It's one of our favorite times of the year, here at M State Moorhead Library...National Gaming Day @ your library! Come join in the gaming fun tomorrow at the Moorhead campus library from 9am-1pm.

If you have any questions, please give us a call 218.299.6530.

We hope to see you there!

Herta Mueller wins Nobel Prize for literature

By Bob Minzesheimer, USA TODAY

Author Herta Mueller, who was censored and threatened in her native Romania, won the 2009 Nobel Prize in literature Thursday.

The Swedish Academy, which awards the $1.4 million prize, honored Mueller, 56, for work that, "with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed."

Before immigrating to Germany in 1987, Mueller received death threats in Romania after refusing to become an informant for its secret police when it was still a communist dictatorship.

Several of her novels that have been translated into English — including The Passport, The Land of Green Plums and Traveling on One Leg— explore life in a dictatorship and as a member of a minority.

Mueller's parents were members of the German-speaking minority in Romania. Her father served in the Waffen SS during World War II.

After the war, many German Romanians were deported to the Soviet Union in 1945, including her mother, who spent five years in a work camp in what is now Ukraine.

The last American to win the Nobel Prize in literature was Toni Morrison in 1993. Mueller is the 12th woman to win the prize in its 108 years.

NATIONAL INFORMATION LITERACY AWARENESS MONTH, 2009

NATIONAL INFORMATION LITERACY AWARENESS MONTH, 2009
- - - - - - -
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION

Every day, we are inundated with vast amounts of information. A 24-hour news cycle and thousands of global television and radio networks, coupled with an immense array of online resources, have challenged our long-held perceptions of information management. Rather than merely possessing data, we must also learn the skills necessary to acquire, collate, and evaluate information for any situation. This new type of literacy also requires competency with communication
technologies, including computers and mobile devices that can help in our day-to-day decisionmaking. National Information Literacy Awareness Month highlights the need for all Americans to be adept in the skills necessary to effectively navigate the Information Age. To read more click this link

Free University Classes Online

Free University Classes Online

• MIT Open Courseware: free videos of lectures, lecture notes, and exams in dozens of disciplines
• University of California – Berkeley: webcasts of lectures for a couple dozen classes
• Stanford University’s iTunes U: dozens of classes of free lectures, through the popular “iTunes U,” used by other universities too
• Harvard@home: a selection of lectures, events, and talks at Harvard
• Open Yale Courses: a few dozen classes’ worth of free lectures

Hugo Awards

Best Novel: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins; Bloomsbury UK)

Best Novella: ''The Erdmann Nexus'' by Nancy Kress (Asimov's Oct/Nov 2008)

Best Novelette: ''Shoggoths in Bloom'' by Elizabeth Bear (Asimov's Mar 2008)

Best Short Story: ''Exhalation'' by Ted Chiang (Eclipse Two)

John W. Campbell not-a-Hugo Award for Best New Writer: David Anthony Durham

Best Related Book: Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded: A Decade of Whatever, 1998-2008 by John Scalzi (Subterranean Press)

Best Graphic Story: Girl Genius, Volume 8: Agatha Heterodyne and the Chapel of Bones Written by Kaja & Phil Foglio, art by Phil Foglio, colors by Cheyenne Wright (Airship Entertainment)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form: WALL-E Andrew Stanton & Pete Docter, story; Andrew Stanton & Jim Reardon, screenplay; Andrew Stanton, director (Pixar/Walt Disney)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form: Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog Joss Whedon, & Zack Whedon, & Jed Whedon, & Maurissa Tancharoen, writers; Joss Whedon, director (Mutant Enemy)

Best Editor, Short Form: Ellen Datlow

Best Editor, Long Form: David G. Hartwell

Best Professional Artist: Donato Giancola

Best Semiprozine: Weird Tales edited by Ann VanderMeer & Stephen H. Segal

Best Fan Writer: Cheryl Morgan

Best Fanzine: Electric Velocipede edited by John Klima

Best Fan Artist: Frank Wu

Emergency Notifications - Star Alert System

Emergency Notifications - Star Alert System
Did You Know?
QUESTION: If there's a campus emergency, how will you know?
ANSWER: Star Alert, an emergency notification system that sends you an e-mail and a text message.
But, first you have to sign up for the free service.
Star Alert messages briefly note the nature of the emergency, what action, if any, should be taken, and where to find additional information. Multiple numbers and addresses can be registered, including those of parents or others a registrant would want notified. Star Alert is one of several ways students and employees might be notified of a campus emergency. Depending on the nature and severity of the emergency, notification methods could include:
Alerts on the M State Web site
E-mail message to SpartanNet addresses
Voicemail message on campus phones
Flyers posted on building doors
Loud tone and message on the outdoor chimes/music system
Message on closed-circuit televisions

250+ Killer Digital Libraries and Archives

Hundreds of libraries and archives exist online, from university-supported sites to individual efforts. Each one has something to offer to researchers, students, and teachers. This list contains over 250 libraries and archives that focus mainly on localized, regional, and U.S. history, but it also includes larger collections, eText and eBook repositories, and a short list of directories to help you continue your research efforts. http://oedb.org/library/features/250-plus-killer-digital-libraries-and-archives

The Horror Writers Association presented the 2008 Bram Stoker Awards for Superior Achievement at a ceremony on June 12-14 in Burbank, California. The Horror Writers Association was started by Alabama's own Robert McCammon in 1987, and the award is named in honor of one of the first true kings of horror. As early as 1984 McCammon expressed a desire for a professional organization and support group for writers of horror. Stephen King's Misery and Robert McCammon's Swan Song tied for best novel in the award's first year.

