Washington State University history graduate students studying the oral histories of the Hanford Site have created an exhibit of its labor force and residents, running through May 16 in the Terrell Library atrium exhibit case.

“Hanford’s Voices: Exploring Labor at Hanford Through the Stories of its Residents” pulled together students from the Vancouver, Tri-Cities and Pullman campuses enrolled in History 528, “Seminar in Public History,” according to course participant and history master’s student Robert Franklin.

For today’s information seekers, who can find answers in minutes with a few keystrokes, it’s hard to imagine a time when rural dwellers were cut off from knowledge for the most fundamental reasons. No electricity. No car. No phone. No nearby expert to explain why a cow gave birth to her calf prematurely.

Studies show that professors overestimate students’ abilities to locate, assess and legally use information resources, and students often misjudge their own searching and evaluating skills.

Two college librarians will discuss ways they teach information literacy skills in English composition, science and nursing programs during a free talk 10-11:30 a.m. Friday, May 9, in Terrell Library 103.

Get a free book at the Washington State University Libraries on Wednesday, April 23, and be part of an international event to promote reading.

The giveaway is part of World Book Night 2014. During the daylong event, 25,000 volunteers from across the United States each will give away 20 copies of a specially printed book they have read and loved, chosen from a list of 35 titles selected by a panel of librarians and booksellers.

An anticipated half million free paperbacks will be handed out, some to people who may never have owned a book.

One of Lorena O’English’s favorite poems from her “misspent youth” is a cautionary tale about two maiden sisters, one of whom falls under the spell of goblin merchants selling fruit too good to be true. Only the strength of her sister’s love saves her.

Creepiness factor aside, “Goblin Market,” composed by English poet Christina Rossetti and published in 1862, is partly why O’English, social services librarian at Washington State University Libraries, has helped to organize events that celebrate National Poetry Month every April for eight years.

Back by popular demand, Washington State University students will have round-the-clock access to Holland and Terrell libraries during the last two weeks of the semester.

The libraries will open at noon Sunday, April 27, and remain open 24/7 through 10 p.m. Friday, May 9.

“We heard from quite a few students who were grateful for the extended hours last time,” said Susan Shipman, Access Services manager at WSU Libraries.

Lotus Development Corp. founder Mitch Kapor spoke for the majority of uninitiated Web users when he said, “Getting information off the Internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant.”

Washington State University Libraries and the Office of Undergraduate Education are bringing back a class this fall that will teach university students to moderate that flow of information – and to be more effective researchers in the process.

A faculty author’s road to publication may only be fully appreciated by the librarians who, whether offering information or an ear, walk the same road to bring that book to light. Trevor Bond, head of WSU's Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections, followed one faculty member’s progress for eight years. For the full WSU News story, visit https://news.wsu.edu/2014/04/01/april-3-crimson-reads-celebrates-faculty....

There will be two short maintenance periods for Search It this weekend.  

The impact of the Depression-era Works Progress Administration often is measured by the millions of jobs it created, the billions of dollars spent on national public works projects and even a song about the Grand Coulee Dam by folksinger Woody Guthrie. In the Pacific Northwest, one WPA project had a different benchmark: the column inch.