seems a juggling trick, that would delude their fancies with an empty wondering; therefore against it they with thundering words do ring. -- George Starkey, "An Exposition Upon the Preface of Sir George Ripley"

Selcouth has odd Old English roots. It is related to the word seldom and the Old English word couth meaning "to know."

Dictionary.com Word of the Day

Word of the Day

Word of the Day for Friday, March 16, 2012
gasser \GAS-er\,
noun:
 1. Something that is extraordinarily pleasing or successful, especially a very funny joke.
2. A person or thing that gasses.

“You're gonna whiff like Reggie Jackson today, pal,” I said. By the third hole, Blind Bob led by seventeen shots. It was a laugher, a gasser. If it were a fight, Big Al would've been counted out, taken to the hospital, and killed by Clint Eastwood by now. -- Rick Reilly, "Shanks for Nothing"

This was very funny indeed, the gasser of all time. When Max announced the name at the briss those thirty-seven years ago, perhaps all the guests, including Dave Raskin, had split a gut or two laughing. -- Ed McBain, "The Heckler"

Gasser is an Americanism that arose in the late 1800s.

 Dictionary.com Word of the Day

Encyclopaedia Britannica Going Out of Print.

After 244 Years, Encyclopaedia Britannica Stops the Presses
By JULIE BOSMAN

After 244 years, the Encyclopaedia Britannica is going out of print.

Those coolly authoritative, gold-lettered reference books that were once sold door-to-door by a fleet of traveling salesmen and displayed as proud fixtures in American homes will be discontinued, company executives said.

In an acknowledgment of the realities of the digital age — and of competition from the Web site Wikipedia — Encyclopaedia Britannica will focus primarily on its online encyclopedias and educational curriculum for schools. The last print version is the 32-volume 2010 edition, which weighs 129 pounds and includes new entries on global warming and the Human Genome Project.

“It’s a rite of passage in this new era,” Jorge Cauz, the president of Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc., a company based in Chicago, said in an interview. “Some people will feel sad about it and nostalgic about it. But we have a better tool now. The Web site is continuously updated, it’s much more expansive and it has multimedia.”

In the 1950s, having the Encyclopaedia Britannica on the bookshelf was akin to a station wagon in the garage or a black-and-white Zenith in the den, a possession coveted for its usefulness and as a goalpost for an aspirational middle class. Buying a set was often a financial stretch, and many families had to pay for it in monthly installments.

But in recent years, print reference books have been almost completely overtaken by the Internet and its vast spread of resources, including specialized Web sites and the hugely popular — and free — online encyclopedia Wikipedia.

MORE: http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/13/after-244-years-encyclopaedia-britannica-stops-the-presses/

Editors Note: From Brenna Corbitt, Librarian at Yocum Library
 I am very thankful I grew up in a non-digital age. While I certainly love the 

fact that I can research Danish church registers online, for example, it does 
not match the magic of laying down on the carpet in front of that old bookshelf 
that look liked something my great grandparents had and grabbing one of those 
massive volumes from the shelf (I was little at the time) and looking at those 
color plates of the flags of the world or those black and white photos of 
peoples and places from other lands. Those volumes had a smell of their own, 
too. One of those volumes marked C had pressed four-leaf clovers on the page 
marked clover that my dad and grandfather once picked. You won't find that 
history on  laptop, and they never last long enough to have a history.

Brenna

RACC Roots

MONDAY, April 2 from 2 to 3 p.m.
The Yocum Library
2nd floor Instruction Area.
Advanced Research in Ancestry: Census Records and Other Records.

(RACC has free Ancestry.com access on campus for students/staff/faculty.)

Word of the Day

Word of the Day for Thursday, March 15, 2012

iniquitous \ih-NIK-wi-tuhs\,
adjective:
Characterized by injustice or wickedness; wicked; sinful. The commission was charged now with the task of discovering the iniquitous conspiracy against the Citizen-Saviour of his country. -- Joseph Conrad, "Nostromo"

Anything else would be iniquitous - iniquitous is the only word. You know as well as I do that there is not the remotest chance of her ever being able to earn any money for herself out here. -- Jean Rhys, "Voyage in the Dark"

Iniquitous literally meant "unfair" in Latin, as its clear roots betray.

