Library Hours during Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday

Written by Michael Sutherland, Web Services Librarian
sutherlandmj@unk.edu

The library will be open limited hours this coming Saturday and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and will be closed in observance of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday on Monday, January 19th.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a federal holiday marking the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., a Baptist minister and civil rights leader dedicated to the principles of nonviolence.  The campaign for a federal holiday in King’s honor began soon after his assassination in 1968. President Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed three years later.   It is now officially observed on the third Monday of January each year, which is around the time of King’s birthdate, January 15th and serves multiple purposes: It celebrates the total legacy of Dr. King; focuses on the issue of civil rights; highlights the use of nonviolence to promote change; and calls people into service.

Dr. King is arguably one of the most quotable speakers of the the 20th century.  Many people know or are aware of the “I have a Dream” speech given on June 11, 1963 during the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom”.  When Dr. King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, at the time the youngest recipient to ever win at the age of 35, his acceptance speech in Norway included the famous statement “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.  That is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”

The Calvin T. Ryan Library has several resources for those interested in studying Dr. King – online biographies covering the life and works of Dr. King include:

• Biography Reference Bank – provides online biographies and lists of additional works by or about Dr. King.
• American National Biography Online
• Credo Reference

as well as books, e-books, government documents and curriculum materials listed in LOPERSearch by searching “Martin Luther King, Jr”.  For example:

• African American leaders of the 20th century [videorecording]. (2002). Huntsville, TX: Seth Conway Productions.
  In Curriculum Collection (Lower Level), Call #: DVD E 185.96 .A47 2000.
• Corporation for National and Community Service (U.S.). (2006). Now is the time: Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service : make it a day on, not a day off. Washington, D.C: Corporation for National and Community Service.
  Online and in Government Documents (2^nd Level), Call #: Gov Doc Y 3.N 21/29:2 N 86
• Feinstein, Stephen. Lee sobre Martin Luther King, Jr.: Read about Martin Luther King, Jr.
  In Curriculum Collection, (Lower Level), Call #:  +E 185.97 .K5 F4518 2006.
• Howard-Pitney, D. (2004). Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and the civil rights struggle of the 1950s and 1960s: A brief history with documents. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s.
  In Book Collection, Call #: E185.61 .H85 2004
• Jackson, T., & NetLibrary, Inc. (2008). Becoming King Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Making of a National Leader. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky.
  An e-book accessible via NetLibrary.
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: making of a holiday.
  A streaming video accessible via Films on Demand.
• Rieder, J., & NetLibrary, Inc. (2008). The Word of the Lord Is Upon Me the Righteous Performance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
  An e-book accessible via NetLibrary.

Although the library will be closed Monday, don’t forget you have 24/7 access to our digital resources (such as e-books, many government documents, and our entire collection of subscription databases) through the library web site.

Native American Heritage Month

By Tone’ Mendoza, mendozaac@unk.edu

Red Fox James, a Blackfoot Indian, rode on horseback in 1915 from state to state seeking official approval for a day to honor Indians. He delivered the endorsements of 24 states to the White House, but not until 1990 with President George H.W. Bush’s approved did the resolution designating the month of November as Native American Heritage Month become a reality.

First Nation people in Nebraska

About 15 tribes have been identified as having lived in, hunted in, or otherwise occupied territory within the current state boundaries of Nebraska: the Arapaho lived for more than a thousand years throughout the western part of Nebraska and was home to the Arikara and Pawnee. The Kiowa also once occupied western Nebraska as did the Cheyenne. The Comanche had formerly lived in the territory and moved south toward Texas. The Ponca were forced to move south into present day Oklahoma and others such as the Kansa, Omaha, Osage, and others were also forced to move out of the Nebraska area.  But it was the Great Sioux Nation and the Lakota that used Nebraska as a hunting ground.