The 2008 Stoker Winners

Novel: Duma Key by Stephen King
First Novel: The Gentling Box by Lisa Mannetti
Long Fiction: Miranda by John R. Little
Short Fiction: "The Lost" by Sarah Langan
Fiction Collection: Just After Sunset by Stephen King
Anthology: Unspeakable Horror edited by Vince A. Liaguno and Chad Helder
Nonfiction: A Halloween Anthology by Lisa Morton
Poetry Collection: The Nightmare Collection by Bruce Boston
Lifetime Achievement: F. Paul Wilson and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Cool site of the day (for me anyways)

Cool site of the day (for me anyways) A project devoted to discovering all the words and everything about them:http://www.wordnik.com/

The 50 States Project

The 50 States Project has brought together 50 photographers from across the USA.
Each photographer lives in one of the 50 States and during the year long project each photographer will represent the State where they live. Every two months each photographer will be sent an assignment by e-mail, they then have two months to produce one image in response. The images must represent both their style and the State in which they live.

The World Digital Library will launch on April 21, 2009.

The World Digital Library will launch on April 21, 2009.

The World Digital Library will make available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary materials from cultures around the world, including manuscripts, maps, rare books, musical scores, recordings, films, prints, photographs, architectural drawings, and other significant cultural materials. The objectives of the World Digital Library are to promote international and inter-cultural understanding and awareness, provide resources to educators, expand non-English and non-Western content on the Internet, and to contribute to scholarly research.

http://www.worlddigitallibrary.org/project/english/docs/World_Digital_Library_Demonstration.pdf

From the Boston Globe

Here are some interesting pictures of the flooding in Fargo/Moorhead from the Boston Globe " The Big Picture"

Website about bookmarks

Features an exhibit of "outstanding bookmarks from 1850s up to now with over 150 images" (with topics such as Victorian, bookstores, religious, heroes, handmade, museum, and French advertising), history of bookmarks, bookmark quotes, and related material on interesting bookstores, libraries, and other topics. From a Swiss company that sells metal bookmarks.
From our friends at Librarians' Internet Index

Tax Season

Here are links to help you with your taxes
Federal Tax information and forms: http://www.irs.gov/
Minnesota Tax information and forms: http://www.taxes.state.mn.us/
North Dakota Tax information and forms:http://www.nd.gov/tax/
All State government Web sites :http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=99021,00.html

Time, "A Rural Exodus"

Stop by the Moorhead Library and take a look at this week's (Feb 9, 2009) issue of Time. There is an article of interest called "A Rural Exodus," which focuses on the disappearance of rural churches, some over a century old, due to a lack of pastors and population. Some area towns included in the article are Crookston, MN, Warren, MN, and Buxton, ND.
It's an interesting piece of local news that has gained national attention.

Announcing the M State Video Awards

Announcing the M State Video Awards on YouTube, check it out, you can win prizes !!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sMOxXMtX0s

WhiteHouse.gov is on the job on day one

From Librarian And Information Science News:

WhiteHouse.gov is on the job on day one. The 'first blogger' writes:

"Welcome to the new WhiteHouse.gov. I'm Macon Phillips, the Director of New Media for the White House and one of the people who will be contributing to the blog.

A short time ago, Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States and his new administration officially came to life. One of the first changes is the White House's new website, which will serve as a place for the President and his administration to connect with the rest of the nation and the world.

Millions of Americans have powered President Obama's journey to the White House, many taking advantage of the internet to play a role in shaping our country's future. WhiteHouse.gov is just the beginning of the new administration's efforts to expand and deepen this online engagement.

To Learn more follow this link http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/change_has_come_to_whitehouse-gov/

Campus and Library closings this evening

The Detroit Lakes and Wadena campuses are closing this evening at 5:00pm due to cold weather conditions.
The Moorhead Campus Library will be closing at 8:00pm due to cold weather conditions.

Stay warm and stay safe!

How To Send Email To Any Cell Phone (for Free)

Want to send a short email to a friend and get it delivered to his/her cell phones? If you know your friends’ phone numbers and the carrier they are on then you can easily send emails to their cell phones directly from your email program. From makeuseof.com on Nov. 27th, 2008 By Aibek

Here is the link: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/email-to-sms/

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 80th Birthday Celebration

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 80th Birthday Celebration
Website for the celebration of "the 80th anniversary [January 15, 2009] of the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., renowned civil rights leader and tireless advocate for equal opportunity." Includes links to selected "test your knowledge" pages and other online resources about Dr. King, a place to share thoughts about Dr. King's legacy, and details about anniversary events (in San Jose, California). From San Jose Public Libraries and San Jose State University Library.
URL: http://www.sjlibrary.org/about/events/birthday.htm