Dictionary.com Word of the Day

Word of the Day

Word of the Day for Wednesday, March 14, 2012
dowager \DOU-uh-jer\,
noun:
1. An elderly woman of stately dignity, especially one of elevated social position.
2. A woman who holds some title or property from her deceased husband, especially the widow of a king, duke, etc.
adjective:
1. Noting, pertaining to, or characteristic of a dowager:

Deeda Blair rhapsodized about the exquisite atmosphere of La Grenouille and La Caravelle, two of the leading temples of fine French cuisine, where she’d lunch with the dowager philanthropist Mary Lasker or the ubiquitous Nan Kempner in the early 1960s, when her husband, William McCormick Blair Jr., was J.F.K.’s ambassador to Denmark and they’d stop in New York on their way home to Washington. -- Bob Colacello, "Here's to the Ladies Who Lunched!," Vanity Fair, Feb. 2012

She trusted the dowager, and respected her deeply. But that wasn't the issue. Which world was she living in? For the time being, that was the point. -- Haruki Murakami, "1Q84 "

Dowager stems from the Latin word dotare meaning "to endow." In the middle French, it came to mean "pertaining to a dower," or the gift/payment that a wife's family gives her husband when they are married. 

Dictionary.com Word of the Day

Word of the Day

Word of the Day for Tuesday, March 13, 2012

astringent \uh-STRIN-juhnt\,
adjective:
 1. Sharply incisive; pungent.
2. Medicine/Medical. Contracting; constrictive; styptic.
3. Harshly biting; caustic: his astringent criticism.
4. Stern or severe; austere.
 noun:
1. Medicine/Medical. A substance that contracts the tissues or canals of the body, thereby diminishing discharges, as of mucus or blood.
2. A cosmetic that cleans the skin and constricts the pores.

 One endeavors to correct, flushing out error and misconception with the astringent power of historical detail; the other treats the myth as meaningful cultural phenomenon in its own right, accounting for its emergence and tracing its development across time. -- Beth Newman, "Emily Brontë, "Introduction," Wuthering Heights"

But here too she was thinner, and going unripe, astringent. -- D.H. Lawrence, "Lady Chatterley's Lover"

Related to the words strain and string, astringent comes from the Latin root stringere which meant "to draw tight."

 Dictionary.com Word of the Day

Syndicated cartoonist and comedy writer Dave Blazek discusses work

Dave Blazek, cartoonist,
former stand-up comedian,
comedy writer, graphic artist,
and film and audio director.

Dave Blazek, cartoonist, former stand-up comedian, comedy writer, graphic artist, and film and audio director, will discuss his work from
4:30 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 14, in the Freyberger Gallery at Penn State Berks.

This event is free and open to the public and light refreshments will be served. Blazek creates the comic panel "Loose Parts," syndicated by Tribune Media Services.

He has published two collections of "Loose Parts" cartoons including "Loose Upon The World" and "Parts of My Brain." His previous comic strips include "Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist" for "Comedy Central."

 He currently works as senior creative producer at The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News. Blazek writes and directs print and radio ads as well as television commercials for national, regional and local clients. His work has won more than 120 local, national and international awards.

Blazek graduated from Penn State University with a degree in journalism. He lives near Valley Forge National Park with his wife and two daughters.

Word of the Day

Word of the Day for Monday, March 12, 2012
remit \ri-MIT\,
verb:
 1. To slacken or relax.
2. To transmit money, a check, etc., as in payment.
3. To abate for a time or at intervals, as a fever.
4. To refrain from exacting, as a payment or service.
5. To pardon or forgive a sin, offense, etc.

It matters not that we remit our attention, at times, to the pain or the pleasure; these are always in the background; and the strength of the appetite is their strength. -- Alexander Bain, "Practical Essays"

If I were satisfied that you were not intending to make an exhibition of yourself I might be prepared to remit the fines. -- Henry Cecil, "Independent Witness"

Remit is derived from the Latin roots re- meaning "back" and mit meaning "send," so it literally meant "to send back."

 Dictionary.com Word of the Day

Spring Break I Yocum Library Hours

Yes, we are open during Spring Break.

