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Brian O’Connell (1960-2008) was Professor of Computer Science and Philosophy at CCSU, teaching courses that ranged from computer ethics to robotics to philosophy of law. He wrote and published in all of these diverse areas. After his passing in 2008, his personal library was left to the Elihu Burritt Library. Reading was not a passive activity for Professor O’Connell. With his book collection the library received pages and pages of notebook paper scribbled with the thoughts that were inspired by his reading. His annotations have been digitized and we are honored to make them available for future generations to learn from this truly unique mind.
Assistant catalog librarian Steven Bernstein developed an innovative portal to this collection that enables the user to view O’Connell’s annotations as well as search by author, title, year, and keywords. |
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Texting Feature in CONSULS
Ok, so by now many of you have discovered our latest CONSULS hack– the ability to send a call number and location information in the form of a text message. I think it’s pretty spiffy and hope you like it too. When people ask why I enjoy working in libraries one of the first things that jumps to mind is the culture of cooperation and sharing which exists in library land from the smallest consortia, like CONSULS, to endeavors on a mind-boggling scale like OCLC’s resource sharing. This texting feature was developed by the Tripod Library Consortium (Bryn Mawr, Haverford and Swarthmore Colleges) as an add-on to the Innovative Interfaces Webpac Pro library catalog… and they were kind enough to share their source code so that other sites running the same system could benefit. I just adapted it to suit our local needs. Here’s to you guys!
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Try it Now! |
Volunteering in NOLA
I returned recently from a trip to the great city of New Orleans. The main objective of the trip was to help rebuild houses in the Lower Ninth Ward, an area that was ravaged by floods in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.This area was particularly hard hit, and many residents had water up to their rooftops. Two and a half years later most of the area is still in need of repair and since only 10% of the population has returned, much of the area feels like a ghost town.
We (my husband and I) were able to volunteer with an organization called lowernine.org, which is a non-profit group that assists with placing volunteers in area homes that need repair, along with offering assistance to the homeowners of the area.The amazing people of this organization also provide a place to sleep and food to eat to their many volunteers. In addition they teach volunteers the skills they need to drywall or frame buildings or whatever may arise. I was able to learn how to tile floors and backsplashes while I was there.
The best part of the whole experience was getting to meet the homeowners.One morning I was dropped off at one of the houses, and was immediately greeted with a giant hug and thank you by a lovely woman whose home was near completion. On another occasion, I witnessed an owner start to well up with tears as the realization that he and his family would soon be able to move back into their home dawned on him. On the whole it was a fantastic experience, and I am hoping to go back for some more renovation projects in October.
You can find out more at www.lowernine.org
If you would like to see the photos let me know!
CIL 2008
Today is my first day back in the library after attending (and presenting at) the Computers in Libraries conference in Arlington, VA. The weather was well, crap, but at least we had plenty to keep us engaged during the very eventful 3-day conference. As promised to many of you great folks who were hanging with us until the bitter end (yes, we were scheduled for the last session block on day three of the conference, which I was assured by some veteran presenters is the MO of the program planners to vet the newbs), I’m posting the Vidcasting presentation slides.
