Muslim Journeys: Films, books, and more!

Birmingham-Southern College is honored to have been selected as a recipient of the Bridging Cultures Bookshelf: Muslim Journeys, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association. 

The Bookshelf includes 25 books, 3 films, and a one-year subscription to the Oxford Islamic Studies database.  The resources were selected "with a view to familiarizing the American public with Islam and the cultural heritage of Islamic civilizations around the world." (from the ALA website)

Two film viewings will be offered to highlight some of these excellent resources: 

February 25: Come see Prince among Slaves at 6 p.m. in the Loft, sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Black Student Union.  Ms. Erica Brown, Director of Multicultural Affairs, will introduce the film and lead a discussion.

March 28: Koran by Heart will be shown at 7 p.m. in Norton Theatre.  Dr. Amy Cottrill, Assistant Professor of Religion at BSC, will introduce the film and lead a discussion afterwards.  Refreshments will be provided by the Office of Religious Life.

The Library has also developed a research guide for the Bookshelf that describes the organizational themes present in the collection and provides call numbers for all the books and films.

February Database Trials!

The BSC library has several database trials available during the month of February:  EBSCOHost Academic eBooks, Ambrose Video, Black Studies in Video, and the Statistical Abstract of the U.S. Online. See below for more information!

• EBSCOhost Academic eBook Subscription Collection: 
  Access to 94,000 academic e-books is available through the normal eBooks via EbscoHost link on the databases page during this month

[image of Reptiles and Amphibians of Alabama,
one of the many titles available through EBSCOhost's eBooks collection]

• Ambrose Video 2.0 (currently available from on-campus networked computers only):
  The BBC Shakespeare plays; Human Geography and Physical Geography series; A History of Civil Rights in America; and A History of Christianity are among the closed captioned, streaming videos available through this Ambrose trial.

[engraving depicting the blockade of Louisbourg, N.S. during the French & Indian War, c. 1775
image from Britannica.com]

• Black Studies in Video (Alexander Street Press):
  Award-winning documentaries, newsreels, interviews and archival footage surveying the evolution of black culture in the United States.

[MLK in a Birmingham jail
image from history.com]

• Statistical Abstract of the U.S. (Proquest):
  The newly privatized version of the long-running Statistical Abstract.  Login and password (available to BSC community only from the library's Database Trials page) is required to access this resource.

Please test out these new databases this month and let us know what you think!