Spring Break I
(Monday, March 12 through Friday, March 17)
Open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

20 Days left in Contest to Submit Entry

The Ronald F. Borkert Prize for Library Research, sponsored by The Yocum Library of Reading Area Community College, celebrates excellence in library-based research. The prize is named in honor of the late RACC Professor Emeritus Ronald F. Borkert who cared deeply about books and libraries.

The annual Borkert Prize is designed to honor students who demonstrate sophisticated research skills by incorporating information found through The Yocum Library’s resources into original scholarship. A prize of $100 will be awarded for the most outstanding library-based research project/paper. The deadline for submissions is March 31st. Stop by the Yocum Library for applications or email library@racc.edu

RACC Roots

Monday, April 2 from 2 to 3 p.m. 

In The Yocum Library 2^nd floor Instruction Area

Advanced Research in Ancestry: Census Records and Other Records

(RACC has free Ancestry.com access on campus for students/staff/faculty)

Word of the Day for Sunday, March 11, 2012
antipode \AN-ti-pohd\,
noun: A direct or exact opposite.

It seemed that this enthusiast was just as cautious, just as much alive to judgments in other minds as if he had been that antipode of all enthusiasm called "a man of the world." -- George Eliot, "Daniel Deronda"

I look for the furthest spot on earth away from Lancaster — Lancaster's antipode— the middle of the Indian Ocean. -- Douglas Coupland, "Shampoo Planet"

Here we are, thrust to the opposite and absurd antipode of what we think is good. And tomorrow we'll be out of bed at three o'clock in the pitch-black morning. -- Tim O'Brien, "If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home"

Antipode is actually a clipping, or back-formation, of the word Greek word antipodes. It lost its s in the mid-1500s. The original word literally meant "opposite feet," as in "the place on the exact opposite point on the globe."

Dictionary.com Word of the Day

Spring Break I Yocum Library Hours

Spring Break I (Monday, March 12 through Friday, March 17) - Open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Spring Break Hours

Spring Break I (Monday, March 12 through Friday, March 17) - Open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Ronald F. Borkert Prize

The Ronald F. Borkert Prize for Library Research, sponsored by The Yocum Library of Reading Area Community College, celebrates excellence in library-based research. The prize is named in honor of the late RACC Professor Emeritus Ronald F. Borkert who cared deeply about books and libraries.

The annual Borkert Prize is designed to honor students who demonstrate sophisticated research skills by incorporating information found through The Yocum Library’s resources into original scholarship. A prize of $100 will be awarded for the most outstanding library-based research project/paper. The deadline for submissions is March 31st. Stop by the Yocum Library for applications or email library@racc.edu

Word of the Day

Word of the Day for Saturday, March 10, 2012

esculent \ES-kyuh-luhnt\,
noun:
 1. Something edible, especially a vegetable.
 adjective:
1. Suitable for use as food; edible.

The remainder of the garden presented a well-selected assortment of esculent vegetables, in a praiseworthy state of advancement. -- Nathaniel Hawthorne, "The House of the Seven Gables"

There are many varieties of mushrooms, some of which are very poisonous; therefore you should be careful in selecting them, that you do not mistake the poisonous for the esculent ones. -- Lettice Bryan, "The Kentucky Housewife"

Related to the word eat, esculent comes from the Latin word for food, esca.

Dictionary.com Word of the Day

Word of the Day

Word of the Day for Friday, March 9, 2012
furcate \FUR-keyt\,
verb:
1. To form a fork; branch. adjective:
1. Forked; branching.

The root systems of an ancient tree seemed to furcate and furrow the surface of his thighs, and where his skin was not covered in dark hair, it was strangely rippled with wild webs of some kind of tissue just beneath the skin. -- Michael Chabon, "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay: A Novel"

Just focus your attention on the eyes and let your mind furcate as it will. -- Patrick Moran, "Tsunami Sundog"

Furcate is from the Medieval Latin word furcātus which meant "cloven."

Dictionary.com Word of the Day

Scheduled Classes for Computers

12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. Reserved
Where: Yocum Instruction Area
Description: Ms. Bean-Ritter ORI102 (25) Intro to Library PowerPoint presented by Ms. Kim Stahler.

Word of the Day

Word of the Day for Thursday, March 8, 2012
pococurante \poh-koh-koo-RAN-tee\,
noun:
 1. Caring little; indifferent; nonchalant.
 adjective:
1. A careless or indifferent person.

