Day of the Dead Celebration at Duquesne

Students taking first and second level Spanish classes celebrated the Day of the Dead on October 23rd by learning about its history and customs, and taking part in dedicating an altar at Gumberg Library.

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 Each student crafted a paper flower as their individual offering for the altar, which will be on display in the Popular Reading Room until November 7.

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The altar blessing was coordinated by Spiritan Campus Ministry with Fr. Vince Stegman officiating. Students decorated the altar with traditional items including candles, skeletons, water, salt, fruit, honey, and toys.

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As part of the celebration, students wrote messages to their deceased loved ones on paper butterflies representing the monarch butterflies that return to Mexico each year around November 1, coinciding with the celebration of the Day of the Dead. Traditionally, the butterfly symbolizes the souls of ancestors.

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To learn more, visit http://guides.library.duq.edu/dotd 

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If you’ve been in Gumberg this week, you may have noticed Banned Book displays around the library. Every September, during the last week of the month, libraries, schools, and bookstores around the country celebrate Banned Books Week. Banned Books Week is a celebration not just of the books themselves, but also freedom of speech and open access to information. It is a great opportunity to start a conversation about these topics and discuss why they are so important.

When you’re around Gumberg this week and next take a closer look at the books on display, you may be surprised at some of the titles! From classics to current favorites, chances are that you’ve read or have at least heard of many of the books on display. Just a few of the most challenged titles include, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and even Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss. The most challenged book of the last 10 years? The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling.

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So what can you do to celebrate Banned Books Week?

- Read banned books! Exercise your freedom to read by checking out a book from one of our displays.

- Have a conversation! Talk with your friends and classmates about what freedom to read means to them.

 - Spread the word! Share your support by tweeting using the hashtag #bannedbooksweek.

- Stay informed! Check out ala.org/advocacy/bbooks to learn more about Banned Books Week and other ways you can get involved.

Celebrating Ann Labounsky Steel’s Contributions to Duquesne

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Gumberg Library is celebrating Dr. Ann Labounsky Steel’s 50 years at Duquesne with an exhibit and the dedication of a collection in the University Archives.

In recognition of Dr. Labounsky Steel’s contributions to the Sacred Music Collections, the library is honored to announce the collection’s new name: The Ann Labounsky Steel Sacred Music Collections.

Since establishing the sacred music program at Duquesne in 1976, Ann has worked tirelessly to develop a unique library and archives collection to support student performance and scholarly research. She has encouraged her colleagues and mentors to contribute their personal collections consisting of published scores, personal manuscripts, books, and materials of historical significance.

University Librarian Dr. Sara Baron, Music Librarian Terra Merkey, and Special Projects Librarian Melodie Frankovitch were on hand at Dr. Labounsky’s 50th year Jubilee Celebration on August 30th to announce the collection’s naming and present Dr. Labounsky with a plaque commemorating the collection’s new title.

Attendees were encouraged to stop at the library to view an exhibit curated by Merkey and Frankovitch, which features photos and other artifacts from the collection. The exhibit will be on display in the Popular Reading Room until September 10th.

Learn more about Dr. Labounsky Steel’s contributions to Duquesne here: http://bit.ly/2L7rpPv


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Gumberg Librarians Partner with Immigrant and Refugee Youth Program ARYSE

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Gumberg Library recently hosted instruction sessions for students from the Alliance for Refugee Youth and Support (ARYSE) After School Club. ARYSE is a community organization that provides homework help and mentoring to refugee and immigrant youth in Pittsburgh, along with workshops and activities that focus on team-building and college readiness. ARYSE students are mentored by Duquesne students from Dr. Jennie Schulze’s Politics of Immigration course. Their work with ARYSE is conducted in partnership with Jewish Family and Community Services.


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The goal of the three-session program at Gumberg was to teach students foundational library research skills, which they can use in their own academic careers. Librarians created a research webpage for the group as a resource that students may continue to use on their own.

In the first two instruction sessions, students learned about finding trustworthy information and how to apply basic criteria to evaluate the sources they found. In the last session, students were tasked with choosing a topic, carrying out research in selected sources, and creating a slide to present their topics to their classmates. Most students chose to research countries in keeping with the club’s theme of immigration for its monthly activities, though one enterprising student turned her love of cats into a fun presentation.

Working with these students who were undaunted by language barriers and so eager to learn was an enjoyable and enriching experience for the librarians, and we look forward to working Dr. Schulze’s class and ARYSE again the future.


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New Resources at Gumberg

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Containing over 32 million records, Embase is one of the largest biomedical and health information databases available. 

Embase is a great tool for biomedical, health policy, mental & public health research, and is essential for systematic reviews. Researchers will find extensive drug & pharmacy information, as well information on medical devices.  

 Stay tuned for upcoming Embase workshops and webinars offered by Gumberg librarians, or contact us for a one-on-one consultation.

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As a member of the Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium, Inc. (PALCI), Gumberg is proud to announce an agreement to bring Sage Knowledge to Duquesne. 

