The Library at the Center for Graduate Studies of Asheville

Happy Leap Day! Every four years, February tries to get an early start on April fools and last an extra day. Today's Google doodle (above) celebrates this rare (one quarter more rare than yesterday) day. Picture it: Rome, 1582 - mismatched solar, lunar, and seasonal cycles  were causing the Julian calendar (the standard of the day) to be off by about 10 days. Holidays were coming later and later and were slipping into the wrong associated season. So, Pope Gregory XIII proclaimed the Gregorian Calendar would be the new standard - and 1582 lost 10 days in the process. In 1582 the end of October 5th ended and the morning of October 15th began. So, if anyone tries to sell you a genuine artifact from October 8th, 1582, you'll know it's a fake! Even more rare than Leap Day is when events of note have gone down on this day in history  - like when Hattie McDaniel won the Academy Award for best supporting actress for her role as Mammy in Gone With th...

As promised in our Scariest Librarians post, and in honor of Valentine's Day , we bring you: Heartthrob Librarians  Rupert Giles Rupert Giles is everyone's favorite vampire & demon slaying librarian.  According to the Buffy wiki :  Giles' natural and supernatural abilities include: Superior knowledge of demonology, mystical artifacts, and the black arts due to his Watcher training and delving in the black arts during his "Ripper years". Genius-level intellect. Fluency in several languages (such as Latin, German, Sumerian, and ancient Greek) and special knowledge of history, philosophy, science, and many areas of human knowledge, all due to his studies at Oxford University and his Watcher training. All of these qualities make him an excellent librarian, even though library science isn't expressly listed. Mary From the 1995 comedy-drama film Party Girl, Mary is a fashionable & free-spirited gal in NYC w...

An exclamation point is a punctuation mark that conveys an emergency, signal of intensity, or strong feeling.   Usage (or should I say, over-usage ) of the exclamation point, or mark (!), has risen alongside the increased use of electronic communication.  Photo by Craft Snark Nowadays with so much of our day-to-day communication being electronic, many feel that the typed message makes it difficult to convey feeling. Thus, the exclamation point is being overly used to show emotions, such as excitement. If what you are writing is more paramount than it sounds, you need to work on your word  usage. Vocabulary should describe the message you are trying to get across, not punctuation. W hen you overuse the exclamation point, the effectiveness of it begins to wear off quite quickly. Photo by The Bewildered 20-Something Writer  When writing, we advise you to limit your use of the exclamation point. Save them for when they are really needed - especiall...

This week our post is all about just sitting back and enjoying the view. So get comfy with your computer and take a look at some shots of the beautiful winter sky from our view at the library - at Lenoir-Rhyne University Center for Graduate Studies of Asheville. 

The Rudisill Library site got a new face today! The new layout for the library site is cleaner and more easily navigable because we are using the more friendly (and, we hope, familiar) user interface of LibGuides for our main site. LibGuides are research guides, created by your librarians on specific subjects. There is one for almost every area of study that Lenoir-Rhyne offers, and they are chock full of great, handpicked resources and helpful tips. Explore all the LibGuides we have to offer at  libguides.lr.edu The L-R Asheville Library site, which you can find at libguides.lr.edu/ashevillelibrary  (or by choosing the 'Asheville' link on the top right of the new library homepage), has always been a LibGuide. There are still a few things being updated with the latest information, and next on the list, we'll update our instructional videos to show off the new look. In the meantime - go check it out !

In honor of 2016, here are 20,  make that  16 reasons to visit your librarians this semester: 1. The library space/computer lab is a really nice place to study, collaborate, or just hang out. 2. Like, have you seen the view? photo by Allison Etzel ... it's totally lovely. 3. We want you to interrupt us... Grey House Publishing 4. & we won't shush you. 5. We know where to find the best online resources - cough LIBGUIDES cough 6. We can help you get books from the main campus (or other university libraries if needed) delivered to Asheville, just for you. 7. We can help you get access to journal and magazine articles too! (Even if L-R doesn't own it -- just use the ILL portal to get started). 9. We can help you properly cite your sources according to APA/MLA formatting rules. 10. And also format your paper according to APA/MLA formatting rules... fair warning, our favorite resource is the  Purd...

For many of you, today is your last day of classes for the semester. We bid our graduates adieu! Au revior! Auf wiedersehen! And, in case we don't see ya - good afternoon, good evening, and good night. To our students just finishing another semester: see you soon -- but not too soon; may your break take its time with you. What better way to end this post about endings than with one of the most beautiful types of endings: the sunset! We have the advantage of a fantastic westward view of the Blue Ridge Mountains that crown Asheville. The views here truly earn the "Land of the Sky" nickname. Since we work mostly in the evenings when classes are in session, Allison has been documenting the sunset view from the computer lab since her first few days here over two years ago. She just added a gallery of those photos to our new & improved LibGuide for the Asheville Center Library ( libguides.lr.edu/ashevillelibrary ). Which you should check out to get library help any...