Wednesday, March 31, 2010

New Mars Hill Audio Journal

That is right!

It is time for Issue 101
of Mars Hill's Audio Journal!



This Issue includes new lectures...

Thomas Long discusses funeral rites and their place in today's society.

William Cavanaugh discusses how the concept of "Religious Wars" misinterpret religion.

James Hunter discusses how Christians need to start looking at culture differently when trying to engage with the world around them.

Please stop by and take a look!

Saturday, March 27, 2010

New in Education

"To teach is to learn twice."
~ Joseph Joubert, Pensees

Teaching, as many more eloquent people have said before me, is a calling. Northwest University makes a serious effort to keep their education program up-to-date and comprehensive so that, upon graduating, students enter the teaching force with all of the skills they need to reach their students effectively.

In that spirit, Hurst Library continuously updates their holdings...

These books, for example, are new in this week!

General Teaching Books:

Mindful Teaching and Teaching Mindfulness is a general companion guide for teachers of all grades and all subjects. The author works with the concept of mindfulness - how to be conscious of your teaching at all times - and integrates that with education, teaching the students the best way of taking their knowledge and using it in all aspects of his/her life. Basically, this is a guide to develop mental and emotional presence in your work.

Multicultural Teaching is a handbook with real world activities and examples for teachers trying to reach a multicultural classroom. This book covers more than just racial diversity, but also addresses monetary and gender diversity. It is a good source for information, but a better source for practical how-to - walking you through lesson planning and self-evaluation.

Rethinking Classroom Participation: Listening to the Silent Voices. Anyone who has taught before knows the terror of a noisy classroom almost as well as the terror of the silent one. In this book Katherine Schultz teaches you to gauge this silence, listen to the quiet students, and insure that your instruction is getting to all of the students in the classroom.

Subject Specific Teaching Books:

The Mathematics Teacher's Handbook does exactly as its title suggests - provides a companion for Mathematics teachers. It comprehensively covers everything from developing a Math-loving classroom culture to making the most of math homework assignments.

Making Connections in Elementary and Middle School Social Studies attempts to make early Social Studies more personal and, hence, more accessible to the students. This book addresses most of the major methods for instruction and gives real classroom examples. This is the second and newest edition of this already much used guide.

Reforming Secondary Science Instruction operates with the (valid) assumption that secondary science education is broken and that, if we want our children to graduate with the necessary scientific knowledge, teachers need to work to reform it from the inside out. Each chapter addresses a different issue, walks you through a self-assessment, and guides you to beneficial reform.

Ha! That reminds me of this one time, in 10th grade biology, when my lab partner and I succeeded in setting the entire lab table on fire... but I digress.

Come check out all of these books I mentioned
and many more on special display on our New Book Shelf!

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Magazines for Fun, not Learning

If you are anything like me, you casually flip through magazines while waiting at the checkout or while killing some time in a bookstore. Usually this affords me enough time to get caught up on the latest gossip about Angie and Brad and on the latest thoughts of experts on trans fats; however, sometimes I want a little more time!


This is when I march over to my favorite corner of Hurst Library, sit in the comfortable chairs and browse one of the many popular magazines available.



What?!?!



You didn't know we carried popular magazines like...

and... People

We have these and many more to occupy your leisure time or to help you in the art of procrastination.


Come take a look!

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Spring Break - Time for FUN!


A whole week where you have nothing to do but sit in your PJs, eat ice cream, and watch movies... can life get any better?

You have learned to use our expertise while writing your papers and studying for your tests. To many students, however, we become obsolete during this annual break from classes. But...

Hurst Library can even help during Spring Break!

Not everything on our shelves is educational. We like having fun too! And, best of all, renting movies from us is FREE.

To search our collections visit our homepage, select the browse by format tab followed by the link called "Videos and DVDs."


... or just click HERE

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Eyes on Canada

Now that we are well into the Olympics, I've been thinking a lot about our friends to the north.

Personally, I started obsessing about snowboard-cross (Have you seen this? Spectacular!) and I have fully indulged my younger self's love of pretty things by watching as much ice dancing as possible. Watching the opening ceremonies with the Native American dances and the Mounties, I started to realize that we share so much cultural and political history with our neighbors, yet I know so little about them.

One of my favorite ways to learn more about a culture is by reading their literature - not boring books about their history, but fiction and poetry that offers unique perspectives on their lives and minds.

Here are a few of my personal favorite Canadians and some of their best works:

This haunting, dystopic tale, told from the perspective of a women who remembers better times, was the best book I read last year. Atwood's take on a future society sometimes resembles today's world in more ways than the reader cares to admit.

John McCrae and In Flanders Fields

"In Flanders fields the poppies blow..." starts the most beautiful and painful poems. Written by McCrae while in the trenches of WWI, this poem reminds me that it was not just American soldiers crossing the Atlantic to fight on the fields of Flanders, Canadians were fighting with us too. You will never look at the red poppies in the same way again.

Lucy Montgomery and Anne of Green Gables

This is where the story begins. I cannot count the number of times I read these stories as a kid, and, even today, I nurse and enduring love for Anne and her strength throughout life's problems. It is never too late to start reading about dear Anne!

Alice Munro and Open Secrets

Each of these short stories is devoted to a different woman who must overcome or succumb to different situations, each written with love and understanding. At times, I wanted to reread the poetic beauty of each line and, at other times, I threw the book across the room in anger.

and, last but not least,

Robert Service and The Shooting of Dan McGrew and Other Poems

Anyone who knows me will laugh when they see this! Not more than a day passes when I don't quote from my favorite Service poem, "The Cremation of Sam McGee." Service gives voice to the thousands of men who left everything to prospect in Alaska during the gold rush - their pain, their suffering, and the siren's call they couldn't deny.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Going Green

Talk about perfect weather! I mean, honestly, there is nothing I would change about what is going on outside right now. The flowers are blooming, the grass is growing, and I doubt I'll have to pull my wool coat out at all this year! Over the past week, I've shaken off the dust of another summer and filled my lungs with fresh air.

As I have been basking, my mind has been contemplating how important it is for us to continue to preserve what we have here. Thankfully we live in a community that values recycling and other Earth-friendly pursuits; however, this is a principle that we in the library take to heart and apply to all other aspects of our lives.

Hurst Library houses a wonderful collection of books dedicated to the subject of Green Living.

For appreciating its beauty...




Hope's Horizon












For the business-minded...





Green Recovery












For understanding the politics of the Green Movement...



The Making of Green Knowledge












For learning how to live a life with less impact on the environment... well, come to the library and ask one of our gifted Librarians how to find the resources to fit your needs.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Audio Journal? Exploring Mars Hill's Audio Journal

Something librarians love: reading. However, sometimes it is not safe to have one's nose in a book - while you are driving, or trying to clean-up. These are the times when audio books come to our rescue!

That is why we are excited to share with you Mars Hill's Audio Journals.

Rather than listening to hours upon hours of a book, this audio journal allows you to listen to smaller lectures, sermons, and presentations that are both enlightening and enjoyable.

On the latest edition, you can hear...

Jennifer Burns discussing the legacy of Ayn Rand.

Dallas Willard discussing spiritual knowledge.

And Christian Smith discussing the spiritual lives of people as they reach adulthood.

Please, come take a look... or a listen... to what the Mars Hill Audio Journals have to offer.

They are located in the Periodicals section, beside the Reference desk and can be checked out for a week.