Sage Knowledge is home to over 5,000 ebooks and ereference titles in the following subjects:

•Business & Management

•Counseling & Psychotherapy

•Criminology & Criminal Justice

•Education

•Geography, Earth & Environmental Science

•Health & Social Care

•Media, Communication & Cultural Studies

•Politics & International Relations

•Psychology

•Sociology

All Sage titles available through the PALCI agreement are DRM-free and available to download at the chapter level. Duquesne affiliates can create an account to download content, create reading lists, and more.


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Access to FORENSICnetBASE has also been renewed, offering ebooks on Criminology and Forensics. 

Duquesne Veterans’ Stories of ServiceDaniel McBride is a Braddock, PA native and Duquesne graduate (B.A. Journalism, 1965) who served as a Captain in the US Air Force during the Vietnam War from March 1966 to June 1971. He received his commission...

Duquesne Veterans’ Stories of Service

Daniel McBride is a Braddock, PA native and Duquesne graduate (B.A. Journalism, 1965) who served as a Captain in the US Air Force during the Vietnam War from March 1966 to June 1971. He received his commission after completing the ROTC program at Duquesne and was subsequently stationed at bases in Michigan, California, Guam, Okinawa, and Thailand. As a B-52 pilot, he participated in numerous operations and completed 128 combat missions in Vietnam. After returning home, McBride pursued a graduate degree at Duquesne from the School of Education.

Selections from McBride’s oral history and those of other veteran alumni are on display in the Duquesne Veterans’ Oral History Exhibit, through November 30, on the 4th floor of Gumberg Library.

Duquesne Veterans’ Stories of ServicePhilip Ward is a Clairton native and Duquesne graduate (B.S. Pharmacy, 1962) who served in the US Navy from 1953-1957. He enlisted at age eighteen and spent eighteen months serving on the aircraft carrier USS...

Duquesne Veterans’ Stories of Service

Philip Ward is a Clairton native and Duquesne graduate (B.S. Pharmacy, 1962) who served in the US Navy from 1953-1957. He enlisted at age eighteen and spent eighteen months serving on the aircraft carrier USS Bennington, as part of a replacement crew after an onboard explosion in 1954 killed 103 sailors and injured 102 others. During his time on the Bennington, Ward sailed from Boston, MA around Cape Horn in South America to Korea. Ward is a proud “Horn Shellback,” a title he received during his Line Crossing Ceremony, a traditional naval rite of passage held onboard a ship when sailors first cross the equator. From 1956-1957, he flew the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line as part of flight crew VW-14, patrolling the Pacific barrier for potential Soviet activity.

Selections from Ward’s oral history and those of other veteran alumni are on display in the Duquesne Veterans’ Oral History Exhibit, through November 30, on the 4th floor of Gumberg Library.

Duquesne Veterans’ Stories of ServiceDaniel Cronin is a Mt. Pleasant, PA native who, along with four brothers and one sister, served in the United States military in World War II. He was drafted into the Navy in December 1943 after graduating high...

Duquesne Veterans’ Stories of Service

Daniel Cronin is a Mt. Pleasant, PA native who, along with four brothers and one sister, served in the United States military in World War II. He was drafted into the Navy in December 1943 after graduating high school and shipped out after training from California to New Guinea. He participated in the liberation of the Philippine Islands from the Japanese as well as the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval battle of the Second World War. He was discharged in March 1946 and enrolled in Duquesne University that fall, graduating with a B.A. in Education in 1950. He has been married to Shirley for sixty-seven years, with whom he has four children, seven grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter.

Cronin was the first participant in the ongoing Duquesne Veterans’ Oral History Project. Selections from Cronin’s oral history and those of other veteran alumni are on display in the Duquesne Veterans’ Oral History Exhibit, through November 30, on the 4th floor of Gumberg Library.

Joseph Murray was a Pittsburgh native, Duquesne graduate (B.S. Business, 1949), and University of Pittsburgh graduate (master’s degree and doctorate), who served as a member of the Army Air Corps in the Pacific theater during World War II. He...

Joseph Murray was a Pittsburgh native, Duquesne graduate (B.S. Business, 1949), and University of Pittsburgh graduate (master’s degree and doctorate), who served as a member of the Army Air Corps in the Pacific theater during World War II. He volunteered in 1943 at the age of twenty-two, underwent training in Arizona, and then served in several missions as a navigator with the 31st Bombardment Squadron in six campaigns: New Guinea; the Bismarck-Archipelago, the Western Pacific, Luzon, Southern Philippines, and China.

After the end of the Second World War, Murray served in the Air Reserves from 1953-1961 achieving the rank of Major. He and his wife were married for sixty-seven years. Together they had three children, nine grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. Murray passed away in February 2018, just two weeks shy of his ninety-seventh birthday.

Selections from Murray’s oral history and other veteran alumni are on display in the Duquesne Veterans’ Oral History Exhibit, through November 30, 2018 in the 4th Floor Popular Reading Room at the Gumberg Library.