Muntz Library Features Book Display for Hispanic Heritage Month

The Robert R. Muntz Library is featuring a book display in observance of National Hispanic Heritage Month.  National Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15 to October 15 annually. This month celebrates “the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America. The day of September 15 is significant because it is the anniversary of independence for Latin American countries Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence days on September 16 and September18, respectively. Also, Columbus Day or Día de la Raza, which is October 12, falls within this 30 day period” (from the site linked above).

We are displaying some books and material that may be of interest. The display is located in the library’s third floor. Like other displays, books  on display are available to be checked out. If you look them up in the catalog, and they show as checked out, they are “checked out” to our display case. Just let us know at the reference desk, and we will be happy to open the case so you can take the book and read it. We really want people to read our books, which is why we display them. Books, unless otherwise noted, are usually in the library’s general collection in the third floor. The books are listed, in no particular order, with their call numbers:

• Andrew Garrod, Mi Voz, Mi Vida: Latino College Students Tell their Lives. LC2670.6 .M58 2007.
• Elizabeth Sutherland Martínez, 500 Years of Chicana Women’s History. E184 .M5 M375 2008.
• David T. Abalos, Latinos in the United States: the Sacred and the Political. E184 .S75 A63 2007.
• Gregory Rodríguez, Mongrels, Bastards, Orphans, and Vagabonds: Mexican Immigration and the Future of Race in America. E184 .M5 R587 2008. We have a copy in the Bestseller Collection and a second copy in the third floor General Collection. We placed the General Collection copy in the display.
• Anna Marie Ortiz, Addressing the Unique Needs of Latino Students. LC2670.6 .A35 2004.
• Rosario Díaz-Greenberg, The Emergence of Voice in Latino/a High School Students. LC2670.4 .D53 2003.
• Carlos Fuentes, The Eagle’s Throne: A Novel. PQ7297 .F793 S5513 2006.
• Roberto Bolaño, 2666. PQ 8098.12 .O38 A12213 2008 (Bestseller Collection; this is an English translation).
• Angeles Mastretta, Mujeres de Ojos Grandes. PQ7298.23.A795 M85 2003.
• Alberto Fuguet, Por Favor, Rebobinar. PQ8098.16.U48 P6 1999.
• Mario Vargas Llosa, Death in the Andes. PQ8498.32.A65 L5813 1997 (English translation of Lituma en los Andes).
• Edwin Williamson, Borges, A Life. PQ7797 .B635 Z953 2004.
• Alfredo Bryce Echenique, El Huerto de mi Amada. PQ8498.12 .R94 H84 2002.
• Miguel Angel Asturias, Leyendas de Guatemala. PQ7499.A75 L4 1999.
• Gabriel García Márquez, El Amor en los Tiempos del Cólera. PQ8180.17.A73 A8 1996.
• Gabriel García Márquez. Love in the Time of Cholera. PQ8180.17 .A73 A813 2003 (This is the English translation).

“Voces Americanas/American Voices” Exhibit at Muntz Library

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, the Robert R. Muntz is presenting “Voces Americanas/American Voices: Latino Literature in the United States.” This is an exhibition produced by Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The exhibit shows a celebratory survey of works by Latinos in the past thirty years, and it presents images of authors, books, movie stills, public presentations, and illustrations. It is based on an original exhibition at the University of Houston Library that documented a quarter century of Hispanic publishing in the United States.

The exhibit is available for public viewing from September 21, 2009 to October 17, 2009 during regular library hours.

Reference Book of the Week: Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History in America

Welcome to another edition of Reference Book of the Week. We continue honoring LGBT Pride Month with another selection from our reference collection. This week we are featuring the three volume set Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History in America. This excellent work covers more than 500 entries and looks at more than 400 years of historical developments. LGBT history and culture are dynamic. The scholarship in this reference book reflects how thinking on LGBT issues, nature, identities, culture, and history has changed over time. The work focuses on the United States, including the colonial era. There are other works that focus on the rest of the world; this one provides more in-depth focus on the United States. Some of the subjects covered include people, politics, arts, academic disciplines, identities, communities and cultures, geography, law and public policy, civil rights, economics and labor, sex and sexuality, religion and spirituality.

