New books on international cultures & customs

The library has been the indirect beneficiary of a grant from the Christian A. Johnson Endeavor Foundation. The grant, secured by Anne Ledvina in BSC's Sklenar Center for International Programs, has helped fund several thousand dollars worth of books (both print and electronic) and videos. Among the books are titles from the Culture & Customs series and the CultureShock! series. Online books include a selection of NetLibrary books on international business (focusing on the cultural dimensions of business) and the Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures & Daily Life (available in the Gale Virtual Reference Library).

All of these books are listed in the BSC Library Catalog. You may also stop by the library to see a display of some of the titles in question!

Our Government's Documents

In his Farewell Address to the nation in 1796, President George Washington suggested that Americans should "Promote, then as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened."

The Birmingham-Southern College Library is happy to help in that diffusion of knowledge, specifically of the knowledge published by the U.S. government through its collection of government documents.

The Library is a Selective Government Depository Library, so we only receive part of the vast output of the government and federal agencies. Of course more and more documents are published online, so we have access to much more than would ever fit on our library shelves. Also, we can borrow documents from the Regional Depository in Tuscaloosa.

The government publishes material on almost every subject imaginable, from reports on the response to the current financial crisis to documents about specific events in American history.

So, how do I get all this information, you may wonder? You could start at the BSC Library catalog (recent documents will show up there, along with any available links to online versions.) You can also explore the guide to Internet access of government information at http://orgs.bsc.edu/libref/govdoc/govdoc.htm

Or, you could come talk to us at the Library!