Author: holmesj

3/9/16 would have been the inimitable Clara Rockmore’s 105th birthday.  To celebrate, today’s Google Doodles features a virtual theremin with a lesson!  If this piques your interest, check out our IMC feature on all things theremin.

Thesis Desk Lottery

Random numbers for the Senior thesis desk lottery will be drawn from the official 470 list. If you are a senior, but are not yet registered for 470, and want to be included in the drawing, please come to the circulation desk and have your name added to the lottery list by Monday, February 8. Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Studio Art, and Psychology, majors are not eligible for thesis desks in the Library.

The list of numbers will be posted Tuesday, February 9 along with a map of thesis desk locations so that you can have preferences in mind before the actual selection.

The choosing of desks will begin at noon on Wednesday, February 10 in the library lobby. You, or your proxy, must be present when your name is called. Lottery numbers are not transferable.

NOTE: Some desks, as indicated on the map, will be shared. In order to help create the most pleasant sharing arrangement possible, the person with the better number may bring in as a partner another senior on the list who has a less desirable number. Please make those arrangements before the noon time selection and let us know that is your plan when your name is called.

Any questions contact Brian Kelley

 

About thesis desks

A number of single and shared desks are assigned to seniors for use while working on their theses. The desks are selected by means of a lottery held at the beginning of the fall semester. Spring-fall seniors may choose desks via a spring mini-lottery from among those vacated by seniors who have completed their theses at the end of the fall semester. These desk assignments are for spring semester only.

Desks assigned to seniors are for their sole use for the balance of their school year or as long as they remain registered for 470. A senior may ask you to vacate his or her desk and you will be expected to comply.

ONLY thesis desks are assigned to individuals. The other study tables are permanently unassigned, and therefore are available for use by the entire community. At these desks, personal items and books may be stored on the shelves above the work surface. However, neither the shelf nor the desk becomes “yours” by right of keeping your things there. If there is extra space on the shelf, other people may store items there. You may not claim or reserve these desks, and when you are not actually working there you must leave the work surface, chair, and floor area free of obstructing materials. These regulations are designed to provide the maximum availability of study space to the maximum number of people. Storage of personal items must not have the effect of excluding other students. Non-thesis tables and desks are intended as general study areas.

The staff, assisted by student monitors, will remove all of the following from desks and tables:

All library-owned books that are not checked out and all library-owned journals.
All plants, flowers, etc.
All dishes and silverware.
All packages or containers of food or drink.
All electrical appliances and extension cords. (Surge suppressed cords are ok for computers.)

The student monitor will leave a note indicating what was removed and where it is being kept for claiming purposes. We recommend that you rent lockers to store your valuables and miscellaneous belongings.

The library will be open 10a-5p this weekend, January 23-24. All branches will resume regular hours on Monday, January 25.

Spring/Fall seniors – please return all of your books by midnight 12/17.  If there are extenuating circumstances, email library-circ@reed.edu

For students with books due over break, you can renew them online by logging into your library account.  Summit books are not renewable.

Have a wonderful winter break!

 

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Exceptions
Library	8:30a-5p	8:30a-5p	8:30a-5p	8:30a-5p	8:30a-5p	CLOSED	CLOSED	Closed 12/24-1/3, 1/18, Open 10a-5p 1/23-1/24
Reference	10a-5p (on call)	10a-5p (on call)	10a-5p (on call)	10a-5p (on call)	10a-5p (on call)	CLOSED	CLOSED	Closed: 12/24-1/3, 1/18
IMC	Noon – 5p	Noon – 5p	Noon – 5p	Noon – 5p	Noon – 5p	CLOSED	CLOSED	Closed 12/24-1/3, 1/18
Special Collections	10a-12p, 1p-4p, or by appt.	by appt.	10a-12p, 1p- 4p, or by appt.	10a-12p, 1p- 4p, or by appt.	by appt.	CLOSED	CLOSED	Closed: 12/24-1/3, 1/18
VRC	9a-5p	9a-5p	9a-5p	9a-5p	9a-5p	CLOSED	CLOSED	Closed 12/24-1/3, 1/18
PARC	1-5p	1-5p	1-5p	1-5p	1-5p	CLOSED	CLOSED	Closed, 12/19-1/3, 1/18, Open 8:30a-5p, 1/19-1/22

Due to a growing number of requests for calculators, we put a couple of apps on the IMC iPads.  Try them out and let us know if these work for you.
Jim Holmes

 

The Instructional Media Center has 10 new portable projectors – available for checkout to students, staff and faculty.  Equipment can be reserved online here.  See below for a full list of circulating AV equipment.  Only 3-day checkouts can be reserved.  Same day checkouts are first come, first serve.  Questions? Email Jim Holmes

Contemporary comedy film is in decline.  Big budget studios are reluctant to provide major financial backing due to poor overseas performance – the “lost in translation” effect.  Some funny films have fallen out of favor due to shifts in cultural sensitivity.  Academia has long ignored the craft of cinematic comedy (an interesting thesis on the topic here).  When choosing to, the concentration is often limited to the canon of Chaplin/Keaton/Marx and other pioneers, with a focus on the foundations of comedy in the medium but rarely progressing into modern works.  The recent explosion of television/streaming content has pushed the majority of comedic talent towards the more lucrative, small-screen arena.  Given these formidable challenges, it seems all the more important to highlight achievements of this genre, films that have provided endless ill-advised watercooler reenactments, quote fodder, and intellectual maturity stunting milestones.  To that end, the IMC brings you the best contemporary comedy films in our collection, starting in 1970 because that is this author’s arbitrary dividing point.  But if you want a pseudo-cultural-generational definition, it’s something about post-60s social commentary in 70s cultural ennui, combined with a paradigm shift in censorship, and the U.S. film rating system of 1968.

Modern comedy films – 1970+

We have iPads available for checkout in the IMC (also available at the PARC).  You can check availability in the catalog.  IPads checkout until the end of the day.  For a complete list of IMC equipment available to students, staff, and faculty, click here.  And if you have equipment or movie suggestions, let us know!

Jim Holmes

The library and all branches will close at 5p on Friday, 12/19.  Library hours for winter break are as follows.

	Winter Break, 12/19 – 1/25
	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Exceptions
Library	8:30 – 5	8:30 – 5	8:30 – 5	8:30 – 5	8:30 – 5	CLOSED	CLOSED	Closed: 12/24, 12/25,12/31, 1/1, 1/19
Reference	10 – 5 (on call)	10 – 5 (on call)	10 – 5 (on call)	10 – 5 (on call)	10 – 5 (on call)	CLOSED	CLOSED	Closed: 12/24-26, 12/31-1/1, 1/19
IMC	Noon – 5	Noon – 5	Noon – 5	Noon – 5	Noon – 5	CLOSED	CLOSED	Closed: 12/24, 12/25,12/31, 1/1, 1/19
Special Collections	10am – 12pm, 1pm – 4pm, or by appt.	by appt.	10am – 12pm, 1pm – 4pm, or by appt.	10am – 12pm, 1pm – 4pm, or by appt.	by appt.	CLOSED	CLOSED	Closed: 12/22-26, 12/31-1/2, 1/19
VRC	9 – 5	9 – 5	9 – 5	9 – 5	9 – 5	CLOSED	CLOSED	Closed: 12/24, 12/25,12/31, 1/1, 1/19
PARC	1 – 5	1 – 5	1 – 5	1 – 5	1 – 5	CLOSED	CLOSED	Closed: 12/20-1/2, 1/19