The encyclopedia is designed for the general reader as well as the scholar wishing to start research on LGBT topics in the U.S. You can find a list of entry terms in the first volume. The first volume also features a chronology of events with cross-references to entries in the work. Entries are organized alphabetically, and they include bibliographical references as well as suggested terms for further research. This is a useful feature for readers who wish to do further research on a particular topic. Bibliographical reference can give you other works to consider while the suggested terms (labeled as “see also”) can give you terms you can use on a database as well as look up in the encyclopedia. At the end of the third volume, there is a directory of LGBT libraries and archives in the United States and Canada. There is also a comprehensive index at the end of the third volume and a directory of contributors.

The reviews have been positive on this work. In 2004, Booklist said of this reference work that it is “an exceptional work that should be useful for academic and public libraries. General readers, students, researchers, and members of the LGBT communities alike will find this to be a most welcome resource.” Library Journal said that “this invaluable work isn’t just a fascinating read; it goes a long way toward alleviating the dearth of basic resources in the burgeoning field of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender studies.”

Thus we have chosen the Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History in America as our Reference Book of the Week.

The 2009 Edgar Awards Announced

The 2009 Edgar Awards (link to the awards website) recognizing the best in mystery and crime writing have been announced. The Edgars are awarded by the Mystery Writers of America to books, short stories, television shows, and films. These awards are acknowledged to be the most prestigious award in this genre. If you are in the mood for some mystery, crime, intrigue, and/or suspense, you may want to find some of the books on the awards list. The awards website also allows readers to search the lists of previous award winners by category and year. You can even enter an author’s last name, a publisher, or a work’s title for search options.

The MWA official website is a treasure trove of information for mystery readers, and you do not need to be a member in order to see a lot of the resources. Some resources available in the MWA site include:

• A list of MWA anthologies. Personally, I find genre anthologies to be a nice way to get a sampling of what a genre offers. For readers getting started in mystery, one of these anthologies might be a good place to start.
• Some resources for those interested in mystery book clubs.
• Information on various authors.
• A list of links to author newsletters. In other words, you can check and see if your favorite author puts out a newsletter and get it here if available.

For books that the Robert R. Muntz Library does not have in the collections, patrons affiliated with the university (currently enrolled students, faculty, and staff) can use our ILLiad Interlibrary Loan service. Other visitors can likely find interlibrary loan service as well through their local library.

Reference Book of the Week: Critical Companion to Robert Frost

Welcome to this week’s edition of Reference Book of the Week at The Patriot Spot. We continue to celebrate National Poetry Month, and we wrap up the month with a look at one of the greatest American poets: Robert Frost. This week we feature the Critical Companion to Robert Frost: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work. This book is part of the Critical Companion series published by Facts on File, Inc. This publisher is known for making very accessible reference works. If you want a good source of information on Robert Frost, this is a good introductory volume.

The book is organized into four parts:

• A biography section. Here readers will find an essay on the life of Robert Frost. The essay includes a list of items for further reading for those who need or wish to have more in-depth readings about his life. This section also features some photos.
• The Works A-Z section. This can be considered the core of the work. It features entries organized alphabetically about Frost’s poems. You can look up a poem by its title, for example the 1929 poem “Devotion, and get a small essay describing the poem. The entries here also feature some items for further reading. The poems selected for the companion volume are taken from the 1995 Library of America edition of Robert Frost’s Poetry and Prose, which the companion’s author considered to be the most authoritative. Unfortunately, the library does not have the LOA edition of Frost’s works, but we do have other good editions of his poetry. At any rate, the companion will cover Frost’s most common poems, so odds are good that if you are working on a class assignment, you will find your poem here.
• The third part is a list of entries relating to people, places, literary influences, themes and symbols. For example, do you need a discussion of the theme of home in Frost’s poetry? You can find it here. Or what’s the big deal with Frost and New England? There is an entry on New England that discusses its significance to Frost and his work. You can look things up by topic here.
• The fourth part contains a series of helpful appendices. There is a chronology of his life, another chronology of prizes and awards he received (by date), a bibliography of editions of Frost’s works (so  you can find a good one to read), a categorical list of his works, and a good bibliography of secondary sources you can use to find other works about Frost and his works.