Eventually they ceded their lands through various treaties to the U.S. Government, which rendered these among the lands it gave away to new settlers moving in from the east under the Homestead Act. Despite this, several Indian reservations still exist in Nebraska and one of the most famous confrontations between Native Americans, with their leaders, including Russell Means, and the US government came about on the Pine Ridge Reservation in the 1970s.

Library Resources:
Book Collection (Upper Level)

• Native American Clothing : an Illustrated History, by Ted J. Brasser (Call #: E98.C8 B737 2009)
• Native American Identities : from Stereotype to Archetype in Art and Literature, by Scott B. Vickers (Call #: E98.E85 V53 1998)
• Native American Literatures : an Introduction, by Suzanne Evertsen Lundquist (Call #: PS153.I52 L86 2004)

Books in the Curriculum Collection (Lower Level)

• Code Talker : a Novel about the Navajo Marines of World War Two, by Joseph Bruchac (Call #: + PZ7.B82816 Co 2005)
• The Great Plains Indians : Daily Life in the 1700s, by Mary Englar (Call #: + E78.G73 E54 2006)
• Tools of Native Americans : a Kid’s Guide to the History & Culture of the First Americans, by Kim Kavin (Call #: + E77.4 .K38 2006)

E-books (online; accessible on-campus and to UNK students and employees off-campus)

• Contemporary Native American Cultural Issues, edited by Duane Champagne
• Documents of Native American Political Development: 1500s to 1933, edited by David E. Wilkins
• Encyclopedia of Native American Artists, by Deborah Everett and Elayne Zorn

Government Documents (Upper Level)

• American Indians and Yellowstone National Park : a Documentary Overview (Call #: Gov Doc I 29.2:IN 2/20)
• A Chronology of Middle Missouri Plains Village Sites (Call #: Gov Doc SI 1.33:47)
• Handbook of North American Indians (Call #: Gov Doc SI 1.20/2: 2)
• Ceremonies of the Pawnee (Call #:Gov Doc SI 1.33:27)

Videos in the Curriculum Collection (Lower Level)

• Native American Influence on the U.S. (Call #: DVD 485)
• Native Americans : Celebrating Traditions (Call #: DVD 709)
• People of the Plains (Call #: VR 823)

Web Resources:

• American Indians in Children’s Literature (AICL) provides critical perspectives and analysis of indigenous peoples in children’s and young adult books, the school curriculum, popular culture, and society.
• Lewis & Clark and Native Americans
• Lewis & Clark in Nebraska
• Native American Nations

Federal Government Shut Down

Written by Rochelle Krueger, Government Documents Librarian
kruegerr@unk.edu

Due to the recent federal government shutdown, numerous resources that were available to our students and to the general public are now inaccessible. This lapse in appropriated funds will affect many facets available to the public.  The Government Printing Office (GPO) will not be updating gpo.gov, FDLP.gov, the Catalog of Government Publications, Ben’s Guide, or be responding to askGPO questions until funding is restored. As a depository library, we will not be receiving shipments during this time. Many government web sites are offline during the shutdown as well, such as the Library of Congress.

All public lands managed by the Interior Department (National Parks, National Wildlife Refuges, Bureau of Land Management facilities, etc.) will be closed.  For more information, FAQs, and updates regarding the Interior Department, please visit http://www.doi.gov/shutdown.

For an overview of which government offices are affected, please see http://www.usa.gov/shutdown.shtml.

Other articles having impact information include:

• http://money.cnn.com/2013/09/16/news/economy/government-shutdown/index.html
• http://www.va.gov/opa/docs/Field_Guide_20130927.pdf  (Veterans’ Affairs)
• http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/2013/1001/Government-shutdown-sends-National-Park-Service-NASA-other-websites-offline
• http://www.nextgov.com/emerging-tech/2013/10/gov-unplugged-heres-whats-shut-down-during-shutdown/71148/
• http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303918804579109492207671138.html

For assistance finding information, please contact Rochelle Krueger, Government Documents Librarian at kruegerr@unk.edu or 865-8542.

