NEW LIBRARY DIRECTOR

Kimmetha (Kim) Herndon has been named director of the university library and librarian at Samford University effective July 1. The announcement was made June 4 by Samford Provost J. Bradley Creed following a year-long national search.

Herndon comes from Shorter College, Rome, Ga., where she has been on the staff of Livingston Library since 1989. Most recently, she had been dean of libraries since 2001. At Samford, Herndon will oversee a collection that now exceeds 1 million volumes. "Samford is fortunate to have found someone who brings outstanding administrative and academic credentials to our ever-expanding library system," Creed said. "With our increased emphasis on undergraduate research and expanding academic programs, Kim Herndon is the ideal person to help lead our libraries."

Herndon received a bachelor of science in agricultural economics from the University of Georgia and a master of library science degree from the University of Alabama. She is a member of several professional organizations, including the American Library Association and the Southeastern Library Association.

Herndon replaces Jean Thomason, who retired in June 2007 after 11 years as Samford's library director. Suzanne Peterson has served as interim director and will return to her full-time role as associate librarian and collection management coordinator. "Samford's library staff, under the very capable leadership of Sue Peterson, has ensured that we have continued to progress," Creed added. "The university is very grateful for their dedicated service at all times, but especially during this year of transition."

(Source: http://www.samford.edu/News/6408_2.html)

"AMERICA: HISTORY AND LIFE" and "HISTORICAL ABSTRACTS"

EBSCO has acquired the databases "America: History and Life" and "Historical Abstracts" from ABC-CLIO. Users will find, therefore, that "America: History and Life" and "Historical Abstracts" are operating through the EBSCO interface. "America: History and Life" is the definitive index of literature covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present, with indexing for 1,700 journals from 1964 to present. "Historical Abstracts" covers the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present and provides indexing of more than 1,700 academic historical journals in over 40 languages back to 1955. These databases are found on the library's web site at the History subject page: http://library.samford.edu/topics/history.html . You can search both databases simultaneously at http://library.samford.edu/purl/history .

HOMEWORK ALABAMA

Homework Alabama is a statewide homework service that uses the Internet to connect students with expert tutors for live, one-on-one help with school assignments.

Homework Alabama's target audience is students in junior high through first-year college and university. For information about hours and access, please visit http://www.homeworkalabama.org/.

Also, please remember the excellent variety of resources available for both students and non-students through the Alabama Virtual Library: http://www.avl.lib.al.us/. Note that users will need to acquire an access card from their public library. Details about access to AVL is available here: http://www.avl.lib.al.us/authcheck.phtml.

CENSUS DATA ATLAS

Interested in census data? Visit the Government Documents department on the second floor of the University Library! We have recently acquired the Census Atlas of the United States: Census 2000 Special Reports, which enhances the data with colorful visual images. If you do not have time to come by the library, you can still view the book online: http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS92179.

GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY SUED BY PUBLISHERS

This is an important item for everyone involved in using electronic versions of copyrighted materials for their courses. Articles in The New York Times and The Chronicle of Higher Education discuss a lawsuit brought by publishers against Georgia State University. The lawsuit is directed at the university's creation and distribution of coursepacks.

JARED DIAMOND, AUTHOR OF GUNS, GERMS AND STEEL, TO SPEAK ON EARTH DAY

Dr. Jared Diamond, author of the 1998 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Guns, Germs, and Steel, will be the keynote speaker at the Alabama Environmental Education Consortium (ALEEC) Earth Day conference at Samford University Saturday, April 19.

The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) professor will speak on lessons from the environmental collapse of societies. He wrote about this in his 2005 book, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed.

A prolific writer who speaks 12 languages, Diamond is the recipient of numerous prizes and awards for his books and scholarship. He has written on fields as diverse as molecular biology, linguistics, physiology, genetics, archeology and history.

The ALEEC conference-hosted by the Vulcan Materials Center for Environmental Stewardship and Education-is free and open to the public, beginning at 9 a.m. in Samford's Wright Center. Diamond will sign copies of his books at the close of the conference, as will two other authors also on the program.

Of special note: The library owns the DVD Guns Germs and Steel, a National Geographic production based on the book. It is on reserve at the University Library circulation desk.