“She is a charming lady who happened to be born in Vitebsk, and no more than that,” he kept thinking, trying to convince himself that he would be a pococurante person when it came to Nina. -- Johnny Wright, "The Lost Chagall"

Already he could see Alfred's blonde head making its way toward him, and he was smiling to himself at the thought of the contemptuous objurgations his friend would address to him at his absurd pococurante affectation, for so Alfred always called Guston's indifference, when his eyes fell upon a woman's profile seated within a few feet of him. -- Ernest Roland, "Lèse-Amour,"" The Galaxy"

Pococurante came directly from Italian into English in the 1750s. It literally meant "caring little."

Dictionary.com Word of the Day

15 Grammar Goofs

http://www.copyblogger.com/grammar-goofs/

Word of the Day

Word of the Day for Wednesday, March 7, 2012
rutilant \ROOT-l-uhnt\,
adjective:
Glowing or glittering with ruddy or golden light.

 He had a round head as bare as a knee, a corpse's button nose, and very white, very limp, very damp hands adorned with rutilant gems. -- Vladimir Nabokov, "Ada, or Ardor: A Family Chronicle"

It was like the show-piece that is reserved for the conclusion of a fete, the huge bouquet of gold and crimson, as if Paris were burning like a forest of old oaks and soaring heavenward in a rutilant cloud of sparks and flame. -- Émile Zola, "The Downfall"

Why flashed through space a sudden and extraordinary splendor, intenser than the rutilant fulgurations of the aurora borealis, lighting up the whole heavens instantaneously, and for a moment eclipsing every star of every magnitude? -- Jules Verne, "To The Sun?"

Rutilant is from the Latin word rutilāns, meaning "having a reddish color or glow."

Dictionary.com Word of the Day

Scheduled Classes for Computers

2 p.m. - 3 p.m. Reserved
Where: Yocum Library Instruction Area
Description: Reserve the 12 instruction computers without library staff instruction for Ms.Crystal Schilthuis Course Name: Technical Writing COM 141 (9)

7:30 p.m. - 8:45 p.m. Reserved
Where: Yocum Instruction Area Description: Mr. Uhrich COM121 (18) No instruction -- reserve 12 computers.

Scheduled Classes for Computers

9:45 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. Reserved
Where: Yocum Instruction Area
Description: Dr. Singleton COM122 Honors (12) No instruction -- reserve 12 computers

2 p.m. - 3 p.m. Reserved
Where: Yocum Instruction Area Description: Ms. Grace COM041 (10) Reserve 12 computers, no instruction needed from library.

3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Reserved
Where: Yocum Instruction Area Description: Mrs. Setley ORI102 (30) Intro to Library PowerPoint presented by Ms. Kim Stahler

8 p.m. - 9 p.m. Reserved Where: Yocum Instruction Area Description: Dr. Riccardi HUM271 Intro to Philosophy (15) Reserved 12 computers -- no instruction.

Word of the Day

Word of the Day for Tuesday, March 6, 2012
 appertain \ap-er-TEYN\,
verb:
 To belong as a part, right, possession or attribute. Natural rights are those which appertain to man in right of his existence.

Of this kind are all the intellectual rights, or rights of the mind, and also all those rights of acting as an individual for his own comfort and happiness… -- Thomas Paine, "Common Sense and Other Writings"

In all matters of discovery and invention, even of those that appertain to the imagination, we are continually reminded of the story of Columbus and his egg. -- Mary Shelley, "Frankenstein"

…and since Phillotson's success in obtaining at least her promise had become known to Jude, he had frankly recognized that he did not wish to see or hear of his senior any more, learn anything of his pursuits, or even imagine again what excellencies might appertain to his character. -- Thomas Hardy, "Jude the Obscure"

Appertain stems from the Old French word apertenir which meant "to belong." The prefix ap- is a variation of the prefix ad- which means "toward."