**Update**

10.4.2013 For now, the Library of Congress Web site is back up, please see the announcement at: http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2013/13-A07.html. You can visit the Library of Congress Web site at: http://www.loc.gov/index.html.

Celebrate Women’s History Month

Written by Rochelle Krueger, Government Documents Librarian
kruegerr@unk.edu

This year’s theme for National Women’s History Month is “Women Inspiring Innovation Through Imagination:  Celebrating Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics”, honoring pioneering teachers and advocates who helped women and other groups gain access to advanced learning.  The United States has observed it annually throughout the month of March since 1987.

The Law Library of Congress has an informative overview of Women’s History Month, as well as links to the various U.S. Statutes and Presidential Proclamations.

Samples of resources available through the UNK Library website include:

Change is possible:  stories of women and minorities in mathematics, by Patricia Clark Kenschaft
The Equal Rights Amendment:  Guaranteeing equal rights for women under the Constitution
Women in science:  career processes and outcomes, by Yu Xie
Women in science:  then and now, by Vivian Gornick

Online teaching resources:

American Historical Association:  Women’s History Month
Time:  For Kids
Women’s History Month, Grades K-5
Women’s History Teaching Resources
Women’s History Timeline
Women of our time:  portraits from the National Portrait Gallery

For more information, go to The Library of Congress’ Women’s History Month website:  http://womenshistorymonth.gov/  or stop by the Calvin T. Ryan Library!

Statistical Abstract of the U.S. (1878-2013)

Written by Rochelle Krueger, Government Documents Librarian
kruegerr@unk.edu

The Statistical Abstract of the United States is the authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States.  The Census Bureau ceased production of the Statistical Abstract in 2012; however, newer versions are compiled and distributed by ProQuest.

Use the Abstract as a convenient volume for statistical reference and as a guide to other valuable statistical publications and sources.  The annual portrait covers information such as population, education, trade, prices, foreign commerce, and international statistics, from many Federal agencies and private organizations, such as the Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Print versions of all abstracts can be found in the Government Documents section of the library at GovDoc C 3.134 (2013 version in Government Documents reference section).  A new copy is also kept behind the reference desk.

Online historical Statistical Abstracts (1878-2012) can be found at:  http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/

Legal Research Sessions – Professor Sandra Placzek

Written by Rochelle Krueger, Government Documents Librarian
kruegerr@unk.edu

Sandra Placzek, Associate Director and Professor of Law Library at the Marvin & Virginia Schmid Law Library, University of Nebraska – Lincoln, will give presentations on legal research on Thursday, January 24 at 9:30 am and at 2:00 pm.  Both sessions will be held in the Curriculum classroom at Calvin T. Ryan Library.  The sessions are open to UNK students, faculty and staff and the Kearney community.

In addition to her duties as Associate Director, Professor Placzek co-teaches the legal research component of First Year Legal Research and Writing at the Law School. We encourage you to let interested parties know about this opportunity.  Please contact Rochelle Krueger by email or 308.865.8542 if you have questions.

Tax Forms Delayed

Written by Rochelle Krueger, Government Documents Librarian
kruegerr@unk.edu

Usually tax forms have arrived and are out on the government documents shelves and ready for people to use, but this year is different.

The production of some 2012 major tax products, including Form 1040 and the Instructions for Form 1040, has been impacted by the recent passage of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012. There is NO estimate or timeline as to when the products will become available on http://www.irs.gov or distributed in print.  Instead, the forms will be available as the documents are published and trickle into the library.

For more information visit the IRS web site at the following URL or use the QR code below:

http://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/IRS-statement-on-tax-legislation-recently-passed-by-Congress

Update:  We have received a good portion of the tax forms to date, but we will continue to receive shipments of 2012 individual income tax forms and schedules over the next 3-4 weeks.

The instructions for Form 1040 are currently in the process of being printed. However, I have been informed that the instructions are available online at http://www.irs.gov/ . When in doubt, check out the online site – they can be viewed/downloaded/printed from there.