This volume is written for undergraduates and general readers. It is very easy to use. If you are doing any research on Robert Frost, this is a great place to start. You will find the Critical Companion to Robert Frost in the library’s reference collection in the second floor. The call number for this book is PS 3511 .R94 Z6435 2007.

Reference Book of the Week: The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics

Thank you for joining us for another edition of Reference Book of the Week here at The Patriot Spot. We continue our look at reference books related to poetry as we celebrate National Poetry Month during April. This week we feature the prestigious and excellent resource The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poets and Poetics.

The Preface gives a broad description of what this book does:

“This is a book of knowledge, of facts, theories, questions, and informed judgment, about poetry. Its aim is to provide a comprehensive, comparative, reasonably advances, yet readable reference for all students, teachers, scholars, poets, or general readers who are interested in the history of any poetry in any national literature of the world, or in any aspect of the technique or criticism of poetry” (vii).

Readers then will find basic facts, definitions, and critical theories about poetry, poetic works, and concepts. Authors are not really covered. For example, if you want an entry about Robert Frost, you will not find it here. By the way, if you really need something on Robert Frost, ask me. I will be happy to help you find what you need. If, on the other hand, you want to learn about national poetries (say Danish poetry) or the concept of satire, then this is your book.

Let’s look at a little more from the Preface to see what else this great volume offers:

“It provides surveys of 106 national poetries; descriptions of poetic forms and genres major and minor, traditional and emergent; detailed explanations of the devices of prosody and rhetoric; and overviews of all major schools of poetry ancient and modern, Western and Eastern. It provides balanced and comprehensive accounts of the major movements and issues in criticism and literary theory, and discussion of the manifold relations of poetry to the other fields of human thought and activity–history, science, politics, religion, philosophy, music, the visual arts” (vii).

For starters, we are getting surveys of national poetries. As I mentioned above, if you wanted to learn about Danish poetry, for example, this is your book. And if you are curious, yes, there is an entry for American, that is United States, poetry. Next, the book covers forms of poetry, genres of poetry, and schools of poetry. Let’s say that your teacher in class mentions that a poem is a fine example of the Russian formalist school, but he assumes you know what the Russian formalist school is. You may not know what it is. This book will provide you with a good survey of Russian formalism. Do keep in mind that it will look at Russian formalism as it applies to poetry. If you need to know more, say how it applies in other genres like the novel, then you may need a different book. This book focuses on poetry.The editors do note that this is an encyclopedia of poetry, not an encyclopedia of criticism (ix). I would like to add that we do have some very good encyclopedias and handbooks that focus on literary criticism in a more general way. Again, ask me if you would like help in finding them.

The first edition of this book came out in 1965. It was revised in 1974, and eventually the editors made a new encyclopedia in 1984. Our current volume was published in 1993. This later edition does reflect many changes in literary theory and the teaching of literature. For example, there is more focus on diversity in terms of places covered (Latin America, Africa, Eastern Europe, Asia) and changes in critical theory and practice as well as in the writing of poetry itself.

The work’s entries are organized alphabetically. Each entry includes a good bibliography for further reading. Overall, this is a solid work on poetry and how it works. You can find The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics in the library’s reference collection on the second floor under the call number PN 1021 .N39 1993.

Join Us for the 2009 Student Poetry Awards Ceremony

The UT Tyler Robert R. Muntz Library, in cooperation with the Poetry Society of Texas, would like to invite our students, faculty, staff, and friends to share in a special evening of recognition and entertainment.

Please join us for the Annual University of Texas at Tyler Student Poetry Awards Ceremony. This is our capstone event for National Poetry Month. For 2009, our featured keynote speaker is Award-winning poet Mr. Budd Powell Mahan of Dallas, Texas. Mr. Mahan has served as president of the Poetry Society of Texas and the National Federation of State Poetry Societies. He is well-known for his generous dedication to the larger community of poets as well as for his heartfelt writing. Mr. Mahan will read from his works as well as offer some thoughts on poetry.

The details are as follows:

The Place: Braithwaite Hall, UT Tyler.