Dictionary.com Word of the Day

The Ronald F. Borkert Prize for Library Research

The Ronald F. Borkert Prize for Library Research, sponsored by The Yocum Library of Reading Area Community College, celebrates excellence in library-based research. The prize is named in honor of the late RACC Professor Emeritus Ronald F. Borkert who cared deeply about books and libraries. The annual Borkert Prize is designed to honor students who demonstrate sophisticated research skills by incorporating information found through The Yocum Library’s resources into original scholarship. A prize of $100 will be awarded for the most outstanding library-based research project/paper. The deadline for submissions is March 31st. Stop by the Yocum Library for applications or email library@racc.edu

Word of the Day

Word of the Day for Monday, March 5, 2012
profluent \PROF-loo-uhnt\,
adjective:
 Flowing smoothly or abundantly forth.

 Half the congregation — Gwen's family and friends — reached the door ahead of me, their nonchalance more powerful, more profluent than my most intense desire. I could only crawl toward the chapel doors. -- Stephanie Grant, "The Passion of Alice"

In southern Arizona, it rains in summer, and I'm impatient for the monsoon torrents of August, for an indulgence of water, a baptism that will roister over rocks and swell profluent down the mountainside, roll through the rubble of the canyon floor... -- Caitlin L. Gannon, "Southwestern Women: New Voices"

Profluent is derived from the Latin word prōfluere, which meant "to flow forth."

 Dictionary.com Word of the Day

MLA and APA Guides

Web Site Title Web Site Address;

The OWL at Purdue University MLA Formatting and Style Guide http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/ 

The OWL at Purdue University APA Formatting and Style Guide http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/10/

Chicana author Ana Castillo to speak March 22

Ana Castillo,
novelist, poet, and essayist, has been
renowned as one of the most
articulate, powerful voices in
contemporary Chicana literature.

Chicana author Ana Castillo to speak March 22

 Ana Castillo, novelist, poet, and essayist, has been renowned as one of the most articulate, powerful voices in contemporary Chicana literature. Ana Castillo, novelist, poet, and essayist, has been renowned as one of the most articulate, powerful voices in contemporary Chicana literature.

She will speak at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 22, in Perkins Student Center Multipurpose Room at Penn State Berks. This event is free and open to the public. Castillo is one of the few Mexican-American writers who has captured the attention of mainstream readers, since her work transcends boundaries of politics, class, and gender. "The Guardians," her most recent novel, follows the lives of Mexican immigrants who illegally crossed the border into the United States.

Overwhelming realism combined with spiritual transcendence accurately describes "The Guardians," which focuses on a family burdened with death and disappearances. Ultimately, Castillo’s incandescent novel of anguish and love guides life’s journey toward the light even in the bleakest of hours.

The Ronald F. Borkert Prize for Library Research,

The Ronald F. Borkert Prize for Library Research, sponsored by The Yocum Library of Reading Area Community College, celebrates excellence in library-based research. The prize is named in honor of the late RACC Professor Emeritus Ronald F. Borkert who cared deeply about books and libraries.

The annual Borkert Prize is designed to honor students who demonstrate sophisticated research skills by incorporating information found through The Yocum Library’s resources into original scholarship. A prize of $100 will be awarded for the most outstanding library-based research project/paper. The deadline for submissions is March 31st. Stop by the Yocum Library for applications or email library@racc.edu

Word of the Day

Word of the Day for Sunday, March 4, 2012
oracular \aw-RAK-yuh-ler\,
adjective:
1. Ambiguous; obscure.
2. Of the nature of, resembling, or suggesting an oracle.
3. Giving forth utterances or decisions as if by special inspiration or authority.
4. Uttered or delivered as if divinely inspired or infallible; sententious.
5. Portentous; ominous.

"If you want me to understand, you'll have to be less oracular," Daisy said, patience wearing thin. -- Carola Dunn, "Mistletoe and Murder"

His demurrals, disclaimers, and protestations of ignorance were completely ineffective. Whatever guess he was finally strong-armed into hazarding was received as oracular. -- Deborah Eisenberg, "Twilight of the Superheroes"

Oracular comes from the Latin word oracle, meaning "a message from god." The suffix -ar forms an adjective from a noun, like the word lunar.

Dictionary.com Word of the Day

Word of the Day

Word of the Day for Saturday, March 3, 2012
liege \leej\, adjective:
1. Loyal; faithful.
2. Owing primary allegiance and service to a feudal lord.
3. Pertaining to the relation between a feudal vassal and lord.
noun:
1. A feudal lord entitled to allegiance and service.
2. A feudal vassal or subject.