The Time and Day: Tuesday April 28, 2009. The event starts at 7:00pm. Please note that there is a reception and book signing with Mr. Mahan from 6:00pm to 6:45pm in the Braithwaite Lobby. For the reception, please call 903-566-7165 for complimentary reservations.

All the events are free and open to the public. This program is made possible by a generous grant from the UT Tyler Friends of the Arts.

Reference Book of the Week: Contemporary Poets

Welcome to another edition of Reference Book of the Week here at The Patriot Spot. We continue our look at reference works related to poetry as part of our celebration of National Poetry Month.

This week we are featuring Contemporary Poets, edited by Tracy Chevalier. This work contains material on about 1,00o living poets. I should clarify that “living” means they were alive at the time of publication. Readers also need to note that the book covers poets from around the world who write in English. This is important to keep in mind because if you want a poet like Vicente Aleixandre (Spanish poet) or Gabriela Mistral (Chilean poet), you are not going to find them here. The poets listed do not have to be just British or American, but they do have to write in English; being translated into English does not count either for purposes of being included in this book.

The poets included in this work were selected by an advisory panel of scholars. Entries in the volume are organized alphabetically. The entries include the following information:

• a short biographical note on the author
• a list of separately published books. In other words, a list of each book the person has published (as opposed to a list of poems, for example). If the person edited a work, this is included as well.
• a small list of critical studies on an author  is provided for further reading.
• the poets selected were invited to provide a small commentary statement, and some chose to do so. You will find these comments as well in various entries.
• a signed essay about the poet and his/her work by a scholar.
• And the book will also, when available, tell readers where a particular poet’s manuscripts and papers are kept.

If you need to find information on a modern poet, this can be a very good work. It is very good to find many minor poets that may not be commonly covered in other works. The book does include a title index that lists the verse works of the poets, referring the reader then to the appropriate poet. For example, if you want to know who wrote the book Hotel Cro-Magnon, you find out from this index that it was Clayton Eshleman.

You can find Contemporary Poets in the library reference collection in the second floor under the call number PR 603 .C6 1991.

Poetry Read-Out at the Library 2009

We are inviting all students, faculty, staff, friends and members of our academic community to join us for the Annual Poetry Read-Out at the Robert R. Muntz Library. This is part of our events recognizing National Poetry Month. This is an opportunity to share your favorite pieces of poetry with others. You can bring your own book,  your own poems, or you can borrow one of our poetry books. Please note that if you read original poetry, and you are student, you cannot read a poem that you are submitting to the poetry contest.

The Read-Out will take place from 9:00am to 5:00pm on Wednesday April 22, 2009 in the library’s reading area (second floor). To sign up for a 15 minute reader spot, please contact Angel Rivera, Outreach Librarian, at 903-566-7165 or via e-mail at arivera AT uttyler DOT edu (just replace with the appropriate symbols when e-mailing).

In addition, April is also National Sexual Assault Awareness Month. In recognition of that very important cause, the library has partnered with the UT Tyler Wellness and Prevention Center to feature a special reading during the Read-Out. Members of the East Texas Crisis Center will be present to give a special reading of survivor poetry. This special reading will take place between 11:00am and 1:00pm during the Read-Out. Furthermore, members of the Wellness and Prevention Center and ETCC will be present with informational materials and to answer any questions from the audience.

We look forward to having our community join us to celebrate the diversity and power of poetry.

Reference Book of the Week: Poetry Handbook

In honor of National Poetry Month, we will be featuring reference books related to poetry. I would like to remind our students to submit their poems for our Annual Poetry Contest. Find details about the contest and rules here.

Today we are featuring the Poetry Handbook: A Dictionary of Terms by Babette Deutsch.

This is a no-frills dictionary of poetry terms and concepts. After the preface, which provides some background on the art and craft of poetry, readers can use this volume to find definitions. One way to  use this book is to address the common class assignment of explicating a poem, i.e. doing a line by line explanation of a poem. If you need a little help knowing the difference between rhyme and rhythm, or you need to learn about different types of rhyme, then this little book will be helpful.

You can find the book in the library’s reference collection with the call number PN 44.5 D4 1974b.