The materialist, liege to his own system, is incapable of doing anything but put one after another the results of his observations. -- Agostino Da Montefeltro," Conferences Of; Delivered in Rome During Lent 1889"

Subjects were required to give their liege to their lord. -- Paul L. Williams, "The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Crusades"

Liege is of uncertain origin. It either came from the Middle English word leidig meaning "free" or from the Late Latin word for serf, laeticus. Both roots identified the relationship between a vassal, or serf, and his superior.

Dictionary.com Word of the Day

Scheduled Classes for Computers

10 a.m. - 11 a.m. Where: Yocum Instruction Area Description: Ms. Siebels COM051 (20) Using ProQuest database presented by Ms. Brenna Corbit.

12 p.m. - 1 p.m. Where: Yocum Instruction Area Description: Mr. Fidler COM121 (17) Using ProQuest database presented by Ms. Mary Ellen Heckman.

1 p.m. - 2 p.m. Where: Yocum Instruction Area Description: Crystal Schilthuis COM 121 (11) Finding and evaluating print and E-books presented by Ms. Brenna Corbit.

NPR.org

Six-Legged Giant Finds Secret Hideaway, Hides For 80 Years


They call it "Ball's Pyramid." It's what's left of an old volcano that emerged from the sea about 7 million years ago. A British naval officer named Ball was the first European to see it in 1788. It sits off Australia, in the South Pacific. It is extremely narrow, 1,844 feet high, and it sits alone.


What's more, for years this place had a secret. At 225 feet above sea level, hanging on the rock surface, there is a small, spindly little bush, and under that bush, a few years ago, two climbers, working in the dark, found something totally improbable hiding in the soil below. How it got there, we still don't know.

Here's the story: About 13 miles from this spindle of rock, there's a bigger island, called Lord Howe Island.

On Lord Howe, there used to be an insect, famous for being big. It's a stick insect, a critter that masquerades as a piece of wood, and the Lord Howe Island version was so large — as big as a human hand — that the Europeans labeled it a "tree lobster" because of its size and hard, lobsterlike exoskeleton. It was 12 centimeters long and the heaviest flightless stick insect in the world. Local fishermen used to put them on fishing hooks and use them as bait.



Then one day in 1918, a supply ship, the S.S. Makambo from Britain, ran aground at Lord Howe Island and had to be evacuated. One passenger drowned. The rest were put ashore. It took nine days to repair the Makambo, and during that time, some black rats managed to get from the ship to the island, where they instantly discovered a delicious new rat food: giant stick insects. Two years later, the rats were everywhere and the tree lobsters were gone. Totally gone. After 1920, there wasn't a single sighting. By 1960, the Lord Howe stick insect, Dryococelus australis, was presumed extinct. There was a rumor, though.

MORE... http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2012/02/24/147367644/six-legged-giant-finds-secret-hideaway-hides-for-80-years



Lord Howe Island Stick Insect hatching from Zoos Victoria on Vimeo.

Scheduled Classes for Computers

11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Reserved Where: Yocum Instruction Area Description: Dr. Diken COM121 (20) Using the ProQuest database presented by Ms. Brenna Corbit.

12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. Reserved Where: Yocum Instruction Area Description: Dr. Diken COM121 (20) Using the ProQuest database presented by Ms. Brenna Corbit..

2 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. Reserved Where: Yocum Instruction Area Description: Dr. Diken COM121 (20) Using the ProQuest database presented by Ms. Patricia Nouhra.


3:30 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. Reserved Where: Yocum Instruction Area Description: Dr. Diken COM121 (20) Using the ProQuest database presented by Ms. Patricia Nouhra.

The Ronald F. Borkert Prize for Library Research,

The Ronald F. Borkert Prize for Library Research, sponsored by The Yocum Library of Reading Area Community College, celebrates excellence in library-based research. The prize is named in honor of the late RACC Professor Emeritus Ronald F. Borkert who cared deeply about books and libraries.

The annual Borkert Prize is designed to honor students who demonstrate sophisticated research skills by incorporating information found through The Yocum Library’s resources into original scholarship. A prize of $100 will be awarded for the most outstanding library-based research project/paper. The deadline for submissions is March 31st. Stop by the Yocum Library for applications or email library@racc.edu